NEW ZEALAND NEWS ITEMS

Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 1 September 1909, Page 38

NEW ZEALAND NEWS ITEMS

AUCKLAND, A large deal in suburban land took place the other day on behalf of a local syndicate. Mir Oliver Nicholson pur-, chased 53 acres of the main estate ati the corner of the Ladies 1 Mile and Remuera road, and running down to St.; , John's Lake. The price paid, it is rel ported, was £13,000, which works out : at an Average of £245 an acre. It is the syndicate's intention to cut the land up into sections for building purposes. The Northern Wairoa possesses a unique industry — that of the preserving and canning "of toheroas. These tasty, shellfish exist only on the west coasfi i north of Man-okau, "but their chief breeding grounds ase on the wide, stretch of ocean beach distant some seven miles i from Dargaville. So general a foody i favourite has it become that a canning , factory has been established at Mahuta* i Gap, and a profitable industry has rei suited. In on average nmwwn 12,000- »- dozen tine .are handifd- in- the OKna^sg. !- faetqry^. Auckland -is _tb» chief., market, . 1 but^Dunedin, GSisboafw, and Wanganui . ' annually 'demand their quota. Tie Aue- ■ fcralian and Indian. 'markets will, in the: | near future be exploited, .and sample* I cases, are now feeing' fortwoded to fhe editor ol the London Food and. Cookery. t Journal so that in* merits of tfee New - Zealand product may be sampled by food* 1 experts in the Homeland. Some few : yeans ago a city merchant conceived the * idea that the large and handsome shells > might have a monetary value in the '- English market. Two cases of specially chosen specimens were consigned to "a * London firm, and met with its appro- * bation in regard to size and shape, but ' all attempts to stamp them with orna- ' mental devices failed. Even under soft 1 pad treatment they cracked, and so a5 promising -scheme failed. » A Queen street property was sold - privately on August 25, including a shop and land with 274 ft frontage, for £13,000, being at the rate of £1090 per foot. 1 WELLINGTON. The Rev. F. W. Isitt, who has returned i from a trip to Auckland, is very sanguine I as to the result of the no-licence campaign . there. The prospects for the future are ' excellent. The party will father a bill to , come before Parliament next session em- ' bodying the principle of a bare majorityin local option and Dominion option. WEST COA.ST. , Although orders are not too plentiful, most of the sawmills on the Coast are kept going, and from present appearances - i there is every reason to bslieve that from this out matters in connection with the sawmilling industry will improve. Pro2>rietors. are hopeful * that the Tj&d times experienced lately will soon be a .thing of the past. At present the mills are mostlycutting white pine, the demand for Ted pine being a mere bagatelle. The extensive works in connection with the Paparoa coal mine and the Blackball-Ng-ahere railway are drawing to a close. It is estimated thai in about- a fortnight'^ , time the product from this extenfdye coalfield will be ready for export. Tltere remains only a very short distance of rails to be laid down. to. enable the coal to 1* put in the trucks and brought to port. Everything is in readiness at the mine, As a result of a visit by Mr W. Recce,. chairman of directors*- the Westport Stockton Coal Company has decided to construct the Mangatina bridge, enablingthe better yield of coal to be worked. This was the original scheme, but for some reason or other not explained it was departed from. The plant is canable of dealing with more than double the present output of coal. The Westpoxt Coal Company's notices to 250 of their employeas, in connection with the Granity mine, that their services will not be required a fortnight, hence was served on -Friday last. Themen are already leaving. A poll of the whole Inan-zahua County gave an overwhelming -majority empowering the county to introduce a- bill into Parliament providing for a guarantee for interest on the cost of construction, with working expenses, of an extension, of the railway from the present railway station into Reef ton itself. Re the claim against the Minister of Works by the Marlborough Cement Company for S&500 for the acquisition by the Government of Tata Island, at Golden Bay. the property of the company. the Compensation Court on August 28" ordered the respondent to pay the claimant £1400 ip full satisfaction of theclaim, with £94 11s costs. CANTERBURY. At the Lyttelton Police Court John Bailey was committed for sentence to the Supreme Court on a charge of burglary^ with intent to commit a crime. The evidence showed that Bailey had been pursuing a girl with unwelcome attentions for a considerable time, and on Wednesday; morning attempted to break into her bedroom by t.he window Mr Justice Deniiiston. in the Supreme Court, delivered a lengthy reserved, judgment in the case of Norton v. Stringer, an application for a "new trial. Mr Stringer (the Crown Prosecutor) had obtained judgment for £2000 damages against Norton for libel. Norton's application was refused.