LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hastings Standard, Issue 78, 27 July 1896, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Hastings Brass Band are sending their instruments to Christchurch this week to be renovated and tuned. The gap in the railway line at Ivopua viaduct again delayed the express train an hour on Saturday. The Columbia skating rink was well patronised on Saturday night. The floor of the Princess Theatre is well suited for the pastime. The half-yearly examination of the State school pupils by Inspector Hill will commence to-morrow, after which the midwinter holidays will be given. The new gravel pit leased by the Council has been opened, and the quality of the metal should prove vastly superior to that lately distributed on the streets. The street crossings have been in a disgraceful state since Thursday last, and pedestrians are anxiously inquiring as to when a start will be made with the proposed block-paving. A restaurant on a superior scale is about to be opened in the new building adjoining the Post Office. Mr George Pinnock, the proprietor, has had a good deal of experience of how such a business should be run, and has beside the ordinary dining-rooms provided has a ladies' private room, where meals and afternoon tea will be served. Under the name of " The Troeadero" it will be much after the style of that institution in the Empire City, and late suppers will be a special feature. On Saturday next the new premises will be open to the public, and the enterprising proprietor should have no cause to regret coming to Hastings. Notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather on Saturday night, a splendid crowd gathered in the vicinity of the firebell, the attraction being a special musical meeting conducted by the Salvation Army. Captain and Mrs Dixon, from Waipawa, were in command, and they were ably assisted by Lieutenants Burton, Stirling, and Proctor, also Captain Sands and the local officers. The programme included solos, duets, and choruses, which were rendered in real Army style. Special mention might be made of the singing of Lieutenant Stirling (half-caste), who left by the 9 o'clock train for Napier on her way to special meetings at Gisborne. Her singing was much admired, and the Maoris present were delighted when she sang several songs in their own language. The public showed their appreciation by responding liberally to the collection. The meetings all day yesterday were crowded, and at night a number were unable to gain admittance. To-night, at half past six, a tea-meeting will take place at the barracks, after which anHosanna meeting will be held. A large contingent of friends and soldiers, including Ensign Harrison, are expected from Napier. As the whole series of meetings are for the purpose of raising funds to procure a horse and trap to enable the officers to get around Hastings and district, doubtless there will be a numerous attendance at the final meetings to-night. i

The sugar-beet industry is being started at Waikato. Hie wrestling match between Hall and BrightweU haa been postponed until Thursday, 80th inst. The football match, Clive v. Harriers, played at Havelock on Saturday, resulted after a good game in a win for the former by 11 points to nil. A Social to members of the H. B. Highland Society will be given in Napier on Friday, August 7. A notification to Hastings and district members appears elsewhere. The Poukawa case in the Native Land Court is expected to last a considerable time. There are a large number of litigants concerned, and great difficulty has been experienced in getting the case into a'concrete form. Owing to the weather the Kinetoseope will not be taken South until to-morrow, which gives another opportunity for Hastings people to view the modern wonder. The show will be on exhibition this evening. This afternoon the members of the Salvation Army visited the phonograph and sang one of their hymns, which was " taken " in a manner that should prove an effective record, and one that will be greatly enquired for. A few days ago our Omahu correspondent called attention to the havoc played by dogs amongst the flocks of that district. To-day we learn that on Saturday and Sunday packs of mongrels visited the flocks of Captain Hill and Messrs M'Lean and Donnelly, and that numbers of sheep were slaughtered. From all round the districts come complaints oil the same subjeet, anjl something should be done to mitigate the evil. If it is the duty of the police to shoot all unregistered dogs, flock-owners should receive the consideration they deserve, and everything possible should be done to extirpate the very large number of hungry mongrels that are playing havoc with the sheep. The loss in some cases has been considerable, and no time should be lost in ridding the district of a destructive pack of mongrels to which no mercy should be shown. Perhaps those responsible for the existing state of things will organise a campaign against a serious enemy to our stationowners. A Victorian farmer records a potato crop of 25 tons to the acre. Special prizes to the amount of £337 have been promised to the Manawatu A. and P. Association. Cattle-stealing is going on in