NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11949, 25 April 1902, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF.

Herald Summary. Mourn arrived from the South. Inward 'Frisco mail due on Monday. Many stock have died in Grafton district, New South Wales,, through drinking ■alt water. ; , , „ , The recent rains have caused a good growth of grass in the Whareama and list Coast districts. " The Wellington Harbour Board has decided to obtain a powerful dredge, capable of lifting from a depth of 42 feet. A miner named William Power was killed in his claim at Eddy's paddock, Forest Beef, New South Wales, by a fall of earth. Birds known as leather-heads or honeycaters are making great depredations in the grape crops about the Canoblas, New • South Wales. , . II It is alleged that a clerk of the court in the South Island swore a witness on a, novel a few days ago, and that an inquiry into the matter is to b«> held. Scarlet fever has been very prevalent in several parts of the colony lately. Wellington city and district have not escaped the epidemic, but it is of a mild form. According t» present arrangements, the Chief Justice will preside at the Napier fittings of the Supreme Court on May 12, »nd will also take the Wanganui sittings. One large grain grower in the Oamaru district is said to have lost by the continued rain no less a sum than £2000. lhe crop, which is in the stook, is said to be ruined. . . . The Civil Service is becoming increasingly popular as a field for women. Out of 300 junior Civil Service candidates for the colony at the last examination, 112 were girls. • ■ At Broken Hill Police Court recently, a firl, aged 14 years, was charged with runkenness, and was remanded for seven days. The girl's guardian was lined £1 on * similar charge. . „,","».. The secretary of the Victoria Gold Jubilee Exhibition at Bendigo was fined £5 and £5 costs for opening the exhibition without first obtaining the consent of the Central Board of Public Health. It is reported (says the Bruce Herald) that a well-known lady resident of Milton, owing to the death of a relative in the Home Country, has just come into a legacy bringing in £1500 a-year. The Government is being urged to allow settlers in out-of-the-way parts of the colony to erect light and inexpensive telephone lines in their own district; also to subsidise the work to the extent of £ for £. The Otago Board of Education has decided to grant assistance, in some cases of distress, out of the reach of roads, by giving £5 for each child in which parents had at their own expense employed teachers. One of the speakers at a Hawera farewell social expressed the hope that the time was near at hand when churches Would be supported by voluntary contribution, instead of having to call to theii aid bazaars and sales of work. Owing to the impossibility of getting on some of the heavy land, one large farmer in the Geraldine district is sledging his stocks out of his paddock, and having them threshed with a flail, for which he is paying 6d per bushel for oats. "I do not Know why police officers, in drawing informations, do not follow the ,words of the statute, instead of attempting to improve on the phraseology of the Legislature."—The Chief Justice, in delivering a judgment at Wellington. With reference to a paragraph in last Monday's issue relating to Police Court charges against one David Scott Robertson, we are requested to state that the person in question is not the well-known and respected Mr. David Scott Robertson, of Mangere, farmer.

While a member of the Hawthorn Ladies' Benevolent Society, Victoria, was on her way to the bank with £9 7s, which she was about to pay in to the credit of the society, the bag containing the money was snatched from her hand by a thief, who

escaped. The Maoris of three settlements on the Hastings road (Hawke's Bay) have collected £50 for the purpose of obtaining bark of native trees used in making medicinal baths. These baths are said to cure many diseases, such as rheumatism, common to the Maori race.

Seldom have farmers from South Taieri to Clinton been so badly hit as this year (says , a Southern contemporary). The crops are rotting on the ground. Fortunately some portions of the province have escaped. On the Waimea Plains and the greater part of Southland, a fine yield has been safely harvested. At Bundaberg, Queensland, Jonathan Liuedell, an engineer connected with a steam riding gallery was about to start his engine for the last ride of the day, when the boiler exploded, and he was thrown nome 60ft in the air and fell some 50yds away. His injuries were terrible, and he died in the hospital the following morning. No one else was injured.