LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume X, Issue 1453, 12 September 1885, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

; On our fourth page to-day* will be found the following : — Football, Com-^ marcial News, The Wanganm Borousrh Ci uic-il Ctses, Wha* n Torpedo Can Do, and the End of. the World. .. Tradition says that faminas occur m Japan every 40 or 50 years. Modern history records great famines m 1040, 1673, 1730. 1781, and 1835. This is the ' fiftieth year s'nce the last great dearth. The climate has been very irregular for the past few years, and droughts and floods have been experienced m various "province". This year atmospheric changes hava been very violent, and old people who witnessed the famine of fifty years a<ro ar? entertaining apprehensions as to the recurrence of the dreaded calamity. The Rangitikei Advoca c understands that all the cottages fit to live m are now occupied at Haleombe. What with the number of sawmills m the vicinity of Hajcombo, which, are kept busy just now, and the large export ot firewood, s l .abs, posts, etc., all hands are fully em ployed. It is estimated that there from 50 to 100 female medical students studying at Paris. Amonsr them there is a 'coloured woman from Cincinnatti, U.S.. who has passed brilliant examinations m her own country, and was said to be distinguished by her zeal and. intelligence. Thursday's Hawera Star sayß : — The Maoris at Oeo were greatly delighted with the eclipse yesterday. When told of it about a week before scarcely one of them believed it. They have rio record nor tradition of anythinT of the sort having ever before occurred, and cheered .loudly when it was going on. They express great wonder at the cleverness of the Pakeha who can predict such events. It is seated that it will be 500 years bePore a total eclipse, visible m Great Britain, will occur. • The most remarkable ride ever accompanied on a bin vole was completed ron June 13, when Mr H. R. Goodwin, of the North .Manchester B. 0. reached London ' Tro-iri Tihnd's End, and made a record of 2,050 miles m 19 days. L^aviris: 'Land's End. on June 1, he reached John' o' Groats m 7& days, and arrived at the starting 1 point' m less than 16 days. Thence he rode up to London, and arrived as stated on the .19th, feeling fresh and well. Mr Goodwin rode a 40in., "Facile. 1

Tlie gri n hiuno:i.' >£ SwijUnja was displayel at an action sale m Perth lately. The stock s>ld was that of a bankrupt undertakn-, bat the demand was so light that o le c >ffii sol 1 for eightpence, aid three of lers were disposed of m one loi for five shillings. . An estate valm.l at 1,500,000d015. has been m litigation m the Brooklyn courts for thirty-two ya.vs. All the original heirs, two of the lawyers, and one of the trustees are dead, an! the surviving trustee is over ninety years of age. The other day, says 'the World, a match' between eleven of a well known' girls' school m Surrey and eleven- of the ladies of the neighbourhood took place. ! The ladies .wore their usual costumes, and the schoolgirls were attired m white tunics, Eton blue caps and sashes to match, black stockings and white knickerbockers. They also wore red roses as a bidge, while their opponents wore white. The school werethe victors— making as miny as ninety nine runs m their second innings — and retired a vi I great applause, wearing the white roses of their opponents. . The popularity of the Wellington Exhibition may be guaged by the fact (says the Chronicle) that nearly a thousand people have left Wanganui for Wei- i hngton since the opening oc the Exhibition. Supposing each individual excursionist spant £5 on the trip this would mean a loss of £5030 to the district. In our own opinion fully 30 per cent, of the excursionists spent over £10 per 'head m the Empire City, so the amount of money expended m Wellington uiust tie r very large. This will account to some extent for money being so tight, and things generally so bad m Wanganui. The full programme of tiie entertainment, m aid of the Public Library, to be given by the Palmarston Musical and Dramatic Society, on Friday next, ap-' pea.s in our advertising columns. . Some time ago Mrs G-arfield gave exPresident Hayes a momento of liar hnaband, which is kept with jealoii3 care m Mr Hayes' Fremont home. It is a small brass calendar, with the months, days, and years on little cylinders, to be turned as time goes on. This was. -.always on Garti eld's desk, and he used it for years m his Washington Library. He took it to the White House, and made it a rule { to i turn it each morning, thus reminding himself of the right date before beginning the day's work. On the morning or July 3, he turned the cylinder and iinis'ie some business before going to hisd de.uh at the .depot. The little calendar was never regulated froiil that day, and regains now as he left it on that fatefnl morning, marking •' Saturday, July 3, 1881. 