NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 7836, 4 January 1887, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF.

Someone has suggested Anrifera as new ] name for Teetulps. i Great coinplaintu are made of the havoc by small birds in Otago. •$ Mr. Dibbs calls himself the, "emergency man "of theN.S.W. Ministry. f • , The New Zealand, Educational Institute „ Wats this year in Chrlstchurch. On one day lately the Wellington city . tramways carried 5600 passengers. The bore for petroleum at Rotok&utuku, Poverty Bay, is now down 15S0 feet. > The London Echo says that the colonies are really suffering from lack of development, i The sale of the Opunake race privileges * brought this year double the amount, of last year.- »* - "*" Mr. E. A. Hart, the comedian, had a ; *5 narrow escape from drowning at Bondi recently. H, Severe weather- has been experienced m * Brisbane and throughout the greater part of ,vt Queensland. 1 •■4 Sir William Fox and Mr. Glover are to commence operations in Wellington on the 11th of January. Beach said he was glad to get away .from Adelaide, as the people almost killed him with kindness. , . The Rimntaka has on board a statue of Burns for Bunedin, by the well-known sculptor. Si; John Steel. „A well-known Newcastle resident, known as " Old Dick," was found drowned near the A.A. Company's wharf. _ , v* Charles VjWarren Adams, the plaintiff In the recent action against Lord Coleridge, was in New Zealand as a boy. - About 150 passengers took advantage of the night train from Dunedin for Christ- * church on Christmas Eve. There have been several " clean sheets " at the Wellington Police Courts, and the papers Bay there is a spurt on in morality. Each policyholder in the Government Life Insurance Department will be informed of # the amount of Ms or her bonus in February."^'* At a sale of <■ thoroughbreds held in Mel- '* bourne last weak, the racehorse Harvester was purchased by Mr. Ferry for 370 guineas. The Permanent Investment and Loan Association of Christchurch haye taken a new departure by arranging to take small sums «n deposit. Christmas Day in Sydney passed off quietly, k the home circle being the chief , attraction, according to the good old fashioned English custom. The crops in Riverina are very abundant this year. Fruits of all descriptions are especially plentiful. The approach of grass-

lopper is however feared. The patients in the Sydney Hospital have run the risk of being grilled loDg enough. The building is three parts of wood, and has caught tire twice recently. *«* P. K. Watty, sentenced in April, JSS4, to five years' penal servitude for forgery, was liberated on December 31, his Excellency having remitted part of the sentence. South Australia has been visited by considerable rain storms. The crops continue to look promising. Reaping operations have begun in various districts of the colony. it is, it seems, common for persons to be sick while travelling from Wellington to Masterton, and it has been suggested that itewards and basins will have to be pro-

vided., A Sydney paper, says It speaks badly for the leading musical societies of Sydney that we could not have**a decent performance of Handel's glorious "Messiah" during tmastide.

A" Mr. Joseph Symes, the Freathought lecturer, does not believe in loyalty, and says that the loyalty of Australians is not skindeep, and would never be allowed to reach their pockets. Three pantomimes are being played in Sydney; "The Sleeping Beauty" at the Royal, "Dick Whittington" at the Royal Standard, and " A Trip to the Moon" at the Academy of Music. Rain has done much damage to the Victorian crops. ■ In sonv instances the cut grain has had to be spread out to dry, and stacks taken down. The Murray districts have suffered the most. The sanitiry inspector of Sydney, Mr. Seymour, has, during the past year, instituted 2006 prosecutions in the Police Courts, and the fines inflicted during that time have amounted to £2781 4a 6d.