INTERPROVINCIAL ITEMS.

Evening Post, Volume LXVII, Issue LXVII, 30 January 1904, Page 12

INTERPROVINCIAL ITEMS.

Tho Auckland Harbour Board's oil launch Ku.ika, which collided with tin Man Francisco mail steamer off Haugilato U«ef and then Mink, is btill lying on the bottom of tlio harbour. Auckland auctioneer. 1 * have engaged privato dete<tivus with the object of .suppressing tho pilfering in uu< Lion rooms. The UovcrniiumL .say.s to tho Maori : "You m ii.su 't sell your land to tho thieving Kuropwm for £2 an am- ; wo' ll Rive you 3»." — .Mr, .Moss, Jt.11.1t., on native land h'gi.'-lation. Tho rather novel .sight of a hivo of bre.s taking chargo of v church was witncMwd ut Stafford (Wcstland) the oilier Sunday, when tho Key. Mr. Crockett, the minister in charge of the I'lv-sbylorian Church there, wun compelled to vacate tho pulpit und boat a lia.sty retreat outside. The rcce-ipt.s of the Auckland Harbour Board for 1903 wero £96,942 11» 2d, including a balance of £4233 brought forward. The port revenue for all «ourcc& totalled £67,377 15s 3d, an incrca&c ol £4656 over that of the previous year. The other day two horses tumbled over tho cliff in tho Kanmgahakc Gorge, at a point just on the Waihi side of Kuraugiihako. Hoth nnimalA were killed by tho fall. They were valued at £6 and £10. It is surmised that the horses had been galloping about bn top of tho hill. Speaking at tlio Colonial Executive meeting of the Farmers' Union, Mr. M'G'urdy said that tlio principal imports at oni> Kinull seaside township were mntches, kerosene, and tiro insurance policies. Tho valuo of imports into Gisborne from plaeo.s beyond the colony for the last year totalled £68,304, us -compared with £39,902 for tue previous year. The exports to places beyond the. colony were £541,077, us compared with. £397,039 in 1902. Uunedin City Council has obtained a site for a free public library, thus securing Mr. Carnegie's gift to the city. (Another old identity, Mary feenner, who landed at tho Bay of Islands in 1839, is dead. She leaves fivo daughters, two sons, forly grandchildren, and fortyono great-grniidchildreu. In North Canterbury this year five of the six winners of senior scholarships* were girls, and four of twelve juniors. The .small birds are very destructive in tho Taieri this year — more so, if anything, than in previous years. Last .season 20,000 rabbits woro trapped on Taylor's Flat, Upper Waiau (Southland). The (Int-has now fewer rabbits than ever before. Members of tlio congregation of an Ashburton, church were surprised on Sunday evening, says the News, to «ec volumes of smoke issuing' from the pocket of a worshipper, who had neglected to knock the ashes out of bus pipe before entering tho sacred edifice. An alarm wn» promptly given, and tho conflagration wu» extinguished before much damage won dono. ' Iho Clutha- Leader Ktdk-.s iliat Mr. Bcgg, of tho Willowbum Hstato, near Clinton, oprang it most agreeable .surprise on his men the other day. Tho Mien ring over, the men wero lined up and informed that Mr. Bogg would pay all their expenses for a trip to tho Lakes. During tho past twelve months at Timaru Ilnrbour the two dredges have taken lo aea 122,692 tons of &and and hilt. Thi» ha» cost tho Board a fraction over £5000. Hastings proposes to establish municipal gn.«\vorks. The extent to which tho ITawera Public Library is used by members m shown by tho fact that while the member* total 176, the booka circulated laat year numbered 19,910. In Now Plymouth tho number of mombor* in 176, and in Wanganui 230. In the latter pluco book* wcro circulated to the number of 19.210. Tho complaint known us i)iump» is Ktill very prevalent in the llnwtra district. Tho troublo is affecting both young and old. Three hundred tons of ironsand la to bo snipped from l'ntca to England for experimental purposes. One hundred and thirty tons hns already gone. It is expected, «ays tho, llawera Star, that the I'ntca Meat Works will shortly bo taken over by an Kngliuli comnnnv, and that freezing and exporting will fie added to tho boiling-down and tinning operations. It is reported, «ayfl tho Hawero- Star, Iliat a contractor in the Whangamomona district, who could not secure liand» for outside work, purposes going to Auckland to engago fifty men. Tho Health Officer in Auckland has put a, «top to tho nrnctieo of cleaning I'wh in tho harbour close to tho wharves, owing to tho spot used for that purpose by the fish vendors being in tho neighbourhood of sowers and latrines. At hia suggestion tho Auckland City Council w conaidcring Iho advisability ol providing vate filled with limo water for fi.«sh cleaning purposes, and also bins for tho reception of the refuse. Tho work of opening up trenches for sewerage- in New Plymouth, ways tho News, will bp dono b) r day labour under tho supervision of the Borough Engineer. Tho Southland Daily News reports that stock buyers aro operating freely in the Southland district, and large quantities of sheep have during tho pnst *»vcrnl weeks been taken North. Last weok six thousand, mostly wethers and lambs, were purchased by an Oamnra buyer, the number including one lot of three thousand from Merrivalo Station. A start hits been made to luy tho foundations of the lighthouse which is to beerected at Patiti, couth of Timaru. Tho institution of di&irict high schools, and tho provision mado for freo places nt other secondary schools, ha.s had tho effect of very considerably decreasing tho number of candidates for the Auckland Education Board's Hcliolurships. It is claimed that the seams of coal struck in tho Stato -coal inino at Point Elizabeth, near Greymouth, are equal, if not suporior to anything in tho Southern Hemisphere A totalisutor proprietor advertised in Christcburch the other day, stating that hw clerk had mado a mi«tako and paid several people 18s too much, and asking those people to refund him tlio money. It is stated that quite- a large number of West Coast residents 'arc now journeying over to Chrifttchurch by cycle. The roads are at present in good condition. Tho fires in tho bush in tho Greymouth back country are numerous and assuming alarming proportions of lato. A number of sawtnillcrs have already lost heavily in 'tram lines and destruction of timber. Most of tho mills are stopped, the employees boing engaged beating buck the flames. Unless ram fulls soon mutters will becomo very serious indeed. Tho applications for flax areas at a recent meeting of the Wcstlund Land Board wero so numerous that tho Board decided to hold a special meeting to deal with them. Four applications hnvo been received for the positioi) of veterinary surgeon lo tho Hastings Branch of the Fanm-ifi' Union. Tlio Daniiovirke Borough Council ha*, been presented by Mrs. Allardice, a local losident, with two acre*} of land as v roadway to the site of tho municipal abattoirs. The Auckland I'Mitcntion Board pnoscd a le.solution making strong lepresionttttions in favour of bettor provisions for school playgrounds. Mr. Leipst, Iho contractor, for tho experimental 3-in well ut HittstingH, han reached a depth of 290 ft out of the 500 uontrnct feet. The pipes have come to a diflkult pail, alt big stones. After Mr. Lcipst has got through this he hopes lo gel at a clay bed, wheio tho driving is eaoiftje.