NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9153, 7 September 1888, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF.

The Japan cable has been restore*!W J. Courtney ha# gone to Melbourne. Pastor Mailer is delivering addressed in j C August Bay has been gazetted public vaccinator in the Raglan district. Diphtheria of a virulent character is said to have broken out at Normanby. The district embraced in the Borough of Birkenhead has been gazetted a licensing district. The Melbourne Tramway and Omnibus Company has paid this year dividends amounting to 17 per cent. A small fiat-bottomed boat was picked op by the ferry steamer Alexandra yesterday morning in the harbour. In a Government Gazette, published on j the 30th of August, is published a long list of assessors under the Property Tax Act. The Press generally throughout the ; colony agree that the depression is at last lifting, and that good times are at hand. , The South Australian Government pro- j pose to increase the salary of Mr. J. E. j Brown, Conservator of I orests, from £o-/J to £750. , j Mr W G Packer has been gazetted a member of the licensing committee o! j Kaitaia, in the place of 31 r. T. »\ . P. Smith, i resigned. _ , . » Owing to yesterday being the first day of : the Jewish New Year, nearly all the bud- < ness premises of our Hebrew fellow-towns- i men were closed. _ j Rumour has it, according to the \N an- j n-anui Herald, that Mr. Maxwell has I promised a saving of £100,000 in the Rail- j wav Department. i An exchange say? that- from various j quarter? there are signs that the silver j production of this colony will cut no mean ; figure before long. °A Melbourne syndicate propose, it is re- | ported, to spend £500, WO in mining opera- j tions near Blayney. They intend to sins a j shaft 1000 feet deep. _ j The Victorian Government is to be asked : to increase the annua! subsidy to agricul- j tural societies by £10.000, no single society j to receive more than £500. Captain Edwin wired at 1.30 p.m. yes- j terday Indications of glass tailing after • twelve hours from now, and strong north to s east and south-east winds."' A Dune-din lawyer has given a neat ; description of the late earthquake. He j say? : " It's only New Zealand shaking off the depression, and waking up." According to a Wellington paper the j Pleione is being so rapidly prepared that there is every probability of her being the j first wool ship for the approaching season, j In consequence of the strike among the [ miners at Newcastle, the different steam- I ship companies engaged in the intercolonial trade have increased rates of freight 25 per ; ct>nt. L ~ . .Referring to the damage to the Christ- ! church Catnedral spire. ,- Pun says: "It j will teach the folks there not to be too ! aspiring, not to put too fine a point upon it !" . | At the Victorian Farmers' Protection j Conference it was proposed to ask Govern- ; ment aid in importing skilled agricultural labour. The proposal was vigorously op- ; posed, and ultimately negatived. A Melbourne syndicate has purchased the I Killingworth estate at Yea, for the purpose j of subdivision. The property contains over j 14.000 acres, has about 40 miles of river i fiats, and the soil is most prolific. The Melbourne -Age says : New Zealand j is singularly rich in streams of water that j hold mineral salts in solution, and it is j surprisiug that, long before this, a good export trade in the article has not been established. Great expectations are entertained in Christ-church of the newly-discovered silver reefs in the Owen district. The extent of j the reef so far as known is H miles, and j the nature of the country is said to be exceedingly promising. Mr. Barrett, who is the backbone of Pears 7 soap, announced a few days ago that his firm spent £100,000 a-year in advertising that excellent article, of which £55,000 is expended in Great Britain, £30,000 in the United States, and £15,000 j on the Continent, principally in France and Germany A shocking case is reported from Goulburn. The remains of a newly-born infant were found in a paddock, after bavin? been exposed for about a week. The arms, neck, and part of the breast were eaten by dogs or pigs, and it was impossible to say whether the child had been violently treated or not. There is no clu© to its parentage.