LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1906, 31 July 1888, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A meeting of those interested m the Art and Industrial Association is called for this evening m Saunders' Buildings. An interesting marriage has taken place m the Grey Valley, The bride was 17 years of age and the bridegroom 68. A baohelor editor, who had a pretty unmarried sister, wrote to one similarly circumstanced, " Please exchange." England is ready to buy all the honey ana beeswax New Zealand can send her. She imports 1500 to 2000 tons of wax, and from Amerioa alone £50,000 worth of honey yearly. At the Hawkes' Bay Education Board it was suggested that the moral tone of the Board's teachers would be improved by an example being made of any teacher who misconducted himself. s . v A Northern paper says that the esoaped convict Jonathan Roberts is now a sergeant m the police force. Jonathan accepted this disguise m order to escape the vigilance of the police. At the B, M, Oourt this morning, before Mr B. Alcorn, J.P., Alexander Beed, convicted of Vagranoy, was ordered to be imprisoned for three calendar months with hard labor. The new chair of Chinese at Cambridge University is to be occupied by Sir Thomas Francis Wade, who was for some time British Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary m China. The prospeots of the Mahakipawa rush, near Nelson, are improving. Some •• splendid specimens have been found, just about half gold and half quartz, with the rough honeycomb look whioh Bhows beyond a doubt that some rioh reefs must be m the vicinity." The Bey A. B. Fitohett decries rowing matches. He thinks it a pitiful thing to see one individual pitted against another, and the rest of the community going wild with excitement and squandering their money wildly m beta. " Mr Hamilton," Bays the " Hawke's Bay Herald," " whose splendid find of moa bones at Te Ante was narrated | by us some time since, will have a full skeleton of a bird set up early next month. The skeleton will be about eleven feet m height." A remarkable epeoimen of the "bunny" tribe was recently shot on the Woodbourne Estate, near Blenheim. From its lower jaw protruded two tusks, ourving right over the nostril, and from the upper jaw another pair onrved downwards. Sh* John Hall, on the Order of the Day, for going into Committee on the Eleotion Bill has given notice to move — '• That it be an in* struotion to the Committee to make provision for the extension of the eleotoral franchise to women." A Cbristohuroh man points out that our train speed wants hurrying up, to keep pace with the age. The Christohurch-Dunedin express averages 20 miles an hour, the Gummier Etruria averages 22 and 22} miles an hour across the Atlantic. Ono of the local sawmillera at Feilding has refused ordera for 200,000 feet of timber, to be shipped via Wanganui, and 150,000 feet via Foxton, asserting that m consequence of the heavy railway charges the orders could Dot be fulfilled at remunerative prices. A correspondent of a contemporary saya of the Melbourne war scare that it showed what a temible unreliable condition the defenoes arc in:— "The torpedoes got adrift, the volunteers proved anything but soldier-like, and the whole muster turned out a regular fiasco." Volunteers are reminded of the Government inspection parade of the Ashburton Rifles and Guards ordered for this evening at seven o'clock. Colonel Bailey has announced his intention of attending this parade, and it is hoped that there will be a full muster of the members of both companies. The steamship Taiyuam, whioh leaves Lyttelton for China, via Wellington and Sydney, has on board fifty-two Chinese, who are returning to the Flowery Land. Of these forty-seven are from Dunedin and the balance from Lyttelton. Sho takes others from Wellington, and it is anticipated that when she leaves New Zealand she will have over one hundred. A Chrißtchuroh whist player 'writing to a looal paper with reference to the 13 trump whist hand recently reported as having ocaurred m India, says that supposing relays of four players each were to sit down and deal hands out on an average every minute of the twenty-four hours it would take 98,096 years 178 days 3 hours 17 minutes to exhaust all the combinations, making allowances for leap year.

MiBS [Eva Charlotte Elworthy, 22 years of age, a daughter of Mr James Elworthy, of Port Melbourne, committed suioide on the 16th instant by deliberately plaoing her neck on the Jine-and being run over, it is presumed, by the last train to St. Kilda on that night No reason can be assigned for her selfdestruction. Her watch and chain and purse and money were all m her pockets. I Concerning the revolt of Turcomans reported m our cable news [the Yomud Turcomans, who belong to the' Turlu-Stock, have their local habitation m the country m Central Asia on the left bank of the river Oxus. In oomraon with the eight other nomadio Khalks or tribes constituting the group, they are distinguished easily from other Asiatics by their bold demeanour, developed m the course of almost continual alamans or marauding excursions. Since their submission to the " White Czar," they have usually evinced a disposition to avail themselves of the Buesian protectorate, I am rather m favour of hanging. I believe it ib quite as humane, and infinitely more efficacious, than killing a oriminal by electrio shookg, as the New Yorkers have deoided to do m future. The only tolerable argument m favour of capital punishment is its deterrent effect and for this purpose there is something about the very name of the gallows whioh the most powerful electrio battery will never be able to compete with. As for considerations of humanity, if Mr Berry does his work properly, our murdorera die, as I understand, 5 by dislocation of the oervioal vertebra} —a tolerably speedy prooees. But even strangulaion is believed to be rather an agreeable proceßß than otherwise. Annihilation by electrioity may be soon over, but it must |be;;rather.:nasty while it lasts. — " Truth " The " Tablet," m an artiole on the Papal Rescript, saya :— " It ia a most pitiful sight to behold the most faithful and Catholio people indignantly .protesting against any aotiou"of the Holy See, and even for a moment under the impression that the Father, whom they love more than life itself should have dealt them a blow through the influence of their deadly enemies, whioh, no matter how well intended, shall have, after all, the effect of striking from their hands the'only arms they believe they oan use, m these days of coercion, to save thousands from degradation, starvation, and death. It will require all the address and (tenderness which the Irish I bishops {oan command to bring back the people to reasonable counsel, and reconcile tberp to the duty of submitting to ; tbis Deoree of fcha Inquisition." Qur oontemporary wholly discredits the cabled report of the Beoond interview of Cardinal Morau with the Pope.