NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11799, 31 October 1901, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF.

Tavhtxi left for Wellington. The Moaia arrives from the South this morning. A roan arrested in Dunedin ior drunkenness had £50 in his possessionSome cattle have died from rickets on the Upper Coldstream, Queensland. A branch of the Bank of New South Wales has been opened at Stratford. At Delegate, New South Wales, a jockey bad his skull fractured through a racehorse falling on him. Shearing has commenced on several farms in Tokomaririro, and although comparatively early the clips are reported to be verv satisfactory. The dwelling' in Haslett-street, in the estate of C. A. Bloomfield, passed in at last Saturday's auction, has been sold for £260 by Messrs. Baker Bros. For the erection of a five-roomed house £450 is now a common price in Wellington, and a house that a few years ago might have been erected for £650 would now cost £850 at least. According to the Heriot correspondent of the Southern Standard, lambing is about finished in that locality. Many farmers complain of a heavy mortality in ewes and lambs, but, notwithstanding that, the percentage is comparatively satisfactory. Mr." T. A. Civghlan estimates the total area under crops.- in New South Wales at 2,363.517 acres, compared with 2/45,564 acres last year. The total area of wheat sown amounts to 7.776.000 acres, according to Mr. Coghlan. showing a decrease of 86,750 acres on las" year's area.

As a result of the Federal tariff, it is understood that a well-known firm of millers in Otago. which exports large quantities of oatmeal, is seriously considering the advisableness of dismantling its mill and reerecting it somewhere in Australia, to escape the prohibitive duty on oatmeal. On Saturday morning the wreckage of a boat, painted white, came ashore between Keran and Penguin Points, near Fremantle : also r. white cap, similar to those worn by the officers of the German mercantile marine service. Particulars are extremely meagre, but inquiries are bring made.

Same da*rs ago a young man named James Ralph, working at a drain, with his father at Sandririirham. Melbourne, suddenly disappeared. The other morning something black was seen in a tank, and it proved to be the missing man's body. He had the reputation of being an upright and sober man.

A fntal accident happened to a youth named Harry Murphy, who was assisting in painting the premises of Mr. Hickman, a jeweller, in Bourke-street, Melbourne. Murphy incautiously walked across a skylight in the top storey and fell to the bottom floor. He was picked up in an unconscious condition, and died en admission to the hospital. Sever*! settlers in the Palmerston North district t're going into the poultry-raising industry on a large scale, both for the locai market ami for export. It is a fact worthy of mention that quite recently a representative of a Southern firm interested in the export of frt-zen poultry has been travelling in the Northern districts and purchasing large quantities of fowls and ducks. Judging from the requests for accommodation which are pouring in on the hotelkeepers of the city from other parts of the colony (writes a. correspondent of the Christchurch Press), there should be a large number of visitors in Christchurch for the show and races. It is anticipated that His Excellency the Governor, the Premier, and a number of members of Parliament will be able to attend.

Some trouble occurred at Toronto. New South Wales, and for a while matters were particularly lively. It appears that a number of men employed on the deviation works took possession of tbe place, and threatened serious results. Police protection was wired for, and men from neighbouring stations were sent- oat. The disturbance was quelled, happily, before any mischief was done. Says the Pomahaka Downs correspondent of the Southern Standard: The local school is still closed, not one single applicant qualified to fill the position of teacher being received. lam afraid £70 a year is not sufficient to induce a young, educated woman to live in a wilderness. The school duties would be light—three children—but the loneliness would tend to break the dear darling's heart, so she has decided t-t stand down in the meantime.