Local and General News.

Feilding Star, Volume XV, Issue 297, 25 April 1894, Page 2

Local and General News.

Mr John Stevens, M.H.R., was in town to-day. Mr Sweet has sold his property in the Harbour Board to Mr Oakley, of this district. We believe that the price paid was £8 12s 6d per aero. There was a large attendance at Messrs Abraham and Williams' stock sale held at Colytou yesterday, but the bidding was not spirited. Mr Jackson weilded the hammer. A private wire received in Wanganui yesterday stated that James Bailey, the alleged absconding cattle dealer, had not been arrested, as had been reported. It is alleged that Bailey's destination is Coolgardie, whilst others aver that he has gone to 'Frisco. , Eighty-two residents of the Apiti 1 district have forwarded a petition to the ! Postmaster-General, through Mr Fred. Pirani, M.H.K., asking for a tri-weekly mail service from Birmingham. Mr Vicary has taken a prominent part in furtheriug the matter. — Standard. The following team will represent the Manchester Rifles in the match against the Manawatu Mounted Rifles, to be fired on the Feildiug range ou Saturday next : — Lieut Bray, Sergts Saywell and Aitken, Corpl Parker, Vols Scott, Saywell and T. Evans ; emergencies, Sergt Petherick and Vol Walters. The match will commence shortly after the arrival of the mail train. The Wanganui Education Board have forwarded the sum of £7 to the Birmingham School Committee towards the erection of a shelter shed. The Committee received as revenue last year £'68, and their expenditure was £27 19s, leaving a balance in haud of £10 Bs ld. The committee consider they have been treated with a lack of courtesy by the Inspector, who sent his report to the teacher in place of the chairman, and have passed a resolution that the secretary write to tho Board protesting agaiust such treatment. The Masterton Star says : — Mr Frank Harrison, of Masterton, had a narrow escape from a serious accident on Thurs. day. He was pouring some molten lead on to a piece of machinery when an explosion occurred and his face was covered with the liquid metal. He was temporarily blinded and his face was disfigured, but none of the lead got into his eyes, and he therefore escaped without serious iujury. The sudden explosion was caused by tho lead coming into contact with some damp material. The usual weekly meeting of tho 1.0. G.T. was held in the Temperance Hall last evening, Bro. Stanton being in the chair. The secretary read a communication from Campbelltown re arranging a syllabus for the ensuing quarter, and from the General Havelock Lodge, Bulls, with reference to the district meeting to he held there on May 16th. It was resolved that the former matter be left in the hands ol tho harmony committee with power to act. The lodge then went iuto harmony, and t)\c chairman gave an address on the advantages of the order. Bro Sherlock delivered one of Dr Thomas Chalmers' speeches, taken from Ins astronomical discourses, ou the in.sig#iii_auc£ gt tho earth, Bro. Downey gave a description ol the lodges he visited while on a tr;p to Auckland. Bro Jolly gave an iuterestiug address on temperance, and after Bro Sherlock delivered Robert Emmctt's " Defence from the D.Qek," the locUjo closed, a most pleasant evening having been spent.

