The Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. MONDAY, MARCH 30, 1885. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IX, Issue 99, 30 March 1885, Page 2

Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. MONDAY, MARCH 30, 1885. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

. ... f, ■ There are four Ministers m the Free Church (Scotland whose united" ages amount to 360 years. - Dr Beith', of StirJin^. (formerly of Oban aiiu* Glenelg), is .88 : Mr t)ewar, of Fochabess (the last of the •Strathbogio heroes;), is 88 ; Dr Mackay, of Inverness, ia older ; s»nd Mr Waters, of Burghsad, is 1)4. All these are preaching every Sabbath. The Taranaki Herald writes :—Aa showing how simply accidents may sometimes happen we may mention a mishap that bef el a young woman named Lilian liusden, a domestic m the employ of Mr R. Cock. She was hastening from the dining room into the'hall to answer a call at tho front door when she made a spring to avoid stepping oa a cat and kittens that were lying on a mat m the doorway. On touching the ground her rifht foot twisted and her foot broke just above the ankle. Dr O'Carroll, who is attending her, has found it necessary to set the broken limb m cement. Roulette having been forbiidden at Boulogne, au ingenious manager has invented a game which he calls "The Railway," and which,', to all intends and purposes, is exactly : the same as the prohibited game. A miniature train of cars is set running on a circular track, and the fate of the players' wagers is determined by the nainA, the number, and the color of the point where it stops. Writing about the late Christmas festivities m Edinburgh, a correspondent says:—" In regard to sobriety, the newspapers have generally declared that tho season has been an exemplary one ; but I must confess that to my observation the improvement claimed was not apparent. Notice has again been taken of the disgraceful amount of 'drnukenuGss among boys and girls not far into their teens, and I must add that Ido not remember bofore seeing so many womensome of them otherwise respectable m their appearance — reeling about drunk. Certainly there has been a very great change for the worse m this respect during the last ten years." We {Star) are glad to hear that cheesemaking operations at the Makino Butter and Cheese Factory have so' far proved very successful. The company have manufactured a considerable quantity of cheese of excellent quality, and which will soon be roady for tho market. The apple crop m and around Feilding (says the Star) lias this season been a very prolfic one, and some growers say they have more than they know what to do with, and that they have quantities of the fruit rotting for want of a moans of disposal. Notwithstanding this, however, apples are very doar m Feilding, and m tho whiter this article will have to bo imported. Why does not someone start a fruit dessicating industry, uud so disposo of all the spare fruit m tho district, which would be a- paying business? American fruit drying machines can now be hail very reasonably,

