Local and General News

Feilding Star, Volume XIV, Issue 44, 29 September 1892, Page 2

Local and General News

The Feilding Masonic Lodge will meet on Monday next. The Manchester Rifles will parade in the Assembly Rooms this evening. A Maori named Hoani Petera attempted to take the life of Aknpatu Haki, at Kaikohi, Auckland, with an axe, and severely wounded him. Petera has been arrested. A meeting of the Apiti School Committee was held on the 24th inst. The members present were Messrs Burton (in the chair), Cummerfield, Osborne, Duncan, and Mackenzie. The meeting was called for the purpose of selecting a teacher, when Miss Ellen Prendergast was chosen. A Glasgow paper states that an en* gineer resident there has, after nineteen years' labour and experimentation, devised an arrangement in an engine by which lie returns all the steam back to the boiler after doing its work in the cylinder. In several cases he has got his engines installed and at work, giving most extraordinary results, and in one case in a textile factory it is doing as much uork with one ton of coal as whs formerly done wilh seven tons. Mr J B. Hamilton's new shipments ol spring and summer goods have just, been opened up. The display is certainly a good one, and would comparo favourably with anything to bo seen in the larger towns. The piles of washing and stufl fabrics in all colorings and textures, and tho millinery, artificial flowors, ostrich plumos iv endless variety, three-quartoi jackets, capos, &c, make up a show <>] stylish aud beautiful k°o<ls which ia woll worth going to see.

The Manchester Road Board will meet on Saturday next. ' The annual examination of the Feild- ' ing State School is now proceeding. Mr Milson has just received a lot of new books, albums, musical instruments, and fancy brooches. The Amateur Athletic Association have decided to hold the nest A.mateur Championship meeting at Wellington. Our readers are reminded of The Surprise Party in the Assembly Rooms ] on Saturday night. There have been some good baskets of trout taken from the Oroua, but the fi3h are not very fat. It is intimated in our wanted column . that Mr Glover will hold a temperance ; meeting in the Wesleyan Church on Sat- . urday evening. L Messrs Saywell Bros, have recently ' built a dog cart for one of the business ! men in Feilding. It is trimmed with 1 handsome morocco leather, the body painted wine colour, picked out with 1 white, and the whole turn out is a highly 1 creditable specimen of workmanship. ; Sir H. Loch, in a letter to The Times, corrects a statement made by the authors ' of " The Life and Times ot Sir G. Grey," He asserts it was Lord Elgin and not Sir G. Grey who afforded timely aid during the early days of the Indian Mutiny by diverting the China expedi- , tion to Calcutta. American ladies, when in England, are the occasion of many jokes, good, bad, and indifferent. Here is a recent one, which has for its scene the magnificence of Windsor Costle. Fair American — Butler, any chance to get n glimpse at the Queen? Gentleman addressed— l am not the butler. I am the Prince of i Wales. Fair American— How lucky ! : Is your mother in ? It is said that among the exiles in Siberia are forty-fiye compositors, who were sent there for working on Nihilist , papers. Theirs is a hard " case," as ; they are often out of "sorts," getting ' severe colds frequently from the absence of " caps" for their " head lines." Getting out lead is their " metal rule," and 1 the " full point " of a Russian bayonet 1 keeps them up to the mark. There is no 1 " chapel " there, and when nature giyes in they are finally " diss'd." They make 1 a poor " take " for the worms. The Melbourne Argus says :— The example of New Zealand where every penny of interest, both of public and private debt, is paid by tiie fruits of the earth, where such profits are now made that the people can refrain from borrow- , ing, show what can be done when an intelligent community sets resolutely to work to overcome a difficulty. Victoria has had ten years speculation, and with ten years work, with her fertile lands, the general prosperity would be as great as eyer, and infinitely more enduring, and it was now clear prosperity could be obtained only by work, not by charity. One of Sir Wilfred Lawson's lates* ' stories is of a parent who could not decide what to do with his son just emancipated from school. With a view to ascertaining the natural bent of the boy's mind he locked him in a room in which had been conspicuously placed an apple, a £5 note, and a Bible. The result of the experiment decided the father .to make the lad a politician. When he entered the room after the lapse of a quarter of an hour he found that the apple had been eaten, and the £5 note pocketed The Bible had been used as a footstool to enable the boy to reach the other things. Extreme heat in all lands :— Bengal, 150 degrees Fahrenheit ; Borgu, Sahara Desert. 153 degrees; Persia, 125 degrees; Calcutta, India, 120 degrees; Central American Republics, 129 degrees ; Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, 105 degrees ; Greece, 109 degrees ; Arabia, 111; New York, 102; Spain. Cuba. China, and Jamaicn, 110 ; France, Denmark Russia, and Sandwich Islands, 100 degrees ; England, Ireland, and Portueal, . 88 degrees ; Australia, 80 ; Scotland, 75 ; Sweden and Norway, 65 ; Iceland, 42; and Nova Zembla, 32 degrees, never above the freezing point. Edison has a device to prevent caterpillars from climbing up trees. Alternate wires of copper and zinc are run around the trunk of the tree at a distance of about half an inch apart. The casual caterpillar begins to mount the trunk of the tree, and unlimbers himself with the confidence and vigor born of an impending feast. Presently he reaches the copper wires, pokes his nose over i it, and lets another kink out of his backbone. Half an inch further up his front feet strike the zinc, the circuit is compeleted. and the unfortunate larva is instantly a martyr to science. The modern church verger, though by no means so interesting an animal as the old parish clerk, is still sometimes guilty of a stroke of unconscious humour. At a very famous London church the sexes are divided, the men sitting on the one side of the aisle and the women on the other. The service was just about to commence. The long procession of the surpliced choir was drawn up in the vestry, just about to march into the church. The vicar was commencing the words of the vestry prayer, when the verger popped his head through the door and remarked, " Please sir, there's a bishop got in among the ladies. Shall I have him out?" Many a true word is spoken in jest. A . contemporary in making an appeal to bis too many — alas! long-winded —customers to nay up their arrears said : — . We hope they will settle without delay. Not that we want the money. Oh no ! Our ink is given to us, we steal our paper, and we win our printers' wages at two-up. So it costs us nothing to carry on business. Nevertheless, as a matter of accommodation, and to ease their conscieuce, we will take what they owe us if they will send it immediately. " Out of the fulness of the heart the mouth speaketh, but water poureth off the back of a duck " as dear old Martin Tupper might have said. Following the example of the Germans ' in the Franco-Prussian war, officers and soldiers of the French Army will hencei forward have a numbered metal-plate fastened on their collars for purposes of [ identification. A similar scheme is being ; considered for the benefit of miners. This [ will be very convenient, because when j their bodies are blown to pieces, either in the course of ligitimate war or by careless mining, the numbers of the badges will declare the original owners of the debris when in a collected form, for the informa--1 tion or consolation of enquiring or anxij ous friends and relatives. One difficulty presents itself to us. Miners, when work--1 ing down below, often find it too hot to 1 wear collars, therefore the rule would have to be varied in their case, and the i badge affixed in some part of the apparel they do wear. Following is a copy of the cablegram 1 from the Secretary of State for the Colonh les to the Government, re appoiutments ' to the Legislative Council: — "I haye > carefully considered your despatch, and ! appreciate the difficulties of your position, ! but I have no hesitation in advising the ' acceptance of your Responsible Advisers' advice. It does not appear to be a case f of swamping the Council. Division lists i should be considered rather than the i politics of the Premier originally nom- ' mating members. 1 will state fully the • reasons by despatch, but you should at f once re-open the matter with Ministers, I and waive your objections to their proi posul. Tug Agent- General is auxious for r information, which I cannot withhold f aftor to-morrow, but I am auxious to I givo you an opportunity of making your own announcement to tho Miuisterß."

