NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9582, 6 August 1894, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF.

Ik Parliamentary Union has been formed . lb Timaru. ■'' "'''- ■ . A meeting of the Auckland Institute will be held this evening. It is reported that there are 1300 cases of Influenza in Nelson. , The annual meeting of the Auckland Racing Club will be held today. . A Wellington pork butcher|had three of Ids fingers cut off in a sausage machine the Other day. t There are 202 telegraph message boys employed in the colony, at from £26 to £36 a-year each. i The Masterton portion of the last 'Frisco Snail included no less than five bags of patent medicine pamphlets. _ Several of the Southern Borough Councils are framing by-laws to fix the maximum fees which may be charged under the Servants' Registry Act. A Masterton scholar received a nasty injury to his hand through being struck over the knuckles with a ruler. An action it pending against the master. A woman, aged 75, has been fined £25, or in default two months, in Melbourne, for imposition on the public by obtaining money to bury her supposed husband. f There were six persons in the lock-up last evening on charges of drunkenness, and a woman named Whelan, arrested by Acting-detective Quirk on a charge of larceny. A petition is being signed by anglers in ilasterton for presentation to the Wellington Acclimatisation Society praying that the fishing season be opened on September 1 instead of in the middle of that month.

The Auckland Poultry Show was well patronised throughout the whole of Saturday, the exhibition being commented upon on all sides as the best yet held by the Association. The drawing of prizes in connection with the art union will be held next Saturday evening. The Wairarapa Star says:—We hear that several Masterton shearers have signified their intention of proceeding to Australia to jump into the breach caused by the strikes. If they have any respect for themselves and their fellow-shearers they will remain where they are. The City Engineer, Mr. W. Anderson, is partially re-metalling some of the more important thoroughfares, where great traffic takes place. The broken metal is being •* blinded " with street sweepings, and the Steam road roller passed over it at night during the cessation of vehicular traffic. An ordinary meeting of the Devonporfc Borough Council will be held this evening, at 7.30. Business: Plumbers applications to connect with properties, formal opening of waterworks, etc.. A meeting of the Finance and Legal Committee will be held at 7 o'clock. Business: Accounts, fencing. The Woodville Examiner says :—A settler at Pobangina who has 150 acres of land, of which there is still about 30 acres of bush, cleared £350 out of his farm last season by dairying and pig-raising. The milk was delivered to the Farmers' Union Creamery, and the settler's cheque for pigs alone was £120.

The Clutha Leader learns on the best authority that the lessees of the Pomahaka Estate recently purchased by the Government are applying for a redaction of rent. They consider they now pay higher than the price since paid for Mr. Logan's improved estate near Clinton, notwithstanding that the latter is better soil and close to the railway. Regarding the small-pox scare at Eltham the Hawera Star says that the childaffected bad recently got into a very low condition of health, and while suffering from a cut in the bar d was inoculated with cow pox. The disease came out badly owing to the condition of her health, and in certain stages the symptoms are not dissimilar to those of small-pox.

Two young lads had an unpleasant experience at Nelson the other day. They were in a small dingy at the entrance of the harbour, when, by some means tbey lost one of the paddles, and the swift current swept the boat seawards. The lads yelled most lustily for help, and used some of their clothing and the remaining paddle to hoist a signal of distress. The pilot boat's crew went quickly to their assistance, and overtaking the dingy took it in tow. The Thornton-Arnold Company leave for Brisbane in the s.s. Wairarapa on Wednesday instead of Tuesday, as previously announced. This postponement will enable them to give an extra performance tomorrow (Tuesday) evening, when that successful musical drama, "Captain Fritz," will be repeated. This should be a popular night, and if the management would reduce the prices of admission for this special performance many who have already seen "Captain Fritz" and "Private Tommy Atkins" would doubtless bo induced to go again.