The Kumara Times. Published Every Evening. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1884.

Kumara Times, Issue 2324, 8 February 1884, Page 2

The Kumara Times. Published Every Evening. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1884.

Woodyear’s Electric Circus arrived this afternoon, and will open in the Recreation Ground at 8 o’clock in the evening, when, in addition to extraordinary acrobatic feats by highly trained athletes, horses, and ponies, the electric light will be exhibited. Early application for tickets should be made, to avoid a crush. The attention of the Resident Magistrate’s Court was occupied most part of to-day with the hearing of an application for a protection order, made by Mrs M. Harrison, and the case of George Stewart v. George Simmons to recover £SO penalty for an alleged breach of the “ Municipal Corporations Act, 1876.” The protection order was not allowed; and in the other case, in which Mr Purkiss appeared for complainant and Mr Menteath for defendant, judgment was reserved. A large funeral took place on Wednesday afternoon at Stafford, the Times reports, when the remains of Wm. John Marsh was conveyed to the Stafford Cemetery. The young lad had been pupil teacher in the Stafford school for some time past, and was a general favorite not only with the scholars but throughout the district. The whole of the school children in Stafford and Waimea were present to pay their last mark of respect. With regard to the late coach accident at the Otira river, the Lyttelton Times states that all the rivers were in flood, and the coach in crossing this one got caught on some very heavy boulders, which threw the body clean off the under carriage. The passengers thereupon were left up to their middles in water, and were with some difficulty eventually got out. All were, however, landed safely. The coach was much knocked about, and two of the leaders, valuable horses, were drowned. Much praise is due to the driver, Mr Arthur Davis, for the plucky conduct exhibited by him, as it is no doubt due to the presence of mind on his part that the accident was not worse than it was, and that no lives were lost. Mr A. A. O’Donnell’s challenge to ride any bicyclist in the Colony in a match of three distances has been accepted by Mr Mackenzie, ex-chatnpion of the north of Scotland. The parties met at Wain’s Hotel, Dunedin, last Friday evening, and an agreement for a match of one, three, and five miles was drawn up. The stake s were fixed at £25 a-side, and a deposit of £lO was made by each rider. The match will probably take place about the Ist of March next. The desire to emulate Donald Dinnie has led to two or three accidents in the Waikouaiti district, according to the Palmerston Times. Two lads at Waikouaiti named Affleck and Fell, who had a wrestling bout, came out of it—one with a broken arm and the other with a broken collarbone; while a young man named Wise, working on Orbell’s run, who was also indulging in a wrestling encounter, had two of his ribs broken. Ostriches (says a Cape paper) are paying some farmers exceedingly well. A farmer on the Buffalo invested £6OO in birds a year ago, and has cleared £4OO from his feathers in the first year. The gale in Wellington last Tuesday week was of almost unprecedented violence. It was almost impossible when the gale was at its height to stand in the open street, and in one case a horse and cart were actually turned completely over.

Every squall that burst over the harbour lifed the water up in sheets. From the Oriental Bay side the city and surounding hills were over and over again completely hidden from view from the immense mass of spray that was carried up into the air. One curious mishap occurred opposite the new Post-office. Mr Berry, one of the contractors for the building, was passing along the front near the comer of Johnston street, when a section of the wooden hoarding was blown away by a fierce gust, and carried bodily across the quay roadway. Mr Berry happened to be carried with it, and was knocked violently against the water-tanks on the shore edge, being bruised rather awkwardly, though not disabled. But for these friendly watertanks he would have been knocked clear into the water, with the long length of hoarding on top of him. The weight of gold received for coinage at the Sydney branch of the Royal Mint since its establishment amounts to 13,633,504, in ounces, of the gross value of £51,943, 992. The value of gold coin and bullion issued is £51,920,812. There was last year an increase in the gold received for coinage of 73650 z.