LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1798, 24 March 1888, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

On dit m 'Wellington that Parliament will bo Bummonod to meet on the 24th April. We are glad to learn by last evening's "Telegraph" that Mr F..J. Garrick has bo far recovered from hia late severe illness as to be able to resume attendance at his oflioe. ■ Tbe Very Rev Father Mahony, of Nelson •who is on a visit to the Rev Father Ohastagnon, will preaoh at the Roman Gatholid Churoh to-morrow morning and evening, The circuit quarterly meeting of the Ashburton Wesleyan Churoh was held last night m the parsonage, the Rev D. MoNiooll m the , chair. Some very striking and interesting statistics were presented during the evening, showing that during the last triennial term i both aggressive and consolidating work had been oarried on to a considerable extent. A proposal to establish a Home Mission Station j ; at the base of the hills, with Methven as a oentre, evoked a prolonged and searching dieoussion, and waa eventually oarried by an almost unanimous vote. It was decided that the Cameron street Churoh Anniversary Ber* 1 vioea be conducted on Sunday, Bth April, and • that a reception soiree to Revs J. Newman | Buttle, and J. T. Burrows be held on Friday, 20th April. In proposing • a resolution, expressive of the meeting's i appreciation of Rev D. MoNicoll's labors m the circuit, Mr W. H. Collins referred to the i versatile talents of their pastor who was ' shortly to leave for Napier, and also spoke of the liberal views of Mr McNicoll, who was not only abreast of the times, but on occasions m advanoe of them. Messrs R. Alcorn, Leadley and others, m supporting the resolution also bore evidenoe to the valuable ministerial work done by Mr McNiooll, and trusted to hear that, m his new sphere of labor, still greater success would crown his efforts. The motion waa oarried by acclamation, and 1 suitably responded to by the rev chairman* ■ Some routine business having been transacted the meeting terminated. I The Railway Department notifies oheap " excursions to Dunedin" for the Easter holidays, and to Christchurch for the races. | Tiokots for Dunedin will be issued from 28th inst to 2nd April, available for return to 14th ', April. Fares from Rakaia, 33s first-clas3, 22s Eeoond-olass ; from Ashburton, 28s and 18s ' Gd. A special train will leave Ashburton at ' 10.50 p.m. on the 29th inst. reaching Dunedin ' at 7.50 a.m, on tho following day. From 28th JJarch to 2nd April Saturday return tickets will be issued from any station to any station, \ and on 3rd April to Christchurch, all available for return up to 16th April. The «' Oatnaru Mail " says :—There is a | grand stool o£ hybridised white Tuscan wheat •- to be seen m tho window of Messrs Brownlee ' and Co.'s seed shop. It was grown by Mr 1 Isdale at Island Cliff, being part of the land [ ately sold by Mr Menlove, of Windsor Park ' The bunoh or stool grown from a single seed ' has 35 stalks, and bears the enormouß 1 quantity of 2505 grains or berriea. We have heard of stools of wheat being exhibited m the Old Country oontaining 1800 grains, but Mr Isdale's exhibit beats these hollow. He intends sowing the wheat, and preserving tbe produce for need, and if like begets like he will soon have enough to. sow a decentsized paddock. The following is from Tuesday's " Christchurch Telegraph " :— Fifty-eight hogsheads of beer were emptied into the gutters yesterday by a well-known looal auctioneer. He had reoeived instructions to sell the beer, and having offered it, the bid was not onoouraging, as a high exoise duty would have to be paid on eaoh hogshead. The lot was then offered as empty casks, and competition was within half-a-crown per cask of the amount offered for both casks and beer. This bid was aocepted, and the beer was emptied into the Btreet channels. Some people did not like to sco such waste, and buckets were brought into requisition to recover a portion of the precious fluid. In connection with the reported finding of silver ore at Clifden Station, Waiau, a oorrespondent of the " Southland News " writes :— iJ In November last Mr Moffatt, a resident m Gontral Australia, made a searoh for silver on the above property, and his labours have been so far rewarded by the disoovery of a rich deposit of the metal, a speoimen of whioh was panned out man ordinary dish. Communications were at once entered into with a Victorian syndicate, and their representative (Mr Howie) arrived by a late steamer to further proseoute the work. In a short time we may hope to hear of his labours being rewarded, not only ho far as silver is concerned, but by his bringing to light many other minorals hitherto unworked." For the 343 billots of various grades on tho Victorian railways, open on Maroh 1, there were more than 4,000 applicants, or about twelve applicants for every vaoanoy. Of these 4000 applicants 1010 rushed for 130 places of permanent-way repairers ; 1594 men applied for ninety-five vaoanoies as porters ; whore there were twenty laborers wanted 250 oandidatea appeared foe tho posts ; a call for four bricklayers brought forty-one appli* cations ; while 216 carpenters oompeted for appointments whore only twelvo were required ; twenty-njne stoneinasqns presented themselves fpr two vacancies; sixty-one locomotive youths for. tweuty vacancies; thirty-one students for ten vaoanoies ; and 382 olerks for fifty places, We learn from a Dunodin paper that, a wanton pieoo of misohief was oommitted at the Kaik CUuroh, Taiaroa Head, a few nights ago by Borne persona who broke into the church and smashed a number of seats and articles. ' : Holloway's Pills.— Enfeebled Exiatenoo — This medicine 'Mtbraces every attribute requiiei m a general and domestio remedy. It overturns 'tEe foundations cf disease laid by defective food and impure air. Jn obstructions or congestions of the liver, lungs, bowels, or any other organs, these pills are specially serviceable . and eminently successful, They Bhould be kept m readiness m every family, bfiipG a medicine of incomparable utility for yoiiftK'pjerftQna, especially those of feeble oon etJtuUons, They 'neyer paupe pain or irritate 'the nlC?* POnejlive nerves pV rqoijt tpncjer bowelo. Hollowaj'b ? {IIa are *° best-known purifiers of the blood^ tho moat aouvo £0' moitxa of absorption and secretion, whereby all poisonous and obnoxious particles are ■ [ removed, ronj jppjh. solids and fluids.

