LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1649, 16 January 1913, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Tho telescope - for the Wellington Collego Observatory is on board R.M.S'. Corinthio, duo at Wellington from London on Monday next. The instrument is slightly larger than the' bne in uso at* the ICelburne Observatory, .its lens'being's}' inches, The new ; instrument ■ was mado in Germany, and by the time it lias been installed it will have cost JC3OO.

Quite an aiiimntcd scene was witnessed on tho wlinrf yesterday, prior to the departure of tho Pntcena for Nelson. Owing to the laying up of the Jlapoitrika, which bad been advertised to sail, on Tuesday, a rush was iliadc for the l'ateena, the passengers including many churchmen on their way to attend tho AnglicanGeneral Synod, which! opeiis at Nelson to-day. Bishops and deans, archdeacons and canons, were to be seen struggling on board with their luggage, and ordinary too numerous to inelition,. "also started." The l'ateena, which was a full ship, got away punctually at a quarter to one,, and should rcAch Nelson before: breakfast this morning.

Applications for. military pensions under the Act offlh'st session arc still being received in consitlerablo numbers. To date, ( GE6 claims for pensions, havo beeji sent in, 530, claims have been completed! and 335 pensions have been '-granted;' About CO applications have been rejected. It will be observed that. a distinction is drawn between "claims completed" and "pensions granted." The explanation is that after n claim has been made Out in proper form, necessary, inquiries aro made by ' tho Pensions: Department before a pension is granted.

Improved telephonic communication between Wellington and. Auckland will bo aVailable-shortly. For sorno months tho work of erecting h iiew line of two No. 8 wires htts been in progress, and has just been, 'completed; Special hours will be fixed for the USe of this long-distance service. / Being designed 6peoially. for communications between tho two cities, the flew circuit will enable conversations to ba carried on ptli great tase compared with tho difficulties now experienced. !

Mr. tj. H, Wickfehs, of the Federal Statist's Buri&ui in a paper on "Investigations Conceniihg the Law of Infantile Mortality," read at the Australian Science Congress, Urged, that statistics should in air cases bo computed as' far as the age of five, instead of, as is usually' the .case, ceasing at the age of, one. Of 100,000 male children born/ 87,020 reached tho age of five, according to tho Commonwealth experience for the decen- : nium 1001-10, ivhilo of 100,000 female children born, the niiiuber would be 69,289.. , :■

In connection with .the sports carnival to be held ih Wellington at' Easter,. the 1 Mayoress is ■ calling a ladies' committee, uieetihg for 3.30 p.hi., on. 1 Tuesday next* at the Town Hall. . '

At Bathurst ,the other night; the Very Rev.. Father O'Reilly, • president of St. Stanislaus'' College, told 1 a good.story concerning hiiriseif. "Once when I was'present' Oil' the late Bishop Cahlidgo'S invitation at n garden party nt Bishopscourly following on the, Anglican Synod," ho feiid,."l ,wak. gpeftkluft: to- a; Well-known medico in the • niidst of a crowd on the lawn, when I became,a ware that a photographer was about to 'take,' in a group, the clerical . and layi members of the Synod. Naturally, 1 decided to re tiro for the momenti but a Wcg.of a medico said that this Was unnecessary, as I could; stand Iwhind him. This I innoc6ntly did. Just, aa the photographer was uncovering the lens, the doctor 'ducked,' and 1 appeared in due.Course in a Sydney paper US a member of the Synod: A month ltttfcr, 1 was in Sydney, and a clerical friend dt St. Mary's remarked to me that I had a 'double' among , the • Bathurst Anglicail clergy. I efaid, :'l?ettlly f 'l r es,! ho replied, 'I have ncrer eeeii so close! a resemblance. 1 As I was, unwilling to bring iny orthodoxy into Suspicion, I followed, tlio matter no further.": The postal authorities advise that the s.s. Makura, which sailed from Sydney at noon on January 13 for Auckland, has on boai'd an Australian mailj'. also a' small English' mail vuV'Suei. The Wellington;; portion is duo to' arrivo liere'.by Main' Trunk on Saturday ntxt, January 18. . :

"We'ltalians aro groat'admirers of England," . said-"M; - Cadorin,.' a Venetian sculptor, who. arrived in Sydney on January 9 by the Qncisonau. "In Europe," ho added, "we are the bust of friends, and 1 believo we always will be., England lias always been very kind, bo lis,'and helped: us a great deal in many matter?."

■ Mr. Alfred 6. Edquishj lecturer' On Natuto Study to tlio South . Australian Education Department, suggested, in a paper beforo the, Australian Scicnce Con-i gi'ess, that a certain number of agricultural scholarships should be established for. boys'leaving the primary schools, but not yet sufficiently advanced iii education to.profit by a cbUrso'of study at the agricultural oollego: The scholarships could bo of siicli a nature and,valuo that tho holders could bo allowed to live near ft high school on approved farms, where tlioy would rocoivo ■ two or threo years' practical experience, and also: the oppor-V tuiiity to rcceive further instruction ,iu teadiifg, spelling, English, composition, arithmetic, and simplebookkeepmg at the. local high sehooL ■ \ I

A frank acknowledgment of, the fallibility of past" Administrations was taade by Sir. Ffahk Lawry, formerly memberfor Parnellj and, a supporter of the Ward Government, in his speech at Papakura on Saturday aftetnoon. In complimenting tho Hon. "IV. l'Y Mnssey on his succession to the Premiership, 'Mr. Lawry said lie readily admitted that the present Government was a strong aiid projressivo one. He noiv. realised that. ; hud it been possible to ruin tho country by bad legislation New Zealand woilld liftye. been rliinetl at any tinio during 'the 20. years in which the Liberal party controlled its legislation. . "I don't know how it is, but the An j glicau Church seems to be taking charge of all chaplaincy work in tbo Territorial army, said a . Speaker at a, meeting of tho Auckland 'Presbytery on" '.Tuesday night.. The Rev. I. Jolly said that the Presbyterian Church in Auckland had not taken tho part It should have done iii securing tho recognition of Presbyterian chaplains. In the Auckland province, indeed. tho Anglican Church was "running tho Territorial camps," . Another speaker, f did that A local Anglican clergynlan was' looked upon as the senior chaplain for tho Whole of the Auckland province/That l Was- quite a . wrong assumption. The senior chaplain of the.. Presbyterian Chtirob had as much authority as tho senior.chaplain of any other denomination. Anbthor member said that lie had been informed by Colonel Logan that all denominations had ah>equal rank in chaplaincy wofki After further discussion it whs decided to call a meeting of the Presbyterian chaplains' in Auckland t<i make tho necessary, arrangements to secure their full recognition ns chaplains in military fiamps. , •

A telephone office has, beeh opened at Lindis Pass, Dunedin, with hours of attendance from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and rWit on Sundays and holidays.