NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12271, 15 May 1903, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF.

Te Anau arrived from thft South. Indradevi due from London and Australia to-morrow. , ~ Sixty-three men are now engaged on the Catlins railway extension, and 52 on the Heriot extension. ...... The. maize crops down the coast this year are said to be considerably more backward than usual. " Rents are rising as Masterton, where it appears that the demand for houses is increasing more rapidly than the supply. Quantities of Australian timber are arriving in Balclutha for the purpose of carrying out .repairs to the traffic bridge there. One £50 note, one £20 note, one £10, and five £5 notes were amongst the donations to the recent Sydney Hospital Saturday fund. An individual insisted on lying on the rails in front of a Balmain (Sydney) tram the other night, and had to be dragged away by four men. The flv pest is causing such disastrous ravages in the Windsor (New South Wales) orchards, that the citrus fruits are being rushed into the market. During the fortnight ended April M, 44 cases of typhoid, 155 cases of scarlet fever, and 36 "cases of diphtheria, occurred in the Sydnev metropolitan district. The district all round Albury, New South Wales, for many miles is looking most promising, for the aspect in every direction has been completely transformed since the splendid rainfalls. A verdict of accidental death was returned bv the coroner's jury in connection with the death of Frederick Quest, who had his foot torn off by the propeller of the steamer Lady Napier, at Sydney. The bodv of Miss Blackwell, the daughter of a clergyman at Richmond, Victoria, who disappeared a few days ago, was found floating in the Yarra. She had recently been ill and despondent. Some time ago the Wyndham Town Board voted a sum of money to the brass band. The Auditor-General has disallowed that sum, as there is no legal authority for it, and the band has got to " pay up. ' In South Australia the stamp duty from July 1 to May 2 realised £45,406, an increase of £20,833 on the corresponding period of the previous year. The land and income tax was £121,733, an increase of £28,969. , „ A pioneer resident of Cootamundra, New South Wales, named Frederick Southee, was found dead in bed. He had been reading a paper, and had apparently fallen asleep with his spectacles pushed up over his forehead.. The Timaru No-license League display their energies in various directions. They propose to hold a debate on the question, "Should Bachelors be Taxed?" The connection between this problem and nolicense seems remote. Now that prohibition is the order of the day in Gore, some other use must be found for the hotels, and it is reported that one of the leading hotels there has been leased for boardinghouse purposes at £6 per week, which seems a good figure. The revenue of Tasmania for April totalled ,£73,469 14s 7d, including £27,246 9s lOd returned by the Commonwealth. Tie aggregate revenue for the four months ending April 30, 1902, was £240,819 3s 6d, and for 1903,, £275,767 15s sd. In the Heriot. district, strange to say, ths most prolific crops this season are those grown on the highest altitudes. Eighty and 100 bushel crops are expected, and that, too, from land which, according to some people, is not fit for farmers. There is a possibility that the Southland County Council will consider whether they should not give up the struggle with the small-bird pest. The Ashburton County Council are paying -|d per head, or 6s 3d per 100, for heads of small birds. The skeleton of a man has been discovered in a hollow log at Hobartville, Queensland. The discovery was made by a stockman, and an examination disclosed that the skull had been perforated with shot, and it is plain that the man was murdered. 9?he money remittances from West Australia during last month to places outside that State amounted to £34,100 more than the amounts transmitted there. Four thousand pounds were sent to London, £6000 to South Australia, £17,000 to Victoria, £6000 to New South Wales.