LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2286, 25 November 1889, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

■ . ♦ Turkey and Greeoe are the only European oountries m whioh all the railways are owned by the State. ' Tbe entire Benoh of Judges for the distrioi circuit of Biga, Russia, have been arrested for using the German language after having been ordered to use tbe Russian. The Spanish Government has forbidden any demonstrations calculated to encourage the Pope to go to Spain m tbe event of his leaving Borne. At the Crystal Palaoe, on September 2nd, over 10,000 members of the Catholic Total Abstinence League of the Cross attended the annual festival, over whioh Cardinal Manning presided, The children of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum ia New York have their own brass band, whioh is trained m military musio and drilling. The oldest member of it is not yet eleven. In America it seems that pillows and mattresses stuffed with pine shavings have been found to be effioaoious m alleviating lung and bronohial troubles. Cases m proof of these are cited by transatlantic journals, whioh have devoted consideration to the subjeot. The suggested remedy is a simple one and Bhould be inexpensive. The regular weekly meeting of the Dawn of Peace Lodge, 1.0. G.T., was held m the Templar Hall on Thursday evening. The Lodge opened at 8 p.m., Bro A. Mulford, C.T., presiding. Two candidates were initiated, after which tho Lodge went into harmony. Songs were given by Bros Pearson, Vasty and FrizzuL The Lodge was closed at 9.30 by the C.T. As a proof of the briskness of the flax trade m Auokland, consequent on the great demand m America, it may be mentioned thac an Auokland firm reoently received by oable from Hew York, an order for a thousand tons of b&B 1 . dressed fibre at £25 a ton f.o.b. m Auokland. Toe millers who are exeouting tbe order estimate that they will make a profit of £7 or £8 a ton by the transaction. The'Gieborne correspondent of an exohang says : — " A pitiful speotaole was presented at yesterday's sitting of the Police Court, A man who evidently had seen better days, and is well-known m Dunedin, waß placed m the dook oharged with the laroeny of a Bible, and the faot being proved, was sent to gaol for a month with hard labor. The offenoe was the outcome of a drunken freak." It is stated by the very best authorities that the quantity of food .wasted m London alone would be more than sumoiant to Bupply the table requirements of alt the starving poor m the metropolis. Equally certain is it that the waste which goes ou m the iarge establishments and hotels ia London is m a leßaer degree prevalent m the households of the middle classes. There are at least twenty five daily students m tho Vatioan Library, of whdm about half are employed by the Governments 1 of France, Germany and Austria, m oopying dooumentß relating to the history of their , raapective oountries, Britain is represented by an agent, who has Bent to the Publio Record OiHoe during the past year about 1 2000 copies and abstracts of documents. Tho library ia open nine months, of the year, dosing iv Jane for three months. Admißßion . is free. i The island of Trinidad, m the West Indies appears to be saturated with pitoh or asphalt. All round .it drops of fluid pitoh can be fre--1 quently Been to ooze out from it into the sea. i In its interior it has a lake of aephalt 1\ , miles m oiroumfereno. The pitoh ;s oold and solid on tho Bbores of the lake, but it 1 increases m softness and temperature towards \ the oentre, where it is almoßt boiling. This : remarkable lake is underlaid by seams of r ooal, from the distilation of whiob, by the j internal heat of tbe earth, the pitoh above has been undoubtedly driven. It is growing more and more ploasant for ' the Amerioan woman, especially of the refined i sort, to have a quid m her mouth. She keeps ; ohowing away at it on the promenade, m the , theatre, and m tho nursery ; and, after Buffioiont praotioe, tho inconvenience of extra salivary seoretion is got over. But it is not a quid of tobaoco. Ie is an indiarubber. Nor is it a dirty pieoe of any size, suoh as used* to , be popped into a schoolboy's mouth and ohewod to oraoker oopaietenoy, It is a specially 1 prepared oaoutohouo loxenge that the Ameri- ' oan lady chews.' And there are now forty-two faotories m the United States devoted to the making of these quids. i About a fortnight ago (Mr 3. T. Walker writes to " Nature " from Winohburgh, N. 8.) the oat of a dairyman jn this neighborhood gave birth to three kittens. Next day one of them was removed, during the mother's absenoe, and drowned. Qn returning from a