Local & General News.

Feilding Star, Volume IV, Issue 68, 10 November 1883, Page 2

Local & General News.

Ten thousand pounds has been raised to send out engineers to survey the route for the Jordan Canal to the Red Sea. Mr Nicholas finished erecting the footbridge over the Oroua River at Aorangi, this morning. The revenue from the sale of drink is as steadily increasing in France as it is decreasing in England. A philosopher who had married a vulgar girl used to cull her "brown sugar," because he said she was sweet, but unrefined. Yesterday being a holiday some of our matter, including a letter signed " C. Gagern" is unavoidably held over till next issue. Owing to the meeting at the Denbigh Sample rooms on Thursday evening, the Borough Council meeting was postpond, and will be held on Monday evening next at 8 o'clock. Miss Eugenie Washington, a collateral descendant of George Washington, has recently succeeded in obtaining an appointment in the United States Post Office. Captain Conolly has been sent out lo the Crimea to superintend the putting into a decent state the memorials to the English officers and soldiers who fell in that war. The British Consul at Sebastopol will assist him. We regret to state that Mrs Newman of Manchester street, has succumbed to her affliction, inflammation of the lungs, as she died last night a little before 12 o'clock. We deeply sympathise with Mr Newman and his family in their bereavement. The Feilding Brass Band played round the town on its way in Mr Daw's brake to and from the Picnic yesterday, and wound up their day's performance by holding a dance under their own auspices in the Town Hall. A good number of couples attended, and the " fun" was kept up till about 12 o'clock. The burgesses will be glad to know that the £30 worth of books ordered by Mr Carthew for the Public Library have arrived. Apart from the excellent reading matter they contain, their externals will be a great ornament to the Library shelves, on which they will at once be placed. A flower show in London on a Sunday, instituted by a clergyman too, is certainly an innovation. The Rev Mr Barnett, vicar of St. Jude's Whitechapel held one in the grounds of his church. It was largely patronised both by exhibitors and visitors, and the idea met with general approval as a recognition of the good effect produced by floriculture. In the last session of the Canadian Parliament an Act was passed admitting to free postage all newspapers and periodicals dispatched from the office of publication. This is a boon which will be granted to the New Zealand public when the lineal and collateral branches of the present ruling families have died out, not till then. It has been decided to have a meeting at the school house, Awahuri, of ratepayers resident near the Awahuri and Mount Stewart, to consider the question of tramway extension. The ratepayers more especially invited are those of the Oroua aud Kawa Kawa ridings, but all who are indirectly interested are invited to attend. A mad American millionaire intends to send to England a dozen intelligent Huron-Iroquois Indians who have shown their ability by their proficiency at native schools, and have them educated at Eton and Oxford at his expense with a view to their entering ou a special mission, partly religious and partly educational, among the Red Indians in the United States. We may safely expect to hear of scalping being introduced in the above educational establishments. It is interesting to know that the Prince of Wales plays the banjo, the Princess Louise touches the light guitar, the Princess of Wales plays accompaniments on the piano, the Duke of Edinburgh is not a bad fiddler, while the Duchess knows enough to turn over the music leaves at the proper time, the Duke of Albany is a sound theorist, and a historical musician —i.e., one of those musicians we read about, and last, but not least by a long way, King Tawhiao plays eucre like a Greek. A certain minister of the Kirk of Scotland, now deceased, had prepared with great care a series of lectures on the parable of the ten virgins, and had made use of them rather oftener than his brethren throught he should. On the evening of a Communion Sabbath, when assisting a brother clergyman in the same Presbytery, he delivered one of his series, which his friend had heard more than once When the services were over and the two ministers were on their way to the manse, the one said to the other, " Man, John, I really think you should gie up thae virgins; ye're fairly makin' auld maids o' them !"

An editor in Georgia : "Gold is found in thirty-six counties in this State, silver in three, diamonds in twenty-six, and whisky in all of them ; and the last gets away with all the rest." An orthodox divine having said "Never engage in anything you would not open with prayer," some frivolous person present asked what he would do with a dozen oysters ? In lecturing on American when speaking of the people, Oscar Wilde said, "Well, the American girl is the prettiest despot in the world. She seems to me to be a little oasis in a desert of common sense." A Scotch boy had delivered a message to a lady, but did not seem in a hurry to go. Being asked if there was anything else his mother bade him say, he whimpered out, "She said I wasna' to seek anything for coming, but if you gave me something I was to tak' it." The greater part of the land in China is owned in small properties of five acres and under, even down to a sixth of an acre. It is, in fact, divided and subdivided till it can be divided no more. When the crops fail, the peasants are literally beggars; they have nothing to pawn or pledge.