LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1693, 22 October 1887, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The overflow of the river at Wakanui has somewhat subsided to-day. It reaobed its highest point on Thursday night, when it came to within about a chain of the Beach Road. A great deal of damage has been done to the young crops m that looality. A meeting of the farmers interested is called for Monday avening. The Rev W. E. Gillam, inoumbent of St. Matthews' Church, St. Albans, Ohristohuroh, will conduct the service tomorrow m St. Stephen's Church. The uniforms for the Aehburton Cadets have oome to hand, and the lads appeared m them fo the first time last evening. The uniform consists of soarlet tunic, with white collar, and dark trousers, and the company looked exceedingly well. The order was executed by the Kaiapoi Woollen Company, There are now about 45 boys on the roll, though the uniforms for all these have not yet come to hand, about a dozen, we understand, not yet being completed. Majoi Douglas, who is practioally the founder o: the company, has, einoe its start, taken a verj great deal of interest m its welfare, and hai bestowed muoh time and attention on it Sergt-Major Hayes is most assiduous as dril instructor, and has taken the cadets unde: his especial care. The manner m which thi boys perform some movements testify ti the trouble he. has taken, and with a fe^ more months under his oareful tuition, th cadets bid fair to become a very smart littl company. The Victoria Government has itopped th issne of naturalisation papers to Chines immigrants, and it is understood that th other oolonies are adopting a similar course This is th<v first step towards further rostriotin -the influx of Chinese into the oolonies. Ther ia at present, saya the •• Otago Daily Times, no intention of increasing the poll tax of £1 on each Chinaman entering Victoria. In Nei South Wales the agitation against the Chines ia on the increase, and objection is taken t their riding m tramcars m Sydney. The '• Perth Inquirer " contains an aooouc of another case m which a party travellin across the continent, and becoming greatl distressed, adopted the means of cutting th telegraph wire to seoure the despatoh c assistance to them. The account is give m a telegram from Euola, dated Sept. 18th — " An interruption ooourred on the telegrap line west of Eyre this morning. In th absence of Mr Graham, the assistant telegrap master rode out and found the line broke five miles from his atation, and the followin note attached to one of the posts : — ' Satui day, Sept. 17th, 1887. — Transoontinents railway expedition ia extreme distress. N water, all horses dead for several days. Shanl a native tracker, being the strongest, I sen him on to out the telegraph wirei, the onl way of attempting to lave our lives. All ou trouble through bad horses and leakj waie bags.' " Immediate asiistanoe was renders to the party, who were only five miles fron the Eyre station, Hatfield House, the residence of Lor< Salisbury, ia replete with historical assooia tions. Priceless relici are soattered about thi apartments, and the present Marquis is verj liberal m allowing visitorg to go over thi house and grounds. The tower looking eastward is an aotual remnant of the palaoe it which Princess (afterwards Queen) Elizabotb was kept m durance after her imprisomnen! m the Tower, and an oak is shown m the grounds whioh is said to have marked the limits of the Royal captive's walk. Tradition asserts that it was under this tree thai Elizabeth sat when she received the news ol Queen Mary's death, and the hat she wore on the occasioo, likewise the chair she sat on, aro still preserved. Here wo may fee the saddlecloth upon whioh she rode on her visit to Tilbury Fort, the cradle m whioh Bho was rocked, and the silk stockings the eminent citizen, Sir Thomas Gresham, presented to her. The most ourious of all the relioa is an emblazoned pedigree of Queen Elizabeth, whioh, unlike all other genealogical charts, does not loss its continuity, but traces hor descent to our forefather — Adam himself. A great sensation was caused at Noumea, New Caledonia, by an extraordinary tragedy whioh ooourred there on the 17th September, resulting m the death of a merchant captain named Leleizour, who was Bhot dead by a sentry on one ol the quays whilst about to embark on board a boat for the purpose of reaohing his vessel, lying m the harbor. The sentries stationed on the quay have always had to keep guard over the ooal store, and (heir instructions have always been to allow go one to touch the boats at the quay, and so prevent convicts esoaping. As the convict lepot had been removed, this regulation laoame a dead letter. But the sentry on the L7th had only just arrived m the colony, and le read his instructions literally. He first Ired on some Kanakas, but m this case with>ut effeot. About an hour afterwards four or Lye individuals arrived on the wharf to whom ie also oalled " Halt." One of them replied hat he was the captain of tho Consul de tascoigne, going on board his vessel. This ras the unfortunate man Leleizour. The 3ntry then observed that his orders were to How no one to touoh the boats, and as the aptain disregarded his injunctions, he fired Dd shot him dead instantly, the muzzle of ie gun almost touohing his body, Ci Rough on Oatabbh" oorreota offensive Jors at onoe. "Complete cure of worst ohronio ises ; also unequaled as gargle foe diphtheria, >re throat, foul breath. 4 . No one can be lick if th« stomioh, blood, rer, and kidney* are well. American Oo.'s iop Bitten beepMhw) well, Notice ,

The schooner Dareey Pratt, whioh arrived m Sydney from New Zealand, encountered an exceptionally heavy gale on Sept. 6th, when the decks were swept, the deck cabin was destroyed, and all the Bmall stores were washed away. The compass and wheel were lost, and the man at the wheel was terribly knooked about. The crew had been living after that on a short allowanoe of salt beef, flour, potatoes, and water. The fate of the antipodean " bunny " says the " Times " London correspondent, appears I to be sealed. An offer has been made to the Australasian Governments by an English baronet, Sir Hereward Wake, of Courten Hall Northamptonshire, to annihilate the rabbits of Australia and New Zealand. The plan by whioh he proposes to do thia has not been divulged, but he is so oonndent oi success that he is understood to be prepared to take payment by reßults, and supposing he does not | quite destroy the plague he is willing to forego payment. He haa made experiments on rabbit warrena at Home on a small soale, but desires to carry out further tosta before sending m bia final proposal. It ia gratifying to jknow that just as Sir Julius |Yogel haß been " knooked off hia pins," politically speaking, ha is recovering the use of his legs, and oan now walk into the Honse, instead of being wheeled .m his chair. There is good hope that he will thoroughly reaover. The patience and oourage he has displayed under bis great physioal disadvantages have been truly admirable. Another ourious phenomenon m the shape of a plague of ants is, Bays the Paris correspondent of the " Daily Telegraph," reported from Nancy. The ineeats were immense m size, some having wings, but the majority winglesß. They fell m suoh large numbers that the inhabitants thought that they were having a repetition of one of the plagues of Egypt. The thick black fakes came pouring from the air from five until six o'clook m the evening, and every district m the city was soon covered with what has been described for -want of a better expression as " living black hail." It is supposed that the rain of insects was the forerunner of the violent storm wbioh swept over Nanoy the next day.