The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas et Prevalebit. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1883.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1025, 14 December 1883, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas et Prevalebit. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1883.

The inquest on George Scott, of Lake County, resulted in au acquittal of his mate Thompson, it appeared that the two had a drunken squabble, and Scott died from injuries received, but Thompson was completely cleared of all suspicions of foul play. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, Limited, have received the following telegram, dated Loudon, 11th Dec.:—“ Wool : Market unchanged. Wheat: Market quiet. New Zealand is worth 43s per 4961b5. Tallow : Market firm. : Mutton tallow, 43a per cwt; beef tallow, 39s 6d per cwt.” The following regulations under the Inspection of Machinery Act, 1882, are gazetted:—“That from and after the Ist day of January, 1881, all portable boilers used solely in connection with threshing machinery, and all boilers used solely for boiling down purposes, shall only be inspected once in every two years, provided that to entitle such boilers to exemption from annual inspection they shall not be us sd for any purpose any period exceeding six calendar months in any one year, and nothing herein shall restrict the inspection of any such boiler at any time if the Inspector shall see fit to do so for any alleged sufficient cause; provided further that this provision shall not restrict or prohibit the inspection of the certificate granted in respect of any boiler in such class shall be for a less period than two years.” Regulations respecting the sale of strychnine and arsenic, which were gazetted on Nov. 2nd, are now revoked. A number of complaints have been made recently in reference to some petty thefts which have been committed in the Ashburton Cemetery within the past few weeks. Some residents are in the habit of placing choice flowers over the graves of relatives, generally on Sunday, and it has been noticed that before the following day they have all disappeared, and in some cases if not altogether removed, the plants over the graves have been disarranged and the flowers all strewn about. One family informs as that on several occasions' they have placed jugs filled with flowers over a child’s grave in this cemetery, and both the jugs and the flowers have always disappeared. It is to be hoped that ihe cemetery authorities will at once take steps to stop this nuisance, and also prosecute those persons wfio repeatedly allow their greyhounds to course over the cemetery ground after hares. Now that wo have drawn attention to the matter per. haps these uncalled-for practices will be checked'. To produce real genuine sleep and childlike repose all night, take a little Hop Bitters on retiring. Look for.—[Advt.]

Our attention has been drawn to an error in our report of Mr Bowron’d speech a at the Cheese and Butter Factory meet- n ing. That gentleman did not say that n I'.b of cheese could be obtained from 11b I of curd, but from 101 b of milk. t Through the hospitality of Mr John g Grigg the choir and Sunday School I teachers of St Stephens will be enabled to hold their annual picnic at Longbeach on t Monday next. Should the weather be t propitious no doubt oil concerned will t have an enjoyable outing. ( The medical authorities at the Auck- 1 land Hospital are unable to state as yet I whether Mrs Wilson, who attempted sui- ' cide yesterday afternoon by swallowing a 1 large quantity of heads of lucifer matches, will survive. Her husband is a plasterer or bricklayer, not long from Dunedin. Her alleged cause of the attempt is domestic unhappiness arising out of drink. At the Directors’ meeting, held yesterday, of the Wellington Woollen Manufacturing Company (Limited), the brokers (Messrs Williamson and Co.) produced applications for upwards of 10,009 shares, representing L 50.000, on which deposits had been paid. Great satisfaction was expressed, and operations will be promptly commenced. 