LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume X, Issue 1451, 10 September 1885, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

On our fnnitli psiiro (■> <liy will be fnuiiir tlm followim': -CiM« News, The ftonrli-n, Sporting Nmvs. Now (itiinosi, T.-leyratus, Pii'ilican'a Lict-HK • Cancelled, Kasl' and W si C!oast '*<iilw;iy, Tlio \Vrrck of the TCdwin Di'sott; Commercial N<WB, A Rtraine Story, ami Approaching Earthquakes.

Miss Ileieii Taylor was inrited on May 29 to become- a Radical Purlin nnmiry candidate for North Camber VVf.li. An exchange says :— Two gentlemen, one from Canterbury, the other from Wellington, found themselves tjvivelliiiir m the same carriage over the liiinutaka railway. The Canterbury goulleiiii>n laughed to scorn such a ridiculous >iil\vay, tliat was carried over so high a range of mountains at so steep a gra-. ilient. He then railed at the opponents of the East and West C.u.-t Hail way, which he declared c >uld be tdc -u over easy country conuuir d with the ttimutaka. The Wellington gentleman quietly observed that the Rimutaka line was carried 1,000 feet above tho level of the sja, and the Eist and We.it Co<.st line would be taken over a route that rose 5,000 feet above the s*a, and the gradient would ho exactly the same as that on the Ri.nutaka. The Canterbury man subsided. i During the Salvation Army dernonstra- j tion on the whaif yesterday afternoon i (says the N. Z. Herald of a recent date) a boy eight years old, named William . I Lane, (son of Ciptain Lane, of tli-% : schooner Maile,) fell m the crush of people m front of a cab, one of the ■ wheels of which passed over his clu-st. i'he cabman, George Smith, was only walking his horsu at the time. He to.ik tli- little fvl'.ow at once to Dr Tenneut's j surgery, where the injuries to his leg, ' calf, ami hip wcro attended to. After i defraying all medical expenses, the eabr | man drove the lad home to his parents' residence, Selwyn-slreet, Ponsouby. In a leader recently the Timaru Herald dealt with a report made by a i reporter of the Melbourne Argus of sundry visits paid to clairvoyants m that ciiy. Tim report shows what fools people to believe m these socull d clairvoyants, different things were siid about th<j saint; lock of air on three occasions, twice the reporter took it himself, and tlie third time a friend he could trust did so, and on each ocession (he " test" was altogether out. S.iys the Herald : — Some of th« tests were even more convincing. After the usual tomfoolery with lh« lock of hair, a single girl, 23 years of age, suffering from pleuritic adhesion, tho usual result of a severe attack of pleurisy, was pronounced to be about 34, married, and with ail the organs strung and healthy except the digestive organs. A man aboul-46 years of ag< j , seriously ill with diabetes, was pronounced to be fairly healthy, no allusion being made to his complaint, whilst his a»a was vaguely guessed at from 26 to 33. A girl of 16, of perfectly si.nnd health, was stated to be between 23 and 30 years of age, with \.\w left, lung so seriously disuus-d that the llie clairvoyant was doubtful wheMior she would over recover or not ! Talk of the Heathen Chinee ! He has been equalled, if not outdone, by the Parihaka Maori, if the following extract from the Taratia'ci Herald is a '• true hill": — The Maoris have this last few days' bee:: impounding a large number ot sjtVe o' cattle whi'-n was rjnning nn native reserves at Parihaka. The dis tauce the cattle had lo be driven to the pound was about four miles, and the natives were much disgusted when the3' wore told t>y the poundkeeper that they were not entitled to Is a raile: p r h-ad, but only Is a. mile for any number up to 25, and over that 2s. On the next occasion of their impounding, about a dozen natives drove a mob of cattle within hall: a mile of tiie pound, and then commenced to bring the cattl* up singly, with the intention of claiming th •■ Is a mile driving feo on each animal. Fortunately for the owner their tactics were observed, and the claim was successfully disputed. Five sailors were charged at the Resident Magistrate's Court, Wellington, last Tuesday, with having deserted from the barque Formosa. Mr James, Clerk of the. Court, (says the N.Z. Times') drew attention to the Bill passed during the present Session, entitled an Act to Amend the Shipping and Seamen's Act, 1877. Ilia Worship said his attention had not been directed to the passing of the Bill. It was rather difficult to administer laws to which the Governor's assent had not been publicly notified. From inquiries made, we afterwards learned that the Governor's assent was given to the measure on {he first of the present month. Clause 10 contains a very important alteration. It reads as follows: — " A seaman or apprentice to the sea service shall not be liable to imprisonment, for deserting, or fot neglecting or refusing without reasonable cause to join his ship, or to proceed to sea m hi-i ship, or for absence without leave at any time within 24 hours of his ship's sailing fioin any port, or for absence at any ti ue without leav • a id without sufficient reason from his siiip or from his uuty. Two ministers on a pedestrian tonr went into a country public-house and < rdercd a gill of whisky. The refreshment was produced (says the Woodville jb'xaminer) and duly "measured out m two glass's. O.ie of the brethren, reverently putting his hand over his ey^s, a ke 1 a blessing on the grog, while the other tossed off both glosses. With a look of wonder tho other inquired, " Where's my share ?" " Ah," responded his companion, "you should have remembered Iho whole of the Scriptural injunction, that ye should both watch and pray ; for, ye see, ye was prayin,, but yo wasna walchin'." Amazon, Forerunner, and Ascot are scratched for all engagements m Hawkes Bay. The Sydney correspondent of the Arf/us telegraphs that two men were fishing off Lake Mitcquaric Heads, when suddenly they found themselves being towed at an unaccountably rapid rate by a sea monster fully 30ft. m lnngth. It was slate coloured, and had a great horn on a hump on its back. After going some distance the line parted, and the monster made its appearance close to the boat. It made a groaning kind of noise, the men being unable to secure it. The whirlgig of time brings many changes. Only the other day (says the i European Mail) we had the announcement of the first Jewish peer m the person of Sir Anthony do Rothschild, and now wo note that B iron Ferdinand de Rothschild presided over tho dinner for the Metropolitan Fr»o Hospital, whMi took place at Willis' Rooms, and his health wis proposed by Cardinal Man ning. Fancy a Cardinal toasting a Jew ! Two hucidred years ago he would have preforrel to ro.tst him. The Otago Daily, m the course of a loading article on the Exhibition says : — '' No doubt thore has. b-jen penny-wise parsimony, an insufficient stud}' of the complex motives which attract visitors to an exhibition, and of the way to make t'lom use their eyes when they are there ; not enough taste ; too much rod tape ; aijcl. above all, too many masters to please. But over and above these defects, the fact remains that this is the best, tho lara"es% and the most representative collection of New Zealand manufactures that has ever been gathered together ; that m many respects it is the best display of tho industries of any Aus tralisian colony that has yet been seen, that there is a great deal to ba learnt from it by an intelligent visitor, and that I thousands of persons are learning useful lessons from it and acquiring knowledge which will add to the wealth and happiness of the c )lony. When this can bo fairly said by imp.irtiiil persons of sufficient experience. tn mako their judgment of value, tho Wellington Exhibition must be pronounced a success, and Sir J. Vogol is entitled to the thanks of the colony for investigating: it.

