LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1612, 18 July 1887, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

We are.in reoeipt of No. 1 of the " Political Reformer," published gratis by the Ghrißtohuroh Reform Association. §§The French, who export more pears than «ny other nation, cover the inside of the boxes with spongy paper or dry moss, which absorbs the moisture; Each pear ia then Wrapped m Boffc paper and placed m layers m the box, the largest and least mature m the bottom, filling all interstioes with the dry moss. Thus they will keep a month or more. A super-refined lady entered a St. Louis dry-goods atere the other day and asked to be shown some " dignifiers." The floor-walker stared up the centre isle m a complete state of bewilderment as to what she wanted. At length he plucked up courage to request the fair customer to be a little more explicit) as he was ignorant of what she meant by " dignifiers. 11 With a look Bhe replied, " Bustles, sir." Says the Wellington " Post " :— There were some instructive details elicited at the meeting of Mr Bracken's creditors In Dunedin. It was shown that after £10,000 had been sunk m trying to maintain the " Evening Heraia," ha and Mr Bathgate bought the paper for £1,760. Mr Bracken's shares.in a company subsequently formed were Bet down as costing £710, and their present value was estimated at nil. King James boughj an Arabian horse of one Mr Markham, a merchant, for which he gave £500. It was the first of that country which had been seen m England. . . » The Duke of Newoastle, m his treatise on horsemanship, says he saw the Arabian above-mentioned, and describes him as a small horse with a bay colour, and not very excellent with regard] to Bhape— a description applicable to the famous horse since known as the Godolphin Arabian. John Hogg, m the " Shepherds' Calendar,', declares that dogs know what is said on sub. jeots m whioh they feel interested. A farmer had a dog that for the spaoe of three or four yearß, m the latter part of his life, met him always at the foot of his farm, about a mile and a half from his house, on his way home. If he waa half a day away, a week, or a fortnight, it was all the same, she met him at that spot ; and there was never an instance seen o' I her going to wait his arrival on a wrong day. She could only know of his coming home by hearing it mentioned m the family. Skinny Men.— " Welte' Health Renewal 1 i restores health and vigor, cures Dyspepum, Impotenoe, Sexual Debility. At chemists and druggists. Kempthorne, Prossor, and Co., gents, Ohriatohurch. 2 Wells' Hair Balsam.— l gray, restores to original color. An elegant dressing, softens end beautifies. No oil nor grease. A tonio restorative. Stops hair coming out strengthens, cleanses, heals bqald. 2

J A football match took place on Saturday i last on the sporta grounds between the Ash- 1 barton Olub and a team from the Woollen Factory, which resulted m a win for the Club by 2 goals and 2 tries to nil. For the winners \ E. J. Fooks, Moore, and Clark played an ex. 2 cellenfc game, while Oliver, Thompson, and Graham did their beßt to stop the frequent rushes made by the Olub forwards. The all round form shown by tbe Factory was better than that of the Club, especially when playing a losing game, and if a return matoh is played the Club will have to look to their colors, and go m for hard training. It is to be hoped, now the Olub has made a start, its I members will turn out on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons for practice, as some foreign matches are expected to take place shortly. In the " Gazette " it is notified that Mr T. Mitchell has been appointed Postmaster at Ashton ; Mr A. Bramley at Elgin ; and Mr F. Plumridge at Lismore. Regulations for trout and perch fishing m the Ashburton County appear m the ourrent number of the " Gazette." An Inspection Parade of the Ashburton Eifles and Guards takes place on Tuesday evening, m drill order. We understand that the Distriot Adjutant, Major Newall, will be present and give one of the lessons m musketry instruction, on which capitation depends. Members will, therefore, see the necessity for attendance, if they wish; to qualify. We have been requested to mention that the Cadete will also attend this parade, and, aB absence will mean forfeiture of the capitation allowance, it is hoped every boy will put m an appearance. A Chinaman has sent to England for the plant for a dairy faotory at Eltham, Taranaki. i It is estimated that the Windsor acoident will cost the Victorian Government over ' £200,000. , There are 1971 certificated teachers employed by the JEduoation Department of New Zealand. Only two of these have attained first rank (A 1), and one of those is m Otago. The "Christian World" sajs:— At the opening of the General Assembly of the : Established Church of Scotland the Lord High Commissioner, after reading