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Manawatu Herald, 5 August 1899, Page 2

Mr Pigott has a lot of timber at the Wirokino ferry which will be used in the erection of a building for the accommodation of the hands employed at the bridge. Even another parliamentary pleasantry ! " The Premier laughed with as much intelligence as was customary." The state of education in Russia may be judged from the fact that there is only one village school for every 12,000 persons. In answering a proposal to reduce the rate of interest on Local Bodies Loans, the Premier said the Government did not care about bringing down proposals under which they could raise these moneys for the local bodies, because there would be an outcry at once as to the increase of the national indebtedness. So long as these cries were used for political purposes, they were thereby causing the people who raised these loans to pay more in interest. Some complimentary remarks made by a member of parliament about members of parliament. " The interruption by the member for Riccarton was followed by the laugh of the honourable member for Palmerston the moment they knew they had made a mistake. The moment they knew he was getting home on them they tried to shield each other with a laugh, as was oftentimes heard in State buildings where people were confined."

The usual meeting of the Borough Council will be held on Monday evening. Hales, a London cyclist, has commenced the task of riding 100 miles daily, Sunday excepted for a year. The proportion of telegrams per head of population was 4.02, as compared with 3.72 the previous year. The diminishing birth rate is set down as one of the causes affecting the number of children entering school. There were 6736 miles of telegraph line and 18,747 miles of wire at the close of the year, an increase of 252 and 723 miles respectively. It is said that the peasant of the South of France spends on food for a family ot five an average of twopence a day. Ranjitsinhji has scored 2000 runs in first-class cricket during the present season. The percentage of boys in the public schools is about 51.9, and of girls 48.1 ; 51.7 per cent are below the age of ten ; 48.3 per cent are over the age of ten. In Messrs P. Hennessy & Co.'s advertisement attention is called to a large line of 1000 sacks of good feed oats. 'The Emperor of Germany's yacht Meteor won the Queen's Cup at the Cowes Regatta, defeating the Prince of Wales's yacht Brittania after giving her ten minutes' time allowance.* The second reading of the CaliMornian Thistle Bill was agreed to after a brief debate on Wednesday, and the committal of the measure fixed for August 23rd. 21 7>783 press telegrams, of the value of £10,140 14s 6d, were forwarded in 1898-99, as compared with 220,754, valued at £9207 18s 3d, forwarded in 1897-98. The following clipping from an American paper speaks for itself: — A Kansas farmer recently shot a dog by accident, and in showing the owner how it was done he shot him, and later, in showing the coroner how he shot the man, he shot the coroner. In bankruptcy at the Palmerston District Court on Wednesday evidence was given by W. Mardon, senior member of the firm, and his discharge was granted, without prejudice as regards the other members of the bankrupt firm, discharges for whom were not granted. Serious disturbances are being fomented in the Dominican Republic, and the commerce of the island is paralysed in consequence. The Brittania, the racing cutter, which won so much fame when owned by the Prince of Wales, was built in 1893 for his Royal Highness, and she secured over £10,000 worth of prizes, besides numbers of Queen's Cups. The Council of Evangelical Churches in Wellington has affirmed the principle of providing counter attractions to hotels by establishing public temperance clubs for the healthy social recreation of the masses. The Council has also asked the associated churches to instruct the members to strike out the top line at the coming local option poll. " Winnower " of the Hawera Star hears that the white grub is doing a deal of damage in certain parts of the district. In some places in the bush district the pasture is quite dead, and when kicked with the foot tufts of withered cocksfoot leave the surface without any resistance. Mr T. Redmond, of the Customs Department, Wellington wharf staff, has been promoted to the Greymouth office. The Emperor of Germany's yacht Meteor has won the £1000 prize at the Royal Yacht Squadron's regatta at Cowes. The Bona was second. A " ribbon fish " fifteen feet in length was thrown up on the New Plymouth beach recently. On the 31st December, 1898, there were 409 savings bank offices open, an increase of 363. The number of accounts remaining open was 469,968, or 167.812 more than in 1867, and the amounts! credit £4,957,771 5s sd, an increase of £4,886,573 us 4d. The Mail says several very fine frost fish have been picked up on the Otaki beach during the past week. Recently a Gisborne resident who was having a tank cleaned discovered in the water a new crisp bank note. The mystery is how did it get there, and the only supposition is that as a minah's nest was found in the gutters of the house, the valuable piece of paper must have been picked up by a bird and carried on to the roof, from whence it was washed into the tank by the rain. A somewhat significant question has been given notice of by Mr Carncross, who wanted to know whether the Government will this session introduce a measure extending the length of Parliament from three to four years. Leeches, when applied to persistent cigarette smokers, drop off dead, distinct traces of the dangerous oil given off by tobacco being found in them. Strangely enough, the same experiment tried upon excessive pipe-smokers resulted in no apparent injury to the leeches. Mr Walls, the representative of the Dresden Piano Company, announces that the special sale of pianos and organs will be continued until Saturday, the 12th instant, so that anyone desirous of purchasing ou the hire system, or y for cash, could not do better j than embrace this opportunity of securing a reliable instrument. Old age pensions have been in force in Denmark since 189 r. The conditions attached to a pension are th.at the recipient shall be sixty years of age, that poverty shall not be the result of misconduct or extravagance, that he or she shall never have been convicted of an offence, and shall not, during the previous ten years, have received himself from the public funds. The administration of old age pensions is kept distinct from that of pauper relief, and does not deprive the recipient of his personal freedom, or his electoral or other public rights. A very old settler in this district, Robert Wallbutton, passed away peacefully in his bed this morning.

