NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8482, 5 February 1891, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF.

■ . -*- ■ Banoo sittings of the Supreme Court yes^741 tons of butter shipped from Victoria for London in 1890. ' : Tonnage of vessels trading to Sydney in 1899 was 1,644,589. There are 26,794 males and 19,496 females in. Western Australia. A boy jumped from an express train in Melbourne and was unhurt. A ten-year-old boy hanged himself at Redfern on the 23rd ultimo. There are 631,200 males and 514,200 females in New South Wales. » There are 100 applicants for the position of city organist for Sydney. The Napier meeting of the Rifle Association resulted *in a loss of £100Some sheep belonging to settlers at Matatana have been worried by dogs. _ ' They are talking of installing electric light in private houses at Newcastle. > Mrs. Daldy, tho wife of Captain Daldy, is suffering from a sprained foot, caused v by a fall. , •.'■'« i The annual meeting of tho members of the Northern Club will be held to-day at two p. m. • , .~x . The Auckland Knights of Labour at thenordinary meeting last night received some new members. . * The Auckland representatives at the .Presbyterian General Assembly leave for Christchurch to-morrow. . A man named Bromberger shob himself through the heart in the Sydney Botanic Gardens on the 27th ult. The Rev. Father Morrisey, who recently arrived in Auckland, has been appointed to St. Patrick's Cathedral parish. : In Brisbane the Colonial Secretary entertained at a picnic the special constables that served during the late strike. The new" building of the Melbourne Y.M.C.A., which has been erected at a cost of £55.000, was opened on the 27th ult. At Adaiustowu, New South Wales, on the 27th ult., several houses wore unroofed, and other extensive damage was caused by a heavy storm. There was a tremendous gale with high seas outside the Tamar Heads, Tasmania, on the 27th ultimo. Several shipping accidents occurred. During the two days of the Eisteddfod, at Sydney, about 3500 people paid for admission, the sum of £268 7s having been taken, at the doors. I An outbreak of pleuro-pneumonia is reported from Mount Gambier (South Australia). A farmer there has lost several cows from the disease. Some person maliciously cut tho wires of the electric light circuit in Melbourne on the occasion of the Australian Natives' fete on Monday night, 26th ult. The new steamer Laucana, which has 'been built for the Australian trade, has performed a trial trip, during which she attained a speed of nineteen knots. The total takings at the City Hall on Tuesday night, at Miss Vaughan's benefit performance in aid of the Huntly accidentrelief fund, amounted to nearly £50. Francis C. South, formerly a barrister in New Zealand, was arrested at Newcastle on the 27th ultimo, for stealing a watch from the shop of Frank Pearce, Hunter-street, Newcastle. At Broken Hill, a man who was engaged In adding to the height of Block 14 smelter chimney, overbalanced himself and fell to the ground, a distance of 100 feet. Death was instantaneous. „ During a thunderstorm at Newcastle on Tuesday afternoon, the 27th ultimo, the .barque Isle of Erin, moored at the Dyke, had her fore and main royalmasts carried away by lightning. . * David Law, master of the barque Island City, was lined £5, with costs, at the Williamstown (Vic.) Police Court, for neglecting to employ > the services of a pilot on arrival from British Columbia. A number of ruffians at Moore Park. Sydney, threw a shower of stones on to the dressing tent of the Wild West Show, on the evening of the 27th ultimo, Miss Wirth receiving a severe scalp wound. J. Page, of Casino, New South Wales, plucked an apple from a tree grown by himself, weighing lib 4oz, 51 inches diameter, 15{< inches circumference. Two other apples off the same tree weight 14oz each. The Government Printer of New South Wales has forwarded to the Department of Public Instruction a proof copy of the "School History of Australia," written by Mr. Lusk, barrister-at-law, formerly of Auckland. A burglary was committed at the store of Lewis" Chittenden, Nelson. A window was taken out of the building, where the. thief is supposed to have entered, and the safe cut open with a cold chisel and £22 abstracted. Judgment for plaintiff in the case of the Queenv. Mackechnieiu the Supreme Court yesterday. The question involved was the Tight of the solicitor to retain certain deeds from the mortgagee for costs due by the mortgagor. Notice of appeal was given. There are now considerably over 300 subscribers to the lending branch of the Free Library, and the list is steadily increasing, notwithstanding that the summer season is the most unfavourable season of the year, owing to the counter attractions of out-of-door amusements. Alexander McKie, arrested at Christchurch at tho request of the Melbourne police on a charge ot horse-stealing, and remanded, pending the receipt of the extradition warrant, was brought up and discharged, the charge having been withdrawn by cable from the Victorian police. Three solicitors were cited yesterday at the instance of the Law Society for contempt of Court in failing to pay the customary fees. They were allowed to stand over"; two of the solicitors promising to pay the fees within that time, and notice had not been served on the third. Satisfactory gold crushings are reported from Kimberley (W.A.) A trial crushing of 106 tons from the West and Left leasehold, Ruby Creek, yielded 208 ounces melted gold ; 20 tons from Allison's claim, on the same creek, yielded 45 ounces; Mount Bradley claim crushed 109 ounces from 80 tons.' Recent experiments by M. Pagnoul have shown that the removal of the leaves of growing potatoes diminished the weight of the tubers by one-half, although the number was not decreased. Cultivation under glass, either black, violet, or colourless, showed a diminution not only in weight, but in number also. At the usual monthly meeting of . the Orphan Home Trust Board it was unanimously decided to appoint Mr. Robert Walker, of Fort-street, honorary treasurer of that institution. Mr. Walker has beenlong associated with the Home, resides near it, and takea the, position at the desire of the committee, who have unbounded confifidence in hi 3 ability and probity. The January number of the Australasian Shorthand Journal contains a good deal of information of interest to reporters and journalists generally. A description is given of the Gabelsberger system of shorthand by Mr. W. E. Vaux, of Melbourne. The shorthand matter contains articles on "The Typewriter for Literary Purposes," and "The Remington' at Berlin." It has been announced by American journals, that Professor Riley, the well- ' known entomologist to the United States Department of Agriculture, has introduced into that country living specimens of Semiotelus Nigripes, a well-known Russian parasite of the Hessian fly, in order to acclimatise it. By its aid he hopes to practically exterminate the pest in that country. Curiously enough, he obtained this parasite from England, and it is said that quite a number has been reared in England for the purpose. At the Warnambool Show, lately held, a competition of reapers and binders took place. A field of Cape barley, averaging fifty bushels, the property of John Carson, at Farnham, was selected for trial. The judges' decisions were as follow: —Hornsby (driven by Trolley), 151 points Hornsby (driven by Kelly), 138 points Massey (driven by M'Leod), 132 points ; Deering (driven by Priestly), 130 points ; Mercer (driven by Purcell), 125 points ; M'Cormick (driven by Porter), 123 points; Brandford (driven by J. Robertson), 123 points; Woods (driven by W. B. Veirs), ' 118 points; Massey (driven by Kennedy), 115 points M'Cormick (driven by J. Gaul), ■j : 104 points. k : .