LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hastings Standard, Issue 121, 15 September 1896, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A grtaxing paddock for three horses is advertised for. Inspector Emerson arrived in town last night in order to conduct his annual inspection of the local police department. "lolanthe" rehearsal at the Princess Theatre to-night. Ladies and gentlemen wishing to assist in the orchestra are requested to interview the conductor. There was a large attendance at the Olivette Assembly last evening. Next Monday will conclude the series, when a late night will take the form of a cap-and-apron dance. A great number have promised to be present at the winding-up of a very sociable assembly. To-tnorrow afternoon the Colombia Bink will not be available for skating purposes owing to the presence of workmen in the theatre. At night, however, the management announces in another column that rinking will be resumed as usual. The County road overseer has reported in the case of the disgraceful state of the Havelock road outside of the Hastings borough boundary, and has evidently tried to put the blame upon the householders. As Mr R. Tucker is the only person whose drain there runs into the main channel he naturally objects to the overseer not going to the eause of the overflow, which, Mr Tucker maintains, is the blocking of the pipes near the river. If these were kept clear there would be no trouble whatever. If the present condition of things is allowed to continue the County Council will be threatened with further law proceedings.

Another social in connection with the Catholic Church will be held on the 12th October.

A benefit social will be tendered the widow and family of the late R. M'Clelland, in the Princess Theatre on the 24th September. Mr T. Townsend has been appointed secretary of the affair, and supported by a strong committee everything will be done to make the affair a financial success.

While a young man named Wall was driving a cart along Eastbourne street this morning the ground suddenly caved in, and the vehicle sank up to the axles. The driver was thrown out, but fortunately escaped with a shaking; but the shafts of the cart were broken. At least half a dozen similar accidents have been reported within the past few days. At 4.50 this morning what might have developed into a serious fire was discovered and promptly extinguished by Mr Joll, night watchman. Attracted by a glare of light from the stables in the rear of Mr Caulton's hotel he entered and found a tin candlestick, which was nailed against the wall and full of grease, in flames. The bottom of the candlestick had been burnt away and the wall had already caught fire, the sparks falling thickly on to the straw. These promising materials for a splendid blaze were speedily dealt with by Mr Joll, who snatched a sack and put an end to the flames. It appears the stableman had just previously taken out a horse which had occupied the stable for its morning exercise. There are likely to be seventeen candidates for the Cbristchurch seats at the coming election. The deaths from alcoholism in Sweden amount to ninety per thousand. This is the highest rate in the world, says the Medical Record. Mr S. Gibbons, of Marton, proprietor of the White Hart Hotel, is lighting the hotel with electricity, and lias imported the necessary plant for that purpose. Miss Annis Montague (Mrs Charles Turner), of opera fame, has a lovely home in Honolulu, built for her bv her brother, Mr J. Cooke. A young couple were recently married in Maine. Now a brother of the groom is to marry the niother of his brother's wife, one brother thus becoming the father-in-law of the other.

"In my 12 years' travels over the world," says M. Ovide Musin, the famous violinst, to a Sydney interviewer, " the prettiest country I have seen, and the one that impressed me most, was New Zealand."

Great indignation has been occasioned in Patea over a case of wanton cruelty to a horse, which was ridden unshod over a stony road until its hoofs were literally torn off, leaving them sore and bleeding. The unfortunate animal was then left to die in misery. A Wellington young lady, in her anxiety to annex a husband, says she attended forty-five dances this winter, and did not catch a life partner, but per contra caught boneliitis five times, pleurisy twice, and fifteen colds in the head.

At on inquest on Woodlands, Otag;o, on the body of a man named Charles Clare, who had died after drinking very heavily, the jury returned a verdict that deceased met his death from natural causes, accelerated by his own act in taking an overdose of whisky, and that 110 blame attached to anyone else.

The Wanganui Chronicle " special" says that the latest rumor as to the probable terms of the report of the Copyright Telegrams Committee, is to the effect that it will give the Press Association the option of either reducing the amount of its charges as entrance fees, or the copyright protection to its telegrams will be withdrawn.

The Cromwell Argus says : —" As showing the benefits to be derived from a well conducted friendly society, we are given to understand that the annual interest upon the surplus funds of the local Oddfellows' Lodge is sufficient in itself to pay for an insurance of J6IOO on each life of all its number, if the society cared to so devote it. This in addition to all the other ordinary benefits of the society."

The Licensed Victuallers' Association of Taranaki has passed a resolution in regard to the Alcoholic Liquors Sale Control Act to the effect that the Bill is most drastic in its measures and detrimental to all owners of hotel property and those in any way interested in the trade, involving as it does the risk of losing thousands of pounds personally to individuals without compensation, and that Ministers be earnestly requested to reconsider the matter. Amongst the applicants for relief at the meeting of the Benevolent Trustees at Wellington on Tuesday, was a widow who stated that she and her eldest daughter were so poor that they had only one dress between them, and that when one went out to look for work the other was compelled to stay at home. The Trustees gave instructions that rations and 5s per week should be supplied, and that the daughter should be provided with a new dress.

