INTERPROVINCIAL ITEMS.

Evening Post, Volume LXIV, Issue LXIV, 13 September 1902, Page 4 (Supplement)

INTERPROVINCIAL ITEMS.

Two whales — a bull and a cow — with their calf, were seen (says tho OUigo Witness) in the lower harbour and passed close to tho brigantino Enterprise. Tho whales are said to be of tho species called "right whale," and consequently very valuable on account of the bal-een. As a lesult of tho prolonged detention by the Customs authorities of the Auckland trawler Minnie Casey, for fishing uulsido the aa>ea prescribed, a number of hawkurs and small fish dealers weie deprived of a means of earning their living, while tho crow and a number of fish e'eaners were thrown out of employment. During the discussion at the Stratford Farmers' Union Conference on a suggestion to impose a. tax on marriagublo girls, one delegate stated that he knew of a mun who had, in one week, received offers of marriage from three different widows ! A company with a capital of £2000 is being iloated in Hustings, llawkes Hay, to undertake tho dihtribulion of locallygrown fruit. Tho building trade in Pulmerston North is phenomenally brisk, and tho town is forging ahead at a wonderfully rapid rate. Air. A. Stewart, the Government surveyor in charge of the Ross-Hokitika railway line surveys, is making! exceptionally rapid progress with the work (&aya tho Uiey iiiver i\rgus). The trial line has been completed and about threequarters of the permanent way is already luicl oil". Tho lirst thi«e miles of tho formation has also been cleared of bush for the regulation width. The lino is rougldy about 16 miles in length, and presents, no Bpecial diflicullies. A new steamer will shortly be built for the Rotorun Hot Lakes Steamship Company. The launch will be 40ft long, and will draw only a foot of .water. The machinery baa been ordered in England. There is said to be n good deal of sickness just at present among the Maoris living on tho Wivikato River between Pait Waikato and Huntly. Several natives have recently died of the prevailing epidemic, a. sort of low .fever, and many others are down with the disease. When the Elingamite reached Gisborne the other uay, it wus found that the Clydesdale stallion Balfour, consigned to Gutbome, had died in his box. The cause at present is unknown. The easiest way for t mining companies t) find gold is to stop operations and let tributes. It is surprising how quickly the gold conies then.-— Observer. Owing to the accumulation of work at the Supreme Court, Auckland, it is suggested that the District Court should be re-established. A Timuru cable from Durban advises the deaOh (causa not stated) of Mr. Mendelsohn, solicitor, of Temuka, well known as an athlete in New Zealand aud Cambridge University. The Poverty Bay Herald complains that £8000 voted by Parliament last October to cover expenditure in the district during th* year ended 31st March last, not one penny has been received by tho. local bodies. The Het&ld observes that this is the way surpluses arc manufactured. At Kaponga the price of meat has gone up twopence all round. • This is I effing to tho high prices ruling for utock. The Manaia butchers, however, have not increased their prices, though whether they can maintain them under the circumstances for any length of time, uuless the niaiket for stock alters, i» a somewhat moot point. Tho result of the plebiscite in connection with the Bible in schools in Mostgiel was an overwhelming expression of opinion in favour of it. There were 437 votes recorded in its favour, and 19 against. We are not free from combines and trusts even in tho Taieri (says the Advocate's Plains correspondent). It is freely rumoured that some buyers aie trying to form a corner in cattle, and large sales have been made this week. If consumers will onl^ reduce their con(sumption for « few weeks, those trying to form the corner might be cornered. A little Boor boy has been brought home by Captain Mitchell, of the Tenth Contingent. The youngster is about thirteen years of age (says tho Hawera Star), and is a mannerly, intelligent-looking little fellow, who seems very fond of his patron. Mr. Frank Joyce, of Waimate, met with a curious accident the other day (says the Timnru Herald). He was riding down the ford near Centrewood when his horse stumbled and fell, breaking its neck. Mr. Joyce's Jog waa pinned under the dead horse, and he lay there for over an hour before help arrived. When released he was found to bo only suffering from a few bruises. One settler on the Waimate Plains (Taranaki) has four families milking 170 cows on shares, whilst another fanner has a family of seventeen milking for him. The Westport Coal Company's output last, month was 47,884 tons 2cwt. A very large area of new orchards is being planted in tho Nelson district this season. All through the Waiuica Plains, and also on tho Motueka side of tho bay, may be seen evidence of increased plantations, and the work is done on improved, up-to-date lines. Quite a number of sheep-stations in Poverty Bay are now connected by telephone with Gisborne. A visit has juut been paid to Poverty Hoy district by Messrs. Bolton and Anderson, of the North Island Bacon Company, Woodville, with the object of inducing the settlers to enter into an agreement to sell pigs to the company for a certain period. The company will guarantee a minimum of 3d per pound for suitable animals. Tho Napier Gas Company, for tho purchase of whose works tho ratepayers of the Borough of Napier are about to be asked to vote, has a nominal capital of £50,0Q0, with a paid-up capital of £22,000. i v v A school of seven whales has been seen off Hawera during the past fortnight. A telegram was despatched to the whaling: station in Pelorus Sound. \ It is reported that Mr. E. G. Allsworth lias purchased the Daily News, New Plymouth. The matron of tho Nelson Hospital has resigned as the outcome of a difference of opinion with tho resident surgeon. A private cablegram received from Dublin states that Dean Mahoney, who has been seriously ill, is now better. j Tho Northern Company's steamer Ngapuhi, with the Southern portion of the 'Frisco mail aboard, grounded the other day on her way down tho Manukau Harbour, and was delayed eleven hours. Mr. George H. Legge, w;ho discovered about six years ago, the well-known Legge reef, tho recent rediscovery of which is enriching some Coromandel tributers, died at Coromandel on 30th August, after a long and painful illness. Deceased was much respected in the district. Ho leaves a wife and four children. Gum digging is playing a very important part in the industries of Katikati just now. The weekly output of gum, which is reported to be of excellent quality, is at the present moment put clown «t about « ton. The diggers me chiofly Avtstriofin, who dea-1 direct with the nettlers, who in turn tranship to Auckland. During the past fow days fully 100 sheep have been worried on the Wairoa Bun, Nelson, by dogs. Hays the North Otogo Times: — "An Oamaru lad, with an ingenious turn of mind, has constructed a wireless telegraphy apparatus by which he can get i signals over a, considerable distance."