The Manawatu Standard. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. THURSDAY. AUGUST 20, 1885. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume X, Issue 69, 20 August 1885, Page 2

Manawatu Standard. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. THURSDAY. AUGUST 20, 1885. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

On pur fourth page to-day will be. found. an extract m reference to Sir Julius Yogel, Sheep-breeding m New Zealand,,., and 1 - Garden Operations for August, . But lew farmers are aware of the heavy weights sometimes attained by the large breeds of sheep. Some of the breeds, as managed m England, exceed 300 pounds. The average weights for ten months' lambs at Smithtield, England, m 1884, show that the growth of those lambs from the special breeds is very rapid. The lambs of the Hampshire and Wiltshire Downs averaged 204 pounds ; cross breeds, !lßß~pounds ; Oxfordshire!-, 178 pounds ; Cotswolds, 176 pounds ; Sbropshires, 153 pounds ; Southdowns, IGI Leicesters, 129 pounds. At the age of tA\enty-on9 months the weights were as follows : — Hampshire and Wiltshire Downs, 293 pounds ; Oxfords, 292 pounds; Lincolns,|2B3 pounds ; cross breeds, 270 pounds ; Kentish,- 253 pounds ; Leicesters, 244 pounds ; Shropshires, 239 pounds ; Southdowns, 210 pounds. Here we notice that the Southdowns fell little below the Leicesters at twenty-one months, and exceeded them at ten months. Magisterial Logic. — The following is a fair specimen of a dialogue which frequently takes' place m police courts : — - Magistrate (to vagrant) : " You say you have nowhere to sleep ? Did you find any money on him, officer ?"— Officer : •'Not a pehhy.'^Magistrate (to vagrant): " Then l fine you 405." ■Xbung Sibaith is greatly smitten with the Qharrns of Miss de Moni, whose excessive modesty is" only equalled by her father's wealth. The affection, however, is altogether one-sided. One day last week, as he was *' sitting out" an evening, urging his suit, he accidentally lafci his hand on! the sharp end of a per pen dieuiar piny ■" that pin I" -he'exclaimed on the impulse^, of the moment. Seeing at once he had made a- m istake, ; he inquired, after a long and awkward pause, " Miss de Mbni, did you hear what I said ?"« Yes, sir, I did," was the response. " Well," returned he, *• Y;(fttmusn't believe all you hear." - Tlie temperance movement is causing quite as great a stir m Victoria as m New Zealand, and m that colony some of; the re formers appear to bo as unreasonable as they have shown' thomsejveshere. The Melbourne Argus of the 17th inst. tells lis that "The temperance question proceeds with the usual intemperance." In the course of a, singularly sensible article on the subject, the Argus observes :— We aro happy to believe that between the two extremes stand, both m the Legislature 1 and m the country, a great mass of moderate men whose sympathies are with the spread o£ temperance, but who decline to adopt crude, fantastic, and unjust proposals which they see must | defeat themselves." A special from London, dated Jaoe^iGsays:—The defeated Premier; whom "the wild mobs' million feet ** kicked out of office one week ago on tlter question of a ninepenny tax on a bafrfcf I of J)ter, fa still more than ever tho^idbl oftheiiiob. Hewaagjeeted^with applffuse when he .rose, m t!jw» ' House to anuounce that the Marquis of Salisbury had consented fa f o«S a Ministry, and 1 as hb left tlie H&use; lookkig p*|& ante b worn; hey wfik loudly;' applauded. A "■crawdiof'i^veral hundred persons ran [after hi« ; carriage and cheered him at : rote*yafe. Mr Gladstone, settled back mMa cushions and ; stared straight 1 anead, but there was a, complacent look m , his face which seemed to show that - the applause of the common people- m nhtthottr of aoj^sed defeat wu as music iv his ear.,, Since 1873 horses' in Great Britain Jjiavo only increased by 138.00 C. cattle" 4 ?v3os;oGfc' piffs^OOO, while sheep have decreased. 3,399^00. Chicago possesses a Chinese qirnrtet • which is honeycombed. with subterranean galleries at a depth of thirty or -r forty : feet from the surface. , First r«de boy : " Hsy, man jock, a can see ye paid yermither for patcbin' yer breeks "t Second little boy : '• 1100 d'ye ken ?" " Becns ye've gotten Iho re-seat to prove it." ..A .Maori weddinfr, aftor the pakeha fasbio.n, jww oeiobratod at Hulconibeon Wlonday (says the Advocate. The servico was performed by the registrar of births and' n>arrinises— Mr Purkiss. The bride .v^hpivras jnst m her teens was attired m a priut dress with no headdress, but carried a sunshade (a most unusual tlniig, considering the weather.) The bridegroom was. attired m the nsual Eurcrpean fashion. A large number of Maoris were present to witness the celebration. "There are pood and bad points ; about this coffee," said the boarder m a judicial tone. " The good point is that there is no chiccory m it ; the bad -point is that there is no coffee m it." The Advocate says thai the coarse- of the Rangitikei river is making a dead set against tba banks below Mr McKelvie's house, and unless something is done acres of land will bo demolished ; m fact it is quite possible that a flood' or two may bring the river to the- road. At the beginning of last summer we pointed this out, and urged that the matter should receive attention. The unexceptionally summer passed away, and an unexceptional winter is now almost over, yet nothinW'has been done. There may yet be a lainy season with heavy floods, and should there be, the council will regret the postponement o£ this work. It is a matter which must receive attention sooner or later. To give some idea of the damage done by the river it may be. stated that Mr McKelvie has lost, m his way, at least 500 acres of land. Every littlo frPßh m the river takes away more land/ Had a £100 or so bnon judiciously spent m protective works, a lot of land would have been snved ; if delayed much longf-r, ten tiiw»s that amount wi'l not prevent the road from being destroyed' Mails for the Australian colonies, 'the United Kingdom, and the Continent of Europe via Molbonrne, will close at Bluff on Friday, the 21st instant, at noon, per Tarawora ; due m London on October 18,

