LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1659, 28 January 1913, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The present position of affairs on tho wharf at' Wellington is illustrated by an incident which has arisen in connection mt i ■ i anllu ,al picnic of the Waterside \\ orkers Union. Tho agreement concluded at the beginning' of last;, year between tho waterside workers, organised under the Federation -.of and mm 1 " eni l'l°yers contains a proviso that:' • the in lion' .shall iiot debar any of its members from working on such picnic da'y should tliey desire to do eo," In face of this, the following notice' relative to the'annual picnic of the Waterside Workere' Union,,which takes placs to-day, has .been-posted on the union notice board; "Special Notice. On instruction from the .fiP°rts Committee. Members are requested not to accept labour for picnio day other Hian absohitely'nccessary work on ■ mail-'boats, orother urgent jobs. : You are requested'to decline work in the wool .fheds on that day, as this is only, infringing on the rights of other members, who decline this work on principle.—No greater, slave is there than he who toils pn picnic; day.—By Request, Picpio Commit, tee;" '■' -■ j ■'; • '' I ■ The Rev. Dr. Kennedy, Principal of St. Patrick's Catholic College, Wellington, wh6 conducted the annual retreat of the clergy of the Auckland Diocese last Week, left, by tho Kotorua express on Saturday morning. During his 6tay in Auckland, Dr. Kennedy has been the gueSt of the flight Rev. 1 fir, Cleary, a.t Bishop Palace, Ponsonby. In an interview witli an Auckland "Stay". reporter, Dr. Kennedy said: "We have a very; strong Astronomical gqciety in Wellington, and it is doing good.work. An 'observatory has bcen : erected, and the focietv is now getting put : a-five-inch telescope. Theje are some very enthusiastic* members in; Wellington, observatory has'been erepted-at Wellington College, arid we are aUo''ordering a. telescopo for St. Patrick's ' College.' 1 There is every possibility'of special solar work being undertaken, by (the University at Wellington: po we are hoping to have these observations going on in our city in the near future. . Professor Laby is very : keen on jt, ' Miss Proctor, daughter of , the great' astronomer,- who lectured both in Auckland and Wellington -recently, is now on lier way : to.'.visit the solar 'observatory; in India. ' She has promised to return to Ne.w Zealand pext:Septemher and give a series'of. lectures'on' astronomy in aid of the funds of a solar observatory. l Mr, C.' E. Adams, Govern-' nient Astronomer, has oharge of the observatory, and .amongst other enthusiastic members if the society I may mention Dr. Hector, Mr. Gifford, and Mr, Powlea. ...

~ la a local paper Inst week an article appeared dealing with. the receipts and expenditure of the Consolidated Pn'nd for, the quarters ended December 81, 1912 and 1911 respectively. Deferring'to tlio -revenue of tho Post aqd Telegraph Department, the article stated that tho revenue of thai Department was less than, and the expenditure more than, that of- the corresponding quarter of 1911. On this 'statem'ent .being brought i)nder thenotice, of tlio Soil. R. Heaton. Rhodes (Postnioster-fjcricral) (States a Press Association telegram frpm Christchurch), ,jthe' Minister said it was true (Hat ,t.ho revenue of, hiq. Department showed a 'falling,pff for;the last quarter of! 1912, but tins waS, fipoounted for by,-the. .fact' that,the. Telephone Exchange subscript ions eh owed a-drop of nearly. £U,OOO, due to an alteration in, tho' method of collecting them. Whereas- last year subscriptionsnvere/col-" lected half-yearly in advanoe, -now they were colleotod quarterly.' As a matter, of fapt,' there had been no fallingrfiff . in revenue except that indicated. All other items showed considerable increase on tho corresponding quarter of tho preceding ■year. -V.

