LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1545, 29 April 1887, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The only business before tha R.M. Court thi9 morning was the settlement of costs m a oivil oase, m whioh the defendant had confessed judgment. Mr Baddeley, R.M., ocoupied the Benoh. At the Plumpton Park Coursing Meeting yesterday Mr M. Digby's Eingdove and Binger divided the Produce Stakes. There vsas a fair attendance of working men at the meeting held at the County Council Chambers last evening by Mr J. E. Maroh, of the Crown Lands Department, and at whioh he explained the conditions upon which land under the Village Settlement Regulations might bo taken up m the Reserve at the Hinds, lately thrown open for application. To-day Mr Maroh reoeivod several applications for allotments m the Reserve. A correspondent, who has seleoted a sootion, writes to a Christchuroh paper a3 follows : — " I am very well satisfied with my land and the prospects lying before me- under the Village Settlement conditions. I feel sure that a great many more can do well for themselves, for there's plenty of ground at the Hinds for those who choose to do what I have done. I hope that many will see the necessity and value of leaving town where thero's no work, to settle m this fashion m the country where there's a prospect of bettering their wives and families." Messrs Lill and Bruoe have been re-eleotod members of the Wakanui Road Board for No. 3 Ward. The evidenoe m the Wakanui libel caae, Gibson v. Wilson, was oonoludod m tho Supreme Court yeßterday. Counsel began their addresses this morning, and this afternoon a verdict was given for plaintiff for a farthing without ooßts. •'Rough on Rats." — Clears out rats, mioe roaches, Hies, ants, bed bugs, beetles, insects, skunks, jack rabbits, Bparrows, goph . At ohemists and druggists. " Bdohd-Paiba." — Quiok, complete oure, all annoying kidney, bladder, and urinary diseases. At ohemists and druggists. Kemptfeorne, ogaer and Co., Agents, CbrißtQuurols

The Eton Francis Ormond has made another I princely donation of £11,000 towards the j coßt of a new wing for the Presbyterian I College m connection with the Melbourne University. Up to date he has given £33,000 towards this objeot, and proposes to send T £10,000 to £15,000 more m completing the buildings. The action of the Victorian Government m offering a bonus of £5000 for the first 10,000 yards of worsteds manufactured m the oolony has induoed the owners of two woollen factories to order the neoessary machinery from Home m order to start the industry. In the last " Gazette " is published the total number of postal notas issued and received for the quarter ending 31st Maroh, 1887. The number issued wa5— 25,699, valued at £10,420 13a lid. The number paid wa5— 25,036, valued at £9,971 7s, being an increase above the last quarter m numbers received of 9,157, valued at £8.333 7s 4d, and of the number paid 11,786, valued at £8,808 23 6d, showing conclusively that this useful form of money exchange is being appreciated. An Allegan, Mich., merchant keeps what he calls a " thief account." In this book he reoords everything missed, and the first per* son discovered stealing goods is required to pay the entire bill to escape prosecution. Kecently a lady was deteoted stealing a pair of fifty-oent leggings, and she was called upon to square the novel account, whioh amounted to five dollars. Under date April 15th the London oorrespondent of the " Argus " cabled :— " A great Frenoh naval demonstration is taking place at Toulon. Forty men-of-war, with 200 guns, and crews numbering 10,000 men, have assembled at that porb for the purpose of engaging m various manoeuvres. The British Government have purchased m Canada 7000 additional horses for oavalry purposes." A writer m the " Argus " draws the following pen-and-ink portrait of the new Bishop of Melbourne; — "A man of very distinct individuality, though of a very different type from either of his predecessors. Well aged, but m no way withered, hair grey, and broad patch of whiskers beneath the chin grey also, busby eyebrows pent-house-like over bright eyes, a mouth that looks better m nature than photography, and chin indicating with tolerable clearness that its owner has made up his mind upon the leading matters of life." Dr de Morant, a Parisian practitioner, claims to have discovered a powerful revulsive anti-septio agent, which, by absorption, penetrates the lungs and rapidly modifies any lesions of those organs. He is enabled, by this means, he asserts, to treat successfully chronic affections of the lunge, tuberculosis, , and even phthisis. The " Sydney Daily Telegraph " ha 9 been making enquiries as to what becomes of the heavy patent fees whioh are charged m New South Wales, and the result is that it has been led to oonolude that successive AttorneysGeneral have gone on for years seoretly pooketing £1000 to £1500 a year m patent fees, extorted as a tax upon inventive genius. The New South Wales statistical . register for 1886, whioh deals with mills and manufactories, gives the approximate value of plant and machinery as £5,801,757. According to the " Melbourne Age " tho value of the plant [ and machinery m Victoria is £1,643,893. The number of hands employed m mills and manufactories m New South Wales has ' steadily increased from 24,932 m 1877 to 45,873 m 1886. The ooat per head of average attendance for the State Schools of the Australasian ' colonies, Tasmania, and New Zealand (says the " Sydney Evening News ") is as follows : 1 —New South Wales £6 4s, Viotoria £5 9e s|d, Queensland £6, South Australia £5 5s | 3}d, New Zealand £5 2a s£d, Tasmania £8 [ 5s 4§d, while the cost per child m the Board Schools m England is only £4 14s 2d. The result ' of the inquiry into the Bull: l disaster ia condemned m the strongest terras by the Sydney PreßS as inconsequential and ; unsatisfactory. The verdict of the jury was , that the deaths of the eighty-three viotims . were attributable to an explosion of gas, and : a rider was added " that this explosion was brought about by a disregard of the Bulli , Colliery's special rules and the Coalfields Regulation Aot, m allowing the men to work where gas existed." The 'Telegraph 1 declares the verdiot to be ridiculously unmeaning, and , the ' Sydney Morning Herald ' says : " Every ; word of the rider points to the fact that the jury have shirked the responsibility oast upon . them by their oath. The inference of the rider was intended for the Government officials or the manager of the Bulli Company. It now becomes neoeßsary to ascertain whioh of ; these two is liable for that negligence whioh the jury say brought about the explosion. The utmost activity is observable m the Frenoh arsenals m the manufaoture of shells oharged with melinite, the explosive force of whioh is ten times greater than that of nitroglycerine, and a hundred times greater than that of ordinary gunpowder. It is only six months ago that it was invented and 210,000 projeotiles a la melinite are to be ready for delivery by the spring, Experiments instituted with it go to show that its effects resemble those of a small earthquake. HoiiLoway's Pills. — The Great Need. — The blood is the life, and on its purity our health as well as our existence depends. These pills thoroughly cleanse the vital fluid from all contaminations, and that means strengthen and invigorate the whole system, healthily stimulate sluggish organs, repress oyer-exoited action, and establish order of circulation and seoretion throughout every part of the body. The balsamic nature of Holloway's Pills exercises marvellous power m giving tone to debilitated and nervous constitutions. These pills dislodge all obstructions, both m the bowels and elsewhere, and are, on that aooount, muoh sought after for promoting regularity of action m young females and delioate persons who are naturally weak, or have from some cause beoome so.