LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 267, 8 October 1884, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Wesleyan Mutual Improvement Class met on Monday evening, and although tho weather was very inclement a good number of the members showed" up, and a very pleasant evening wffs spent. Messrs Patten and Daniels v. Leary ahd^ J. uUlon, taking part m the debate as to whether the rich man or the possessor, of moderate means was the most iiappy. The former advocating the man of moderate means won the debate. A German paper gives a test for watered milk which is simplicity itself. A well-polished knitting-needle is dipp d into a deep vessel of milk and immediately withdrawn m an upright position. If the sample is pure, some of the fluid will hang to the needle ; but if water has been added to the milk, even m small proportions, the fluid\will not adhere to the needle. Take £lb linseed, £lb common figs, twopenny worth of root liquorice, 2uz. barley sugar, boil m two quarts of water till reduced to three pints ; strain, and add one good wineglass of rum. Take a glass at bedtime and when the cough is tronblesome. This is called " Lady Ford's mixture," and was used very often during tie Cmnean War m the army. , A naval officer whose ship is at present stationed at Suakim writes :— -" I am very careful when out shooting not to go too far away fiom the lines. Osman Dignah sent a message, saying any naval officer he caught would be scraped to death by oyster shell— not all at once, but a small piece every day, , after which he would be exposed. to the hoi sun. Not being too ambitious, I am not likely to run the chance of such treatment." The principal reason for Osman Dignah 's enmity to naval men was the capture of a dhow belonging to him containing slaves, valued at 3,000 Z., by Her Majesty's ship Wild Swan a few years ago. The loss of this dhow ruined Osinan Dignah. The greatest feat of the telegraphlineman is thus described by one of the fraternity m Philadelphia: — "George Riley was ordered m a hurry to carry a secret wire from a director's room — to hide it, understand. He looked over the room and found a speaking tube. After trying vainly to push the wires dowu through the angles of the tube, he went into the cellar, set a trap and caught a mouse. He then tied a string to the mouse's tail, and sent the mouse safely down the tube. When the string was through he made the wire fast to it. They were then i-eadily drawn through to the room, three stories below, where the ternvnus.of the tube was." The following prices were being realised m London when the mail left, for ' English and Scotch mutton : — Prime English mutton, 4s to 4s B<i per stone : prime Scotch, 5s to 5a 6d per stone. New Zealand mutton was at the same time realising from 3s to 3s 8d per stone. The price of English mutton would therefore he from 6d to 9d per lb, and of of Scotch mutton from 7£ri to B£d- It would seem that the low price realised for New Zealand mutton has been due to ft great extent to the low prices obtainable for tho English and Scotch article. There is every probability that when the Home-grown meat sees the. prices of about a year ago. there will be a conespoudiug rise m the value of co louifll meat.

Sir James I'agut lms expressed his opinion that all games i;i Which boya and men engage-exempt football—should be shared by girls. Ho says leap-frog would be invaluable, giving girls a freedom of action and elegance of attitude unattainable by other means. The following paragraph appears m .the South Buck's Free Press of July sth last: — Frozen Meat from Australia,— Mr Fiank Strange, of Castle-street, writes to us ; The Gear Meat Freezing Company, of Wellington, New Zealand, haviug decided, as an experiment, to sell to colonists, at their shops in* Wellington, car- ' cases of mutton and joinis of beef at prices delivered m London, and to send them to any station iti the United Kingdom, ruy brother Ernest took advantage of this arrangement to send me a carcase of mutton, which arrived last Saturday, ex B.s. Aorangi, m prime condition. The meat was excellent, and although I did not get for two days after it left the vessel, it was theu scarcely thawed. I despatched a leg to Reading, which also: arrived m good condition, which seems wonderful after a voyage of seven weeks through the tropics. I may mention to show what an important trade it is becoming, that the Aorangi brought a cargo of mutton valued at £30,000. I The prospectus is published of. a new paper to be called the Waipawa Independent, with a capital of £2,000. Mr Teece, who was here with the Wilmott Company, is giving eutertainments m Auckland as a reciter. ; On Suuday ucxt as Father McManus will, be holding service iu r Foxtou there; will be" no Mass m St. Patrick's Church. The London brokers say that the Te A'.vamutu cheese is the best New Zealand cheese they have seen. The Awainutu Dairy Company pay 3£d forlO^lbs of milk. . Allen Pinkerton, the most successful American detective, died from gangrene, caused by biting his tougne. Woudville h as