LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1507, 1 August 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

" "The city of Wellington will 1m rcE valued this year, ami arrangements are r now in progress to that eml. Jl' pn.-siblc, f the new values will be available for the j. rating year IDEM I." Thi* statement was made by (lie l'riiue Minister in tile House yestenlay, in reply to ])r. A. K. Newman's " ciuestiou un the point. ~ The Minister for Railways promised yc-s- ---| lerduy to give consideration to Dr. NewI iiiatiV proposal to establish a motor-bus r system in connection with the railway serviee. so as to provide better means of ooiniminicalioii ill districts remote from j railways. lie pointed out, however, that , a similar experiment tried in Qiieeiis- ' land luul been abandoned, trial having t proved that macadamised roads were es- • scntial for a motor service. , "The real salvation of the -Maori race 5 will be when everyone of them has to work fur n living," said Major Lusk, one of the Auckland delegates to the New Zealand "Farmers' I'nion Conference, when discussing tile question 01 Native lands ye.-lerday. This opinion was generally accepted on all hands. Some interesting information is furnish- ' ed in a return giving particulars of the t wurk accomplished by eight automatic - slanip-selling machines for two years end- [ ing .Inly, 1912. The number of postage [■ stamps sold was SSI,BBO, or equal to a strip of stamps eleven miles in length. 1 The weight of coins received was 8 tuns. 1 The average number of stamps for eaeli [" machine was lift,6lo. The work done by the 1 machines in the second year showed an . increase of about (it) per cent, over that ol' the previous year. ] The claims of Hataitai to a post office , have recently been pressed by Or. A. K. 3 Newman, M.l'. The Post and Telegraph Department has now acquired a site in l that suburb, and the Postmaster-General I lias informed Dr. Newman that he will . coiiH'dcr the question of providing on the f Estimates, when they come down, a sum to cover the cost of a post office building ' nt Hataitai. , "The practice of charging imported tim- ' ber a higher rate than the local article i when conveyed by rail is defensible and ' justifiable ill the interest of the indus--1 tries, and .1 regret 1 cannot comply with i the request to reduce the- freight on imported hardwood," said the Hon. W. H. Herries (Minister for Railways) yesterday, in reply to a request that lie should reduce tiie present rate-and-a-haTf charge for the carriage of imported timbers. . The Minister for Railways, in his reply 10-dav to the question submitted to liini by Dr. A. IC. Newman, M.P., stated that the spt-ed of the 5.5 p.m. train from Lower I Itutt to Lambton could not bo increased , without. cutting out the stop at Kaiwarra, which would inconvenience the ! workers travelling between that place and ' Wellingtoii.. The new theatre for Tiinaru, designed by Mr. Henry E.' White, structural cn- > gineer and architect, of Wellington, for S Mr. Wm. Ginin (father of' Dr.. Elizabeth . (iiinn, of 'Wellington*, is to be opened by the Plimmer-Denniston Company on 1 September !).• The season will last four nights, during which _ "Nobody's ' Daughter," "A Woman of No Import- : a nee," and "inconstant George" will be - played. > "Tho Marconigraph" is the title of a smart and interesting magazino devoted l to wireless telegraphy, a copy of which r wo have to acknowledge. It contains 1 several bright nnd not. too technical ! articles on the various phases of wirel le.-s, including one by Mr. L. G. Chiozza I Money, on "The Triumph of Wireless 1 Telegraphy," and neatly illustrated ar- , tides on "Wireless, in Warfare" and "Wireless and Air-Craft." The magazine is published in London by the Marconi Company, anil sold at- 2d. per copy. An Auckland inventor (Mr. F. Roberts) claims to have solved the problem of dispensing with the exposed angle cocks of the Wcstiughouse brake coupling on trains which have on occasions been interfered with by children and others, in some cases rendering the brake inelfeetive. By the use of the new coupling it is impossible to interfere with the brake power without the fact being detected, as the valves can only be dosed by the uncoupling of the two heads, At all other times, and under all circumstances, it remains open. Under the old system it was necessary for a porter, besides coupling up the Westinghouse hoses, to open or close two angle cocks. With the new invention only one operation is necessary, the simple act of coupling the two'heads. Ju shunting operations, it is claimed thai, an enormous amount, of time can be saved by the simplicity of the device, and even in the dark the operation is a simple one, as the' air pressure in the hoses is utilised to operate the valves. The operation of coupling will bo rendered infinitely less laborious. A pair of the couplings were tested by running for three months continuously in the Auckland suburban train service, and ; proved satisfactory in every respect. The automatic coupling valve can bo applied to any of the existing couplings, and . therefore does not necessitate a large expenditure in making new coupling heads. The Prime Minister replied to a ques- . (ion in tho House yesterday that the Government would inquire into the pea-riflo nuisance, and, if necessary, legislation would be introduced, with the object of minimising or abolishing it. Almost unanimous rejection was the fate of a Taumarunui remit to the Muni- ■ cipal Conference yesterday. The proposal was that the Municipal Corporations Act. ! should be altered so that lio person would be eligible for election to the council 1 other than those having a ratepayer's qualification. The Mayor of Wellington (Mr. J).' M'T.aren) remarked that lie had been returned to the Wellington City Council when he was not a ratepayer. Mr. U. Fletcher, Wellington, said that he could not conceive of anyone bringing tho remit forward. It was tho one blot, on tlie order pnper. ."We should put this to the vote, and wipe it out," ho concluded. The lender of Mr. J. L. M'Milhm has . been accepted by tho Minimal- Borough Council for the erection of an electric power station at Mirannu'. ■ The contract 1 price is .£2972. Other tenders received were as follow: —11. it. Davies, ,£3010; Sanders Bros., .£3OSB; Hoft'nmn nnd Peti ley, ss. 3d.; Murdoch anil Wallis, I 413G23 10s.; Meyer and lllingworth, i'lliTl , 175.; Jones ami Cameron, JS7B:) 9s. The engineer's estimate was .(.'MOO. The site of the new power-house will be at tho junction of Ira Street and Broadway. The engine-room will be 78ft. by 4:lft., and the store-rooms and offices will be includdi in an apartment -Ell'l. by 24ft. The. building "ill lie of brick on concrete inundations. _ , A fine marble tablet, on a ba=e of black marble, is about to be erected in the choir of the parish church <if Eeeleston. Lancashire, by Mrs. Seddon and Captain Seddou, in memory of the late Premier of New Zealand. Four years ago Mrs. ; Seddon gave'six choir stalls to the church. The continuity of this gift has been impaired bv n under which three of" the stalls are placed on each side of the choir, and consequently the marble tablet is being put.up. It .bears the inscription: "To the glory of God nnd j in luvim; memory of Richard John Seddon, l\f„ f,1,.11., Premier of New Zealand, horn at l'feleslmt. Isl,'i. died l!!llii. Tlic-e choir stalls were pre-cnted by his 1 wid-iw, l.oni-a Jane Seililon.' l-Ybrunry. inns," o;ip spoonful to one cup. usnlile, piijoyab'e, to the very Inst drop. No (Ires-, no ground*, no impurities, no waste with "Camp Coffee,"—Ach'tr