GENERAL NEWS.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXII, Issue 8792, 20 April 1907, Page 1

GENERAL NEWS.

A Mayor of a country town was at a London restaurant, where his somewhat bucolic appearance excited the impudent derision of two young fellows. At last the Mayor turned to them and said: “I see, young men, you are making fun of me. But I assure you I’m neither stupid nor an ass.” “Ah !” retorted one of the young men, “perhaps you are between the two.” “Yes, I am,” said the Mayor ; “I am between the two,” and he looked to the right and left of him, where sat the scorners. The H&wera Btar says :—“ There has been an all-round decline in the price of horseflesh in this district, and, indeed, throughout the colony. Heavy draughts constitute an exception to this rule, and they fully maintain their high rates. The Trig rise some few years ago was due to the South African demand, but contemporaneously with the cessation of that demand there has been a big increase in breeding (stimulated by the good prices offering), the net r suit being the present decline in prices. Speaking to a Star representative, a stock salesman expressed the opinion that vendors generally will have to accept a lower range of values. General Phil Sheridan was at one time asked what incident in his life caused him the mo t amusement. “ Well,” he said, “ I always laugh when I think of the Irishman aid the army mule. I was riding down the line one day when I saw in Irishman mounted on a mule which was kicking rather freely. The mule finally got his foot caught in the stirrup, when, in the excitement, Pat remarked: “ Well, begorra, if you’re goin’ to git on, I’ll be gettin’ off.’ ”

A child named Laming had a very narrow escape from serious accident afcMatamau (Hawke’s Bay) last week. The mother and child were standing on a carriage platform on the express train, and the child, seeing his father working on the line, was waving his handkerchief when he overbalanced, and fell between the carriages. Two carriages and the guard’s van passed over the child. The guard immediately stopped the train, and when he went to lookfo r the child he saw him scramble to his feet and start to run after the train.

The Lyttelton Times, referring editorially to the close of the Exhibition, says : “ It is the old story of men that labored and others that entered into their labors. The prominent figures of the past half-year were not the men who devoted their leisure day after day to the consideration of means and methods. It is a little pathetic to reflect how completely the limelight has been monopolised by men who came on the scene when the hardest toil was at an end ” The Press says : “ What is chiefly to be regretted is the element of vulgarity which was allowed to creep in, and the tendency to neglect the educational side of the Exhibition and treat it rather as an appendage of the side shows.”

It turns out that the diver Hughe?, who so pluekily rercued the Italian miner Yarischetti in a West Australian mine on the 25th of last month was at one time employed as ropeman in the Hoslyn Tramway Company’s services, in Dunedin. After having been in the Company’s employ for about fifteen months, he left there about a year ago for Australia, Several of the hands have had communications from him since he left the colony, and there is little doubt that this diver Hughes is the Frank Hughes whom they all know. When the rescue was first reported, the employees of the Tramway Company subscribed and forwarded him a cable message complimenting him on his plucky rescue of the entombed miner.