The contest for the Mayotnlity of N-w Plymouth, which took place »M Saturday last, between Mr James Paul and Mr John Murray Gibbes, resulted m a tie, encli gentleman |><>lling 125 votes. Mr Paul was di clared elected on the casting vote of the returning officer. Last year there we.re imported into New Zealand 1211 pianos, 119 harmoniums, and 111 organs. The N, Z. Times says : — A gentleman who arrived from Lytteltou a few days ago slates that I lie captain of one of tluUnion Company's boßta was much ex- ' ercised m mind over the erratic way m which the compass veered about just 1 after clearing the Head?, The captain ; made a minute investigation^ but could discover no clue, until at length the thought struck him that * lady who was : standing close by might be the uninten- | tional cause. She was politely requested j to retire, aud then th<j compass continued on the even tenor of its way. Some Bteels which formed part of the lady's dress were thus found to have, been the cause of a change which, on a foggy, night, might havo proyod disastrous fa * all on^ board. The ' gentlemau who vouches for this statement is connected with one of the largest manufacturing firms m ths Colony, and does not treat the matter m any way as a ' jbVe. How soon a lady is detected of steeling. We have to acknowledge the receipt of No. 16 of Hansard. At Napier the Harden Star Hand Grenada ati od a very "severe test, putting out a gavere flame m a specially prepared building, the woodwork of which had been daubed with tar and drenched . with kerosene. The firo burnt fiercely, blown by a strong wiud, and the byo standcrs were strongly of opinion that the test would be against the Grenade, but on two of them being thrown iuto the flames, the effect wna striking, as m a remarkably short interval the fire was almost distinguished, and all danger over. The proprietor of a tannery having erected a building on the main street for the sale of his leather, the purchase of hides etc., begau to consider Wrhat kind of a sign would bo most attractive. At lust what he thought a happy idea struck him. He bored an augur hole through the door post and stuck a calf's tail into it, with the bushy end flaunting out. After a while he noticed a gray r a loo<in£ prrson" standin*; near the door, with spectacles on, gazing intently at the sign. So long did ; he gaze that finally the tanner stepped ..out and addrussed the individual : 'Good morning !' ' Morning,' replied the man, without removing his eyes from the sigh. ' You want to buy leather?'—' No.' 'Want to B*ll hides ?' — • No.' ♦ Are you a farmer ?' — ' No.' 'Are you a merchant ?'— -'No.' ' Lawyer ?'— ' No.' "Doctor ?■'■— « No.' •Mini-terr—No 'jWhat m thmtder are you ?' % I'ui 'a ; philosopher. ' I've b ;cu standing liero half au hour trying to.decide how that calf got through that augur hole, aud for the life of me I can't make it out. Oce hot summer's day m the long ago (writes " 2EIgW m the -'Australasian)," young Hartitn Scarein was taking a couple of stud rams' up to his father's station. The way was hng and dusly, and tho whisky he had with him was so. good that he punished it severely. At length the "enemy "he put into his mouth stole away his brains-," and he determined to have a lark. Taking the rams out of the hnggy hepjaccd them m sight of e.ch other, and toojc his position on a log to watch the contest. At it they went hammer and ton gs, and each time they drew back for a fresh charge young Harem cheered them on. "Go it a hundred and seventy guineas ; go it two hundred and fifty !". yelled the youth. Presently a " hundred and seventy " dropped " two hundred and fifty "as dead as a door nail. The explanations young Hnrein made to his father are not ou record. '-. - .