LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1946, 17 September 1888, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

#■ ■ — Iron and glass are the two beet ponductpra of Bounds. The United States cover a rather less area than Europe. There are about eight hundred million Pagans m tho world. The National Debt arose m tbe year 1688, and then amounted to £668,263. One pound of cork iB sufficient to support a man of ordinary size m the water. There are a hundred and sixty-nine Sootoh mountains whioh have tho prefix " Ben." The Bible has been translated into more than three hundred different languages aud dialeetfl. ' There are more towns containing 20,000 inhabitants and upwards m Great Britain < $60 »ny other oouniry. <

The most oommpn Christian name is Mary I whioh balonga to sixty-throe persons m every thousand. The pulse beatß much higher at birth than m subsequent life ; "m a newly-born infant tho beats number about 140 a minute. ' Next to our Queen tho European Sovereign j who has reigned the longest is the EmperorKing of Austro-Hungary, who ascended his throne m 1848. The velocity of the earth m its rotation round its axis amounts to 1038 mileß at the Equator, and gradually diminishes until the poles are reaohed, and there it is nil. The heirs of the late Sir Joseph Whitworth will give to the city of Manchester, England, £135,000 for a Whitworth Institution of Art and Industry. The Emperor and Empress of Russia will arrive at Copenhagen about the middle of August, with their family, and will remain m Denmark for two months. A Newfoundland dog was pußhed into the Niagara river at Proepeot point, on the Canadian side, the other day and went over tbe falls. He was not injured. London has at least five flourishing and well housed clubs for women. The most fashionable of these is the Alexandra; tbe most literary, or Bohemian, the University. Jewish tailors of Leeds, England, want less hours and more wages. They have been working from sixty.two to Bcventy hours a week for from la 6d to 4s 6d per day. The light at St Catherine's, the most southerly point on the Isle of Wight, is now the most powerful eleotrio light m the world and the fog signal is a steam horn of great power. The British four-masted ship Ellisland cleared fcom Port Townsend with 1,811,623 feet of lumber for Hobson's Bay, Australia. This is the Irrgest single cargo ever taken from the Sound. The late James Freeman Olark of Boston onoe embodied a pertinent truth m few words, when he deolared that " the politician thinks of the next election, the statesman of the next century." The population of the United States has inoreased 7,000,000 sinoe 1884. In the Presidental election of that year 10,048,061 votes were oaßt. This year the aggregate will reaoh 11,000,000. Fourteen women of the Turkish Imperial harem at Constantinople have bean poisoned by bonbons. The coloring material of the candies was composed of aniline of arsenic. Three of the ladies are not expeoted to live. A game cook, which the four-year-son of William Stringer, of Hot Springs, Arkansas, was chasing, suddenly turned and attacked the little fellow. He was out and pecked m a horrible manner, and died of convulsions m a short time. A number of friends of the late Matthew Arnold met m the Jerusalem Chamber and agreed that a memorial should be raised to him. It will be probably take the form of a medallion bust m Westminster Abbey, and a scholarship m English literature at Oxford. The United States is the largest oonsuming country of raisins m the world, and reliable authorities estimate the consumption at about 2,000,000 boxtis of about 221 b eaoh, whioh, at an average of 2dols per box, shows an expenditure of 4,000,000d01s per annum for one dried fruit. The oommitteo m oharge of the oelebration of the three hundredth anniversary of the destruction of the Spanish Armada have arranged that an Armada window shall be placed m St. Margaret's, Westminster, England, where Lord Howard and Sir Walter Baleigh lie buried, One of the strange] ventures that claim an interest for their rarity is being perpetrated at Lyons. M. Boux iB weaving a " missal "- - that is to Bay, the text of the book is being woven, not printed. The work when completed will consist of some fifty leaves, and the oost will be about £10. A priest once called to pray over the barren fields of his parishioners. He passed from one enclosure to another, and pronounoed his benediction, until he came to a most unpromising case. He surveyed the sterile acres m despair. "Ah 1 " said he, " brethren — no use to pray here — this needs manure." Woman's curiosity again. Annie Ahrend was arrested m Newmark, Wew Jersey, for attempting to poison her father, brother, and sister. She acknowledges that after reading books on poisons she bought the poison and administered it to the family, She had ho reason for doing so except cariosity to see how it would act The average Russian is said to drink from two to twelve glasses of tea a day. Every Russian merchant has a tea-urn m hid pount-ing-room, and the lawyer or meohanio goei put to his oafe for tea as often as the Gferman for beer or the Frenchman for wine. At the cafds at all houra of the day and night one can Bee crowds of people dipping tea. The one great objeot m life of a Moorish lady is to get fat. The more flesh she gets the better she is pleased, as the Algerians as a rule value beauty by weight. The larger her proportions the larger her share m her husband's affections, a consideration of no mean importance m a country where wives are a staple artiole of commerce. A Swiss engineer has proposed a scheme for supplying Paris with water from Lake Neuohatel, at an estimated oost of £20,000,000. The aqueduot required would be 312 miles long, 22 miles of whioh would be a tunnel through the Jura Mountains. As the lake is ltyJOft above the average level of tho streets of Paris, the scheme iuoludes a plan for using the surplus head to furnish power. King Thebaw's revenue from the famous ruby mines of Burmah, it is said, did not average 160,000 rupees annually. All pre. cautions, whioh were praotioable, were talcen to prevent smuggling, and stones of the value of 2000 rupees were Royal perquisites, but they were generally seoreted or broken up by the finders. The English have stopped all , work at the mines sinoe they conquered Burmah. Miss Beatrioe Potter, the lady who has just given such important and pvaotical evidenoe before the Sweating Commission has been ! oho3cn by Mr Herbert Spencer as his biographer. She is a remarkably pleasing woman m conversation, and has long been intimate with all phases of East End work, having been engaged m assisting the compilation of labor statistics regarding the poor of the Tower Hamlets. In one respeot the " Churoh of Qur Father," a Universalist Ohqroh m Brooklyn, is now a model church. |t follqws the advipe to ♦« owe no man anything." It had a debt of £14,000 j it has on the occasion of its fifth anniversary paid the last part of the debt ; and on reoeipt of the deed of mortgage, the pastor •' tore up the mortgage and dropped the partiolea of the paper into tho baptismal font," whilst the oougregation sang the doxology. The steamer Tekapo left Lytteltan on Saturday evening with a shipment of 225 horses forwarded by Mr John Grigg, of Longbeaob. The majority of the horses are fair weight carrying haoks suitable for qavalry remounts, but there are also some halfdraughts suitable for horse artillery purposes, and a few of a lighter description for field artillery. Mr Collins, left by the Tekapo, m oharge of the consignment, and with him is Mr Senior, of South Rakaia. We understand that a trial shipment of Flemington cheese is on board, with a view to 'ascertaining if a trade m this commodity cannot be opened up with India. Mr Collins also took with him foar or five St Bernard dogs, and some farm for Spanish fowls from Mr O. Digby'e disposal m the Indian market,