Land keeps changing hands in Foxton. The house and land in Norbiton, owned by Mrs Sawyers, has been sold to Mr Morgan. Mr George Coley has lost little time since leasing what is known as the Cook's estate, in making permanent improvements. Besides grubbing up gorse fences he has now a large area ploughed fo'- oats. Mr Pringle, of Palmerston, has purchased those premises next to Walsh and Howan's, and will open directly in the saddlery business. Whyte's Hotel, so long the property of the Whyte family has, owing to the winding up of the estate, changed hands, Mr Arthur Stansell who has been the lessee, having now become the proprietor. The Public Petitions Committee has completed its investigation into the issue by the Government of a New Zealand Cross to Mr H. Wrigg, in connection with which there was such an outcry last year. It is un.cler&oqd that the committee will report that the medal should never have been Issued, which is adverse to the contention of Ministers. — Post. An excellent sale was effected of the 115 lambs sent home from the .Government farm at, Wanganoi -{writes the Post's London correspondent, under date 23rd June), the whole lot being disposed of at 6s iod per stone of Blb — nearly 6d per lb to Messrs Rose and Co., who make a specialty of New Zealand meat. They were the highest bidders. During 1898 the number of schools increased by 39 — from 1585 to 1624. The mean average number of scholars, in attendance, per school was 06.4., as against 69.7 in 1877. The New Zealand Farmers's Dairy Union, which operates through the Wairarapa, Forty-mile Bush, and Manawatu districts, has made a net profit of £3091 after writing off various amounts, £1520 is left for distribution, against £423 last year. The company this year handled 3,133,000 gallons of milk, nearly double the amount of 1896, and paid farmers £36,815. The gross profit from cheese and butter was £9555. against £7637. the previous year. An American blacksmith has given a new idea to the rich and fashionable that is gaining great popularity because of the impression of luxury it creates. He is equipping their horses with silver shoes. These kept, by the grooms and stablemen of the various country seats, in a^high state of polish flash, shimmer, and throw reflections in the sunlight as the horses canter or gallop along. The shoes are really of a very heavy silver plate, and they are four pound a set. Silver nails are used to fasten them on. The s.s. Kennedy will most probably arrive to-morrow with coal for Messrs P. Hennessy & Co., and begin discharging early on Monday morning. Coal customers should take advantage of getting this, coal from the ship's side» which we understand means a saving of close on six shillings a ton. F. Loveday announces in another column 'a great slaughtering sale to commence on Thursday, August 10th, when owing to unforseen circumstances, a large amount of money must be raised in a few weeks. To do this the goods have been reduced in many instances below cost, and this should ensure a speedy sale. Dress materials have been made a special line, as the stock is very heavy. The discounts range from 2s to 8s in the £. We are glad to report that Joe Tos has at last got his flaxmill engine safely housed at Wirokino. It came up by steamer last week but owing to the crane on the wharf being away it could not be got off the steamer and therefore was carried back to Wellington. The second try was successful and Messrs Kemp and Jupp's punt conveyed it to the mill site safely and promptly. Flax dressing will likely commence on Monday. MrE. Howe has the contract for turning out the dressed fibre. The Premier replying to a question whether the Government had considered the advisability of a reform in the Judicature which will include the appointment of Public Law Officers, said " As for the Government finding cheap law for the people in the large centres of population, he did not see why they should not have that boon — if boon it could be called— any more than the people in the sparsely settled districts. In the country districts he should think they would require this more than in the large centres, because in the large centres competition was very keen with the profession. The lawyers were masters of the situation. His own opinion was thai they were a necessary evil, and it was just as well to give them as wide a berth as possible."