'i he Dunedin agents of the Shaw, SavillAlhion Company have received advices by the mail that the Company have contracted with Denny Bros., of the Clyde, for the building of two steamers for the New Zealand trade. These will J each be 420 ft long, with 46ft beam and 32ft deep, a gross tonnage of 5,350 tons, and an average speed at sea of 12 1 knots. They will be provided with refrigerating machinery and all the latest improvements At a meeting of Masonic officers, held yesterday evening, it was resolved to hold a Masonic service in the Hall, Tancred street, on Sunday, the 13th January, when the D.G.M., Bro the Rev J. Hill, of Lyttelton, will deliver an address, and will be assisted by other rev. brethren. The musical portion of the service will receive special attention. The service will be held at an hour that will not interfere with the various church services, and the public will be invited to attend. The Otago Harbor Board dredge has been on the bar only one day since oc.. 27th, the weather having been unfavorable. On Nov. Bth the lowest depth at hgh water was 25ft, but the bar has since sho/led 18in, owing to the easterly swell. The Board at its meeting yesterday decided to raise the dues on all imposts 50 per cent, and on wool exported to 9d per ba'e. They also passed a resolution recognising the great services rendered by Captain Thimson, the late Harbor Master during his twenty-four years’ term of office. Letters received by the mail from England about the frozen meat shipments per British King and Catalonia, which arrived about the same time, and were sold at small rates, give the reason of the low price to the existence of a divided agency. Each salesman was trying to get rid of his sheep before his neighbor. Mr John L Beid, of Blderslie, writes strongly to the Now Zealand Refrigerating Company on the subject, and asserts that the want of 0 united action in placing the mutton on „ the Home market entails a loss of for £d g to Id per lb, which means 3s to 6s per j head. The New Zealand Refrigerating Company have received a cable that the Fenstanton’s meat is selling at 6£d per lb. y The President of the Christchurch 3 Chamber of Commerce telegraphed to Mr Rolleston the resolution passed at a public > meeting, with comments on the latest > telegrams from Wellington. He has since 1 received from Mr Rolleston a telegram h stating that the Stella leaves Wellington on Saturday for Campbell Island, and Government will contribute to send a steamer from Lyttelton or Dunedin if it ; is thought time will thus be saved. The President replied that Captain Miner will join the Stella, and he leaves by theTaka- „ puna to-night. The Union Steamship j Company offers to send the Taiaroa from Dunedin on Monday, but the President urges sending the Stella at once as a certainty. A deputation from the Dunedin ;1 Chamber of Commerce waited on Mr y Mitchelson yesterday re the light on the Waipapa, the new railway station, Otago o Central, differential harbor dues, railway e charges on the carriage of grain, etc. He replied that the light would be finished as r quickly as possible ; the Otago Central was to be proceeded with with the greatf est possible dispatch; the matter of arranging harbor dues was for Parliament, s and if properly laid before Parliament Y would be satisfactorily arranged; with re--0 gard to the station, only L 20.000 was to he spent on the buildings, and he did not . think that too large a sum for a city like " Dunedin. Tenders would be out this week for the foundations, and the struc- • ture would be proceeded with without delay. The Southland A. P. Show at Invercar- - gill yederday was spoiled by a heavy rainfall. The show was successful in = point of number of exhibits and the 3 quality of stock, and implements were very fully represented. Heid and Gray did not compete, although they were large t exhibitors. The following are the principal prize takers : Draught horses, Mr ' Bussell’s Just the Time o’Day; thoroughbreds, Mr Warnock’a Dundee; shorthorns, Mr G. Printz ; Ayrshire bull and * cow, Mr Rankie; polled Angus, N.Z. 1 Agricultural Co. Sheep —Merinos, Mr 1 A. D. JoKnston; Lincolns, Messrs J. B. and P. Sutton; Leicesters, R. Grieve ; 1 ten sheep for freezing purposes, cup by j N.Z. M. and A. Go., Messrs Cargill and Anderson. There was a falling off of 1000 in the attendance of the public. The 1 weather cleared up just as the exhibits 1 wexe being removed. At a meeting of the Timaru Harbor Board yesterday, a letter was read from the local agents of the Equitable Insurance Association, Dunedin, enclosing an extract of a letter from the Head Office, as follows :—“lt is stated here that the Association’s surveyor has reported that the shingle has-silted up the inside of the breakwater, and that there is now less water than formerly. It is also stated that there is so much haste iu loading that the cargo is improperly stowed, and the vessel, consequently rendered unseaworthy. The last vessel for the United Kingdom, which loaded inside the breakwater, is reported to have had only six inches under her keel.” The agents asked for definite information. The Surveyor (Capt. Bussell) was at once declared to be ready to swallow any yarn he might hear. The Harbor-master’s usual report stated ‘ ’ There does not appear to be any alteration in the jdepth of water.” The Chairman remarked there could be only one answer