LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 446, 5 January 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

At the local Presbyterian Church on Sundaj T night, the Rev. Aitken offered up special intercessionary prayers on behalf of those bereaved by the recent catastrophe in Italy. While attempting to arrest some suspicious characters at Adelaide, Constable Hyde was shot in the jaw. His recovery is hopeless. The assailants escaped. Only on five occasions in fifty years, has.Syduey experienced heat like that of last Sunday. The heat at Bourke was the most trying for 30 years. • When Wellington was very young and had only a few settlers’ huts beside the Maori whares, Te Aro House had a reputation for good value. This reputation has been held for so many years that it is not going to be sacrificed now. Te Aro House still gives good value, and at the sale to be shortly held, they are giving even more than good value. Country residents wishing to purchase anything from ; the enormous stocks held by this establishment should write at once asking for a bargain list. Every article in every department has been cut down to the lowest possible figure and the sale prices are simply astonishing.* Mrs Richard A. Alley enjoys the distinction v.writes the Daily Mail correspondent at Victoria, 8.C.), of being the only lady in the world who; is the active manager "of a line of steamships. Since the death of her husband, nearly a year ago, she has personally managed the Alley line, comprising the 40 flo-ton vessels Indravelli and Den of Ruthven, which sail every two months betvyeeu British - Columbia and Auckland, and other New Zealand ports. One of her first acts upon taking up the management was to interview the Canadian and New Zealand Governments with a view to obtaining a subsidy for her ships. «

To-morrow being tii f e Feast of the Epiphany there will be a celebration of: the Blessed Sacrament in All Saints’ Chuich at 7.30 a.tn. We have to acknowledge receipt of a handy wall calendar from the local agent of the New Zealand Shipping Company! Mr Greig had the 'buildings and gear of the Crown mill towed up to Whitaunui by Levin and Co.’6 steamer on Wednesday, December 23- '

The present year will mark the centenary of the birth of three of England’s greatest minds of the iglh century—Darwin, Gladstone, and Tennyson. The Wellington police received a telegram on Sunday morning, advising that a coachshed at the Martinborough Hotel had been destroyed by lire. The body of an unknown man was found among the ruins.

The grain prospects down .South are the best for many years, , The harvest will be general in the vicinity of Christchurch in a week or ten days. The area under cereals is very large, and the yield is expected to be abundant. Labour is plentiful, and the weather conditions are excellent.

The land ballot is nothing if it is not a fair indication of what ive are prone to call luck (says the Dannevirke Press). At Thursday’s ballot there were dozens of applicants in tor section 23 am) 22 at Piri Piri, and yet two brothers, the Messrs Rule, were successful in drawing the two holdings, i On account of the complaints from London wool buyers of the detriment to wool caused the jute off the wool packs, Mr T. Kerapton, of Elm .Grove, Greytown, has sent part of his clip this year packed in duplicate the inside one being calico. The result will be looked forward to with much interest by woolgrowers in this district, says the Newsjj To-morrow week the children of All Saints’ Sunday School will receive their prizes. The function will take place in All Saints’ schoolroom, at 7 p.m. Thfe prizes will be given out by F. W.: Fran Inland, Esq., and a number df musical items are being arranged by the children, under the supervision of Mrs J. Symons and Mr Betty. No charge will be made, but a collection will be taken at the door. A little amusement wa6 caused at the Wanganui Otago cricket match on Saturday, by tlie sudden appearance of a hare om the field of play. The startled aniihal made a bee-line for the pavilion and players and spectators tried to corner the fugitive, which was just missed by a lightning shot from Wordsworth, who happened to be in possession of the ball at the time. “ Swerving ” from a straight run, however, the hare made a “ break ” for the fence, and maintaining a fast . “ pace,’’ spon neither “ caught ’’ not “ bowled.”

What is alleged to be another case of street assault with intent to rob, is reported to have, occurred in Willis Street on Friday evening, says the Dominion. It is stated that a man was proceeding along Willis Street, just past the Albert Hotel, at 10.30, when he was attacked by three men, one of whom seized him and ran him into an alley-way, and attempted to rob him. The assaulted one called out for the police, and Constable Shaw, who was in the vicinity, responded to the call, and secured a man who was walking away, which man was pointed out by a bystander as the man who was responsible for the outrage. It is understood that a charge of assault and robbery is to be preferred against the alleged assailant.

