BREVITIES.

Evening Star, Issue 12205, 25 May 1904, Page 7

BREVITIES.

r wms general thiougnout the ctLony yesterday. 0 At PajnerMon, Andrew Smith Hood hj; been committed to Dunedin Gaol for fou on , a char g e of the theft of bottle pf brandy from tlje bar of the Nort! western Hotel. Under the will of the late Mr John Fim Jay, of Invercargill, the local hospital r ceires a legacy of £IOO, the Presbyterb Maori Missions £2OO, the Victoria Hofor Friendless Girls £iro, and the Britif . and Foreign Bible Society £IOO. The marine engineer ha& returned to W< ’will report- to the Actinj Minister of Marine to the direction c the currents at Bird Island. The Premier is said to be benefiting hv his stay on the island of Kawau, He is, in dulging in fishing, and joined a party in a wallaby shooting expedition, Balclutha Brass Band on Monday evening accepted the tender (£125) of Messn Ross and Glendining, of this Citv, for uniforms. John Williamson, employed in the preserving department of the Gear Company’s works ait Petone, Wellington, fell dead while engaged at his work yesterday. Mr Justice Denniston, sitting at Christchurch, yesterday dismissed a petition for divorce in Gordon v. Gordon, on the ground that respondent had not failed to provide for his wife’s maintenance. Mr D. Buddo addressed his constituents at Kaiapoi on Monday night, replying to statements by the leader of the Opposition on his reoent visit to the district. Sneak thieves are unpleasantly numerous aboard the intercolonial steamers just now. We hear of a passenger by the Mokoia being relieved of £3O oh her run from Dunedin to the Bluff. A harder case was that of a man- who was minus £l3, all he possessed in the world, on the same steamer’s arrival at a Northern port, and he wiis burdened with the cate of a. wife and family. It is stated by the ‘ Bruce Herald ’ that a small whale, about 15ft in length, was discovered on the beach near Crystall’g on Tuesday, and was secured by two men working on a farm at the coast-. An Englishman who is superstitious was (says ‘ Motoring Illustrated ’) run down bv a motor car near Yillefranche. He took the number of the car, and everyone supposed that he was going to the police. Instead of that, however, he went to Monte Carlo and backed the number (it was a two-figure car) at roulette, and won £BOO. A clergyman in Manchester regretted that England spent £3.000,000 yearly in diamonds, “a stone whose history is associated with every form of crime and vice.” , An extraordinary find of rubies, sapphires, and emeralds has been made near Ficksburg, in the Orange River Colony. Nearly a bucketful of these precious stones, totalling 386 carats, was the result of a washing of two loads of earth, Mr Keir Hardie, M.P., who recently visited Mr Kruger at Montone as the delegate of the English Independent Labor party, conveyed to the ex-President an expression of that party’s regret that “ our country should have been dragged by the capitalists of the Rand into a war of aggression for which there was never the slightest justification ”! According to Senor Cabra, a Spaniard, Sunday closing in Spain is not due to the good will of the Government, but to the action of the National Shop Assistants’ Association, who forced the Cortes to carry a shop closing law. If anyone in Spain opened his shop on a Sunday the Association simply broke his windows. There has been a great revival of spiritualistic seances in New Plymouth during the past few months, and sceptics, who go to scoff, are being weekly converted to the “circles” that have been established. In an endeavor to make his meaning clear, a speaker at a public mooting at Christchurch on Monday night said; “ I don’t mean ‘labor members’ in the way of M.H.R.S—I mean workers.” The roar of laughter which followed showed that he had been understood. The Wellington branch of the Farmers’ Union are t>f opinion that a Parliamentary Vigilance Committee should be appointed to watch legislation during the coming session, but scouted a proposal to return to Parliament an Independent Farming partv. Serious landslips at Brunnerton, involving loss of life. In one house a family of seven children were buried in the ruins. Mr Deakin firm in hie determination not to accept office in any new Administration. refuse to coalesce with the Reidites, it is improbable that Mr Reid will challenge the Watson Government at present. Mr C. G. Kingston’s health is reported to be mending. , Hashes, patent agent, of Wellington, has left for England by the Moeraki with an invention relating to printing, which ho has decided to place on the market. . Recent events in Thibet reveal Russian intrigues dating back to last spring, when the Russian agent at Lhassa promised the Lama military assistance. Empire Day was universally celebrated. According to President Loiibet, the antagonism between Protectionists and Freetraders in France haa almost ceased. Botha’s attitude at the Pretoria Conference is regarded as looking to the Administration to do as much as possible for the Boer fanner. The Jameson Ministry were defeated on their Estimates. In view of possible contingencies the Russians are massing great railway trains at Liao-yang. The convicts at Saghalien are being enrobed in the line, the Czar promising to remit a year’s imprisonment for every two months’ served with the colors, and to vrant special rewards for bravery on the field. The Japanese advance is greatly delayed by the wretched state of the roads in Manchuria. The Russians have reoccupied Niu-chwang, and are entrenching themselves to the southward of the town. The total loss of the Bogatyr is now acknowledged. Her guns were removed before" the ship was blown up. The Russians claim to have sunk a second battleship off Port Arthur on the 16th. Her crew were saved.