Although tho gross railway revenue for the financial year (says tho i ost) will probably fall short of the Colonial Treasurer's estimate tho reductions which have boon made m expenditure will almost, if not quite, counterbalance the deficiency, and leave the net receipts above working expenses, equal to expectations. The system of excursion trains, recently inaugurated by the Hon. Mr Richardson, has had a most beneficial effect on the railway receipts. Tho manufacture of all the railway wheels and axles required on the New Zealand lines has now been commenced m the Hillside workshops, near Dunedin and it is found that the wheels can there ho made actually at a less cost than has hitherto been paid for the imported article, while the quality is much superior. A gentleman interested m the sheep trade informs the Hawkes Bay Herald that during the past year 00,000 sheep which have been driven by road would have been transported by rail had the charges been more moderate. Mr Blake, the leader of the Liberal party m Canada, is organising a political agitation with the view of demanding for the Dominion the power to make its own treaties and to alter its Constitution without reference to the Imperial Parliament. Probably the most astounding elopnient ever known is one which took place at Cardiff recently, when a woman" of 02 ran off with her father-in-law, who recently celebrated his 80 th birthday, taking with her nearly i-800 of her . husband's money. The advisability of creditors proving m all estates was shown to-day (says the Napier Telegraph of Thursday). Several creditors m the estates of Oliver and Batten did not go to the trouble of proving, because it seemed unlikely that there would be a dividend. To-day they turned up m joyful expectation of receiving twenty shillings m the £, but found that they were not only m the same box as those who had proved m having to wait, but it is now almost certain that they will not be paid at all, and m addition could take no part m today's proceedings. A London hop report of January 28tli states that of English hops the stock unsold is not large, and better prices were expected. The report adds that Australian hops are very difficult to sell. Those English brewers who have tried then] compkin of their deficiency of strength and flavour being so great that they car only be used to advantage m combina tion with other kinds. The nominal price of New Zealand hops is quoted al £1 . 15s to £L 10s per cwt. Says the Taranaki -Herald: — A boj on the breakwater this morning had a very unpleasant experience. He was standing on the edge of the pier, haying just got a bag from one of the passen. gers of the Oreti which was lying some ten or twelve feet below, swaying to ant from the concrete wall, and grindihf; against her fenders. A passing trucl struck him, and he fell head first to wards the gaping space between tin steamer and the wall. He would cer tainly have been crushed to death o] had his bruins knocked out by striking the iron bulwarks of the vessel had noi Mr Ryan, of Hokitika (who is here on t visifc to inspect some land), rushed for ward and caught him m mid air. Petitions to both Houses of Parlia ment praying them to pass measure; rendering the employment of barmaids unlawful are being numerously signed h Auckland city and the suburbs. The district may be congratulated says a Wellington paper, that the Wei lington Woollen Manufacturing Com pany is at length an assured fact. Tin Chairman of the, Directors, Mr T. Ken nedy Macdonald, stated last evening tha contracts for the erection of the Com dany's mills would be commenced im mediately after tho meeting of share holders, to be held on the 14th of nex month. The desire of the Directors was that the erection of the mill should no be proceeded with until the Directors hai paid for the land and the requisite ma chinery. Mr Macdonald expressed him self strongly upon this point, as he sai< that many otherwise promising loca ventures has been wrecked owing to th too sanguine anticipations of sharehqld ers of public companies. At any rate the Directors of the Woollen Conipan; had determined that the mill should no be started until it had been paid for b; the shareholders' money. About twenty persons — members c the Trades and Labor Council am others — assembled at the Coffee Palace Dunedin, on Wednesday evening, fo the purpose of discussing a scheme c land settlement submitted by Messr Bolt and Carrick. The scheme, shortl stated, was that about 160 familie should form a company, take up 10,00 acres of land m some favorable locality and form a settlement where land woul 'be considered common property, and th whole of the products of labor fairly di vided amongst all the laborers. Thei what each man has acquired from th divison should become his individua property, to do what he liked with. Th people of the community should unit for the purposes of production, and a the same time they should enjoy th same individual liberty which they no\ enjoyed. After some discussion, it wa resolved to adjourn further consideratioi of the scheme for a fortnight, and M Aris (secretary of the Trades and Labo ' Council) was asked m the meantime t< write to Mr W. L. Rees, of Auckland, t forward particulars m regard to hi scheme of land settlement. , Balloon races are to be started m Parts A steeplechase de buttons is annouuc cd. The start will take place at som point within the fortifications, and tin , the church spiro of one of the neighbour ing villages will be fixed upon as th winning post. It will then be for th : jockeys, or rather the captains, to ex plore the different strata of the atmos phero till they meet' with a favourabl wind, and the more readily and skilful, ; a balloon is manoeuvred m this- prelim mary search the better chance,of course it will stand of reaching the appointoi destination first. Otherexperimentsin bal • looning were to take place m Februar Great things are expected of an " aerif 1 velocipede" just invented by an amateui ; The motive power is supplied by pedal 1 as man ordinary bicycle or tricycle. M ; Godard will make a trial trip about th : same time with his new "aerial torpedo. 1 a species o£ military balloon designed t accompany an army on a campaign. M ' Godard says that with this balloon it wi ' bo possible for him to take his statio over a besieged city and drop into i two thousand pounds weight of bombs.