Local & General News.

Feilding Star, Volume V, Issue 33, 20 March 1884, Page 2

Local & General News.

Stevens nnd Gorton's sale at Cheltenham will take place to-morrow. The Borough Council will meet this evening at the usual hour. The Canterbury Times calls the Freethinkers " the Silly Sect." We have to acknowledge receipt of the Joint Stock Companies Journal for December last.

Messrs Halcombe and Sherwill are about to extend their business to Ashurst where they propose to hold periodical stock sales.

Mr Marchant, the Chief Surveyor, and Mr Dundas arrived in Feilding yesterday morning. They are en route to open up the Waitapu, a part of the Otamakapua Block.

The New York Commercial Advertiser says a gentleman in Philadelphia has offered his mansion and a lot of ground, 100 by 175 feet, for a home for indigent Masons, their widows and orphans, of Pensylvania, and to endow it with his whole estate after his death.

The R.M. Court will sit to-morrow when some lively cases will be heard. A lady, not unknown to fame in Halcombe, will appear to show cause why she should not be restrained from' the injurious use of an axe on Her Majesty's subjects. And the Australian Blondin will appear against his agent, Mr Smith, for assault and battery. Our local Justices of the Peace are having plenty of opportunities of gaining experience.

Hop-growing in the colony of Victoria is increasing at a rapid rate. In the year ended 31st March, 1 882, 564 acres were nnder cultivation-'for hops and yielded 4045cwt, whilst hr the" : year ended 31st TM arch,, 1883, the acpeage ; had, increased to 1034, an«d the yield uto \s22Bvwt*.i At the Bame time barley cultivation apuears to be declining in the colony; the decrease in the acreage Wng^s93l, and J the' "yield 170|^ busheia, on^comparing '. thfe ' t i'BB3 crop with that of 1882.

Tenders will be called for the erection of the Upper Taonui school house shortly. More than half the laud of New Zealand is still held by the Crown.

Sixty seven medium and heavy draught horses were shipped by Messrs Hawkins, Bishop and Barnard, of Christchurch for Sydney on the 12th inst.

We observe by our exchanges that the various football clubs of the colony are holding their annual meetings and taking steps for the coming football season. "We trust to see the Feilding men to the fore soon. — --•

An innocent old farmer weighed the butter he sold to his grocer with pound bars of soap that he bought of him, and it turned out that the butter fell short three ounces to the pound ; but the grocer didn't make a public row over it.

Persons allowing cattle to graze on the public streets will take a hint and rcn them on some other ground. We learn on excellent authority that the ranger intends to make a raid next week — if circumstances will permit.

The Promenade Concert to be> held in the Public Hall on Thursday, the 27th inst. iv aid of St. John's Church Sunday School Building Fund promises to be a great success. A number of the best ioeal amateurs have tendered their services, and assistance from other parts of the district is being freely offered.

As a testimony to the value of the work done and the estimation in which it is held, we have pleasure in mentioning that the doors and sashes manufactured at the establishment of Mr Venn, of Palmerston, find a profitable market in Blenheim, and that orders from still more distant parts of the Colony are now in hand.

An elderly man named Brown, a baker by trade, was arrested at Hawera on Tuesday, on a charge of committing rape on a child aged seven years, the daughter of Mr Adamson, of that town. The man was brought before the local bench, and remanded. Dr Alexander was called in to examine.the child, by the Dolice, and he is understood to have expressed the opinion that the alleged offence had been committed. — Chronicle.

A meeting of a number of Upper Taonui settlers was held at the re.-ide_.ee of Messrs Pringle Bros on Monday evening last, to arrange for the'estabhshment of a cricket club. It was decided that a club be formed and named the United Mangaone Cricket Olub. A management committee was elected and Mr J. Johnston was elected secretary and treasuterfor the ensuing year. Messrs Brennan and Marshall have courteously placed a piece of land situated on the Ashurst road nt the disposal of the members for practice and matches. Tlie wicket will be put in playing order at once.

The insurance money on the steamer Triumph (remarks the Auckland Star) is expected to form the subject of litigation in England during the next two months. It will be remembered that the underwriters refused to pay the sum for which the vessel was insured, and Mr Hall, their special agent, is now in Auckland investigating the circumstances ot the catas. trophe, with the view of resisting the claim in a court of law. Captain Brotherton is still in Auckland, collecting evidence on behalf of the owners, and he will probably leave for England, via 'Frisco, by the mail steamer on Tuesday next. Mr Owens, the chief officer, has taken a great fancy to Auckland, and remains here for the present. He will follow Captain Brotherton to England at a future date.

