LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1985, 16 February 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

An Australian mail arrived by the Diverifia at Auckland yostordaj'l The southern stetton of it wilt roach Wellington this afternoon.

Tho arrangement with She contractors for tho new .Parliamentary Bailding. , ?, uiicloi 1 which tho Chamber for tho Lower House is to bo completed in readiness for tho session <if 1015, hns not yet liecn definitely concluded) hut tho Jliijiser of Publk Worlm told a reporter on Satnrciay that tho matttfr wouid probably be fixed up in a fovr days. Only minor datuils rciisaiued te be settled.

A disturbance took plate on Saturday night in Tory .Street, wben, it is alleged, an attack was made 0.11 an old wharf labourer by a ittiiivb.er of, meft. It is stated the map nttacked resumed work on liie wharves befot-o tho skiko wbs palled off, and it. was for this reason W was attacked. A man who assisted: him homo was , afterwards as*saulteil by two men, who resented his' showing any consideration to tlio old man',

Sir, Bert Roylo, attorne'y in Now Zealand for the theatrical firm of Mp-ssrs. •T, C. AVilliamsou, Ltd.. haa secured a lease of the new Grqnd Opera House from the proprietors, the "Wrflingtai.i Oppra House Company: It is not ail* tioipated that tho »cw theatre will bo opened until j.icst Dionth, when one of the firm's companies wjft' visit WoUjngton. ' .

A cablegram from London , published wi. Saturday-stated tliot the. pacific Uable Board had .surrendered fo-u-rpeiice-a word oil ordinary cablegrams to New Zealand, reducing the taiilf to this nub. Jic to 2s. -6d. When tho matter was mentioned to-tho Hon. R-.H. Rhodes U'ostmaster-Gcuoral) on Saturday, he said that .he was very pleased to note the redaction, and added that the Government was striving to obtain still •further reductions in cables charges. Ho took it that tho reduction just conceded was a result of the represfeiitatio-ns nuide by himself ailcl by tlve Secretary of the Post and Telegraph, Department (JJ.r. Slorris) to Sir Edgar Vincent, chairman of the Dominions Trade Commission, when that body was in Now Zealand. It was then painted) cut that whereas Australia levied a 'terminal ■eb&rge of iivep&ico a word 0.11 cablegraniSy, the corresponding charge in fiW Zealand was only one pßini.y, n«d it was submitted that this eoflntry shauld at least- get the benefit of tlje extra t'ourponco wliicli it 4oes not charge upon . (iabtegrams. Evidently the justice of this claim lias been recognised, and the ssiggestpd concession has now beeft made. At about 3.45 p.ni: yesterday a sniall crowd of tho nftoplo wlio aro in the Jtabit of tftki-ng advantago ol the fresJi air about the Afliarves on' fino Sunday af* .terfiqons were.observed to be in tho iicintty of the Queen's Wharf- eagerly looking,into t)w Ivarbour. The res-son cf this interested group of spectators iyas tho antics of a smiller, whp, tflj-ilst- endeavourifl.g to turn his frail-skiff, was upset and preflipitated ijito the water, His eildfi.ivoll.r3 to get into 'tie boat cattsfrd much inerrinieut the grou.:}) of spectators, tlltiinately '■ lie managed to do tlio tricks and ho rowed away wit'a a Smilo of triuinpH on his face* The present time is the hey-day of tho. picnio season. Almost daily tho harbour steamers arc kept busy -convey* nip thousands flf liappy ineii., women, and children across to IDaj/'s Bfty β-iiei Eastboufne, each lot representing some firm or institution which celebrates at least one<s n year across , the watw. The list of piejiic bookiiigg far the EaStbourno Borough iQoitiicil's. ferries, fcr the ivnvaindcr of the .-inonth is as follows :— Fdli^ary; 17f ;%SV-tiitd%TeTqgraj)li,, Dcpartincut's jriprtM'j ' K-B.fijsr.v"lSJ Bi'oo'k-i.T-n ScKoql ptenio, at ,D.ay's Ba'y, and Central Misßiftn esdiirisien in. the owning to Eastbourne;' •■ February 19, ■Education' Department's and Sacred Heart pienicij at' Day's Bay; Fcbnifl.f,V 20, City Corjporatitin jiion-ic, at Day's Bay; Fobruary 21, S't; Tlvom-as's and St. Hilda's Suftdftx Schools' picnics, at Day's Bay; February 25, Bakers' and Pastry Gopks'/ p.ionio, at Eastbourne ; RilbiTnio : School picnic, at Day's Bay; February 28, Wellington WpolJoft Co.'s picnin at EsstbduHic, snd Smith and Smith's picnie (i-t Day's Bay* ,

