LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 61, 1 July 1876, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Rev. P. P. Agnew will conduct Divine service to-morrow morning and evening, at the Masonic Hall. In the evening the rev. gentleman will choose for his subject, "Judas Iscariot."

At the Resident Magistrate's Court this morning, Thomas Godfrey, who was charged yesterday with an assault with intent on Miss Sophia Fercns, was sentenced to six months* imprisonment with hard labour, in Dunedin Gaol, for an aggravated assault, the more serious charge not being proved. The following persons were fined for allowing cattle to wander at large :—James Reid, one cow, .'ss. (id.; Patrick M'Cluskey, two cows,

At the meeting of the Harbour Board yesterday, it was resolved that two large photographic views of the town and harbour works be obtained, and handsomely framed, and forwarded to the Government, to be hung hi the General Assembly Library, for the use and information of members. This is an excellent idea, and we would respectfully suggest that medallion photographs of the members of the Board should be neatly fixed all round the frames, the said frames to be made of concrete.

Mr. Thomas ilussell, of Auckland, must have been slightly riled if the following from the "Southern Cross" be correct:—"lt says that when Mr. Thomas Russell was on his way Home and passing through California, he asked Mr. Ralston, the well-known hanker, to invest £2,000 for him in the famous Co;n.«tock silver lode. Mr. Ealston dissuaded Mr. Russell from buying at the time, as there v.ms fear of the lode running out; and that he as well as others were selling stock on that account, and he showed the transfer books of the concern in proof of his assertion. Acting on his advice, Mr. Russell did not purchase, unfortunately for himself, for soon after the silver ore was found in far greater richness and abundance, and had he then invested, his £2,000 would now, we are informed, have been worth £50,000." A Home paper says that the value of the continuous brake for preventing railway accidents was clearly demonstrated on the Somerset and Dorset railway, near Evercrccch, on one occasion. As the up express from Bournemouth was travelling at a rapid speed, the driver noticed a man in charge of a cart-load of hay opening the gates of the level crossing some distance ahead, and proceeding to cross the line in his cart. At the pace the train was going a collision seemed imminent. The guard, however, applied his brake, which is that known as Clark's continuous chain brake, and which, by means of a chain running the entire length of the train, is simultaneously applied to every wheel. The train was brought up in time to allow the cart to get over safely. They must be addicted to dilatory habits at Hokitika. The " West Coast Times" states that at a recent sitting of the District Court, his Honor Judge Weston, in alluding to the number of adjournments applied for

