Provincial and General.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 7, 22 December 1869, Page 2

Provincial and General.

A correspondent of the \rey Ewer Argw writes:—An amusing ifcident occurred here a few days ago, whioillustratea the / truth, of the old adage, "JYhere there's a ( will there's a way." A the" U neighborhood obtained Resident Magistrate's Court at the Mi» jj against another resident for goods .sd/* ufa delivered. An order of tho Court forfira-' 4 mediate payment was issued, And theri the question arose, " How was it to be served on defendant 1" He was known to be planted somewhere in the vicinity of Reid's * station. The plaintiff went there, bui as soon as the man he was in search of saw him approach he bolted, and as he is young and active, and can run like a deer, he soon left his pursuer behind. However, that acute individual was not to be " bested," so he returned to the Junction, and after hiring a horse and saddle for a lady, he disguised himself in female attire. \ When .the finishing touch was put on- (in i the shape of one of Mrs B—-' 3 curtains, which was mado to do duty as a ""* puggaree), he made a fresh start, accompanied by a male friend. When theycame in sight of the station, the "lady" adjusted herself in a ladylike position in the aaddle; and as they came nearer, she saw the object of her fond solicitude leisurely and unsus-

pectingly airing himself in' front of the ' house. The pair rode up to the hut, and I > true to his reputation for gallantry and politeness, came forward and offered to assist the lady to dismount. She thanked ■ him, with, I have no doubt, a sweet smile tt on her face, if her face could' have been seen through the window curtain, and just requested him, in a deliriously-confidential whisper, "to take charge of that small parcel for her,"—handing him (upsidedown) the order of the Court, neatly en- \ 11 closed, and addressed to himself. Aloud - and very unfeminine guffaw from the ladyj' I and another from her piotrctorjnade,' 1 I suspect that he had beeto. M lady did not dismount, but I if*ffl that she left the skirt of her riditiH in I__—' s hands, which I have ncfl will come in handy for sadclle-clothsH The Lyttelton Times says that it 9 abled to state that Mr K&lwood di& of a half-share in Manuka to Mr PetlH Melbourne for the sum of £SOO. jB Redwood still rotains a half interest iJB horse. . Vj A Berlin paper of the sth of SupteiM states that the King of Prussia has c-|H a half-length life-sized portrait of hi;H to be sent as a present to the pJBj Library, Melbourne. b-s~-~~ 19S«1 Committees have been formed in church, for the purpose of raising' funds 1 to purchase a peal of eight bells for that \ city. The cost is estimated at £6OO fjjr the bells, and £3OO for the bell tower. " The bells to be rung every Sunday, morning and evening services, holidays,' j and all marriages, provided the happy ' bridegrooms pay for them." The area of land under pastorakoccnpation in Victoria is 27,034,78-1 acres, total rent paid being £174,331 175., or-M 1.55 of a penny per acre. y One of the most sensational exhibitions ' yet introduced to the Melbourne public is a Fire King, who is on his way to the Colony, and who is to appear at the Polytechnic Institute. It is said that the man walks with naked feet upon red hot bare of iron, drinks oil at boiling point, and bites pieces of iron at white heat with his teeth. A Nelson paper states that a whirlwind occurred there recently which did considerable damage to property in the town. It v blew down a timber-shed and warehouse belonging to Messrs Curtis Brothersdamages, £3OO ; unroofed stables; blew in windows; and in various places did-agood deal of damage. There was a smart shock of earthquake on the preceding day. An Auckland paper cautions all thos» who are in receipt of golden money that there has been a considerable anl'ouut of filing and sweating of gold coins lately. <i "We were yesterday shown," it says, "an !j P Australian sovereign, the edges of which had been filed away until almost the* wholeof the ( milling.' had been removed, and J we are informed that other"-'gold-. pieces have been recently incautiously taken, from which a great portion of the precious metal had been abstracted through holea being bored in the edge, and afterwardn neatly filled up with lead. The loss of weight from this cause coidd not be sensible to a person taking them incautiously.. Every piece ought to be examined aiwA then ' rung,' when the difference in sound between a genuine and a doctored coin would be. readily distinguished by a prao./ i tised ear." ~V '{l

..The Williamstown correspondent.of th« ' Melbourne Argus, writing on the 29th ult., i says : —" The arrival of the Flying Squad. . ron has given fresh life to. \Killiairisto\rn." '' On 'Saturday evening about fifty or sixty '..< - seamen and marines came' on shore from the men-of-war, and took" 1 possession of' most of the public-houses in.the lower part • of the town. The men all looked as if they had come for the otu making themselves'- comfortable, and it hj PwA needless to say that their wants # tfAll promptly supplied. Tliufi however,, y;~onf J | ducted themselves Very well, aiulielurned < J to their shijw early yesterday mom.iug.' 1 %