NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13699, 16 March 1908, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF.

. " Mo\s-vr. U gone South. V". ! - *- arrived from Sydney. Mokoia leaves this afternoon for Sydney. Cabinet last week authorised the'expend ijr tur-e' of £30.000 for general railway exteii- '' . tions. • Levin, a growing town on the Manawatu >;i ; line, is about to erect gasworks at a cost of roughly £10,000. • William James Duff v. a retired railway stationmaster, was accidentally shot at Milr-' rurundi, New South Wales, last week. De- , ceased was getting through a, wire fence, when the trigger caught the wire, causing ::> his gun to explode. The charge entered his stomach, causingjinstant death. The reccnt rainfall of sjin has effected a wonderful transformation in the Waaipu district (telegraphs our Gisbornecorrespondent). i>: Everything is now looking splendid. .. .. A : recent, visitor states that persons who. ■ '-had not seen the change would hardly credit - what had been effected in three days. A prominent New Plymouth citizen, . who ;is incidentally a democrat- and a • believer in the rights of the .individual, has caused himself to lie prosecuted with a view of testing the right of the Railway Department to charge 2d for admission to ; railway platforms, Philip Lagniaid, a dairyman and woodman, was killed last week at Broken Hill (New South Wales), He was riding on the shaft of a wood cart at Railway Town, and '-**'» losing the reins attempted to recover them, lie fell under the wheels, which passed over . his head, causing instant death. The Greymouth correspondent of the Lyttelton Times states that the output of . . the State mine last week totalled 6139 tons, which is a record output for the colV, - liery. The demand continues to be very keen, and as. the mine is capable of a - heavy output a large export is anticipated. Speaking at a Coroner's inquest at Wellington, Dr. McArthur, S.M., said he knew it was very difficult sometimes to get a ' proper jury, but he had always disapproved of the professional juryman, who did nothing but stand about the street waiting to be called on to serve. / The Waimarino public have good reason ■ to be pleased with the manner in which the Reads Department have dealt with the main road from Ohakune to Raetihi this summer (says an exchange). Nothing like the trouble experienced last winter will have to be faced again by those daily using the road, the Department having had most of the weak stretches thoroughly built up with metal. The completion of this work will * k- an enormous help to the district.