1 '; „- ■■— ' ■-; It is estimated that it will cost the Russian Government £400,000 a year to keen the Central Asiatic railway, when finished, open, . and the receipts of the first year are not expected to exceed 200,000 roubles. An exchange says: — From' the manner m which the property tax assessment is being made out, and from the instructions issued to assessors, it is? thought the Government are supplying themselves with information with a view of substitutinga land-tax for the property-tax, and of cutting down the £500 exemption to On Satnrday, August the 15th, a foothall match was played m Melbourne between Kssendou and South Melbourne teams to decide the premiership for the season, for which no los 3 than 18,000 persons paid for admission, 12,000 tickets beins; sold some, days before til ; match came off, to prevent a rush at the gates. The match resulted. in a draw, three goals each, but the South Melbourne had the advantage of seven beltings, besides once hitting the post, and m the start of the. game one of their best men wad hurt, and had to leave the field, so that they actually played tho match with 19 nfen. Two years aep a similar match '" between these teams resulted the same, three goals each, and drew 16,000 people. A rather amusing incident Csays a Cnirstchurch paper) took place at a sale of household effects at Kaiapoi a few days ago. Some Maoris were present, one of whom rejoices m the euphonious name of Captain Cook. He was the fortunate bidder for a lotof damask table napkins. On being handed the 'lot, the auctioneers' clerk demanded rhe money, but the Maori was not possessed of the requisite specie, lie stated that his banker was inside. The clerk could pot sco the jo'<e, and evidently thought h" was victimised, when, to his snrprise.the buyer lvtnrned with his banker, m the shape of another Maori of venerable* appearance, who lugged out a sreasy old pocket-book- •' How much the hoot ?" Raid he. " Oh," siid Captain Cook, " give him a £20 note." The old man funihlrd over the corners of a roll of notes, and, selecting one, slowly drew it out and presented it to the clerk. The clerk gazed at the note with amazement. "Why," said he, « it is a £20 note sure enough, and I can't change it !"" The Maoris had a quiet gria at his evident discomfiture. The Uitenhage Times, a Cape paper is responsible for the following,:— Some gentlemen recent? v got into<!.a,.boat on the Kahnijiimvß river after dar<, and gently drifted down the stream, with a lantern m their noiva. They came into a shoal of mullet and springers, and the lantern was literally st'oniied by them, the excited fish swartned into the boat, so that our friends had fo pull to avoid the boat swamping. On counting. .the result they found themselves m po=ts«Rsion of 712 fine-plump fi*h. Not a disagreeable experience of their evening's cruise." At the Afbenajnm meeting 1 on Tliurarlav night (says, the N". Z. Times) Sir William Jervofs said he had often listened to statements that thi work of the Christian Church had been a failure. After referring to what it had done for the world, to the abolition of slavr-rv and duelling, and to the substitution of arbitration for tho sword, his Excellency made a local allusion. If it had not been for Christianity, did th°y think a number of gentlemen would havo bsen debating thn Question of the expenditure of £500,000 for the last three nights ■?■ Not a bit of it. They would have drawn the sword, and the ground would- have been strewn with their corpses. Mr L. G. West, the Secretary of thn Fire: Brigade has courteously sent us a post-card intimating that a meeting of the Firo Brigade will be held on Monday eveninc, at 7 30, at Mr Lmton's Office. We have to thank the Secretary for his thoughtful consideration m giv ing us timely notice of date and hour of meeting, as also for the intimation that should it not be convenient for us to attead,the. Minute B <o'< &c, will be at our disposal afterwards. We only wish Mr West's evident desire to furnish the pr<*Bß with every facility for obtaining information m reference to the proceedin ?a of meeting m connection with the Brigade was more generally manifested on the part of official representatives of 6th«r similar organizations. We alsto notice, that the Woad Board now intiuiatPß to the local newspapers date and hour of its meetings, which is a,ne,w and oommendahl* "departure from ths formerly existing order of things. The members of the Salvation Army are going to have a " CoffVe Supper" tonisrht, the proceeds of which is to be devoted towards tvirehasing three instruments for the Band from Mr Carroll of Uio Clarendon .Flotfl. Whooping Cough is venr prevalent just now, a large number of children icing affected with it m different parts of the town.