We are informed that Foxton possesses a lad who is apparently looking for notoriety, and if his pranks are not soon nipped in the bud, he will find himself within the walls of a gaol. Complaints have been made to us ou more than one occasion of his conduct. Here are a few examples: Furious driving round corners,.threatening to cut little children's throats and thereby schiing the proverbial “seven bells''out of them, and sundry other hair-brained pranks. He has on more than one occasion received corporeal .punishment from irate parents, but he appears to get r.o better, fast. His vocabulary of swear words would put an “ old salt ”to shame. Boys will be boys, but this‘ youth undoubtedly has got a kink.

tommentiug on a paragraph from the New York Sim with reference to the bestowal oi the freedom of the city upon two American officers during their short stay in Hamilton, the Waikato Argus states r“ The real, facts. of the case are that Mr Franklin Matthews, representing the New York Sun, and Lieut. Keyser, of the Louisiana, were so engrossed in collecting dividends hi the Ellerslie racecourse that they missed the special train set apart to take the visitors to Rotorua, and coming along by the ordinary 4.15 p.m. from Auckland, became stranded in Hamilton for the night. Nsxt morning, uihile putting in time till the departure of the train for Rotohia, a local wag conceived the idea of presenting the freedom of the city, and with the assistance of our jobbing foreman, an illuminated card, a couple of keys, and some white, and blue streamers, the necessary document was soon] prepared, and duly presented. „ ! The recipients entered heartily ihto the joke, and were delighted at the fruition of the novel Suggestion. Appearing s in e the New York Sun, however, it takes quite a different complexion, and it appears to have been taken seriously iar more places than Auckland.” "■

Dr ly. Cockayne has completed his work on the sandhills Wellington province, and aftePttfe New Year holidays in Christchurch he will deal with the sandhills at Taranaki. '

It will be remembered that a/ man named Edward Peck left Mangaweka on horseback on Boxing night for bis home, three miles out, and the horse, saddle and bridle were found on the roadside about a mile from the township the following morning. The missing man was employed as a road overseer by the Kiwitea County Council. His body Was found on Thursday in the stream adjacent to the road. The appearance of the body indicates that Peck was thrown from his horse.

The educated fiy was this subject of a lecture by Mr P, P. Siiflth, before the Koyal Polographic Society the other day. With the exercise of a little patience flys can be trained, said Mr Smith, and he showed some remarkable cihematograp records of them Hying bn their hacks and twirling minalute dumhells, balancing weights largerthan themselves, climbing revolving, wheels, and acting as nurse-maids holding dummy babies. The oply discomfort to the fly, he said, was involved in its being imprisoned for a day or two. On being released although its wings were uninjured it would at first have tin desire to fly but would show a readiness to perform these extraordinary exercises instead.

Among many quaint articles received by the Postal Department in Wellington during the holidays (says the Post) was a white pet rabbit. Somebody in Invercargill, acting thoughtlessly on an impulse meant to be kind, put the unfortunate animal in a tin box* enclosed a carrot, a parsnip and some grass, bored a few small holes in the little prison, addressed it to 1 a boy in Wellington, and let the Government do the rest. The tin went into a hamper, which was bundled in and out of trains. It went down the hold of a steamer, and was whirled about in various; ways during an adventurous journey of two days before it reached the authorities here. They opened the tin, and found that the poor rabbit was almost breathing its little last. It had forgotten to trouble the carrot. The prisoner was gently removed, placed in the sunlight for a while, and it gradually revived.' It was delivered in frisky condition to the small who was eagerly awaiting .the treasure. The department won, but does not advise people to follow the senseless example of the Invercargill person. The incident may be read with gloom by the man on the laud, for it proves that the rabbit does not lightly part with life. .

