LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 253, 8 April 1880, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Temuka storekeepers [ intend to close their establishments from 12 o'clock to-morrow, so our good housewives must make their purchases to-morrow morning, or they will have to wait till Saturday li. Cockeob, a Native, caught in four hours, in flic Washdyko Lagoon, 173 eels, as thick as liia arm. Four pakehas hiidn't a fourth of this number amongst them. Monky is short in Wellington. A dufendanl in the R.M. Court there was required to deposit LlO as bail for his reappearance. Ho said he could not produco any money, but had plenty of property in Christchurch, where he had nn agent. Tho Court cuiild not well accept a mortgage over the property, and lie was told so, whereupon he w hipped out a very, good ■natch and offered that for bail. This was also declined, Mr James informing him that tho Court did not do pawnbroking business. There seemed a danger of the man being sont to gaol in default, but at length the Court allowed him to enter Into his own recognisances to the araout to appear at the next hearing. A singular affair is reported from Leeston. About a week ago a resident named M'lntyro all but murdered his wife, and was arrested in consequence. Aftor figtiriug before the bench he escaped from custody, and the police have sinco been hunting for him. Recently he returned to the police station for the purpose of surrendering himself, but ho could find no ono to lock him up. The police aro still looking for M'ln tyro, and M'lntyro is looking for the police. During the month ended March 31« t, 13 births, 6 rieatliH, and 1 marriage were registered at Temuka. We regretto hear that the practice of our brass bai.d is not so well attended to as it should be. It is a well known fajt that musicians must be incessant in their practice if they hope to make a fair show iu tho art. Good instrumf>ntsnrepiovided . and, wo believe, a good drill master ; and we also believe there is no lack of musical talent amongst the company We do then urge tlx«iin to diligence, and their reward will bo sure. It may ii"fc be known (says Attieus in the Melbouriirt Leader) that John Morrisoy the prizo-fighter, who waa elected a member of Congreßs, was a .man who owed everything to his wife. She taught him to read «nd write, and may be said to have fairly "worried" him up tho ladder Every night she made him spell for an hour, and suys in her memoir—a very curious book, by-the-way —'' The morning after John beat Heenan ho was sore and bandaged, and blind of an eye, but I made him sit up in bin bed, and propped him with pillows until he had said his losson. - ' Wh»fc in the u.se of all this study, SusiO,' he would say.. ' To go to Co-igrca, John.' 'Oh, that's your lay out for me is it 1 Well, we'll go to Congress ;' und he diV." This is a letter of pluck and affection which iiioicretined peoi le may blush io imitate. i

This vital statistics for Timaru for the month of March comprise —Births, 31 ; : ''eatlis, 21 ; and marriwge», 11.—During the month there were registered at Wai- ' mate 25 births, 10 deaths (8 being of infant;), and 3 marriages. The totals for ' the q lai-ter were 64 births, 13 deaths, and 8 lii'imageß. J According to the Printers' Register, there are five parsons in the Sydney M<rning Herald Office. Dr Garian, the editor, is a par on ; Mr Ward, tho editor of the Mail, is a is an ex-parson ; Mr Curm.w is also an exparson. Wellington people are " dirty particular " about tho quality of their water supply. lt A curiosity of animal life was brf ught to our office this morning (says the Post) by nn old settler, who had it delivered to him free of extra charge through his water-pipe by tho City Corporation. We are not sufficiently learned in natural history to say to what family the little stranger belongs ; but will merely say that its appearance carsol n shudder to run through us, as we thought of our hitherto rtriet temperance principles. The animal is about throe-quarters of an inch long, semi-transparent, with a tail about an inch and a quarter in length, and there is a stealthy fernery and malignity of purpose about its movements calculated to curdle the blood of tho stoutest-hearted Good Tern pi ft r. Some consternation was caused in one of the Wellington hotels recently, by the mad freaks of a gentleman who only rorently made his appoaranco in Wellington and who is likely ere long to u spread his canvas to breeze onco more." It appears that ho had just acquired possession of an air gun, and was showing it to a crowd of people, many of whom had never before seen such n thing. Tho purchase had evidently been b-ptised, for