NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11853, 3 January 1902, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF.

Wathoba arrived from the South. . The timber trade at Byron Bay, n New South Wales, is so heavy that more steamers are making calls there. A little boy, named Dickson, was killed by -a water-cart tipping upon him near . Cookamidgera, New South Wales. The bot-fly has made its appearance at. • Queanbeyan, New South >Wales, and is causing a deal of ; trouble to stockowners throughout the district. A lad name<! Reginald Kennedy, of Yass, New South Wales, received severe burns to lug face. He held a match to some gun- . powder, which fizzed up in his face. : ; ; On December 17 e Polynesian woman, in Suva, gave birth to a child possessing six fingers and toes on each hand and foot. The child had no eyes, and was stillborn. An Akaroa paper states that Mr. W. J. Lelievre shore 231 sheep in nine Lours one day lately. ' They were- all well-woolled sheep, being crossbred hoggets and four'•.":'''■tooth crossbred wethers. At the Makohme viaduct the lower chord of the superstructure of all the spans has been laid. The top chord? and braces of ooth , 'of the long end ; spans have been laid for nearly half the length of each span. ; ; ' The Government Geologist, who has returned to Wellington after a tour through the Cheviot and adjacent districts, will make:a report "on .the recent severe earthquakes in that part of the colony. ; -.; :. C. iO. Tebbutt, the well-known Victorian '.cyclist, has had the sight of one eye de- ' stroyed through the bursting of a glass . v : vessel containing effervescing cordial. A piece of glass penetrated one of the eye- .: balls. =■:■- " ,- ; -.-. . , " A Wellington solicitor has been retained ' by the Maoris of Wairoa, Hawke's, Bay. -;to assist them; in an effort which they, are ' making to bring about a restoration of the land which was confiscated at the end of the wai, including the Wairoa township. ' Otago papers regard the: result of the - Caversham election as a serious blow to the 'Government, because, although Mr. Sidey announced himself a Government ..supporter, all the Ministerial influence went in favour of Mr. Hally, who secured third place. -• As bearing on the controversy as to the position of the boot manufacturing industry in New Zealand, it. may be mentioned that in Christchurch one firm of.boot manufacturers is building a factory' to" accommodate " 500 hands,. and another to accommodate 300. " .. , v. It is stated that Cheviot, which was visited by, the recent earthquakes, seems at last to "have settled down,.'in a double sense, and that the inhabitants are beginning to go about their ordinary-avocations without-any serious fear of a recurrence of the . disturbances. ~'- On Boxing Day Mr. Sowerby landed 11 fine trout from the Waingongoro, and on /; the /following day Messrs. ; Sowerby J and -.Wrigley secured 26 splendid fish from the Mangatoki. The fish in the Mangatoki are in fine condition; give great sport, and are excellent eating. A few days ago, whilst ;Mr. E. L. Wakelin, of Carterton, .was .mending a barbed wire fence, he had the misfortune to receive a : severe sash on the back of the neck, Jue had his head between the wires, ' when .some horses near rubbed against the fence, with the result that the barb gashed him sc severely that a doctor was called : in. :f : - : : • •'-;:;:- ; As an instance of the extent to which farmers are being " hit" by the present lowprice of wool, it is mentioned that at Hawera account sales of a small , parcel ' ■ showed that ( a bale of 4021b of. first-class English Leicester brought but 2\ d, per lb, and netted the grower but £1 3s 3d, less exchange. ; A short time ago a bale of such wool would have been good for £20.