LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1737, 16 December 1887, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The annual gardon party m connection with St. Stephen's Churoh is being held this •Afternoon. A report will appear m to-morrow's isßue. Ths wife of Mr Sydney Taiwhanga, M.H.B. (formerly Mrs Sarah Moran), is now m Auckland (says the " Herald "), and ia very angry at her husband for having maligned her m his speech on the Divorce Bill. She has for some time maintained herself by washing an 4 scrubbing, but she had to leave her last place as the work was too hard. Mrs Taiwhanga applied for relief at the oflic9 of the Charitable Aid Board, but whon she had told her name, tbe officer m charge Baid, " Pooh, we are here to relieve destitute people ; you are well off ; you are the wife of a member of farUament." Mrs Taiwbapgs stated tj^t Bhe got ti? breakfast that morning, and wag dependent for lodging upon friends who were themselves very poor. A gentleman living at Island Bay made a somewhat i ingular discovery when cutting up ft large pumpkin tho other day (says the "Wellington Post"). The vegetable was ! grown last year, and had been on a shelf , with several others for about eight months. When the the interior was exposed it was found that the seeds had germinated inside tho pumpkin, and a ourious mass of inoipient vegetation had been produced. Some of these seeds had Bet forth stems fully four inches long, bearing yellowish green leaves of perfect formation, and m many instances \ runners from two to four inches long. This { peculiar internal growth has been submitted to gardeners and other experts, who unite m 1 asserting that it is almost unique m their j <9xperiej}9e. \We should add that the pumpkin, , which weighed about 401bs, was m a perfeot utale of preservation. To reserve nerve and brain waste, nothing equal Hop Bitters. Believe this >n$ $gke 1 none but America,.. Co'e, £.ee| t

The following good cat story is told by the "Auckland Evening Star" on the 28th ult. :— It would appear that a cat of the female persuasion belonging to Mr Stevens, bootI maker, of Queen Btreet, produced four kittens, [ three of which it was decided to drown. The doomed trio were placed m a bucket of water, and the executioner having seen them stiff and Btark at the bottom thereof, proceeded to breakfast. He then took the dead kittens to the garden, dug a hole 18 inohes deep, and buried their dripping bodies. His surprise may be imagined when, on the following morning, the mother oat was found to have the whole four kittens with her, lusty and playful. Scarcely able to believe the evidence of his senses, Mr Stevens hastened to the place whore he had buried the kittens, and found that they had been disinterred, the scratches on the ground showing that the exhumation had been performed by feline agency. Mr Stevens vouches for all the faot. of this remarkable instance of tenacity of life, The oldest botanical work m the world te sculptured on the walls of a room m the greal temple of Karnak at Thebes m Egypt. II represents foreign plants brought home by ar Egyptian sovereign, Thothmes 111., on hi! return from a oampaign m Arabia. Thi sculptures show not only the plant or tree but the leaves, fruit and seed pods, separately after the fashion of modern treatises. M W. Flinders Petrie, the well-known arohreo logist, has reoently taken paper oasts of thii very interesting work. In China a previous acquaintanceship be tween the male and female prevents them fron marrying. For this reason a man seldon weds a giift of his own town. Chinamen ar likewise prevented from, marrying kinsfolk 0 namesakes. Joneses are not allowed to marr; Joneses, or Smiths to marry Smiths, QAs showing the destruction caused by th ' small bird pest, the " Oamaru Mail " mer tions that Mr Collis, at the Fortifioation, ha m a few acres of early Cape barley, and thi ■ being well forward was food for all the sma I birds m the neighborhood during the lai \ week m November. There is not a grain < I oorn left anywhere, and the straw bad to 1 : out for green food or ohaff. \ A, W. Cowan, a fruit-grower of Fresn t Colony, has discovered that the scale bug he . an industrious enemy m the common an . He noticed last spring that the ants wei : swarming on some of his trees, and a oloc observation Bhowed that they were mot ( numerous on the trees affected with scab , Watohing their manoeuvres he soon disoovere ! that they were engaged m taking the seal : piecemeal from the trees and carrying it t their storehouses. There is no scale to spea of on his trees now. The days of the troubh some soale-bug are evidently about ended."Fresno Republican." A barman at one of the grand stand booth at the Melbourne races entered upon hi work fully equipped for aotion. The catere had discovered that some of his assistant were taking subat antial toll out of the proceed ' of business passing through their hands, am secret arrangements were made for keepini watch over their doings. The barman ii question was seen during the pressure 0 custom to slip a sixpence inside his collar and upon his being taken and Bearohei . between £2 and £3 m small coins were foum oonoealed about his person. He had lonj stockings on, and his underolothing wa tightly fastened by belts at the knees, si that he formed, m fact, an animated pursi for the oooasion. Money dropped m at thi neck was quite secure from falling out whei he walked about, and he doubtless anticipate! realising a fair pile when he undressed him self. He got three months. Aooording to a contemporary [tbe Nev Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agonoy Com Dany made a " stroke " by the sale of thei property m MeibournG for olose on £300,000 The land sold, with buildings, etc., was pur chased some six years back by the Company and the amount mentioned leaves a net profii to the Company on their bargain of fron: £80,000 to £86,000. This representa s dividend of about 17s 6d per share, or equal to a year and a half's dividend, calculated ai the rate usually paid by this Company. Tht Company have secured a part of the propertj for their own use at a low or almost nominal rental. The Paris papers give details of an extraor. dinary duel, whioh oollapsed under curiou. conditions. The parties were a Virginian and a Eentuokian, who quarrelled over a popular actress. The Kentuokian slapped the faoe of the Virginian, who chivalrously demanded the other's blood. A meeting was arranged, and a plot followed to prevent a deadly encounter. On the way from Paris one of the friends drew the charges from the pistols. The parties travelled m three carriages. Arrived at the place of meeting all jumped to the ground. The distances were paced off, each prinoipal received a dueling pistol, and then the seconds, instead oi giving the word, stealthily retired m two cabs leaving the third empty. The excitement and tension of waiting for the word prevented the two gentlemen from noticing the ruse. After Aye minutes' delay they turned and glarel at eaoh other like two tigers, and pulle< the triggers simultaneously without effect There was only one oab to convey them baol to Paris.