GENERAL NEWS.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 22 October 1901, Page 4

GENERAL NEWS.

The toll for passing the is 7s 2-1 a ton, withSi a head for passengers, so that a 4000-ton steamship with 200 passengers would pay over £ISOO. A sample of coal which was recently brought to Masterton from Pakowhai has been tested by the Government analyst, who states that, as it contains 50 per cent of ash, it is of no commercial value. The largest room in the worif under one roof and unbroken by pillars is in St Petersburg, ft is 120 ft iong by 150 ft in breadth. By daylight it is used for military displays, and a battalion can completely manoeuvre in it. The roof of the structure is a single arch of iron. The gold yield of Queensland for September was 72,2430 z, a decrease of 50960 z on September of la»t year, The yield for the nine months of the year is 596,1390 z. a decrease of 143,3310 z as compared with the same period of last year. The Nelson Colonist reports the death of Mrs Wastney, sen., at the age of 94 years. The deceased lady arrived at Nelson in 1842, being one of the oldest settlers thers. Her death was the result of a fall, by which she sustained a fractured leg. A member of the Polish aristocracy of Warsaw is said to have lost £40,000 in one night at cards in Paris, and to have seriously crippled hie fortune,

The Buller Miner says that in accordance with a report received from the State Colliery Site Commissioners, active prospecting is to commence in the Cave area of the Cardiff-Lease, Mokihinui, under Government supervision, and it is understood Mr Thomas Murray is to manage the operations. From this, adds our contemporary it would appear that the site of the main State mine is settled. One day last week a waterspout came up from Opotiki from the direction of White Island. It is described as at first a very dense cloud, funnel-shaped, far out to sea. It seemed to take iheform of a hugeolumn revolving rapidly and spira ly. fhe sea at its base showed white with foam. It passed away eastward. Mr H. Smith, of Lyttelton, of the oldest members of the New Zealand Marine Engineers’ Institute (his name is No 5 on the rolls) has received the badge of an associate of the Institute. It is a gold Maltese cross, having on one side the representation of a steamer’s propeller, and the initials of the Institute, and on the other Mr Smith’s name.

The salary was never meant to be given so that members could live in luxury all the year round, but to enable working men, if elected, to sit in Parliament, and we feel convinced that £240 is sufficient for this purpose— Manawatu Evening Standard.

We quite agree with Mr Sinclair that the same persons should not be allowed to hold seats on the directors’ board of an unlimited number of companies. It is impossible for them to pay proper attention to the multifarious duties involved, and there is, furthermore, a temptation to develop extravagantly the objectionable features of the ‘guinea pig system Dunedin Evening Star. A medical man expresses the opinion that the exaggerated hats, overladen with ornaments, which many ladies now wear, are responsible for a good deal of the peevishness, fretfulness, and incipient mental aberation which so many of the fair sex who pride themse’vei on being always in the fashion. T 1 cse women are liable to suffer from a peculiarly irritable kind of headache. A petrified forest, covering an area of 100 square miles, has existed for centuries in Arizona. Thousands and thousands of petrified logs strew the ground, and represent beautiful shades of pink, purple, red grey blue, and yellow. Major Wardill, secretary of the Melbourne Cricket Club, has received a letter from Mr J Darling stating he would be unable to play in the first match in Adelaide against Madam’s team, but he will be ready for the three test matches, if wanted. Major Wardill is also in receipt of a letter from Clem Hill to the effect that Jones, the South Australian bowler, is training hard, and very keen on his prospects for the season. Jones is in splendid health.

A somewhat serious state of things regarding the navigation of tho port of Nelson is reported in the Colonist; and naturally causas alarm in the minds of the Harbor Board there. The run of the tide, following some alterations near tho entrance, has caused the sand to accumulate and li bank up ” in what has hitherto been an available channe 1 , rendering the passage of an ordinary sized steamer more difficult, not to say hazardous than ever it has been. And the obstacle is growing so that tho harbor pilot informed the Board that there was only a few inches to come and go upon for a vessel drawing 9ft llin forward and 15ft aft. The latest report of the pilot stated that tho process of closing up tho entrance was still going on. All this has fluttered the Nelson Harbor Board, which is now understood to bo taking pressing action towards the construction of the new entrance through the boulder bank, and it is evidently high time.