NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10034, 22 January 1896, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF.

VVaihora gone South. ] Wellington Cup today. { Manapouri left for Sydney. Richmond for the Islands to-morrow. Entries for Annual Regatta close tobight. A fire at Port Wakefield (8. A.) destroyed fche wharf and 500 tons of wood. The Sydney Meab Preserving Company killed 1,280,705 sheep and 8963 cattle during 1895. The Colonial Sugar Refining Company (Limited), have advanced the price of sugar 10s per ton. . , , , There was only one occupant in the lockup last evening, the charge being that) of drunkenness. Ladies wearing rational dress for riding purposes is becoming a common practice in Featherston. The body of a man who is supposed to have died from thirst has been found near MopilMogil, N.S.W. A large stack of hay was burned at Gladstone on Thursday night last. It was the property of some Maoris. By the Waihora, yesterday, 100 cases of cheese were sont to Wellington for trailshipent to London by the Ruahine. Recently a lad named Arthur Vine, was drowned at the Cannonbar station,.Nyngan, while crossing a stream on horseback. An old man named Elks Pugh, residing near Stockton, has died in the scrub near his residence from starvation and exposure.

A happy father inserts a birth notice in the DanevirUe paper, and adds, " twine, both girls. This makes 14, all alive and well." While cycling in Tasmania with Lord and Lady Brassey, Mrs. Freeman Thomas was thrown from her bicycle and severely bruised. The value of cables forwarded and received by the South Australian Post and Telegraph Department during tho year was £453,772. , Typhoid fever is prevalent in the suburbs of Newcastle and the low-lying parts of the distr.ct. The hospital accommodation is greatly taxed. The corn trade section of the Adelaide Chamber of Commerce has fixed the standard weight of a bushel of wheat at 531b for the ensuing year. A party will shortly be seb to work on the Galatea Road to make certain substantial improvements and render it fib for traffio during the coming winter. A farmer named John Vanheiden residing at Lancefield (Vic), who has for years past been engaged in litigation with the Government, has shot himself in despair. The other morning Mr?. Cassells, of Addington, whilo walking. in ber garden, slipped and sustained a compound fracture of her right leg, both bones being broken. A valuable discovery of silver has been made in the Upper Buller Valley. The lode is said to be large and refined and will in all probability yield 30oz to the ton. Owing to the scarcity of water in the Karon reservoir, the electrical syndicate at Wellington are to be called upon to use steam power for the lighting of the city, A large number of the Ngatimaru tribe from the Thames have been attending the fcangi of the lata AkuhataTininihi atßangiwaea, having travelled nearly 100 miles to show their respect to the memory of the deceased chief. An inquest was held yesterday at the Gaol on the body of a prisoner named John Stephenson, who had died on the previous Jay. The enquiry was merely a formal »ne, and the jury returned a verdict of 11 Death from natural causes."

The wind, which has been very squally •luring the last few days, attained such violence at times at the Mount, Tauranga, on Sunday, that a boat was blown out of the water and roHed twice and a-half over up the beach, being left keel uppermost. After next month the P. and. O. and Orient Steamship Companies will adopt a charge of three farthings for butter freights, to cover a period of twoyears. The present charge is seven-eighths of a penny. A further reduction is promised if warranted by the volume of ..trade. There must be some considerable amount of business doing in Tauranga, says the Bay of Plenty Times, or nine of the principal business houses, of Auckland would hardly have a representative apiece staying here at the same time, which is the case daring the current week. The following is the state of Her Majesty's prison, Auckland, for the week ending Jan. 18:—On remand, 1 male; awaiting trial, s males, 1 female; penal servitude, 16 males; hard labour, 81 males, 10 females; default of bail, 2 males, I.female; received during the week, 18 males, 1 female; discharged. 11 males, 2 females. Total in prison, 105 males, 12 females. One of the curiosities of Central Queensland is a large tree upon tho selection of a Ralnagawan settler. It measures by tape 65 feet 6 inches at the base, and 45 feet round five feet from the ground. It carries six huge branches, anyone of which is a very large tree in' itself. From the outer points of the branches (i.e., from tip to tip) is 198 feet, and by best computation it is fully 100 feet high.