LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume X, Issue 77, 29 August 1885, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

On our fourth pnsre to-day will be found "A. 'Salvationist' woddine at Manchester," and a column of Miscellaneous Items. The parliamentary correspondent of the Ransfitike? Advocate thinks the Government will be defeated by a majority of three, The Indian Museum, adjoining the Inventions Exhibition, London, lately caught fire, and soon twenty steam fire engines were on the spot. 'The Prince and Princess of Wales witnessed the fire which did damage to the extent of £200,000. Messrs Stevens and Gorton's next stock sale at the Borough Yards will take place on Tuesday, Bth September, at 1 p.m. The catalogue appears m another column. A Wellington gentleman found himsfilf m an awkward fix the other day. The N.Z. Times says :•— At the meeting of the Benevolent Society rather a hard case was mentioned. A gentleman named Carr found himself m charge of a bahy^ and applied to the Society to be relieved of th» care. The mother asked permission to leave it at his house for a couple of hours, and though several days had elapsed, had not turned up. All the consolation he got was a recommendation to apply to the police, We are glad to hear that Mr G. P. Hawkins has dncidod to stand again as councillor for No, 4 ward of the Borough and feel assured the ratepayers of that ward will unanimously support his re-r turn. Tim attempts of the clique to misrepresent Mr Hawkins wo anticipate will meet with the usual consequenoes lately resulting from the unprincipled attempts put forth to damage the character of puhlio .nen,yho do not shrink from a alriightforward and manly performance of their duties, {

A Polo Club is m cmrse of formation ; n Wellington, and it has been decided to call it the " Island Bay Polo Club." A report has been presented to the New York Board ot Aldermen relative to the comparative cost oi: illuminating the streets of the city with the electric light and gas. The electric lights now m use displaced 301G gas lamps, which cost the city 52,780d015, or 112,028-uOdols leas than is now being paid for the electric lights. Resolutions have liei j n passed by the Board to provide for 201)3 more, I which it is reckoned will displace 5345 «03 lamps, the cost per annum of which would be 9ii,537-50dols, or 411,224d01s less than would have to be paid for the electric light. The cost of the 2093 electric lights would provide for 80,557 gas lamps. One of the features at a recent amateur concert m Auckland was the performance of a Maori lady, Mrs Nikorema Poutotira, of the Thames, who sang both m Italian and English. The Vost says that the police have sworn an information against Charles | Civlby, the landlord of the Provincial Hotel, Upper Hutt, for having committed a breach of the Licensing Act, 1881, for that on the 20th instant " he did permit violent and riotous conduct to take place on his licensed premises — to wit, permit certain persons to knock down and grease Edward Irving Wilkie." The case will be heard on Wednesday next, at the Lower Hutt Court. A lawyer is about the only man who ever mads anything by opposing a woman's will. A terrible explosion recently occurred at Fiintkirchen, m Hungary, by which the inventor of a new sort of dynamite has fallen a victim to his own discovery. The man, a German named Lish, resided with his old mother m an isolated house, which he was accustomed to carry on his dangerous trade. He had sold the patents for his new explosive m America and elsewhere. Just prior to the explosion he was engaged m nailing up a box containing a consignment of the material, when suddenly the whole blew up, unroofing the house, and burying the inventor and his mother under the ruins. The Prince and Princess of Wales since their return home have been busy engaged forwarding presents and mementos to persons with whom they came into contact during their Irish tour. The prisoner Paul Victor, charged with larceny from the premises of Messrs Banner & Liddle, and others, of Napier, has been committed for trial at the next fitting of the Supreme Court, at Napier. Hot locust for breakfast has been tried with great success by the head entomologist at Washington, United States. Professor Riley chose the cicada, t)r 17 year locust, which he declares \vould be esteemed a rare bit — regular prejudice being overcome — and fit. to rank with such outof the-way delicacies as frogs' legs, bird's nest, and