LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1973, 18 October 1888, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Heavy deposits of native silver have been found m the reef of the Waratah olaim at Croydon (Q). * There are at present 400 Trustee Saving Banks m existence, and their aggregate deposits amount to £47,262,232 owned by 6,604,610 depositors. On Saturday, the 29th September, the " Melbourne Argus " newspaper consisted of 28 pages of eipht oolumns per page, or 244 columns m all. It is said that this is the largest daily which has been published m the world.

The " Auckland Herald " states that several " plants " for manufacturing farina are said to be on their way out from England, and it is deolared that New Zeafcnd will Boon be making her own starch, groats, pearl barley, and so forth. In the whole eky an eye of average power will see 6000 stars. With a telescope this number is greatly increased, and the moat powerful telescope shows more than 60,000. Of this number not one out of each hundred haa ever been catalogued. Taking no Chances. — Groom (to bnde , they are waiting for the minister) — " Hadn't I better skip out to see what is the matter, my dear? The Minister should have been here twenty minutes ago." Bride — "No, George ; you stay right where you are." Amongst the through freight from Sydney to America by the Alameda the other day, was a unique apeoimen of the equine raoe, m the shape of a hairless mare, whioh has been scoured by Mr R. A. Cunningham as an adi3ltian.-±© Banuum'ii gxoat •' BOQW." Banjo-playing is the latest orazo m Society. A Home correspondent cays:— "The banjo appears to be making its way into all classes of Society, and not only are superior kinds supplied to those who oan pay for them, but the oheaper sorts are being largely manufactured."

In the absence of plumbago, those who are annoyed by a oreaking hinge on a door may be glad to know that by rubbing the end of a common lead pencil upon the offending part it will immediately be reduced to absolute Bilenoe. Blaok lead is one of the best lubricators known. Under the heading " How Prizes are Won," the " Press " relates that m the oourse of the trial of a civil oase, Jones v Spenoe, m the Supreme Court, the plaintiff detailed with muoh coolneßS how he had procured a foal for the Bangiora Bhow, entering it as by a oertain borso, and taking the prize. It appears that Mr Braddell has been appointed Property-tax Assessor for the Bangitata district, not for Ashburton, Mr W. Horne_ being the assessor for the Borough. The mistake was due to the announcement m the " Gazette," reading " Mr Braddell, Ashburton," tbe plaoe named being merely his address.

There is nothing new under the bud. Pro* fessor G. Tomasetti, m the January number of the net? Italian magazine for women's rights, points out that m Pompeii the names of women are found on nomination papers ; elsewhere it oan be proved that women sat on munioipal boards m Roman suburbs and m the country; while at Lyons there is an inscription to a Greek Blave whose brilliant Bkiil bb a dootor won her her liberty and the right to practice for herself. A very dignified merchant at Greymouth gave himself away nioely during the reoent heavy earthquake. He was quite 000 l and collected, and made a boast that he had dressed garefully before he took the trouble to oome and «cc how the othare took it, but when attention was oalled to his attive, he found that, with all his apparent dignified calmness, he had forgotten to put on— hia trousers !

Here is an episode from real life, reoounted by the "Chicago Tribune," which would serve for tho climax of a sensational novel : William Myers, a promising young merohant of Waynesburg, 0., had been paying attention to Miss Etta Metz, a handsome young woman and a member pf a prominent family, for over a year. He oalled on her and proposed marriage. She refused. This so exoited Mr Myers that he walked to the door without saying a word and Bhot himself m the head. He died m a few minutes, m the arms of the girl, who said, aimd her tears, that she had refused him merely to test his love. She is almost heartbroken over tho terrible affair.

| Captain Hugh MoLellan, of Lyttelton (say 1 * , the ■' Press ") relates the following inoiden* |of hiß first meeting with the veteran acto? John Ij. Hall, lately deooaßed. When he (Qapt McLellan) was chief offtcer of tbe brig Mary Grant, Captain Bennett, sailing out of Sydney, on one voyage they made to Valparaiso m 1856, at which port they shipped an A.B. named John L. Hall, who had Just left an Amerioan vessel called the Rover's Bride. This new A.B. waa— to use the narrator's expression— a "funny man." It did not matter what tbe weather was he was always the same, full of merriment and joked ; and during the sij months he waß on the vessel he earned for himself tbe esteem of hia officers and the good fellowship of hia eh-'p. mateß. The next time that Capt MoLellan saw the AB. it vas on the boards at Newo»Btle i as an exponent of ,the histrionic art. I

HoLLowxy's Ointment and Pit/ls s spi iijg approaches a roost favorable opportu. nity offers for rectifying irregularities, removing impurities, and erasing blemishes whfch have arisen from the presence of matters forbad by winter from being t anspired through the pores. Thjs searching ointment, well rubbed upon jlhe skjn, pen - etrates to the deeply seated organs, upon whjqh it exerts a most wholesome and beneficial influence, Wpjl nigh all the indigestions gve way to this simp]/; treatment, aided by purifying and aperiehj doses qf Holloway's Pills, round each box of which plain "instructions '*' are folded . Bilious disorders, loss of appetite, fulness after eating, lafi'siiude, gout, and rhuematism may be effectively checked m heir painful progress, and the seeds of long uffering eradicated by these remedies, ,

A challenge raoe will take place at the Bink to-night, the contestants being Messrs Elston , and Eagleton. Professor Hugo will deliver his seond lecture on " physiognomy " to-morrow even. m« at the Orange Hall. The subject will be " Noses and ohms." The fishermen of Port Chalmers have entered into a contract with the fishmongers to supply barracouta at one shilling per dozen right through the season. A French weathet prophet has beon sant ro goal for six months for predicting a oold July and loss of crops. j

Extensive purchases of Olyesdale horses have been made recently m Scotland on behalf of the Russian Government. Lord Tennyson, the Poet Laureate, has entered upon his 80th year, his Lordship having been born at Somersby, m Lincoln* shiro, of whioh his father was reotor, on August 6, 1889. It ia said that Meseis D. and J. O. Syme, the proprietors of the " Melbourne Age " newspaper, divided £70,000 of profits last ye»r.

