Local and General News

Feilding Star, Volume VI, Issue 139, 9 May 1885, Page 2

Local and General News

Mr J. T. Bray invites tenders for foiling 130 acres of bush. Mails for England per Kaikoura will close this evening at 7 o'clock. The Awahuri Bridge will probably be open for traffic on the 14th inst. We learn from the Manawatu Times that a Dramatic Society has been formed in Palmerston. The Engineer of the Kiwitea Road Board publishes an important notice this I morning. The Saadon-Carnarvon Grain, Boot, and Produce Show, will be held on the 15th inst. Motto for a debt collector: "Fair flowers that are not gathered in their prime, Bot and consume themselves in little time. — Venus and Adonis. We learn from an exchange that Mary Anderson, the actress, keeps a diary which she intends publishing on her return to America. Mary won't toll everything. Tandem are invited for fencing 125 acres of land on the Waituna. Specifications are to be seen at the Manchester Road Board office. It is said by the Advocate that Mr Hugh Crabb, of Halcombe, is about to erect a sawmill at Tikorangi, near the Bangitikei River, in the Oroua County. A notice from the Borough Council is published to-day respecting the lease of a piece of land suitable for a pound. Offers are also invited from persons willing to act as poundk«eper and ranger. A fire broke out in Hokitika on Thursday last. It originated by means of an iron chimney passing through the roof of a fruit shop. Three buildings were destroyed. The insurances were very small. The chrysanthemum of our gardens came from China, in many parts of which the flower is indigenous. It was brought to Marseilles in 1789, and in 1790 reached England from the French seaport. In proposing the re-election of the Prince of Wales as Grand Master of the. English Freemasons, Mr F. H. Goldney stated that during the eleven years His Royal Highness had been at their head the English Freemasons had subscribed more than £1350,000 to three Masonic Charitable Institutions alone. The hardships suffered by the British troops in Egypt may be inferred from the fact that out of 283 marines landed jjit Suez on December' 31st last, 140 were in hospital during the -month of February. In the course of three.: months 600 men had been in the hospital, of whom only 205 had been considered fit to return to duty,, the remainder being sent home or to other hospitals in the Mediterranean. These troops, condemned to garrison duty at Suez, Suakim, and other Egyptian seaports, have suffered almost as heayily as if they had, been in,. the field, >nthout any of the compensations of "active service.

