NEWS IN, BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XX, Issue 6820, 26 September 1883, Page 6

NEWS IN, BRIEF.

There are 5000 Civil Servants in.Victoria.' - The population of Melbourne in July .was ■ estimated at 291,464. ■ . \ . The Sydney Jester is the . title of a new comic.paperpublished at Sydney..... "'•The New Guinea natives have' 1 plundered" Mr.'. Morrison's. party, of much'property:. The salary of the Governor of Tasmania has been increased!?forii"£3soo to: £5000; '' Captain Armit, :the explorer, is reported? to be with Professor' Denton at Sojeri, New. Guinea. • . . :■ .:■ '> At' Adelaide Police Court, a man has beenfined £5 for disturbing-'the'. Salvation . Army at their barracks. The Bank'of. Now Zealand has leased ; premises at-Adelaide with the view opening, a branch in that city. The Customs duties taken at Sydney in ■August were the largest ever collected.in one. month. The amount was. £122,577. . The names of the members of the, Newton Road Board are published in.the supplem-int '.to the New Zealand Gazette of September 13. 1 Certain sections of land at: Te Wharau, -,Kawakawa, not required, for public use,..liai e .been authorised by an Ordcr-in-Couucil to be sold. Many farmers in the G.oulburn. Valley are rturning their .-attention to the vine,, which, industry, bids: fair to outdo wheat growing, in that district. ' : Speaking at St. Leonards, the Colonial Treasurer of New South.'Wales promissd a '"railway schenie pf a magnitud<J:never before attempted." Mr John Macdonald, on leaving the general managership of the Melbourne Age; oh pension,- was presented with au address and' 200 sovereigns. Tho use of tho electric light in mines is extending, in -the Sandhurst 1 ..district. The Ellenborough Company has saved £150 by its useirrnine months..

. It isistated .that there.: is. not. an aore.in North or South Adelaide worth less" than £2000,: and that many acre 3 are' worth Iroar £30,000 to £100,000 each., .

A Melbourne paper says that an .old maii named Alexander Burke, residing, at Morep,. near Meredith, died on August 31last at the ; advanced of 102.' ■■■■'. . ... ■

In a-New Zealand' Gazette, published on 'the.' 20th instant, ■ appears.- an Order-in-fCouricil;" giving regulations to ,be. observed in auditing of school committees'., accounts. . . By an Order-in-Counuil, the" book:entitled History'for 1 Standard 111., by. D. Petrie; M.A., Dunedin; ha 3 been , appointed:a class, book : for use' in the public schools in the colony. '. The building on the gaol reserve, recently, erected by tho City Council oE Aucklaud; has been proclaimed :a- female reformatory,under the": provisions, of the.' Contagious. Diseases Act, 1869..:. : Adelaide always loyally observes the Duke, of hdinburgh's birthday ias a-public holiday,, and perhaps is the only town in-,tho. British dominions at which this is done; -

. 8 Judge Higginbotham's eloquent: lecture on: " Science and delivered in the Soots Church,' Melbourne, has been reprinted in Dunedin in pamphlet form.- .. . Mr. Thomas Boyd, the sole survivor of the first party of white men who crossed .the River Murray, is to reciave ..an auuuity of £25 from the New South Wales Government.

A band .of musical ■ • typos, numbering twenty three performers, : has been: formed; from tho compositors of the Advertiser office in Adelaide, tho conductor'being also a typelifter., \ f., -."i'V-N'.,

'The sch'oonor Ethel;has.arrived;-'at Mary-: borough, Queensland,': from 'the South 'S'-aS' ivith 110 recruits, and also a native chief who, speaks Frenoh, and who lias come as a passenger to buy pigs. Mr. Levin, M. H.R.,' of Wellington, who fl as so ill during last session as to be unable to attend to his Parliamentary.:duties,: has.been iti Waiwera Hot Springs for - a short period, and returns to Wellington, in'a. few days, quite restored in health. ' The Hawera Star of September- 15th says": —"Mr. C, Marks, who has been in charge of Mr, Fleming's boot business here for several months past, leaves for Auckland on Monday, and will be much missed by his many friends hero who have been accustomed ■*to .his genial ways." . The extirpation of rabbits is proving a costly process. Victoria has already spent £25,000, and proposes spending £12,000 additional; South Australia has expended £100,000, and proposes expending. £20,000 more; and New South Wales has spent £35,000; making a total of £192,000. . *