foraging expedition, anß diaepveripg her loss, puss immediately set out m eearoh, preeumi 1 ably, of the missing one, AH her efforts m this direotion of oourse proved to be utterly fruitless ; but evidently determined to at least nT* 1 * 0 U P tne ri B ht number, sho did so, ourioußly eno^; *>? carrying off from its nest oloso by a young v*. ra « Dot more th a, n a week old. This she is at pre£. nt BHokbng side by side with her own kittens. A|| thrilling soene ocourrod during the fjnanceuyres of some German cavalry reoently at Breig. There was a large crowd of spectators, and a woman and her little oh,ild accidentally got m front of a regiment of cuirassiers which was charging at full gallop. There was no timo to get out of the way, but an offioer [who was m advanoo shouted to the woman to lie down with her child. Naturally the habit of obedience was strong m the woman, and she immediately obeyed tho order, putting her own body over that of the little one. The entire regiment passed over her like a whirlwind, the horses m whose track she lay all being made to jump over the prostrate couple, who escaped bewildered but absolutely uninjured. Reynolds and Daved, of Mulvane, Kansas (whose flooks have the reputation of outting very great weights of wool), hearing that a number of wool-growers bad doubts regarding these heavy fleeces, made a Bingular propoßition. They offered to deposit £30, and to anyone depositing the same amount they were prepared to Bhip a three-year-old ram that they would guarantee to shear a fleeoe weighing 401 b of wool for 365 dayß' growth. The ram has been shorn at the publio shearings for the last two years, his first fleooe weighing 221 b and bis BooontJ 36 Jib. {f the fleeoo weighed 401 b tboy were to rooeive £<'}0. For each pound leas than forty, however, £10 was to bo deduoted, and for each pound over forty £5 was to bo added to the price, They would guarantee that the fleeoe oontainod nothing but what natu^u gave it. If found otherwise, they would make tho person proving this a present of the ram. Growers whoso flooka are not too large, are reoommended to keep a yearly reoord of the woight , of «aoh fl eeoe, and to rejoot all thoso sheep whose fie eoes do not come up to the requirod < standard. The radical objeotion to these methods of estimating the values of sheep is, of oourse, the well-known fact that m rams, und, indeed, atud eweß, greasy weights only a rough guia'o to the'ttotual quantity i rea wool grown, by pheeg, .■ • . i

Mr A. Harrison will continue his auction | a ] o of groceries, etc, at MrD. McFariane'af Jurnett street premises on Tuesday and Phurßday. A definite move has been made towards letting up the Jubilee Cloak, as tenders are )eing called for ereoting the tower for the •eoeption of the olook. A large number of people en route for Dunedin, to be present at the opening of the Exhibition to-morrow travelled by the South sxpreßß train to-day, The speoial train whioh "went through a few hours earlier was fairly well patronized. There was only a moderate attendance at the Oddfellows' Hal! on Saturday evening on the ocoaßion of Mr Frank Lincoln's second appearance, but those who attended were afforded a. great treat at the hands of the olever entertainer. Last Sunday evening at the invitation of the Eev B. F. Garbett, Mr Twentyman preached at St Andrews' Ohuroh, Tinwald, to a large and attentive congregation, Mr Garbett reading the other parts of the service. Mr Twentyman : who, it should be said, holds a lay-preaoher's liaense, has long ranked amongst the ablest preaohers that the Ohuroh m this diooese possesses, Lord Onslow, the Governor, upon his arrival at the Inangahua Junction (writes a looal correspondent of a Baefton paper) while awaiting the arrival of the special oarriage from Beefton, was accosted by a gentleman digger out on the spree, when the following dialogue took plaoe: — Digger (slightly obfusoated), " I Bay, mister, are you going to have a wet ? " Governor, good naturedly, " Nojthank you." Digger; "Are you a teetotaller ? " Governor, " Well, no." Digger : "Oh 1 I suppose you are one of thoße Salvation Army " His Exoellenoy walked away laughing. Tbe Duohess of Fife (the Prinoess Louise of Wales) is an envied woman. She has had a silk dress piece made expressly for her m a style something oat of the common. For the past three months one of the few remaining old band silk looms, brought to Bethnal Green by the Flemish two centuries ago, has been employed almost day and night upon a marvellous pieoa of brooade. The pattern is entwined roses, shamrocks, and thistles. The pieoe measures thirty yards m length by one m width, and has ,ooat £120 It is the