Some interesting evidence regarding causes of giddiness was, given iu the: Supreme jCspirt "at: 'Wellingtonby Dr "James, ’ writes a correspondent of ‘the. 'Ey Helton Times. He stated that ten years ago a gentleman in Wellington, whose sobriety and character were beyoud reproach, was attacked by giddiness one day when standing outside his shop. He became so giddy that hefelldowu. A doctor passing by at the time attended him, and he assisted to carry him inside. Next morning the patient saw Dr James, who had beeu attending him for 25 years, and expressed the belief that his heart was affected. Dr James, however, found that he was alright, and asked it he had yet taken to wearing glasses. He was over 50 years of age. The patient replied in the negative, thereupon the doctor examined his eyes, and found him suffering from astigmatism. Accordingly he prescribed glasses, which had the effect of at once removing the giddiness. Two or three years afterwards the patient went to the Old Country. In Paris he had the misfortune to break his glasses, and leave his s prescription iu London. He purchased other glasses, but the old _at once returned. On returning to. London he had other glasses prepared in accordance with his prescription. The symptoms disappeared as soon as he wore the new glasses, and he had not had a, recurrence of them until this day ;

In the course of an optimistic article on the progress of Auckland during the past year, the Herald remarks :—“ The year has witnessed another interesting stage in the steady development of the* great resources of the city and province of Auckland, which has been such a striking feature of the progress of the Dominion in recent years. Notwithstanding the slight wave of depression, of which much has been heard, but which has not been so nearly perceptible in Auckland as other portions of New Zealand, and in the temporary and now parsing 1 stringency in ' the* money market, Auckland has continued to advance along the path of prosperity which she marked out for herself a few years ago, and? which she has since been steadily ! pursuing. The remarkable growth of the of !t i’ Afickland, which is pn£ of; ; the,,truest signs of prosperity, has been going on at an even greater rate than heretofore, and it is estimated that the total population of the city and suburbs on the area that will be included in the ‘ greater Auckland ’ of the near future ioo,ooo.‘i In land settlement, in civic and provincial development, in ind ustrial expansion and every part ot public and private enterprise; a' healthy spirit of progress has been j manifested, and the yexr closes! with an honourable record of good \ work done and an outlook for the j future which is full of promise.”

WOLFE’S SCHNAPPS stands pee. dminent among stimulants and cor* dials.

Mr G. Brewer advertises houses "* to let. Heavy rains have fallen in the Tararuas and as' a result there is a big fresh in the Manawatu, ; The warm rains have caused the grass to freshen, and as a result dairy farmers have received increased milk supplies.

The general half-yearly meeting of the Manawatu FlaxtaijfletS Employees Union*will he’ M# in the registered office, on Saturdaymefcff at 8 p.m. ; r 1 ;

Messrs Durwards, the knowu Palmerston drapers, ap‘ nounce in this issue their third great end of season sale, and publish some bargains The Town Clerk calls tenders v for putting down an artesian bore in the Triangle Reserve, Main Street. Tenders close at 7 p.m. on the 11 th inst. ■ ~.

The mortal remains of Pia Ihaia, mother of the’guides Maggie and Bella, were laid to rest in a family vault at Wbakarewarewa on FHday afternoon.,Fully one thousand people were present at the burial.

The local Racing Club are to be - . congratulated upon the excellent nominations received for the an- •1; nual meeting, * which constitutes a : 1 record. This speaks volumes for the popularity of the local meet- , ing. We hope the acceptances will prove equally as successful. .

The weather for those who are spending their holidays at the seaside has been, anything but pleasant during the past week. A heavy gale has been blowing from the sea and when a lull has set in drizzling rain has fallen. Present indications do not point to any im-: provement in the weather. A meeting of Arnst’s, backers is to be held in Christchurch this week, for the purpose of deciding in connection with the, proposed match with Barry, whether, in the event -of it being arranged, it should be rowed in Australia or New Zealand or whether Arnst should be sent Home. • ' '

: Sobriety (says the Southland Daily News) was writ large' bvel' Invercargill on Christmas Eve; The one familiar aggressive inebriate was conspicuous by his absence, and the policeman’s lot was a sinecure. Either we are becoming a remarkably sober community, or the man “ who'drinks but too well ” seeks other pastures^"' for indulging in his libations. ;" i 5 ;