NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13729, 21 April 1908, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF.

VWrwEiu. left for Sydney. - ' .'.' Koromiko for Newcastle to-day .__ "Victoria, for the South this'-'afternoon. ''The total cost of taking the census for - 1906 was £25,807 19* 4d. _ , ';Less than half-time is being worked 'at " the Lithgow Valley (New South Wales) collieries. ; " E-datids have killed off great numbers of rabbits around Gilgandra, New South Wales. , Many of the "laize crops in. the Kyogle {New South Wales) district are yielding 80 ■.;• bushels an acre. ": , ; A shipment of 1300 sheep have been landed in good condition at Timaru from the £.;;-' "Chatham Islands. The JJallance Dairy Company, at Pahia- , tun, paid ,£5500 for milk during March. The test averaged 4.15. ■■> . ' The estates of 48 • persons were placed under the charge of the Public Trustee for • management during March. .*■ . The.takings of the Wellington city trams on Friday were £300, an increase of £60 on the previous Good Friday's figures. John Greenhorn, a Bat-hurst (New South Wales) storekeeper, lias teen fined 20s for selling cigarettes to a boy under the age 0\;;: : r of 16. ■■/:';■■ „.' ...'■'. ,;-.'.. -, Kiteflying constitutes a breach of the Police Offences : . Act, .and a young man " was' convicted 'Vof this offence at the lavercargill Police Court a few days ago. Tub trustees of, the Hokitika Savings Bank donated £300' to the West-land 'Hos- , pital to assist it in the erection of a second brick "wing, operating■-'* room, and execu- :■■■ tive quarters. , "■ - Evidence of interest in the Wellington r Mayoral election is shown by., the fact that there are 19,698 'electors on the roll, while.' the .number *en the ! supplementary ■ roll will exceed. 9000. The .telephone between Sydney and Melbourne is not pitying its way. The.-weekly • revenue has averaged about £65, which is £10 a week less thai; the sum recuired to ptaoe the line on a paying basis. 1 At Llko Hawera horse fair recently, two mares (in-foal) realised 2s 6d and Is respectively.* When 'entry fees, commission and halter charges are deducted, the vendors' accounts should not be largely in .-.■'■:■. credit. \

'■'. The- number-.of men employed on-.th-a Broken Hill mines at the end of Match was 7901. against 8937 at the end of December, and 9698 at the end of March, 1907 but the total is greatly above the average for many years. ........ Judge Box, at the Victorian General Sessions, continued the conviction of Louis ;■ Raphael, a bookmaker, on -a charge of betting with a- female on Oaks Day, at Flemington; but reserved several points ' "of iii-.v for. the Supreme Court. Over 50 Victorian farmers have settled in the Gilgandia .(New South Wales) district during the last few months. The area, under wheat this year is expected to rea*h 50,000 acres, compared with - 34,000 last .-'-' year. It 'is alleged- that Queensland sugar planters axe evading in a wholesale way the wages provisions of the Excise Act. Some men are raid to earn only 10s or 12s . 6d a week and their/board, whereas the minimum Kite prescribed is 22s 6d. • . Quail are reported to be very plentiful in the - Darmevirke district. . At Makotuku the farmers find them a pest, as they have : 'a-propensity for scratching up the grass ■'. seed on newly -sown burnt land, and pull- . ing up the young grass as it Comes through. _-*' - The revenue collected at the Newcastle Customhouse during the' quarter ended |> • March 31 amounted to £46,512 17s lid, being an increase of £6174 7s, compared ;\ with the amount received for the corresponding quarter of last year.