LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hastings Standard, Issue 511, 28 December 1897, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Omahu notes appear upon our fourth page to day. Owing to pressure on our space Volunteer noies and other matter is unavoidably held over. Mr C. D. Barraud, a well-known and esteemed citizen of Wellington, has died from influenza. The Bev. Dr Hosking, of Hastings, has gone on a visit to the King Country. Mr Anderson, headmaster of the B&l----lance school, an erstwhile Hawke's Bay resident, has been 911 a few days' visit to Sitings,

A- Wellington telegram says that the 'remier leaves for the West Coast to- i ight, __ , ' The train arrangements for New Year s )ay are published to-day. A number of Hastings residents spent heir Christmas in tlie hayfields. j The passenger sheds at the Northcote ,'harf, Auckland, have been destroyed by ire. ( A qualified man is to be sent to Tara;aki to investigate the alleged outbreak of überculosis. { There is a great scarcity of domestic ( ervants throughout the colony at the £ iresent time. A company is proposed in the Rangitikei ] listrict to construct a railway from Chel- ] enliam to Birmingham. 1 Despite the severe drought experienced, 1 here promises to be a very good crop of 1 lotatoes in the Hastings district this year. The staff of the Pahiatua Herald has J ent- us a very neat Christmas card. We vish the Herald and its staff all sorts of uck. The New Plymouth Farmers' Club is mxious that Vaile's system of stage railvays should be given a trial in New Zeaand. j A whirlwind that streaked through the < repapakuku block, Dannevirke, the other ivening, carried logs of all sizes into the lir, and tore out a number of large roots, j Mr T. Faris, acting-traffic manager at ] Napier, will be transferred to Wellington 1 it an early date, as the entire traffic will 3e directed from Wellington for the future. The Plumpton Park sports, which were ■ ;o have been held yesterday, were, on ; iccount of the weather, postponed until ; New Year's Day. We have received from Mr J. Bennett, the Hastings agent of the North British aid Mercantile Insurance Company, a very serviceable calendar for 1898. The parents and children of the Wesleyan Church are requested to meet at the Oddfellows' Hall this evening at 6.80 for the purpose of holding a social. v - Eastern news reports that a body of 1000 bandits raided the Haifong district, China, sacked tne town, and killed 24 men, 21 women, and four children. The horse fiend has resumed his depredations in the neighborhood of Christchurch, a hack entire named Zulu having been stabbed to death. At the Wanganui Cycling Sports yesterday the following won the principal events: —Grand Cycle, : Barker (Christchurch) ; Five Mile W. Tiernev (Auckland) ; Firstclass Scratch Race : Barker. Barker won the points prize. The festive season proved too much for one man in Hastings, and he sought refuge at the Government boarding-house. This morning Mr Beilby, J.P., estreated his bail, as he did not appear. A bush fire in the Mangatoro Valley destroyed all the trout in the river for several miles down the provincial boundary. Thousands of dead fish were seen lying in every pool in the river. Waimate must be a small boys' paradise. The other day no less than 113 scholars weie absent from the local school in one day, all of them being engaged in the work of picking strawberries. The weather experienced in Hastings for the holidays was particularly warm. On Christmas Day and Boxing Day the weather was quite oppressive. A shower of rain fell in the afternoon of Christmas Day. It is satisfactory to learn that the notice of the Marlborough Laud Board to the Assets Realisation Board to unstock the Clarence run has had the effect of making them pay up their last year's rent —one of the last to be paid. Owners of sheep on the Hastings flats are complaining bitterly of the destruction wrought amongst their lambs by mongrels during the past few weeks. One gentleman found two poor creatures in his paddock with their sides literally torn out, showing their entrails protruding. In many cases the crops in South Canterbury look as if a fire had passed over them, and some oats are reported to be forming heads only three inches from the ground. The soil is thoroughly parched, and pastures are fast becoming as brown as in late summer. The making of false teeth must be a very important industry in the United States, for no less than four million of false teeth are manufactured there annually. It is calculated that the dentists packed away about one ton of gold and three of silver in the stopping of teeth. Some of the heads, under the circumstances, would doubtless be worth more dead than alive. The streets of Hastings on Christmas Eve bore a very animated appearance, and business appeared to be fairly brisk. The limelight views shown by Mr Charlton from the balcony of his hotel drew a very large crowd. The genial Captain of the Army took advantage of the occasion to catch the sinking soul and floating shilling, and Avas particularly successful in the latter particular, for at 9.30 he only wanted another fourpenee to make ten shillings. And the practical work of the deserves support. Pleasure-saekers were particularly unfortunate in having such a wet day as that of Monday. The morning was threatening, but rain did not commence to fall until picnickers and others had reached the scenes of their festivities. The annual congregational gatherings of the Presbyterian and Wegleyan churches were held at Mount Erin, the attendance being very large. The spot chosen is one of natural beauty, and if the day had been as hot as the two preceding ones, the shelter afforded by the spreading trees would have proved very acceptable. The heavy rain which came on about eleven o'clock stopped all outside amusements, and all and sundry adjourned to a large woolshed, which was kindly placed at their disposal, The children were there provided with refreshments, and amusements on a small scale indulged in. The monotony of close confinement, however, was too much for some of the elder lasses, and they, with their " boys," ventured a game of " drop-the-handkerchief," interspersed with an occasional About ton minutes of this was quite sufficient to wash'' all the starch ont of their summer dresses, and to give their dainty white shoes a piebald appearance. They very quickly returned, fully convinced that Siere was ■' no plage like the wool-shed after all. However, the best was made fif things that might have been worse, and •wh'lst the children scampered over th* sheep-pens and discussed c "■* '>b the others sat on bags of cl f T e." an felt sorrowful. About a dozen drag of people vhc had gone out AitS. ligta hearts and light 'clothes, le d <> out 3 o'clock with heavy elotl c ,it rowful hearts. The little or! <• r* to be pitied, for the outing U i >n v have so long looked forward completely spoilt. In tha evemnj. i A | held in the Oddfellows' I** i 3 - '• pleasant time of music, mirtl .uv. -loc; I yyas spent, f