The Rev William West, of Southbridge, will oonduot the services m the Ashburton Presbyterian Ohuroh to-morrow morning and ev^niog Mr Elston, the lessee of the Oddfellows' Hall, is negotiating for the appearance m Ashburton of Mr J. W. H. Foley, the " Austra'ian Maocabe." A very successful meeting m oonneotion with the Dawn of Peace Lodge, No. 164, 1.0. G.T., was held m the Lodge Boom, Arcade Chambers, last evening. The Lodge was opened m the usual manner by the C.T., Bro Gr. W. Andrews, after which seven candidates were initiated. Several matters of more or less importance were settled, and the Lodge then resolved into harmony. The following members contributed to the enjoyment of the evening :— Sisters Taylor, Dent, and Andrews, and Broa Jessop, Page, Scott, Hardley, and Fisher; Bros Pauling and Andrews gave a dialogue, which was highly appreciated. During the evening refreshmentß were handed round, and after a Vote of thanka had been passed to the performers, the meeting closed. Messrs W. Morgan, W. MoMillan, Julian Jackson, John Holmes, and John Hibbs have been elected a Licensing Committee for the Mount Hutt Licensing District. The voting was as follows:— W Morgan, 25; W. McMillan, 25 ; J. Jackson, 22 ; J. Holmes, 21 ; J. Hibba, 20 ;W. Wrathell, 13 ; R. Lyne, 11 ; N. Duff, 9. The " Oamaru Mail " says that another industry, which gives employment to ten mem at present, has been started at Maheno recently. A Melbourne firm have commenced the manufacture of cat-gut from the sheep's runners. They have purohased all the raw material obtainable from the N.Z, and Australian Land Co. and Messrs Finlinson and Co's and will shortly employ about thirty hands altogether. The chimAß m the new olook-tower at the Melbourne Post-office are to be supplemented by oarillons, comprising twenty national aim. We learn from a Wellington paper that Monßieur Cobn, representative of the largest manufacturers of sugar machinery m Europe, has arrived to make enquiries into the suitability of New Zealand for the beet eugar industry. This is the verdiot which a Western Coroner's jury returned recently m the case of a man who committed suicide by hanging himself to the bed post by his suspenders :— 11 The deceased oame to his death by coming home drunk and mistaking himself for his pants." The " Napier Telegraph " says :— A striking example of the sailors' superstition m regard to a Friday has been exemplified m the case of the ill-fated ship Pleione. She commenced taking m cargo on a Friday, sailed from London on a Friday, fell m with a gale of wind m the Bay of Bisoay and lost a man overboard on a Friday, and was ultimately wrecked on the New Zealand coast on a Friday. Mr Thomas Bracken has (says the " Auck. land Bell ") gone to Sydney, where, he intends to enter upon commercial pursuits. In oonneotion with the Sydney frauds, Mr Otto Berliner, the well-known Melbourne deteotive, has been^engaged at a guaranteed fee of £1000. The Von. Archdeacon Stock, owing to ill health, has resigned the inoumbency of St; Peter's, Wellington. The "Lyttelton Times" records another instance of ft"^fet taking upan heraelf-the duties of mother to a family of young mice. The cat m question is the property of Messrs ■Partridge and Buddie and up to a day or two ago was regarded as a«' mouser " of exceptional ferocity. She is now suckling a family of eleven young mice, which she found and carried into the box whore she usually sleeps, and is tending them with the greatest solioitude. The " Wanganui Ohroniole " says that the proprietor of thelooal flourmills has just concluded the purobase of some ten thousand bushels of this season's wheat from Messrs Wilson and Eitchie, the prioe being 3s per bushel. The wheat is a splendid sample, especially fit for milling, and one that would take a prize anywhere. Messrs Bitohie and Wilson are sending a sample of this crop to the Melbourne Exhibition. ■" Bdchd-Paiba.."— Quick, complete cure, al annoying kidney, bladder, and urinary diseases. At ohemists and druggists. Kempthorno, Prosser, and Co., Agents, Christohurob. 1