LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume X, Issue 18, 19 June 1885, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Mr jValton's oahrass ip connection with the insurance agitation has resulted so far m receipt of names of insurers m the Square, and amounts to (he'txlenl-of £'47,275. These figures only represent insurances on a portion<>£ t\\e SquarV; and ilr, Walton believes wheH^nie lH»s completed his tour the totaj amount will be over! £50,000. >;. j The [Resident Magistrate Sit %aseby hasdecided that " poker "jia hot an fin*-' lawful game. | The British Government r&y^OflO a month each if orr the Massjlia; the Lhsf- • tania, apd the Coptic. ' . ' On'Wjednesday, the 9th at half past Baven m the morning, there will be hji eclipse of the. sun. , - . • Mr Rbtemeyer went down to Wellington yesterday on business m connection with the recent salo of the Westoe estate. |* •-■-.. • " "■ ■'■" Mr,Rpe, of the Denbigh Hotel, Ferlding. is enlarging and greatly improving his sample rooms adjoining the hotel. A Railway Reform League has beon formed m the Wnikato district, nnd printod forn)B of n petition to 'Parliament havobeen forwarded to chairmen of County Councils to secure.- signatures. Th« League holds to the belief that tlie railways should he regarded as commercial aiid industrial, high whys, and maif"agpd'lpi!B with ah -eye to profit than with a vi«Mr to encourage' trade 'and open up and. and develop the resources of the Colony] ■ i i ( , i :,... , Nearly half the iriembersjof the British Cabinet are- widowers,-! | , .ft... ■'. . •Sir'W^Haiii Pox's methods of glorifying teinp*ranco m Now Zealand are (says aj contemporary), to say the l«a«t ' *of Mlioin, peculiar.' Speaking iuthe North of 'Enghitid th" other day ho lionsk'd (hat. after eight years' hard work (lie. rcffti'.ners ha 1 aholinhcd. '.oho piihlic-flioiisu m tin: Colony, and, that " us tlijero wore 2200 lfcenscs, he tirtlcii-l.-iLoil it would take 6600 years to get rid of |he lot."

A very tfooil example to candidates for the minor offices m connection with uiunioip.d i\ni ollior iiil'airs has been sol by Mr G. R.W. Diilrymplc, at Masterton. genltamnn waa nominated us one of -tlie- auditors of the Borough, but finding .that- there woru two oth«r good men :iipminated he withdrew his tiaiw, notifying' his intention m the following iiitter siddiv.aard to th« Upturning Officer: « Sir,— [ bog Imvo to witliiliiiw my candirluturi! as auditor for th« Borou^li, as Lfind that an^ .elwcjtjoji. \y\\\ ..cost .the. BoVpfigli"£3 or "£4, ' wliich, I thiivlc, -If saved could ho much better spent m street repairs, &c, iuu) I feel Hiiru that the other two candidates, Messrs Sell*:' and; lorns/ will do full justice- to Ihb V>urgessea for their foe of £5 5s each. Overcrowding ia Ulkod of m London, bnt even there it would bo hardly possible to find a 1101180 such as tlia onr describ.'d 'by Pastor Sloejkor as existing m Berlin, arid where one thousand .two hundred and fifty eight pi-rsons live, and with only 0119 door leadiug into the street! • ' ' ! The first -volume of Hansard, embracing the period from the fi ret- -session? of 'the Assembly m 1854 until the appointment of an official staff of repbrters^ m 1 867, has just been, ia/nod. .-.; It wilt he remembered, says.tljo Yeoman, that tho .idiji of (toljccliuij reports. of tlioßo earlier dobntf'S orginated with Mr Macaudrew and on h motion mnved by him being carriod, Mr M. Fitzgerald wan selected for the poßtof-snperinteriding, t)«c publication. The .Wellington Times has been foroured with a copy of tlio first A'olnine, and considers Mr Fitzgerald has made the most of the materials at his command. The author of "John Bull and ■his> Woinankind" relates tjint osih night ho. happened to attend a blue ribbon meeting, and on leaving tho hqll ho engaged a cab to convey him to the railway station, and upon alighting from it, observed that cabby hud got a yellow ribbon' in hiVcoat?,4»« flfelcod him -what

