NEW ZEALAND NEWS

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1330, 6 January 1912, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND NEWS

(By Telegraph—Press Association.) i ♦_ FORGERY. Gisbornc, January 5. , Alexander M'Leod, alias Smith, pleaded guilty and was committed for sentenco for forging a .cheque for <£5 on the Dank of New Zealand at Napier. He was re-' manded to Now Plymouth on a charge of the forgery of a cheque for X 8 on the Bank of New Zealand at Waitara. TRADE OF NAPIER. Napior, January 5. Tho value of imports for last year totalled .£171,346, an increase of ,£81i,726 compared with that of , the previous twclvo months. Tho exports for 1911 totalled ,£1,308,952, as against ,£1,885,1)39 for tho previous year. BLENHEIM BURGLARY. • Blenheim, January 5. In regard to tho recent. burglary at Clouston's bond, James Brimer, contractor, and John Wilson, William Stevenson, and James Haydon, 6eamen on tho steamer Blenheim, were brought ■ before the Court to-day on charges of breaking and entering. Frank - Campbell was charged with being in possession of the stolen goods. The police applied for a remand to Saturday, January 13, 1 which was' granted, Briiner, Wilson, and' Haydon wero allowed bail in .£IOO -each, and Campbell bail' in two sureties of XSO each. THE DUNEDIN FLOOD. Dunedin, January 5. It ia estimated that'it will cost not less than ,£6OO to repair the damage'dona to city property by the recent floods in Woodhaugh and North-East Valley. MR. DAVEY'S SEAT. Christchurch, January {>• After the official recount of the iirsi ballot for Christchurch East was announced, Mr. Hiram Hunter, Labour, candidate, said he would ask for a recount or an inquiry, on the ground that there had been plural voting. The Returning Officer having expressed himself satisfied that there was no reason, for a recount, it' was stated that Mr. Hunter would proceed with'an application for an inquiry. It was necessary : to deposit JO2OO, which was now offered by friends, but Mr. Hunter now states that he has decided that to seek an inquiry would bo unsportsmanlike, and that, therefore> he will take' no action. "A RUSTY PEA RIFLE." Gore, January 5. James Crombie,. aged about 22, a soli of a well-known farmer at Otama, was found oil the roadside near his parents residence on ■ "Wednesday with a. bullet wound in his head. He was conveyed to Goro Hospital, and died last night without regaining consciousness. An inquest will be held this evening. A rusty pea rifle, used by Crowbio to shoot \ rabbits, was found near him. AUCKLAND FIRE RECORD. Auckland, January 5. The year 1911 would have been memorable as the most satisfactory- in the history of Auckland fire records, but for a conflagration which in a, few hours destroyed one of the city's most richlystccfeed warehouse blocks and jumped up the total insurance losses for'the twelve months, in the district controlled by the Auckland Fire Board, from about ,£700(1 to ,£123,000. In 1910 the total fire loss was about .£10,000,.; and the total insurances on the premises in the •district .£220,000, as against .an insurance risk of .£375,000 at the'close ,of the year just euled.. '

TWO LADIES A CHEVAL. Rotorua, January 5.. Two young lady visitors from Auckland —Misses Gordon and Silva—had an exciting experience hero this evening with serious results to one. It appeared that both were riding, ons horse at a fast-' gallop. When pulling up it unexpectedly,: throwing both.' Miss Silva fell on''her 'face; J -and'sustained slight : : oancussion, besides being badly bruised. ISSss Gordon escaped with a shaking. : BABY AND AIR GUN. Auckland, January 5. Beatrice Alice Forbes, aged three years. . died in a private hospital to-day as a result of a bullet wound received by tho accidental discharge of an air gun. The' little girl was having dinner with her. parents at Opotiki on December 19, and 1 her little brother was playing with the gun, not knowing that the weapon was loaded. The bullet lodged in her forehead. GUMDIGGERS IN TROUBLE. . Auckland, January 5. A chance visit of a constable to a camp. near Henderson to-day led to tho discoveryof two men suffering from serious injury. 'Die camp was inhabited by gumdiggers. The constable found in a hut an elderly gumdigger lying unconscious in - a pool of blood. The man, whose name is George Pry, had sustained severe injuries to his head, apparently caused by a bottle. The constable found Jack Denny, also a gumdigger, lying on. the ground with blood issuing from severe' wounds on his head. He stated that ho had sustained injuries by falling, down _ The l serious condition of Pry rendered his removal to the hospital imperative. Denny was arrested and charged with assaulting: Fry. PINNED UNDER A TREE. Dunedin, January 5. An inqnest on the body of James Me-' halski,, who died on Christmas Day as tho resrult of a tree falling on him on December 6, was held to-day. The evidence was to the effect that deceased and a mate, named Titer, were sitting in the lalter's tent in the afternoon. A very strong wind prevailed, and deceased went into his mate's tent, thinking that it ; would be safer than his_ own. The tree was uprooted by tho wind, and fell on the tent, Titer being dazed, and deceased, who was pinned under the tree, was unconscious. The medical evidence was to tho effect that deceased's epinal column had probably been fractured. The cause of death was exhaustion, following on injnries. The coroner recorded a verdict of death from a fractured spine, caused by being accidentally crushed by the tree.