Local and General News.

Feilding Star, Volume XVII, Issue 223, 24 March 1896, Page 2

Local and General News.

Additions are made to the entries for Mr Charles Carr's sale at Rangiwahia. Captain Edwin wired at noon to-day : N.E. to E. gale, with rain, and glass falling. Additions are made to-day to the entries for Messrs Abraham aud Williams' sale at Palmerston North. The annual meeting of shareholders in the Campbelltown Dairy Company ! will be held to-morrow evening. Two rams and two ewes are advertised as having gone astray. Finder will oblige by returning to A. "Wilson and Co. The Hey L. M. Isitt (says the Wairarapa Times) is expected to arrive in New Zealand on June 18th. The new bridge across tbe Kiwitea stream on Kimbolton road will be officially opened to-morrow afternoon at 3 o'clock. The members of the Feilding Fire Brigade will meet this evening ab tbe private residence of the Captain, Mr P. Thomson. The annual meeting of the Red Star Football Club will take place in J. Noble's shop to-morrow evening, at 8 o'clock. Complaints are made thafc portable machines are driven along the roads in the district at night, without being provided with proper lights. A meeting will be held in the Druid's Hall, Birmingham, on Saturday next, to discuss the advisableness of forming* a Rifle Club in that settlement. To-day Mr Hills, of Longridge Farm, on the Feilding-Ashurst road, sent ns in several bunches of grapes of the Black Harnbury variety— grown in the open. They are rich and of full flavor. The calls to fares in London last year numbered 3633, being 573 more than in 1894. The damage was serious iv 142 instances. In all 911 i yes were lost. The water used to extinguish the fires, was 23,000,000 gallons, or nearly 103,000 tons. To enable workmen, wbo may be doubtful of obtaining their wages when working on contracts, tr. take advantage of the provisions of the Workmen's Lien Act without the expense of employing legal advice, printed forms have been issued to the police, and will be supplied to anyone making application who may wish to take advantage ol the Act. — Standard. A London correspondent writes : — New Zealand flax is looking up, and 211 bales were sold nt sales. Prices ranged as follows :—Fine Auckland, Ll7 ; fair Wellington Lls 10s ; good Lyttelton Ll6 — common Lls. Messrs W. Weddel and Co. tell me that the present stock of flax in London amounts only to 2050 tons. Last year at this time the stock was larger by 25 per cent. " Old Homy " once visited a newspaper office in Glasgow. He found he had no clients there who required any very special attention, so the sub-editor told him quietly to " clear out." His Majesty with subservient politeness said, " Well, I suppose you'll give me a local anyway." The trail of the serpent is over "us " all. This is the local. One of the curious revelations of fche recent British census is the extraordinary preponderance of the female over the male sex among the grown inhabitants of Eng land. Tbe figures show that the excess oi the former over the latter amounts to exactly 899,000. Another remarkable thine in connection with this excess of women is the fact that more than five-sixths of tht total number are widows. The annual congregational meeting oi the Feilding Presbyterian Church takes place this evening. To-morrow ihe annual tea meeting will be held in the Vol unteer Hall, and, given fine weather there is sure to be a large attendance, as there always is at these annual gather ings of the congregation. The after pub lie meeting will be addressed by the Re-* 1 Mr Paterson, of Wellington, and othei visiting ministers, and a first-class musi ! cal programme will be gone through. Apropos of the medal to be awarded tc i persons " who have saved life or at i tempted to save human life," etc., we know one man in Feilding has " sworr off." Many years ago he saved a little brother and a few sisters from drowning in a bay near Wellington, and when he and the "little brother " bad grown ut to manhood the amiable " little brother ' and the saviour met. The former said " If 1 was only able I'd punch your confounded head. Look what a lot ol trouble I've had— all through you." According to a new parliamentary return England has 52 battleships, either readj or approaching completion ; France has 34 ; Germany, 26 ; Russia, 17 ; Italy, 15 ; the United States 8 (building) ; Austria, 8 ; Spain, 2. As regards defence ships, other than battleships, England has 328, France, 127, and all the other countries mentioned have less than 100 each. The aggregate tonnage of our mercantile marine is shown to be over 13,000,000, while Germany only has 1,880,000, France, only has 1,094,000, and all the others have less than 1,000,000. General Joubert, the Boer Command-er-in-Chief, is accompanied on all his expeditions by his wife, a thing which may sound very strange to Europeans ; bnt it is not so at all to Boers. The Boer l women take part in all fighting as well as the men. Every encampment is arranged as a wageon fort. If an attack took place the men stood on the top of the waggons and fired at the enemy. Behind each Boer stood his wife and loaded the second rifle or disabled with an axe the Kaffir who tried to creep under the waggon. Other women cast bullets, bandaged the wounded, or protected the children, who were in the middle of the fort. There bas been a very general impres* sion that— to use a conventional expres* sion, Capt. Russell has hardly ' go enough ' for tbe leader of the Opposition in the present House of representatives. It doesnot do to right with kid gloves on with men who habitually use bludgeons and knuckledusters. The address of the honorable gentleman to his constituents at Hastings on Monday evening marks a new departure, in that he spoke with great force and in* cieion, by no means mincing his words, and hitting straight out from the shoulder. Confidence in victory does much to ensure success, and has certainly some grounds for the prediction that the days ot misrule will not be much further lengthened.— Dunedin evening Star. Yesterday Mrs and Mr Lowes, of Birmingham, left for Wellington en route for Home. Their many friends in thie and the Wairarapa districts will wish them a pleasant trip. Mr and Mrs Lowes bave been useful and energetic settlers, true colonists of .the very best type. Wherever Mr Lowes commenced business be was always enterprising, and devoted the whole of his energies to making the place prosperous in which he was domiciled. Notably in Birmingham was this the case, for few will question that without Mr Lowes, that town would not fy§ so far advanced as it now is. The cause ot the Wesleyan Church, of which religious body jbe was an active member received much help fccjin Mir Lowes and ; the members of his family. We believe ,!that Mr and Mrs Lowes have been for tbirty^four years in the colony, during which .period they have not only made hosts of friends, but have done an infinity of good to sorts and conditions of men wheu opportunity offered, promptly and without the slightest ostentation. They intend to stay for some/time .in ( the north of England where they ha(ve relations and friends.