LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1911, 6 August 1888, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

It is proposed to hold a boomerang.throwing display at tha Melbourne Exhibition,

Many of the Melbourne schools are giving holidays at " Exhibition time " instead of at midwinter.

It is said that some of the courts at the Melbourne Exhibition will not bo thoroughly ready before the beginning of September.

At the Melbourne Exhibition there are 250 flagstaffs from whioh will float flags of all nations, and 250 banner etß. Inside there is to be a design requiring about 3000 flagß, AlSouthern paper speaks of the power of the new tariff " to fill the veins of our commeroe with the wholesome blood of aotive, independent, wage-earning consumers." Sydney tobacconists complain bitterly that they have lost muoh trade sinoe the rollerBkating mania set m. The young man who dawdled away his time m the smoking and betting dens now gyrates at the rink, where smoking is not allowed. The Hon Robert Campbell, saya a Napier paper, deserves the thanks of the oolony for his action m warning English investors against the Otago Dook Trust Loan. It speaks of the scheme as " this maddest of tbe many ,mad enterprises entered into by New Zealand looal bodies." The Cunarder Etruria's last success m beating the record across the Atlantic deserves more attention than it has received. On one day|of the run she {absolutely steamed 503 knots, wbioh is at the rate of twenty-four statute miles an hour. The passage was not a favourable one throughout. The Elswick wire gun has thrown a pro jeotile weighing 3701b— whether shot or shell is not mentioned— 2l,ooo yards : as nearly as may be, twelve miles. This result was gained by a charge of gunpowder, about 2001 b; what, then, would be the effect ol dynamite, melinite, or that mysterious compound m wbioh the Germans put faith ? Carnivals are the order of the night at the Melbourne Rinks, and they take a variety of forms. Flower Carnivals, Paper Oarvivals, White Carnivals, Maeked Carnivals, Apron and Neoktie Carnivals, and goodness knows what not m the line, not to mention exhibitions at all the rinks of fanoy and trick skatingr

_Says the "Tablet » :— lt appears that Sir Henry Parkes is quite up to the level of the situation m the Parliament of New South Waleß. Said Mr MoElhone, th 9 other night, referring to something he had himself remarked about a cercain Bill, "That's plain English." "It is not plain. English," answered the Premier, "it is plain blaok. guardism." What a suggestive Bohool of manners we find m this Parliament,

. If a hen and a half lay an egg and a half m a day and a half, how many eggs will six hens lay m seven days? The "Wellington Press" published this riddla some months ago, but deolarea that it has not reoeived a correct answers yet, although up to date it has received some columns of answers. It offers a prize of 63 for the right answer, whioh it aayo is laughably easy. A Giaborne paper offers half-a-guinea for it.

This is Presidential year m several Amenoan Republics besides the United States, Mexico will soon have its Presidential eleotion and General Diaz will be eleoted for a third term. Ecuador has had its eleotion, so has Venezuela. Bolivia alao elected a President recently, or is supposed to have done to At the latest advice her offensive partisans were showing a good deal of pernicious activity, whioh threatens to end m a deadly outbreak

The largest market for horses ia Chicago, where some 5000 to 6000 ore sold monthly The prices vary from £25 for street oar horaes, up to £45 for the best 1500-pound horses. As it oosts no more to rear a horse than a steer there isjfar greater profit m them than m cattle. There is no probability of horses ever being oheaper m Araerioa than they are now, or of being m exoesa of the demand, as every mile of new railroad makes use of more horses.

A Missouri man says that he recently went into the woods, painted a blaok circle on the end of a log, and when he went back to the log an hour later he found 300 dead rabbits there, the animals having m-staken the circle for a hole m the log and dashed themselves to death against it. He has since received letters from the publishers of soveral New York dailies, offering him the position of affidavit clerk, his duties being to swear to the circulation. But he says he cannot tell a lie. — " Norrigtown Herald."