The ' sensitive cell' is a new device to enable the police to overhear by telephone the conversation between prisoners in the cells. By it every word said by one prisoner to another can be heard by official listeners in a near by room. In this way important clues may be found. The general manager of a telephone company said that the new telephone could be used in cells without the knowledge of prisoners.

A bicycle saddle with a rest for the back is one of the latest patents of a manufacturer of bicycle fittings. The advantages claimed for this saddle are that the back rest may be fastened to remam in a certain position, but it will automatically collapse as soon as the rider rises from the saddle. Thus it will not be in the way if the rider wishes to dismount backward from the saddle. Hygienically the back rest is a great improvement upon saddles for the bicycle. The Dunedin Times of Friday last states: An accident of an unusual character happened shortly after midday yesterday at the tongue wharf. One of the New Zealand Express Company's expresses, driven by a man named "West, took a load of luggage down to the wharf for the purpose of putting it on board the Te Anau, lying at the wharf. In some unaccountable manner the express was backed over the edge of the wharf, and the horse, express, and luggage disappeared under the surface of the water. The affair caused considerable excitement, and it was only after a lapse of some time that the dead body of the animal was taken out—still attached to the ex-press. The luggage, it is understood, has not yet been recovered, and, as it belonged to passengers leaving by the steamer in the afternoon, their position would be spmewhat awkward.

Stop that Cough fcy 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.—Ad yt,

Objection is being raised by Taranaki settlers to the proposal of the Taranaki County Council to reimpose a wheel tax. Major Ropata Wahawaha, N.Z.C., is reported to be so ill that it is very unlikely that lie will ever again take his seat in the Legislative Council. The Moriori natives are dying off in the Chatham Islands. In 1891 there were forty alive there; now there are only twenty. The railway refreshment rooms at Hawera are in course of construction, and are expected to prove a great convenience to the travelling public. A large bacon-curing factory, with up-to-date machinery and appliances, is about to be erected at Fitzroy, a suburb of New Plymouth. It is stated that a Clareville resident has been lucky enough to draw two prizes in Tattersalf s sweep on the Spring Handicap. A South Island paper states that the price of mutton for refrigerating is as high in Burn side as Belfast or Addington, but owing to the lack of competition in sheepskins the Canterbury market is much stronger than Oiago. The last Gazette contains the offer of the Government 011 terms recently stated by the Premier in the House, to purchase 50,000 tons of iron of good quality for railway and bridge construction at the rate of 4500 tons a year, including steel rails, if manufactured in the colony. Bazaars are doomed in Wellington. The shopkeepers are rebelling against being levied on for contributions to bazaars, &e., and at a meeting of the Traders' Association resolutions were passed pledging those present to discontinue the practice of giving goods, and take means to secure the co-operation of all tradesmen. • The New Zealand Herald says : —A newspaper man went into a Queensland church on a recent Sunday, and had hardly bestowed his hat under the seat and got off his customary little prayer, when some one touched him on the shoulder, and whispered in his ear, " Is the result of the cricket through yet ?" A Nelson mother was scrubbing underneath a bed a day or two ago, when she heard a thud, and on withdrawing herself from underneath the bed to ascertain the cause, was just in time to save the life of her seven-months-old baby, which had fallen head foremost into the bucket of water. The following extraordinary jumble appears in the Waikato Argus. Evidently the reporter lias been wandering" All Saturday the Hawke's Bay police and warders were searching for the escaped prisoner Anderson. Constable Kelly, who went in the direction of Havelock, tracked boot prints which were visible occasionally, the wearer having walked in the water where he could."—This item will be news to the local officials, but someone has evidently been playing with the newspaper man. MrE. M. Smith is stated to have told a representative of the Hawera Morning Post that he might have to start for London in the course of a few weeks, to push on the flotation of the New Zealand Steel and Iron Company. Those interested in the Mokau Jones enterprise and the Parapara ironworks were trying to "euchre" the company, and he had fully made up his mind to go back again, even if he had to leave his election in the hands of his constituents.

At an anti - Prohibition meeting at Oamaru recently, in reply to Mr Alex. Nicol, who is an extreme Prohibitionist, Mr Mortimer Davie, Qf Christchurch, " scored." Mr Davie said that the last balance-sheet of the Government Life Assurance showed a loss of £2,000 on th*e temperance section. They found that the " temperance " assurers were dying more rapidly than the actuarial calculations had led them to expect, and this section was merged in the general section to sustain an average.

