The Telephone. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1884. Local and General.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume I, Issue 77, 27 February 1884, Page 2

The Telephone. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1884. Local and General.

Tologa Riding.—The result of the polling for the representation of the Tologa Riding hi the County Council is as follows: —Mr. S. R. Stewart, 19 ; Mr. Common, 2. The voting at Kaiti was—Stewart, 5, Common, 0. Conference Meeting.—The next meeting of the Conference of the Borough and County Councils will be held on Friday, the 29th instant, at 7.30 p.m. County Council.—The next meeting of the County Council will be held at 2 o’clock on Friday next, the 29th instant, for the purpose of completing the unfinished business of the 4th instant as to place and manner of expenditure of the £l,OOO grant under the Roads and Bridges Construction Act; also, to consider the provisions of the Railway Construction Act and to receive Engineer’s report, &c. Crown and Native Lands.—Recently a proclamation was issued notifying that County Councils would have to collect rates on Crown and Native lands, thereby entailing a loss to our County of several hundreds of pounds. The County Clerk, Mr. John Warren, telegraphed to the Hon. Major Atkinson upon this matter and received the following reply :—“ Proclamation revoked. Applies to whole Colony. Circular by mail posted this day.” This is a welcome assurance in our present needy condition. Election of Licensing Committee.—The poll for the election of members of the Licensing Committee for the Gisborne Licensing District, Cook County, will be taken to-morrow, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., and the Returning Officer, Mr. Pelham Richardson, hopes that all persons in Gisborne entitled to the privilege will ride out and record their votes at the Makaraka Hall.

Buggy Accident.—About dusk last evening an accident happened on the GisborneOrmond Road, which, it is satisfactory to state, was not attended with any serious results. It appears that our respected local Postmaster, Mr. Shrimpton, was driving out in a buggy, accompanied by his wife and daughter, and shortly after passing Reed’s gate the horse shied and capsized the trap into a ditch. The ladies, we are glad to say, escaped without even a mark, and Mr. Shrimpton received but a small bruise on his right leg. Mr. W. Hitchins and another gentleman were passing at the time, and assisted in getting the buggy out of the ditch and otherwise setting things right, when it was found that no material damage had been done to the vehicle. Closing Notice.—Mr. A. G. Croll notifies that he has decided to close his store tomorrow (Thursday) for the purpose of marking his stock afresh, in order to effect a speedy clearance prior to his leaving for England. Timber.—Mr. J. R. Hurrey is now prepared to supply any quantity of timber, rough or worked. Grain Market.—The Rangiora Standard of the 20th inst. reports that “ some very good samples of this season’s grain were shown in Rangiora yesterday. Mr. R. Dailey, of Swannanoa, has parted with 3.000 bushels at 3s. 61. per bushel. From the Ashley side we hear of a few fair milling sorts being purchase 1 for 3s. 3d. per bushel. Several parcels of oats wore sold for Is. 9d., Is. 10d., and Is. 111. yesterday. We believe that the above prices for oats will be sustained for some time to come, whilst wheat may be expected to fluctuate from 3s. to 3s. 6*l. A few weeks hence should see a busy time in grain transactions, as the country’s yield in cereals this year is something enormous.”

A Heavy Lamb.—“ By the evening train on Saturday Mr. J. E. Stent brought into town a Shropshire Down ram lamb he had sold to Mr. J. Abbot, and had it weighed on the railway scales, when it turned the balance at 1361b5. It was one of twins that were born on the 20th July, 1883, and as its mother had lost her teats the lamb had to be taken away. One of his neighbors, Mr. Nicholas, kindly reared this one, and did it such justice that at six-and-a-half months old it weighed the above heavy weight. It was shorn on the 14th of January, and clipped 41bs. 3ozs. of wool. The above shows what a profitable breed the Shropshires must be ; for, taking off a third for offal, it would leave over 901bs. of meat, and that at Bd. per pound at Home—New Zealand lamb has realised lOd. —would return £3 for the carcase alone. If the expenses reached 305., which they could not, this would leave the very handsome return of 30s. clear as the result of six months’ feeding, without counting the skin and fat, which ought to be worth at least ss. more.—Wanganui Chronicle.

Snow-balling on the Equator.—“ Strange as it may seem (says the N. Z. Times), yet it is nevertheless true, that on the 19th December, 1883, while the British ship Invercargill, now in port, was crossing the Equator, those on board witnessed, and many took part in, a game of snow-balling. The Invercargill, during her last visit to England, has been fitted with new refrigerating machinery, and Mr. Spencer, the engineer, shortly before crossing the Line, put it in motion for the purpose of satisfying himself as to its efficiency. The engines were found to work splendidly, and as the ship’s officers, with sextants in hand, were anxiously taking the sun, the children were snow-balling one another. This is reported to be the first occasion on which such a singularly anomalous event has happened.”

Frozen Mutton.—From the N. Z. Times of the 13th inst. we learn that “ the Gear Meat Company will send away from Wellington during the remaining portion of the current month upwards of 18,000 carcases of frozen mutton, besides a considerable quantity of beef. The steamer Bombay has been specially chartered by the company, and will carry at least 8,000 sheep. She leaves for London direct on Saturday. The ship Lady Jocelyn is also under charter to the company, and will take a similar quantity, while about 2,000 more will be shipped by the Doric* The whole work in connection with preparing the mutton has been done at the company’s yards, and not only has the ordinary town supply of meat been kept up, but a large quantity of sheep have also been slaughtered for the Wellington Meat Export Company.” Benevolent Sunday.—The Otago Daily Times reports that “ the Committee-in-Aid for raising funds for the Benevolent Institution have written to the ministers of the various churches in and around Dunedin asking that Sunday first should be set apart as Benevolent Sunday. They have received an answer as yet only from the Rev. Mr. Ronaldson, who states that at St. Peter’s, Caversham, and St. Mark’s, Green Island, morning and evening offertories on Sunday will be given to the funds of the Institution. In addition, Mr. Ronaldson has been good enough to arrange for a special service being held in the afternoon, at 3 o’clock, in St. Peter’s, Caversham, when the offertory will be devoted to the same object. At this service Mr. Ronaldson invites the attendance of the members of the Committee-in-Aid and of the Committee of the Institution itself, and has also intimated that he will be glad to see as many as possible of the inmates of the Institution present.”