LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hastings Standard, Issue 507, 21 December 1897, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Parliamentary news again appears upon our fourth page to-day. A telephone office has been opened at Turiroa, near Wairoa. Harvesting has already commenced on the Ruataniwha Plains, Hawke's Bay. The wife of Mr J. P. Maxwell, ex-Rail-way Commissioner, is dead. A married couple for Gisborne is advertised for through our columns.

The entertainment in connection with the Wesleyan Sunday School takes place to-night. A fire broke out on the steamer Weka at Oneliunga wharf on Monday morning. It was extinguished before much damage was done.

The tender of Mr H. H. Hunt, at £1 per annum, has been accepted for the bookstall at the Hastings railway station for the ensuing year. During the month of November there were 20 deaths from phthisis, seven from cancer, and one from tuberculosis in NewZealand.

Mrs Lynskey, wife of Mr Lynskey, a labourer at Mount Eden (Auckland), who left her home on the 22nd ult., lias been found dead in the busli.

The child Ivy Patterson, the victim of the fire at Archill on Saturday, has died from its injuries. Mrs Patterson is recovering.

Bush fires were raging yesterday at Woodville, and north of that place. The effects of the present drought are being very severely felt in the Bush districts.

The Government Insurance Recorder has just reached us. It is a journal full of interest to insurers, and should do good service to Department. Mr Wyfcert Reeve and his clever Cine-matographe-Lumiere Company arrived in Hastings to-day, and open in the Princess Theatre this evening. The Mangaweka Settler is agitating for a supply of Justices of the Peace for that rising township. Evidently there are not many Government supporters at Mangaweka.

The Marlborough Express says : —Mr J. M. Hutcheson, who is over 81 years of age, handled the bowls at the bowling green yesterday as skilfully and enthusiastically as anyone on the ground.

Some members of the Canterbury cricket team passed through Hastings [in last night's mail train, en route for Napier. Other members were expected to arrive by the Flora this morning. We again remind our readers of the entertainment and presentation of prizes in connection with the Sacred Heart school to be held this (Tuesday) evening. The gathering promises to be highly successful.

We understand that Mr Stubbs, J.P., of Stubbs, Paterson and Co., Hastings, intends retiring from the firm, and will probably leave the district in order to devote himself entirely to business interests which have developed in Petane. A return regarding the number of men appointed to the Permanent Artillery from 1880 to 1897 shows that 178 men residing in Wellington were appointed, 51 in Christchurch, 36 in Duaedin, and 30 in Auckland.

We understand that the delay in the North mail trains is caused principally at Woodville and I'ahiatua. We would respectfully suggest to the department that fifteen minutes earlier start from Napier would obviate the present delays. An elderly person who committed suicide in Melbourne last week left a note behind attributing his trouble to drink, to which he had been driven by three of his children perpetually " playing on a melodeon, vamping harp, and mouth organ respectively. A young horse driven by Mr Adam Mundell took fright in the main street of Hastings this afternoon and collided with a trap of Mr T. Hayes, which was standing in the street. The promptitude of a companion of Mr Mundell, who jumped out of the vehicle, averted any serious damage.

A Wellington telegram says:—The sheep rates collected during the year ended March last amounted to £1916 (/?). The annual cost of maintaining the Sheep Department is—Salaries of inspectors of stock £9451, veterinary surgeons £786, quarantine £2lo,total £10,457; the travelling expenses of inspectors are £2342, and for veterinary surgeons £446; the estimated expenses in connection with sheep returns, &c., eradicating diseases, laboratory work, quarantine offices and clerical is total

From the observation of a passer-by the Waipawa and Waipukurau districts are suffering much more than Hastings district from the exceptionally hot and dry weather just now being experienced. The telegraph wh-es between Wellington and Napier were interrupted last night. The cause was probably the bush fires at Woodville. The Hastings Lodge of Druids meets this evening in the Oddfellows' Hall. A gentleman who had looked upon the wine when it was " ready,' appeared before Sir Stubbs, J.P., in Hastings this morning, to explain matters. He was reprimanded and discharged. A number of visitors from the West Coast and the South Island came to Hastings by last night's mail train, some remaining and others passing through to Napier. We presume this is the first instalment of holiday seekers. Heavy rains have injured the wheat crops in the Argentine republic. The available export is not likely to exceed 8000 tons. According to a Christchurch doctor, who recently sought the protection of the Bankruptcy Court, the season in Christchurch for the medical fraternity has been a " ruinously healthy one," the place being overstocked with doctors. In the schedule of C. H. James, filed in insolvency, at Melbourne, the liabilities were set down at £851,00.0 and the assets at ,£532,000. The causes of failure are given as dishonored cheques and pressure by the banks, depreciation of investments, and losses on stock. Although the Hawke's Bay country is parched, and the rivers almost dry, it is surprising the number of springs and small creeks one meets in travelling through the district. To a person used to travelling in Australia such an abundance of cool running water appears almost miraculous when compared with a country where the weary wayfarer has to carry his day's supply with him.