LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2207, 21 July 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The, next sittings of tlio Arbitration Court in Wellington will commenco beforo Mr. Justice Stringer on Tuesday, August 4, at 10 a.m. Tho following industrial disputes have been set down for .hearing:—Wellington Merchant Service Guild, re officers and masters; Wellington ships' tally clerks; Wellington theatrical stage employees; Wellington pullers; Wellington hotel, club, and restaurant employees, ro private hotels; cooks and stewards; apd Wellington bricklayers.' - .

A post-card vending machine has been on trial in the vestibule of tho iocal chief post offico for more than a month. The machine , is of a typo which has been greatly improved by an officer of the Wellington Post Office, and in its improved form is, reported to he giving every satisfaction. It is now selling nt tho rate of 500 cardsVα month; Two cards are sold for one penny. Tho Department intends to install machines in tarn at Auckland, Christchurch, and Dunedin. ... ,

Councillor Hislop has given notice to niovo at tho next mooting of tho council as follows: —That tho ruling of His Worship thft Mayor given at tho meeting of the Wellington City Council held on Thursday, July 0— "That the Mayor or any councillor may,,if ho think fit so to do, communicate to tho Press tljv- roport of a committee- to the council before- the said report has heen dealt with by ths council" —bo disagreed with.

A horeo attached to an express driven by Patrick fllnlce and owned by James Ryan took fright, and bolted in Tinaltori Boad yesterday afternoon. Tho frightened animal aftdr going some distiiiicd oollidqd with a post, and severed his connection with a portion of tho vohicle, and received injuries. It- then continued on till it arrived at the Tlionidon Tram Sheds, where it was brought to a standstill, nnd, after examination by a veterinary surgeon, destroyed.

The Landless Natives' Commissioners' held a sitting at l'ictoii and Nelson last week, and returned to Wellington on Saturday night. •' Thoy loft for the ?outlj by tho forry steamnr Inst eynn* ing,' as it is intended to hold sittings in Canterbury, Otago. and Southland.

Tho secretary of the Wellington Motor, Cycling Club (Mr. L. M. Liardet) writes, stating that incomplete reports of the club's competitions held on July 4 and 11 were supplied to the city Press hy some unauthorised person, apparently with the idea of placing a certain make of machine in a better liElit than the competitions warranted. He states.that his committee desires to discourage trade announcements in connection with its competitions, and to emphasise tho fact that the club is purely an amateur one.

The question of a "Shopping Week," to-advertise Palmeretou, will bo considered at an early date (states a Press Association telegram from Palmerston), wlien a general meeting of business men will bo held..

The maintenance of roads was discussed by tho Palmcrston Chamber of Conir merco last evening, when it was resolved, "That this Chamber views with approval tho Motor Bill now before Parliament, and asks that provision he made in the Act for hypothecating the revenue received for the maintenance of roads." —Press Association.

Cabinet yesterday authorised the preparation of plans for a six-story building on the section in Shortland Street, Auckland, at present occupied by tho' old post office building. Tho.now building will accommodate the district offices of the various Government Departments, and will also be used in part for tho purposes of a Ppst ami Telegraph Office. ■

In response to requests made to Mr. W. Hobbs, an ex-councillor, to contest the election to fill a vacancv on the Eastbourne Borough Council, that gentleman has replied as follows:— "This is the first ; vacancy occurring pince tho present Government amended the Local Elections Act, making it pos* Bible for officers of the Civil Servici to • stand for the position of borough, councilor. Seeing that Mr. J, Heenan, who announced himself some time ago, is an officer of the Civil Service,! would like to see pur seaside borough have .the honour to >etum the first councillor under the new conditions: It is only a fcrief period , before. tho 'biannual local elections take placej and it will be a saving' 'to the borough if a by-election is avoided. I was not in a position to announce' myself a month, ago, sol. hqpe that those who have nsked me to .stand ivill reserve their support for next occasion." •' ■ i ''■

After a month's adjournment, the bmldjng trades' labourers' dispute again came before. a sitting .of the Conciliation Council' yesterday morning. The Conciliation Commissioner (Mr. P. Bally) The , 'demands of t?io men, , in keeping with the Carpenters' Award, are for a reduction' of the weekly hours, of work from 45 to-44 hours; ail increase in'pay fromle./2d. to . Is. 4d. per hour; the now award to operate within a, radius of 25 miles from Wellington, and remain in force for one jear. The balance of the claims are on , the liuos of the existing award. The- employers offered is. 2d. and Is. 3d. per hour for labourers and;scaffclders respectively. The sitting agreed on all points, with the exception of wages and'preference.

The new issue of the New .Zealand King George V stamps, which it was expected would have- , been in use in the early part of this year, is not yet available, but it is expected that they will be ready before the end of the. year, -Tiie'delay'has. been, duo tq the fact, firstly, that jn tho first, design, sent, out from Home the King!s head was not satisfactory,. and, secondly, that the first proofs of the, second design were not altogether satisfactory. This led to considerable correspondence, which took up a great deal of time. Satisfactory proofs of most ;of,,the, stamps have now been received bythe Postal. nient,. but the proofs of one or two' have yet to arrive. The Department; .states that it is.doing its ..best to get the new.stamps intocirculatipn as soon as. possible;, The new stamps will have the left profile ,of King George in the centre: Panels representing Maori carvings will appear on the sides, and the denomination of tho stamps will appear in both the.top corners, with a crown between them.'• The words "Postage and revenue, New Zealand," will bo printed acrops-'itho foot of the .stamps. The new stamps w>ll be _ issued in tho following eleven denominations: ..—. Halfpenny, three-halfpence, twopence,. twopence halfpenny, three- ' fourperice, fourponce halfpenny, sixpence, seyenpence. halfpenny, "'ninepence,, and'.one shilling. 'It will bo noticed that the three halfpenny stamp, which , has been out of uso, for somo time, is to be qgain issued.. The 2Jd. stamp is still used, while the 4Jd. and 7id. impressions; besides being available for all purposes, will be'found specially useful' for parcels. There will bo no new issue of the rionny stamp. Tho present design, which came into forco some years ago, and which has not since been altered, except" in , the' addii tion'of the word "Dominion," where the status of the country was changed, will remain in use. The colours in which tho new.stamps will be issued have not yet been determined. '..'"

The following are the engagements, of the Conciliation Commissioner (Mr. P. Hally) for the next few weeks:— Leaves Wellington for Palmerston North to-day to hear the flaxmilleia , . disputo there; Thursday evening, 7.30 to hear the continuation of the engineers' disput in Wellington; Monday, July 27, stonemasons' dispute at Wetftngton; loaves the same evening for Blenheim, where- he will hear tho ehearers' disv pute tho following day; Saturday, August 1, presides at the woollen.-.'mills' dispute at. Wellington. ',■■-■