An extraordinarily goodsoore was recently made by Sergeant Grant, of the Ist Queenslanders, m the annual class firing of the company on the Brisbane range. In the regulation 60 shots he scored no fewer than 214 out of a possible 240 points, there not being a miss or an outer m the whole number. The value of the performance ia enhanced by the fact that m class-firing there are no sighting shota allowed, whilst the position at 200 yar4s is from the shoulderthat is, standing ; at 300 yards kneeling ; and at the remainder of the distances, either kneeling or prone with the head towards the target, at the option of the firer. The highest possible, according to Wimbledon scoring, would have been 300 points, bat m olass»firing the centre and bull's-eye respect, ively count one less than m the Wimbledon score, the outer being reckoned as two, centre 3, and bull's-eye 4. More than half the hits were ball's eyes.

The Ban Franoisoo mail closes at Ash-J burton on Friday next at 5 p.m. Money! Orders mUst be obtained not later than 10 a.m. j

At the R.M. Court this morning, before Mr A- Harrison, J.P., a first offender for drunkenness was fined 5s and costs.

The annual conoert and ball m connection with tbe Ashburton Caledonian Society will be held on Thursday, August 23rd.

Notwithstanding the inclement weather, it will be sood, from an announcement else' where, that the open meeting of Sons and Daughters of Temperance will be held this eveniog.

New Orleans seems to have awakened with surprise to a knowledge of a surplus population of 17,600 to 18,000 women, oaused by a 30 per cent, smaller death rate among women than among men.

Shortly after 3 o'olook yesterday afternoon the fire bell rang out an alarm and brought a large number of people into the streets. The Fire Brigade turned oat promptly, but fortunately there was no need of their services. The cause of the alarm was a chimney m Prospect Buildings, East street, catching fire.

Writes the •• Waikato Times" :— We canpot olose our eyes to the fact. that pauperism is on the increase m the colony. The blot on our political body sprang up with the progress of the Public Works policy, and has been ajshameful legacy to the taxpayer as one {of the (penalties for a prodigal career. The (Charitable Aid institutions, (by whose means the State legalises pauperism, degrade the people, stifle the philanthropic instincts m the human breast, and oheok the efforts of private charity and benevolent enterprises.

The weekly meeting of the Dawn of Peace Lodge, 1.0. G.T., No 164, -was held m the Lodge room on Friday evening. There was a large attendance. The usual routine business and several other matters being disposed of, tbe installation of offioera for the ensuing quarter was proceeded with, Bro J. Mullaney, D.D., being tha installing ofifioer, assisted by Bros Cook and Dalton. After the ceremony a short recess was deolared, and refreshments handed round. Votes of thanks were_ passed to those who had assisted m making the anniversary so suooessful, and after a short speech from the new O.T. Bro Jones, the Lodge dosed m the usual manner.

The annual general meeting of the Aahburton Cricket Club was held on Saturday evening. There was about a dozen present, and Mr G. Andrews. was voted to the chair. The balanoe sheet showed a balance m hand of 2s. Bd. There were outstanding liabilities to the amount of about £5, but against these the Club had material of the value of about £10. Some desultory discussion took place m regard to the prospeots of erioket during the coming season, and to test the feeling of the meeting Mr Denshire moved that the Club be wound up, though he stated that he was adverse to auoh a cause being adopted. The motion was lost by a large majority. The eleotion of officers resulted as follows: President, Mr 0. G. Hawdon; Vice-Presi-dents, Messrs A. Harrison, D. Thomas, M. Scott, and Dr Tweed; Secretary, Mr C. Hawson ; Treasurer, Mr P. Mainwaring ; Committee, Messrs A. Fooks, G. W. Andrews, W. H. Kneen, W. B. Denshire, A. Jameson, D. Moore, 0. Strange, Blake, and T. Sawle. Some discussion took place on a proposal to hold a concert m aid of the funds. The idea was generally supported, but it was thought that, m the surfeit of concerts of the ordinary sort, an entertainment after the lines of the Christy Minstrel .oonoert would be most likely to meet with success. A reoommendation was made to the Committee to consider the matter,