NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12044, 14 August 1902, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF.

~.. » ■« Tmroi left for Fiji. - Moura from the South to-day. ; Ovalau left; for the Eastern Pacific. ;-- j •TbTElinganiite left Sydney for Auckland y "She troopship Montrose is expected to arrive from Melbourne to-morrow .--■ - A dairy company with a capital of £5000 has been formed at- Aorangi, near Feilding. The Government;; schooner Countess of Banfurly arrived from -the Islands yester• *& M.S. Sparrow arrived from an unsuccessful search for the missing steamer Qui-, liU The majority of the sawmills in.New South Wales have closed down, principal!) , on account of the drought. . - \ >„,ihtrv i After having a look round the country several Canterbury farmer* have recently ! •purchased farms in Southland. , to V';-| " ■ A girl, seven years of age, was burnt to death at Brewarrina, New South Wales, through her clothes catching fire. . ; The Prince of Wales Hotel and six other .buildings in Clermont, Queensland,? were .destroyed by fire early the other morning.; ■~ For towing the disabled transport Bovenc " into Fremantle, West Australia, the steamer >arung's salvage is expected to exceed •-Cl2 000 ■" "■ '-■'■-■ 7 On August 3, Miss Adelaide : Bristow, .matron of the Benevolent Home,, > West Maitland, New South Wales, died suddenly 'from heart disease. ■ , , ■ . f A meteoric stone, weighing about 301b, fell near Malparinka, New South Wales, •the other day, the explosion it caused being . heard for 30 miles. ' It has been decided that the Queensland -public servants shall not be. subject to in-| come tax during the two years in which they draw reduced salaries. , \,c ' The membership of the Amalgamated bociety of Engineers, which Las a large representation in Australia, now numbers 90,940, i as against 87,672 last year. The third of a series or mysterious attempts to burn down the residence of the Mayor of Grenfell, New South Wales, was made on Sunday night week. ~. , Something like 3000 cases of rabbits and '10,000 carcases of mutton were shipped on board the steamer Ruapehu. at the Bluff, ffroni the Mataura Freezing Works the other A prisoner under committal for trial from North Sydney slipped the handcuffs from .his wrists at the gates of •-' Darlinghurst Gaol recently and succeeded in making his . . escape. , ■• ,', :--;'/,•.' '-■•■'.• '•■■ '-.'■> . Among the fresh taxation proposals con-. templated by the South Australian Govern'.ment is a tax on money passing into the totalisator at race meetings. The amount •to be levied is expected to be 2 per cent. : The "Victorian Minister for Railways has had several offers submitted to him for the "construction of . electric : railways and tramways, but he states that if anything ' is done in this direction it would be by public .tender. -. . '■'-■'. ■ In . the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Mr. O'Sullivan k recently described •the present libel law as obsolete and unjust, and said that an amending Bill, would be -reintroduced. •. There are 14,000 meters on the penny-in-the slot ; system in use by the Australian Gas Light Company in its Sydney services, «ad they return a revenue of £26,000 per annum. . The Gas Company supplies 56,421 •consumers altogether. . • It is calculated by some members of the ' Farmers' ' Union (says ' the , Christchurch " ''? ''■ Press) that, if the demands of the threshing 'mill, hands in regard to wages are acceded 'to it will mean a direct tax of 3s 4d per 'acre on land, or Id per bushel on grain. ' ' The Victorian Legitimation of Children ; [.- Bili has been carried through all stages. In committee, a clause giving power to either parent to legitimise,children' bom out of : wedlock was", on the motion of the Premier, -altered to make children born outi of wed- -*, lock legitimate upon the parents being married. A Dunstan Times representative, who has paid a flying visit to the southern;;district, j writes that there is a remarkable, scarcity I of rabbits in that district—the large number taken for freezing purposes no doubt accounting for it. V, Stock generally" is" looking very well, and the district is in a prosperous condition. , • There seems to. be a general demand for land in nearly' all . the agricultural * districts of West Australia. In the Great Southern ''■'. districts there have lately been many seekers for land. . The wisdom of throwing open some of the country to the north of tieraldton"for agricultural settlement has been amply justified *by i the ■ results. -..■•-. . The Premier of Queensland, in a recent speech, said that, to his mind, the-present was no time'for, party politics.' Everyone knew' that , the i country was suffering as' it had never suffered before, and those who ' wished ; well to Queensland and to its future needed tc join together and do their best to lift and land her out of her present troubles. ■■■ .■■■-.■■■■ • '' The first annual conference of the Federa- • ted Bakers of the Commonwealth was held in Sydney the other day. The principal objects aimed at by the bakers' federation• - are the establishment of; eight hours, minimum wage, sand a,, regular hour of starting ■work. Regulations were affirmed discountenancing overtime and removing the power 'to strike from branches. -