, Mr. George Morrin, of 14 -Boulcott Street, met with a rather nasty accident last night in a city hotel; .A row ocourred on the premises, and someone,..it is said, ' struck Mr. .Morrin over the right ear with a tumbler and caused ,i painful wound! Mr. Morrin is no\r in tho publio hospital. - , . ■' ' ■ '

There arfe no'new developments to re'port' in connection with tho tunnel 'cohtpa.pt at tho Lalio Coleridge hydro-elec-trical works, savj! tht\t. Mr, 'M'Williaras, contractor for th« tunnel,, left Wellington last night to meet tho Minister for Public (the Hon. W. Fraser), at Duriedin, cqjifer vfiili him upon tjio subject. • . ' M'"

An excitiug contest between jive cats and n snakd was witnessed in one of tho principal thoroughfares of Ballarat (Victoria) recently. • The reptile had obviously journeyed from a neighbouring woodyarri, .whither it had fouhd its way in a load of wood .brought''in; from' the' country, and. was wriggling leisurely '.across tho street, wlieri, one after another, tho cats appeared on the scene and oommoiiced an attack-v''Eye-witnesses : wcro , - greatly amused at the spectacle .of the -sitting ,jn a circle arouijd'- tho sriflko' and' delivering well-aimed and effective blows at tho head and tail alternately', The cats, displayed- great dexteriiy in evading the retaliatory attacks of tbo snake, and the reptile had been reduced to a very weak condition' when tho onlookers killed it. .

Tho project of extending the railway j r0 I'Vans Bny was mentioned at the liieetmg of tile Miramar Borough Council ]ast week. It, was then stated that the Minister, for Railways had been approached by deputation; and had also been written to on tho subject of the Jjvnns Bay railway some time ago, but that so far, no reply had been received. When tho matter was mentioned to tho Minister for Kailways by a Dominion reporter, Mr. Berries said that it did not lie within the ecop'o of his Department. a ?d uiat ho had forwarded, tho ropremutations made-to him on thd subject to tho Public Works Department. When inquiries wcro made.by the reporter'at the Public Works Department ho was informed that .there was. no reoord ; there of tho representati jns regarding the Evans Bay railway. Apparently some hitch has occurred.' ' • •

"TRIUMPH" ESTABLISHES CHRIST-CHURCP-ICAIKOURA RECORD The motor cycling record .from Christ church to ICaikoura' and back, which was established on Thursday bv Mr. G. B Brown oh a latest model "Triumph,"' and which constitutes one'of the finest crosscountry performances ever put up by a motor cyclist in New Zealand) has a somewhat curious history. Somo throe months ago Mr. Brown challenged all and sundry to a straight-out hill-climbing contest, on Sumner Hill or Paekakariki Hill—tho * Triumph" against any other' machine. .• I iioro woro do acceptiinccs, but one firm said in effect: "We know tlio Triumph can lick our machine on tho hills proposed, but como out on a long run acrosjs really bpd country—Christchurch to ' Kaikoura ami back, for instance—and we'll show- you a point or two." Well* of. course,',wo" didn't refuso that proposition. But wo thought it fair to give them all a chance, and challenged any,motor cyclist in New Zealand, not riding a "Triumph," to meet G. B. Brown and hia "Triumph" on that very course., There wero ten thousand excuses, but wo couldn't pet one niatoli. So, baulked in our gpod intentions, wo decided to establish a rccord over tho course, and let tho other fellows have a pook at it at their leisure. You all know what happened. Mr. Brown covered tho 2(50 miles of rough country, half of it on an unknown road, in under 12 hours. Tlio rivers and river-beds were difficult to negotiate, but the "Triumph" .stood, the racket in tho regular Triumph"' way, and there was not ft break-down, not even a puncture, to mar tlio record. Not knowing tho road, Mr. Brown made n few deviations ■ and detours he would not otherwise, have had to make. So if anyone lowers tho present record of 11 hours 'SOi minutes, he will be prepared to go out again, and knopk a little more off tlio time. New stock of Triumphs just arrived. Fixed engine, .£7O; free engine, 4180; three speed, ,£S7 10.5. Adams, Ltd., Christclmrch. Branches "at JVilmerston North and Wangnnui; agents, Sutherland ami Rnvkinp, Wellington) Tourist Motor Co., Haßtlnga.

