Manawtu Harald. SATURDAY, SEPT. 30, 1899.

Manawatu Herald, 30 September 1899, Page 2

Manawtu Harald. SATURDAY, SEPT. 30, 1899.

Mr Andrew Jonson has been appointed a ranger under the Wellington Acclimatization Society. The New Zealand Railway advertise excursion fares on the date of the Napier races. On Thursday afternoon the s.s. Matara was repaired. We understand an inquiry is likely to be held as to the occurrence of her mishap. The s.s. Queen of the South which was detained here a day or two owing to the heavy sea on the bar got away on Thursday afternoon chock-a-block with flax. The Borough Council meets on Monday evening, when amongst other business the proposed by-law for compelling carts to have broad tyres, and the question ot appointing a fire inspector, will be discussed. The Foresters have arranged to hold a public social in the Victoria Hall on Tuesday evening. There will be progressive euchre, singing, and the Brass Band will give some items. The admission is only one shilling so that a good attendance should be recorded. We have seen the programme of music which is an excellent one and bound to draw, and it is a pity it has not been advertised. According to the Dunedin Star, a woman who applied for a prohibition order against her husbaud at the Dunedin Police Court, stated that she had been married for about 27 years, and during that time her husband had only been sober about eleven months. " Sir Jung Bahadur, the Prime Minister to the King of Nepaul, has a hat made of diamonds worth over £500,000 and perched on the top is a single ruby of incalculable value. A rifle of very small bore, invented by Captain Daudeteau, of the French Army, fires a bullet with such force that it will penetrate a horse from head to tail at a distance of a mile and a quarter. The Town Clerk (Mr J. Purnell) informed the Wanganui Borough Council that the Auditor- General had taken exception to the item of £116 in the balance-sheet, which had been voted to him as additional salary to pay the expenses in connection with the Governor's visit.— Herald. Last year 54 German beet-sugar refineries bandied 12,144,791 tons of sugar beet, producing 1,710,000 tons of refined sugar. Madame Melba, the prima donna, has written a touching letter to Madame Dreyfus, congratulating her on the pardon of her husband. Lucky for the patient. Dr Dick, an Eastbourne physician, tasted the medicine of one of his lady patients with a view of convincing her that it was rightly prepared. The medicine contained poison, and tbe doctor died instantly. Admiral Dewey, the hero of Manila Bay, has arrived at New York in the United States warship Brooklyn. Rustic Simplicity. — Binks : Ah, and how's the milkmaid ? — Unsophisticated Damsel : ' Taint made at all, sir ; we gets it out ot the cow. The most extraordinary forest in the world was discovered by Dr Welwitsch, and occupies a table-land some six miles in width, near the west coast of Africa. The peculiarity of the trees is that, though their trunks are as much as four feet in diameter, they attain the height of only a foot. No tree bears more than two leaves, and these attain a length of six and a breadth of two feet. Father (proud of his firstborn) : They say the child looks like me. — Friend :He does — a good deal ; but I don't think I should drown him on that account. An estimate has been made of the money lost on the Turf throughout the world during each year. The amount is placed at £50,000,000, of which £10,000,000 is lost on English racecourses, and, strange to say, about £30,000,000 on Australian courses. The remainder is chiefly distributed between France, the United States, and British Colonies. The funeral of M. Scheurer-Kestner, late Vice- President of the French Senate, who was one of the first prominent men to declare belief in Captain Dreyfus's innocence, was made the occasipn of a great Dreyfusite demonstration. Captain Dreyfus sent a memorial wreath to be placed on the coffin, inscribed with the words " Infinite gratitude."