I •' A man is never * dismissed ' now a» days ; he ' severs his connect ion ' — that is theclasßical phrase," remarked Mr Justice Richmond during the hearing of a libel case. Mr J. Clementson is removing into that commodious corner shop which has lately been erected for Mr Svendsen by Mr W. Watts. When settled, Mr Clementson intends to have a fine display, j An Adelaide paper states that a gen- j tleman rescued from the drink habit, through the influence of Miss Jessie ! Ackerman, is about to present her with j £1000 with which to secure a home in ] her old age. j The Minister for Lauds stated, iv the com'se of an interview with Mr W. W. j Collins, M.H.R., at Christchurch on ; Monday morning, that it was his intention to establish in the interests of the Cheviot a dairy factory to be conducted on co-operative principles?. At the annual meeting of householders at Woodville on Monday evening, Mr Florence was one of the School Committee members elected, and subsequently was appointed Chairman, but owing to a difference with the Committee on the first business before them, he resigned his position as chairman and member. A correspondent writes : — " I have been asked how often tho school tanlt6 are cleaned and limewashed, and whether the committee are aware that by the aid of a microscope real lively microbes may be soon in the water drank by the children The absence of any charge for cleaning from the annual balance-sheet would lead one to suppose it was ' lang syne ' " It is announced by the Returning Officer to the Pohangina Road Board, Mr H. J. Haynes, that Messrs Herbert Dickin and Frank Wilson Arbon have been returned unopposed to fill the vacancies for wards No. 2 and 4 respectively in the Board's district. As two candidates have been nominated for ward 5, Apiti, Messrs William Vicary and R. A. R. Oldham, and only one is required, an election will take place nt Mr Gny's store, Apiti, on Wednesday the 9th of Mojy, One of the finest displays of chrysanthemums from one garden we have seen was on view iv a shop window in Fergusson street to-day. They were grown hy Messrs J. Weightman and Sou, of Awahnri, and were intended to be sent to the Wellington Chrysanthemum Show, but have not been sent owing to au unavoidable cause. There arc npward.4 of one liuudrod varieties aud passers-by cannot help admiring them. A letter has been received by the Secretary of the Feilding Mutual Improvemcut Society inviting a debate with the Palmerston Society, to take place in about five weeks' time. If a debate can be arranged it will probably be held in Palmerston, and there will be five speakers on each side. The proposal will be considered at to-morrow cveniug's meeting of the local society, and if accepted representatives will be selected and preparations made for the contest. The Otaki Maori Racing Club meetings are coming more into prominence each year, and the arrangements in connection with the meetings are carried out in such a manner that success always follows. The coming meeting, which in to be held ou the Queen's Birthday, promises to be a good one, and liberal prize money is offered. Au advertisement appears to-day from the Secretary ofthe Club.in which. he amount of tho nominations and the date ou which they close are specified. Though the price of frozen meat in England is about the same as it was twelve mouths ago, the prices of live stock in the Wellington district arc at present from 25 to 50 per cent less than then. Lambs such as fetched 9s 6d at the Wairarapa sales last year are now only fetching 4s 6d at the same sales The difference is causing considerable comment, but we are informed that the reason is, that owing to the prevalence of catarrh in ewes before lambing, this 3'ear's lambs are much below those of last in quality. The heavy rains earlier iv the seasou are ascribed as the cause by sheep farmers.— Exchange. Mr Asquith, the Home Secretary, has lately become engaged to a well-known English lady, and at an " unemployed " the followiug resolution was carried : — That this mass meeting of the unemployed, held on Tower Hill, hearing that Mr Asquith is about to enter the holy bonds of matrimony, and knowing he has no sympathy with the unemployed and that he has lately used his position in the House of Commons to iusult them, trusts that his partner will be one of the worst tartars it is possible for a man to have, and that his family troubles will compel him to retire from political life, for which he is so unfit. Mr Brent, of the Central Furnishing Warehouse, Kimbolton road, has on view in his showroom some very choice furniture. We noticed a beautifullydesigned "duchess pair," being a dressing table with two long drawers, two short drawers, and four jewel drawers, with a mirror, the frame of which is very tastefully made of picked rimu. The washstand has two drawers, with tiles inlaid at the back. The wood and the furnishings of these blend very harmoniously together. We noticed, also, 1 a very pretty centre drawingroom table made to order. Mr Brent has the reputation of turning out first-class work, aud from what we have seen we certainly must endorse the character of the proprietor of the Central Furnishing Warehouse. Some new appointments made by tho Guvernmrnt have been eulogised by the Ministerial organ One or two will bear scrutiny, but others are a little shaky. They appear to affirm the principle that men, who are unsuccessful in tbe ordinary walk of life, nre specially adapted for State billet*. Tbe appointments, no doubt, ar6 good for camp followers ot tbe .Ministry, but tbero tbe merit of tbem ends It does not strengthen the position ;>f the Government tn make tho patronage at its disposal a refuge for unfortunate Liberals. Thou, too, have not women untr a claim on such positions equally witb men, and why should the? be over* looked P Would not a good old mother make as satisfactory a Parliamentary Reader as a poet, and would not a virtuous tailon-s., with a broom to sweep up the aitches, shine brighter as a Sergeant atArms than a Colonel Fraser ? — Wairarapa Daily.