LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1570, 1 December 1885, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Government are inviting tenders for the supply of totara piles aud floor ing. Iti the Slivnitza engagement there were 30,000 Servians opposed to 3000 Bulgarians led by Prince Alexander. The rout of the Sorvians was j complete. The personality of the late Mr Alexander Eldur, of London an i Adolaidu, of the shipping firm of Elder, Smith, and Company, has been sworn at £282,000. A deputation recently waited on the Premier at Dnnedin asking that the licensing lawß should be strictly enforced, and suggesting tnat a p Orl j ou o f t j 10 police should be specially employed to iio ho. A reply has been received from the Premier that such a system is not considered likely to work, as the oft'ect would be to make the other members of the force indifferent to tnat portion of their duties. Some beer which was being conveyed to the works on the Otago Central 1 Railway was seized by the police for not having duty stamps on it. A commencement has been made with boiling down scabby sheep on Messrg IngliY runs m Marlborough. The j unoccupied Crown lands are being rapid- | ly cleared of infected she«p. The Waipawa Mail observes that uuder tho Counties Act the books' of County Councils will be easily kept, ami the division of funds much simplified. First of all a general Account will be opened, out of which main roads, etc., will have to be maintained. Then the Hospital and Charitable Aid accounts will bo kept, and the money that remains will be divided between the ridings m proportion to the rates" collected m them. A fi-st and final dividend of la 9d m them £ m all proved aud accepted claims m the estate of S. G. Gamman, is payable at tho office ot Mr J. H. Hankins. Mr Milne, m a tew remarks made on being re-elected chairman for the Rangitikei County Council, said :— " The rate at which Acts of Parliament are turned off — amendment on amendment — is a source of perplexity to tho local bodies, and puts their administration beyond their comprehension. For worrying a cat with dogs a resident of Wellington has been fined 20a and costs 265. The installation of Mayor will take place on the 16th inst. A curious case of becoming dumb suddenly, is reported at Wellington by a local paper. The family were at prayers after spending a qui«t evening together, when suddenly one of the daughters, aged about fourteen, uttered a slight exclamation and placed her hand on her side. It was then found that she had entirely lost the power of speech. She was taken to two physicians, who pronounced the case a most peculiar one, as the child is not nuff&ring any pain, and can hear and see and move about as well as ever. She has simply, from some unknown cause, become dumb. The Westport Times, m a paragraph recording the drowning of a young man named Wilaon m the Little WhaugHiiui river, says it may be worth mentioning that when Wilson first arrived m Westport he expressed to a friend his conviction that something would happen to him here, and insisted upon the friend noting the address of his parents m Inve rear gill, to whom he has now furnished the melancholy tidings of their son's death. The Catholic Times of 2nd October contains the following paragraph : — <; We heir on good authority that the Rev J. J. Grimed, for some time m charge of the mission attached to the novitiate of tho Munst Fathers at St. Mary's Hill, Paignton, Devon, has been chosen Bishop of the new diocese created by the division ot that of Wellington, New Zealand." There must be some error about this, as the division of the diocese has not yet been absolutely determined on. The question is, it is understood, referred to the consideration ot the Plenary Council now sitting at Sydney.

A u< - {respondent informs the Southland Times tlut brickl lycra can do well m Melbourne at present. A steady mnii who left Invercaiifill recently i?ot eni-nloyiiK-nt on tin; day h« arrived at 10a per day. He atftd-s thero will he work m Melbourne for tho nuxt tlirue years to uotnc, and although tho wages are a Sittk: less than m Southland, bricklayers ■•anno', do wrong to follow him. Although there aru luiini-rous brick kilos m the vicinity*, bricks cannot be proInced fast enough to ke>;p pace with he numerous buildings going on. Messrs Scott Bros, have received per s.s. lonic a considerable portion of the material required for the locomotives they have contracted to build for the Government, and expect the remainder shortly. Good progress (says the Christchurch Star) has been made with tiie nswssaryjiron castings and brasswork, »nd it is anticipated that m a fortnight's time the whole job will be well under way Despite tho i% unem- i ployed " cry, the firm have had considerable trouble m procuring the labour requisite for carrying oil the work, I ixpt-iioncing m particular extraordinary difficulty m getting a blacksmith. Owing to the drought which so long prevailed m Swilzerland and Savoy, writes the correspondent of a London I paper, fires, some of them of an unusual j and alarming nature, have taken place m various parts of the country. Two months ago a great turf moor known as the Gross« \loss, near Witzwyl, m canton Freiburg, took fire, and is siill burning, ail efforts lo put it out having proved abortive. The peasants oE the neighbourhood had to get m their crops m all haste and remove their stacks and other inflammable possessions to a safe distance. Unless thoro is a sufficient full of rain to extinguish the fire, winch especially at night, mak«B a strange and weird spectacle, several villages will be m danger. Last week S great part of St. Jenne de Mauriermo m Savoy, was burnt down. The College, the Palais de Justice, and gome thirty other buildings were completely destroyed, the fire-en-gines, owing to lack of water, being unable to act. The Hon. Mr Ballance contemplates addresai g his constituents some time i next month. I The Tuhua, the little steamer that is bring built by Mr David Murray for the Wanganni Steam Navigation Company, is to be launched during next spring tides, probably on Thursday week. Mar ton seems to enjoy a gratifying exemption fiom the universal dullness that pervades all the other towns on the coast. On Friday everybody was busy and everything brisk, aud a visitor from Wanganni sitting down to dinner at Gibbons' White Hart Hotel was stirprised to find that the company at the table numbered over 60. At the Wellington Woollen Company inaugural demonstration Mrs Epuui a N.ilivu Chief taiuess ,\vho was amongst the guests, rose and said m English : I sold you the ground. I want the Company to give me the first drees. [The Chairman : Yes ; you shall have it.] Advancing along the room* m front of thd Chairman and the Premier, Mrs Kpuni agaiu said : I want the first drew. Don't you forget. Mr Macdonald :On behalt of the Directors of the Company 1 have much pleasure m informing Mrs Epuni that she shall nave the first piece of cloth for a dress made at the Company's mill. { Applause, m which Mrs Epuni heartily joined.) Mr F. Richards, Wanganai, is busy with a large order for tinned meat for Butavia, the order having come through a Sydney firm. The contract will mean tho absorption of some 600 head of cattle and the order must be completed, and the meat delivered m Syduey by the end of the present month. The Wanganui Herald states that there is some probability of a New Zealand team of shooters going Home to ta c pert m the rifle competition at Wimbledon either next year or the following. Several of the leading shots of the colony are said to bo willing to go if some encouragement is given by the Government. At Sydney so eager was the crowd to witness the acting of Dion Boucicault that as high as £1 was offered for standing room. So great was the crush that the authorities had to interfere. He received £6000 as his individual share for a twelve weeks' season m Melbourne and Sydney. £500 a week Is liot a bad screw for any man. The total takings for the twelve weeks amounted to a trifle over £15,000. If the present hot dry weather does not suit farmers m the opan, it is highty aipreiiattdby those resident m the bush. A n old reeidont tells us that he never saw such fine feed as there is oh some of the bush farms this season, — Hawera Siar. The Wanganui Herald thus writes of the local water supply : — lf heavy raiu does not soon set m, the town will have to be content with a coupfe of hours' water supply per diem. Those who have to use the town supply for drinking purposes should if possible filter it before using it ; if they cannot afford a filter they can at least take the precaution of boiling the water and letting it stand until the impurities settle. By doing ttiis the worst dangers may be largely avoided.