LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume 4, Issue 110, 17 April 1883, Page 2

LOC AL AND GENERAL.

We are requested to remind the public that th« outward English Mail via San Francisco will close at Palmerstoa on Tuesday the 20th inst at 7 45. p.m. Further additions have been made to Messrs Stevens & Gorton's catalogue for their Awahuri sale next Friday. •Mr Snelson announces an import an .*. homg-sale for the 28th inst, next Saturday week, for which entr ies are now m * vited. The dates an • hours of taking the poll m connection with the proposed spec ial rate under "The Roads and Bridges Construction Act 1882" are elsewhere announced. Mr A. E. Lewis opens his fancy goods and china»ware emporium to-morrow and purchtsers should give him an early call. The premises are those formerly occupied by Mrs Dungan, m front of Mr Leary' s printing office. With each paper of today's issuers sent a handbill giving further particulars of the special sale and fancy goods exhibition. An announcement appears elsewhere from the Brunner Coal Company, of which Mr Stratford is the local agent, publishing some very satisfactory testimonala as to quality ef the article, which has an extensive demand m Mauawatu. The announcement m reference to the opening of the Kilinning Lodge S. C. will be found elsewhere. A banquet will take place m the evening, and a very pleasant reunion of the Craft is looked forward too. A corespondent has taken the trouble to make the following calculation, which we give m his own words. " Within the last two months no less than 23 articles and 157 paragraphs have appeared m the Manawatu Times, assailing the County Council." Not a bad two months' work, if our correspondent's calculations are cor» rcct. We have been shown a very handsome show card of the " Zealandia" boots, the material for which article of wear* is entirely of colonial manafacture, Messrs Lightband Allan & Co. carrying on the tanning as well as the bootmaking iudustrie. The " Zealandia" boots, which Mr ?J. B. Hamilton makes a specialty of, are renowned for their excellent make and durable material. A bankruptcy notice m reference to a Foxton insolvent's intention to apply for his discharge appears elsewhere. We are indebted to the courtesy of Mr F. M. Deighton for the advance proof containing statistics of jlund m cultivation, and of the agricultural produce, m the counties of Raugiiikei and, Manawatu to which we will refer, another day. Mr J. Bennie, of Wanganui, is offering a stationary engine for sale on reasonable terms. Mr Crosae, surgeon dentist, will'pay his next professional visit to palmerston on Friday the 27th inst. In Sydney, at the present time, there is m course of signature a large petition signed by thousands against the employ* lnent of young women and other females as barmaids. The windows of the old Palmerston Hotel have been boarded-up, we presume to secure protection from the playful at« tentions of idle larrikins, who delight m the game of window-smashing. From a Wanganui paper we learn that Mr Lundon, the Collector of Customs, has determined to institute a prosecution, under the Beer Duty Act against the officials of the Wanganui Club for having m their possession a beer barrel on which the duty stamp was not defaced. The offence; however innocent the parties may be of any intention to defraud the revenue, is a serious one, and opens the door to the practice of filling a barrel several times, making one stamp do duty for the lot— a practice which it is to be feared extensively prevails m this colony. Numerous convictions have already been .obtained elsewhere by the. Customs' authorities for the offence m question. . Among the cases which will be dealt with at the Wellington Resident Magistrate's Court to-day are two summonses which have been issued against Messrs Duthie & Co. and Messrs Gardner & Co. for alleged breaches of the regulations recently passed by the City Council for the storage of gunpowder, nitro-glycerine, kerosene, and other explosive or dangerous goods. Clause 4of these regulations provides that no explosive material, ex» cept m sach quantity as may from time to time be authorised by permit to be issued by the Town Olerk, shall be stored or kept m any place within the borough. The cases are the first of the kind under the new regulations, and from that circumstance will prove interesting. Members of tho Legislature sometimes are inclined to turn their free railway passes to account. We have heard io Victoria of a commercial traveller who was able to run his rivals off the road by means of this valuable auxiliary. Another story comes from Sydney. The Bible Society required a district secretary, arid amongst the applicants was a member of the Legislative Assembly. He had many qualifications, of course ; but that upon which he placed most reliance was the possession, of a free railway pass. "I can do more work for you than any other," he urged, "for I can always travel free." He had no scruples, bnt, unfortunately, the dii actors of the society were a little more particular. There is an American story of how m a small township a watchman, who lit his lamps on moonlight nights, and left them m darkness when there was no moon, eventually found that he was going by an old almanac. While the lads O'Leary and Fitzsimmons, convicted of breaking into a butch" er's shop at Havvera last week, were being conveyed from that place to the New Plymoujth Goal on Friday, m charge of a constable, the younger of the two managed to effect his escape from the guardian limb of the law. This youthful burglar of some twelve summers, who was to serve 3 years m the Industrial School at Auckland, managed to elude the police for about 24 hours, and was not caught till the next duy at Hawera, about 4.30 m the afternoon.