A Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 347, 1 January 1903, Page 4

A Happy and Prosperous New Year.

To-DAT (New Year's Day) will be observed as a close holiday at the local post-office. A dannevirke farmer wishes to dispose of a cart to carry thirty toss, and is advertising it-as " lighfc and easylTunning." % : : The St Petersburg correspondent of the "Daily Mail''states that 20,000 persons perished by the earthquakes at Andyan (Turkistan). Colonel Eimington was banqueted in London. In the course of a speech he highly praised the efficiency of the Australasian soldiers. He declared that he simply •ould not have done without their services in the war. , We have received from the " Tuapeka Times,'* "Wyndham Farmer." and "Lake Wakatipu Mail" tastefully designed cards conveying the season's greetings. The HERALD heartily reciprocates the kindly sentiments expressed. Mr Hbrdman, M.H.B. for Mount Ida, is spending the holidays in visiting his constituents. After visiting the Waitaki portion of the electorate he proceeds to Naseby, and will spend the remainder of his holidays in that portion of the electorate. ON Monday"; a heavy downpour of rain took place throughout the district. This has resulted in. incalculable benefit to farmers and gardeners. On Tuesday, the weather was rather cold, snow having fallen during the previous night on the Old Man and Dunstan ranges. This is a most unusual occurrence at this time of year. The "Daily Times " says that imitation threepenny pieces, made apparently of cartridge paper or similar material and then silvered over or covered with silver paper, are in circulation. They so closely resemble the genuine article that shopkeeepers, tramcar conductors, and otheis may easily be deceived; arid a sharp look out should therefore be kept for them. A correspondent informs us that Messrs James Cannon and James Arnold, whilst digging in their claim at Ophir on December 15th, found a moa's egg in the wash. The egg was in an excellent state of preservation,] but unfortunately the pick went through it and broke it. The pieces, however, can be easily put together. The egg measures 17in in circumference and lOJin long. Amongst the recent callers at the Tour»? ist Office in Auckland was M. de Shaniavski, a Russian journalist, representing; the " Novoe Vremya," of St Petersburg. He is writing articles on New Zealand for the " Novoe Vremya," and says that there is a probability that -wealthy -Russians may extend their travels to this colony when it becomes better known in their country. M. de Shaniavski left for Sydney Tby the Ventura,' but returns to Auckland shortly. After the Grey Lynn election it was all leged that 137 names of voters: had been removed from the rolls subsequent to the issue of the writ." A petition has now been lodged with the returning officer, and the necessary security I (£200) for. the payment of costs deposited. The petition wjll be forwarded to the Registrar of the Supreme Court at Wellington. At the recent elec* tion the candidates? were G. Fowlds (Ministerialist) and T. Maseh'eld (Independent), the former obtaining 2,108; votes and the a We* 5.890, ). .: XW && \rk I

The announcement recently made that Ibraham Khan Dovleti had been appointed Persian Ambassador to the Hellenic < ourt is more interesting than at first appears, since the year 491 8.C., sent heralds to Athens to demand earth and water as symbols of submission, no Persian Ambassador Has been sent to Athens. Now diplomatic relations are about to, be resumed, after a lapse of 2393 years. The event will be celebrated with an imposing ceremony. The Ambassador w;ll soon arrive in Athens to. present his credentials. The jawbone apparently, of an extinct reptile has recently been discovered on the banks of the Rangitikei river, west of the Kuahine Range The specimen, which is of considerable size, has been sent to Christchurch for expert classification. Considerable interest is being taken in the matter, as the old Maoris in that district have circumstantial stories of an animal called by them taniwha. It was a gigantic reptile, and inhabited the inland lakes. The Ruataniwha plains, they say, were once an inland lake, and, as the origin of the namerua (the habitation or home of) and taniwha (a reptile)—goes to show, the haunt of these creatures.