finest pieoe of brooade ever turned out of any loom. Coffee planters have been startled by tbe disoovery of a formidable rival to their produot, sinoe it is stated that successful experiments have been made to replace the coffee berry by the fruit of the " mussaenela," a speoies of orange which grows m Beunion. It is said that it posseßes an aroma fully equal to that of coffee, and oan be cultivated at a comparatively trifling cost. The Frenob Colonial Government has already given instruction's for planting the " muesaenala " shrub over a considerable area m the high grounds, whioh are moßt favourable for the cultivation of this plant. At Oundle, Northamptonshire (says a oori respondent), a centenarian may almost daily be seen taking his walks abroad. Hia name is Stephen Ooales, and he is an inmate of Laxton's Hospital, an almshouse founded by fc-ir William Laxlon, a London grocer, who died m 1556. There is Borne doubt as to his exaot age though he states that be is 105, That be is over 102 is proved by the following entry m the Oundle Baptismal Begister; — " 1787. Mar. 7, Stephen, son of James and Mary Coales," and he Bays that he remembers Being taken by his parents to be baptised. He attends ohuroh regularly, walking to and fro without an attendant. A cast steel gun, weighing 235 tons, has been Bbipped by Messrs Krupp from Hambarg for Oronstadt. Tha oalibre of the gun is 13Jin M the barrel is 43ft m length, its greatest diameter being 6Jf t. The range of the gun ib over eleven miles, and it will fire two shots per minute, each shot costing between £250 and £800. At the trials of the gun held m the presence of Russian offioers at Meppen, tbe range of the Essen firm, the projeotile, 4ft loog, and weighing 18001 b, and propelled by a charge of 7001 b of powder, penetrated 19£in of armour, and went 1312 yards beyond the target. Tbe gun, which is the largest m existence, and the heaviest yet exported by I Me?«ra Erupp, bad to be oarried from Essen ( to Hamburg on a oar specially constructed for tbe purpose. The " Pall Mall Budget" haa the following m the "Tittle-Tattle" of the week:— Government House at Wellington, New Zealencl, from whioh Lord Onslow has been driven by typhoid, is a large wooden building without any pretensions to beauty, Nevertheless these great wood houses strike one as having a certain indefinable pioturesqueneßß of their own. It nestles under the rupged oirole of the hill upon whioh half of Wellington is built. Wellington is Dot a smelly town. It could not be if it would, for the Wellington wind io a blast to be remembered*, In f act, it is famous for its winds. It is the stook joke of the oolony, that you oan always tell a Wellington man wherever he ia, for he always keeps his hand on his head pieoe. I dare say Wellington will be glad of a good word just ' now, for typhoid has an ugly sound. It is one of the loveliest places m the world to live m and one of the healthiest, The houses on tbe upper slope command a magnificent view ol the lake-like bay, whioh is some eight or nine miles long by four broad and surrounded by , noble and lofty ranges. The entranoe to this ! splendid harbour is very narrow— like the i neok of a bottle— and is invisible from every pait of the town." The best medioine is Sander and Sons' Eucalypti Extraot. Test its eminent power, ful effects m coughs, colds, influenza, etc. — the relief is instantaneous. Thousands give the most gratifying testimony. His Majesty the King of Italy and medioal syndicates all over the globe are its patrons. Bead the official reports that acoompany each bottle. We have no oooasion to offer rewards m proof 1 of the genuineness of our referenoeg. The ofßqial reports' of medioal clinics and universities, the official communication of the Consul-General for Italy at Melbourne ; the diploma awarded International Exhibition, Amsterdam— all these are authontio^doouments, and, as suoh, not open to doubt. We add here epitome of one of the various oases efeated at the olinio of Sohultz, M.D. Profeßßor, etp.— " 0.8., 24 years old ; opngeßtiopal abßcpss on the thigh. Incisions rqade m twq plaoes. Although Lister's dressing was applied, the sooretion became, two days later, very copious, and had adopted a foetid decomposed character. The temperature rose enormously, In consequenoe the dressing was removed, and m its place were made during the day-time repeated irrigations with Euoalypti Extraot. The offensive footer disappeared very soon, the fever abated within a few days, and the patient recovered after the lapse of several weeks. In this instance be must not lose sight of the faot that the latter treatment saved the patient's life.' — (Aclvt.) ' 3