LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1481, 2 July 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Jfakura, with English and America n mails, is due to arrive at Auckland from Vancouver this morning. The Wellington and southern portions of tho' mail should arrive hero to-niOTOw (Wedncbday) afternoon.

The annual meeting of tho Anglican Synod of tho Diocose of Wellington will bu opened at 3 o'clock this afternoon, at tho Sydney Street .Schoolroom, when the Bishop of Wellington (Dr. Sprott) will deliver his address. A sermon will bo held in St. Paul's Pro-Cathedral at 8 p.m., when tho l!ev. .1. H. Sykcs, of Upper liutt, will preach tho, sermon.

The sub-committee of tho Municipal Reserves Committee which was appointed to investigate tho conditions of employment <and nliegcd disabilities of certain employees on tho City Reserves staff, has not yet completed its labour.?. Another sitting was held yesterday afternoon,-nnd it is expected that this protracted inquiry will soon be concluded. Already the typed evidence has covered over 150 cages of foolscap.

An announcement elsewhere states that tho Education Commission will eoiiimouco its sittings in Wellington on July 8 next, at tho Wellington Education Board office, «t fl.aO n.m. J n order to facilituto the work of tho Commission, witnesses are, asked to prepare written statements of their evidence, to bo read before the Commissioners'.

- The assessors who will sit to-day with tho Conciliation Commissioner (Mr. P. Jliilly) to.endeavour to secure a settlement of tho butchers' dispute, will be: For the employers, lies-si's. Win. Wol'and, James Rod, and A. , Cheoseman; for the employees, Messrs. J. W. Dyer, J. lebhorz, and A. 11. Cooper. Tho council will meet nt 10.30 a.m. Subsequent to this hearing, 111 , . Ilalley leaves for Mostor.ton ami Napier, in connection witli tho Timber Workers' dispute. The Cost of Living' Commission will commence its .sittings at Wellington this morning at It o'clock, at the old Parliamentary Buildings. It is expected that the first day's proceedings will be of n preliminary nature. Only about eight or ten witnesses have been subpoenaed so far, but additional notices will bo served. Trade in the country follows (ho telephone wire, and, in this connection, writes our travelling correspondent, some commendablo enterprise has just been shown by tho Ekctahuna business people in extending their telephone cxchniijty) connection farther into tho country. In order to help tho movement they first subscribed a. siim of JX9, and then, another £m, niakim; .-£l2l in all. A canvass was then instituted of the various outlying areas, witJi th« following results in tho way of subscrilrers:—lhauraua, 10; Jlongomni, Tαwntaia, and Time, 17; , Kuiparoro, 10; Kongokokako, 7; Newman, 10; ilukanui, 10; Wniwcra, 1; total, (!j. Theso connections cover a length of 120 miles of nowlyopeued telephone lines, all of which aro expected to bo in operation in tho course of a week. It may be added that the sum subscribed by tho Jikctaimna business peoplo represents 25 per cent, of tho total cost of tho work.

A conference; of tho Post and Telegraph Officers' Association, to deal with mutters of interest to members of the service, \rll open at the Oddfellows' Hull, Wellington, this morning, under the presidency of Mr. .T. Mulvcy (JnvercnrfjillJ. The list of delegates is as follows:— Auckland, Messrs. J. V. Laives and S. ,T. Coail; Thames, Mr. F. h. Cunnold; Now Plymouth, Mr. It. Crawshaw; Wanganui, Mr. K. J. L. Wliitin;; Ciisborne, Mr. H, .1. Scott; Napier, Mc-srs. V. Seanlan and J. Holmes; Wellington. Messrs. It. Chant and 11. K. Combes; Nelson, Mt. L. ,f. Carmine; West Coa.st, Mr. .T. Martin; Clmstchurch, Messrs. A. Dice and C. Newman: Timaru, Mr. D. Mulvcy; Dmiedin, Mows. U. T. Allan and It. Reynolds; Invercji'trill, Messrs. C. Mathcson and J. Mulvoy (president).

A youth was arrested yesterday by Detectives Cameron ami Kawle, on. a charge of having stolen pocket-knives and fountain pens from tho premises of Messrs. S. and W. Mnckay.

A man named lYederick Keeper was brought to Wellington under arrest yesterday on a charge of having r-tolen a ring, valued at .£O, from Margaret. Ilamniel.

At their la-t meeting Hie Wellington Bricklayers' Union carried a resolution asking for a. return of the. expenditure on the prcieut scheme of military Irainin?. Tho pliiiifus of (he resolution arc identical \riih those carried by a labour budy at. Auckland, and the.-o were published yesterday. The Court of Arbitration will presenile l>c iifked to settle tin- limljer-.viuvl :<n'd sawmill workers' dis.p\itC. On Saturday and ycilerday tho matter was dUcu.'setl before a Council of Concilintion, but the employers, alter hearing the other >idis resolved that they could not aecedo to tho demands (previously on account of the great expense of running the limber industry. The elision of the figure 2 in an intere.sliiiK statement by Councillor .1. li, I'Mlzgorold to a Dojiimun* reporter on tho subject of the Belfast City tramway finances (published ye>lenl.i,v) rather rolibod the sUiteineiil of its significance. It. was pointed out Hint (he nrt revenue for the year—which by the way. is the "disposable proiit-"— reached .L'G(l,!li)T, an inereaw of .tliUlli iivpi- Ihe previoiw venr. and of I hi.; amount, m. bv- a sum 'lluin .KJ.'MI.I (not .L-:M(.'I •.!. htnlcil .v.'-ileiiluy), was directed to ]„■ set a-ide lor the IVlicf of the rales, maliiiu! the total amount contributed by the lTnimvny.s to the rates over .Wi.UllO. '