Local & General News.

Feilding Star, Volume VI, Issue 131, 21 April 1885, Page 2

Local & General News.

The Italian Parliament have agreed to the abolition of capital punishment. We nave to acknowledge receipt of a copy of The Church Messenger for April. An acre of land in the suburbs was told for £35 the other day. We lean from the Waipawa Mail that the county will supply 774 militia men. The members of the Manchester Rifles will march out to-night in full uniform (scarlet tunics and helmets). Constable Meehan is actively engaged in enrolling the names of men qualified to serve in the firstolass militia. The train fronj. Wanganui was two hours late yesterday 'morning owing to abreakdown. An English paper says a revised version of the Old Testament will shortly be published. A Maori " up the line" was deairous of nominative a horse for the Feilding races. He wrote cut a telegram, attached a pound note to it, nut. the two in an envelope, put a stamp ion th« envelope and calmly dropped it into the nearest post office, without the formality of adding the addreM. Instead of the nomination reaching the •eeratary for whom it was jntended it arrived at the Dead Letter Office in ! Wellington, from whence it was duly forwarded to the correct address, but too I late for th» purpose for which it was intended. • ■•• • :•:•"•■

Captain Edwin telegraphs — Warnings for gales and rain have been sent te all places north of Lyttelton. Thursday next, the 23rd inst., being St. George's Day, will be observed as a ' holiday by the Banks. We understand that Professor Baldwin, the great thought reader, clairvoyant, &c, will shortly give an exhibition of his powers in Feilding. A misprint occurred in our report of the lost meeting of the Borough Council where the prefix " Mrs" appears in the report, instead of Mr Lyne. The Chriatchurch Press characterises the Premier's address at Auckland to the local Liberal Association as a piece of unmitigated humbug. There is a deadly feud raging between the Napier Telegraph and the Woodville Examiner. No bones will be broken, they only " call names." In our report of the concert at the Public Hall, we omitted to mention that the step dancing of Mr John Turner was much admired. Large flocks of wild ducks are occasionally seen about this neighborhood. Yesterday a fiock consisting of twenty was seen within a mile of Feilding in a creek by the side of the road. Wool has risen one penny per pound. Fanners who sent their wool Home through the N.Z.L. & M.A. Company will reap the benefit of this, whereas those who sold in the Colony gain nothing. While playing doctor a Michigan boy administered a dose that killed his younger brother. When boys play doctor they should be careful not to do all that real doctors do. A smart young couple rode in from the country one day last week, put on their wedding garments, got married, changed their good clothes for riding apparel, and were on the road ( home again, in the brief space of one hour. The fact of the Awahuri Bridge being closed cost a fanner living on Saxon's line £28 10s extra haulage expenses this season, as he had to send his wheat by rail to Pahnerston instead of by the road. This fact requires no comment. "Gold," says a Georgia editor, "is found in thirty-six counties of this State, silver in three, diamonds in twenty-six, and whisky in all of them, and the last gets away with all the rest." When the Government receives the 2000 Martini-Henn rifles sent for, the Snider rifles ought to be calied in from the volunteer corps, and issued' to the militia. The new rifles should be then i issued to the better drilled volunteers, who would be more ax>t to learn their use than the raw levies in the militia. , We are glad to learn that owing to the persistent efforts of the member for the district, D. H. Macarthur, Esq., the Minister of Justice has consented to have a sitting of the B.M. Court held at Halcombe once a month. We have no doubt this concession will be much esteemed by litigants in that township. Detective Benjamin, who was a visitor to Feilding last week, made searching enquiries into the circumstances attending the burning of certain hay stacks here recently. He was unable to gather any information which would lead to the supposition that the fires were other than accidental. Mr Benjamin left for Wan- , ganui on Saturday evening. As an example of how far snobbishness can go, even among Emperors " and such t/reat deer," an order has been issued to the directors of theatres in Germany from the Court forbidding them to produce any plays in which ancestors or collateral relations of the Prussian royal family are represented without special permission. How Adam would weep over the degenerarvv of his descendants if he had an idea of this sort of thing. With regard to the contract for a supply of creosotud sleepers which was advertised in the south some time ago, we learn that owing to the absence of tenders the' time has been extended to the end of this month, and white pine is allowed to be used for half the sleepers. This is a remarkable change of front because the Government engineers previously declared that white pine was " utterly unfit for the purpose." We learn from the Christchurch Press that Mr W. R. Kane, who has been in charge of the Bank of New Zealand at Kaiapoi for a short time, during which he has become very popular, is about to be transferred to Newcastle, New South Wales, to the Bank's business there. The customers of the Bank petitioned against this removal, but aa the granting of this would have interfered with Mr ' Kane's promotion, it waa not acceded to. A meeting of the burgesses will be held in the Public Hall to-morrow evening, at which Mr D. H. Macarthur, M.H.B. will lay before them his opinions as to the best means of placing tne finances of the Borough in a satisfactory condition. We understand that he will also suggest certain reforms, which he will invite the Borough Councillors to adopt in the event of hii being returned to the Mayoralty, but which he will ask the burgesses to endotwe wfyh their consent and approval in the mean time. The tallest success of the day. We are again in receipt of names and addresses of principal winners in Robin Hood's ' ' Great Autumn " programme, also chairmen of the respective committees who undertook the drawing, at which over 60 shareholders attended from various parts of New Zealand, whilst the Press had representatives even from Otago. The fact of such big moneys being distributed, and the number of shares sold (12,000 in five weeks and 1,425 special in two days) by this popular " Outlaw," is to us a good explanation of what we thought was a quaint heading for his advertisements. We notice that the present programme advertised in our 1 columns is headed "Nothing succeeds like success." A society called the "%airau Liberal League" with its head quarters at Blenheim has been formed. ]We have received a copy of the rules . from the secretary, Mr Richard Winter. "The objects of the League are to keep up the interest of its members and others in the politics of the colony ; to aid in return of suitable representatives to' Parliament; and to promote the advancement of liberal ief brm measures such as ; the following :-—^.) Progressive Land Tax, with classification of l»nd« and exemption of improvements ; Income Ta x: reduction of indirecttaxation. (2.) Free, secular, and compulsory ' education ; no State aid to schools under i denominational management; > < (S.)!Native ' lands to be acquired by the Crown 'only ; { j all Crawn lands to be leased,, and not sold. (4.) Elective Upper House.' (5.) AboliI feu of plural voting.' («. 1 ) Local £byernment reform ; all bodies elective. "(7.) . Local option in Licensing.- '(8.) Land along new line* of railway to be acquired by the Crown at present values, when durable, /for sp^ial ; settlement*. i((fc) Freetrade policy.. "_ ..Bather a heavy programme for a young society.