Tho Mayor and somo members of tho City Council are leaving for Pahiatua by tho morning train to-day to visit tho Mangahuo endrvment. Tho tenants on tlio property have asked to bo allowed to acquire tlio freehold of their lands, aid tho council, in order to understand fully tho justico of-their claim, aro visiting tho locality. Soma .days ago there 1 was told in (rim IJOUJN ion tho story of how a oonfi(lenco trick was worked on a man who was about to sail from Wellington to AitcKlaiul. Laiit evening, just before tlio Main Trunk train left for Auckland, Dotectives Lewis, Andrews, and Rawle arrested two men at /riiorndon Station on a charge of their Having conspired to defraud Georgo Carson of ,£4. Carson was a passenger by tlio steamer Eakaia, bound ior; Auckland. It is alleged that prior to the-sailing of the vessol two men introduced themselves, and ono told tho old, old'story of having to pay a hotel bill, and linving left his money on tlio vessel. ' Carson lent tho money, and the man wOnt intq the hotel. lip (]id not reappear, and in a littlo while the' othef made some oxcuse and went away. Carson saw no more of them.

The latest, addition to tho Mackolvio : trust pictures hung in the Auckland Art Gallery is ono from tho brush of ifr. \V. Frank. Colderon, entitled "On tho Seabeat Coast, Where Hardy Thracians Tame Their Savage Horses," u quotation from Pope's translation of tho - Iliad," Tho artist is ojio of tho best-known English animal painters, and in this picturo, which represents a band of Thracians with their'.horses on a sea beach, ho .has exercised his art with wonderful bumSss—tho hcrses, (say.i tho "Herald") are tile-finest to bo seen 'on canvas in Auckland. In colouring the painting is brilliant.

A oaso of soma importance to the travelling publio was heard in tho Auckland Pofioo Court on Friday when tj licensed darter was summoned for beinj late in tho execution of a 'contract. A lady visitor arrived at tho Auckland railway station in tho early afternoon, and entrusted her luggage to a carrier with license No. 11 on his liat. The luggago failed to turn up >,/until tho next day.; Meanwhilp inquiries were mado for No. 11, and it was then found that defendant had no) right to. bo bearing that nuinbor, if ws the number, of his last year's Jioensn and not of his present one, Defendant's excuse for his unpunctuqlity was that ho h, H i had an accident to the tyres of his vehicle! but Mr. E. 0.. Cntteil, S.M., said tli&t for the sake, of the public, carters must ■carry nut their work punctually. DeV fondant had to jay ft penalty if 20s, and costs.—"Herald;" . ' '' A very curious.point was raised in tho Auckland l'olieo Court on Friday.' Two youths, Tylio had had a difference of op inion, agreed to . Settle it. in a backyard in the time-honoured,fashion with their fists, "he night being dark and the arena being spiall, the qonflict did not last long, one of the combatants falling against the fence And sustaining slight injury. Thisappar«ptly -.was; tho poly injury; sustained by either side. An unlooked-for. sequel occurred when both lads were pummonpd for assaulting each other. Mr. Lundori, appearing/or them, argued that there could bo no assault if both agreed to have a fight, but Mr. E. C. Cuttei), S.M,,'said that no one could agreo to.be assaulted, just as no one could agree to be murdered—in each case an i offence was certainly committed,' A lengthy argument followed, in which it was pointed out; that 1 in tho rase .of a fight the recipient ,of any injury had a civil claim for damages, and also thai the inflicter. of the. injury could be proceeded against criminally. The question of boxing matches Snder police control being technical assaults was also raised. .In the. end Mr. E. C. Cutten, 6.M., reserved his \