lie meant, to which he repliod : " Ati, you have been to the water-drinkers —to the Blue Ribbon meeting, sir? I . .b.elotig to tlie'Yelfnw IfiWYon "A'miy, I* do." '• Indeed," replied iiux, O'ltell, "• and what do they do m the Yellow Ribbon Array ?"" Why," he -auswered,- --" you eats what you like, and yon drinks whit you like, and you don't cure a v « for nobhdy." ' ' ■ ■' A pedestrian named M'Kenzie was credited with accomplishing the following remarkable performance on March -lat.Seghill, ;wii bin an hour, viz., walking 4| miles, picking. up 20 stones a yard j apart, walking .backwards ,100 yard**, wheeling a barrow 100 yards, carrying a 7ib weight m each hand 100 yards,. Ati 801 b woight on his back 100 'yards, picking up 10 potatoes a yard..' apart with his ino.ulh,hpppiii£ 100 yards, carryii£§£un ogg m a teaspoon 100 yards, jumping m a sack 100 yards, running .100 yards, rolling a barrel 100 yards, :nhd drinking a gill' of ale through n .pipo shank. The walking occupied 34 initi 20 sec, the stone-picking 3ii)in, walking backwards 28 sue, the hopping :.4C sec, the egg, and ladle performance 50 sec, and the whole ' 13 were accomplished iv 55 mm 38 sec. . There are now only 1355 Justices of tho. Peace m the : colony, ; ' '. • The English Admiralty hiVo ordered 1000 cases of preserved moats m 61b tins from the Wolli'njjton M««at Preserving and Refrigeration Company. ' It is well known to Colonist! that two sons of the late Charles Dickens are settled m Australia— the one at Silverton, m New South Wales, and th« other m Hamilton, yictnia. It will be heard with much regret that' there, is reason to fear that a brothet of theirs, Inspector Jeffrey Dickens", who was the officer m charge of Fort nit, ha* been tnsissacred by the Indians; who captured tins outpost a few days, rigo ■ before- G-enerai' Middletou could relieye it. It is believod that 25 policemen and 30 civilians perished. In his Lenten pastoral, the Roman Catholic Bishop' of Gal w-ay says that m one parish iv his diocese there are at thu present moment over 30 families under notice of eviction— owing renJ for patches of land froiniwliieh no Uoil could extract' the present rent's and a tolerable subsistence — and that they are debarred from appealing to the Lund Court oh sbt'no technical ground, and have no prospect but the workhouse. We understand that tho main cause of delay m calling for tenders for. tho Gorge liuo is owing to the bridge situ ovt^r the Polungiua not being quite settled — Woodville Examiner. Id a lending article, the Tarantki Neios says that it has been found, m reference to the export of huttnr, that the most suitable knga for landing the butter m good coudition m the foreign markets is that made of ta.wa with galvanised iron hoops. The butter sent m these kogs dot'B not retain any taste of tho wopdj but is iti variably .turned out m excellent conditioti. We would'rocommend our farmers to pay due attention to this important matter, m order to save disappointments. A. witty old physician, on meeting a neighbour's ducks m the road wass.iltitnd with the usual " Quack, quack, quack !" "See here," he cried to the neighbour •" keep those ducks at home or I'll shoot em. Th«?y are indulging m personal remarks." A sceptic who was badgering a.simpleminded old mau about miracles and Balaam's ass;' finally said, " How is it possible for An ass to talk like a man ?" '" Oh, well," remarked the honest old believer, , with meaning emphasis, I don't see why it ain't as easy f«r au f.ss to talk like a man as it is for a man to talk like an ass."