The English billion — a million millions—has set Sir Henry Bessemer calculating He reckons that a billion seconds have not elapsed since the world began, as they would reckon 31,678 years, 17 days, 22 hours, 45 minutes, 5 seconds. >A chain of a billion sovereigns would pass 736 times round the globe, or lying side by side, each m contact with its neighbor, they would form about the earth a golilen zone 26ft 6in wide. This same chain, were it stretched but straight, would make a line a fraction over 18,328,455 miles m extent. - For measur-ing-height, Sir -Henry cho3e. /or a unit single sheets, pressad. out flat and piled vertical upon each other .which would make an altitude of .47,348 miles. Vienna will this year be the scene of a congress of philologists who are anxious that the world should adopt a universal language. Mr D. H. Guthriej late master ijf tie Halcombe public school, priorto his leaving Halcombe, for Terrace End (Palmerston North), to take charge of the school there (says the Rangitikei Advocate) was entertained by a number "of his friends at a supper, on Tuesday night lasti Theusual number of coihplimentary speeches; were made, and a i written address was; read by Mr W. Bel V chairman of the. meeting, who presented it to Mr Guthrie,. along with a beautiful tea set and urn. Mr Guthrie feelingly replied. : We (Rangitikei Advocate) learn that a number of Maoris m this district were greatly alarmed at the eclipse of (he sun. One Maori, working- a team of horses m a paddock, stopped his team and betook himself to devotional exercises. • Mr R. Parr, of the English and American Coach Factory, who (says the Rangitike Advocate), -has been doing a lot of work for settlers m and around Palmerston, has been requested, and has consented, to open a branch establishment Ui that town. "We have no doubt that Mr Parr, with his' usual " go," will succeed m his new venture. Early one Sunday paorning Miss Camilla Hammond, who resides at Victoria Parade, Fitzroy, near Melbourne, was awakened by heavy steps m her room. She at once called out " Who is there?" to which a man replied, "Don't be alarmed, Miss Hammond. There is a small fire next door, and I .came to tell you o£ it. A constable came with me ; you need noot be at all alarmed, Miss, there is no danger," ..The man. then went down stairs, Miss Hammond followed and saw two men make their exit by the front door. Upon return to her room she observed that her unwelcomed visitor had succecled. m carrying off a purse containing halt-a-sovereign and 12s m silver. She' also missed a . tin cash box, . which fortunately contained only receipts and other documents.'. An examination of the house showed that another room had been ransacked from top to bottom. It is conjectured that an entranje was affected by means of a skeleton key. The Evening Press says : — Detectives Christal and Campbell, for arresting the five seamen belonging to the Formosa, on Tuesday received £10, there being £2 a head offered for the men's recovery. The detectives, with a veiy praiseworthy spirit, have, we understand, determined to hand the reward over to the Old Men's Home for the purchase of tobacco for the old men. Last night's Eangitikei Advocate says : — Yesterday we received at 4 o'clock an important telegram winch had been put into the office at 2.40. The department must be well aware that telegrams so long delayed m transmission m the afternoon are useless to evening papers, and that the proprietors of such papers are put to serious expense for nothing, besides being deprived of the chance of supplying their patrons with important news.. ,JNb private firm could do business if it conducted its operations so unsatisfactorily as the' JSfew Zealand Telegraph Department. We may also. po : nt. out that we received the whole eight slips, of the above message m one batch. Had we got the message a couple of slips at. a time, aswe should have got it, we. should have been able to publish it last evening. The Manawatii Herald learns that the friends of the boy Murraj , who was recently sent from F.oxton to the Hospital at Wanganui, have received a letter from the lad, stating that he is doing very well, and is being well looked after. As this district contributes to the funds of the Hospital, it is satisfactory to learn that patients are pleased with the treatment they receive. What might have proved a seriou3 accident (says the Manawatii Herald)happened on the sea beach near the Hydrabad on Tuesday last to one of Mr G. Coley's drivers. The man, whose name is Moredin, fell from the dray, but fortunately alighted on the ground parallel to the wheel, which scraped along the side of his body and shoulder, missing the vital parts. There was- a fair load on the dray at the time, and the man had a narrow escape of serious injury. A partial eclipse of the moon takes place oh the 24th of this month. • .*■; An incidnnt, (says the Post) which at first threatened to develop into a tragedy and eventually resulted m a termination that was decidedly comic, occurred 'on Wodn-sday afternoon. Mr Hainep, bnt'li'-r, while driving down Cuba-street, i accidentally k'lofkr-rl down a sin nil boy, about five years of ape.' As ihe Hi tie fellow tVu] not ri«e, it was ■fnariMl he was seriously hurt, and several persons ran to his assistance. A gentleman pic/korl h'in up, and at once carried 'him to Dr Cole's surgery. While opeuinsr I lie gate, lie plab^d /the boy on the pavement, when, to %c Astonishment and amusement of the isyii^iKsrs, the youngster suddenly took to his lieels as fast as he could. As may ba imagined no great efforts were made to catch him. The Manawatii Herald states that Mrs Rumsey, a well-known settler of Otaki, had a narrow escape from drowning m the Otaki river last Tuesday. There was a slight fresh, and the woman foolishly tried to wade over. She was .carried-ofE her feet, and washed down i fully 100 yards, when a woman named ! Hemi Kipa m a very plucky manner plunged m and with a good deal of difficulty, Mrs Rnmsey being insensible, got her ashore. This is a case decidedly deserving of the Humane Society's medal.