ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVI, Issue 43096, 23 May 1907, Page 1

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

The arbitration award in tlie case of the Miners’ Union versus the Inanguahua mineowners gives the following rates chiefly : —Miners, 10s per day; blacksmiths, general, 13s ; chambermem, lOsi; tru'ekers, 8s; truckers, wet level, 8s 6d; firemen, 10s; carpenters, 11s 8d; rock-drill workers, 10s; those in charge of rockdrill, 11s; pick and shovel surfacemen, 9s; other surface labourers, Bs. A man named Tom Robinson, employed on the North Island Main Trunk Railway 'Construction works beyond Ohakune, met with a severe accident the other day. Hie and several other men were working in a cutting, when he was Covered by a fall of earth which unexpectedly came down, his mates, however, escaping. Robinson was 1 completely buried, and it took about an hour to remove the earth before he was released. The injured man was then carried several miles on an improvised stretcher to the railhead, and was from there conveyed to Taihape by a ballast engine and taken, to the Wanganui Hospital the next day. At a.'meeting of the Otago Educ'ar tion Board the Hon,. T. Fergus said it should be laid down as axiomatic (1) that no teacher should be paid less than a living wage. (2) that all teachers should be qualified by education and training; (3) that all salaries should be paid by classification ; (4) that promotion; should be by educational qualifications, length of service and afoilitv to teach; (5) that no certificated teacher should receive a less salary than £IOO a year. It is doubtful whether 1 the cosh of Kanaka repatriation by the Commonwealth will cost the Federation the whole of the vote of £12,500 passed for that purpose last year. To date about 3300 Kanakas have been sent home, or more than half the number of those coming within the scope of Federal law. To deport these men about £SOOO has been, spent. The saving made (says the Melbourne Age) is largely due to the efficient aid lent by the Queensland Government to the Federal officers in charge of deportation work. The Dunedin Council of Churches has, decided to call upon Parliament to amend the Gaming Acts by isolating racing correspondence and tele-, phonic and telegraphic communication, abolishing the license of the totalisafcr .excluding betting odd? from: newspapers, and prevention of circulars regarding gambling and State lotteries from passing through the post. A serious accident occurred to a young man named Percy Allen at New Plvmouth harbo-ur. He was fishing; from, the wharf, and ai dog fell into the sea between the wharf and a steamer. Allen was climbing diown the vessel’s side to help the doc when the vessel rolled up aigainst the wharf, crushing his foot badly. The Hon. G. Fowlds, at a meetim of the Free Kindergarten Association in: Dunedin, said there was not much likelihood of the Government takinc up the work. In, anv ’Case, he was of oninion it was much better done bv the Association. It. would ba a bad day for the colony if the Government took over functions- of a philanthropic kind. A correspondent of the Dunedir Star states that possibly an unsus|petcted cause of fires on; ships is the % rooking of passengers. These frequently smoke in positions overlooking the holds while inflammables are being taken, in. A spark is liable to get among the cargo, and, the conflagration being retarded by pressure, a smouldering goes on until the hatch e? iare taken off, admitting the air. The Taranaki Dailv News, commenting, in a recent issue on the political opinions of the candidates for the Taranaki seiati said • fi The day of the Independent is gone; in Parliament he is the representative of himself, not the mouth-piece of h'is Constituents, for he is returned pledged to no policy, however much he may be pledged to particular item's of a policy. The most objectionable feature of an Independent, however, is that his weight and influence in the House counts for hdugjht. He owes allegiance to no partly, party owes none to him, and he is left to-paddle his own canoe, usually an uneventful voyage.” . This is the story of the burglary at Waahi told by Mrs Nicholson, the proprietress of the boarding house: “Shortly before nine o’clock my <iafughtor l went inside and found the private room door open and the blind up. She immediately called me, and said; ‘Oh! mother, what has happened!; here is “the blind up, and the window opened/ We made a search found the drawer open and the Hash box gone. A purse with a £5 uiote lay oni the table, evidently overlooked. I was anxious about m!y ineurance papers andl other valuable 'deeds, for.they were in the strong box also. They have been found, however, for the cash box, containing only a farthing, was discovered this morning .thrown inside the hedge adjoining mv house The papers had blown about into the ti-tree, and were wet from over night' exposure. The total Loss-wlii be about

A mishap causing; considerable damage to a • railway carriage occurred at Paeroa during the carrying out oi shunting operations. A detached truck crashed heavily into a passenger ear standing on the rails with such force as to' damage it to considerable extent. —(Own correspondent.) Our Paeroa correspondent writes: “Mir Ailgie, whose health has been indifferent for some time past, has been fortunate enough to be appointed to the relieving staff of the Postal Department, and will begin his new ■ duties at, once. The position of relievI ing officer is considered one of the I “plums” of the service, and Mr Aigie is toi be congratulated. He leaves for Whitiangai on Monday to relieve the postmaster there for a; month.” The total expenditure of the Government Veterinary Department for the year 1906 was, £16,400. As »an outcome of the recent gold stealing charges in, Dunedin, a, writ has been issued by a well-known dredgemiaster against the Mount Benger Mail claiming £soo' damages. A [Fretadh miedfdal report states that pulverised wood charcoal, is an efficient antidote to- the poison of mushrooms. Several spoonfuls of animal charcoal, mixed -with water, are sufficient to relieve or check the most severe oases of poisoning. According to the Westport Times a wild land boom is being experienced at present. Several sections have recently changed 'hands at prices which, a little back, Would have been considered! very high. There is said to be keen: Competition for the few sections now available.