The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 1888. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1784, 24 January 1888, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 1888. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A report of harvest proapects m this district, and other reading, matter will be found on the fourth page of this issue. The following have been picked to represent Otago m the crioket matoh against Canterbury .--Beck, Bell, Csrsons, Downed, Harper (Captain), Harris, Hope, McFarlane, Niven, Parker and Rajnor ; emergencies--Grieve and Drabble. Bell is lame, and his place is likely to be taken by Grieve. The absence ot C. Frith, who is bowling m good form, vlll be .severely felt. The more pacific the C^ar grows the more men and ruds he Bonds to the frontier. Dr Carr, Roman Catholio Archbishop of Melbourne, will probably pay a visit to New Zealand m about a month's time. I The Government of New South Wales have | received no fewer than 388 inventions for the ; des'ruction of rabbits from claimants of the £30,000 bonus. Mr W. Lees, of Sydney, has issued a i challenge offering to back Charlie Samuel*, the Queensland aboriginal, against any man m the world for £500, to ran either 150 or 250 yards. Few men woald attempt to dry dampened gunpowder m a kitchen stove. A man m Canada did. His a ffl io ted family would be ad of any information as to his where.bouts. It is estimated that there are at present 0,000 men engaged m the seareb for gum on he North Island gumfinlds. The supply is n consequence much m excess of the mand A man m the suburbs bought a ferocious watch dog tbe other day. He oame home lata that night. Hid wife says that his trousers can't be mended. The dog's Bkin is for sale cheap. The man m question hopes to be able to eit down m a few weeks. Wjßi_ra' Haib Bu_SAM.T-If grey restores to original color An elegant dressing, softens and beautifies. No oil or grease. A Tonic Bestorative, Stops b«(ir soming out ; trengthfni, cle»o«s, heals scalp. %

The San Francisco mail doses at Ashburmen Friday next, at 5 p.m. Money orders inst be obtained before 10 a.m. At the Borough Council meeting last night _ rhen a number of aooounts m connection \ \ rith ths Fire Brigades were being considered, | £ 3r Williamson said that he thought the I ' 3ommirtee whioh had been appointed to 1 ' inquire into the subjeot of retrenchment, ( night with advantage ascertain whether an ] imalgamation of the two brigades were feasible. If such proved to be the oase, a large annual saving to the burgesses would result, Tbe safety of the traffic bridge is greatly threatened by reason of swaggers camping at the south end, immediately under the structure. Fires have been lighted m very close proximity to ths gorse and willow fascine work against the last ow of piles, and these fasoines being very dry and inflammable, the result if they took fire oan be imagined. In addition the gentry who make this spot their camping ground are helping themselves pretty freely, we understand, to the fascines, whioh they use for firewood, and, if this sort of thing oontinuc, m a short time all the protective work will be gone. The matter wsb brought under tbe notice of the Borough Counoil last evening, but nothing definite was decided upon. Tha house et the south end of the bridge, formerly occupied by the bridge keeper, is now m the possession of a number of swaggers, and a number of empty tenements ia the borough afford shelter to a great many of the " floating population." A good deal of di3euseion m regard to the Fire Brigade and Ihe question of fire prevention took place at tbe Borough Counoil last night. One man sent m a bill for seven ■hillings, five of whioh were for ringing the ball, and two for work done on the occasion of the fire m the plantation at the Old Men's Home, and the Brigade forwarded to tbe Counoil a list of men who expeoted to be paid for services rendered by them at the fire on the North East Belt. Cr Soott said the Brigade looked upon these claims as very improper ones, and considered a very bad spirit was shown when men would not assist m saving property from destruction without expecting payment for any little work they might do. Tho Brigade had itself refused to sanction the passing of the amounts olaimed, but had referred tho men to the Counoil. Members of the Counoil entirely agreed with the views of the Brigade as expressed by Cr Soott. The man who wanted seven shillings was paid for ringing the bell, but tbe Counoil deolined to sanction bis claim for work done The long list of olaimants m connection with the Belt fire was referred to the Hampstead

Town Board, as the house destroyed was m that body's distriot.

A new Irish servant, being asked wbe.her

his master was within, replied, " No." " When will he return ?•' " Oh, he did not say when he will oome m ; he only told me to say he was out." The population of the Bengal Preßidenoy is 66,991.456 ; that of the Bombay Presidency 10,454,414 ; yet tbe oivil oharges for governing the former are only £2,276,794, whilst those of the latter are £1.748,665. 1 Did not the sight of the boundleflß blue sea, bearing on Ub bosom white-winged fleets of commerce, fill you with emotion ?* « Yes ? replied the traveller, 'at first it did; but after a while it didn't fill me with anything. It sorter emptied me.' ■The stomaoh of one of the 20 horses which succumbed to some mysterious disease m the Winton distriot has been forwarded to Prof.

BU*)> lmxr-mmmlrmimr--i+-10-im;sjxitnxiCt—Utai tho

animals were Buffering from ergot poisoning, aa it is abundant m the district, not only on natural grasses but also on the tussock. We (" N.Z Country Journal *') have it on good authority that fruit-growing has been abandoned m some of the contral districts of Otago, m consequence of the prohibitive railway charge, whioh from one inland district is as muoh as 8s per ease to Dunedin* Borne growers have actually rooted up their trees m disgust. «• The Graham boys report a hags swallow, ing. They say two king snakes undertook to Bwallow a ground rattle. One commenced at his head, and tbe other at his tail. They ■wallowed until they met, and then swal* lowed eaoh other." That's all easy enongb, the difficulty is to swallow the yarn. Writing of the snooeßßorship to the AgencyGeneral for New Zealand the " Wanganui Herald" Bays: — The claimant that has probably the best ohanoe is Sir John Hall. He has the experience and qualification.? necessary to make a very fair Agent- General, and we believe he will receive the offer of the appointmont, and accept it. Mc Rolleston's name baß beon mentioned, but as he is a veritable " baby m finance," he may be out of the running; Acoording to the " Now Zealand Times," Hawke's Bay is the most prosperous part by far of the whole colony. True, that cash is somewhat scanty, and money not spent aB freely as heretofore, yet tho whole district is alive, aotive, and thriving. Moreover, the land, though somewhat mortgaged, is not flooded— is not drowned, with debt. Areas of land, too, that were looked npon as second class are every year growing more and more grass, and are evidently fit to rank m the first olasß. Hawke's Bay folk, too, have not spent their money gambling m gold and coal mines ; neither have they lost money m Bham local industries. Consequently unlike tbe rest of the colony, Hawke's Bay is only slightly feeling that commercial depression which has bo grievously wounded other distrlots. A California miner, having amassed quite a fortune, was returning by Bhip to New York to re-visit old friends and to find himself a wife. A young woman on board tho ship, Kerving m the capacity of nursery governess to the family of a merchant on board, pleased him muoh by her ne#t an.(J modest appearance. He therefore introduced hjpjaolf one day, and broke the ioo ot his purpose with one reoklesa plunge;— " Madame, my name ib , my parents and family reside m New Hampshire ; I have property amounting to 200,000 dollars, and expeot to engage io business m . lam a perfectly temperate man, and I oan give you good references to testify co my general upright oharaoter. 1 am unman ied and want a wife; will you marry me ? " The lady took m the oharaoter of her suitor at onoe. " Thank you," said she, "I will," and on landing thoy were forthwith married.