Mr Tos wants two good stripper keepers. Getting there by degrees. The p.s. Nile put into Russell to-day for re^ pairs. Mr f . Easton has the frame of Mr j. W. Robinson's house up. The Bank of New Zealand's halfyearly balance is struck 10-day, a fact the clerks will know by hard work for a few weeks; The Manawitn County Council invitie tenders for the leasing of the Shannon ferry for one year. Tenders must be in by noon of Wednesday, nth October. Mr George Trask paid a visit to the town to-day. We are glad to see him looking so welK The United States forces operating in the Philippines have captured seven forts bn the island of Cuba. In the engagement seventy Filipinos were killed. The extra night of the sale of work on Thursday passed off very successfully, the band helping, materially. About £4 m" ore was added to the fund. Mr Harris, the inspector of agencies for the Citizens Life Insurance Co., intends taking up his residence in this town, and has secured the house at present occupied by Mr Simmons. Improvements are the order of the day, and Mr Darvill is providing and fitting up a private room and bar for the convenience of his customers. On Thursday evening the sisters of the Good Templar Lodge took control of the meeting, providing the officers 1 and finding refreshments. During the evening there were songs, recitations > and a dialogue. Yesterday morning a little before noon a four-roomed house on the other side of the river belonging to a native named Sam was burnt down. I It is most unfortunate for him as he 1 was just moving into it. The accident it is thought must have occurred ■ through a child who went into the house having struck a match. 1 Since our article on the duty to our neighbour has appeared we are in--1 formed that the Good Templars have : lately set their Lodge Room open free ' to all on Friday nights. They light : the Hall, and last night they provided some light refreshments. Visitors can 1 play chess and draughts, have the use : of the piano, and, above all, may '. smoke. This is a very good act on [ the part of the Good Templars, but . why only Friday nights ? A curious choice. A farmer named I Dancey, seventy-five years of age, liv--1 ing in the Geelong district, was to ■ have been married the other day. As i he failed to appear at the appointed time, search was made for him, and he 1 was found to have committed suicide , by hanging himself in a shed. [ Beer lozenges are among the latest 1 things which have been produced by 5 science in Germany for the convenience of humanity. The lozenges are l made of the powder obtained by 1 evaporating lager beer, and contain ■ all the ingredients, so that in order to I convert them into sparkling ale all I that is necessary is to dissolve them > in water to which some carbonic acid has been added — possibly soda water would be a not inefficient substitute. t An impudent attempt was made to » steal sheep from Mr D. McKenzie, ' Sandon, on the 13th of this month, says the Advocate. It was a little [ after sundown, but the moon was , shining, when Mr McKenzie's daughter ; saw a-man ride towards the gate lead--1 ing to the house. She knew the gate [ had been opened through hearing it strike against the stop. Shortly afterwards she saw the sheep, of which " there were 200 in the paddock, run- ' ning out of the gateway. She went at 1 once to drive them back, and on : reaching the road saw the man about [ two chains from the gate. He made J off directly he saw her. The celebrated Eel Pie Island on the Thames has been sold for building " lots. It is situated opposite Twicken- . ham. Sir John Bridge, who has retired from office as Chief Metropolitan \ Police Magistrate, was the recipient of I a curious compliment a few months ago. He received a letter in the following terms: "Sir, — I am sorry to 1 occupy your time, but I feel I must write to thank you for having locked • up my wife for six months. My wife 1 had often come before the court for drunkenness, but after being merely fined she grew worse. You were kind enough to give her six months, and she came back to me a reclaimed woman, and is now the best wife in England." I Everybody knows where the Post i Office is, and therefore everyone knows where the Post Office Hotel is, as it is exactly opposite to it. What every- , body does not know is that the proprietor, Mr Darvill, keeps only the , celebrated Speight's ale on draught, and he wishes them to know it, as ; there is not a better brand in the I town. He announces these facts in another column, and is having the fact , about Speight's Dunedin ale being on hand conspicuously maJe known by painting the same prominently on the front of his house. A Geelong telegram in' the Melbourne Age states: — "The Fairview Rope Works, at Geelong West, are idle owing to the difficulty experienced in obtaining supplies of Hemp from the Philippines. Three months ago the factory was working double shifts in anticipation of an extra amount of binder twine being required for the coming harvest, but in the course of a few weeks the shifts were reduced to one. The scarcity of hemp has led to more New Zealand flax being utilised, and the increased demands for this material has been so great that at present it cannot be dried quickly enough to meet the requirements of the factory."