A story is told of a bishop, on good authority. The bishop, who has for some time back been in extremely delicate health, was told some few days since by his physician that a trip to Nice was absolutely necessary to set bim up in health ; but he positively declined to entertain the idea of going, and shook his head so determinedly that the man of pills and potions thought it only right to express himself in plain terms. "My lord ," he said very solemnly, "I tell you most candidly your case is a most serious one. and if you do not go to Nice, you must go very soon to Heaven." "Oh; well, in that case," said the bishop, very dismally, " I will go to Nice 1"

Apropos of the story about Mr Holloway offering Charles Dickens £100?) for a " lift up" in one of his books, it is also said that the editor of the Times has frequently received offers of a cheque for £1000 if he would mention such or such a thing in a leading article. We are only in the very infancy of advertising, and in 50 years hence advertisements in newspapers will be far costlier thnn at present. Already three papers in London make it a condition on the receipt of advertisements that they are not bound to any particular day for their insertion. What wiU the state of things be half a century hence P The cause of all this lies in the fact that enterprising people have discovered that the more they advertise the more business they do.

i The French Minister of Public rnstruction has recently issued a circular to the masters of the public schools of France, which would be extremely useful here. He recommended that the young pupils should not be over-burdened with a multiplicity of subjects. He suggests that ample time should be allowed for meals and more leisure should be given for corporal exercises. Masters are further enjoined to study the constitution and natural abilities of their pupils, and to divide the hours for stody * according' to the average amount of intelligence' of the boys of the* same class, leaving them .siifficient time, for play, and, rest. They are ; aiso reminded (that physical development is not to be neglected, and the G6_i _i ! i i A Il'• v. '.^ " '-;:•'.".; s. " ' : ! : vernment have wifely provided that gymnastics and athletic exercises shall be introduced into every school and college.

Some officers of the Salvation Army are at present in Palmerston.

His Excellency the Governor is at present visiting the principal places of interest in the Auckland Province.

Mr Fisher, a storekeeper, of Upper Sholorer, Dunedin, committed suicide recently by discharging the contents of a gun into his head, pulling the trigger wiih his toe.

We have received, published: in pamphlet form, the speech delivered by Mr J. M. Dargavillo, M.H.R., in Auckland on January 29th on The Proposed Australian Federation.

We leara from the Standard that the windmill at tbe P«! merston railway station, which o rives the pump that fills the tanks, is to be removed to Turakina, and a hot air engine is now being fitted up as a Bubstitule motive power.

It will be interesting to many of our readers to learn that Simon Peter Harjes, the levanter whose case excited so much attention last year, died on his way from Adelaide to England after his liberation from goal. He suffered from consumption. — Auckland Star.

Borough Bye-law No. 9 says : — " No person shall draw or trail any sledge, timber, or other material upon any footway or carnage road." Yet yesterday we observed a sledge, taken along a part of Manchester street. We presume no action will be taken against the offenders.

Mr W. G. Haybittle has now completed the enlargement of his store. The increas.-d space will be a great convenience to his customers, and will also enable him to exhibit to greater advantage the new stock which he has just opened. Full particulars of the novelties just arrived wi^l appear in an early issue of the Stab.

A littfe grm humour sometimes is exhibited by the Education Committee.

Two members were appointed as a visiting committee for the month of February, and on the grounds that tb^y had not visited the school once during their term of office, they were unanimously re-elected to the position for the current period. We presume this is to give them an opportunity of winning fresh laurels.

The hop gardens at Awahuri are looking well, although the crop is not nearly so fine as last year. Mr Ward has harvested his crop, with the exception of a few late poles, and the picking at Mr Boness' is now in full swing, and will conclude in about a fortnight. The hops nre in excellent condition, and we should think they will compare favorably with those produced in other parts ot the colony.

In Otago, a farmer has sold the whole of the proceeds of his oat crop to a Dunedin merchant for 2s per bushel, the bags to be 7s 6d per dozen, and the grain to be delivered at Palmerston station. The excellence of the grain sold may be judged from the statement of tbe gentleman who brought it, that he would be glad to take five times the quantity atthe same figure.

Considerable comment was made by vi?it rs at the recent Feilding Horticultural Show, on the size and beauty of the collections of apples exhibited. For the general information of fruit growers', we may state that a great number of the trees on which these apples were grown were obtained from Mr Laird, of Wanganui, and others from Canterbury and Nelson. The excellence of the fruit may, in a great measure, be attributed to the high class description of trees, and the great care tnlien in ibe cu'-ivation cf the orchards where they are now growing.

Those who advertise largely do the most business; they are business men, and know the value of money. These firms would not adverf'se if it did not succeed. In a widely >*cad and leading journal, advertising by the quaver oc the year to any firm of good siaoding is bu'J the shrimp to catch tbe whale. Those who donotadverti.se a»*e losing ground and t<me, and may, without exaggeration, be compared to fishermen who ba>'t, indeed, with sprats, but catch only minnows. Push, principle, tact, and advertising result in one word — business !

In the case against Higgmson and Nicholson for stealing a horse from Feilding, heard at the criminal sittings of the Supreme ' ourt, Wanganui, yesterday the Grand Jury found no true bill against Higginson, who was discharged. A true bill was found against ISieholson, who, on being arraigned, pleaded cuilty and stated he was sorry for what he had done ; it was all due to drink. His Honor said he was willing to give credit to prisoner for his professions of repentance, and sentenced him to two years' hard labor in the Wanganui gaol, this sentence tp run concurrently with the other sentence.