LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1883, 3 July 1888, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dr Lyon Playfair Bays a cube of ooal whtob will paea through a ring tho size of _> ghjillmg will drive a ton of cargo two miles. It is better to be born littlo than not at all. Mrs Tom Thumb (Mr or General Tom is dead) earns £150 a week aB tbo contents of a Bhowjo.oni. it is an#o#npod that Mr Jolly will deliver a *• politioal lect'twe upo# the burning questions of tho day " at the Orange JJt)J| on Saturday evoning. A oharge of Is fof ad- ' mission will be mado to defray expenses. Thursday next will bo tho twonty-third anniversary of t.ho formation of the Salvation Army, Spooial soVvicjes jyilj bo oonducted throughout the whole region oyer v/bfqb thp Army rules. •■•■.. The increased revenue upon the Viotoiian railways for the present year ia expeoted to be nearly a million storling above tho roturn for the year when the Railway Commissioners were appointed.

A letter from Mr Hugo Friedlander on the subject of Municipal Retrenchment is hold over, but will appear iv our next issue. Shags nro getting plentiful upon the Waipoua, Bnys a Wairarapa paper. There is a standing roward of Is 6d per head for these f voracious birds offered by the Aoolimatisation Sooiety. { There nre salt springs m various parte of the oolony. One is near Taupo, and there are others m the Nelson distriot. It doos seem strange that thia industry should never have been developed, The total reoeipte m oonneotion with the recent Hanlan-Triokett match at Rookhampton were £396 7s Bd, and the expenses £225 19s 3d. Hanlan receives £127 16s 6d oi the surplus and Triokett £42 12s. ! A magnifioent case of ferns passed through Nelson lately from the bush distriot on itß way to the Melbourne Exhibition. They are expeoted to form one of the prinoipal attrac tions m the New Zealand Court. The Indian Government breathoß a little freer. The country is not going to be depopulated yet. Last year only 38,492 persons were killed by snakes, wild beasts and inaeots. This is a considerable falling off. The Speaker of ihe Victorian Assembly created quite a stir at the opening of Parliament m Melbourne by appearing m gorgeous oeremonial robes, exaotly similar to those worn by the Speaker of the House of Commons. In a letter just reoeivod, Sir Julius Yogel states positively that the Midland Railway Company will have no difficulty m commanding the requisite oapital to oomplete the line when onoe the oontraot is definitely settled. A Southland paper received a telegram from its Parliamentary correspondent whioh read : " Mr Mobb (the cash and R. A. treasury) was bb prophetio as ever." A Napier paper whioh received the same telegram found that it read " Caßßandra m Tronsers." A national aßsooiation, with the motto ** Alliance, not Dependence," is being formed m Brisbane. Its principal objects are the ' cultivation of Australian national spirit respecting education, labor, trade, and federation. A few minutes after seven o'olook last evening the firebell rang out loudly, but happily there waa nothing mora serious than a ohimney on fire m Cameron street West. The Brigade turned out promptly, but there was no need for their services. Until M. Pasteur oamo out with a oure for hydrophobia, it was vory rarely indeed that a mad dog waß heard of. Now it turns out that mad dogs are as common as pure bred ones. At the olose of April M. Pasteur had over ninety patients on his hands, all doing well. Most of them were bitten m Paris. It is ourrentlv stated m Melbourne that litigation ia likely to take plaoe between the representatives of the dooeased partners m the " Arguß " proprietary, m order to oompel one to Ipurohase the share of the other m pursuance of the agreed method of winding up the original partnership. Referring to the Rev Mr Brnnton's insolvency, a Napior paper Bays .—-"If m the default of the damages Brunton were to be made to sit •m the stocks ' at tho corner of Prinoea Btreet between 12 and 1 o'olock every day for a week, it would only serve him right, and would serve the woman he traduced far better than either an apology or damages." A Napier paper referring to Te Kooti, says : — "It ia simply a soandalous piece of cowardice on the part of Mr Mitohelson that ho doos not prohibit these peregrinations of the quondam hero of the Poverty Bay massacre. For our own part wo should hoartily rejoioe wero some old resident of tho coaßt to put a bullet through Te Eooti's head." Moßsrs Chaffey Brothers, the great contractors for irrigation works m Viotoria, are inviting competitive designs for the Chaffey College of Agrioulture, Mildura. They offer a prize of £100 for the aooepted design. Designß are to be sent m not later than the lat Ootober of the present year. Tho college will be builfc of briok, at a oost of £20,000 and will be oommenced immediately the designs are approved. The Bachelors ball at Seafield on Friday night turned out a very successful ono. The soboolroom was well filled and groat praise is duo to the Oommitteo for thoir efforts to mako evorythlng work smoothly. The mußio was good and the danoing was kept up with vigor, until oarly morning. Messrs Lambie and J. Johnston supplied the mußio and Mr Oox made an oxocllent M.C. Mr W. C. Davis catered and everything was well and tastefully provided. A very serious accidanfc happened to one of tbe employees, of a contractor named Dwyer yeßterday on the island m the Aahburton riverbed. Work was m progress for removing