NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10130, 13 May 1896, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF.

Herald Summary on Friday. 'Frisco mail leaves on Saturday. Waihora leaves for Sydney to-day. Heavy easterly gale blowing along the warships leave Sydney for Auckland to-morrow. The Tarawera lefb for the South yesterday afternoon. Fears of pollution of Takapuna Beach from imperfect drainage. Departure of coasting steamers delayed owing to the easterly gale. Mission yacht Southern Cross lefb Norfolk Island for Melanesia on April 9. At Mount Morgan last month 7966 tons of stone were treated for 12,6080z of gold. _ The salary of the engineer to the Rangitikei County Council has been raised to £300 per annum. The swagger nuisance is already as.3um« ing very large proportions throughout the Ofcago Province. . During the stay of the flagship Orlando at tbis port she will be floated into the Calliope Dock for overhaul. Contractor reclamation of Freeman a Bay to Mr. T. B. O'Connor, has been extended until December next. The Queensland Government has purchased a dredge in England capable of raising 1000 tons of silt an hour. At a township adjoining Moree, New South Wales, a little girl named Ruby McCaull has been burned to death by her clothes catching fire. According to a speaker at the Fruitgrowers' Conference the banana of to-day is practically the same as it was in the time of Alexander the Great. The miners are now getting coal out of the Brunner mine, and the pumps have been set going. However, it will take some time to clear the mine of water. The mortality amongst cattle from the tick plague shows no sign of diminishing in Northern Queensland. Cattle are dying daily in hundreds in every direction. There are some very undesirable characters at Brunnerton given to burglary, and two attempts at housebreaking have been made there during the past fortnight. A woman named Mary Bannister, aged 80, recently fell into the Derwent when in an intoxicated state. She was rescued, bub died in the Hobari Hospital from shock to the system. The Hospital authorities desire us to intimate that they will be unable at present to receive any further cases of typhoid or diphtheria owing to the lack of the requisite accommodation. There was in the lock-up last evening only one prisoner, Frederick Bryant, who was arrested at Devonport on a charge of larceny of a Waterbury watch and chain, value 15s, the property of Ah Low. A piece of land called Raratu, which we believe forms part of the surface of the Crown mine, is shortly to be cut up and gold by Mr. James Mackay and the other owners". With the exception of the back portion,it has been surveyed into 130 quarteracre section.s It is feared that the coming winter will be a very bad one in the Masterton district for the working classes. There is a scarcity of money all round and this necessarily means a reduction in improvements. A good many settlers are disappointed in the wool returns. Owing to the damage done to the flower beds in the Albert Park, through visitors taking in dogs, despite the by-laws, it is intended by the city authorities to Uk") vigorous measures to abate the nuisance. Under the regulations dogs are liable to be destroyed and the owners fined. At the last meeting of the Brisbane Chamber of Commerce a long discussion took place on the question of deepening the Brisbane River, and the reduction of port charges and Customs overtime. Committees were appointed to draw up reports on each subject. The following is the state of Her Majesty's prison, Auckland, for week ending May 9 On remand, 1 female; awaiting trial, 9 males; penal servitude, 17 males; hard labour, 76 males, 13 females; imprisonment, 1 female; default of bail, 2 males, 1 female; received during the week, 15 males, 4 females; discharged, 17 males, 2 females. Total in prison, 104 males, 16 females.