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Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 804, 28 November 1882, Page 2

Outward ’Frisco Milt.. Mails for the United Kingdom, America,: etc:, via San Francisco, will close at the local post office on Saturday morning at ten o’clock. Supplementary mai's, closing at five o’clock, will bo despatched by the express train.

Sydney’s Return. —Sydney Taiwhanga has returned from Kaipara, where he gave an account of his London mission to the natives. They approved of the English Maori land scheme, and expressed a hope that all the tribes would fall in with it. He leaves for the north on Monday to address a native meeting convened at Waicangi on the Bth.

Upper Ashburton Road Board.—A meeting of the Upper Ashburton Road Board was held yesterday, The County Council wrote re small birds nuisance. The Board consented to certify to quantises of eggs and heads received. The Chairman reported the books had been audited and handed over to Mr Jephson. Accounts having been passed for payment, the Board adjourned.

Christchurch Police Courv Cases. —At the Christchurch Magistrate’s Court yesterday, Henry Garett was charged, on remand, with breaking into and stealing from the dwelling of E. J. Longman, wine merchant, Armagh street. Accused was committed for trial, hail being accepted in the sum of L 550 for his appearance.— Joseph Frigioni was charged on remand with violently assaulting Owen Barber, by striking him oh the head with a stone. The presiding Magistrate characte.ised the assault as'a cowardly one, and inflicted a fine of L 5.

The Late Fatal Fire at Nels6n. — The inquest touching the fatal fire was completed last evening at Nelson. It transpired tint the woman had been drinking bottles of beer, previously planted, and that at eno o’clock she was drunk. She then said she wouldgo on to,the hills, and three men in the house wont to lay down, each in separate rooms. William Nor on, the husband, deposed that between his naps he heard what he believed was the woman going upstairs into what was a loft. He also deposed th it the woman smoked, and when drunk was continually lighting her pipe. On the constable reaching the fire he asked* Norton the whereabouts of His wife, and he said she was on the hills* 1 and that prior to this a woman swore she told Norton she saw his wife in the house a few minutes before the fire. The constable says that immediately after Norton said his wife was on the hills, ho said he just remembered hearing her go upstairs. The constable said then “ She is burned,” and, in reply, Norton said “ And a good job,” but Norton himself denies _ this. 'I he evidence was somewhat conflicting as to whether the woman really was upstairs, but the lieutenant of the Fire Brigade deposed that the body fell, and consequently this question was considered settled. The jury ultimately brought in the following verdict and rider :—“ The jury is of opinion that the deceased, Margaret Norton, disd from the effects of burning while in a drunken state, and that we strongly censute her husband W. Norton for not having made known the fact that he had hoard her going upstairs, and for not having made any effort to save her. ” The Coroner, Dr. Boor, called the man before him, and after telling him the verdict, lectured him, but Norton made no reply.

, An Unfortunate Man. —Mr C. 0. McMillan, of W.' McArthur and Co., lately horsewhipped, was thrown fioycn his. buggy with violence, and out and bruiaedi. about the. face and body yesterday aft Auckland. 1 : J

The Solth Express. —The express' from Christchurch was about twenty-eight' minutes late in arriving at Ashburton this morning. The delay was caused by a defective engine, and when the train reached this place another engine was put on before a fresh start was made. Alleged Foul Riding. —The stewards of the Ashburton Racing Club will this evening hold an enquiry, at the Club room, Quill’s Hotel, into the alleged foul riding of the jockey of Steel Dust, in the Selling Hack race on the second day of the Club’s spring meeting, on Friday last.

‘‘ Illustrated NewZbai, v;dHerald.” —Wo beg to acknowledge receipt from Mr B. T. Wheeler, Dunedin, of the Illustrated New Zealand Herald for November, which is full, as usual, of good things, both pictorial and otherwise. The Herald is just the thing to send Home by the outgoing ’Frisco mail. Well Done, Wakanui !—Mr Malcolm Miller, of Wakanui, offers a special prize to be awarded to the best Highland dancer, under 16 years of age, at the Caledonian Society’s Sports, to be held on Boxing Day. The prize consists of a silver medal, and should bring out a ednsidorable number of “ laddies ” on the occasion. The Wilmott Combination. —This clever company gave a farewell performance at the Town Hall last night when “ East Lynne ” was reproduced by special request. The piece went well, and. was most favorably received. To-night the company appear at Lyttelton prior to their departure for the West Coast, where we trust they will do well.