whitebait. He spent an hour gathering the loensts, which looked beautiful when fresh — "creamy white and plump, and good enough to eat mv." When fried they appeared as small dark brown objects, like tiny fried oysters, and on afhendof the professor venturing to bite one, it proved to be little else than a delicate shell with a flavour far from disagreeable. The professor thinksj' however, they would be better stewed m milk. The N.Z. Times of Aug. 26th says :— A return laid on the table of the House last evening, to the motion of Mr W. .. J. Hurst, gives some very interesting information m regard to the expenditure on Ministerial residences m each year from 1879 80 up to 1884-85. The total amount expended on the Tinakori-road east residence for this period is £1,165 14s 4d ; on Tinakori-road west .residence (now occupied by Sir Julius Yogel), £2,278 7s 5d ; Bowen-street residence, £611 18s 9d ; and on the Moles worth -street residence, £1,135 4s sd. The total amount expended for one year of the present Government's term of office is £2,465 14s 2d, the residence occupied by Sir Julius Yogel being credited with £1,298 3s 4d of that amount, and the total amount expended durin? the previous five years was £3,225 10s 9d. A man named Humphries, wellknown m Rangitikei (sayg the Advocate), was arrested at Patea, yesterday, under rather remarkable circumstances. It appears that some short time ago he entered into partnership with Mr Hammond, m the butchering business at Hunterville, that he went to the Patea disMict, and purchased cattle to the value of £600, and paid for them partly by a cheque on the firm of " R. Hammond & Co." and partly by an order on Mr Hammond. He had no authority to draw cheques m this way, and ; there was no account m the bank. The charge against Humphries has arisen out of the circumstances afore-mentioned. At the Magistrate's Court on Tuesday afternoon (says the Post) Charles Marter, a dealer, sued T. H. Smith, dealer, for the sum of £15 under somewhat peculiar circumstances. It appears that the plaintiff had been the proud possessor of two ancient copies of the London Times, one of which contained a " full, true, and particular account of the Battle of the Nile, and a list of the killed and wounded,'' whilst the second copy recounted a " full, true, and parti cular account of the battle of Waterloo." The defendant conceived the idea of reprinting these old chronicles of the times, and offered to purchase the papers, for which Mr Marter asked the rather stiff sum of £20. . The eloquence, however, of the enterprising would-be publisher, Mr Smith, induced the owner to abate his terms on the Dutch, auction system, until he reluctantly parted with the death of Nelson and the narrative of Waterloo, with the authentic particulars of the meeting of Wellington and Blutcher for the sum of £7 cash and three hundred copies of the reprints. The cash had been paid, but the papers had not been handed to the plaintiff. Mr Jellicoe, on behalf of the defendant, applied for a nonsuit on the ground that there had been no contract. Mr Wardell, although he considered that the defendant was really the martyr m making the bargain, he would give a verdict for Mr Marter for £o. Mr Howarth appeared for the plaintiff. At the meeting held m Patea on Saturday last m reference to starting meattinning works m the district, it was asI certained that the canvassers appointed at [ the last meeting had succeeded m get- [ ting the sum of £1320 guaranteed towards the bonus of .£SOO a -year, which it was proposed to offer to any person or company building the factory or starting the industry. As about £250 more was required, it was decided to adjourn to yesterday to get the balance. "We gather from the report," says the Hawera Star of Monday, " that up to the present no definite arrangement has been entered into with any outside capitalists to re-erect the works after the bonus has been raised. Messrs M'Dongall and Jack's offer is apparently considered to be rather high." The Waitara correspondent of the Taranaki Hera\d writes : — * Mr Holmes, the contractor for the new wharf fop the freezing works at Waitara, is pushing ahead with the work, and expects to coin^ plete the same within a month." A french statist gives the following as the proportionate number of persons killed annually on the railways of the respective countries: — Prance, one m every 2,000,000 ; England, one m every 5,250,000; Belgium, one m every 9,000,000; Prussia, one m every 21,500,000.

