NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12045, 15 August 1902, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF .

£:'< ♦ ■— — ■"•: v JBAKAKOA arrived from Fiji. ;,."• ■ Moara arrived from the South. It ia thought sit Narrandera, New South Wales,; that. the beef and mutton supplies will be absolutely cut' off in a short time. ■ "' The Wanganui' Hospital Board has 'finally decided :i to take over 'J the manage-; ment of the ■plague': hospital for that dis'trict. _ , .'■■ « '• ■ , The estates; of 43 deceased persons were placed under the charge of the Public sS Trustee for management during the month ■ of July. : ■-■■.■'■ '■.-■ ~ :-".o ' Weasels are apparently becoming rather *•-■'■- plentiful in Auckland. One was killed by a dog, in the Britomart Hotel, Custom-street, ' .yesterday. ..;. - V . , - A beardless variety of,Maccarom wheat ■has been produced at Hawkesbury Agricultural College by the application of science 1o experiments in wheat culture. _ . .. "' ' The Licensed Victuallers'- Association ot Waimate has (savs the Waimate Times) de- ;-:';< ided to withhold liquor from all boarders ' or travellers in future on Sundays.... ; ; • It is understood that the ship Blenheim Will remain in Wellington until the next : wool", season. This is consequent on the small amount ot cargo offering for Home. Says tne Cromwell Argus: —As showing the lowness oi the Clutha River this winter we may instance the fact that a resident crosses and recrosses regularly with a horse

and buggy. . ■- '■~,■■ 1 At th> annual meeting of shareholders of the Aparima Daily Factory, held at Biverton last week, a motion was passed - • prohibiting the use of turnips and rape as feed for dairy cattle. The small ■- birds nuisance in South Canterbury is still a.very live one. According to the Levels County Council, the birds ';■'■■■'. : are increasing, ; and the nuisance is grow- * i ' ing more serious every year., \-\ ' News has been received from Alice -" Springs, South Australia, of ; the finding ■of a? seam of coal sft thick, 40ft from the . ' surface, bv two men who were sinking for •water on the Claiaville Plain, some 16 miles north-west of Arltunga ■ goldfields. ■ \' t " A 'Glen Oroua (Manawatu) farmer is evidently determined to have the best pigs " obtainable. He has recently imported ■;•:•'■ ; two from Canterbury, and has just ordered from Australia one of the purest bred ob- . " tainable there, with the view of improving

local stock. - Mr. Bernard Veech, Mountain View, Wellington, last week obtained a fleece ~ from a prize merino sheep that scaled • oOlb, and from a year old ewe another, weighing 191b. •-■ From two stud rams "the fleeces also scaled 301b and 281b respectively. ;■ .' Fears are entertained in Queensland for y the safety of the labour schooner Sibyl,' which left Townsville for the Solomon Islands eight months ago. No tidings since then have been received of her. The steamers Titus and Moresby are keeping

a lookout for her. ' The ■ population of West Australia ; continues to. grow with remarkable rapidity, 'an average increase of 2000 per month having been maintained for a Ion? time. On , "July; 31 the population was 210.7t>6, con- :■.' , sisting of 128.935 males and 81,831 females, the increase for the.month being 2444, and ; ' for the 12 months 21,032. -■ ;' A few davs ago (writes the Ohristehurcb *-; - Press) air. S. Nutt, of Little River, killed ' his ' well-known purebred Tamworth pig, Sandy' Mick, which when dressed turned - ' v the scale ■' at scwt 301b, though it was only H; : \. three-parts fat. The pig held an unbeaten jecord as a first prize winner at the Canterbury Metropolitan Show. , > \ ' ,It has-been noticed by people living in ;' the low-lying districts of Central Otago (says the Cromwell Argus) that paradise ,1 ducks 'are far more numerous this season ;•' than has been the case in past years. The ; fear that this fine bird was becoming extinct is not shared in by those who live $$ * near the marshes of the province. • A number of cows have died in the Gundag'ai district, >S New South Wales, owing to the lodgment, of dry food balls in the stomach, caused by indigestion. Horses are also dying from the formation of sandballs in the stomach, due to the eating of young grass to which sand was attached. in one instance, no less than two buckets of sand were taken from one horse. Some time ago the Government was in treaty for the purchase of the Mount Parnassus Estate, which adjoins Cheviot, but the negotiations fell through. Captain Young, the owner of the estate, who paid a visit to it in January last, has now sent |<f!;; ,\C out ■;* instructions i from England that,; : the property is to be cut up and sold privately. ..-„■' The old . squabble about the alleged evic- • tion of the members of the Victorian Parliament from their * building in; Spring- . street, now occupied by the Federal Par- . liament, has been revived.* A heated discussion took place between the Treasurer (Mr. : Shiels) : and Sir A. < Peacock :: (the ex- ; Premier), whom he accused of extravagance. Farming operations are proceeding satist i; ",. factorily in the Geraldine , district, although . the area of winter wheat is not so large ' as it was intended to be, owing to the wet state of the land early in the season. Crops that are up are looking 1 exceedingly Well. Th's sowing: of spring; crops is ex- , pected to extend over a wider area than , usual. ' . '■.■: ' ■."■-■ ■■•..: A young man, Percy Marshall McKay, who was working: inside a -large chimney at Perth, offered to bet that he could climb to the top of a rope about 50ft long. Mis mates tried to dissuade him, but he reached -,-\ -Ihe top of the rope. Soon afterwards he was found lying at the bottom of ihe , chimney, terribly injured, and he subsequently succumbed. There are stated to be a dozen j female barbers in the Melbourne metropolitan area. It is anything but a pleasingfact to the union. A male artist has explained ; "to the Age that there were establishments 'in Melbourne in which girls were taught the business in three months for a premium -of £5 to £10. They took engagements at 10s a week. The number of girls in the trade, he added, was steadily increasing. W'T^-V;--'.'- 1 '• < ■-■ ' •■- ".-■■ •"'" ■