LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume X, Issue 56, 5 August 1885, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

On our fourth page to-day will be found Sporting News, and a further extract from the N. Z. Times with reference to the Industrial Exhibition. A shocking accident (s'aya an exchange) occured on board the steamer Woondna when off Botany Heads. One of the slug holes suddenly b!.?w out, and an immense rush ot scalding steam and hot water .poured into the main origine-room. The chief ' and - second engineers escaped without injury, but Robert Dell, a trimmer, was caught m a blinding cloud of steam, and being m a partially siiffoeiated condition, rusho'l backwards and turned m the wrong direction for safety. He ran to the corner of the engine.rooiu and. remained there for fully three quarteis^of an hour until absolutely boiled. The other hands m the vessel were unabln to render any assistance. When the body was recovered it presented a horrible spectacle, being literally cooked. The Feilding Star says.: — Apropos of " Old Grumble's '* article m last Saturday's issue on " Rough on rats " we may mention a circumstance which happened m Fuilding last week, and which should be a caution to all house wives. A lady made a pud-Hug putting into it what she thought to be some spice. The pudding when tried, tasted rather bitter, aud on that account waa discarded and given to the pig;. Snffice it to say that it afterwards occurred to the maker of the puddiig that ivKtoajd ofjhe intended spica-ghn— -tout tn--adverteutly usJHliome' ''"Rough ou rats," which made her very ill, and was at least" rough on "the pig, which died, while she fi>rtu nattily, after many measures for the expulsion ot the poison, recovered. ' The return match between the Wanganui aud Man a watu /football teams is to be played here on Saturday, the 22nd inst. Great ravages have been made by sir .y dogsworiyingshoepjn the Featherston vicinity during the last week, says the Wairarapa Standard. . On Tuesday last, Mr. W. Hodder found between '2o and 30 of his sheep "killed : aud Mr* Monckton has also been a sufferer from the same causa The Home correspondent of the Lyttelion limes writes:— A banquet was given last we/k by the Honorable Company . nf 'Leather-seller?, at which Sir John Hall, ox-Pr* inier, appeared m tln» capacity of a " Leather- seller," and made a capital speech. As a member of tho eiiild he was, of course bound to maintain the ancient privileges and ex pressed his gratification that the Government which had attempted to put an end to the ancient institutions of the Cify of London, had itself come to a sudden and untimely Phd. Mr Oliver also niado a speech on the occasion, expressing hia pride that he had been a member of the Government presided over by a member of the Leathprsellers' Company. He referred to the cordial relations now subsisting between England and the Colonies, and expressed thb belief that if England continued to treat the colonies m tho future as she has done for the la«t 30 years, the connection between them would exist for ever. An inquest was held m Melbourne on the 15th July on the body of Andrew Gu-rin, who for many years had obtained a living by selling: candles to cabmen, lie lived at a boarding-house m Bourke-stn-et, whore it was generally believed m consequpnee of his appearanco, that ho was badly off. Recently he became very ill, and was removed to the Hospital m an emaciated condition through want of food. He diod on Sunday from tho offsets of chronic disease of the lungs and starvation. When his effects were Rearehe.fi by tho police, papers were found which showed that about £720 was lying at tho various Banks to his credit. A settler on the Croydon Estate named W. G. White, and his son, have suffered somewhat severely from an accidnnt which resulted indirectly from rabbit , poisoning. They had been engaged during tho day m laying phosphorus mixed with oats, and on returning to their hut a white vapour was suddenly observed to be issuing from the pocket of the lad, caused no doubt by some phosphorus finding its way there. Tho father saw the poison at once, and commenced rolling his son about outside m the hope of extinguishing the fire. But ho Avas not successful, and the lad, whose side from his waist upwards was rapidly becoming enveloped m flames, rushed to a creole near by and jumped m. That, put the fire out. The boy's right hand and arm were burnt so severely as to leave the bone boar on the upper part of the hand. In his endeavors to save bis child's life (says the Mataura Ensign), Mr White himself 'was somewhat badly burnt about the hands, the left one suforing most, and the odour of the vapors emitted by the burning phosphorus seem to have so aifected him that suffocation might have ensued had he not desisted from his endeavor to extinguish the. flimes by rolling bis son about and ordered I'' 8 hasty departure to the creek. As it was ho ' suffered considerable interruption of the breath, and ho will ppobably exercise the greatest care m dealing with phosphorus m the future. A lawyer, who had engaged passage to America with a friend, lvcived a teleerram while mying farewell to his friends on tho deck of the steamer, and immi-d'at'-ly ordered his luggage ashore. " Wlnt does ibis moan?" "It's too bad, but T can't go," replied thi Inarnsd cniins 0 1, " one of mv rich clients has just died, and i L * T dwi't s\\y to look •tftcr Ips estate his heir will get all the money."