The annual concert under the auspices of the Ashburton Caledonian Sooiety will be held m the Oddfellows' Hall on Wednesday evening, The Cathedral * Chapter has deoided to restore tho Obristohuroh Cathedral spiro m stone aooording to a design by Messrs Mountfort and Dobeon. The masonry will be less massive than that destroyed, and tho iron oross lighter. At the Bink de Paris on Saturday evening the steeplechase was won by George Arthur with S. Clark second. A praotice for the Maypole danoo takes plaoe this evening at seven o'clock. Tbe dancers are already showing great proficiency, and the novelty will be fully appreciated when the carnival cornea off. Two superb Btate railway carriages have just been built m Paris for the Emperor and Empress of China. They are splendidly ornamented, and on the panels are dragons m gilt bronze, with most elaborate decorations. The principal saloons are furnished m yellow Batin, and tha carriage appropriated to the exclusive use of the Empress m sky-blue plush and silver. Nineteen members of the Salvation Army, inoluding Miss Booth, daughter of " General" Booth, were, at Torquay, on May 17th, oommilted for trial on the oharge of taking part m mußioal prooessions on Sundays; and fines of 403 were imposed on four strangers, and 20s eaoh on fourteen looal men. No penalty was inflicted on Mias Booth. An application for a oase for the higher Court was refused. White hair is now the fashion among American belles. Fair tresses are quite out of date, bo blondes and brunnettes are ruining their hair by treating it with a bleaohing mixture, whioh turns the most raven looks enow-white m two applications. This last fashionable fad is very injurious to the health, but the ladies ignora this point m order to produoe the startling contrast of fresh oheeks and youthful complexions with tbe boary head usually considered an attribute old age. Elsewhere will be found an advertisement announcing meetings to be held at the Templar Hall, Wakanui road, on Thursday evenings, Sept. 20th and 27tb. Mr and Mrs J. Rogers, missionaries of the New and Latter House of Israel, from England, and who have been laboring m Gbristohuroh during the past twelve months, will oonduot the meetings. The subjects of the address will be the fall and restoration of man, the redemption of Israel, the establishment of Christ's peaceable kingdom on this earth, and universal salvation of all souls. At Ohristohuroh about seven o'olook on Saturday morning a fire ooourred at the New ZealandOlothing Company's premises, Oashel street, through a handkerchief falling on a gas-jet. The contents of the window, oonsisting of men's mercery, were destroyed, together with the fittings. The surroundings of the wall and ceiling were badly soorohed. The damage is estimated at £400. The building and Btock were insured, it is supposed, m the National, but it is not known for certain, the insurances being effeotei m Dunedin. The fittings of the premises were insured for £500 m the Standard. During the three months ended August 30 344 selectors have taken up ' 71,187 acres under three systems of cash sales, deferred payment, and perpetual lease, as against a total area of 37,371 aores taken up by 248 selectors m the quarter ended 30th Sept. of last year. Perpetual lease seems to be the most popular tenure, no less than 44,454 aores having been seleoted under that system by 194 persons. Land Bold for cash oomes next m order of quantity, 17,010 aores having been sold to 77 persons for an agregate sum of £13,704, while on 9637 aores were taken up on deferred payment by 73 neleotora. M. Germain Bapst has just discovered m the National archives two invoioes Bhowing the personal expenses of Napoleon I. for his military wardrobe. Aooording to this doou-' ment his famous hat, celebrated by Beranger and Eaffet alike, cost no more than 60 franos ; a brush-up of the Bama artiole oost him 6 franos. His grey redingote was worth, acoording to the tradesman's estimation, no mora than 160 franos. Both articles would now-a-days be hors de price, and yet the Conservator of the Museum of the Louvre has relegated them to a garret, instead of allowing them to figure, as m times past, m tho Sovereign's Museum. * Wo are m reoeipt of two publications, one being a monthly pamphlet entitled "The Messenger of Wisdom and Israel's Guide" and the other entitled " Extracts from the Flying Roll." The printers and publishers are '• The New and Latter House of Israel." The " Messenger " is " a publication devoted to the propagation of the everlasting Gospel announcing the arjrival of the time for the bruising of the h.ea.4 of the Serpent, the redemption of Israel, and the establishment of Christ's peaoeable kingdom on this earth." The " Flying Roll " contains a series of sermons oompiled for the Gentile Qhurahes of all Beota and denominations, and addressed to the Lost Tribeß of the House of Israel," by James J. Jezreel, of Jerusalem.