THE COUNTRY.

Evening Star, Issue 3420, 6 February 1874, Page 3

THE COUNTRY.

Tokomaibiro.— Mrs Leslie, of the Temperance Hotel here, met with a rather dangerous accident on Wednesday evening. A little past nine o clock she had occasion to go into her bedroom with a lighted candle, she wearing a muslin dress at the time. The caudle ngusj; have in some way come in poptact wtfi tne dress, which was immediately in a blaze. Hexscreams brought assistance; a blanket was wrapped around her and the flames extinguished, not, however, before she had been considerably burned on both arms.—‘Bruce Herald.’ Cromwell.—Mr James Scott, baker, of this town, incurred a serious loss pn Tuesday. By some means or other, the stubble in bis paddock caught fire, and spread till it caught the stack of oats which was situated in one corner. The stack was totally destroyed. The loss will be something like LOO or LIOO.—A very distinct shock of earthquake was felt in Cromwell on Sunday evening. It lasted from about eight to ten seconds, although the trembling and vibration which followed did not cease for fully half a minute. The direction of the shock, as near as we could judge, was from north-west to south-east. Ihe time when it occurred wan G. 37 p.m.—On Wednesday last, in Cromwell, the thermometer at one time registered 102 in the shade. In the sun (with the thermometer hanging on an iron wall, however) it ranged between 180 and 110 degrees. Some scientific, citizen might make an attempt (n rpg'the real degree or heat with sprqp certainty.—TKo Carr|ck Ibmgp' Wfttcr Supply Company are in a fix. The General Government cannot grant the promised subsidy of L 4,000, because it turns out that the directors were not legally authorised to borrow the money that has already been already expended. Eleven miles of the race are already finished, at a cost of somethin" like, in round numbers, L 3,000, and six miles vet remain to be cut at a further cost of say L 4 000—say even L 5,000, for the six additional miles are admitted to be of a more difficult nature than the ones already finished. The directors are of opinion that if the public can be induced to take up a number of shares, Government assistance can be dispensed with.— A contributor to the ‘ Timaru Herald,’ in describing a tour through the goldfields, tells this story : In a certain town in Otago its Mayor was elected for the oddest reason possible to conceive. It appears that this town had amongst its inhabitants an individual worthy m most respects, but unhappily much given to liquor ; not to put too fine a point on it, he was constantly drunk. His friends had done all in their power to draw him from the thraldrom of the brandy bottle ; but ’twas of no avail for the fellow would get drunk in spite of them’all At last the Mayoralty was vacant, and here was a chance to reform the drunkard. Make him Mayor, cried his iriends ; and, strange to say Mayor he was. The result is not known.”— ‘Argus.’