The Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the Wast Coast. THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 1885. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IX, Issue 38, 15 January 1885, Page 2

Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the Wast Coast. THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 1885. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

! A' short thiie'ago the wookhed of Mr M'Lachlan, at Gladstone, iri the Wairarapa, was burned down undor circumstances, which , pointed strongly to in j r cendiarism. Mrs M'Lachlan was.. in a very delicate state of health ut the time, and the fire so frightened and affected her that she' has since died. Only a : few months ago Mr M'Lachlan lost a daughter "very suddenly, so misfortunes of no ordinary kind have befallen him lately; • \ "f ' c It is stated that Sir John Hall intends to return to England by the s.s. Tongarp.^ „. "\> lit i^ruhaoredithat St. Mary's Con- ' yenjj Welljpgtoriv recently had a narrow 'escape 'from destruction By fire. , ,We (Wellington paper) are informed that on Monday morning one of the rooms eonr taining a bed — which had, however, not been .used by any one connectod with the establishment for about a fortnight j -r-was: entered, and ifc was found .that a: j counterpane, which was thrown over a piano standing m the room, showed marks of having been on 'fire. The wall paper was also charred, and as the dormitories above this apartment were occupied by* a. large: number of- young ladies, ,- a, serious fire , appears to have been narrowly averted. How the lire \origihaked and who extinguished it can not at< present be conjectured, . . In the region which lies between ■Masterton and Bowlands, says the Wairarapa Daily, resides a bold distiller,who denies the officers, of the law. to detect his illicit' practices. The other day a" poliqe officer i>aid a surprise visit, made ■ L a,] careful exploration of his domicile, but without avail. On his departure the local whiskey brewer offered his visitor a flask don taining spirits which were far strongar than any imported article. A few days later a suspicious, looking copper worm came up from Wellington for this individual, and a detective'followed the worm'toits;destiha- '■ tio'n m 'the Taueru. There he, hunted about for :sonie twelve hours, while the bold distiller watched him and chaffed him on his inability to find out where tlie " still waters " we're concealed. , The recent disastrous fire at Boatmans was caused by a boy, aged four, a son of Mr "VValker, who admits lighting matches upstairs' m one of the bedrpoms* j There was no other person upstairs at j the time the fire occurred.. i

An ancient mariner nearly 80 years of age, has been m the colony nearly GO years, has had to apply to the Weiling^ ton Benevolent Society for a passage to | Auckland. The old lellow, it appears, has been m the colony ever since 1826, f m which year he left one of Her Majesty's ships. He has for many yeai's past been employed as a professional cook, but his decrepitude is such that he can no longer earn a living during the winter, m a warm climate, as he suffers acutely. fi;om rheuiuaUsm^ He is anxious ij however,to goNorth,wiierene has friends, and where he expresses his belief that he | will be able easily to secure a good billet. Mr A. GK Johnson infoimed the . dbmmitfcee that the old gentleman was hale •and hearty but for a twinge- of rheumatism, and he appeared likely to survive until the advent of the twentieth cen-. tury. The committee granted the ia.]i-' plicant a free passage. . ■ That contihiied "residence amongst a foreign me'e lias often times caused jtot'ai fprgetlulnesß of one's mother tongjue, is a well-knb\yn fact. On .the, Wanjjariver there is a peeuliarinßtance ; of this, (says the Herald). At Irnharnma ; the other day our reporter saw a Chihainan, whom he was informed by the ha-, tives had been on the river since he wns soinu 12 or 13 years pf age, and who baa quite.iyrgotten his_ttative language, and can speak nothing but Maori. The natives call hiinChtagi' Hehas'been mairied but is now or Widower, 'and has no children. Ohe peculiar thingin connection with him is that he is reported; to own more slieep than any Maori on theriver. The ohiheße-4Maqri/iX«luito cdntcnted with his home, and has- adopted' lull: the manners' arid customs of the 6a- . ti - v ff-, • ,;; .:;.;■. ■" •■••■ „!.i ■; : . A, ( rather ..startling, event happenpd, says the Post, m $ÜBse?, Monday. A youth who vyas ridin^jarest ye pony, which he' seemed £o have' u'nc er; little control, came galloping along Ihe eastern side of the square iv the direction of ; town; ■ Ar.riy;ed jat the corner of Buckle-streetj the rider wasuiiablei to turnhis horse* which, kept.^tcai&ht on,' arid chargeel thf» front . fence pfj, one |o£ Messrs' Greenfield J and Stew.ai ; t 4 s housies. The rider v^as : thrown : 'cie'att ul 6Vei > the fenbe a^aitMt the 1 'f font 'bf the lioi^se, missingthe frbut' sittiti^rdfbtri'by' a'foot or so. , ■■ The fence- was considerably Mm aged by the concussion. A lady wjlio was workiug at a se\vii)g macliiiiq. close to the windqw was u^turaliy much alurined on seeing such nil extraordinary acbide'n't s6' close to her. The equestrian, who did not .seem to , be much hurt, reimounted hib h6rse and i rode oil: iiume^-' diately. ...,., „,.,. . -.< • .- lit is impossible to get horse-owners' to : study their own interests and nominate m time* (says- the Napier ■< Telegraph).' . Following iclose 1 on the! mistake itf'reipr--euco to the acceptance Qf Black Bose for the Dunedin Cup, Mv .Luckie, the .secsra- i tary of the H. B. Jockey Club, ¥ eceived this morning a ( delayed, telegram from 'the Hon. G. McLean, - nominating Lady Emma, , Lady Evelyn, Matanaka* 4,nd Mokoia for the Napier Handicap, and the same horses, with Bubizahl for the Railway Stakes."' The telfegram was m the Napier office last night at a few. minutfls/to; eight, /buY being a delayed wire was not put-, m the secretary's letter/box v till this morning.'- Of course could be done m the matter, and there was no alternative but to re*; ject .the entries; ,;:.:.,;.,; • '■' < The Great Eastern, steamship, was" chartered for twelve months recently by a! syndicate. ,tp be taken jto New . Orleans'. . attheiend of November. Shb will be exhibited tliere. arid turned into a float- , ing hotel during the exposition. ( ) The WairarapA Star states that an! old. settler there, whose memory appear*. to, be really wonderful, relates with a surprising degree of circttmstaintiahty how Bir : Boger Ticliborne was : saved/ "nrom a wreck, and handed .m .Melbourne from' the-Qsprey. Sir Boger, he states, came on to New Zealand and found his way to Castlepoint, where he obtained 'employment on a station, from which however, he subsequently disappeared m a very mysterous manner, it being sup- : posed--that he was murdered. \