NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11541, 28 November 1900, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF.

tfyrv.- '■ / S-' :^y'*r\:^: '"'i ■ . 7. '■•";'.' ''.-V -.' •Jotokino arrived from Fiji. ,: .: Zealandia left tor the South. Russian ship Occident on fire at Fiji. H.M.s. Mildura coming to , Auckland. < Two steamers due i from j. London at this taort to-morrow. '' " !■:■■■■ . . Wool from the Coast ports is coming into Auckland pretty freely this week. A new ferry steamer for Wellington was launched yesterday by Mr. R. Logan. _ : . Large bush fires have occurred in West Australia. A fire near.Nortbam destroyed 1000 acres of feed. f . . ~,"- . An institute, known as the Medical Mission, foi the benefit of the sick poor, nas been opened in Sydney.'....; The Government has promised to bear half the cost of harbour protective works at the Western Spit, Napier. . r The Manawatu Farmer hears that Mr. Field, M.H.R., has given his £40 sessional allowance to the Otaki Hospital. . The negotiations for the purchase by the Government of the' Puketapu Estate, Hawke's Bay, have fallen through. _. t . In a brood of young ducks, Mr. J. Dickie, of Kaiapoi, had one with two heads and four legs. It only lived for a few hours. A Pacific Islander, who had been sentenced to death for murder, was drowned at St. Helena penal establishment, Queensland. The body of Frederick Cox, a naval pensioner, was cremated near Botany, Sydney. The cremation was undertaken in accordance with his desire. «■;.•"' It is the intention of the Pahiatua Borough Council to prohibit the driving of stock through the main street, except during certain hours. A Spit (Napier) syndicate of five, who held 10 tickets in several of Tattersall's sweeps, drew two cash prizes, one of £100 and another of £30. It if estimated that the recent gale caused the death at Port Levy, Canterbury, of at least 500 sheep, which are to be seen lying dead on the 'hillsides and on the beach. For the six months ending October 31 there were 145 fires in the North Island and 88 in the South, the insurances aggregating £68,966 and £41,991 • respectively. Palmerston is agitating for a three days' ■how next year, in the hope of getting one fine day out of the three, and generally in the interests of the association and the public. The present spring in South Canterbury is said to be one of the wettest and windiest experienced in the district in the memory of the oldest inhabitant, and also one of the coldest. The country around Thargomindah, Queensland, is in a terrible state, and no mutton has been procurable there for many months, and beef will be unprocurable shortly. Fanners in North Canterbury state that owing to the wet season the feed is growing too rank. Even the very light land appears to have had more moisture than is desirable. Shearing operations in the Amuri are being constantly delayed by the broken weather. The tailing and marking confirm the estimates of a good lambing on nearly all the runs. The Harbour Board has decided to send its foreman of works over to Sydney to inspect the working of the counterpoise stages there, before constructing the stages in the Auckland Harbour. At Wellington Mr. Justice Edwards ruled that persons in temporary Government employ are liable to serve on the common jury, and that only persons holding appointments under the hand of the Governor are exempt. A very painful accident happened to Mr. J. B. Westlake, saddler, of Masterton. He was engaged stitching, when his hand slipped, the awl he was using striking his spectacles, which broke and injured his eye. The Rangitikei Advocate states that Mr. W. E. Chamberlain has patented an apparatus for sowing seeds of any size from the same box. The inventor also claims that he can* regulate the quantity being sown. The work of " shadowing" the Duke and Duchess of York during their stay in Australia will probably be entrusted to Detec-tive-Inspector J. M. Christie, who chaperoned the Duke of Edinburgh all over Australia and New Zealand. During the crush at the Palmerston railway station on show day (reports the Woodville Examiner), Mr. Palmer, the Government Pomologist, was relieved of his pocketbook, which contained about £14. Various other instance« of pocket-picking are reported. Recently Mrs. Kotzur, wife of a farmer residing at Henty, near Albury, was killed through being thrown from a buggy. She was being brought in for medical treatment, when the horses bolted, overturning the vehicle, and deceased was thrown out and killed instantly. A little boy named Leslie Blackmore, eight years old, fell from a horse at Papanui, Canterbury, last week, and broke his thigh. He was attended by Dr. Brittin, who advised his removal to the hospital. The limb was set, and the boy is now doing well. He showed a deal of courage throughout the painful ordeal. ( '