News from the East.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5576, 23 September 1889, Page 2

News from the East.

TERRIBLE EARTHQUAKE IN JAPAN. (Received Sept, 23, 12.15 p.m.) Thursday Island Sept. 20. A terrible earthquake took place at Kuinanioto, in Japan, on August 29th. There were fifty-three shocks altogether. Thirty-one houses were demolished, and fifteen persons killed. Bridges were destroyed, and rents opened in the ground in fifteen places. News from China states Marquis Tseng is seriously indisposed.

The following will be of interest, similar occurrences having taken place at Ormoiid : — School Committee meetings (says the N.Z. Herald) are sometimes lively, but one recently occurred in a country district which is remarkably peculiar. A householder determined to attend a meeting of the School Committoo, au(l also took a. friend with liim. The chairman objected to their presence, on the ground that the meeting was a private one. The householder and his friend were not impressed with the reasoning, and maintained their ground, whereupon the committee withdrew, the key turned in the lock, and the committee went to another place, and held their meeting. About midnight the householder and his companion were released from their durance vile. Such were the circumstances as alleged by the householder, in a letter to the Board of Education, and he wanted to know whether he could not get redress for his grievances. The Board came to the conclusion that the Education Act laid down no rule on the matter, and that the school committee had the power of regulating their own committee meetings. It'Tseems that by the Act ratepayers have the right to attend meetings of a Highway Board, but the Education Act docs not contain an express clause giving such right. "The .September number of " The New Zealand Law Reports " contains a report of the case of Miller v. Davy (Registrar(reneral of Land), heard at the Court of Appeal, Wellington, which is of importance to those who have business with the Land Transfer Office. Through the negligence of the Land Transfer Office at Napier a second certificate of title was issued for a piece of land, the first certificate being in force. The party to whom the second certificate was issued omitted by his agent to ascertain by searching, as he might have done, of the existence of the first certificate. This was held to be contributory negligence, disentitling the plaintiff to any claim on the assurance fund, and his certificate was called in for cancellation. The registrar having subsequently discovered the mistake, took no effective step to rectify it at a time when he might have saved part of the" loss consequent on the original mistake, but it was held that this gave no cause of action, as the loss was caused by the original negligence, of which the plaintiff" equally with the registrar was guilty.