MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume VII, Issue 1185, 27 September 1882, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

Jt will be remembered that the long debate in the House of Representatives as to the necessity of establishing in our waters a training \essel for young seamen, which was raised on a motion by Mr Daniel, member for Wallace, ended in the matter being referred to a Select Committee. The report of the Committee is to the effect that bearing in mind that the number of children who have to be provided for by the State is steadily increasing, some step of the kind ment oneil above is much needed. All the witnessed :i£!ve tiwt small cralsew will b>} neces-

eary, and that manned by the lads, especially on such coasts as that of Auckland, they could be made of great service in the supply and transport of stores to lighthouses. Surveys could also be performed by them within proper limits from the head schools, which apparently are intended to be' stationary schools. Openings for the youths, when they had finished their course of training, would be found to be plenty, so the Committee think as the tonnage of ships registered in the Colony is steadily increasing, and owners would be glad to have them as apprentices and seamen. They specially recommend that (1) naval schools are essentially necessary, and should be established and maintained as now provided by law ; (2) a naval training school be again established at Auckland : (3) a similar one at Port Chalmers or Lyttelton ; (4) to meet the difficulty of classification a wooden vessel might be established at Wellington and thft criminal and refractory children confined in her.

At recent meeting of the Commission which is sitting in Melbourne on the Tramway Bill the Rev. Joseph Cook, of Boston, gave tho following testimony in favor of tramways : — I have travelled a good deal in the United States find also in Europe ond India. Have noticed tramways at work in many places. They are being extended. A city without tramways is like a soldier armed only with bows and arrows. In America the wealthiest citizens use the tram-cars. They are comfortable. In winter they are heated. They are a very great improvement on the ordinary omnibus traffic. Prefer the larger to the smaller car. The cars cause no inconvenience to the general traffic. At the first the rails used caused some inconvenience, but with the new rail the aperture for the flange is so narrow that ordinary wheels cannot getinto it. The conviction in America is that the tramways increase traffic and facilitate the movements of the people. In Boston the streets are very much narrower than in Melbourne. The same may be said of other American cities where trrmways are used. I have seen very few cities in various parts of the world without tramways.