a mimic Parliament. The liev. Mr Robertshaw is the governor, and Mr Hawkins is the premier ekct. The Hawera Star is now printed by steam power. The engine was made by Mr D. Murray, of Wanganni, "to tho entire satisfaction of the firm." '' lt is three years ago since the Standard was first printed by steam power.' Writes the Parliamentary correspondent of the Wangauui Herald :— " Rumors of a new party are assuming some shape. It is stated that the party is actually formed with a following of 36, and that the object of the party is to resist the borrowing scheme of Yogel." Mr 0. Scales, of Bulls, had to proceed to Napier, to give evidence iv theTricker bigamy case. Mr Scales was tho "best man" at tho first wedding of Trickers, when he was married at Bulls. The Mataura paper mills are now turning out thin drapers' paper of excellent quality. ! We (Telegraph) hear that several of the Meaneo Missiou sections have -changed hands since the sale at an advance from £3 to £5. The sections bought by Mr Tiffen have been resold at an advance of £15 per acre. , . Tho Makino Cheese and Butter Factory company have made a commencement. They have duriug the last few days put through about fifty gallons of milk per day, and there is every prospect of that quantity being considerably increased shortly, as they have been promised milk from about 200 cows. The machinery is working very satisfactorily, and we (Marton paper) are pleased to hear that the enterprise of the Makino people' bids fair to become thoroughly successful.; .Au offer has been received by the directors to take all the butter they can make at a price that we believe to be hichLv satisfactory. ' ■ « The Waipawa Mail is informed that the fourth of the month passed over very snecessfully this time, although tradespeople'have.been complaining strongly of late^ J It is said that some startling disclosures will be made during the debate on Mr Bradahaw's motion relative to medical men holding the appoiutraent of ; coroner. • ■ '■■■>; ' i ; The good folks about Ormondville are m earnest about the desire of a cheese factory evidently. They have invited ' Mr Bowron to address them at a meeting to be held on Friday evening next, with a view to eliciting as much information as possible on the subject. Writes a correspondent of the Waipawa Mail : — " It might be worth while starting a but tor factory m Norsewood district, which could be entered upon at about one fourth the cost of a cheese factory. In the summer there is a great quantity of butter made m the district, some of it of a very inferior quality. By having it all made m a factory it could be properly packed away and sold to advantage." . . \ , ; . ; Foxtori is going m for a thousand pound loan. Avenue Foxton. An instance of canine intelligence is related by a Masteiton paper. A little English terrier ■ became the , happy i mother of a family of puppies, but after a day or two one of them died. The mother took it m her mouth . und after walking all round the garden seeking a , favourable spot, laid it gently down and set to work to scratch a hole m the ground. Having made the grave of sufficient size and depth, she (aid her offspring m it, and after giving vent to a piteous whine, covered it carefully' over, using her nose as a shovel, and then hurried off to look after the rest of her family. Tho late Mr Nicholas Anchorena, who died two months since at Buenos Ayres, is believed to have been the richest farmer m the world. His executors report his rural estates as follows : — Land, 1,710 square miles ; cows, 152,000 ; sheep, 410,000. He also owned much house property m Baeuos Ayres, and his assets have been valued at £2,400,000. He inherited £200,000, from his father 30 years ago. . . ■ ; *♦ A happy father advertises m a Wellington paper the birth of a danghter,and adds the significant suggestion : " Stop emigration." The home article is evidently to supplant the imported. ...-«, . A sporting dog got amongst a flock of sheep lately near Giaborne, and destroyed about sixty of them. The owner of the sheep 'estimates his loss at L4O. Sportsmen would do well to keep a sharp look-out after their dogs, so as to prevent similar occurrences. " The Wairoa South Cheese and Butter Factory has now about 100 cheeses on the shelves m process of seasoning and curing. When ready they will be placed lon the market. Butter-making operations commence next week The factory promises to have a useful and profitable career before it; A Waikato man sent bacon which he coidd not get a fair price for, to Christchurch, and had it re-consigned to Auckland as Canterbury bacon, when it brought the top price ! Mr and Mrs McDonald, of Awaiuiri, have been very liberal to the Bulls Horticultural Society, promising no less an amount than £4 15s. 6d. for prizes. The plan of towing 1 timber rafts at gen, instead of loading the logs on shipboard, has been adopted by the lumber merchants of San Francisco. The steamtug Escort No. 2, from Empire City, Oregon, arrived safely m San Fraheiscp on 29th June, with five large rafts of logs and piles m tow.