Settling Up on the A.R.C. Spring Meeting. —The settling up on the A.R.C. Spring Meeting took place at Quill’s Hotel, on Saturday, when the following amounts were paid over :—Messrs Mason and Yallmce, L 132; Mr J. Pilbrow, L 123 10s ; Mr P. James, L 57 ; MrG. Lawson, L 57 ; Mr P. Butler, L3B ; Mr E. Saun-, ders, L 27 10s ; Mr P. Claridge, Ll 9 ; Mr R. Bryan, L 9 10s; Messrs Bishop and Lemon, L 9 10s ; Mr F. Lewis, L 9 10s. Total, L 482105. A Wasted Life. — The N. Z. Times says that “a middle aged man named Henry Patrick Hayden, who is said to have been a prosperous business man in Auckland some years ago, was sentenced? to' one month’s imprisonment with hard labor by the Wellington Bench last week. He was also fined for having been found sleeping in a railway , carriage at the Wellington station. , The prisoner was supposed to have befcn lately following the occupation of a ‘ grog doctor ’—that is, a ' person who instructs publicans in the art of adulterating their liquors. ” , Famous Fathbks. Several sops pf' fam us fathers are living on their parentage in London.. All the Tear Bound ii still ‘‘ conducted by Charles Dickens.” This magazine was the dead Dickens’ personal property, and was .left to the present Charles Dickens with the proviso that the name should be placed at the

head of its pages. Douglas Jerrold the editor of Lloyd’s Weekly News, and when he died the proprietors continued the family name by putting in the line “Edited by Blanchard Jerrold.” The editing is said to consist in the drawing of a salary. Eight Sermons at Once. — The novelty of eight clergymen preaching at one time to invisible audiences was witnessed op a recent Sunday in the Eastern Penitentiary, Philadelphia. It appears that this prison is conducted on the principle of solitary confinement, and each prisoner has his own lowly cell. These cells open on eight corridors, radiating from an' octagonal centre. The preachers stood at the outer ends of. the corridors,'-and could-bo heard by the occupants of the cells in their several sections. A group of officials and reporters in the middle of the prison experienced the" novel sensation of listening to eight sermons at mice. Keep a Scrap Book. Every farmer should keep a book in which to, paste agricultural and horticultural scraps. Every one in reading a paper will see a number of things which he will wish to remember. He will perhaps see suggestions, the value of which he will desire to test, or hints which he 'will want' to be governed by in future operations, and yet, after reading the paper, he will throw it down and probably never see it again. In,such oases all the valuable articles will lie lost. To prevent such a oss' every reader should clip from {the papers such articles as he desires to preserve, and remember and paste them in a scrap bdok. Such a book, at the end of a year or two, will be very interesting and valuable. A Handy Boat. —A short time ago one of the Rev. E. L. Berthen’s experimental

collapsible boats was dropped into the sea 400 miles from the Bcilly Islands, having six persons on board. She. beat about in heavy weather, and made tjie shore in six days. She then left Scilly in the teeth of a gala, going up the Channel,; and reached the Needles in thirty-five hours, travelling sometimes at ten knotg' per hour. The feature of such a craft is that she can carry seventy persons, with stores for a fortnight, and that when she is folded up and stowed away on the ship’s side she measures but two feet in width by about nine feet -in length, and can bo made ready for sea in one minute with all necessary gear and her waterbeakers filled.

Borough Council. —The usual fortnightly meeting of the Council took place last evening. Happily for the reporters the City Fathers we.e not in a very talkiitivj mood, and the sitting only lasted about an hour and a quarter. Prior to the commencement of the business Cr St Hill whiled away the monotony of the “wait” by exhibiting three Brobdignagian gooseberries, which ho said he had brought down in his pocket to show the repre entative of this journal, having observed a paragraph in that evening’s paper challenging any reader to produce a b’gger gooseberry than that exhibited I dely by Mi" Allen, of the North ea t Belt. The palm must certainly be awarded to Mr St Hill, one of whose berries measured an inch and threequarters in length, being proportionate y corpulent. If these berries go on d,q-.’ veloping at their present rate they will soon attain the size of smad pumpkins. Selling a Wife in China. —Whether the fashion of selling one’s wife was introduced from Smithfield to China or from China to Smithfield is not known with certainty. In a China paper we read ( ays a Homo journal) that a husband sold his wife the other day for 130 dols. It was a sale of affection. The man loved the wife, and she loved the man. The husband stipulated, however, for payment by instalments, and on the dead of transfer being presented to him, he naturally refused to sign till ha had received all the money. There was an awkward legal hitch ; the wife belonged to him till he signed the deed. Acting on legal advice, the buyer and wife saw only one way out of it. There is no action for specific performance in China. They drugged the husband, and, inking his hands and. feet, stamped the document. The happy pair bad scarcely sat down to their wedding breakfast when the mother-in-law, accompanied by a mandarin, arrived, and they wore both hurried off to separate dungeons, Ap in Englamd these sad cases bring their own bitter ends. The wife took opium and died, while the buyer committed suicide, and the husband is a widower, and has lost his 130dol. After these misfortunes he will probably do,the same.

fflipTUßE.j —i|||bigh'||kthe Yen. Archdafflgn Harpejflg Timaku, will deliver a at the Ki the ‘ ‘ Transit i e*Jig-A tf . ihe Court this liicffilng, Dr LStfhy, J.P., two first (bnplters wqre drunh ana'were eacffluied sa. j Drowned at Sumner.—At the inquest ■ywsterdayuon* -the- bedy*of sw '|Nlß* ,, oiiily , found drowned, at Saturday, an bpbh 'VSrdict was returned/ -.DeqlarbdOf.B'. -=-.Wa-.-J»a*a*vbe«n informed on- reliable,authority that the proposed match between the locally-owned Comet and Mr P. Butler’s The Agent, has been declared off by the respective owners.

