LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume X, Issue 1455, 15 September 1885, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

On our fourth page 10-day will be found :— Cable News, Russia and England, Spain and Germany, Australian NewpJ'l elegrams, Political News, Commercial News, The Soudan, Twiturod to Death, and Miscellaneous Items. The aggregate losses by fire m the United States and Canada during the month of May* are computed at iil,7oO;000. v The museum of Sfc. Petersburg has a bank, note probably the. 1 -oldest inexistence. It is oI: the Imperial Bank of China, issued by the Chinese Government, and dates from the year 1399 before Christ. - In Glasgow there exist endowments, left expressly to found schools, amounting to no less than £431,171. German charfcograpers have issued a new map of the Western Pacific, constructed to show the region included m the administration of" the New Guinea Company. The total area of New Guinea is estimated by them at 305,000 square miles, of which the German protectorate embraces 08,785 square miles, the English protectorate 86,800 square miles, and Dutch New Guinea 150,755 square miles. The German New Guinea Company has sent orders by cable to its officers to break up the factory established by Dr Finsch at Bentley Bay, near East Cape, as thajr territory has' been assigned by treaty to 'England. In the gossip of a Victorian paper the following anecdote of Waring Taylor occurs : — On one occasion a friend entered his warehouse, and among other things, j Taylor showed him a handsome plate, valued at five guineas. Whilst inspecting it, the plate accidentally slipped from the gentleman's hand, and was smashed to atoms. Disgusted witli his carelessness, he relieved his feelings by a choice little swear. Turning to the philosopher he saw a look of sadness on his face, and he expressed his sorrow for what had occurred. Taylor replied, uMy dear friend, the loss of the plate is noth- ' ing, but lam grieved to hear you take j the name of God m vain." A few weeks I after that speech, Wellington knew him j to have been for months practising a series of swindles. So much for philanthrophy.

The following: figures m, connection with the volunteer corps m this district are taken from the annual report laid on tlva table of the House :— Staff 2, Wan .sranui Naval Artillery 58, Alexandra Cavalry 63, "VVairoa Light Horse 48, Wariganiir-' Rifles 68, Wangamii City Rifles 63, Royal (Marton)' Rifles 64, Taranaki Rifles 50, Garrison Band 26, Patea Rifles 51, Manchester Rifles 78, Palmerston North Rifles 47, Inglewood Rifles 55, Rangitikei Mounted Rifles 40, Wanganui Collegiate School Cadets 63, Taranaki High School Cadets 31. Messrs Stevens ami Gorton have been appointed agent for the " Patent Acme Barbed Wire. Company." Timaru, whose goods the local firm can now supply m any quantity. . > All statements of real personal property must under the Property Assessment Tax be sent m to the Commissioner of Property Tax on or before-tha 2lst October- Forms can be obtained from any postmaster, or local assessor. The Executive Council of the Exhibition have decided to accept the offer of Mr Te Ao, M.H.R., to provide twenty Maori girls, from Otaki, who will give three entertainments, consisting of dancinffjjiiiginsr, &c. A shoqkihg accident occurred at i Inghiun'g n nil works, Hunslet, near Leeds, on July 1. The \vor-:s include an old.threci-stqry tiuilding;* of which two tipp-r stories w<>re stowed witli great qiMiitiHoH of nails i i dags. About noon th«sc fl iurs ijavii way, savis one small portion, atnl inisniiorv, micliii>ery, and iron-wor; descKtideil upon the people employed on thn bottom Moor. After Ncveinl hours' work six yoimar iqarriod women \veri> eitn'uttod &n4 Qi)o man i&riously jujgrcd, ,

A tmlluck, (s.iys tlic N. Z. Times) which Ins broken loose from a mob landed at Ksuwtirra- -by •'•tlw stcainer Stonn-iir.J, created considerable .sxbite-m-ut iv tii-3 streets of ihorndon on Sunday afternoon, several tiarrow escapes from injury taking place. In one instance, two gentlemen who. were fctand^ ing talking near tho Railway Station, did not notice the beast until tt had charged them, and it seemed impossible that they could escape. One of the gentlemen, m running away slipped and leij', the enraged animal going clean over him. Luckily its attention was drawn off, and the gentleman made a safe retreat When last" seen, the biiU I lock was m the vicinity of Sir James Prendergast's house, Bolton-street. I According to tUe Auckland Star,- the King of Samoa ia likely to visit this Colony bo4j^fi-^FaoeJt^Nicoll, and will probably 4rrT#^ft§fr"Qn her return flip. '^^-^S^v.* ' „, iTwtf*|t«B| of St<|cjsc{)h m W.-llington' ori Suiulay* by th~e 'Manapouri.; The purpose oitheirStrip (says the N. N. Times) is to rais- funds for their instittition m Sonth Australia, the d'-j-ct of which is tlio maiuteriahce of orphan children and destitute persons', no distinctions of creed being mad?. Th« sisters have be«n vory successful m i the other towns of the North Island. \