The strike ou the Woodville Examiner has collapsed. The late Mr John Walkley's life was insured in the Government office for £1000. A contemporary reports that the Napier Telegraph is likely to have an action for libel instituted against it. The Official Gazette of the Salvation Army notifies that Lieutenant Annie Barriball has been appointed to Feilding. The sum of £900 is set down in the Public Works estimates for erection of the new Court House at Palmerston North, The Woodville slander case is proceeding to-day at Woodville. The evidence we received this afternoon by telegraph was unfit for publication. Captain Edwin telegraphs : — Weather forecast for 24 hours from 9 a.m. to-day — Telegrams to expect frost or a yery cold night have been sent to all places. A good mauy settlers ou the bank of the Manawatu river, at Moutoa, are reported to have lost both cattle and sheep during the floods consequent upon the recent heavy rains. A meeting of the residents of No. 2 Ward Pohangma Road District, will be held at the mill on Saturday afternoou next;, when Mr Dickin, the Warden for the district, will probably lay his proposals in reference to the expenditure of the proposed loan before those present. For the right to cut totara in the Government reserve in the Pohangina Valley, Mr Adsett offered £1000 and Mr Hunt" £3000. Mr Baker, the Commissioner of Crown Lands, purposes to count the trees himself before deciding, aud then the right will be disposed of either by tender or public auction. The district around Bunnythorpe and Rangitikei Line was under water last Wednesday as a result of the very heavy rain which fell on Sunday and Monday, and settlers were placed at a great disadvantage in getting in and out of their properties. A small bridge has been broken on the Bunnythorpe road. Mr J. D. Valentine roturned from Petone on Tuesday and informs us tint his father took a slight change tor the better last Saturday, and has been pro« uressing satisfactorily ever since. Mr Valentine is now able to take a little nourishment, and the doctors are hopeful of his recovery. Coffee made with cold water. — This is an excellent receipt for people who ivisii to have coffee reaclj at all times. Make it in this novel way. Place in a bottle a heaped teuspoonful of coffee for each small cup required. I'our on the cold water and cork the bottle tightly. Let this stand for twenty»four hours, «nri you will have clear, strong coffee. The grains will be perfectly pale, thus showing that the strength has all been taken out of them. Strain the liquor, heat it, and drink either with milk or black. At Mr W. Park's residence in College street, Palmerston North, may be seen a beautiful specimen of what can be done by cultivation of our New Zealand flowers. As is well-known Mr Park is an enthusiast in the matter of cultivating New Zealand shrubs and flowers, and he has growing there nearly all varieties. The most striking object at the present time, however, is the New Zealand clematis, which has been trained up the balcony, from which huge festoons of white flowers now depend, making a very pretty sight, Mr Park's example will doubtless be followed by many others. — Manawatn Times.