LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1453, 11 January 1887, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The ordinary monthly meeting of the Ashburton Sohool Committee will be held this evening. A fire ooourred yesterday m a plantation belonging to the County Council, and situated near Dromore. It was extinguished with a great deal of trouble by Mr Foster and another gentleman, after having swept over about three aoree. It is presumed that the fire was originated by a npark from a railway •eqgine. Two clergymen m Melbourne are appealing to tho public for assistance on behalf of Uf widow and son of the lato William Hoakine, the well-known comedian. EKb last^illness quit* txJiaceted his monetary saving*, and the sppflal is made to eeoura a filling educaiioo tor bie soa.

In spite of the drought the water race system is holding out very well. Tho ODly parts that shows any signa of failing are the Hinds and Limestone creek races. The faot that the Beafield district is not Buffering from a want of water goes tn show that a mistake was made last year m shutting off the races at a dry period, because when the water was •gain lamed on it was absorbed by thu earth before it oould reaoh the end of the race. With regard to the auxiliarj channel from the Wakanui creek by which it is contemplated Lo augment the supply iv the lower Wakanui and S^afleld districts, tenders hare been called and one will, m all proba'.si ity, be accepted at the meeting of the County Oounoil on Friday. We uudcretand that the work will be completed m lengths, and thai as one is done the water will bo turned m.

Tares Cookney burglars jjworked all night on a late m an office, and when they finally got it open they found^six postal oarda and five postage stamps to reward them. The only revenge they oould take was to pute the stamps on the wall and write on one oi the card? — " A fellow who keepf a big aafe with, oat anything m it is a bloke 1" Too annnal general meeting of members of the Afchbarson County Kant Club will be held this ovening at the Commercial Hotel. A* soon as tba banks doiog business In Queensland and New Zealand (says a Sydney oorreipondent) give m their adhesion to th« flonrM proposed by the Associated Banks hera, the rates of interest allowed on three, six, and twelta months' deposits will be reduced from 4, 6, and 0, to 8, 4, and 5 per eenfr. A meeting of the Committee of the Aeh. barton Racing Club was held on Saturday evening. Present: Messrs 0. W. Fnrnell (chairman), W. B. Denshire, D. Thomas, R. Friedlander and Dr Leahy.— A letter was rend from the Secretary of the Tradesmen's Racing Ciub, applying for the use of the racecourse about March 3. i . ? -quest was granted on the usual terms, the meeting to be held not later than March s.— The Secretary of the Heathcote Racing Club wrote, stating that a meeting of delegates from different Clubs would be held at Christchurch on the 15th instant to consider the matter of bookmakers laying totalisator odds. —It was, resolved that Mr Fooka attend the meeting on behalf of the Club. — It wai resolved to hold the autumn meeting on April 21 and 22, and a sub-oommittee was appointed to draw up a programme. — Mr R McOwen was elected a member of the Committee, vice air M. Friel lander, resigned. After the transaction of routine business, the Committee adjourned.

Tho Bruce Htrald states that the iraports psr head of the mean population of this colony have fallen from £22 7s 6sd m 1875, to £18 48 9d m 1886, and the exports from £16 4s 9jd to £12 Is 4Jd.

Tha higheit leap of a horse on record is that of Mr Burgham's, of Hyde Faik, London. This famouß leap was made m 1792 over a wall, the height of which was six and one-half feet on the outside. The horse landed on a soft bed of prepared litter. ■

A Buckingham firmer baa jußt presented his firstborn for christening at his parish •huroh with twenty-six Christian nameß from the Scriptures, and repreßonting every letter of the alphabet. The names commenced with Absl and ended with Zaohariah. It was only with the greater diffioulty that the clergyman persuaded the farmer to oontcnt hi.uself with the firat and last of the appellations proposed. The surname of the unfortuimte iufunt is Jenkins.

The following is taken- from the Marl, boriugh Express of the 24th December :— Mr Clouston caught this morning m tha Opawa at St Andrews' an anormous Oalifornian trout, the largest ever taken m Marlborough, and probably one of the biggest yet caught m tba colony. It weighs 34}lbs, and measures 85 inohesin length, and 24 inches m oiroum* f ftvance m the thiokest part. Mr Clouston law it feeding on whitebait on the edge of the rivar, and took it with his hands.

Why do American Hop Sitters oure so much? Because they give good digestion, riuh blood and healthy action of all the organs We clip the following important testimonial from thei llanarra Mercury, N.S.W., on the 30eh March. It needs no comment : — " Mr John Loveday, of the Bulli Mountain, writes to ua after suffering for four years with acute gravel, he has experienced almost complete relief by using Sander and Sons' Eucalypti Extract. He saya seeing the said Extract advertised m the lilaivarra Mercury, his m. tense suffering induced him to ohjain a bottle of the medicine from Mr Hosking, ohemist, of this town, and that the nse of it gave him great relief at once. He states that between rhe 10th March instant, when he obtained the first bottle of the extract, and on the 19th the use of that medioino continued to afford him relief, to which he had been a stranger for four years. Mr Loveday. writes also that ho has found the Eucalypti Extract a cure fo rheumatism as well as gravel. He requests, ua to publish this information through the Mercury. We have muoh pleasure m complying with Mr Loveday 's request, whose word cannot be be doubted, and who can have no object m view other than a pure desire to benefit suffering humanity."--(ADVT).