as to shingle, and the Board had nothing to do with stowing. The Harbor-master was called in, and assured the Board there was no diminution in the depth of water. The last vessel for the . United Kingdom was the Aranco; she drew 17ft, and never had less than 3ft under her. Her captain, who was part owner, took soundings frequently, and was thoroughly satisfied, and hoped he could come, back again. It was unani- 1 mously resolved to reply to the agents that no shingle drifted inside the break- 1 water; that the Board had no information 1 of hasty loading, and that the Surveyor, i Capt. Russell, had been singularly misin- - formed. The Harbor master was re- j quested to furnish a written report on the t Surveyor’s statements, a copy to be seat { to the agents of the Insurance Assoeia- 1 tions. Ifc was .decided to order a 60-ton steel lighter from England. Mr Goodall, r Engineer to the Timaru Harbor Board, a left, for Napier to-day to design harbor g works there. 4

The fishing season is now in full swing and many of the disciples of Izaak Walton A may - be seen plying the rod in the Do- s main every evening. Yesterday Mr li Arthur and Mr Farley each hooked a trout of two pounds weight, and the latter 8 gentleman caught a perch weighing one 8 pound. £ This evening the Court Minstrels will c appear for the first time in Ashburton at \ the Town Hall, and if report is to be c trusted playgoers may expect a genuine < treat. In all the lirge towns they have j drawn together crowded houses, and the < press has in every instance been lavish in \ praise of the entertainment. We j expect to see a crowded house. i The terrors ot the law as foreshadowed i in the now Adulteration Act do not appear in every instance to frighten the bakers of Ashburton into giving fair weight. A resident tested the weight of six two pound loaves this morning and found them eleven ounces lighter than they should have been. The rise in price, by the way, is made not only upon batch loaves, but also upon what is called “ fancy” bread, and as the latter class is not affected by the Act, and the bakers can work their own sweet will as to weight, it is scarcely consistent to increase the cost of that kind of bread. The Melbourne correspondent of the Napier Herald says:—A young man married a wife about whose progenitors he was ignorant; and, doubtless from the drift of his better half’s conversation, he was led into a quest similar to that of Captain Marryatt’s renowned “Japhet,” but in this case the object of the “search” was his “ father-in-law,” who, the yoUng man believed, had defrauded his daughter of her fortune. After a time the research i seems to have become a monomania, and , 1 the young man adopted a father-in-law who refuted to acknowledge the relationi ship, and who finally gave his tormentor p into custody for accosting him as the longl lost relative. When before the Court, the young man acknowledged his mistake, and I oftered to apologise, but the Bench were 3 inexorable, and ordered him to find such ■ heavy sureties that he would keep the > peace that he has practically been impri aoned for twelve months, s The death is announced of the once well known op-ra singer Mario. His real • name was the Marchese di Candi-i, and, t after receiving an excellent musical educas tion, he entered the Sardinian army as . an officer in 1830. He did not hold his commission long, however, but proceeded, 3 according to “ Men of the Time,” to r Paris, “ where his admirable tenor voice - gained him his first engagement at the y Opera, at 1,500 francs per month. The r Marchese di Candia, on accepting it, f changed his name to Mario, and, after two years’ study at the Conservatory, . came out, Dec. 2, 1838, in the opera of j ‘ Robert la diable.’ His career was most triumphant; he took a principal part in (j all the great operas of the time, and bey came extremely popular in England, as well as on the Continent. Signor Mario ’ took his final farewell of the London stage n July 19, 1871, and it was soon afterwards e announced that , he would appear ,at n Madrid, in the spring of 1872, to sing in opera. Afterwards he had the misfora tune to fall into distressed circumstances, and in May, 1878, a concert was given in r St. James’ Hall for his benefit, the gross receipts of which animated to L 1,160. ® He was the husband of Madame Grisi.” , “ Distressed circumstances ” hardly i'escribe Mario’s pitiable condition of late h years, which was one of bit er poverty, r This was not very creditable to his ■0 family, one of whom at least was in an it excellent position, and could easiy have e helped the old man. Mario was born at n Turin in 1808. n “ Anglo-Australian ” in the European d Mail, writes Large quantities of a frozen mutton from