there is a "Baying that -no "matter what part of the world ono may visit oive will invariably meet an irishman. Bβ tliis as it may, it was a curious incident that at o:ne time during the sitting of the Magistrate's Court on Sat•u.rday morn/in.g there wore., no ffewer than sis Irishmen talcing part in a certain case.

Thousands of' feet of "shorts" are burned every day at this bush sawmills... ""Shorts" is the- name given to planks of about eight feet in length, ivhfch it would apt pay to s,oud to tho towns by rail, ow'ing to the high freights at present in force. The Auckland, Proviii' 'cial Industrial Association has tak-cii the matter up, and intends approaching tho ilsrlway .Department, strong representation's on' the matter. If tlie freight on those short lengths wore brought into iino with tho freight on. tho long lengths a profitable trade -gouW bo worked up. Tho timber k badly needed, especially for the nipkintr of fruit ease.?, and, under tho circumstances, it seems sisnsoless (sajs the Auckland '.'Star") tlrat saivmillers should be compelled U> destroy thousands of pounds', worth.

Satisfactory progress is being made with to installation: o| tile automatic tcloph.oii6 fiiystem in Wdllington".,. but so far as roskunicuts-tea coivcfcfiied the Department- is. still Writing under ;v temporary arrangement with the Strowger Company. Lutoi- pn the automatic telephones in ueo will lie replaced by those of tlio Western Electric Company, to. which, a contract has jjoeUlet. To the layman the two varieties of instruments are. ■pracisicsjllj' mciisthißtiisbable, Extensive altaratiqns are being made in tlie system of tclopJioiia cabled, and steady progress is being wide' with the worts of laying thorn underground. It will trtko about- two years ind a half hAia the present date to complete the automatic iusifcalUitioiv' Satellite, exchanges srt Ooti.rtenay Place and Nowtown will have to be. provided before the non* Central .dSxchnng'e;is equipped. Working on this plan.,' it will be po&-

sibla to dispense with $ number of cables which would otherwise' bo necessary to coiuiect -Now'town with tijo - nitial portion of the city, the tempo, ,-y use of 'aiitoßiatie insirumenta, phiding tho eowpJoto installation, is '.necessary partly in order to meet the demands of new subscribers and partly m ac» oeuiit pf tho alterations iii tho cable.

V waini triluito to the rhanns of Non ' Zealand was paid bv tho Preimci of \ch South Wale* (Hoii, W. i llolman) in his speech at tho Australasian Medical Coiigres , - djinnoi at Auckland on 'J.liii>«lj\ os mmg Whilst, he said, ho was, jnoud of being in Australian he rejnicod in bong able, for tho second linn, to usil New Zealand, tho hud of a \o\ eh climate and so n nny other gie.it natural attmctions—tho countrv uhoro c\iij prospect lias pleasing and whore man was doing'lns best to mnlto the best oi Natme's la\ish gifts "Como and sta\ with us then," inww-W the Majoi (Mi C J Pirr), amidst laugh' tei Mr llolman put in a concluding \ioid foi his own metropolis "Or cotiito," he said, "I realise that good Ncn Zeilandi'is when thoj die go to Sydnoj "

Aftoi what is descubed as a beautiful tup lhr> Huddart-J'arkcr steamer Wcstralin aimed at Wellington from Ljtteltyn with Virth Bros' Cncus an boird The \esscl niado what is termed ft daylight trip up the copst Slio loft the southern poit at 730 ain \estci<la\, and -was berthed at the Taramlit Street Jnrf snoi th before 10 p m Hei decks were laden v\ it.li cages conIntmng the vinous animals in the show and tho horses and cl"phants wcio earned on the fore w ell-deck.

The annual meeting of the .Richmond Vice Kmdeignrten Vnion is to be held this eieninß.