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Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume II, Issue 184, 18 August 1888, Page 3

It is proposed to hold a great aquatio contest on the Brisbane River, with a first prize of £5OO, a second of £lOO, and a third of £5O. Bush fires in the Wollongong district have done enormous damage, thousands of acres of grass having, been consumed, and fenoing, timber, and outbuildings destroyed. The New Zealand Shipping Company's steamers will take 30,000 tons of New Zealand coal next year. Kinsey and Co., of Christchurch, having secured the contract. The first action of an old man when arrested as a supposed lunatic in Melbourne the other day was to slip a sovereign into the policeman's hand. He wm discharged. Mr Justice Ward has granted an injunotion restraining the Christchurch City Council from taking a poll on the proposal to raise a loan for gas works on the ground that the notice of the poll should have been given by the Mayor, which was not done, and that the Council require a special Act under clause 569 of the Municipal Corporations Act before establishing gas works. At the Wellington R. M. Court a judgment of some importance to farmers and runholders was given by his Worship Mr H. W. Robinton in ths R. M. Court this morning, It will be remembered that ths case Brady v. Pearce, in which plaintiff sued defendant for the recovery of £6O, the alleged value of two sheep dogs destroyed by poison on defendant’s land at Pahautanui, was adjourned in order that His Worship might look into the case before he decided to grant the nonsuit asked for hy Mr Izard, nounsel for defendant , Later His Worship said ho had looked Up all the authorities on the s. hject and he had found nothing to change ths opinion he had formed. He said there was no law in Now Zealand which prohibited persons from lay. ing poison on their land provided they did not lay strong smelling baits which lured dogs on to their destruction. The only section he could find dealing with the subject was in the Police Offences Act of 1884, a section which made it an offence to lay poison on another . peron's land, near the streets in towns or within three chains of a road in the country. , He found that in the present cose there was no i malioioM ihtent in laying the poison and that i it was net laid within three chains of the road, He would therefore nonsuit plenliff ’ with Rd 171 costs.