Dunedin can supply 7000 men to the first class militia. The Defence Minister has accepted the services of the Rangitikei Mounted Rifles. Halcombe and Sherwill ■will hold an important stock sale on Thursday, the 14th instant. Monday the 25th of May will be observed as a close holiday by all the Government offices. The banks have not shewn much anxiI ety to secure the privilege of placing the Palraerston £50,000 loan. Several additions are made to-day to I Messrs Stevens and Gorton's sale at Palmerston on Tuesday next. Truth says that at Abuklea and other engagements the Martini- ft enrys were rendered useless to the men by the cartridges jamming after the secoudor third shots. There was a meeting of the committee of the Choral Society held yesterday afternoon. Only formal business was transacted and it was arranged to send Home by the mail to-day for a quantity of music. At the last meeting of the Government Insurance Board it was deeded to ascertain the wish of policy-holders in regard to the establishing of local boards by forwarding to each circulars and proxy forms. Aa ajvertiement on our third page announces that Mr T. R. Waltea, of Palmerston, will deliver a lecture on " Psyhology, | orj the Wisdom of the Seul" in the Foresters' Hall te-morrow evening, when no doubt there will be a good attendance! ' Aa electrician predicts that within a generation a person can stand at the telephone and not only talk with the man at the other end, tut see his face and features ; also that the wires will be se improved and perfected that signals will travel at the rate of 8000 a second. We hear that Mr Robert Gillie*. M.H.R. for Bruce, has, acting under medical advice, been obliged to refrain from taking any part ia public affairs for a few weeks. It is to be hoped tnat the nature of his illness will not ueceKsitate the resignation of his seat ia the House. — Dunedin Star. Aspirants to the dignity of colonial governorships ought to pass a competitive subaltrensof Militia, it should be a greater examination. If such is necessary in re necessity ia the case of those who become Commanders in Chief, Admirals, and and so on* This is 'apropos of the appointment of Lord Carnngtoa to the Governorship of New South Wales. There have been so many enquiries made recently for private residences in Feilding, and the supply is so inadequate to the demand, that the absolute necessity of forming a Building Society, the operations of which should bo confined to supplying the want, is becoming daily more apparent, and we hope that steps will be taken in that direction within a short time. Smith's grand panorama of the world, shown at the Public Hall last evening, was moderately well attended, the greater proportion of the audience being juveniles. The views were exceedingly good, and elicited great admiration, as did especially the beautifully coloured fall of real water, with which the entertainment concluded. Mr Smith will show in Palmerston tonight. On Thursday the scholars attending St. John's Sunday School had their fete in connection with the opening of the new school building. A substantial tea was served up to them by their teachers, after which a magic lantern entertainment was given by the Rev Joshua Jones. A good number of parents and friends of the scholars were present, and a very enjoyable evening was spent. A genuine treat will be afforded to-night at the Public Hall to those who are desirous of witnessing good acting and of enj oying a hearty laugh. Mr Norton , who will appear in his mimetic sketches, is at the head of this branch of the profession. He knows how to individualise his characters, has a flexible voice, with a good falsetto for feminine songs. He excels in facial expression, and his "dialects" are irresistible. Some ef the more mischievous larrikin* have been playing sad havoc with an unocupied house in Eyre street, which is, we beleive, the property ef Mr James Whisker. The large panes ef glass ia one of the front windows have been completely wracked. The windows on the side of the house have shared the name fate. At the present rate of procedure the building will be demolished in a month. A meeting of the Benevolent Society was held on Thursday night. The minutes of last meeting were read and confirmed. The secretary read a letter from the Colonial Secretary, stating that a voucher in favor of the society had been passed for £16 10s. A case of distress was reported from Halcombe. The secretary was instructed to write to the Halcombe branch committee asking them to send in a report. Accounts amounting in all to £8 9s 8d were passed for payment. This was all the business. Mr Retemeyer will formally open his Bacon Factory at Greatford to-day. A large party of ladies and gentlemen from every part of the coast have been invited to assist. After luncheon there will be a meeting of the Rangitikei Hunt Club, and the hounds will throw off in a paddock adjoining the factory. There will be a coach provided to take the guests on to Marten in the afternoon. Every provision has been made by Mr Retemeyer to anticipate the wants of his- visitors, and there is every prospect of spending a most enjoyable day. 44 A New Chum" asks the Auckland Herald if those who have not been six months resident within the colony are liable to serve in the militia, if within the the limits, because if so " he intends to make himself scarce by the San Francisco mail boat." Clause 6of the Militia Act states that only those are liable "who have resided m. the colony for the period of six calendar months." This will relieve "A New Chum's" mind; but no great loss would bo experienced; judging from the unpatriotic tone of bis letter, v he cleared out before the mail, steamer's arrival. ■ '• ' ■ '■■"• '•_ ' '' ' ' ! / At the last meeting of the Palmerston Borough Council the following telegram from Sir Julius Yogel was Tead :—^ ' It is under consideration to increase the rating limit within Boroughs frpm,|4 told in the ,j£,onthe capital value,, in order to give, boroughs as large an income from rates as they possess under. the, system of levying Is in tke £ on the annual value/ '' I should be glad to learn the views of yoUr Council on the question,- and also to know whether, if the law were altered in this direction, the Council would be willing to adopt the Rating Act, 188(2, and rate on the capital ' value, thereby paving the'present annual cbs't of a valuation." ' " ' J *

A barbarous case of duelling is reported from Cologne. An officer, before If aviig a beer-house, having by mistake put on the bat of one of his comrades, some hot words eusued between the two, who declared that honour could only be satisfied by the blood of one of them. Accordingly they agreed to ficjht a duel with pistols, beginning with an interval of fifteen paces, reducible to five ; and it was only at the twelfth, or, according to another account, the twenty-seventh exchange of shots that one of the combatants fell mortally wounded. One can scarcely say which was the more ominous feature of this encounter— the exceeding badness of the shooting or the exceeding barbarity of the manners. Yesterday morning a kingfisher, who was in pursuit of an insect of some kind, in his eagerness dashed himself again* t a verandah past, and fell stunned te the ground. A cat who had been watching his proceedings with some interest, pounced upon the bird. Terror seemed to restore him to consciousness and with lead screams he expressed Vis rage and fear, at the same time making a vigerous onslaught at the face of his raviaher with his powerful bill. His cries brought hin unexpected assistance, for some hens who were near rushed at the cat and furiously attacked he". This diversion enabled the kingfisher to get clear, so he took advan taee and flew away expressing his joy at his narrow escape, after the manner of his kind. A Jsmall English terrier dog who was also present thought that with the assistance of the fowls he had now a splendid opportunity of paying off an old acore against the cat, so he " wired in." He was horribly disguxted when the hens turned on him and sent him howling to his kennel, while pussy slipped quietly away ander the house. The hens resumed their ordinary avecatiens, and peace reigned supreme.