A young woman who, through being dissapointed m love, throw herself from the Clifton suspension bridge and escaped \Vith very slight injury' before leaving tliM i'lfintiftry receire<r'uo fewer than three off.; re of marriage. The Melbourne Herald said : Which minister receive the largest stipeud m Melbourne hns'often been, the causo of much discussioa. The Rev D. Jones Hatner, of the Collins-street Independent Church, gets £1400 per annro, which tops the list. The minister of the Scots' Church receives i>looo. The Rev C. Strong, while pastor, was, however, m receipt of 1200 yearly.; The Bishop of Melbourne's salary is £1000 per anuni, and the minister of the Toorak Church receives £800. ( The same arMount is received by othijr ministers of Presbyterian denominations. ;'. The standard m this denomination is fixed at v£3oo per anum. The ministers of the Church of ' England land- ; Wqsleyan denominations are by fartnd'Worst paid among the " black cloths," £200 being cosidered 'a splendid salary amongst them. The Congregational ists pay all their ministers handsomely, and £400 a y efar is a common salary among thetn. The Riiapehu takes about 10,000. carcases of mutton, to the Home, country on her next trip.- • ■ •' - * The Feildingsfor says it is probable that a Feildiug map will; take up the Martou Railway Contrac^iaken over by the Government from the late contractor, Mr Johnston.. " ; :,-; • ;• ,. 'i'r. ';',■■' . A marvellous' well, gmhg'ohffirer and water simultaneously, is owned by an American living riejir Stockton, California. Having r^aohe^xcellent water at a moderate depth wheofainking;a-weHj-tlie owner put a small; tube inside the larger bor«-pipe,»nd bored down to. a considerable depfh^ where he found a. large stream, strongly charged with gas. This bubbled unlike a fountain, and on being tried^bufWed fjb'riUia'htiy; Thus the outer tubeprovi<{ed water, and the inner tube fire :; soi the ingenious American had suitably pipes l?ud von, and how gets a capital supply: of^rinjcing.water from one part 6t:the -well, .while the other providas all ho faeJ for -tht» household, though its illuminating power is not very satisfactory.— -At least so says an. American contemporary. The taste for. horrors is very strongly developed just now m Paris, vwhere the recent seusational murder trials hay* been attended by crowds; pf the upper class, as assiduously as the gala performances at the Acadeiuie. At the trial of Marchendon, recently, ladies fought and struggled for the best places, coming early, and waiting enquene At the doors decked out m their elaborate toiletes. Now, also, the crimes of the prisoner Pel are to form^the theme of a thrilling drama, L'Empoisonneur. The New York World has raised a fund of over £9,000 for ; the pedestal for the statue of l Liberty Enlightening the W.orld," to be erected at New' York. This represents gifts from ho less than 48,526 persons Wo (Hawera Star) understand that' some of the public attending stock sales m this district are not a Wai c of 'a rule which is pretty generally observed by auctioneers— viz., that, the last bidder has the option of talcing the lot at the reserve price. This .is only fair, as uo '- man CjM.) be expected to bid against himself; yet if any other , man had bid against him, the last bidder might' have offered more than he actually did. Some auctioneers publicly state the price whenever the bidding ig at all near the reserve,. saying, " Another halfcrown or another shilling will bny them." Others prefer to try anh get sellers and buyers to arrange their differences privately. When enquiry, after stock is at all brisk, pens offered often briiig the best prices. It is frequently re> . gretted by visitors to this district that reserves are often so much above ruling rates thatit is difficult to believe that they [ are really entered for sale at the hammer sellers relying more upon bargaining after the auctien than upon the bidders' estimates of current values* A new explosive, known, as'kinetite, is at present studied m. Germany. It consists, it is stated, of a mixture of oils and gun-cotton, and is said to be superior to dynamite, and its manufacture and manipulation are absolutely without danger, because it will detonate , only under peculiar and welt-defined conditions of shock. Only the part exposed to concussion explodes, and when fired it burns quietly with a brilliant light. The true composition is being kept secret. . . 'As an instance of the rapidity with which letters can now be sent and re? ceivftd from -'the Homo country (says last Monday's Hawera Star) -we to-day received ••■ from our London tigents a reply to correspondence 'sent from hsre on June 4th last hy the Tongariro. The hoat arrived m Plymouth on the 14th July, and an • answer .from London was ««nt on the 16th, which came to hand | this morning. The 'total time taken I was thus exactly eighty days, from Hawera to london and back. I The unfortunate career of the West Coast Meat and Prod uce^ Export Company, Limited, is thus summed up by the Patea Mail:— " The first general meeting of shareholders to elect permanent directors was held on Wednesday, . 14th" October, 1883. . The first general meeting 'of shareholders to . receive th« report and balance-sheet was held on Tlmrsday, 23rd October." 1884, and the last general meeting of shareholders (for the conduct of business other than the formal requirements of the Act m winding np) was held on Saturday, 12»h August, 1885. Seeing that ho one anticipates any surplus after the expenses of winding np have been paid, one is saf« m snying that the company Bucc«ed«d m losing nearly £800 a ■ month since it started." . , ' Under the new Criminal Code .everyono is liable to be fined forty pounds who wilfully and without lawful justification -or excuse (the proof thereof shall lie on him) disquiets or disturbs any meeting for religious purposes, or m any way disturbs, molests, or misuses any preacher, teacher, , or any person lawfully officiating at such meetiug, or any person or persons there assembled. Talking m Church is a legal offence m the United States. Several young ladies and gentlemen of the best society m Missouri were lately brought up m a police court and fined for this offence, The London Zoological Gardens dtir* ing the last twelve months attracted 745,460 visitors. The number of animals m the collection is 2501, of which 731 are mammals, 1423 birds, and 347 reptiles.