LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IX, Issue 69, 23 February 1885, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The London Telegraph uses up 150 to 200 miles of paper a day. To obtain a sure and cheaper supply, the proprietors have purchased a large block of land m California on which to grow the yucca plant, for paper fibre. " Ivo," the Freethought lecturer, has been taken, to task at Mastorton by the Rev Mr Isitt for stating that clergymen were liars. Mr Isitt gave an emphatic denial to the charge, which was vociferously cheered. Mr Btiick objected to the charge made for admission to " Ivo's" lecture, stating that clergymen left it optional with their congregations to pay or not. What with the Salvation Army, spiritualistic manifestations, and Freethought lectures, the good folk m Wairarapa are not likely to let their mental faculties rust.

The Auckland Fr^e Press after a fitful uareor, lias dropped out of the running. It advocated the teetotal cause, and was intensely bitter m its hostility to Roman Catholicism. The reputed site of the Garden of Eden at the junction of the Tigris and Euphrates is now a sterile tract, whenthe only vegetable life consists of a clump of date trees near a very small and dirty village called Gurua, at whiui the Turks maintaiu a garrison and tehgraph offief. The inhabitants point on •to strangers, .the tree of knowledgemost sickly specimen, hearing a small green berry which would cause a goat to turn away m disgust. One of the newest ideas to make New Plymouth attractive to tourists and holiday seekers is to introduce the fashion of ladies and gentlemen bathing together (remarks the Taranaki Herald). This custom is now the correct thing m the Atlantic watering places, but the attempts to introduce it into New Zoaland have hitherto been very strongly opposed. A club was formed on this principle m one of the largo southern towns some years ago, but although its members were of the leading people, the opinion, of the inhabitants, which found expression m pulpit and Press, was so strongly adverse, that after two or three meetings the club broke up. There aru said to Ve a large' number m Now Plymouth willing to take the initiative, but the matter will probably be allowed to ' stand over till next summer. ' Twenty-ono- thousand houses were built m London last year. • The London Times of Dec. 23 had an account of a new sort of gas-lamp which gives the light of two hundred candles at a penny per hour, and which throws out no noxious vapoufd. It ia called the Bower Lamp . London Truth says :— New Zealand mutton is better than English mutton. Whenever a person gels a specially good leg, he may take it for certain that it is , from New Zealand. This mutton is retailed by those who openly sell it at B£d pei lb, delivered ; the butchers, how ever, as a rule, charge the " tine old English" price for it. It is stated on reliable authority that considerable fears are entertained as to the stability of the magnificent new Lunatic Asylum recently erected at Seacliff, Otago, at a cost of about £100,000. The foundations aro said to bo defective. The building is erectedon a commanding site, overlooking the sea, and it is said that the whole hillside is slipping gradually down to the sea. The Main Southern Truuk Railway passes between the Asylum and the sea, and the line is also m danger. The movement of the earth is very slow, but stated to be steady and unmistakeable. It is of course on a scale which renders any preventive measures impossible. The immigration of Jews to the Holy Land is increasing. It is only a few years since the number of Jewish families who had returned to die there was comparatively small. To-day there are 0ver, 50,000 m Jerusalem aloue. The rector of a London parish has not been seen within the limits of his parish seven years. He receives a salary of nearly £1200 a year, while his duties are very acceptably performed by a curate to whom the rector pays £140 a j'ear. It is the opinion of an English surgeon of note that men who shave the oftenest shorten their lives by several years. The Arabs also believe that those who wash their faces are marked for an early tomb. The unwashed and unshaven have much to encourage them. According to one estimate the number of tramps m Germany last year amounted to 200,000, au"d the expenses they caused to the community £300,000. Local option m Queensland is progressing.' The Premier, the Opposition leaders, and six other members of Parliament have promised to support their principle. An Acclimatization Society has been formed m Fsilding. The following are the boundaries of the district : -On the north the boundary of the Kiwitea Road Hoard, on the south by Jones' Line, on the west by the Uangitikei river, to the northern bdndary of the Kiwitea, on the east by the Oroua River, and eastern boundary of the Kiwitea Road Board. The following officers were elected:-?-' H. L. Sherwill president, Dr Johnston vice-president, Mr J. Beattib secretary and treasurer. Council : Messrs Sherwill, Kirton, Johnston, Beattie, Haybittlo, Fitzherbert, G. W. Fowles, Bilderbock. Towler, Hammond, Saxon, Norman, Bel I've. Three to form a quorum. Resolved, That the annual subscription be 10a. The Mons. Soudry, who has been convicted of swindling, and ; ; imprisoned m France, will be remembered (says the Post) as the French commissioner at the Melbourne Exhibition who was the caiyse of a very tragical occurrence at the" Melbourne Opera House. .He was m the dress-circle, m company with the wife of another man named Greer, when the injured husband entered and discharged a revolver at the pair, firing several shots, and wounding both seriously. He then turned the weapon on himself, and inflicted a mortal wound, from which he died shortly after. -The affair, which caused a great sensation, took place on the 24th July, 1880. A London firm has agreed to take all the honey from a Waikato apiary at a. ton. (6d alb). . ' : ; ' . Boberfc Prendergast, who murdered his wile at Pokeno, was two years m the Lunatic Asylum, and was discharged two years ago. Deceased came to the district twenty years ago. It is announced m the Gazette that a bonus of sixpence per gallon will be paid on kerosene produced m the colony, to an extent not exceeding 50,000 gallons, m quantities ot not less than 10,000 gallons at a time. A brother of General Gordon's was one of the pioneer settlers of Southland. He died m Invercargill 20 years ago. From India. comes the news of the death of an old lady, Mrs Kennedy of Benares, whom the Prince of Wales had presented to him by his special request when he visited that city m 1876. Born m 1788, she was married at the age of fifteen, had eighteen children, eighty grandchildren, seventy- three great grandchildren, and five great-great grandchildren. Her father was a general, so was her husband, so were two of her sons, one of her sons-in-law, and four of her grandsons. Six Colonels and a variety of other officers were included m the immediate family circle. For the last forty years she had been the queen of Benares society, and a great friend of the Maharajah. Though m her ninetyseventh year, she managed all her household aftairs till within a fortnight of her death. Letters-bf naturalisation have been granted to Heinrich John, settler, Stony Creek, Palmerston North. The Wellington and Manawatu Railway have agreed to allow the wholo of the unsold sections m the Fitzherbert Block and township of Linton to be open ; for a limited period for private selection at the upset prices. Plans and. schedules may be obtained at the offices of the company m Wellington and Palmerston North. The land may also be selected at both offices. Particulars will l be found m advertisement. We learn that Mr V. Monrad purposes shortly permanently leaving New Zealand and returning to the fatherland.

