INTERPROVINCIAL ITEMS.

Evening Post, Volume LXIV, Issue 83, 4 October 1902, Page 12 (Supplement)

INTERPROVINCIAL ITEMS.

Auckland medical men now visit patients per •automobiles. They are considered quite the thing because of the speed with which they enable patients to be visited. A young man who recently arrived in Eketahuna from Taihapc informs the Express that the settlers in the latter district are, in marry instances, in a state of semi-starvation. Numerous families are said to be subsisting on. " damper " and potatoes. Five of the Timaru churches have combined to bear the cost of distributing voting papers in the Timaru electoral district, for the taking of a, voluntary plebiscite on the Bible-in-Schools question. The anxiously-awaited Public Works Estimates came down last Tuesday (says the Lake Wakatipu Mail) and we feel sure that to those who have the wellbeing of Queenstown and district at heart its disclosures must have been very gratifying. What may be considered a ver}' liberal quota — namely, £2350 — has been set down for improving this place and making it more attractive as a tourist resort, and for this we have largely to thank the representations of Mr. Donne, Tourist Superintendent, and the efforts of our worthy M.H.R., Mr. William Fraser. A peculiar eel was caught at New Plymouth the other day. The fish, which appeared to be a " sport," had a mouth and tail something like a shark's, and on the top of its head What looked, like a whale's blowhole. It was of no size, being easily placed in an ordinary whisky bottle. A West Coast paper says that a large area of new orchards is being planted in the Nelson district this season. ' All through the Waimea Plains, and also on I the Motueka. side of the bay, may be seen evidences of increased plantations, and the work is done on improved, up-to-date lines. Detective and Mrs. Fitzgerald, who have been on a trip to the Homeland during the post six months, returned to Timaru by express yesterday afternoon. There is said to be a scarcity of fish at present, not only in Timaru (says the Post), but in Dunedin and Christchurch. Two shops, at least, in Christchurch have had their shutters up, with the legend upon them: — '" Open to-morrow if there is any fish." One shop, which recently closed on account of this reported scarcity of fish, opened with a stock of periwinkles and a couple of rabbits. Miss M. Dennison, Oamaru, has received the appointment of nurse at the Riverton Hospital in place of Miss Stevens, who has received the position of matron of the Cromwell Hospital. •The Hokitika County Council has received an authority of £200 for improving the Mahitahi-Paringa landing road. This is a very \irgent work in Ihe Bruce Bay district, where transport is at present greatly hampered through the bad and even dangerous state of the road. When completed th|b work will be a great boon to traffic, and of particular advantage to the growing settlements in the neighbourhood, which receive their supplies by way of Bruce Bay. Vvestport has abolished .the ward system of representation in the Borough Council, and in April next the Council will be elected by the borough as one v-onstituency. It is said by a West Coast paper that the body of one of the Chinamen disinterred at Macraes was -not at all decomposed, though it had been buried for more than five years, and the man's clothes, boots, and hat, which were found in the coffin, did not show the ; slightest signs of decay. | The high price which cattle has been I bringing at the sales lately on the West Coast is causing considerable activity in local farming circles, and far south settlers are making special efforts , to place their stock on the market while the present priqes are ruling, several settlers being on their way north -with mobs. Some seventy men are now employed upon the construction work of the Coal Creek railway line. The management have found some difficulty in obtaining experienced men, as many of the married men do not care to leave their homes. Recently the Railway Department put on 20 single men at ballasting. The W,estport Coal Company have nearly completed arrangements for the extension of their * electric lighting system throughout the township of Denniston. Recently (says the G^eymouth Argus) the Chinese miners of Marsder} district came to town in a bddyi and reported that one of their number had been seized suddenly by the devil and was doing murderous work in that locality. Police officers went out in hot haste and found that a dangerous Chinese lunatic was at large and his violent attacks had frightened his fellow countrymen. The madman had also attacked a European and then escaped to the bush, where he was secured by the police officials after four hours of an exciting chase. The madman was taken to the Hokitika Asylmn. The Grey County Council has decided thai clergymen of all denominations are to be carried free of charge on the Blackball ferry. Northern setters speak very highly of a new method of removing stumps. Into a hole which is bored in a stump some dynamite is placed and then exploded by electricity from a portable battery. The cost of removal is about 12s 3d an. acre, and the work is done with remarkable expedition. Mr. G.^Hutchinson, of Wellington, has presented \ solid gold medal to the Hawera Fanciers' Association, as a prize for the best fox terrier (dog or bitch) at the next show. The export of cattle from the Clutha district continues (says the Leader). The latest deal represents* 260 head, which are to be sent from Stirling to the Ocean Beach Freezing Works, Bluff, at the rate of 64 every second day. The price is 32s 6d per 1001b, and the first lot were sent a-wayj on Wednesday. The 260 head is part of an order for 600. Patea Press says : — Butter is now coming in freely at the local grading works. It has been decided that one of the Government graders shall reside in Patea. The Oamaru Harbour Board has arranged for a loan of the big dredge at Timaru. It is a singular fact that the small birds in the Waitaki County are thriving on the poisoned grain laid down with the object of destroying them. The grain, however, is fatal to waterfowl and domestic dnoks. The Napier Borough Council proposes to contribute £50 towards the expenses of holding the next United Fire Brigades demonstration in Napier. The Awakino correspondent of the Waitara Mail writes : — Rumours are current here of a gold discovery of considerable importance having been made on this coast. It is said a large sized reef has been located, its lay apparently being diagonally from the interior to the coast. For supplying drink at a tangi at Waikanac, a native was fined £2 by the Ruakawa Maori Council. Nineteen others were fined 5s for drinking at the tangi. The Council is determined to suppress excessive drinking at tangis. At New Plymouth a 'bus driver named M'lndoe was fined £10 and 23s costs for supplying liquor to a prohibited person. A Marton business man is considering the question pf establishing a motor car service between that town and the railway station. A horse was sold at the Eketahuna pound this week for 2s a leg, and sixpence for liis carcase.