OMNIUM GATHERUM.

Otago Witness, Issue 2375, 7 September 1899, Page 34

OMNIUM GATHERUM.

I The population of Queensland at the end of June was 508,000 — in increase for the halfyear of 948*. The time for receiving -designs for the nevr ' central railway station in Melbourne has been extended to December 22. . , ' Wanganui is about to raise a £16,000 loan, at 4 per cent., to carry out urgently-needed improvements in the borough. The Lie\itenant-Governor of New Guinea expresses the opinion that the possession is not a suitable place for small capitalists. Richard M'Hole, a fisherman, was capsized on the Tuggerah Lakes (Victoria), and , clung to his boat for 15 hours. He is getting" j better. The Government geologist .states that the black stones recentlyfoundat Graman, New South Wales, are not diamonds, as was supposed. A prominent Adelaide sharebroker says the time is not far distant when the scrip of all good West Australian gold mines will be held in London. It is reported, according to the Wairoa Guardian, that either Mr W. L. Rees oi Captain Tucker, of Gisborne, will be called to the Upper House. The Government are negotiating for the purchase of the Fancourt estate, of 16,000 | aores. The property is situated in the Waikato, near Cambridge. At the Nelson District Court a few days ago, 32 jurymen were in attendance to try a solitary prisoner, whom it was known beforehand would plead guilty. For the year ending 30th June last 43,800 sheep were sent away per train from the Mil- ( ton railway station ; most of these went Can- ■ terbury way. — Bruce Herald. j On Monday upwards of 80 sheep located in ' a paddock, at the old site of the Freezing: Company's works at Mataura, were worried ! by dogs. Many were drowned. I During the past year 36,000,000 ft of timber were / cut by the mills in the Southland disi trict. This is an increase of 5,000,000 ft on the output of the previous year. The Woodside School Committee have decided to recommend Miss Heckler, late of the , Waitahuna Gully School, for the position of I mistress in the Woodside School. A peculiar disease is prevalent among cattle I near Kiandra, South Australia. The animals j are attacked in the logs, and soon lose the 1 use of them, succumbing in a few days. In view of the outbreak of anthrax in the Taranaki district, the Government has permitted the free carriage of lime for use by i farmers on the railways as far as New Plymouth. It is intended by the Milton Presbyterian , Church congregation to make a presentation to the Rev. Mr Somerville, in recognition of his services while acting ac moderator during the vacancy in the pastorate. — Bruce Herald. ! In the Collingwood district, Nelson, during 1 the last year, 100 tons ojj paint were manufacI tured from hematite. The New Zealand' Paint ' Manufacturing Company also produced 106 I tons of paint at their hematite works on the^ Thames goldfield. Lord Kitchener has received from the writer of an article which made much noise in one of the magazine 1 ? at the end of last year full recantation of the charges of cruelty to the enemy therein made against the Sirdar, his officers, and troops. A child in charge of its nurse fell into the river at Yass (New South Wales) the other day, and the nurse jumped in to save it. Both were being carried away by the stream, when a youth named Crow pluckily jumped in and rescued them. The half caste John Moap was committed to take his trial at the District Court, Nelson, on a charge of assaulting Mr Peppin at 88 Valley. ■ On a charge of stealing some articles from . Mr Peppin, he was sentenced to two months' imprisonment. The Gazette contains a notification that pection No. 2, block XII, Paterson survey district, Stewart Island, has been reserved for the- preservation of Native game and flora. ■ Section 9. block V, Arrowtown, has also been j reserved for a pehool site. I A nlcasing ceremony took place at Yar- ! alia ICinderccarten on Thursday afternoon, when Miss Z. E. Dale, who is leaving for Wellington, was entertained at afternoon tea and presented with a handsome purse and tie from her fellow-teachers. The amount of coal exported from Westport last week was 9110 tons 15cwt, of which the Wcstpnrt Coal Company shipped 8275 tons lewt, and the Cardiff Company 835 tons 14cwt. This output of the Westport Coal Company constitutes a record. There were seven bankruptcies in the polony last week — namely, a labourer at Wanganui, a farmer at Maslerton, a tobac-conist-at Eketahuna, a carpenter at Wellington, a journalist at Wellington, a tailor at Weslport, and a butcher at Invercargill. In consequence of the condition of the-roada stores are selling at famine prices in Pongaroa. The cost of packing in a bag of potaI toes is 16s, or at the rate of a shilling per mile. The 501b bag of flour, which is sold at Makuri, about 20 miles distant, at 7s 6d, costs 17s 6d at Pongaroa. Luckily, most of the settlers provided themselves with supplies during the Bummer months, otherwise' they would be starved out. Complete specifications relating to the un-der-mentioned applications for Letters Patent have been accepted: — William LeCren, Christchurch, and John Tyson, Otago, an improved dredge bucket link; Ernest Robert Godward, Invercargill, improvements in hairpins. Provisional specifications have been accepted as f plows: — Andrew John Park, Dunedin, an improved gold-saving apparatus;' James Shepherd, InvercargiU, an improved bullet-resisting garment; Ewen M'Gregor, Mangaonoho, improvement in dredging machinery; Isaac Leach Lewis, Hokitika, an improved method of and apparatus for obtaining auriferous material from the bottom of mouk