The Patea Mail observes :— We do not apologise to our readers for granting so much space to the " whiskey cases" as we think it only right that the . evidence upon which so many-.cpuv-ic-tions have been obtained should have i the fullest publicity To tho.orvliuary mind there probably appear many peculiarities m the results of those cases', ..find- if we are to credit the statements vhich have lately gained publicity, the 'Tovernmcnt appear to he very far from blameless m tho matter, and might well »o censured for conniving at a breach of law. Wo do not say it is so, but we do B:iy that the public have a right to know more definitely than at present the position the Government have been occupying with regard to the " whisky makers," as we hold it to be no part of a Govern- ! ment's duty to set and watch traps forits subjects to be caught m. According to the Post an interesting suit is fixed for hearing m the Wellington Magistrate's Court on Thursday next. The plaintiff is Delia Montague Mullins, better known as '• Maggie Baker," and the defendant is Samuel Hay worth, of Dunedin, from whom the former seeks to recover the sum of £69, being the balance of some money alleged to have been lent to him at a. time when it was understood the parties were engaged to be married. The daughter of an Opaki (Wairarapa) settler, named -Adams, brought an action against Mr Price, the Masterton bookseller, charging him with being the father of her illegitimate child. Ho denied it, and the case was dismissed. There is an old woman m Boston, the widow of a French marshal, who now grinds a hand-organ tho top of which is decorated with her husband's medals. She is said to speak the purest French to be heard m the Hub, and her face resembles an English walnut. It is surprising how soon tlie remembrance of important events passes into oblivion. Not one man m a hundred amongst our New Zealand population (says an exchange) is aware that at the time of the Indian mutiny Canada furnished a full regiment, which has since become one of the regular regiments of the line, and is known as the 101 st Foot. The Woodville Examiner says the peach-trees m the district have suddenly sprung into life again. A few weeks ago they were all dead, and there is hardly a peach to he had m the district this season m consequence. Doubtless the continued fine weather has a deal to do with the change for the better The' death is announced ot Madame Sainton-Dolby at the age of 64. An exchange states that this charming vocalist was an immense favorite m London, and was without a rival m her illustration of national music, and m the interpretation of the oratorios of Handel, and other great masters. When at the height of • her fame Miss Dolby married M. Samton, the violinist, and continued the practice of her profession till 1870 when she retired from public life. Her rich contralto voice must still live m the memories of those of our readers who have had the pleasure of hearing her sing our old English ballads. The Otago Daily Times states.' that Mr George Munro, of Dunedin, has just completed a very handsome monument which is to be erected at Wellington to the memory of the Rev. Father O'Reilly The design is m the form of a Runic cross of white Italian marble, standing upon a base of Port Chalmers granite. The height of the monument is 10ft 6in, and the cross itself is very tastefully ornamented. On the top is a design emblematic of Pentecost,, lower down a chalice and stole, m the centre the let-tora-B.XrP^-- Afcfche base of the crosa-is a harp, and m other portions the four Celtic globes, whilst the margin is ornamented with shamrocks. The base bears a suitable inscription m Latin. The following appears m the Napier Telegraph :— -To the Editor: Sir,— ln your Saturday's issue appears a paragraph taken from the Hawera Star about , coach fares differing m different plices — Woodville to Palmerston 17 miles, ! 10s j Parihaka to New Plymouth, 28 miles, 5s ; and why this thusness? Well, if you will allow me space m )'our valu- I able journal, l will explain to you and \ your readers why this thusness. Be- ! tween Woodville and Palmerston is situated an institution, a miserable relic of a bygone age called a toll-bar, and a little further on another one, only on a largerscalo," called a ferry,- where timber h.is bo>eu laying for the last couple of . years for a bridge, but I- -expect it, will be rotten before it is used, it costs a two horse vuhiclo just 10s for lolls for a journey from Woodyillo to Palmerstou and back, but then we are out of the range of civilisation up here. Things will mend, it is to he hoped, when we get a railway through. — I am, &c, A Settler. Woodville, 17th February, 1885. •