LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IX, Issue 107, 10 April 1885, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A curious thing about the Northern Natives' religious craze is that two of the chief supporters of the prophetess were the largest subscribers to the church lately erected at Kaikoke. two of them having given .£IOO. The church was opened with great ceremonial, and with soleiti religious observances, participated m by a rargo number of tho natives, the Bishop presiding. Seven days afterwards, however, tho principal supporters of it were roasting cats alive as a sacrifice. In a recent lecture Mr Massey, m opening his lecture, denounced the orthodox religion, and later he expressed an opinion that there was no stoppage of tha vital force or consciousness i»i death, but that the mind at the dying moment stood still, resembling tho spinning top when its motion was perfect. " Anglo-Australian" m the European Mail writes : — I have always thought that there was a great future m this country for the utilisation of the rarer woods of the Australian colonies so soon as their beauty and value for cabinetmaking should be fairly well known m Europe. At the late exhibition of the Royal Polytechnic Society there was exhibited a table made of a variety of rare am] precious woods grown m New Zealand, and this table, let me add, wou a prize medal. The Woodville Cheese Factory appears to be doing a steady business. At this season the supply of milk is slightly falling off, but from a ton to a ton and a-half l of cheese per week continues to be the production. The batch of cheese turned out m January is now just ready for market. It is said of tho Duke of Wellington that while m Portugal tie was a regular if not a devout attendant upou diviuo service at the church parade, but always limited the time of its duration, saying to the chaplan, '• Say as much as yon like, my friend, m five-and twenty raiuutes. I shall stay no longer." A scandalous scene occurred m a Welsh chapel recently. One Sunday morning a man named Jones took possession of a pew, when another man named Evans, who claimed to be the owuer of the seat by virtue of his paying rent for it, came m, and tried to eject Jon-s. A terrible fight ensued, the seat of the pew waa saturated with blood, and ladies screamed and fainted. Jones, wiping his bleeding face, remained master of the situation. The case was broughtbefore the magistrates, when the question of title to the pew was raised, aud the hearing adjourned . A Wairarapa paper says : — At a meeting of settlers at Paliiatua the I other day, Messrs McCardle, Whitcomb, | and Sedcole were appointed a committee to see what steps could be taken to start a cheese factory, on a co-operative basis. There are ample supplies for a good factory, and united action on the part of the settlers is alone wanted to ensure success. In an article on the poverty of Great Britain the Melbourne Argus has the following : — A nation which has spent £78,700,000 upon fermented liquors m the year 1881 and consumed 15,000 gallons of wine, 1,000,000,000 gallons of beer, and 37,000,000 gallons ot spirits between the Ist of January and tho 31st of December of that year need not go beating about the bush to ascertain the origin of the poverty which forms a painful counterpart to and contrast with its wealth. For, unhappily; the bulk of this expenditure cornea out of the pockets of the wages earning classes, and the outlay on beer aud apirits covers £90,000,000 of the enormous total quoted above. A question of some interest to members of the legal profession came up during the sitting of the Wellington Supreme Court on Wednesday. The Grand Jury made a request that m the caso of Kenneth Arthurson, charged with false pretences, Mr W. Fitzgerald, who had formerly acted as solicitor for the accused, should attend and give evidence before them. Mr W. FitzGer aid refused to give evidence until this matter had been considered by the Court, The Chief Justice, after postponing the matter for a time, held that there was no privilege m the case, and Mr FitzGerald accordingly complied with the request. The now Governor of New South Wales, Lord Carington, appeals to bo a laud law reformer of the most advanced type. In a speech delivered at Epsom last month, he advocated the " bn rating up;" of big estates by giving the laud authotitics the power of making compulsory purchases. Mr Samnel Vailo, the railway reform er, considers the true commercial value of a newbpaper a penny, of a dinner a shilling, and of a hat a guinea. This he , stated at his meeting at Wellington. In answer to a question from the Mayor, who presided at his meeting there, Mr Vaile intimated his ignorance of the tine commercial value of a working man's pint of beer. Tho Pall Mall Gazette states that the next Royal book will come from the pens of the two sons of the Prince of Wales, Prince Edward and Prince George. It will bo m two large volumes of 500 pages each, and will be profusely illustrated with pictures aud maps. During tilth; voyage, round the world each of the young Princes kept his diary up to date most religiously, and upon these daily entries written on board, on horseback,andin tents.the two volumes willbe baaed. The Rev. J. N. Dalton, who accompanied the Princes, has, we believe, made important additions from his own diary, and has revised the sheets himself. The two volume* will probably be ready m April. A Gazette notice abolishes tho sittings of the District Court of Wellington. Among the passengers by the last mail steamer were Mr aud Mrs Heinus of Auckland. Is this Mr« Hemus nee Mrs Hainpson evangelist ? In a bankrupt estate m Patea the receipts were £316 and the expenses £297, leaving a balance of under £20 to the estate.. The recent frost at Wanganui completely destreyed a magnificent crop of tobacco, grown by an Italian gardener. The Southland Times states that nearly 1,000,000 bushels of grain woro shipped from there last year. It is hoped to have the new opera house at Wellington ready by next Christmas. Mr Chat field, the architect I has gone to Melbourne, to consult with theatrical managers as to the latest idea. Mr James R. Fairfax, one of the proprietors of the Sydney Morning Herald, \ is it catididato for the directory of the Australian Mutual Provident Society. Between 700 an 1 800 persona travelled by the last excursion train from Wellington to Mastcrtou. . I

Tho exports from Wellington for quarter cuiled Mirch 31 amounted to £174,502, of which £154,044 is for New Zealand products, and the balance for I British aud foreign products. An application for a married woman's property protection order was recently dealt with by tho Wellington R.M. His Worship granted the application, and ordered Iho husband to contribute £2 10s per week towards the support of his wife and family. It was also ordered that the wife and ehiMrun should have the use of the dwclling-houso free of cost. Tlie charge against tha husband was for repeated acts of cruelty. The Post records the, following scene which was witnessed on the beach at the foot of Cuba-street on Thursday afternoon. A man aud woman differed over some matter or other,* aud angry words passed between them. Eventually the female became frightened at something her companion said, and rushed into the water up to her waist. The man followedher,and held herheadbclow tliesurfaco for several seconds. His dastardly conduct was wiluossed by a gentleman on the beach, who rushed into the water und compelled him to release his hold of tho woman. The latter was greatly exhausted. The late storm did what a newspaper calls " glorious work" m destroy ing small birds near Christchurch. They were found dead m hundreds. We heard of no such blessitig hero. A rich man was approached on the street and asked to contribute -to a charitable purpose. He declined on the plea of hard times. Just then a third, party appeared. He was a reporter. t( Aro you meeting with much success ?" he inquired of the collector, " I am doing splendidly" waa the repljr ; "just look at that list of names." " May I make a copy of them for publication ?" " Certaiiily." v I guess you may put me down for £101" %vhiepered the rich man. We observe that the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company have opened an agency iv Lauuceston (Tasmania.) la Australia the above .company has agencies at Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Rockhampton, aud Launceston.