The 'Frisco mails for the South missed the express this morning, but a speoial train was sent m ohase and caught the former at Ashburton, where the mails were tranferred. Aooording to the Auckland correspondent of the " Otago Daily Times " it haa been ourrently rumoured m that oity, that Sir Frederiok Whitaker intends to resign his position &b a direotor of tbe Bank of New Zealand.

Bemarkableooinoidenoes have ooourred m oonneotion with tho lot of a young _an named Burn, a resident of Chiltern, Viotoria. He waa born while a thunderstorm was raging, was baptised m the midst of a thunderstorm, he waa struck dead the other day by lightning, and his burial took plaoe m the midst of a thunderstorm. Lord Knutsford, bb Seoretary of State for the Colonies, will, an English paper points out, have a fine run of patronage during the next year, aa no fewer than seven colonial governorships will be vacant within that period— New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland, New Zealand, Jamaioa, Ceylon, and Cape Colony. Aooording to a Wairarapi paper a splendid sample of hematite has been obtained at the diamond drill borings at the fernridge. The matrix ia of a dark grey colour, but when burned ohangeß to a bright red. The quantity is believed to be praotioally unlimited, and it is confidently expeoted that it will pay handsomely for, working. The "Chicago Times" has for some months had a young lady applying for work at the factories m that oity where girls are starved to death, and now the girl is writing up on those factories to the " Times," telling the wages reoeived, and tbe slavery that ia imposed upon the poor girls who attempt to earn a living. 16 appears that the sharks who hire the girls give them the leaßt possible wages, m some oases not thirty cents a day, and they are subjected to fines that about leave them oar fare.

"What a methodical fallow you are, Grinder," said Prythorn, who had stepped into Grinder's offioe during the latter's absenoe. " Why, what do you mean ? " asked Grinder, who had just entered. " Mean I " eohoed Prythorn ; " To think that you should look hII your drawers up when you are only going out five minuteß. 'Tian't likely that anybody would meddle with your papers." "Of oourße not," replied Grindor ; " but how did you find out that the drawers were all looked?"

We would remind our readers of the publio meeting of the Association of Art, Soienoe, In. dustry, and Literature to be held this evening intheAßSooiation'sroom.Saunders'Buildinge, The inaugural addresß will be delievered by Mr J. E. Buchanan, after which the election of offioers for the ensuing year will take plaoe. The Provisional Committee have prepared the room for tbe oooasion, and are endeavouring to make the opening meeting a suooess. The collection of drawings and other works of interest will doubtless form an interesting exhibition; all who feel interestedjare invited to attend.

In passing sentence upon two young men at the General Sessions Court m Melbourne last Weak. Jud fi o Quinlan romarltoa that nl twenty-six prisoners on tbe calendar twentythree were Australian natives, fourteen of them being Viotorian natives, and nine of them charged with robbery m company. There waa jless seourity now, he said, for life and property m the city of Melbourne than there was m the exoitement of the early days of the gold-digging era, and that arose from gangs of young ruffians banding themselves together to attack and rob drunken men, and to assault defenceless women and policemen. A remarkable illustration of the sagaoity of a horse comes from Birmingham. A man named Nathan Gilbey, a coal dealer and haulier, rents a field there, m which a liorse and goat have been m the habit of grazing. Eecently a gang of young roughs have amused themselves by throwing at the goat, and some of the more cowardly of the ruffiiana beat it with a stiok. Whenever the goat had been attacked m this way the horse has always raced to its rescue, and a few days ago he seized one young raeoal by the ooat oollar and flung him olean over the hedge into the road.

The late Dr B. W. Richardson, whose works are text books tor temperance people, recanted Bomewhat m his denunciation of alcohol. The "London Times," m its obituary notice of tbe celebrated physician Bays : "It is a curious faot that at one period he some* what ardently embraoed the dootrines of the total abstainers from alcohol, and wrote and spoke m defence of them. The observation of the effects of wine m Borne oases of serious illness whioh ooourred m his own family, induoed him to reoonsider his position and to return to the faith and praotioe of moderate use, whioh he continued till death." Says the " Hawke'a BayEyening News": —We can vouch for the truth of the following, whioh is one of the best jokes we have heard for some time :— About twelve o'olook the other night an hotelkeeper, who lives not less than an hour's walk from Clive square, heard Bomeone at his door, and on going out found it to be a well- known hors© trainer lrom Taradale, who had evidently had a little more than waa good for him. The dealer m wines and malt liquors Bent the unfortunate away, telling him to go home, but thought he would watoh him for a few minutes. Shortly after leaving the man of training knowledge was seen to fall and lay still. A third individual then came on to the.acene m the person of a well-known carter, who, after examining the prostrate form for a few minutes, dißoovered that he bad a bottle m his pooket, and after looking round, pulled it out, saying, •• You've had epoughi and aa you generally drop m for something good J think I'll try a drop." So saying he pulled out the oork and put the bottle to h» (mouth. He seemed to take a good pull and then dropped it and ran, Bplutteripg as he went. Upon examination it was found that the bottle contained a Una. ment whioh the trainer had got to rub on his leg, and as the carter man has not been heard of since, it ia supposed thai be is having recourse to the stomaoh pump.