Owing to the wretched state of our libel tews, which are a standing disgrace to New Zealand, the Dunedin « Star ■ has had to pay | S5. reprint about a column of testimonials, and supply about 1000 copies free, owing to having reported a statement made by Mr N. Anderson, C.E., at a meeting of the Drainage Board, that a certain firm's drainage pipes were not satisfactory. The« Star' had to make this amende, under dire threats of legal proceeaings. In justice to the press of the Colony, Parliament should pass a hbel law, giving some protection to newspapers; as it is, hardly any issue of a paper is free from something that cannot be utilised to base an action for libel.—Bruce Herald. AA, new rabbit destructor, the property of Messrs Russell and Manning, solicitors, ! Uhnstchurch, was given a trial on Malton Estate last week. The principle of this now engine of destruction consists of the pumping of gas into rabbit burrows which shall have been rendered vent proof. When the hole is charged, the gas is exploded, with fatal results to bunny. ' The force of the explosion may be judged by the fact of a kerosene tin which had been buried eighteen inches in the soil being blown 70ft high In every hole tried dead rabbits were as many as fifteen in one. A public trial is to be held in about a month's time, due notice of which will be given. A man of middle age; who has taken the degree of B.A. at Trinity College, ''ambrijlge, applied a day or two ago to be admitted to the Ohiro Benevolent Home, remarks the Wellington " Times." ; He said that, having taken his degree, he. had wished to proceed with a medical course, and had gone to St. Thomas's Hospital, where he gained a diploma in surgery. Having been nnable to complete his course, he entered upon a commercial career, and was in the service of a large firm of colliery proprietors in England. Later on he was accountant in Australia to a well-known colonial commercial firm. He speaks four languages The Benevolent Trustees agreed to admit the man to the Home for a fortnight. Reuthb's correspondent in Berlin* recently telegraphed :—A number of recent cases of police tyranny or recklessness are now the subject of general discussion in Germany. In one case a man who was arrested for having failed to appear in court in ansiwer to a subpoena was chained to a convict during a'railway journey, and was detained for, ten days in ga01.,,r In another case a married lady at Alton was arrested on: a false charge, and after having been examined by the prison doctor, was kept in the local lock-hospital with twenty-five low women for fourteen days before the police discovered that the lady was innocent and ■ that there was no ground for her detention. ! The f, Kfeuz Zeitung" and many other i papers demanded a thorough investigation by the' Government. '"' ft.. x • ",■■ ■> Q r /

Some years ago a Nelson paper headed a leading article" Our warning to the Czar." Whether, the autocrat of,all the Bussias trembled on his throne at the warning is not recorded. About four years ago an upcountry papelin Otagd headed an artiole " Our Congratulations to the Queen!" There have been other instances equally absurd, but the latest that I have noticed appeared this week in the evening journal, which is nothing if not Jingoistic. In the course of a leading article severely admonishing Mr Carnegie for daring to advise Great Britain to wake up, appears the following gem of purest ray serene:—"We assure the great multi-millionaire that the Old Land is neither decadent nor asleep," "After this assurance, Mr ( arnegie will, no doubt, be quite satisfied that he knows less about the Old Land than—the 'Duhedin Star.'—Bruce Herald correspondent. Messrs Lucas and Hodgkin, who have recently been engaged in sounding sand dredging for scientific purposes at Lake Wakatipu, and the Lakes in the North Island, have just completed the soundings of Lake Manapouri, where they have taken 200 soundings. Following is a list of the deepest soundings in the various lakes : Taupo.largestlakein New Zealand. 534 ft; Rotorua. 84ft; Eotoiti, 228 f t; Waikaremoana, 846 ft. The last-named lake is about 2000 ft above sea-level. The orly lakes so far sounded in the South Island-are Lakes Wakatipu and Manapouri, Wakatipu was found to be 1242 ft deep, and Manapouri 1458 ft deep, or 216 ft deeper than Wakatipu, hitherto considered to be the deepest lake in New Zealand, and while the bottom of Lake Wakatipu lies about 200 ft below sealevel, the bottom of Lake Manapouri reaches to the great depth of 861 ft below sealevel.; 3 t ■'>:■' v.:'" It' : ■■■:■: . '. •■/. •'•

It sounds incredible (remarks the London " Chronicle ") but Mr Seddon,' daring his recent visit to London,, really overlooked one little item of business. He forgot to secure for New Zealand a branch of the Royal Mint. New Zealand gold now goes for minting to the neighbouring Common* wealth. There are three branches lot the Royal Mint in Australia—Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth. From the last quarterly report of the Melbourne Mint we see that it received 51,815 ounces of gold from New Zealand, as compared with 14,764 ounces in the corresponding quarter of last year—a big jump. Altogether during the first nine months of this year the MelboujSie Mint re-; ceived; ounces of :gold|laß|KtSoeds out soVereigris and aggregate value of with bullion worth £45J!02; felt Australia could only get-rain and Abundantly as, it gets gold/ itSwouldv be.i& 'grand country. g0 - : v.X'-<sk :ms % -P'"'■ ■-'■' '■■■■. ■ Correspondence of a decidedly interest* ing character has recently passed befcwei&l the Defence Department and the command-' ing officers of some volunteer co>pfe JnfSftpi lington, relative to the intention of partment te~?maket. deductions fromlithe capitation allowances for the current year.. The Defence authorities cjaimto be entitled! to make a charge of £J eaqh for each Miii rifle which the companies have refernM'® store in a damaged condition. 1 Th>%olllP teers admit that the weapons in question are damaged; but they claim that the use of cordite and of an inferior oil supplied by the Government was responsible tor the defects which have occurred, and they therefore .emphatically object to any of their capitation being kept back' on that account. The position has become soHacute that twO" at least of the best corps in the city have decided to resign if the Department withholds any money except foe damage done to