tho owner took moat deliberate aim at the head of one of those near him and to all appearances " fired," though it may be that ho accidentally touched tho trigger. The ball just missed tho ohjot it was aimed at, and went through several partitions in tho hotel where the little episodo happened beforo it lodged. Not content with this, the new toy was Boon afterwards deliberately aimed ac a bull, but not let off on account of tho determined interference of the landlord, assisted by several others. Now that the Public Works Commission has started, .the Vincent County Council is beginning to wake up. It has passed a resolution expressive of disapprobation at tho unnecesssary delays in tho construction of the Otago Central Railway, and urges on the Government the necessity of more energetic action being tflken. Saintly Wellington is deeply aftVted at Wellington's sins. Duncdin City (says the Clironiclo) is fast becoming to New Zealand in a criminal sense what Paris is to France. Those readers who are fond of rending tales of crime need only tako up a Southern paper, and t ! ioy have their wish gratified. Ten to ono will bo found the report of an inqw-Bt on a diabolical murder, a determined case of arson, or an account of some other act of villain}'. Tho following cukcs come before the Supreme Court thero at tho ensuing sessions : One of wilful murder, one of manslaughter, five of highway robbery, two of cutting and wounding, and nino other less heinous A correspondent in an Australian contemporary, speaking of rust iu the Warrnambool district, N.S.W., say a :—For pome years after 186-t thunderstorms almost ceased to vibit the district, and dur- , ing this period wo had rust yearly, but directly the thunderstorms again bee -mo prevalent, rust again ceased, and following that time the result of my observations has been the same. I do not know that any of those writing about ru-st have said anything about it in relation to thunderstorms, but it will no doubt be interesting to know from others whether their observations and mine are simlar. A Calipornian paper lms the following: " Captain Buines, of Fenian renown, has gone to Australia for the purpose of raising a treasure of L 60,000, buried by Frank Gardiner, a notorious Australian bushranger. Gardiner, previous to his imprisonment, hud buried tho swag obtained by countless robberies about a mile from tho Fish River, in a clearing between Gouldburn and Bathurst, New South Wales. After his release he came to Sau Francisco, tho viligance of-the Australian police compelling him to leave hi a booty behind. Here ho has becomo a total wreck. The only person who befriended him was Baines, and as he had but a short time to live, ho confided to him the whereabouts of tho deposit, which is said to consist of gold coins, billß, and jewel-h-ry. He has furnished Baines with accurate plans and diagrams of the buried treasure, which is to go entirely to him, with the condition that ho (halt"-provide for Gardiner during his lifetime." Mb, W. S. Gilbert is a devoted yachtsman, and his enthusiasm dates from the success of " H.M.S. Pinafore' In fact, Mr Gilbert is a little b't of everything and when he takes up a subject ho does it with dogged pertinacity. B side<i b< ing a humorist, and an admirable versifier, lie 1 has irade himself by steady application a first-class militia officer, a bit of a sculptor a draughtsman on wood, a player at lawn tennis, and a navigntor of tho < eep. It is this last passion, tiiat he cannot resist. He is fond of ordering people about and being In command. Hi: is at homo as a eaptain of a crew, or as a etage manager of a refractory company. And so, when " H.M.S. Pinafore " was produced in New York, Mr Gilbert put on the attire of a British tar, an«l went amongst the chorus singers just to show them how to shiver thoir timbers and hitch up- their unmentionables. The practical good sense of the author delighted tho New York critics immensely-, and the audience made Mr Gilbert appear before the curtain and make a speech, which was a model of modesty *ml ourteay. Thus tickled tho American.

News was received iuOamaru (snys the Mail) of an accident which happened to the train from Dunedin at Tumai six. miles south of Palmerston. When at a steep grade where the rail way runs along a high embankment, seven or eight trucks laden with merchandise ran off the line, a: d wen; precipitated down the embankment into a garden. The merchandise was scattered broadcast, and the trucks were all more or less dam: god. No further information could be obtained of the occurrence, as no report had been made to the manager at Oamaru, the scene of the accident being outside the Oamaru-Timaru section