NEWS IN BEIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 10772, 6 June 1898, Page 6

NEWS IN BEIEF.

Heavv frosts at Greyinouth. _ ~._.. The Wellington city overdraft is £15,705. The Anglican church at Patea is to be lighted with acetylene gas. _ There have been no bankruptcies in Oainaru for about nine months. _ The receipts from ' the Corporation Baths in Wanganui last season amounted to £120. During the past year £55,122 worth of property was destroyed in Wellington by fire. Rabnits have been bringing 8d per pair at Jlataura, the highest price ever given for quantities. A fruitgrower in the Nelson district lias taken 2500 cases ot apples from five acres of orchard this season. It is suggested that New Zealand exporters might benefit by the new direct line between Sydney and New York. 'TheDunedin Exhibition closed last night. It is said to have been an undoubted success, financially and otherwise. The senior football matches on Saturday were won by Parnell and Newton, and North Shore claimed a win by default. Numerous mutton-birding parties have returned to Invercargill from the rookeries on the outlying islands, and report a very good season. Another batch of unemployed will shortly be despatched to work on theNapier-Wairoa road. There are now about 50 men employed on the road. A peculiar blasting accident occurred at Ellalong, near Maitland, two men being injured. A spark from one of the men's pipes caused the explosion. A perfect hurricane blew in Masterton on May 24. Fences were levelled, trees uprooted, and iron torn off buildings, but no serious damage occurred. The Westport Coal Company shipped 36,751 tons of coal to ports outside New Zealand during 1897, being 6154 tons more than in the preceding year. A building for the accommodation of about E0 bicycles belonging to civil servants is about to be erected in the grounds attached to the Government Buildings in Wellington. A two-storeyed building in course of erection for the purpose of a gymnasium at Wellington, was blown down on Queen's Birthday. The consequent loss is estimated at £100. It is not intended to lose any time in pushing forward the work of compilation of the early history of Canterbury, under the auspices of the Industrial Association, in celebration of the Canterbury jubilee. A young man named Harold Chard was accidentally shot at Wandandian, New South Wales, recently. He was putting up the rails of a fence when his gun went off, the contents lodging in the side of his head. An effort is being made to establish a lechnical school at Palmcrston North. The iWanganui Education Board will contribute £200 if the residents raise a similar amount. . The Government has offered a subsidy of £ for £. A petition is being numerously signed in Westport praying the Government to proclaim air*open season for seals. The fishing industry in the district is, it is said, being • ruined by the seals inhabiting the Cape Foul- , Wind rocks. A gentleman representing a wealthy syndi- , cato has, it is slated, arrived in New Ply- ( Sleuth for the purpose of satisfying himself k that there is enough ironsand in Taranaki to make it worth while for a company to ~ start operations. At Moree, New South Wales, a man ' named John Hutchinson, aged about 60 years, attempted suicide by swallowing J strychnine and the heads of four boxes of matches. He was removed to the gaol, and v an emetic administered. -j The Melrose borough lias decided to re- ] quest the Municipal Association to urge an „ amendment of the law, so as to enable the {. borough to deal with its own licensing husi- c ness. The Melrose borough receives £80 a e year from hotel licenses. „ The Coach and Horses Hotel at Kabra, »] Queensland, was destroyed by fire a few a days ago. The licensee, Pete! Mannion, in ], endeavouring to save his valuables, was j severely burned. A drunken man named j, Johnson was burned to death. b The Sydney Needlework Guild, whose j, headquarters are at Government House, and \ of which the Hon. Alice Brand is the secre- , tary, has forwarded a parcel of 120 new gar- ( ments, which the members have made, to , be distributed by the city missionaries among the poor of Sydney.