Tie District Ceurt situ al Palmerston te-morrow. There will b£ a social meeting at the Presbyterian Church. Awnhuri, oa Tues--1 day next. Mr James Has tic, ene or the candidates fur the Borough Council, issue* an address in another column There is every probability, says the Herald, of the Wanganui up-river Steam Nayigation Company being floated. 1800 shares have been subscribed. Mrs E. Bradley, a very old settler, who has been a resident in Feilding since its first settlement, took her departure for Te Aroha, Auckland, to-day. Professor Kirk, travelling through Manawatu in connection with the conservation of forests, is the guest of Mr Crichton for a day or two. We are indebted to the Standard, for correcting an error which crept into our report of the Boman Catholic Concert. We used the word "Credo" instead of " Kyrie." We have to thank Mr Steveys, the postmaster, for a copy of the British and Foreign Time Tables, published in book form, showing the arrival and departure of contract mail steamers. Hans Chriatensen, of Feilding, who went to the Hot Lakes to be treated for rheumatic affection some few weeks ago, is rapidly recovering. Mr Chrirtensen has been an invalid for upwards of two years. We are requested by Dr Schwarabach, who has been very busy with patients since his arrival, to state that he will be obliged to postpone his departure from Wanganui until April 30th, on account of some serious cases under treatment. Writing about the talk of seme Wellington people to natch Hear* against Beach, the writer em acquatie matters in tne Canterbnry Times expresses the opinion that Beach could pick up a man of Hearn's ability at the beginning of raeh mile in a three-mile race, and then beat them all easily ! . The Endymion Hotel, Awahuri, is about to change hands', jftn' we learn that the preliminary transactions of transfer were made yesterday. Mr MeLeunan, ef Turakina is the purchaser, and will take possession on May the lltb. We are glad to knew that considerable experience will be brought into the business by the proprietor, and that the hotel is likely to be r«ry efficiently and satisfactorily conducted. The Sheffield correspondent of the Christchurch Press writes :— The Rev. P. W. Jones, who has been in charge of the Primitive Church in this circuit for the past four years, left for Wellington, where he will ocoupy a similar position. During his residence he has been most energetic in his endeavors to forward religious and temperance matters, with the satisfaction ef knowing that he has met with a great measure of success. A few days ago his congregation met te bid him farewell, when resolutions were passed expreksing regret at his departure and hopes of success in his new sphere. He leaves behind him a large circle of well* wishers of all clauses and denominations. The rev. gentleman wan well known and highly respected in Feilding.