LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1959, 2 October 1888, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Mr Henry Hunt has been elected a member of the Hampatead Town Board.

London now has several lines of halfpenny 'buses, whioh oonnect with the various horEeoar lines.

"What I should like to know," said a schoolboy. " is how the mouths of rivers can be so muoh larger than their heads."

A meeting of farmers is oalled for Saturday afternoon at the Arcade Chambers, to consider the advisableness of forming a farmers' Co-operative Association.

The " Gazette " of the 27th ult. contains a proclamation setting aside lands at Chertsey, Dromore, Window, Hinds, South Rangitata, Orari, Geraldine, etc , for sale as village settlements.

The honorary ranger of the Wellington Acclimatisation Society reported at the annual meeting that the red deer were steadily increasing m the Wairarapa district During the past season several fine stags had been shot. One of the beat specimens is to be sent to the Melbourne Exhibition.

The Que<m has (says « Truth ") become so partial to Indian servants that another detachment of these menials is now being seleoted m India for the Koyal household. The English domestics, however, do not regard the innovation with unmixed pleasure, and the business of finding the required accommodation for the Indianß is a great bother especially at Oaborne and at Balmoral as they demand separate kitchens and feeding, quarters, and are altogether very troublesome and exaoting. Sir John Cowell would be delighted to pack the whole baton back to Bombay by the next steamer.

There has never been suoh a splendid Bhow of jewels m London as during this Beason They were brought out by Mrß Vanderbilt and the new Duohesß of Marlborough, who awakened a sense ot rivalry m the breasts of iwiT D^' lßh , P. eeressea » with the result that all the family jewels of the great houses were resurreoted from the bank vaults where they had lam, were reset and all displayed at once to outßhina the Amerioans. Even the Princess of Wales was not quite superior to the feeling, and, not willing to be Burpassed by foreigners m her own court, she has piled on everything at onoe, stars, oresoents, orders necklaces, and coronets, till on most of her pubho appearances she has fairly blazed with gems, after the manner of her sister, the Czarina, who always appears at her oourt functions crusted with preoious stoneß

q?he "Western Star-' repqrts that a reeident of Orepuki, ok rather an ex-resident as he has now taken his departure for freah faeloa, last week, after making groat preparations and calling people to witness his doings set fire to his house, being careful before doing bo to see that all moveable implements and other etoeteras, inoluding fences, were carefully stowed inside. He hovered round to see that no one would come and attempt to extinguish the flames, as he was particularly anxious to make a olean job of the business It is said the fire-raiser was " kinder mad " and after his house and belonging had passed from sight wanted to do Borne more burning Sad to relate there was a woman R t the bottom of the whole affair. The unfortunate 2 a ? n J b 5 a J°I c .4 and believed . o Q d having been s deluded he felt no pleasure m life. To mark his sense of the wrong that had been inflicted on him, he destroyed the house where he had enjoyed his fair share of domestic felicity. Jt is further said that he watched the burnios ?i c . w i~ - een rohsh > as a quantity of the effects in'thß 'house belonged 1 to the (air but false oqe, • ••

Hollqway's Ointment and Pills.— a freqent cause of gout and rheumatism is the inflammatory state of the blood, attended with bad digestion and general debility. A few doses of the Pills taken m time are an effectual preventive against gout and rhemamatism. Anyone who has an attack of cither should use Holioway's Ointment also, the powerful action of which, combined with the pperation of the Pills, must infallibly effect a cure. These pjjls act directly on the blood which they puiify and improve. Having once subdued the severity of their diseases, perseverance with the Ointment, after fomenting the affected joints with warm brjne, will speedily relajj all stiffness, and prevent any permanent construction, * '

On our fourth page will be found an editorial on the Frozen Meat Trade, an Ode to New Zealand, and other reading matter.

In the synopsis of meetings, eto, given m the "Mail" of th° 27th ult. the Ohertsey oonoert and danoe was inadvertently mentioned as appointed to come off on the following Friday. It should have been said Friday week (now Friday next) October sth.

A resident m this district received yesterday the following cablegram from his son, who is at present m a neighboring oolony : — •• Get married on Monday, October Bth, and leave for Sydney." He wants to know whether his son means this as an instruction to his father to marry promptly and emigrate, cr whether it is an intimation that he (the son) means to do so himself.

Of twenty-three distinguished men whose actual brain-weights are known, four, inoluding the late Professor Hughes Bennot and Hermann, the philologist, were distinctly below the average, showing that the well-oon-stituted brain of small dimensions may be oapable of doing muoh better work than many a larger organ whose internal constitution is, from one oause or other, defective.

We have heard of tall flooring, big bags, and that sort of thing, but it was only a day or two ago that we (" Clutha Leader ") were told of a reoent lady visitor who during her stay m Balolutha visited the Tuakitoto lake and succeeded m shooting a beautiful blaok swan at a distance of 200 yds. The weapon used was an ordinary rifle, loaded with bullet cartridge.

