LAST NIGHT'S NEW ZEALAND NEWS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 9186, 25 July 1902, Page 1

LAST NIGHT'S NEW ZEALAND NEWS.

(Per Press Association.)

V PALMERSTON N., last night. The Borough Council to-night decided to submit to the ratepayers a drainage scheme estimated to cost £35,000,: but only £22 will be spent, at present. His Excellency the Governor will present war medals to returned troopers on Tuesday night. MASTERTON, last night. The inter-union match between Wairarapa Thursday and- Saturday Unions was played at Uarterton to-day, and resulted in a win for the. former by 7 to 6. In the second spell J. Wickens, of Masterton, broke his right leg. WELLINGTON, last night. Mr Palmer, of Sydney, has been appointed town clerk of Wellington, at- a salary of £800 per annum. The Agent-General has cabled that the / case of R. Bell and Co. v. the Commisi sioner of Customs, has been decided in favour of the defendant, with costs. The case arose out of the seizure of goods by the Customs Department for an alleged breach of the Trades Mark Act, and in both Supreme Court and Court of Appeal judgment was given for the plaintiffs. Advice^B~ceived here show that New Zealand has taken an honourable position in the "Good Words" Coronation ode competition open to thel British Empire. Out of over eleven hundred -poems submitted, seventy-four were from New. Zealand, and of these three are deemed "of great, excellence," and will be included in a collection of about three dozen of the best odes to be published in book form. These are respectively by Lucy Lucy Eveline Smith, of Dunedin; J; Lid- ■■:■' defl'Kelly, of Wellington; and J. Bell, of Wanganui; The Dunedin lady divides third prize with an English competitorResolutions passed at nn emergency meeting of the Harbour Board on' the 16 instant to raise a quarter of a million for dock construction were confirmed today by the Board by four votes to 3. The Board resolved to draft a by-kw imposing a. harbour improvement rate to be paid by vessels on all inward goods and transhipments discharged. The rate was fixed at threepence per ton for general ■ goods, and a proportionate amount on sundries. For this purpose 500 super feet • of timber is to be regarded as one ton. To-night's Gazette contains a statement of the receipts and expenditure of the Consolidated Fund for the quarter ended June 30. The receipts brought to the credit -of the ordinary revenue accounttotal £1,622,018, which, including the balance at the beginning of the quarter, £858,625, is £134,799 less than for the June quarter last year. Receipts from Customs were £470,308, stomps £145,640, railways £446,394. During the quarter the annual appropriations absorbed £939,927. Of this £823,290 was for in- ; terest and sinking fund, and £32,615 for "' old-age pensions. The annual appropria■K'tions amounted to £682,091, the princi- ; pal items being £251,993 for railways, £129,118 for education, £50,000 for defence.

ASHBURTOjST, lust night. The house recently occupied by Mr S. Curd, near Ashburton, was totally destroyed _on Wednesday evening. , There ■was no insurance on the building, which was the property of the County Council. H. Crump has been remanded to appear cat Christchurch on three charges of forgery, and has been committed to trial at the next Supreme- Court on two charges of forging and uttering. TIMARU, last night. A meeting of the executive of the South Canterbury Province Farmers' Union was , held here to-da3 r. It received the report of Mr F. J. Douglas, the delegate at the recent Colonial Conference, and . discussed some of the conclusions of the Conference. The Union platform was criticised as absurdly insufficient, and the ruling out of such proposals as political influence was said to be inconsistent, and if that attitude were persevered in, it /""" would make the Union useless. v Mr Maslin expressed a fear that, the difference of interests in the. North Island and South would render it necessary to divide the Union. It was resolved to take steps to form a Timaru branch, the one originally formed being broken up by the formation of other branches. The question of assisting owners of threshing mills to resist- the claims of mill hands iii the dispute before the Arbitration Court was dismissed. It was decideed that the body could not do anything, as a union, but the branch secretaries are to be asked to receive subscriptions from members to a fund to assist the mill-owners to defend themselves, as if defeated the extra charge must be passed on to farmers. ~ " ; '" DUNEDRf, last night. The Gardiner and Brodie draughts match was continued to-day, the position on the conclusion being: Brodie, 3 wins; -.^Gardiner, 2 wins; 9 drawsi:. There are ten games to play. At a meeting of the fallen soldiers' memorial committee, it was decided to go on with the local memorial while the public interest remained active.