NEWS IN BRIEF. INTERPROVINCIAL.

Evening Post, Volume LVII, Issue 112, 13 May 1899, Page 4

NEWS IN BRIEF. INTERPROVINCIAL.

Throughout the colony only'one town observes Tuesday afternoon as the public half-holiday under the Shops and. Shop Assistants Act, 64 observe Wednesday, 42 Thursday, and one Friday, A good many patches of crop in the Timaru district are still in stook, the frequent rain having prevented the farmers getting 'their crops in. ' Large quantities of grain, chiefly wheat, coming forward at Lyttelton for shipment, have been found to be almost rotten, owing to the wet weather during harvest. > Mr. A. Hardie, one of the Justices of the Peace responsible for the failure of justice in a North-east Valley (Dunedin) assault case, which occasioned widespread indignation, has resigned from the Commission of the Peace. An insect pest has been very busy among apples this year in Canterbury. Ihe insect in question, which is known as the fusicladium, says an exchange, attacks first the stalk of the apple, and then bores through the adjacent skin. A Dunedin boy has coughed up in tho hospital a whistle which he had swallowed in his excitement when running to a fire. His escape was a providential one, as, from the position of the impediment, any operation to remove it must have been attended with doubtful results. A Southern paper has been shown a sample ,of the new "wind-resisting" barley, grovm at Leeston. The barley has yielded 50 bushels to the acre, and , was threshed much more easily than was expected. The berries are well-filled and plump, the skin fairly smooth, and the horns tough. The Cctromandel News reports that while a man named Morton was shooting at a rabbit the ground on which he was standing at the edge of a cliff gave way and he fell a distance of a hundred feet on the sea beach. He landed on his right foot, and the'injuries are confined to his ankle." ' Mr. Benjamin Crisp, senr., the Nelson veteran, who has spent 62 years in the colony, celebrated his 91st birthday on Thursday of this week. The • Marlborough Education Board proposes to establish a high "school at Blenheim. A- Bill will be introduced into Parliament, and the Government is to be asked to grant £1500 for building purposes, besides an annual grant of £400. The Cromwell Times hears on good authority that Mr. A. W. Tyndall, of Blue Spur, is a very probable candidate for the coming election, in the Government interest. Mr. William Murray, of Christchurch," has been,appointed to the position of Secretary of the New Zealand Refrigerating Company (Limited). Deer appear to have been none too plentiful in the South this season just ended. The question of introducing a fresh strain of blood, or in some way protecting the herd, will the Tapanui Courier) have to be considered by the society if deer-stalking is to be preserved as a sport for future years.

CYCLING SCHOOL. The Drillßhed CyoLuig School, Maginnitystreet, is opsn daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. for private tuition by appointment m the art of cycling ; evening lessons arranged for pupils who cannot a,ttend during the day. Special attention given to correct pedalling action, deportment, mounting, and dismounting.—H. Pea.co'ek, Professional Cyoliug lnatruotor. Telephone 999.