Mr Thoa, Sidey, son of the Eev Mr Sidey, of Napier, and well-known here, has been appointed purser and store keeper on the steamer Maori, which leaves with the Fifth Contingent. Owing to three ballot-boxes in connection with the Otaki licensing election going "astray a fresh election will be demanded. The boxes were duly sent by the returning officer, but were discovered at the parcel office at the railway station too late for the election on Saturday. A distressing drowning fatality occurr ed at Woodstock, near Invercargill on Sunday. A boy named Totherington fell into a water-hole five feet deep. His sister, Annie, jumped in to rescue him, but got stuck in the mud. The father with difficulty saved the boy, but while doing so the girl sank deeper in the mire until only her floating hair could be seen. When she was extracted life was extinct.
