Local and General News

Feilding Star, Volume VII, Issue 86, 31 December 1885, Page 2

Local and General News

M. Grevy has been re-elected President of the French Republic. The San Francisco mail will close this evening at 10 p.m. The Manchester Eifles will assemble for church parade next Sunday morning. A close holiday will be observed at the Post and Telegraph office to-morrow. Miss Edith O'Gorman, the escaped nun will lecture here at an early date. Ou Tuesday next Messrs Stevens and Gorton will hold an extensive sale of stock at their Feuding sale yards. There was not a single case of " drunk and disorderly" in Feilding during the Christmas time. A Chinese boy gained five prizes at the Greymouth State School, being all for which he could compete. The Rationalist, a journal published in Auckland, has died of inanition. " Ivo" did not suit the times there. The Hon. J. Ballance will be in Napier on January 2 to attend a great native meeting to be held at Hastings. The Manawatu Times says that some Feilding residents are joining the Palmerston Boating Club. Mr Goldfinch, of Taonui, intimates to-day that he has laid poison on sections Nos. 4, 38, and 39 in the Manchester block. Fireß have been raging all over the colony within the last few days. Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury, Dunedin, and Southland, all have auffered. On Saturday next the secretary of the Feilding Jockey i lub will make his report as to the feasibility of holding a race meeting at Easter. We are glad to be able to announce that no less than seven families arrived in Feilding during the past tea days to settle on properties i» this town. The postal note system which will come in force next month, will be a great boon to newspaper proprietors. Subscribers aud advertisers at a distance will also find it a great convenience. On the 29th inst. the Hon. W. E. Gladstone reached his 75th year. Ho was born in Liverpool on December 29, 1809. We wish him many happy returns of the day. We learn that some of the crops in the Sandon, district are exceedingly heavy. On Saturday we were told of a paddock of oats that we were assured would yield about 90 bushels to the acre. — Standard. In England, as lately as 1833, a child of nine was sentenced to be hanged for poking a stick through a patched-up pane of glass and stealing twopence worth of paint, but he was not executed. Messrs O'Hara and Gordon advertise for twelve good pick and shoyel men to be employed in the works on the Watershed road, near Ashurst. Highest wages given. When England took over Basutoland in 1869, there was not a trader's shop in the whole territory, but ten years of British rule induced a "foreign" trade valued at actually a half a million sterling per annum. Information has been received in Auckland that the Melbourne Total Abstinence Soeiety is negotiating with Dr B. W. Richardson, the well-known temperance advocate, to deliver a course of 50 lectures throughout the Australian colonies We understand that the local Insurance agents' have decided to raise the fire rates during the period that water proves scarce. How long this may last cannot of course be fore-told, but to all appearances at present, the town is likely to feel the drought more severely than has as yet been the case. — Wanganui Herald. A private letter received in Dunedin, after giving a grievous aocount of the recent herring fishing on the east coast of Scotland and England, says that " seme of the wealthier fishermen are emigrating. Three Burghead boats and two or three Frith of Forth boats are soon to sail for New Zealand to try their fortunes there." A local umpire in Norfolk had a particular spite against one man in the 11, and upon being appealed to during a match to decide whether the said man was out leg-before-wicket or not, replied promptly, " Out ! " whereupon the outgoing batsman shouted out, " Jervis, yer lies ! " Jervis calmly replied, " What if I do ; yer out." We remind members of the Friendly Societies and the public generally, of the Friendly Societies Sports to be held in Palmerston to-morrow. The programme is a most attractivs one, and upwards of £60 will be given in prizes. Trains will leave here at 11-15 asm. so that Feilding visitors will reach Terrace End just as the procession will march on the Grounds from Palmerston. Cardinal Manning, who was one of the board of investigation into the Pall Mall Gazette's recent disclosures, has contributed to the October number of the North American Review a short paper on " Inhuman Crimes in England, in which he reiterates bis statement that the revelations iv question are substantially true, and also the statements made before a commission in 1881 fall little short of them. Writing to a Waikato paper a correspondent relates the following experience : I have tried the recipe I mentioned a short time ago, of putting some leaves off the elder tree round some cabbage plants I had planted. They were being fast consumed either by caterpillers or the brown beetles, but since the application of the leaves the ravages have entirely ceased. Try it. Sergeant Buhner, the winner of the Queen's prize at Wimbledon, in shooting at Spalding m the class firing of his regiment, made a remarkable score. He fired 10 shots each at 700 and 800 yards, his total being 74 points out of a possible 80: His first eight shots at .800 yards were bull's-eyes, and the hist two inners, or 38 points out of a possible 40. , :■ . * A little^ before midnight on Saturday the premises of Mr Cottrell (says the Napier Telegraph) were discovered to be on fire, r The fire is supposed to have been caused by careless emptying of a pipe. At the request of Mr Oottrell, an enquiry was held. The jury returned a verdict that there was no evidence to show how, the fire originated. - / '; : Just now there is a good deal of sentimental talk going on concerning the decay of English manhood, and about the good days long ago. To hear these folks chatter anybody would say that everything had gone to ruin since we had the honor of being ruled by George HI, and plundered by the gang of shameful patricians who fed themselves and: their brood at the nations cost. I should like to speak with all modesty, yet I cannot help saying tha£ the moony, poetic babble regarding the' past Jus neither more nor less than poisonous falsehood, r-^ James Rujrcwuy. ,1 .'^f " '■"" " ' ■'■''