War Medals.— The war medals conferred on the troops for distinguished Seri vices in the late Egyptian campaign wfere personally presented to the recipients: by her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle., A Narrow Squeak.— A. narrow escape from a fatal boating accident occurred off Boulder Bank, Nelson, yesterday. Two visitors to Nelson, Messrs Fothergill spid Dunk, hired a fisherman’s boat for an hour or two, taking the owner of |fche boat, named Reid. When on the liar outside the harbor Reid jibed the boat,, and the sheet becoming foul, capsized jier in very rough water. The men clungj to the boat, which turned over three tinks. About two hours and a half later the cutter Mersey was going out of port, when Captain Robinson, late of Hie anchor service, observing the men, hauled down his head sails and let go the anchor, and at considerable risk he and his nlate launched the dingy, and saved the mem Mr Fothergill was very exhaused and Mr Dunk little less so. However, Captain Robinson did all that could be done, and after picking up his vessel returned with' them to port. His action deserves much praise.

Rakaxa and Ashburton Forks Riitvr.\Y. — A meeting of ratepayers interested was held at Methven last afternoon 1 Id consider a letter from the Chairman; of Directors of the above Company, notifying its intention to proceed against; all persons liable tor rates unpaid. Mr J.‘ C. .yVasqq presided/, >jt. the motion of Mr Julian Jackson, seppndcd by Mr Alexander—“ This meeting japproves of the action taken by the deputation who waited on the County Council at its last meeting for the purpose of opposing the collection of the Rakaia and Ashburton Forks Railway rate.” It was then H moved by Mr Hearing, Becpnded by |Mr C, ? ‘S.AMWkie, ahd f *Tfedr those present form themselves into sub-cdm-mittees for their several districts, to ooli lect subscriptions for the defence fuhd, and evidence of-the Company’s actionj in. the matter of assessing the district, ai>d to report within a month.” The following gentlemen were then appointed aub-com-mjttees* jvitik: number Alford'Forest Mr Herring, lyith Jackson, J. Jackson, Murdoch, Reynolds, Lauriston; Jgmwey, Alexander, and Disht. RalcaiU' and B^rrr : .hill ; : .Mespns , , jftflid.CrjS.|Mackie;: iuti-cdmmittees'will report to* -Vic C. S. Mackie,. Secretary, Defence Association' within a month.’

Plains the Hobart Southern Star the Yen. Archdea-

Hales preached to a. large congregation! at at St David’s Cathedral, Hobart, lately, in aid of the Diocesan Church fund, onjthe

text “ Thy Kingdom come.” At the close of the sermon the Archdeacon detailed the efforts that had been made to supply outlying districts with clergymen, and I referred to what had been done towards the object in the southern. portion of the archdeaconary' in' ’ : ~no‘'fl'i ttaring terms.

“ In Hobart, the capital of this beautiful island,” h'e : remarked, “ you have the seat of .Government,, a large ..number. of F gbybrhimeht • offlbers, 4 Ji Ve£fltlr of the country flows into the city.i you havo jthe Govefnhif And Go v’errflheri4 7 ’House yonder, with all its beautiful surroundings ; yon have the bishop and the dean, and palaces to worship in like this Cathedral ; and what have you given towards l}ie fund 1 A paltry L2OO ; not more than is subscribed by one of our northern parishes! When I look at that red curtain (pointing itQotheitapastry pveD[sio..rerod9s)l 'and remember what you have done, I think it blushes for you i Y(hy,. -)kqv.e bare ..many in this congregation who could well afford to write a cheque for this amount and place it on the altar there as their single offering ! ” When the venerable gentleman had uttered these words there was an uneasy movement in many of the seats, and a tugging at wristbands, which spoke ofi the wakings, pf conscience. yj.- V’ Holloway's Pills.— Health or Wealth.— No sane person would hesitate an instant in the choice between these two conditions. Now is the season to secure the former either by restoring or confirming it. These Pills expel all impurities from the system which fogs,

foul vapours, and variable temperatures engender.during .wintermediginci also acts most'wholesomely upbn’the skih "by’disgorging the liver of its accumulated blip,, fluid i by exciting tile kldnPys to mor'e'eh’erge’lic attion; it increases the appetite for food and strengthens the digestive process, and liver, which most disorders originate, are fully under the’ control of these:'regenerative (Pills, which act very kindly yet most efficiently on the tenderest.b6wels.-^-[Ad;vt.]: .Vu-v *■; <■.