LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1696, 12 March 1913, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Sir Edgar Vincent, chairman of the Imperial Trade Commission, is ono of tho. trustees of the National Art Gallery in London, and yesterday afternoon he found time, prior to his departure from Wellington, to visit the Wellington Gallery, lie appeared to be rather impressed with the general character of the studies and ivitli the'selective judgment shown in thechoico of pictures, and particularly admired tho fine painting by Glyn Philpot, entitled "The Toilet." Whilst in Otago, Sir Edgar Vinccnt was approached 'by Mr. Joachim, of the Otago .Art Society, with a view to inquiries regarding tho possibility of making arrangements at Home for tho loan of some of the National Gallery pictures for New Zealand. Sir Kdgar was rather taken with the idea, and intends to do all he can in the matter of inducing the trustees to lend some of its pictures to New Zealand.

Plans for the lighthouse which is to be erected 011 Karori Hock have been completed, and a start will be made shortly on the work of preparing the site. Some tcme will be taken up, however, in calling tenders and obtaining the lighting equipment from abroad, and it is not expected that the installation will be completed in much less than twelve months from the present date. The agreement arrived at last week by the Uniou Steam Ship Company and its marine engineers was signed by representatives of both parties at a formal Conciliation Council sitting at the offices of the Union Company yesterday.: The agreement dates from March 1 and is to remain operative for a period of three years. T]ho council decided to forward it to the Arbitration Court, with a recommendation that it be made into an award. Mr. P. Hftlly (Conciliation Commissioner) presided at yesterday's sitting. Messrs. W. A. Kennedy (local manager) and Tripe (accountant) represented the Union Company, and Messrs. T. B. Wallace (Wellington Secretary) and S. D. Hanna (Auckland Secretary) represented the engineers; Mr, R. H. Webb and Mr. Laing-Meason, representing the Upper Hutt Town Board, waited as a deputation on the llutt • County 'Council ■ yesterday' with regard;to the proposed new bridge across the Hutt Itiver. Mr. Webb considered it would be beneficial to both bodies if they; joined forces, and constructed, a bridge. Otherwise, tliey would in all probability both have to lmild new ones. On behalf of his board Mr. Webb guaranteed their support and suggested that they should contribute quarter of the cost, which, if tho Government gave the council a J! for ■£ subsidy, would bring tho cost of the proposed bridge to about XGOO. The actual cost of the bridge, as estimated by Mr. Laing-Meason, was .about XI6OO. Even if no subsidy were granted it would bo beneficial to both bodies to co-operate, The council considered the proposal and de- v cided before making any. definito arrangement with' the Upper Hutt Board to wait upon the Minister for Public Works regarding a subsidy.

Ratepayers in tho upper Teaches' of the Hutt liiver district will bo called upon to-day; to vote for or against the proposal to raise .£2OOO for the purpose of constructing protective works to the .river., Polling will take place between the hours' of 9 a.m.' to 6 p.m. There will be one booth at Taita and another at the Hutt County. Council's office in Wellington. The result will be made known about 7 o clock. • ; o The Easter holidays, in the case of the htatc schools, wll .extend from Good Friday (March 21) until the morning of the following Wednesday (March 26). The circulating library idea in connection with the Clyde Quay Schcol-the four upper standards of which are supplied by the Free Public Library—has been so successful that it has been decided to extend it as opportunity serves. So far only the scholars of the Clyde Quay School have enjoyed the privilege of free literature, but this is now to bo extended to the Wellington South School, probablv from-Slay next.' : ■ Eomembering the part Mr. Hugh J. played in the raising of funds for tho Children s Hospital in Wellington, it is not surprising to learn that that energetic and . enthusiastic actor-manager played the leading part in organising the J. C. Williamson, Ltd., entertainmbnts in aid of tho Antarctic Disaster Fund-. Writing from Sydney, privately,' Mr. Ward says:."l am happy to say we secured great results throughout Australasia. Tho gross takings were as follow Sydney .£845; Melbourne, .C 543; Christchurch. .£404 j Auckland, ,£2G2, Then I gave a big entertainment here at tho Stadium which resulted in .£4OO odd, so we should be. able to give about net to the fund." A curious effect of the plentiful supplv of tomatoes in tho Wanganui district, according to a gentleman who was recently there, has been tho loss of trade felt by tho butchers. Tt is said.that where twenty carcasses are sold in the winter' only five are sold now. The weather is warm, and people prefer a vegetarian diet, which is in cheap and abundant supply.

On Monday evening, a'girl named Marjory Lane, liged six years, residing at No, •10 Waipori Street, was knocked down by a tramcar in Newtown. She was considerably bruised, and after receiving attention from Dr. Perkins, was removed to her home.

A petition asking the Government to purchase, for closer settlement, tho big block of Anglican Church land between Kemuera and St. Hel.ier's Bay, Auckland, is being prepared by tho Tnmaki West lioad Board. Tho block, which contains about 1800 acres, is vested in trustees for the support of St. John's College and the Melnnesiaii Mission. Tho petition sets out tho fact that, excepting some small portions, this large area is not being used for settlement purposes, and is retarding the progress of Konimarama, St. Helier's Bay, and part of tho Koad Board's district.' Tho latest official announcement on tho subject is that tenders for Parliament Buildings will be called very shortly. The building will bo of brick and concrete, faced with stone. For earthquake-resist-ing; and other constructive reasons, steel will bo largely used .throughout. Alternative tenders for three or four different kinds of New Zealand stone aro to bo asked for. The building is to bo three stories, with a very extensive basement. The centre block will bo four stories; tho dome will be omitted in tho meantime, but will, it is thought, be added when tho contract for the third block is let. .Tho cost of the new bu'ldings will,, of course, depend largely on tho class of stone that is chosen for tho facing, but it will probably bo about ,£130,000. Tho crimo of attempted murder in Fiji appears to bo regarded as a very ordinary occurrence, to judge of the manner in which a caso was referred to last month in the "Fiji Times," in which tho following paragraph appeared"News comes to hand of another attempted murder amongst tho labour at Vuna Point, Tavitiiii. It was a case of a man wishing to cut up his wife, as usual. The attempt however was frustrated and the labourer now. awaits his trial." There \is to be a conference of local government engineers in Sydney on March 18 and 1!). An invitation has been received by the Mayor, inviting him to 6end the City Engineer (Mr. W. H. Morton) as a delegate, but that officer lias intimated that he will not-be able to mako the trip, owing to pressure of work. Mrs. J. P. Luke presided at a wellattended meeting of • tho Refreshment Committee in connection with the Citizens' Carnival, held on Monday, when members and helpers reported tho amount of moiiey and goods which had been promised. The . final meeting of this committee is to be held on Wednesday next, and_ those ladies who cannot attend aro advised to .send all tho goods' collected to tho Town llall by Friday, March 21. Tho magisterial inquiry into the wreck of the Red Pine in Cook Strait on Friday night last will probably bo held at Nelson on Friday, Match 14. The nautical assessors have yet to be. appointed. A special meeting of the members of the Australian Institute of Engineers (Wellington district) is to be hold in tho Institute Booms at 12.30 p.m. to-day. A full attendance of members is requested.