LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1648, 29 August 1887, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Mr B. Eleton has again secured tha leano of the Oddfellows' Hell, and as an instance of the extent to which the talae of this property has increased it may be mentioned that Mr Elston » paying nearly 50 per cent more than fonnerlf for the lease. Tho polling for a Boro^h Councillor to till the vaoanoy caused bj the [retirement of Councillor W. Roberta Ukei plaoo to-morrow. The Coandidates nominated are] Menrs A. Roberts and G. F. Soott.

By a printer'g error In our report of Mr Purnell's meeting at Laurißton, published m Saturday's issue, the name of Mr Lomon was substituted for that of Mr Senior as the mover of the amendment m favor of a vote of thanks only being given to the candidate. The bioyole fifty miles record was lowered on Saturday by W. Q. Oarl of the Pioneer Olub, Ohristchuroh, time 4 hours 3 minutes. A rider named Pillow accomplished the distance m 8 hours 57 minutes, but it being unattested, it is doubtful whether the performanoe will bo aooepted as a reoord. The Rev. J. J. Lewis, of Ohrifltohuroh, has been invited and consented to preaoh the anniversary sermons of the Ashburton Wesleyan Sunday Sohool on 25th September. On the Tuesday following (Sept. 27th) a remarkably interesting servioe of song, entitled " The River Singers " will be given, particulars of which will bo given by advertisement m future issues, A singular oase of robbery is reported as having occurred at the house of Mr Gee, on the Alford Forest road, near the Woollen Faotory. Tho alleged facts are these — On Saturday night Mr Gee went out and Mrs Gee also went to visit a neighbor, who lived on the opposite side of the road. She went out at about a quarter paßt eight, leaving four members of tho family, the eldest a youth of seventeen, m bed. Mrs Gee states that she was only absent about three-qaarrers of an hour and on her return she was astonished to find that some flower pots which stood on the Bill of the kitchen window had been knooked down. On going inside she found that the articles m one of the bedrooms were very mnoh disarranged. On Mr Gee's return he found that £7 10s whioh he had m a purse m a oashboz (looked), the latter being enclosed m a tin box whioh waa also looked, was misßing, and the cash box and tho other box ware looked just as he had left them. Far thermore, the keys of the two boxes had not left his possession. It was found that a triangular piece had been out with a diamond out of the kitchen window, bo that a person! could have easy access to the o&toh of the window. It is most singular that the house could have been entered without disturbing any of the family, especially aa Mrs Gee states that many things were muoh disarranged, and it still more stranga that the money oould have been abstracted from the purse without the looks of the boxes showing signa of having been toampered with. The matter has been placed into the hands of the police, but they have no olue. In reference to tho remarks made by Soott's trainer reflecting on Capt Cotton's bona fides m the walking match, Oapt Ootton wires to a friend m Christohuroh : —j" Statements utterly unfounded. Have been very seedy for forty-eight hours. Had evory intention of walking^ but doctor prohibited at the last minute, giving certificate." Oapt Cotton has declared his readiness to walk next week. A meeting of the Hampstead Town Board was held on Friday last. Present— Messrs Mayo (m the ohair), Hunt, and Andrews. A ratepayer interviewed the Board re sum* mons for rates. — The Board declined to interfere.— Correspondence was read from the County Council re Milk Act ; and from the Borough Counoil to forming a Board of Health. — Resolved that Commissioners Andrews and Mayo be appointed to aot with the other looal bodies and that the Borough Council, let»6r be acknowledged. Tho Chairman read Mr Wilding's opinion re belte,— Resolved that the clerk write to the Borough Counoil re clause 239 of tho Municipal Corporations Aot with the view of getting a mutual agreement. — A petition was r»ad from residents m Trevorton rt repairs to road to Lancaster's •laughteryard. — Resolved that £5 be spent on the read, the matter to be left m the hands of the Works Committee. — Commissioner Hunt was permitted to postpone his motion re striking rate for a fortnight.— Several aooounts were passed, and a large amount of routine business diiposed of, and the Board then adjourned. A meeting of the members of the Rifle Association was held at Ohristchuroh on Saturday. There was a general feeling that the Remington-Lee rifles exclusively should not be used at next meeting, but no definite resolution was passed. It was resolved to recommend that the Otmaru meeting be held In January or February. Several alterations m the conditions were alao suggested. Tho half-yearly meeting of the Southern Cross Petroleum Company was held on Saturday night. The balance-sheet showed the expenditure during the half-year to have boon £1657 6s lid, and the total expenditure £28,833 13s 7d. The assets are £7598 3g. The Chairman, Mr F, W. Williams, who has just returned from the works, reported a good show of oil m the pipes. A sample of the South Pacific Company's oil was shown at the meeting, and it was considered very enoouraging. It will be remembered that we stated a few days ago that Mr John Stalker, of Tinwald, had applied for a patont for a grating oheok. As the farmingjoommunity will be interested m any contrivanoe that will tend to save grain from going to waste, we annex a few particulars of tho invention m question : — Stalker's Grating Cheok is a oontrivanco for more effeotually shaking the grain out of straw, while being manipulated by a threshing maohine. The affair consists of a huge fixed iron comb, with the teeth pointing downwards and slightly baokwards, plaoed a couple of feet behind the drum and above the front end of the straw shakers m suoh a position as to stop the straw only. The looie grain, pt ia placed, will pass through this comb or grating, and etrijte agapst solid deflecting prow-ahapod pieoeo that wijl throw the looso grain to the tides whjre there jo ljt.ijo or' no straw to interoept its passage on to the Bbnfllers below. The idea docs not scorn at all unreasonable, when it is remembered that tho straw leaves the drum with an estimated velooity of over one thousand foet per second. Of course the straw falls down from this slanting grating and passoa along the straw ehakors, as usual, but with the difference of having a less amount of grain to shako cut. In spite of the brief space of time that has elapsed since Mr Stalker applied for the. patent, we understand that two of the looa threshing maohine owners have already determined to adopt the grating oheok.

It was announced { th Wesleyan Church that next Sunday night the Rev D. MoNiooll would deliver a sermon on " Tho Ohrißtian'B duty m relation to politics." News oame to town yeßterday that a fatality had ooenrred at Methven, a man named Henry Miller employed at Messrs Gould and Cameron's station having been found dead m a water-race 'running through one of the paddooks of the estate. It appears from th« statement of James Kennedy, a blacksmith, who last saw Miller alive that the latter was m Methven with several other men on Saturday night and had two or three glasses of beor. All the men left for home m a perfectly sober condition but after Kennedy and Miller had left the others, their route being m a different direction, Miller, so | Kenasdy alleges, palled out a small beer bottle full of rum and drank some of th aontents. This had the effeot of making him very drunk. Kennedy tried hie utmost to got Miller home but the latter after he had gone a short way laid on the ground and swore at Kennedy, telling him to go away. Kennedy persevered for some time but at last, thinking it j was hopeless attempting to get Millor home, left him. The next morning Miller not having appeared, Kennedy m company with another man named John MoNoe wont to th* place where he had left him and they found him m a water-raoe a short diatanoe away, and quite dead. His face was out of the water, but his body was oovered. Tho bottle of rum was found a few yards away.