NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12774, 26 January 1905, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF.

, .',_>• " Hfr. — — ."V ; r .' 3?, vrA left for Fiji. - a 'Frisco mail saves to-morrow. A.' scutcher m ,a Foxton fiaxmill has had the sum of £3*oo bequeathed to him through the death . of a relative. VAn % unsuccessful I'attempt1'attempt was made to •pass a gilded sixpence as a half-sovereign at His Majesty's Theatre, Wellington, the other evening. - .. ' V A good marly mobs of young cattle from the South have been trekked' through Mil- * ton, Otago, lately, to be depastured in the Taierr district. '; > • There is a noticeable , scarcity of bumble bees about Masterton, compared with pre- ' vious years, and it is feared that the clover seed crops will. suffer ;in consequence. : At the Dannevirke Police Court last ■ week, the licensee of the B-eacousfield Hotel was fined £5, with, costs £7 8s 6d, "for , allowing ; Yankee grab to be played on the premises. ■ Sneak-thieves for several weeks past ; have been making it iLci*- business to visit ' "the hotels ■ of Invercargill during the meal • hours and remove hats and umbrellas from -the passages. , Quite a. number of people have ■-■ been victimised. The Palmerstcn Times is credibly informed that a good deal of poaching has been going on in Trotter's ■:' Creek during the present holiday season. A local angler states thai; this" fine fishing, stream is now practically denuded of trout. '- . > -'.There as , more ; milk goinir to the Gore factory, at the present time than, ever.:beioro (says the Standard). The seasou's "output■"': of cheese was ..sold at the beginning of She year at a figure equal to oJkl a ..gallon, which :s -|d or Id "below the price 'that could be obtained now. ; " • - Tk-e lS r orth Otago' Times states that Mr. .T. Little, . who took Home with . him several photographs of his stud sheep, was rather "ratified with, the information that bad he° taken the sheep instead of .the photon aphs, he could readily have disposed of them at 60 or 70' guineas eachA medical practitioner named James McCarthy, aged 66, was sentenced to 12 months* * imprisonment at Melbourne on January 5, i>>r obtaining money, by-means of' valueless .cheques. , The accused had been •' 10 7 times : ■;' previously . charged with falsei ' pretences, 'and once with larceny. ' A number of strangers from'",the other side" 'have come to - + ho Wyndham district, Otago, ■ lately, seeking work. ; A good deal of "this class of labour is absorbed by the fiaxmaie. A man aH the way .from Canada also put in an appearance the, other day and within 24. hours M had secured work on' a'distiict farm."" \ ■ _ \ , A shocking accident happen**! at Nor-, tha-m. - West Australia, on January 5, to Mrs Viliiersr, who h-jj-s only'marxied.afortlight previously. He?.- clothes, ignited at the stove while she -was attending to her household duties, and were burnt rrght off. She soMained tewible injuries,: and was not expected: to recover. ~ ;„,, ,; .... '* A -few days ago Mr.' Holmes- remarked ■Vat'' the Benevolent Society meeting at Masterton that the fact that no demands had teen made on the society during the month '-for 'casual relief was a sign of general prosperity ■in the community. For rever.il months. the amount of casual relief granted has been less than for many years past. . Of 'late .quite a number of pigs have been condemned at the Nelson 'abattoir on account of evidence of tuberculosis. These pigs have'come from the Wakapuaka disrbriet,- and . steps, are being taken' to - discover the cause for the prevalence of the 'disease in tile particular locality - referred 'to.- It is , from a portion '. only of the .Wakapuaka that the infected pigs, so far, :have been obtained. - - -:.'■' ■ Finding that a, cow of his was suffering (from an illness, and, despite the applica- ■:. tion of various remedies, appeared to ■be netting worse, Mr. Richard White, of Waimate, had the animal destroyed. Curio-.. ' sity as ;to the cause of illness led to * the opening of the body, and in the animal's 'stomach a large eel was found dead. There is. a dam ,on Mr. White's property, - and the cow must have swallowed the eel while --'"* drinking there. ,'■ At "the last ordinary meeting of the Westland County Council, a letter was received from the Public; Works Department, stating that it appears probable that with the flow of water from Lake Kanieri, about 2800 brake horse-power : would ■ be available for an electric service, and asking if the Council had an "intention, of using the iiower. It was decided to inform the Department that the Council would, ■ when opportunity arose, use the power. ;■■'■ ■ While accompanying Mr. Hall-Jones on his -recent tour through -~C entral Otago, Mr. • Schmidt, his private secretary, ,be- . .came acquainted with a geological curio- - sity at Lake Wanaka. In this lake there is'an island, which also contains a lake, the; level of which is much higher than •that of Wanaka, being the same as that '; ,of Lake Hawea. It is suggested that Hawea and the lake on Wanaka's island are connected by a subterranean passage. " , The present season ii> the Manawatu has 'shown'-a substantial increase on last year "in the dairying returns, but a far greater ..advance would have been recorded, had '.the weather been less unfavourable. The outlook for the winter is none too bright at present. There is a. plentitude of grass, but not of the quality to last the •reason out, nor: is it, nor the time, suit- ■' able for- its. conversion into hay. It is feared that the farmers Will have their *. (resources taxed considerably during the winter.