The banks will be closed to-morrow, being New Year's Day. According to the Napier papers, the telegraph service in Hawke's Bay is the worst conducted in the colony. Captain Edwin telegraphs to-day. — Warnings for gales have been sent to all places south of Napier and New Ply» mouth. ) A wit who was asked what he would rather be during the three stages of life ' replied, " Till 30 a pretty woman ; till 50 a successful general; the rest of my life a cardinal." In consequence of the exceptionally dry weather that has been experienced this season the (cropß J throughout Western Victoria are, generally speaking, very stunted. We have received from MrCarthew, the local agent, a copy of H. I. Jones' Wanganui almanac for 1886. This volume contains a large amount of useful and varied information. We would remind our readers of the Halcombe Sports to be held tomorrow at Halcombe, and also of the Marton-Bangitikei Baces, which take place on the course near Bulls tomorrow and Saturday, Jan. 1 and 2. Mr George Hill, of Newton, Auckland, and all his family have narrowly escaped death by poisoning, caused by eating canned tengue, which proves to have been diseased. Though externally it appeared perfectly sound, on examination it seemed to be dangerous. A clerical gentleman named W. 0. Hawkins was fined 20s at the Central Police Court, Sydney, the other day for being drunk and abusing Chinamen in the fruit market. The revd. gentleman pleaded not guilty, and accounted for his conduct by blaming the exorbitant price they charged for watermelons. A telegram reached Wellington on Tuesday last that Booth's sawmill was on fire, and that half a gale was blowing. Three dwelling houses, an old flour mill, and the buildings formerly Hokers and Stewarts Bros, timber mill were burnt down on Monday. Insurances — Flour mill, £150; dwelfinghouse, £150; dwellinghouse, £75. Only the latter was occupied. At Campbelltown, Southland, a few days ago, before the Resident Magistrate, a member of the Bluff Naval Artillery pleaded not guilty to a charge of disobeying the lawful command of C.P.O. Me* Doogall of that corps, by refusing to assist in {removing a buoy-mark and for firing practice. The charge was proved. Hi* Worship sail it was of no use having an artillery corps unless discipline was carried out, and fined the defendant £3, with 7s costs. An exchange says — An educated hen is an unexpected phenomenon, yet such a biped saved its owner from prison the other day in Paris. A man was seen to pick up a fowl in the street, and was charged with stealing it. He called the hen as a witness for the defence, and the hen cnowed to order, sat upon his shoulder, and generally gave such unimpeachable evidence of his ownership, that the prisoner was acpuitted. The hen's owner must be a humane man, and skilful withal, [for a hen is not a promising pupil. Several fires occurred yesterday on the Kimbolton road from the abundant dry grass growing at the sides near the fences being ignited either intentionally or by accident. No great damage was done owing to tbe praiseworthy efforts of Messrs Arnott, Brennan, Marshall. Cornish, and others who rendered valuable assistance in putting out the flames. In another part of the borough Messrs Evans have lost about £20 worth of fencing from this cause. The Manawatu Herald «nys :- -In a quiet unastentalions manner th» Rer Father M'Manus is setting an excellent example to hii fellow- clergymen in the district in tbe matter of imparting r»li« gions initruction to the youth of his congregation at Foxton. As ofteii has he can —once a week, when possible — the rev gentleman visits Foxton. when the children assemble at the church, and are given two hours' instruction. This is an example that Blight with very great profit be followed by others who prat* rery glibly about tbe godless character of the present system, bat do vary little indeed towards obviating the ovil of which they complain: A man named William Higgins was arrested at Otaki on Christmas Day on a charge of stabbing two men with a knife. One man, Parker, received a slash across the stomach, and a stab just above the heart, and the other man, (Purcell) a slight cut. in the hand. The offender was brought up before W. H. Simcox Esq., J.P., on Saturday, and remanded to 4th January. A Dane named Hans Hanson was at the same timt sentenced to three months in Wanganui gaol with hard labor for using obscene language in a public place. With the exception of the above and a few ordinary drunks, the Christmas holidays at Otaki so far have passed off very quietly. — Exchange. After wo went to press oa Thundsj the evidence was completed in the case of alleged criminal libel, and G. T. Saw* kins was committed for trial on the charge bail being allowed in one surety of fifty pounds and defendant in a like amount. Daring the afternoon there were two strange episodes. The defendant applied to get away to attend to his duties ; the application being refased, though had an adjournment been asked it would have bees granted. The other episode was of a more painful character, an unusually bitter altercation taking place between counsel, Mr Lasoellee provoking Mr Moore to forget himself, for which tho learned gentleman after* wards apologised. — Napier Telegraph.