Experienced lumbermen nave alway held that timber cut m the spring wa> t tot <]iirahli: t'»r building purposes. 11" u< nt auientiru: investigations sustain thi.belief. It is shown that the richer thwood is m phosphoric acid and potas siuui tlio moro likely it is to rut a fid mo ild ; wood cut m tho spring contains cijrht tinv.'S us tmioli ot! the latter as wlis-ii cut m the winter. As showing the euvcta of a little trouble m the way of attention to young shrubs and tre«s, it may ho mentioned (says the Rnniiitikci Advocntc) ..that a ' settler m this district has experimented with tho following result ;— Two years ago he raised frjm seed a number of. | blue-gums, wattles, pines, etc., which j were planted out last year. Two-thirds ; of the number received, twice during j the season, an application o£ the hoe j around the stem, (he weeds and grass being thoroughly cleaned out. These trees are nosy from six to eight feet high, and are healthy and strong. The remaining one third r-ceived no attention whatever ; a good many died off, ! the remainder have h;id a struggle for ' existence, and tho best of them are not more than two feet high. With a view of getting . a thorough test, the shrubs ■ and trees which were attended to were taken indiscriminately, so that .nothing m the way -if Bh>>lt<*r or situation could be-' reckoned on. Settlers, will see, m I this experiment, the importance of giv- ' ing a little lima now and again to clear, i ing away the rubbish and grass around I the stems of shrubs and trees. With fruit trees this is all the more necessary — if a good crop is desired. At the half-yearly meeting of the ! M'-rcury Bay Timber Company a divij dend was declared at the rate of 10 per j Cent. The strike at the Onehnnga Iron Works has ended, most of the men returning' to wn-k. " ; The hansom is now the most popular vehicle m New York, and it is especially popular among women. Many fashion- ' I aid ■! ladies use it to go and come from church. A bank failure at Dunkirk, N. V., has developed the curious fact that about onefourth of the families who have boen living on public charity the last winter had money on deposit m the bank. Here is an example (says the Lyttelton Tiir.es) worth recording, worth imitatiug. Messrs Scott IsMthw.s' foundry will be closed from Thursday night until Tuesday morning, tho reason being that employers mid emploj'ed arc run ning up to Wellington to see the Exhibition, and profit as far as possible tlu-re-from. Th* parti', .numbering 50 or so, will bo under tlin guidance of Mr George Scott. Tho firm being anxious that their apprentices should lose no chance ot : an expansion of ideas, generously pay half the expenses. We hare no doubt that the experiment will ultimately prove to have been mutually advantageous. On good authority the Wanganni Herald is able to state that McDonald and D-iddy, the Tuhua prospectors, have left Kikikihi, and have entered the bush country again, thus putting an end to all rumors as to their having been turned out of the King Country.