Says the "Wairoa Guardian of Saturday : " Quite a cavalcade of Maoris from all parts of the district crossed the Wairoa bridge yesterday morning to attend the tangis in connection with the death of Toha Baliu Bahu. There were four buggies at the head of the procession, the rest of the natives to the number of 150 or so marching three deep, all mounted. There are now fully 500 natives assembled at the Heads. It was not decided yesterday when or where the interment is to take place. The Mataura Ensign states that a rabbiter who was fortunate enough to come into a third share of a fortune of X' 45,000 gladdened the hearts of several local tradespeople with the extensiveness of the purchases he made. He was escorted round the town by several persons who were anxious to participate in the discussion of a few of the crumbs of his great wealth, and it was not without feelings akin to regret that they saw the welcome and unusual visitor depart by the express. By the merry pace which the luck rabbiter made even while in Gore it was evident that an old proverb relating to a certain person and his money would be again verified before very long. Under the Shops and Shop-Assistants Act fruiterers are exempt from the obligation to close on the weekly half-holiday. Some of the fruiterers have (says the Otago Daily Times) been in the habit of selling flowers, plants, &c , in addition to their ordinary stock, and these have been notified that unless they desist from selling flowers they will have to observe the weekly half -holiday with other shopkeepers who are not exempt. This step has been rendered necessary by the complaints of florists and others who are compelled to close. Some of the fruiterers who sell flowers, plants, &c., have divided their shops by a permanent partition, and on the half-holiday close up that portion where these are exposed for sale. Those who have been selling flowers and plants without having their shops partitioned off for this purpose have agreed not to continue the practice at all rather than be obliged to keep the half-holiday or divide their shops; and so the matter has been settled.

Beautiful New Zealand! The land overflowing with the buttermilk and applesauce of prosperity—produces anything and everything, such as petticoat government, unemployed, and coughs and colds veritably; but that's not a drawback, they can be cured in every form by taking Woods' Great Pepperment Cure. —Advt. Wellington warehouse prices are in every instance charged by the D. I. C. when executing orders received by post. Those of our residents who want really nice fashionable goods need not hesitate about communicating with the D. I. C., Wellington. Complete furnishing is now a special feature of the D. I. C., and those who anticipate requirements in this direction will be supplied with catalogues and estimates post free.—^dvt. Neil's Celebrated Livf.e Toxic, a pure botanic remedy' for all affections of the liver, biliousness, jaundice, yellowness of the skin, indigestion, &c. Ju bottles, 2s and 2a 6d, at Neil's Botanic Dispensary, Jlmerson street, Napier, and all leading stor«fceej>ers,—Aovx,

'• Forty-eight hours without, the option of a fine " is the way the Christchurch S.M- puts a stop to larrikinism at public entertainments.

" Not quite ruined yet," said a Blenheim farmer after the recent flood. " Three times I have sown my land with seed this season, but I will do it again."

The Taieri Advocate learns on what should be good authority that a Chinese furniture factory will shortly be established in Dunedin.

Mr J. C. Boddington, of Brentwood, Masterton, purchased a cow reee ith On Friday morning he discovered, t ~> J |< Oui prise, that the cow had given ®Ti m f three heifer calves—two alive u 1 one dead.

F. Hunt, the Marton cyclist, leaves this month for Australia on a trip, and also with the intention of competing in cycling events. Probably (says the Mercury) he will be a competitor in the Austral Wheel Race of JS3OO.

On July 12th a revolting outrage was discovered at the Cloghane burial ground, near Dingle, County Kerry. On the arrival of a funeral the people were shocked on seeing four graves dug up, the coffins strewed about, and exposed to the weather. The police are investigating the affair.

A too ingenious farmer in the manufacture of scarecrows is described by the North British Agriculturist as having got into trouble over an elaborate performance set up in one of his fields. This scarecrow had a big pistol charged with gunpowder embedded in it, and to the pistol strings were attached, the intention being for the birds to trample on the strings and so discharge the battery. A curious stranger, on examining the affair, set it off, and received such a shattering that he is not expected to recover. The owner of the scarecrow is being prosecuted.

So mucli nonsense is said and written about the drink question that it is refreshing to come across such a common-sense article as that on " The Economics of the Tempeance Movement," by Mr J. A. Hobson, in the Commonwealth. Mr Hobson, while not denying the magnitude of the "drink evil," or the uses of social reforms directed specifically to its remedy, says truly that the unscientific analysis of the social problem by various writers and the strained use of statistics have done much to retard the true and reasonable progress of the temperance cause. He mentions that Mr Charles Booth in his analysis of a large number of cases of poverty in London reached the conclusion that whereas drink and other personal vice were directly responsible for the poverty of 14 per cent, among the " ver,y poor," and 13 per cent, among " the poor" whom he investigated, industrial causes, such as questions of employment, were directly responsible for 55 per cent, and 68 per cent, respectively. In "Whitechapel, one of the poorest districts, he found drink accountable only for the poverty of 4 per cent, of the very poor, and 1 per cent, of the poor.