NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12399, 12 October 1903, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF.

- . ' ■ . ■-. . ■ Te Akatt left for the South. Westralia from Sydney to-day. Zealandia for Sydney this evening. The repairs to the Tysor liner Niwaru have been completed. , • During the month of September the geyser ■.'.'• Waimangu was active on 25 days. The Northern Company's new steamer Kajrawa left for tbe North last night. The membership of the Asbhurton Agricultural and Pastoral Association numbers 501. Pahiatua is one of the towns where sittings of thfl District Court .are to be held in future. The Auckland members of the Salvation; Army began their • week of self-denial on, I Saturday. St. John's wort and Tutsan have been included in the second schedule of the Noxious 'Weeds Act. The number of dogs registered in the Ashburton County this year is 1504, as against 1526 last year. Sixty-eight fishing licenses have been issued "in Timaru this season, 10 of these being issued to ladies and boys. It is reported that the small birds are not nearly so troublesome in Canterbury this season as they have been in the past. The South Australian House of Assembly has negatived a proposal for a referendum in 1 . regard to Bible-reading in State schools. The gum workers' dispute has been referred , , direct to the Arbitration Court, rendering the convened meeting of the Conciliation Board unnecessary. The Nelson Harbour Board will shortly . consider a proposal to lease a portion of the : mud flat, containing about 2000 acres, for reclamation purposes. Two handsome stained glass memorial windows for St. Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, have arrived from London, and will shortly y< be placed in the Cathedral. The Victorian Government Astronomer says that the Commonwealth should be asked what probable steps would be taken to Fede- . ralise the weather services of the States. While the KaiapOi Post Office plans show a tower about 50ft in height, the principal living room, on the ground floor, for the postmaster and his family, styled a dining- • room, does not exceed 12ft by 14ft. A new technical school building is to be : erected at Gisborne. The plans are now 1 ready, and the building is expected to be completed by March next. Amongst the subjects to be taught will be dressmaking. i. Recently James Moore, aged 30, was thrown from a horse near Jandakot, West v : Australia, the animal afterwards rolling on him'; Moore got up, walked some distance, , and then died. His body Was found some ' hours later. ; 'i To show the cost to a band in attending a contest, it is worth recording that the Wanganui Garrison Band's expenses in visiting Timaru will'run into £230 by the time it again reaches home. This does not include one penny in the way of recouping the men for a fortnight's loss of time. The quantity of Victorian gold actually .received at the Melbourne mint during September was 80,9410z gross, compared with 68,0750 ain September last year. The total for the-nine months of the current year is * 612,4960z, showing an increase of 35,1310z • as compared with the corresponding period ■}'';',:':'■ V. of last year. A commencement has been made with the •construction of a "range-breaker" in the inner harbour at Timaru. This is a sheet is, * pile projection, 40ft in length, from the inner side of the outer arm of the old break- , water, which, it is hoped, will materially reduce the send or range of the water along ; the main wharf during heavy seas. • A man named Charles Timothy made three attempts to commit suicide at North Melt:"'•[>■ bourne the other day. He first threw himself in front of a butcher's cart, then under a dog-cart, which ran over him, and finally in front of a waggon. He was pulled from under the latter in time, and was locked up. He has recently been drinking heavily. The importation into New South Wales has been prohibited for a period of 12 months from the 27th ult. of any swine, or the . bones, hair, or any portion, of any swine, other than portions in the form of bacon, hams, or cured pork, and of any fodder or fittings put «n board any vessel -with, or for the use ot, any swine from the colony of New Zealand. * At- a sale of land in Tasmania, on behalf of the Gippslahd Syndicate, the Legerwood Estate, in the Ringarooma district, of 3048 acres, which had been divided into 38 dairying farms, from 20 acres to 145, 30 lots were disposed of from £5 10s to £11 per acre. The uncleared lots realised £3 12s 6d per acre. It was stated that similar land in Gippsland would realise £40 per acre.

. A man's underclothing, in a dilapidated condition, was recently found on the banks of the Torrens, New South Wales. A portion of . a. cigarette case'was lying on the clothes, on which the following was written in pencil: —" Dear sir,— am leaving this note to say .I am tired of life. My name is Patrick Mal- ■. coim, aged 37 years, and I walked from Sydney,' and have had nothing to eat for three days. Good-bye." . .' ■ ' /. f