by the learned gentlemen engaged in civil actions, said he had some experience in Courts, but never saw such a thing as he did that day. Case after case was called, and counsel were unprepared to go on. Parties to the suits would naturally expect their counsel to be ready. If he were not averse to injuring either parties to a suit, he would refuse the adjournment asked for. The only way in which he could account for the delay was the civil actions were so rare in Hokitika that perhaps the learned gentlemen were not quite alive to the practice. The following from the "New Zealand Mail," under the heading "A Lecturing Senator," will serve to show the kind of article —by courtesy called representatives — Otago sent up to the Assembly to represent it : —" Mr. Seaton (member for Caversham) is a sample of raw material in the rough (very rough). It is not likely that he will even now be manufactured into any article of elegance; of course his original utility will remain despite this. He will succeed by force of character. Last night Mr. Stout introduced a bill to amend the licensing laws. Mr. Seaton was opposed to that bill being read a second time that day week; and when the Speaker asked all who wished it to be so read to say'aye,' Mr. ..Seaton said ' nae' con strepito—' nae ' being the nearest possible approach of the inhabitants of Valparaiso to the pronunciation of the word ' no.' Mr. Seaton was disappointed when he found that parliamentary practice would compel him to hold his ' nae' until the noes were called for, but an honourable member near him explained that there would be an opportunity for those who expressed their sentiments by ' neighing ' to do so." A murder case awaiting trial at the Cuddapah sessions was, according to the Indian papers, expected to give rise to much legal discussion as to whether the circumstances justified the charge. A juggler, who alleged that he possessed some power which rendered him "bullet-proof," invited the prisoner hi the case to aim at him with a loaded musket, assuring him that he might do so without the slightest fear of producing auy painful result. The prisoner accepted the kind invitation, and with a loaded musket presented to him by the juggler immediately sent a bullet through his head. It is urged that as there was no intention on the part of the prisoner to kill the deceased, the charge of murder cannot be maintained. The juggler was thoroughly confident of his own invulnerability, and several of his relations, who were to be called as witnesses for the defence, were prepared to prove that, although several times shot at before, he was never hurt. It is always dangerous to take jugglers at their word in these gun tricks. Some few years ago a " wizard" at one of the theatres begged one of the audience as a favor to fire a gun at him. The spectator thus invited loaded the gun with a charge of shot he had brought with liim for the express purpose of testing crucially the alleged invulnerability of the wizard. The residt was painful in the extreme—the wizard's face was peppered with the shot, and the spectator who fired the gun was given into custody of the police. Both narrowly escaped death—one by the gun, the other by the gallows. The S. A. "Register," of May S, reports : —" Something Like a Rifle Score. —In a private smallbore rifle match between Dr. Norman and a well-known crack-shot of Strathalbyn, fired on Saturday afternoon, May 6, at the Adelaide Butts, Dr. Norman made the highest score ever reached in the Colony, or perhaps Australia, in twenty-eight shots. There were three distances, with seven shots at each range. At 200 yards he made seven bull's-eyes running; at 500 yards, six bull'seyes and a centre ; and at 600 yards, seven bull's-eyes, making a total score of S3 points out of a possible 84. In firing for amusement at 400 yards, he brought his score up to 110 out of a possible 112." The editor of the "Wairarapa Standard" seeks information after the following lugubrious steam : —"Can anybody tell us where Dr. Carr is? We have missed him ! The finder of him will be handsomely rewarded. Some months ago he was at Greytown, and we submitted our cranium to his phrenological fingers, and our money to his j>hrenological pocket. He was to send us by fii-st post a chart of our many virtues, but many a post has come and gone, and we have never heard of the gigantic doctor. If he does not give us the good character we deserve, we will certainly have to give him the bad one he merits. Possibly, after contemplating our cerebral development, in a phrenological sense, he may be said 'to have seen Naples and then died.' If he is gone to his grave with our money and character, we will not deplore him. But never again will we trust out of our sight anybody who stands above seven feet in his stocking feet, and lectures on the sold.—A man who would wrong us would not hesitate to despoil the widow and fatherless."

At last (says the "Wairarapa Standard") the name of the Premier is to have a local habitation. Mr. Wright, of Goathurst farm, is starting a township to be called "Vogelville." Posterity will no doubt reduce it to Voville.

" Atlas," in the London " World," writes': '' Apropos of the danger the public are unconsciously subject to from the smuggling of explosive substances daily going on throughout the country, a culprit sends me an interesting confession. He says that a short time ago, having occasion to confer with a City firm on the subject of dynamite, he took with him a parcel of cartridges of that interesting compound. On completing his business and returning westward, he took his seat in a Bayswater omnibus, carrying the parcel of djiiamite in his hand, the cartridges being made up in small packages not unlike rolls of silver. He placed the parcel on the seat beside him, and for a considerable portion of the journey kept his hand upon it, rnd otherwise manifested a concern not xm-

natural, considering his knowledge of the nature of the substance under his charge. But as the 'bus rolled on, he fell into a state of mental abstraction, in the course of which he must have relinquished his jealous hold of the brown paper parcel. At anyrate, when he reached his journey's end he found that the parcel was gone. What became of it is a matter that concerns many more people than the original holder of the sample. The thief on opening his treasure would discover, in place of a few pounds' worth of silver, a number of rolls of yellowish clayey substance. What did he do with it ? Did he throw it aside in the open street in disgust, or is it still lying about his domestic premises till some one shall throw it at the back of the fire ? We are not likely to have any information volunteered on this subject. But it is at least an interesting addition to miscellaneous knowledge to know that there is knocking about in London an unconsidered trifle containing within itself a latent force sufficient to tumble down half London.