AUCKLAND NEWS NOTES. (From Our Own Correspondent.) Auckland, January 26.

Otago Witness, Issue 2240, 4 February 1897, Page 12

AUCKLAND NEWS NOTES. (From Our Own Correspondent.) Auckland, January 26.

A VISITOR. Amongst recent arrivals in "the colony is Mr Price, general traffic manager of the Stats railways at the Capo of Good Hope, who has just arrived in Auckland to pay a visit of inspection to New Zealand Hues. The Auckland traffic munager of Government railways lefb' with Mr Pried by special train to have a general look round on the line south of Auckland. Our visitor believes that before- the present year expires Cape ' Colony will be able to boast of having about 2000 miles in one straight line. MAOBI TOLL. . Whakarewsirewa (Rotor ua) presented a gala aj.pea.ranw this week, the occasion being the openir;g*of a new bridge across the Puarenga Stream, connecting the Main road with the Maori village, and wonderland sights tor which the little plaoe is justly famous. The Tuhourangi Band sti'uok up a 'lively march as they crossed the bridge, and Panapa Nihotahi, in full Maori costume, executed a short pen d» seul on the bridge. A short address was read to. the assemblage by Hint, on behalf of .thoj.N&tive owners, asking that they should still be allowed to levy a toll on visitors crossing tha bridge, as it wan for a long time tbeirmeanq ofjiyelihood, and tfiey now asked it especialiy'in the? names of their women and children. .Mr Mueller,^ commissioner of lan£s, in replying to. the Natives, told them to get a document embodying their wishes duly signed, and m would see the matter was properly laid before the Government:. He then informed those present that, as the Government had now acquirtd four- - fifthiror perhaps five-sixths, of the blook, it was their intention to- greatly reduoa - the* toll, or perhaps allow anyone to visits the sights quite fcee. He^would suggest to the Government [ that a certain sum be set apart and" "paid ; annually to Natives in lieu of tho toll gate | receipts ; and further, he felt sure the suggestion would ba acted upon. Mrs Shaw christened the bridge the Waihiao Bridge, after whioh the Natives dancei some hak*s. ! January 28, THE ERUPTION AT TONGAHIRO. News received from Tokaanu states that the Te Mare eruption, whioh took place at 4- a.m. -on JS Monday last, was a grand spectacle, ami considering how close the mountain is to Tukaanu and the position of the township the column ofdust, steam, &3 , must have been very high indeed to enable them to have obtained such a splendid view as. is desoribed. 'The eruption was preceded by a loud report and some shaking, which aroused all the inhabitant*,, who thus receiving timefy warning were" enabled to witness, the extraordinary scene. Ib appears that the crest of the hill above the crater gradually fall* in, and this with the drainage from the rainfall and the springs above fills the vents. The steam thus prevented from finding an exit af fces a tiup forces its way by ejecting the debris. T<s Mve continued emitting steam, &c, all day, *ud >• <r .r'y yesterday, £ONG-DISTaV U PIGEON FLYING.' Some homing piauons belonging to . Bfr Fricker, of Auckland, were released ac the Mokau railway s ation early ye&tsrday morning and arrived at thoir lofo in Auckland at a quarter to 8 a.m. It is stated that they did the distance under three hours. A number of pigeons are being sent.to Taranaki with a view to their making a flight from New Plymouth to Auckland. , • THB RONTQEN RAYS. ,t / - ; Some results have been obtained by the X rays apparatus. -One photo, obtained shows distinctly a needle embedded in alady** foot;, and another shows a broken bone in the arm of a well-known jooksy, the bone having knitted, but not evenly. A child, five months old, was brought to ascertain the cause of a crinpled right arm, and the application of the X ray gave clear proof of a dislocation in the locality. One excellent photograph shows the hand and forearm of Mr W. Holden, a young man resid- + iog at Mabgere. Mr Holden when at school ia**j Brussels 12 years ago got a bullet embedded in one hacd. Two celebrated doctors kept tha wound open for a week trying to locate tha bullet, bub unsuccessfully, and it it still in th» band. The photo, shows the bullet distinctly embedded in the pilm of the hand, and no serious difficulty will now be met in extracting it.