LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume 4, Issue 196, 26 July 1883, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dating th« last 25 yean tbe Wesleyan body | m England has spent nearly £5,000,000 on ohurcb building, and an additional quarter o( a million will shortly be expended. The Age, io a leader upon Charon bazaars, writes : — "Only a week or two ago an enterprising clergyman m the suburbs surprised j bis flock by presenting them with the results | of a hasty oalculation he had been tempted to : make by the impoverished aspect of the offer* tory plate. There were 350 persona present, and the plate showed that the fruits of their charity amounted to the magnificent total of £3, Of this sum 147 contributors had given 21 shillings, 46 sixpences, and 80 threepenny pieces, while the remaining 207 Christians m the bnil ding had given nothing. On the arrival of the Tarawera at Auckland from the South Sydney Taiwhanga was arrested on a warrant of a charge of wife desertion. While being searched ia the guard room his wife was run m on a charge of drunkenness. A new rival brass band was hired to play at the funeral of a Connecticut deacon. They were playing a slow and solemn diage at tbe grave, when suddenly the trombone man shot oat a blast that started the hearse horses, and broke up the procession. The leader turning upon him fiercely, asked him what he was doing that for. He answered with a smile, • Wall, I thought it was a note, and it want nothing bat ahoss-flyj bat I \ t tyed To-morrow is the day of Dr. Onrl's usual visit to Palmerston, and he cnn be consulted after 1 p.m. at .Remington's Medical Hall. . The Union Steamship Company have chartered a large^steamer which will bring a cargo of teat from Hong Kong, She is erpeoted to arrive m Port Chalmers m a few weeks' time, and when her inward freight has been discharged, tie remt/ns of something like 300 Ohinamen, who have died m the colony, will be put on board her by their relations, and she will retnrn to China. A Melbourne youth (says a Sydney paper) has been writing o the papers upon a subjsct which he says is of burning interest and endless importance to the men of Australia. He seriously asserts that/ Earls, Lords, and Honourable! are making a habit of coming out to these colonies and carrying off all the prettiest and wealthiest heiresses, which, to say nothing of the intolerable affront of tbe thing, is a serious injury to native-born men." He further complains that the daughters of the land are beginning to treat with the highest disdain the advances of Australian men. and swear that "nothing" less than a lord or a duke shall satisfy their ambition. In order that the local matrimonial market may recover its lost tone, this apparently jilted M cornstalk" suggests that a heavy poll-tax should be imposed upon every titled Englishman who seeks our aborts, The Wanganui Herald ia informed that on the evening of the last inspection parade (the 19th inst.) the officers of the Naval Brigade waited upon Major Stapp, requesting him to Ude hit influence to procure the remission of the latter part of the sentence imposed on Seaman Blyth to the effect that he be fined £5 and be dismissed the service. The Major wired off to Wellington at once m accordance with the wish of the officer*, but a reply was received that it was too late, the Governor's sanction having been given on the 17 th to tbe decision. The full penalty will therefore be enforced. The establishment of a Woollen Factory m Wanganui by means of private enterprise is at the present time under con* aideration. A part of the machinery is m the colony. We shall be able to give specific information on the subject m the course of a week or two. Three ladies—Lady Pollock, Miss Sin» nott, and Mrs Patdden — have been re* turned to the new Board of Guardians of the Poor for Clapham, one of London's districts. More ladies have been elected to other Boards m the metropolis. A Fenian society m New York, called the " Irish Brothers." have formally sen. tenced Lord-Chief Justice Coleridge to death for passing sentence on the Birmingham dynamite conspirators. Patea is also to have a postal delivery next month. The editor of the Patea Mail is to be proceeded against for riding on the foot" paths. Serve him right, he ought te know better. Captain Edwin telegraphed yesterday. Bad weather approaching between southeast aud east and north. Very bad indications, and heavy rainfall very soon. There are said to be more soldiers' orphans now being supported by the Government tha» there were ten years ago. What puzzles the public is, where the ■orphans come from 18 years after the T«r. Howadmirable are the works.of Nature. An ordinary women's waist is 30in round; an ordinary man's arm is 30in long. A man named Henry Thomas Curtis was brought up m TV elhngton to answer a charge of having failed to contribute towards the support of his wife and children. A telegram was received from Auckland, where the accused is at present residing, expressing his willingness to contribute 10s per week. Mrs Curtis gave evidence that she was married to the defendant m 1859, and had borne him seven children, several of whom were earning a few shillings per week. Daring the past 3} vein, her husband had only sent her £3. The London 'Standard' says that the petitions presented to Parliament m favor of ,the Manchester ship canal measure ten I and a half miles ' long, and weigh seven hundredweight. It also says that they contain 20,000 signatures. The Hon. Mr Nurse, he who was so I frightened at wild animals getting intro* | duced and acclimatised m New Zealand, I considers it very hard that a prisoner should be punished for cursing and swearing, " seeing that cursing was the normal language of bullock«drivers." TheOostlev bequest to Auckland has brougnt forward a claimant. The Star's correspondent telegraphs that a young man, reported to be a nephew of the late Mr F. Costley, is now on his way to Auckland with a View to take action to set aside Costley's will. He was at the House i on Wednesday making enquiries.