Local & General News.

Feilding Star, Volume IV, Issue 50, 29 September 1883, Page 2

Local & General News.

A special meeting of the Borough Council will be held on Monday morning next at 10 o'clock. Tbe Christchurch Press actually publishes a. sporting article in which it states that "Traducer's" sons have not, up to the present, made their mark upon the turf. The " Press" is a traducer (!) A Grey street resident bas brought to our office an unusually large pgg laid by a duck. It weighs 4f ounces, and is a perfect monster of its kind. Its " author" should be a very valuable bird. Mr Carthew, bookseller and stationer, has just received a splendid assortment of cricketing materials, which he is now retailing at reasonable prices. Knights of the Willow will do weil to inspect Mr Carthew's stock. Mrs Muggins had been complaining to a neighbour of the state of her health, and was advised to become a Vegetarian. "No," said she, "that I never will. I was brought up to the Church of England, and will stick to it as long as I l.Te." A correspondent wants to know how it is that in nearly every colonial school, while children are being crammed with "knowledge," the simple rules of ordinary conversation, particularly in the pronounciation of words, are altogether neglected. It is strange to hear children of ten to fifteen years of age at an advanced drawing lesson speaking of '■ droriu' osses." For the information of many enquirers we may state that the alterations at the Borough Council Chambers for the Public Library and Heading Room, and the fitting up and furnishing of the same have been completed. The new books and periodicals have boen ordered, aim the institution will now be open to the public in the course of a few days. We learn from the Herald that Mr Cross, the agent of the United Insurance Company, on Thursday, paid ' .Messrs P. and ,T. Bartholomew, of Fielding, the sum of '* £w>\ being amount of loss on the Alma from YAtnganui to Roekhamptou. Ii is only a month since the vessel was losf, «ud considering that the official examination was only concluded some 10 days since, tlie pspers having to be sent bere, tiie payment is very prompt. A defendant who an adverse judgmenr im the H.M. Court ou Wednesday pnrticulury requested us no! to publish the case. It is almost needless to say that we did, and always must, decline to suppress any part of a report of pub. ic proceedings when the doing so would be manifestly unfair and unjust to other parties, as it would be were we to report one case and not another. Reporting law proceedings requires the observance of the strictest impartiality. Pressmen as a rule possess so large an amount of Bohemianism, or else are no unsectarian in their views on religious mutters, that they rarely become fanatical. An exception, however, to the rule is furnished in the case of Mr Herbert Palmer, a very old and accomplished Melbourne journalist, who for many years past has occupied the position of leader of the reportorical staff of the Melbourne Evening Herald., Mr Palmer, who till recently was an ultra-freethinker, has enlisted as a private in tlie Prahran (VI el bourne) detachment of tho Salvation' Army,; and .shows promise of- becoming a^ leading warrior therein. He is , a fair speaker, and his influence witli the larrikin element is said to be extraordinary.

Air Frank Evans, the well-known publican of Wanganiii find proprietor of the Rutland Hotel, has filed his schedule. The Oroua County Council will meet in the Manchester Road Board's oflice nt Feilding, on Tuesday next, at 10 a'ru. At New York, a lunatic, an Irishman, fired a revolver within the British consulate. No one was injured, aud the madman was arrested. Gold has been found in considerable quantities in the highlands of Boone County, Kentucky, and in those of south eastern Indiana. The fastest train in England is the Flying Dutchman, from Paddingtou to i Exeter, the average speed, including stoppages, being 60 miles. The postmaster informs us. that on and after; Tuesday next, postage hitherto charged on de : ayed telegrams will be abolished. This will he a welcome remission. Sixpenny telegrams will now be an established fact. Lord Rnndolph Churchill is a lover of chess, Sir Stafford Northcote plays croquet skilfully, and Lord Salisbury dotes on tennis. The taste of the latter is shared by Mr Dargaville, but there the e.mpurison ends. The first trycicle imported into Feilding arrived by train to-day to the order of Mr Sher?. ill. As this means of locomotion is easy and r.ipid, without being too expensive, we may safely expect to see several oilier., introduced. Tlie road roan has commenced to remove the hu^e boul'lers from the face of the road in '^aturhester street, between Grc}' and Camden sireet corners. They were (•..n.imiiiliy causiug persons to trip after dark, and one or two have, to our knowledge, had very nasty falls. The stones were. >il:.o positively dangerous to equestrians. It is poor economy to burn straw. There are so many useful purposes for straw that the wise fanner will scarcely need to use fire to j:e_ rid uf tt. It makes an excellent mulch for all kinds of fruit trees and berry vines. [ha it for bedding, and by frequent changes increase tho compost, heap. •Spread it on dry knolls and places in meadows and pastures where the graHS has burned or died out. From the emigration returns recently issued we find the number of emigrants oB British origin who left Great Britain for Australasia in the month of June was 6542, as against 2939 in the corresponding month of last year. The 6542 was made up of 4434 Englishmen, 1314 Scotchmen, and 874 Irishmen, and 1315 foreigners in addition. The number of emigrants of British origin sent out during the half year ended June 30 reached 20,600, as against 14,671 in the corresponding period last year. Thus it will be seen tliat emigration to Australia is now going on at double the rate it was last year. The sudden extinguishing of the lights on the station platform after the last train has started at night, is sometimes attended with risk and inconvenience to persons who have remained at the post office awaiting tho sorting of the mails into the letterboxes, aud who ha»e depended on the station lamp to guide them i off the platform on to the public road. Last night a gentleman, walking with three others from tho post office door, stepped off the platform on to the metals. Fortunately he was young and active, and so escaped without iniury.