A oorreepondent of a London paper writes : — "On Friday night a young gentleman, playing billiards at a publio-house m Bromley, made a bet that he would get one of the balls into his mouth. He did get it m; and there m Btuok, m spite of all his efforts to dislodge it. The Burgeon called m was most successful. He extracted the lump of ivory, but only after extraoting several of the experimentalist's front • ivories.' "

One of the oldest industries m Egypt is artificial egg-hatohing, principally engageJ m by Copts. There are said to be 700 establishments of this nature m the oountry, and the produotion of ohiokens from the ovens is estimated at from 10,000,000 to 12,000,000 annually. The season for inoubation laßts through three months of the early summer. The country people bring eggs to the proprietors of the • farroogs," and give two good eggs, for every newly-hatohed chick.

The following is one of the funniest printers' errors we have come aoross for a long time : — In the obituary notice of a lady the editor wrote : "It is feared that her husband will not be able to bear her demise," whioh the oareless compositor, with but a ohange of two letters transformed to : "It is feared that her husband will not be able to wear her chemise." The horror of the bereaved husband, and of the editor, and of the mourning relatives may be imagined.

General alarm has been oreated all over France by ap outbreak of poisoning at Hyeres consequent on drinking the sham wine, of a popular looal manufacturer. The •• wine "so constantly dtunk by all but the richest classes is known to be the product of ingenious chemical manipulation, having nothing to do with the juioe of the grape, Up to June Ino less than 11 persons succumbed to the effeots of the wine, while 264 were ill, of whom 60 were seriously so. The manufacturer has been arrested.

Mr John Tebbutt wrote to the " Sydney Morning Herald " on the 9th July announcing that he had discovered Encke's celebrated periodio comet on the previous evening. For the past two months the comet has been too nearly m a line with the sun to be seen. As its motion is pretty rapid east and south, it will Boon be better placed for observation. The comet's distanoe from the earth 'was 66,000,000 miles. It waß disoovered' by Encke m 1819, .and has been observed from some part of the earth at every return, this being its 21at.

Probably ia no country are examples of longevity so numerous and bo striking as m Russia. Almost every day (eaya the "Pall Mall Gazette ") the newspapers contain wellauthenticated aooounts of women and men who took part m, and have a vivid recollection of, the last quarter of the eighteenth century. The latest of those instances is that of a woman who is only forty years younger than the Patriarch Isaac was when he died. This hurdan relio of the past, who oelebrated her 140 th birhday some weeks ago, lives exclusively on potatoes and milk. She was at all times a Btrict teetotaller. Sho i B still lively, brisk, and oheerful, and oan read without speotaoles.

A meeting of the Ashton Sohool Committee was held m the Schoolrom on the let inßt. There were present Messrs T. Taylor (m the chair), J. Shearer, T. Crossan, D. Ryan, and W. Wilson. The Chairman reported that the vouoher for the teaohers' salaries and incidental quarterly allowance had been received. The former amounted to £18 3a 3d and the latter to £6 15s 6d. The credit balance of incidental fund at the Bank amounted to £13 103 lid. The Master's report was received and favourably considered by the Committee. There had been three boys and two girls admitted during the month, bringing the roll number up to 60. The average attendance was as follows :— Boys, 26-3; girls, 228; total, 49 1. The report also stated that the requisites applied for last month had been received. A supply of foolaoap and a bottle of Howard's black-board preparation were applied for and granted. After a few email accounts were paßsed for payment the Committee adjourned.

The medioal students In Melbourne are about as lively as the usual run of incipient sawboneß, and from their recent proceedings at the Centennial Exhibition are as full of " fun " as their London confreres. A Melbourne paper says :— " Some disgraceful proceedings by the University students took placo at the Exhibition buildings. They marohed jp a body a couple of hundred strong, m their oaps and gowna. On reaohing the turnstiles they pretty well blocked the way, and thoae that could not get through leaped over the fence. They entered the building and marohed down the avenue, carrying a flag displaying a Bkull and crossbones. As they went along they Beng English and Latin doggrel composed for the oooaaion. They took possession of the verandahs round the lake m the western annexe, where they held a oonoert. They then took to smashing the furniture. The police oame upon them, acd took Beveral of their names."

An officer of the Native Department recently procured from America a quantity of Beed of the Japan perennial clover (sespedeza strieta) whioh has attracted attention of late years as I a very valuable fodder plant. The seed hns been distributed m different parts of the colony (says the " Evening Post "), the bulk of it having been taken tb the Bay of Islands, but a sample is also to be experimented with by Mr Hugh Beethara, of Wairarapa distuot. Jhe " ityral palifornian ", describes the clover m question as growing on plains at an altitude of 4000 feet, standing well through the midsummer droughts, flowering and blooming until the frost oomeß, and living after most herbage is dead. It is also said by the same authority to grow m every kind of soil, rich or poor, day or sandy, dry or wet, while it is deep-rooted and improving to the soil • it never runs out, can be fed off without injury and is wonderfully fattening. The « Amerioan Farmers' Manual " saya that of late years Japan clover has attraoted more and more attention ; the cattle eat it readily, and sheep greedily. The experiments of the acolima- 1 tisation of such a valuable plant m this colony will be of unsual interest.