tho marker's hut, a concrete building of some tons m weight, and a young fellow named William Jeff a, residing with bis parents at Trevorton, was employed at the work. The ground had been oxoavated from ono Bide of the hut, so as to allow tho mass to oome on to a sledge provided, but tho hut oame over sooner than was oxpeoted, and young Jeffs Was unable to esoape m time, being caught between the hut and a piece of limber 6in x 6in, whioh was broken with tho weight of the oonorote. Tho sufferer waa extricated as soon as possible by thoso preaent and removed to his homo where Drs Trevor, Tweed, and Hannah are attending him. The half-yearly meeting of thp Star of Aehburton Lodge, U.AO.D., waa held last evening m tho Tomplar Hall. A huge number of members were present. Thp balance-shoot was road and adopted. Two new members were elcoted and three proposed. Bro F. Nokes, -D.P., then installed the following officers : — Bro H. Vesty, J.P.A. ; Bro E. Taekor, A.D. *, Bro Wall, V.D. ; Bro Potter, Secretary (re-elcoted) ; Bro Pauling, Treasurer ; Bro C. Browb, 1.G. ; Bros H. Piokford and Mulford, A.D.B. 's ; Bro Pearson, 0.G. ; Bro Nokes, Auditor ; Bros Jeffs and Carter, V.A.B.'s. A vote of thanks to the retiring officers and Bro Nokes, the installing officer, wore passed. The Seoretary thon presented Bro Clark with a P.A. diploma. The business having been concluded the members spent the remainder of the evening m a sooial manner, Tho " Southland Times " m an artiole on tho Railway Gommisßionership, says thore can be no doubt tho Govornmont were plied with remonstrates against going out of the oolony for euoh an officer. "We have lotß of mon here, '• they would be tbld «' quito fit for tho position. There is Mr Maxwell, whom ono of yourselves hinted at as the possible Chief Commiesioncr, and Mr Hannay waa pub., who was onoe stationmaater at a littlo country otatjon on the Oalodopian line, and Mr Oonyoro, who deeeryßß'Qonje'prodft f6ptho way m whioh ho organised tho ityanageinent I of tho South Island railways, and Mr Wright, | an old oontraotor, and goodness only knows how many more heavenrborn and experienced railway managers. Why then go hunting m tho old oountry for a Chief Commissioner ? " Only imagine the idea of handing over the complete control ol our railways lor fivo years to Mr Wright, Mr Maxwell, and Mr Hannay 1 Suoh is one of tho rumours afloat. It is difficult however to believe that the Govern, ment oould perpetrate suoh an aot of folly, What does Mr Wright, or any other old railway contraotor, know about railway management? It would be out of tho question to appoint Mr Maxwell Chief Commissioner: indedd, if wo ipiutake pot, one oi the Ministers ; was Bomb tlme'tigo' reported to have eaid that | l}ip presef-t Gonoral Manager" would tidt be 'a member of the Board. It would bo equally abßurd to appoint Mr Hannay Obiof Commißifotyej.,

At tbe middle of April 2000 foreign Jews | reoeived a week's notice to quit the oity of I Odessa. Tho foreign Jews consist of about 10,000 families, and the members of these «, families aro oomputed at the lowest figures at ' abou 1 30,000. They are probably more nearly 45,000. Under the heading " Signs of a New Fad " the " San Franoisoo Bulletin " says : — I' Juvenile prodigies continue to be disoovered m large numbers. They are reported from Kansaß of a Bix-year-old orator, from Newmark, New York, of a ten-yoar-old essayist, and from Nebraska of a fifteen-year-old editor. Musioiana range all the way from three to a dozen years of age, ond proaohers are deliver* ing sermons from cradles. A correspondent sends ue the following : — Laßt night ono of our looal gasfitters met with rather a singular, but amusing, accident, being up m the ceiling of the new bank and working a trifle late. On going to the workhole to dosoond ho found that the ladder had been romoved, and being unable to make anyone hear, ho was forced to spend the night with only a sheet of iron batween him and the sky, At the X.M, Court this morning before Mr A. Harrison, J.P., and Mr B. Aloorn, J.P., a prohibition order to have effect m the Borough and Oounty of Aahburton for twelve months was issued against J. O. Dunoan. The Benoh spoke very strongly m regard to prohibited persons being supplied with liquor, and. intimated their intention of meeting any suoh' oase that might eorne before them with the heaviest penalty the law allowed, no matter who the offender might be. A meeting of the Aahton Sohool Oommitteo was held m the Schoolroom on Monday, the 2nd inst. Present— Messrs T. Taylor (m the ohair), J. Shearer, W. Simms, J. Ashton, W. Wilson, D. Ryan, and J.' 1 Grossman. The Committee unanimously voted for Mr Ruddenolau as a member of the Board of Education. The Master's report was read and considered V6ry satisfactory. It stated tbat the roll number had lnoreased by three, and now stood at 60. The average attendanoe for the month was 49*1. There had been an increase of seven m the roll number for the quarter, and the average attendanoe had inoreased from 41 to 47 The Committee deoided to olose the sohool for a fortnight for winter holidays, and agreed that the beginning of the date for holidays should be left to the Chairman and Master. A resolution was passed to have the gorse m the school grounds grubbed and the fenoes trimmed, the matter to be left m the hands , of Messrs Ashton and Ryan. It wbb resolved that the Map of the County be mounted. A ' number of aocounts were passed for pay* ment, after whioh the meeting adjourned,