NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12241, 9 April 1903, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF.

Maundy Thursday. No Herald to-morrow. The Tarawera arrives from the boutn to-dav. . c i St.* Patrick's Day. celebration in Sydney resulted in a net profit of £619. _ Every bed in the Napier Hospital is now occupied, and for some time to come only urgent cases can be admitted fhe lighthouse on Portland Island, north of Napier, is being connected with the telephone" system on the mainland. A. deputation of Melbourne unemployed urged upon the Federal Prime Minister the abolition of all State Parliaments. Twenty trucks of sheep were loaded at Valletta station, on the Mount Somers railway line, the other day in lh. 40m. 1+ is estimated that the yield of oats in the Ashley district in Canterbury will be 20 bushels ahead of the yield of any previous year. A Norsewood settler states that ragwort is 'spreading rapidly in his district. Unless something is done the weed will cause the settlers much trouble. Whilst trying with a match to locate a gas leakage, James Lapraik, a Brisbane resident, was 'blown through an open window and sustained severe burns. The Farmers' Union at Palmerston North has decided to observe a union day, when a, gathering will be held to which members, their wives, and families will be invited. The average yield in the York and other eastern districts of West Australia has been 15 to 20 bushels wheat, up to 35 bushels oats, and up to 1£ tons of hay to the acre. A company with a capital of £50,000 has been formed in Dunedin to take over the patent rights of a new kind of hairpin, invented by Mr. W. E. Gladstone, of Invercargill. It is stated that no fewer than 40 passengers may be relied on for the first trip by a direct vessel from New Plymouth to Sydney. The Taranaki News regards this as encouraging. A first contribution of £?5, raised by shilling subscriptions in Wesfiand County, is being remitted to Mrs. iseddon this week on account of the New Zealand Soldiers' Graves Guild Fund. The biennial examination under the Nurses' Registration Act will be held next month. Forty nurses from the various hospitals, 11 of' them from Wellington Hospital, have entered for the examination. Space for 30,000 sacks of grain has already been engaged from Timaru and Lyttelton in the Norfolk, one of the boats employed under the South African contract, which leaves New Zealand about the third week in April. A large installation of electric machinery is now in course of delivery for erection at the Blackball Company's mine, Grey, says the West-port Times. The purpose of the installation is pumping and haulage of coal from the dip workings. It is proposed to appoint a Federal Crown solicitor soon. A salary of £600 or £700 a year will be attached to the position. It is understood that Mr. Power, Crown solicitor of Queensland, has been communicated with upon the subject. A correspondent of the Christchurch Press, after complaining that starlings halve been attacking his cherries and pears, quotes the opinion of a former resident in England, that, owing to the paucity of insect life in the South Island, starlings have become fruit-eaters. A correspondent of the Southland Daily News raises the question as to the right of the Borough Council to erect a theatre on the land acquired by them for municipal offices only. He asserts that it is open to query whether the Government could not resume possession under such conditions.