Local and General News.

Feilding Star, Volume XVII, Issue 65, 13 September 1895, Page 2

Local and General News.

The 'Frisco mail will arrive at 4 p.m. to-day, and will be sorted into the private boxes at 4.45 p.m. Prudent housewives who desire to save in the item of tea should call and inspecfcfchc new pateut teapots at Messrs Bramwell Bros. Additions arc made to-day to tho entries for Messrs Abraham aud Williams' sale at Pohangina, aud Messrs Gorton aud Sou's sale at Awahuri. A meeting of ratepayers of the Manchester Road Board will bo held at Ashurst on Monday next to consider the reconstruction of the Lower Gorge bridge. The work of the extension of tho Primitive Methodist Church, iv Feiiding, is being pushed on rapidly, aud the enlarged building will be ready for occupation by the end of this month. Mr P. J. Murtagh's starting machine was used at the Marton races yesterday ! and the day before, and sporting men express every satisfaction with the result. Tenders close to-morrow (Saturday) September 14th, for alterations aud additions to Messrs Goodbehcrc and Richmond's offices. Messrs James and Heaps are the architects. The Manchester Rifles held a company parade hist night at which there was a good attendance. Color-Scrgt. Milson instructed the men iv the new physical drill, and Corporal Humphries had charge of the recruits. Captain Kirton and Lieut. Bray were in command. A man named James Newton, employed by the Railway Department iv filling trucks for ballast, has been killed by a fall of earth, near Gore. He was 24 years of age, and was unmarried. He had relatives in different parts of the colony. The cottage occupied by Mrs Martin, on Cheltenham Cross road, had a narrow escape from destruction by fire last evening shortly after 9 o'clock, the chimney, a wooden one, having caught fire. The chimney was pulled dowu before any damage was done to the cottage. The result of yesterday's poll for the election of Councillors for the Borough of Marton, as declared by the Returning OflQcer (Mr F. C Wilson), is as follows ; — Messrs E. Read, 105 votes ; J. Richardson, 94 ; J. Anderson, 91 ; B. Goile, 75 ; J. Johnston, 96 ; John Robson, 54. E. Reynolds, the crack Auckland cyclist, has been selected by the New Zealand Cycle Alliance to represent this colony in the Australian championship bicycle races to be held in Sydney on October 7th. Reynolds has commenced training, with a view of getting into his best form. We learn that during the thunderstorm on Tuesday night, a valuable heifer belonging to Mrs Duncan, at Makino, was struck by the lightning and killed, within a few chains of the house. A large rata tree in Mr W. Reid's property close to Root street was also struck and took fire, but the heavy rain which followed quickly extinguished it. The deputation of sawmill owners to the Premier last week, after pointing out the anomalies of the rates for the carriage of timber on the different lines in the colony, requested that a reduction of three pence per ton be made on the rates in force on the Napier-Taranaki line. The Premier said the railway revenue was falling and gave but little hope of the request being granted. One of the first New Zealand-born settlers in the Wellington district has just passed away — Mr John Whitehousc, of Porirua, aged 50 years. The parents of the deceased arrived in Wellington on 22nd May, 1841, landing at Pipitea Point. Shortly after arrival they went to reside j on a farm situated on the | old Porirua road, near the Half-way House, at which place Mr John Whitehouse was born in 1845. It is somewhat surprising to find Stipendiary Magistrates in various parts of tho colony receiving informations for ( criminal libel and proceeding to hear j evidence upon them. So far as we can perceive, there is no such offence now known to the law of New Zealand. The Criminal Code does not provide for or recognise it, and by the Code no offender can be prosecuted for any crime or misdemeanour at common law or otherwise than under the Code, unless there is somo special statute providing for the offence, which is not the case with criminal libel. It is important that this question should be authoritivcly cleared up. — Post. According to reports in Home papers, the autumn outlook in England was not of a very cheerful character. Most of the country north of the river Thames was parched up. While iv Cornwall pasturage was fairly good, in Devon grass lands were badly scorched. In Hants and Surrey appearances were worse than they were two years ago, when they were bad enough. Parts of Berks were in a deplorable state, and an Oxfordshire farmer had said that the season was the worst be could remember. On the Cotswold Hills matters were very bad ; but further north the outlook was rather fetter. The Wairarapa Star, a strongly Liberal journal, writes* - Ministers have themselves to blame for their posjtjpn. They have pampered up the Trades iJnionsj and the Labour organisations in the ooJony to such an extent that they have lost their independence and tbeir self-control. They have done too much pandering. Let them return to the lines laid down by the Hon. J. Ballance. Let them cut them selves adrift from the Trades Unions and legislate for the general weal. Then will they find that they are held in higher esteeuj fey MWf: bf? 3 ? friends and hy all eeetipn? o# l&e coiam^mt^