The champion yacht raceat the Dunedin regatta yesterday, was won by the Themla, not Leader, the latter being unplaced.

A party of Wellington cyclists passed through Hastings on Christmas Day for Napier. They returned on Monday morning.

The Salvationists of Hastings were out in strong force on Christmas eve and Christmas Day. An idiotic individual performed upon a siren in Napier on Christmas Eve, much to the disgust of parents who had gone out to see the sights, leaving their offspring behind them.

A boy, seventeen years of age, named Martin, has been sentenced to death at Perth for poisoning his sister. He administered arsenic in a cordial to several persons, and his sister died. The motive was jealousy. We hear that Mr Luckie, Secretary of the H.B. Racing Club, has drawn a good horse in Tattersall's sweep on the Carring - ton Stakes. The first prize is worth £SOOO.

The weather in Hastings on Monday was the very reverse to that experienced for the three days previous, being cold and wet. On Sunday the thermometer reached nearly 90 in the shade and on Monday it was as low as 60.

An alarm of fire was sounded upon the Hastings fire bell this afternoon. The cause of the alarm was a fire at the residence of Mr M. Barry, which was extinguished in its incipiency. The Fire Brigade turned out promptly.

We hear that a very plucky action was performed at the picnic at Mount Erin yesterday, when a young man dived into a deep hole in the river and rescued a drowning child. We were unable to ascertain his name, but deeds of this character should certainly be recorded.

A young man named William Goldsmith was arrested in Hastings to-day by Constable Potter on a charge of indecently assaulting a child seven years of age. The offence is alleged to have been committed last week. The accused will be brought before the Court to-morrow morning.