LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1893, 14 July 1888, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

: A baoon pig, 4001bs weight, bred by Mr G. ! G. Stead, is on exhibition m Christohuroh, The session is expected to olose about the ] second week m August. i Parliament has dealt with 115 Bills already ' one way or another, and still the order paper ! is crowded with new ones. Major Steward has acted as Chairman o f Committee m Parliament sinoe Mr Hamlin took the Speaker's ohair, At Rangiora the polioe have on hand a number of sheep supposed to have been stolen, and they cannot find owners for them. A man named F. Hoy slanghtered 118 bheep m 9} hours at the Roseland fellmongery. Twenty thousand tons of produce are said to be awaiting shipment at Oamaru, but there are no ships to take it away. A ball, m connection with the Ashburton Orange Lodge, will be held on Friday, July 27ih. The Canterbury Land Board did not meet as usual on Thursday. It meets on the 26th instant. Mr J. M. Verrall, Ohoka, is announoed sb a candidate for the Ashley seat. Mr R. Meredith, Oust, has deolined to come forward. It is believed m Auokland that the French escapees who were taken suddenly to Wellington are to be Bent back to New Caledonia. The rumor that the Bank of New South Wales was about to take over the mining olaims at Tinkers and Drybread,?.Otago, is said to be incorrect. If you want to see an expression of severe simplicity and childlike innooenoe m a man's face, watch him when he gets half a orown change out of a two shilling piece. Cambridge, m the North Island, has got a rink, and the local reporters are now gushing about "the merry buzis of the skates," and and those who put them on are "rolling through an unfriendly world," etc. The King of Spain has a salary of 1,000, OOOdol. a year, and be is only eighteen months old. If he saves his money until he is of age, he will be able to start a morning paper and have fun with it for a few months. A oharitable bequest of £1,180,000 is announoed. The recipients are certain Russian charities — Jewish and general. The donor is the late Baron de Poliakoff, of St. Petersburg. " We remind all those interested that Mr A, Harrison will sell, at Rakaia, on Thursday next, 19th instant, horses, vans, grooery, drapery, furniture, etc. The attention of farmers and storekeepers is speoially direoted to the sale. In another column Messrs Gardner and Marshall announce three Gospel addresses m the Templar Hall to-morrow (Sunday) at 3, 6.30, and 8 p.m. respectively. The subjects are interesting, and as there are no colleo tions, the Halljought to be well filled. Of the 139 distilleries at work m Great Britain last year no fewer than 128 were m Sootland; and of the 27,000,000 gallons of proof spirit distilled last year, exclusive of Ireland, Sootland is credited with not much short of two-thirds. Sir Harry jAtkinson, who was reoently installed as a great light among the Masonic fraternity, has imported a splendid regalia, whioh just cost him £10 more than it would have done had the Customs Bill not been passed. The very old story about the new man who was sent by the farmer to kill a good sheep, for family consumption and who m ignoranoe' elaughtered the prize ram m the paddook, has been revived up north as the experience of a station holder with one of his oadets. In London efforts are being made to form a " Consumers' League," whose members will bind themselves to deal as far as posßible only with firms who pay their employes fairly. Several drawing-room meetings have been held m support of the proposed polioy, and more are m prospect. If the verdict of the meetings should be favorable the league will be formally constituted. An Auckland bankrupt— J. C. Cairns— was op before }jia merciless creditors on Thursday, and they exposed him much tq hfs chagrin. It Beems the bankrupt kept two homes, and the creditors thought if a man kept one wife and family it was all that could be expected of him, but when he kepj two and went bankrupt they not see the force of it. . Writing of the position of affairs m Victoria, the m Leader " says :— The proßpeots for agriculture continue to Improve as the season advances. Though more rain is desired m some districts, it has been sufficient m the greater^ portion of the colony to permit ploughing and seeding to be proceeded wit! under favorable circumstances. Sowing is now nearly over m all the earlier distriots, and where the crops are above ground they are universally looking well. There died m the Sunnyside Asylum on Thursday a patient named Mark Price who wbb Bixty-eight years of age. He waa admitted t$ the LyttpltoD Gaol m 1858 as a lunatic, and subsequently removed to Sunnyside Asylum on the ereotidn of that'insti--tution. About the year 1876 Prioe murdered one of the attendants of the Asylum, named Whits, by stabbing him m the abdomen wifti a' oaring knife. The cause qt Prioe's death was heart disease, and a goroner's jury, at the inquest held yesterday, before Mr R. Beetham, brought jp a yerdiot to that effeot! There is now qp yjew ip Mr H. gander's ironmongery window a very artistic piece of furniture m the shape of a 3cotch chest of drawers, made entirely from ornamental New Zealand woods— the frame, sides, and top being of mottled kauri, the drawers and front veneered with totara knot, rewa-rpwa pr honeysuokle, and rimu or red pine, tbio latter work being very neatly put together aad having a very fine polish. The front is also ornamented with fluted pillars of the same w#odfl, and brass handles, altogether showing that Mr the maker, is a master of the cabinet making art, and able to show our valuable jfurniture wood to very good advantage. ' ' Our Mount Somera porrespqndent writes : —The Purple Star Lodge, No. if, held thejr annual gathering m the Sohoplrp'om, a( Springbum, on Thursday evening, After doing full justioe to the excellent oatering of Mr it. Jones, of Mount Somers, who had charge of the acmmiesariat, the business p{ tho gathering was opened by a short speech froia tho Worshipful Master, Mr S. McClimont. This was followed by a very good concert, whioh lasted to nearly eleven 6,'ulo^', Among the thirty and odd items contributed the following were most appreciated:— " Sailing over the bounding waves," sung by Mr p. Clarke; "Charge of the Light Brigj&dge," by Mr Whaley; "Can you lend my mother a Baucepan," 'by Mr J. Prioe ; ! "l?ow and then," by Bpra' A. 'Price; who 1 , o^oa iff a severe jcold, was scarcely in" her usual good form, but rendered nevertheless fall justipe t# the en^pti,o#al part of the'song". Several violin apd piano du.dts by' Messrs/. Pribe and Beuchlar were much relished. Some comic contributions of ifjßßsrs, J. jago and B. Jones evoked much applause. Thj conoert was followed by a ball, whioh Beamed to be better attended by ladies than by gentlemen. Still there was a good number of the Utter present. Your correspondent after boflwb.uilng eofjtpo dance selections left the ,eompairiy t.6 their torjisfohorsaa enjoyment, f a

At firat newspaper correspondents shrank from even mentioning the estimated number of the dead resulting from the overflow of the Yellow river, but there is every rea&on ( to believe that the calculation by the European who is most m the eeorets of the Government at Pekin is nowise exaggerated, and that it 18 probable that about 7,000,000 out of the 25,000,000, inhabitants of the Province of Honan have perished; notwithstanding that by clinging to planks and float* iog furniture, a vast number succeeded m eventually reaobing districts beyond the reaoh of the waters. Keatinq's Cough Lozenges cures Coughs, Asthma, and Bronchitis. Medioal testimony states that no other medioine is so effeotual inthe cure of these dangerous nraladies. One Lozenge alone gives ease, one or two at bedtime ensures rest. For relieving difficulty of breathing they are invaluable. They contain no opium or any violent drug. Sold by all chemists, m tins.ls ld£, nd 2s 9d each.