The London con>s;)Oii«leiit of the Argus, writing on 29th M;»y, five's souits very iuterostins* particular* of the Hrennan torpedo, IL« h-ivh :— ll Tho Aclmiralty granted to tho inventor the use of a tvHtiiii.itG on the upper tier of Garrison Point Fort, Slieeruvsa. and .a torp u.d.> factory was eroded outside the fort-with a tramway running down to the sea bendi. With theso advantages and ample sea room m front, the -preliminary trials have taken place, and tlio mechanism has •been so far perfected as to admit of an official inspection. This has Droved so satisfactory that the Admiralty have already agreed to adopt the torpedo as a p.Art of the national armament. Accordiug j;o. report tha.jnvcntor is; to have a very handsome reward, and various sums ranging from £49,000 to £100,000. are mentioned, while it.is positively asserted he has been paid £10,000 on account." There is a wonderful difference between the rate of speed through the wat*r attributed to tliicn torpedo by the Argus correspondent and that, ascribed to it .by Mr Smythe. the G-ovunmiHit Instructor, iv his lecture a fartnigjit a^o. Tlie former put' it down as 40 miles per hour, and the litter stated it was only 9 or 10. Jerusalem! lias lately bnen the prey to a severe water famine. In consequence of the great heat, which has set m earlier than usual, and m more acute farm than lias been known for a long period, the cisterns within the city were exhausted, and even the springs m the environs yielded but . little . water. A corresponded (says the Jewish Vj^orld) describes'the lieartrouding scenes witnessed clay after day as the water dealers brought their precious cargoes into th& dityat a price i'beydhd tlie means of tho thirsting poor. The demands of the dealers roso daily, and it became a common tiling to B<Se the poor bartering necessary articles of clothing for a drink of water. The Lyttelton Times says :—The influ'juce oE the temperance party m the recont Presidential election," which it; was claimnd, by Mrs Leavitf, if .we remember rightly, they virtually decided,was greatly over-estimated. It was confidently anticipated by the teetotal party that the prohibition vote would mount up to 2 iOO,OOO, and Mr St. John, their' candidate, talked hopefully of 1000,000. It turns out, however, to have been- ho more than 42,000. The total rote of the nation was 10,030,057. [n.the State.of Maine, the citadel of the pnrty, only 2,160 ballots were cast for Mr St. John, or scarcely more than oae m fifty of the entire vote. There is to bb sv Sal vatiori Navy' as well as a Salvation Army,' and Salvation commodores will soon be as'plentiful as Salvation generals. 'Booth, ;of that title, presiding at tin* annual May meeting of the Salvation Army, June 1, m Exeter Hall, London, au'nounced that a gentleman had given tlia "Army" a yacht, whifh was to be the nucleus of a_ large Hoot of waf vessels to carry on the fight on sea. The yacht would be launched on the Thames early m July, whou'lie hoped to see the river covered by boats of the Salvation Army. D'iring the evening a gentleman offered £50 towards maintaining the yacht. Tho following-arrangements for the approaching Napier Ftre Brigades • coini--petition were .mads at "the meeting 7 of the [•Muancial Committee last Friday -'m, addition to those that wwre'telegraphed. The appended prize list was agreed to : . —Hose-reel Hat competition—First prizej trophy * wbiih £20, medals j-i5,? nntlcash £80, total £115ps«tiondj total of £30 ; third, total of £20; Engine practice—Eirst prize, total of £85 ; second, total of £20; third,, total of. £10. 'Hoseand ladder—first p>iV, total of £85{second, total of £20; third, total, of £10. Hose and hydrant—Fj-st.prizia,. £15; second, £10; third, £5. Singlo 'handed engine practice—First, £11; second, £6; third, £2. Ladder race (one man)— First, -M ; Bocond, £2; third, £1. Alarm and rush—First, M ; second, £2; -thirds £1. Flat rabeFirst, £3 ; second, M\ third, £1. Tug of warr-Prize of £10. Total £477 10s. 1 In addition to this it was stated that a.; very substantial prize would be awarded ' m. the ladder and rescue cohipetition, a special event subscribed to by the ladies of Napier. It was resolved that all entries for the competition must be - m the hands of the secretary by lstjDecember, and that the drawings for places take.place on the 2nd December. The. daj's for tlie co:npetition to be held were fixed for Wednesday and-Thursday 27th and 28th January next. Candour.— Mistress (catching .the butler helping himself to a glass" of " 34 " port)—" James 1 I'm surprised—." Mr James—." So am I, mu'ui. 1 thought you was out." '.■-.■ .A magnificent young stag, aged three years, was exlnbitel at tlie Gear Company's shop, Lambton Quay, Wellington, on Monday morning. The- animal, which was sho£ on the .Mesars Reid's station, Motn-tapu, near.. Auckland, on •Wednesday last, will" be cut np on ,Fri-: day next. , " ' • ' Un Monday last the Evepitifi: Post issued a four-page " Exhibition Supplement, with a sketch of the interior and front elevation. The following is the monthly report from the Central School, which was read at the School Committco meeting last Monday night :—" I have tho honour to submit my monthly report: — Average roll 332, average attendance 257.05' ' highest attendance 280, number now on roll 333, number admitted 17, numb<r left 14, number of times sohool o'pon 40 During the month the contractor (J. Fraser) completed the roofing and repairs to the school-house. Ihave much pleasure m informing you. that all the pupil teachors under my tuition belonging to this school as well as Ttu-ruceErid wore successful m passing m their res pecti\ re classes at the late examination, making an average of 65.02 marks." '