DOMINION NEWS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2251, 24 July 1908, Page 2

DOMINION NEWS.

[Press Association.] • AUCKLAND, July 23. . At the. Chamber of Commerce this afternoon it was decided to recommend that Empire Day -and Prince of Wales’ Birthday holidays be observed on "May 24th as one holiday, and that Dominion Day and Labor Day, | as. they fall close together, be likewise ' combined. A fire. broke out in Campbell Eh- ' renfried’s Albert brewery at 10 o’clock to-night, the outbreak being in the malting, house. burned furiously for some time, the,brigade hav- : ing ’all it co'uld do to keep it- under 1 control. This was finally, managed, and shortly after 11 o’clock the fire was subdued. The damage is estimated at -about £2OUO, For some time the Albert hotel, which lias the frontage to the brewery, was in dan r ger, and the hoarders andi servants vacated the premises, hut returned when the fire was got under control. Lambs are making their .appearance; freely in the Auckland! district. WELLINGTON, July 23. The following is Captain Edwin’s weather forecast to 3 p.ni. to-mor-row : —Strong winds to gale from the westward are to be expected northward of, Napier and New Plymouth, but from the south-eastward elsewhere; rain is probable generally. Information was received by the. police authorities this morning -that the body of a man had been-found floating in the harbor, near the railway wharf. With the -assistance of three men, Constable Clay removed .the body, which is in an advanced state of decomposition, from the wari or to the wharf, whence it was conveyed to the morgue. The dead man wais wearing the uniform of an officer in the New Zealand Shipping, Co.’s service. It is believed! to bo Shapcott, an engineer of tlie steamer Ruapehu, who has been missing for some weeks. An inquest was commenced to-day, and was adjourned till Monday next-, when Shapoott’s brother officers will be in Wellington. In -reference to the agitation by* sawmiliers for increased duty on imported timber, the council of the New’ Zealand Institute of Architects has written to the Minister of Customs embodying the following resolution—“ That the New Zealand Institute of Architects views with alarm an attempt on the part of.sawmiliers and others to obtain- any increase in duties on imported timber, because its success would increase the cost of building, and keep out "of the Dominion a most useful- and in many case indispensable material.” A laboring man- named John Win. Walsh, aged l about 38, committed suicide in the harbor this evening by jumping off the outer tee of the Queen’s wharf. The act wa6 deliberate, the man stripping off all his clothes and leaving them on t-lie wharf under a couple of bricks. He was seen to jump tin by a stevedore working on the foreliatcli of the steamer-Victoria. The body was soon recovered, but lifo was extinct. While the police were applying artificial respiratou the man’s "wife arrived, having discovered a note in his bedroom sayng that -liis clothes would bo found on the wharf. The Wellington Harbor Board today decided definitely to enter into au agreement for the -acquisition of the, Wellington patent slip. .The. Slip Company is to remain in possession of the property for 25 years, when tho Board shall pay £30,000 and own the slip. A portion of the land not occupied by the slip is to be set apart for the use of the Union Steamship Company, which is to have the offer of this portion as a. Glasgow leaso at the end of the 25 years. The Harbor Board to-day resolved that whereas it being the intention of the Government to remodel the constitution of the Harbor Boards throughout the colony, the time therefore being opportune, this Board recommends the Minister in charge of the Bill to. consider the desirability of all representatives on Harbor Boards being elected by the people, on the basis of the municipal franchise. CHRISTCHURCH, July 23. The Otira correspondent of “Truth” telegraphs to-day that the men on the tunnel works are on strike, the chief cause being the victimisation and general unrest on the works. A deputation headed by the Primate waited* on the Charitable Aid Board to-day to protest against the condition imposed by the Board,that children for whom payment was’made by the Board should attend a State school. -Bishop -Nevill, with some heat, asked- where the Board found i authority in the Act for the condition imposed, and other members of the deputation pointed out that some of the children were mentally weak, j and not fit to attend a public.school. After discussion, the Board, by 5 to 3, decided to adhere to the previous decision,