NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12447, 17 December 1903, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF.

Brecon-shirk due from Fiji. '"' s . Manapouri left for the Islands. , " Te Anau from the South to-morrow. Evert on Grange due from New York an -Australia. ;.:..'/.' ,V , T „ In proportion to its population New Zeo land is on© or' the richest countries in. publi ■"' libraries. :> It has 298. A kimrfish, weighing about oOlb, was har pooned and landed at the Glasgow Wharf -Napier, last Thursday. ■-■■_,- : '■''■•' Thirty parents were before the Pahnerstoi ; 'Court on Friday last for not sending thei: children to school, and in the majority o cases fines were inflicted. , At Warn, in'the Temora district, New South Wales, the fanners have formed them selves into a fire brigade, and their opera tions, when necessary,, will cover a radius o; •10 miles. ' ..,',' ,- „ ,", The last English mail from New Zealand carried an order from the Government for a aiuraber of birds for use on the State poultry farms. A selection will be made from ! the pens of some of the principal breeders > •'''.' in England. * "' '"'"'" . 1 There was a magnificent electrical display in the north-eastern sky at Dannevirke last V" Friday evening. At ten o'clock remarkably I vivid 'flashes of lightning kept on illuminatI ing the heavens at intervals of a few seconds only, and the sight was a remarkably fine '■■.'••' one. • ■ - '•' Sixteen men established a shearing record at the Mount Vernon shed, Bawke's Bay, last week, when they put through a total of 3024 sheep, averaging 189 per man. Mr. '■ ;; -- M. A. Wilson, of Hastings, put up the highest tally, with 228, and four others were -1 tvell over 200 each. The two pairs of Canadian moose sent to ■/..New Zealand by the Hudson's Bay Company about a couple "of years ago and liberated in the wilds of "West-land are reported to be thriving. They keep well into the bush country. It is not known whether they have multiplied vet. ' ' , The 300,000 salmon ova of the Quin ■.'■■'. .variety, ordered by the Government from America, are expected to arrive shortly. Tne result of the distribution of these ova in the rivers of -New Zealand suited to this fish will doubtless be watched with interest . bv followers of the rod'. f V "it is stated, says the Manawatu Standard, :. that the bottom'has suddenly fallen out of ■ the bacon trade. At the present time some i factories are offering sides at 7d per lb, and it is anticipated there will be severe com- ' petition between manufacturers of this line : at the beginning of the year. In the case of Norah Williams, who was committed for trial on Monday last on a charge of "stealing a watch and chain, it appears that Mrs. "Nelson, of Freeman's Bay, did not, when asked, take possession of the ' ' •articles, but on the contrary, declined when - pressed to receive them by the accused. The Agricultural Department is obtaining 15 more Angora goats from Mr. Scammell's k celebrated flock in South Australia. The I-. goats of the same breed obtained by the department from South Australia some considerable time ago are thriving in the drier (parts of the North Island, and the natural '■'' increase has been very satisfactory. '.Recently J. Lear, an employee at the ; %ieea Cross mill, Charters Towers, Queensland, was cleaning out a boiler connected •with another one that was under steam, when the engine-driver turned the steam on. -tear was badlv scalded, and the skin peeled off him when "he was being pulled through "the manhole. He is, however, likely to re•■■';'cover. ■.''■'" ■':..': ' ; '." ',■■:■'■:■ ."'. , I ■ , A peculiar accident recently occurred to a young man named Kenneth Mclntyre at Oura, New South Wales. He was assist- • -ing at hay-stacking. when he slipped and ' ' fell on the'hayfork tines, one of which penetrated the chest, and glancing along the bone issued at the other side. No vital part |V was injured, though the heart was narrowly missed. . ■_. .■ . • The sugar cane yield on the Lower Clar- ■■ ence, New South Wales, is admittedly the best for the last 15 years. Three fanners are harvesting 1300 tons, 1000 tons, and 800 tons of cane respectively ; while over a score of planters have had cuttings ranging from 300 tons to 700 tons. ' The bounty of 4s . per ton added to the present price of cane brings the handsome total of 16s 6d per The Melbourne City Council has resolved '' to ask the Government to introduce a Bill . to alter the incidence of taxation under the Fire Brigades Act, so that instead \ of the Government, the municipalities, and the fire insurance companies each subscribing onethird of the" cost, the fire insurance companies shall be required to contribute onehalf, and the municipalities and the Govern- ; ment one-fourth each. A lad named Ernest Williams, employed by the Lachlan Gold Mining Company, New South Wales, whilst carrying a vessel -containing sulphuric acid up a ladder in '" connection with the cyanide works, missed, his step and upset the acid over his face and body. In agony he jumped into a ■ vat of water below. When rescued he was found to have been terribly injured, and was expected to lose his eyesight.