LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 69, 11 July 1876, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A correspondent signing himself "A Member of one of the other Lodges," has not sent us his real name, not necessarily for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith—therefore we cannot publish his letter till he does. A man named Henry Worthington, a splitter, met with a very sudden and strange death on the 16th inst., near Maryborough. He was working in the bush at Shicer Gully, and while kneeling, sawing wood, his son was wedging a log at a short distance from liim. On hitting the wedge with his maul, the wedge flew out, and struck the deceased on the temple. For a while (say 3 the " Advertiser ") he was unconscious, but presently he got up and was able to walk home. This was about 4 p.m. Between 6 and 7 p.m. he became delirious, and he was then brought ta the hospital, where he died shortly after admission. There was a civil sitting of the Resident Magistrate's Court this morning, when the case of F. Hendry v. A. Sinclair was heard. Mr. O'Meagher appeared for the plaintiff, and a verdict was given for £ls, the amount of claim, with costs. Mr. T. W. Parker, R.M., presided. It is notified that an emergency meeting of the Loyal Oamaru Lodge, M.U.1.0.0.F., will be held this evening, at the Oddfellows' Hall, at eight o'clock sharp. The "Guardian" states that during the bearing of a case of cattle-trespass at the Resident Magistrate's Court, Dunedin, on Friday last, one of the witnesses for the plaintiff asserted that he saw the defendant's cow place her head between the rails of the garden fence, and then dexterously snap the rail and walk in. When inside, the same witness went on to say, the cow eat 109 cabbages of medium size, a bushel of carrots, half a hundred weight of potatoes, two rows of strawberry plants, a quantity of celery, and some brussel-sprouts. TV itness was proceeding to mention a few other vegetables likewise disposed of, when Mr. Bathgate, who appeared for the defendant, interjected and remarked, " Do you mean to swear that the cow eat all those articles ?" to which the witness replied, " ell, if she did not eat them all, she destroyed the quantity mentioned." There is some idea of manufacturing gas from timber in Masterton. The local paper savs : —" Although never before attempted in New Zealand, the generating of gas from timber and forest refuse is, to a considerable

extent, practised in some of the other Colonies. In the application a percentage of coal is made use of, the bulk of the material being the debris above mentioned, and we are assured that, when properly treated, the gas produced is as strong and pure as it is when wholly generated from coal. The matter is under consideration by a body of gentlemen belonging to the place. So impressed are they with the intrinsic merits of the scheme that steps are already being taken to get a Bill passed through Parliament, so as to form an incorporated body to bring the project into operation. The intention is to work the affair on the joint-stock principle, so that shareholders and consumers may enjoy the advantages of a conjoined interest." The following appears as an advertisement in a Calcutta paper :—"Wanted, by a blackguard, employment of any kind, temporary or otherwise. The advertiser having hitherto conducted himself as a gentleman, and signally failed, of which his hopeless state of impecuniosity is the best proof, is induced to adopt the other course, in the hope that he may meet with better success. No objection to up country. Terms moderate. Apply by letter to ' Perdita,'..care of the printer." The " Times " believes it is tlic intention of the Government to propose that a sum of £4OO be voted for a second Resident Magistrate at Dunedin.

At Wellington, on Monday evening, the Simonsen Opera Company played " II Troyatore " for the benefit of Miss Lambert. The " Post," in criticising the performance, says : "The great feature was the magnificent singing of Signor Morley in 'All si ben mio,' which actually was interrupted several times by the irrepressible enthusiasm of his hearers, • who fairly rose and cheered him at its con-j elusion. The aria was repeated, if possible, more superbly than before, and even then the singer was recalled again and again. In'Di quell.? pira,' Signor Morley performed? the wonderful feat of ascending straight from G to C in alt, which he gave out clean from the chest, and sustained with perfect roundness and stentorian power, the first time the real high chest C (ut de poitrice) has been, heard in this part of the world, there being,; indeed, very few men in Europe who have commanded this extraordinary range of the/ pure chest voice. The feat was receiyed with thunders of applause, and Signor Morley wast called before the curtain amidst tremendouscheering." The London correspondent of the " Scotsman " says:—"Mr. Justice Gorrie, the second puisne Judge 111 the Mauritius, who was; formerly well known in Edinburgh, has been appointed Chief Justice of Fiji. It is said that his Excellency Sir Arthur Gordon was personally desirous of securing Mr. Gorrie's service in the above capacity. The latter has already left for the new scene of his judicial labours." :

- A private letter received in Melbourne' from one of the Victorian riflemen on board the Bangalore, en route for Wimbledon and Philadelphia, says:—"Our fellows are all very well. We rigged up a kite to-day, with 200 yards of twine to it, to practice the No. 1 American match at. Being standing position, we are not very au fait at this shoulder position, so are going to practice it during the voyage at a flying target. Other amusements on board we have instituted to keep the fellows in training, and they have plenty of walking exercise, three times a day, so that we trust we shall arrive fit to shoot for a kingdom. We shall go straight to practice on arrival in London, and shall telegraph Captain Mildmay, the .Secretary of the N.R.A., from Aden, to have our rifles ready, and a range for practice secured, prior to sth July." There seems to be a splendid field for Good Templar apostles in the Legislature of a neighbouring colony. In a speech of Mr. Taylor's, at Parramatta, that gentleman is reported to have said : —" It was a lamentable thing when they saw Ministers of the Crown, receiving £1,500 per year, deliberating on laws for the well-being of ourselves and our children, doing so in a state of intoxication ; and he had seen three of them in a beastly state of intoxication at one time. .And the vote of drunken imbecility was taken down like any other vote. He had seen tumblers flying from the hands of a drunken-mad member of Parliament; and had not a member seen, as he lay. on a sofa, a tumbler coming towards him, and put up his arm and intercepted it, so that it fell, shivered in a thousand pieces, on the floor, he would have been seriously injured. And another member had been brought away intoxicated from a certain house in the city, and taken to the Assembly, where, a beastly lump of humanity with his head down and sick at the stomach, he was to give his vote." In our Police Court report yesterday, the name of the person fined 30s. for fighting at Kakanui should have read James "Whatley," instead of "Wheatley," as it was printed. We regret to learn that the addition of the letter "e " in the name has caused considerable annoyance to a highly respectable resident at Malieno.