A medical man has called the attention of the Duiiedin Herald to the danger of allowing empty jun or fruit tins tobephyed with by children. He has had several cases of blood poisoning, the result of scratches from these- vessels. Only ; the other " day a little child scratched his fijig<»r with the ragged rim of an empty 3im fun; Within a few hoifs blood-poisoning set m, and m about three days the child's arm was swollen about five times its ordinary size, -iuid the swelling quickly spread to thebody. Since then the child hasdi-d with the. most viruleut symptoms of blood poisonuig. , There was to have been a meeting at Mr Lititon's room last evening m connection with the Fere Brigade, bnt as the number reauired to. form a quorum did. j not put m an appearance* no business! c&iild be transacted The 'followiujf ar« the names of those who attended. M cssrs A. S. Bentley, TV Wray, T. T. Kcrslade, Keys and Haybittle. > Recently'lihe body of a man was found hanging from a tree m B ittersoA Par.'c, Loidon. It was itoneotakento iho murtuiry, when the following letter was 'found iv hia clothing:*— " l have been out of work for righte m mouths. My wife hasa private income of her own, and h'aß deserted me, taking the pride of -iiiy 'heart, my littlo daughter, with her. This is th'o third time I", have tried ,it. Hoping that this will be successful, air so that I shall be forgiven by my Maker; farewell." " The surveyor of- tho Feilding Small Farm Association J Block, Mr Mountford, (says the Ranjjitikei Advocate) reports that the quality and nature of the laud iv the block exceed his utmost anticipations, there being very little if any really broken laud, and a large proportion being almost dead level. The bush is light, there being very little undergrowth, and there; is* a remarkably good supply of 'water, several small civeks running through the whole length of the block. W« also understand' that the Government has guaranteed to make the branch road from the Kimboltonroad to the Oroua river, which will luiu# it to. within a mile and a half of the block. , ...... The special of tho Advocate says that it has been decided by the Waste Lands CommitteH to defer the question of the petition of oh) soldiers for land grants till next " session. The members from the South Island were strongly m favor.' of refusing all claims, as the evidence of Colonel Hauluin was most adverse to them, but Mr Ballance was able, to effect a postponement till next session, as there is not -tima to deal with each petition on its merits this year, but it is certain that very few if any will.be entertained. There are noarly a hundred petitions before the House, and Colonel rlaultuiii has examined them all, and reported unfavourably on nearly all.

On Tuesday (says tho Evening Neios) a strong hearty looking young mail, about 25 years or age, begged food m Napier. He was apparently a German, anil a recent . arrival. According to his story he eoiild not get work, and wanted food. ' He ate that supplied him raven-, ously, and went his way, after stating that he. had been to the ■ sergeant of police, who had threatened to lock him up because he asked for -advice what to do. - Captain Macdbnald, of the barque Edwin Bassett (says the Post), desires, on behalf of himself and his crew, to thank the settlers of Pakawau and Gol ling wood, and Captain Fairchild, of the Hinetnoa, for their kindness under the circumstance of the recent wreck. Mrs Skelley, wife of MrC. R. Skellcy, of Sandon, underwent a painful operation at Bulls, bn Thursday. She had been suffering for some time from cancer m the breast, which had grown to such large proportions that it waß necessary to have it cut away to save her life. The operation was successfully performed by Dr Connolly, of Wanganui, assisted by Drs Skertnan and Frond, and the patient is progressing as favourably as could be expocted.— Advocate. One of the latest on dits m " society " is to the effect that young Earl Cairns (whose father's personalty was prot'ed : under no less than £148,000 the other, day) is paying his addresses to the buxom offspring of a wealthy Australian millionaire at whose house he is just now a frequent visitor." Paterfamilias, says rumour, views the match %v\tl\ favour, but the young lady, who bears the reputation of being ambitious, is suspected of hankering aftor a peer, an older man, who lias for some years past been one of the great prizes of the matrimonial market.

A telegram received from Mr A. McDonnell, o£ the Wanganui prospecting party (says the Herald), states that they have sent on the packhorsrs, evidently .having m.ide up their minds to get into the country at an early date. From the Undersecretary to the Native Department a telegram has been received, staling that the prospecting license cannot .be extended to the Rangitoto country, but that the party must restrict themselves to the Tnhua country. Mr Pilmer (says the Herald) has received word from the Hon. Mr Ballance regarding the actionof Mr Wilkinson, the native agent at Kihikifti, to the effect that that officer has been requested to report as to his action m the matter of stopping the Wanganui prospectors. On Thursday replying to MrTnrnbnll wlio asked on whose authority the charge against Baron Mollwoo for taking money at the doors during a Sunday lecture at Masterton had been withdrawn, the Premier said - the withdrawal Irad been on the authority of the Mipister.of Defence, because the alleged offence did not come und<r the Police Offences Act. Although entries^for.the Fire Brigade' demonstration need not be svnt m till December (says tlm Napier Telegraph) trains from tlve following places have already Rignifiod their intention of coming li'Vu, mm- ly, South Dunedin, Martoii, Wansranni, New Plymouth, ttaniriora, Timaru, and Auckland; the latter hopes Napier will show Duuedjn huw to manage » demonenatiQn,

Lwt-evjiiiuJf nli-i'if tvtjutv Vn\nnt>.et un-ler co ivuinri of Lijut. E. Johmtort wiMit , tljroit>oi 801^ very creditablo ffkinnishing with blank cartridges, m the p vldocka off Qrey-street. At the Clothing Factory a very neat and handy article for the use of travellers canjie 'purchased for a trifle. The speciality m question is a patent rug or book-strap arranged to take any size parcel without the strain that is usual with the ordinary leather apparatus. Some wags were walking around art agricultural implement store, and they I chanc ad to see m the rear a dressed- hog" hanging by a hoo'c m 'the"w;all; ""Ha I ha!" cried they ,to the young man m -.attendance, •* what sort of an agricultural implemeiit do you call;;0wt ?" "That," said lie " is a; patent combined root grubber, corn iheller, apple grinder, gate lifter, double action,. bac'< spring sod plough ; but X.gu^yon won't want ©ne; : for: it takes »f mightj smart mfn to , manage" 'enS."^ ' -' ? **•>■■ ''■-'