LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1670, 10 February 1913, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The s.s. Mahcno, with English and Aus-, tralian mails on board, arrived at Auckland yesterday afternoon. The Wellington and southern portion of the mail will arrivo by the Main Trunk train this afternoon.

To-day tho Hon. W. H. Herries (Ministor for Railways) ■ will commence the inspection of the railways of the Dominion which' is usually carried out annually, but was omitted last year on account or the general election. The inspection wilt start with tho Now Plymouth line. The Minister, accompanied by Mr. T. Ronayne (General Manager of Railways) and the principal officers of tho Department, will leave for • New Plymouth this morning, and will carry out the inspection on the roturn journoy. Mr. nerries expects to be back in Wellington on Friday. It has not yet been determined what line shall next bo inspected.

Tho Government expects to bo in a position a fow weks hence to call tenders for-tho completion of the Otira tunnel. Tenders will not bo called for' the erection of tho now Parliament Buildings for some weeks yet, there being still some minor details to arrange It is still tho objectivo of tho Government, however, to have the first portion of the now building ready for the accommodation of. members in the session of 1915. , ■ In the opinion of Mr. S. Priest, as expressed at tho meeting of Forty-Mile Busli cheese factory managers last week. tho time has arrived when .New Zealand should have a weekly shipment of dairy produco instead of fortnightly, ns at present. The secretary of tho National Dairy Association, ho said, had written to the effect that the cheese exported had grown so considerably this season, and was so difficult to handle fortnightly that there was strong reason for believing that next season, at all events for cheese, there would be weeklv shipments. Another matter that should be considered, said Mr. l'ricat, was whether it would not. pay to send consignments to uutsido markets, such as South Africa.

From to-day tho Government Immigration Department's offices will bo located in the . Union Steamship Company's of' fioes, in Customhouse Quay.

The offices of tho insurance companies doing business in Wellington will bo closed to-morrow, on tho occasion of tho aiinual insurance picnic, to bo held at Day's Bay. Referring to the question of freight charges on dairy produce, Mr. Breechin is reported to have stated nt. Inst week 9 meeting of Forty-Mile Bush cheescmakcrs, that advice had been, received from tho National Dairy Association Hint there was a serious danger of the freight charges increasing. Tho ngrecmont with the shipping companies, ho said, expired shortly, and there seemed a remote hope of a similar scale of rates being again secured. The shipping companies had increased tho freights on wool, tow, and flax, and thor« was no doubt they had designs on dairy produce. After several speakers had expressed their views, it was resolved that the National Dairy Association bo mado awaro that the meeting expects it to put up a big fight to keep the freights down, and that it work in tho direction of securing weekly steamers.

One of three juveniles, who was before tho Magistrate's Court last week in cobnoction with a series of burglaries, has encountered trouble again. On Saturday ho was discovered, without authority, in the office of Messrs. Geo. Thomas and Co., Wakefield Street. To enter Thomas and Company's office ho had to climb through a skylight some considerable distance from the ground. This mormng ho will appear beforo tho Magistrate. Tho Christchurch Creche and Kinder-■ garten Association took up a street cnifection on Saturday in aid of its funds, and collected 4186.-Press Association. Tho Wangnnui Harbour Board « revenue for last year showed a satisfactory roam*Vd MW over the figures for tho .previous year, 41025 of tho increase being ?n wharfage. During the year tho board spent 410,815 on improvements to tho port, 44751, of which was paid out of revenue.

. Fishing for kingfish with a rod promises to become quite as popular fehing in. this part of New Zealand (writes our Auckland correspondent), and probably more populnr, as the sea-fishing is so much more easily obtained. At prosent the Bay of Islands is'the favourite haunt of tho angler, who. gees in quest of something big and excLtmg. Tho record flsb up to this week was a 43-ponndor, which was secured by an.English fisherman (Mr. Campbell) on Friday. This record was beaten by Mr. R. B. Walrond, of Auckland, who landed a magnificent fish that brought tho indicator down to 531b. ''- ; .'■: .■ . '.■■■■ ' : n "-, A man at ! tho Auckland Police Court on Saturday Was on .trial for assault and robbery, and during tho course of the hearing Senior-Sergeant M'Kinnon drew attention to a healing wound on the prisoner's eye as bearing cVidencc that the man alleged to havo been relieved of his money, a sturdy seafaring Scot, had parted reluctantly with his cash. "Look, ho boars the mark of it yet," said tho sergeant. "Which his wife done," interjected a shrill voice from a spot at the rear of the Court, where the prisoner's spouse stood taking a palpitating interest in the progress of the case. Although the Prime Minister has repeatedly stated that there is at present a shortage of publio money for the assistance of local.bodies-and for other pur-

poses, and in doing so has explained why it ib that this stato of affairs oxists, newspapers opposed to the present Government continue to raise complaints and to blamo the Government for the shortage. A typical samplo of theso newspaper complaints was laid before the Pnino Minister on Saturday. "It is quite true," ho remarked, "that at pro-sent--there is very little Governmentmonoy available for loans to local bodios, and it is also true that the present position was brought about by the financial recklessness of our predecessors." The first general meeting of the newlyformed Greater Wellington Municipal Electors' Association is called for to-night at tho Chamber of Commerce at 8 o'clock. The business at this meeting will be tho election of president; vice-presidents, and executive.,:. ... ~>.y. ■'•■.•'>.-• .:■ The Congregational Union is holding its 'annual conference in Timaru this year. Tho session,-which will last for a weok, will open on Wednesday evening next in tho Congregational Church, when the chairman for 1913, the Rev. A. Macdonald Aspland, of Wellington, will deliver his inaugural address. ■ ... Tho United Labour Party/held a meeting in the Empress Theatre last evening. There was a good attendance. The chief speakers were Messrs. W. T. Mills and T. Hickcy. Lieutenant-Colonel C. Harcourt Turner, officer commanding tho Fifth (Wellington) Regiment, has issued battalion orders containing a programmo of work to be carried out at the annual training camp which begins on Saturday, Febrnary 15. Tho programmo includes a good deal of company and battalion drill. Two days will be set apart for combined training under the coast defonoe commander.

At last week's meeting of representatives of the cheese companies in tho Forty Mile Bush, tho chairman (Mr. S. Priest] expressed the opinion that the time had arrived.when aldeoisive moyo should bo made to improve the manner .in which cheeso was conveyed by the Railway Department. At present it was railed in open trucks, with tarpaulin covers, instead of in insulated vans. Tho cheese /was thus, exposed to varying temperatures, wlulo tho smoke and smuts also tended to further deteriorate the consignments. It was daoided that strong representations ■ bo made to tho Railway Department to alter tho modo of conveying cheese by substituting insulated vans for open trucks. A salo of unclaimed dogs at tho City Council's yards, Clyde Quay, on Saturday afternoon. About twenty dogs wero offered,' and all were sold at prices varying from Is. to 255., tho top price boing given for a collio dog. ■ Some few months, ago the Institute of Marine Engineers approached tho New Zealand Shipownere 1 Federation on the Question of increase of pay, payment of overtime, and other improvements in their working conditions. The .institute-failed to come to any agreement with the federation, and the engineers in tho Union Co. s service then approached their employers in tho same connection. A conference, held in January, resulted abortively, but since that conference the Union Co. made an offer to their engineers. This offer has now been rejected, and further steps will, it is said, bo taken by tho engineers to secure improved,conditions.