the Queen's i letter, announced tho reoeipt of Her Majesty's usual gift of £2000 for the promotion of the Gospel m the Highlands, a portion of the . same to be appropriated to the encouragement • of young men to preach m the Gaelio language . to the inhabitants of the northern parts of : the kingdom. A peculiar case came before the Auck- ; land Polioe Court on Saturday. James > Edward Quinn and James Mannix were ■ charged with making a false declaration oi ' marriage to J. M. Wayland, Deputy Registrar of Marriages, to get from him a certificate 1 for the marriage of Quinn to Julia Sandford, she being under the age of twenty-one years. Mr Williamson, who appeared for the prose. ' eution, stated that prisoners had gone to the Registrar's office m company with Miss Sandford, Mannix personating the father oj the girl, and gave her away m marriage to Quinn, the pair being married by the Registrar. All went well antij the father oi the_ girl, who had refused his consent to the Union, heard of the state of affairs, the prosecution being the result. Prisoners were remanded. One of the exhibits m the Adelaide Exhibition is a big bell of fine tone from the Castlemaine Foundry, bearing the following inscription : — Federation. I was made on Viotorian soil, of Sydney copper and Tasmanian tin, melted With New Zealand coke, hy English, Irish, and Scotch men, under an Adelaide boy." On the other side of the bell are the words " Adelaide Jubilee Exhibition. Are we not brothers, serving one Queen, honoring one God? God save the Queen, and bless our Empire." The first inscription has given rise to some jooular comments on the great progress whioh tfie oolonials, and with them their colonies, mustl have made when '•English, Irish, and Sootoh men" are " under an Adelaide boy." Considerable inoonvenienoe was experienced at the R.M. Court, South Rakaia, on the oooasion of the last sitting. The R.M. could not be m attendance, and it was expected that the Justices would sit. Only one, however, was available, and defendants and witnesses were kept hanging about till half-past two, when Mr Martin (a visitor) took his Beat with Mr Hardy, and the business proceeded. It would be a real boon to parties having business at the Rakaia Court, if the Government would appoint another Justice near the township, who could attend the Court when required. The N,Z. Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, Limited, has received the following cable message from London, dated 14th July, 1887 :— Wool— The Bales closed to-day at the level of last sales, except that superior greasy and fine greasy crossbred have advanced nearly £d per lb ; and medium and inferior greasy, faulty sooured, and washed have declined nearly id per lb. The sales comprised about 320,000 bales, of which 154,000 bales have been taken for the Continent and 16,000 for America. 35,000 bales have been held over for future disposal. Wheat— Market depressed, owing to favorable harvest prospeots. New Zealand average and longberried sorts are worth respectively 34s 6d and 35s 6d pe r 4961 b. Adelaide and New Zealand f.a.q. are worth o.i.f. off ooast, 33s 3d and 32s 6d per 4801bs respectively. Frozen Meat—Canterbury mutton and lambs are worth respectively 3£a and 4|d per lb. A linen dealer m London has the Royal order every year for ten new pairs of sheets at £25 a pair. The linen is of tbe most ex* quisitelyfine cambrio; m the centre ia the royal coat-of-arms moßt beautifully embroidered, and the orown equally exquisitely done m the four corners. These sheets are for the stato rooms, and are all manufactured near Belfast. Every day the Queen's bed is freshly furnished with linen, [and six housemaids perform the task. There are twelve pillows, on whioh the linen cases are sewn, not buttoned or tied, and these aIBO are ohanged every day. It is much to be* regretted says the N.Z. " Times " that the laudable effort to avert a poor-rate m Wellington has apparently failed. ' Afc the same time we freely rqcognise that those who have worked so hard m this oause have done their best to render unnecessary the imposition of a rate for hospital maintenance and oharitable aid. It is not through any lack of energy on their part that they have failed : the failure has been due solely to publio apathy. A poor-rate now appears inevitable, but we hops that Mr Fraser may be Buoeeasful m his effort to continue the maintenance of the Hospital at .any rate, by voluntary contributions. It is stated] that 4owt of sealing-wax per month is used by the Great Seal, of which the Lord Chancellor is the official custodian. Though the French climate is considered superior to that of England, the overage of lifo m England exceeds that of France by eleven years. The coral market is glutted. Five years is said to be the time it will take to sell off the stock already m hand, and meanwhile coral fishing m Sioily has been suspended.