the Pahiatua district. Mr Mowbray had 35 calves stolen. A loiterer arrested by the police in Melbourne for begging after dark, was found, when taken to the watchhouse, to have 11 watches in his pockets, besides pawn tickets for a quantity of jewellery. He gave the name of John M'Donald, and is supposed to be a recently discharged Sydney criminal, who has brought the stock found on him to Melbourne from that city. As an illustration of the ravages of the rabbit in the far South, and the urgent necessity for proving some efficient exterminator, a gentleman who recently visited the Lakes district of Otago says there is a station on the Maroa river which some years ago carried some 42,0 CX) sheep, and on which no\ a single sheep is now depastured. There is another station in the neighborhood on which the annual output of wool has fallen from 900 to 200 bales. Says Friday's Wairarapa Standard: — The body of the unfortunate Native Nga-rongo-Mate, who has been missing since Thursday week, was found about five o'clock last night. From all appearance his canoe must have drifted across the river, and he stripped himself and swam across the river. The cold must have been so intense that he died immediately he reached the other side. He was lying straight out, face upwards, when found. His clothes were tied up in a neat bundle some distance away. | There is on view at an Auckland hotel | a wonderfully carved model of a Wakatana or Maori war canoe. It is says the Herald without doubt the finest sample of native caving seen in the colony. It has been carved by Patara te Tuhi, one of the chiefs of the Ngatimahuta tribe, and it has taken him six years to complete it. This model is a representation of the canoe called Tainui, the first that, according to Maori tradition, arrived in New Zealand about twenty-two generations ago. At the inquest on the native Joshua Whitua, who shot himself at Kaiapoi, the following evidence was given by the girl with whom he was in love : " Leah Soloman, who was much distressed, gave evidence that she last saw deceased on Friday morning at her father's house. He wished to take her with me, but she told him that her mother objected and that they must part. He wanted her to go with him to a registrar on the quiet. She said she would not go in opposition to her parents. He then said that she must, and that he would see the end of it. He then went out and brought back the presents and said ' Good-bye, darling"; this is the last time you will see me,' and he hoped that her life would be one of peace and happiness. Deceased had told her previously that as her parents would not let him have her, he would shoot himself. On the previous Wednesday, when he had some drink, he asked her to go with him. She said, ' I cannot go, but I love you all the same.' He then went away and came back with a gun. He took two cartridges and said, 'One for you and one for me.' Witness promised him that night she would run away with him, but her mother prevented her. Deceased whispered to that he would shoot himself, and that she would find a letter from him on the gate post. It told her that if she would not run away with him he would shoot himself." Neil's Compound Sarsaparilla. A household medicine for purifying the blood and toning up the system. In large bottles at 2s 6d at Neil's Dispensary, Emerson street, Napier, and all leading storekeepers.—Advt. Stop that Cough by taking Neil's Balm of Gilead, a positive cure for coughs, colds, chronic bronchitis, influenza, &c. In large bottles at 2s 6d, at Neil's Botanic Dispensary, Emerson street, Napier, and all leading storekeepers.—Advt. Neil's Celebrated Liver Tonic, a pure botanic remedy for all affections of the liver, biliousness, jaundice, yellowness of the skin, indigestion, &c. In bottles, 2s and 2s 6d, at Neil's Botanic Dispensary, Emerson street, Napier, and all leading storekeepers.—Advt . Neil's Corn Cure removes either hard or soft Corns. A few applications only necessary. Is per bottle at Neil's Dispensary, Emerson street, Napier, and all leading storekeepers.—Advt. " Drunkenness is not a sin—simply an | excess of conviviality," says a thirsty i philosopher. " Nothing like a good skinful of whisky for a bad cold.'' Don't you belve it, my friends, take that unfailing remedy, Woods' Great Peppermint Cure far one shiiiwg and fflxpeace.—ApYT,

At the Masterton Magistrates Court on Friday a man named Harry Cole was sentenced to fourteen days' hard labor for illtreating a horse. The Government are going to farm Pomahaka themselves. They are calling for tenders for ploughing 1200 acres of this land. Richmond, Nelson, said to be one of the smallest boroughs in the Empire, has a population of only 562. It rejoices in the luxury of a debt of .£3619, a protion of which is provided for by a sinking fund, a splendid water service which cost £4199, and a credit balance to its general account of nearly JEISO. The Cromwell Argus asserts that the interests of the country districts are suffering from the banking policy, and that all the accumulated wealth of the interior—or the major portion of it, at any rate—is being diverted from its legitimate sphere of investment and is being lent out in the large cities.