New Zealand, t amounting altogether to over 3,000 car--0 cases, were, on October 6, destroyed by II order of the London port sanitary authorii- ties. The meat came by the Mataura, p and I am informed, on behalf of the Haan lam Foundry and Engineering company, t that the cause of the meat turning bad a was that it had not been carefully frozen before being packed in the freezing chamn ber. The refrigerating apparatus worked r well during the voyage, and a portion of e the cargo was landed in good order. To 0 lose three or four thousand sheep after y sending them to England is a serious mise fortune for anybody, and the London l 8 public may claim a share of the misforj tune as theirs, for they have lost the opportunity of buying the finest mutton in .. the world at a low price. Ic wi 1 be a national misfortune if this mishap t should check the enterprise of colonial breeders and shippers. Fortur> nately, against this isolated mischance may t be placed the succession of successful e ventures of the same kind, while almost 3 simultaneously with the failure of this shipment of mutton occurred the success* t ful importation of fish from New Zealand to which we referred in our last. On this subject a correspondent writes that he bought some of these fish, although prejudiced against them by the warnings of 1 a jealous fishmonger, who looked un--3 lovingly on this fresh nail in the coffin 3 of the * fish ring,’ and found them ‘ most delicious.’ A well-known correspondent 3 of the Field, we observe, writes to say ’ that he will be only too glad to have the 1 chance of buying some of the ‘ next lot ’ at double the price which he paid for I samples of the last. This is most cheering, and will go far to remove the effects ’ of the failure of the mutton cargo per Mataura.” The mysterious case of shooting at ’ Wellington mentioned in our telegrams | the other day, has been explained to some . extent by a report forwarded to the Police Office. The old lady who died in the 1 hospital, says the New Zealand Times, appears to have been wounded accidentally. A boy was playing with a gun, at Stokes Valley, Upper Hutt, on the 30th ult., and as Mrs Hsmmling was passing through a doorway the boy discharged the gun towards her house, the blank cartridge grazing her arm and making a surface wound, in which some powder lodged. The wound was not considered serious at first, but it soon became so painful that the woman was brought to the Wellington Hospital for treatment. It was deemed necessary to amputate her arm, though her great age, 68 years, made the operation critical, and she died from exhaustion on Monday afternoon. How a boy could be allowed to play with a loaded gun at the door of a house remains to be explained. Charles Hammling, the husband of the deceased woman, who is a person of about 83 years of age, last night informed Sergeant Anderson that at about 8.30 a.m. on the 30th ult. a boy, about 16 years of age, whose name he did not recollect, but who resides at Silverstream, called at his house for the purpose of getting a grandson of the deceased to go shooting. The lad went into the kitehen, having a gun in his hand, the hammer of which was down on the nipple. Hammling remonstrated with the boy for having the ham- * tner down on the cap, and advised him to 1 have it half-cock. The lad then lifted the * hammer, which, apparently, slipped 1 through his fingers, and the gun went off, ’ the charge entering the deceased’s arm. } Deceased was only a few feet from the * muzzle of the gun at the time it was dis- 1 charged. Dr Wilford was sent for and a dressed the wound, and sent deceased, 8 who was at the time in delicate health, to 1 the hospital. The gun was loaded with f shot. The age of the deceased was sixty- 8 eight years. It is not known whether e the corone r will deem an inquest necessary, t “ Rough on Rats. ’’—Clears out rats, mice, roaches, flies, ants, bed-bugs, beetles, insects, I skunks, jack-rabbits, gophers. 7 J£d. Drug- P gists. Moses, Moss and Co., Sydney, General d Agents. z ;l

The meeting of ’theyGomhiftleo of the Ashburton Agricultural and Pastoral Ass elation convened for this afternoon lapsed for want of a quorum. The Manawatu Times, alluding to the sittings of the District Court at Palmerston lust week, says that a jury were engaged dealing with an assault, and one question they had to determine was whether the prisoner had committed a common assault or an aggravated one. One juryman boldlydeolaced-in his opinion it was an aggravated assault. ‘ ‘ And why do you think so ?” said one of the opposite view,, Why, because-the-other man aggravated him, of course,” said the juryman. A faint smile shook the building at this point, and the judge wondered why the jury were so noisy.