LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 259, 20 April 1880, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

• iTwillbosocn by advt. elsewhere that '' during winter mouths the R.M. Court will » sit at 12.30 inntead of 10 a.m. as hitherto, i. Butler, charged with the murder of Dewar, of Dunedin, wajs adjudged to bo guiltless of the crime attributed to him. : The judge's summing up was in accused's , favor. Butler defended himself in a speech of six hours' length. The jury, on finding him not guilty, were hooted by the crowd. L Butler (who received the verdict calmly) , was also hooted. A nolle prosequi was , entored against Butler for the murder of Mrs Dewar. According to a Press Association telei pram, Parliament will meet on Friday, ■ May 28. Summonses have already been Issued against a number of defaulters in Oamaru Dunedin, and Invercargiil in connection with the land tax due on the 13th instant. Tho Department intend to take prompt action to get in the whole of the overdue tax. To-mokkow Is tho day fixe«l for the nomina ion of a member to fill tho vacancy on tho Bond Board, caused by the resignation of Mr John Haynurst, It Is reported that a woman who was in the Oamaru gaol for drunkenoßS has killed her child by dashing its head against the wall of the rsoia ia which she'was lodged. It Is reported that Longhurst, recently sontenced at Wellington to ten years and two whippings for rape, is suffering from heart disease. Should that be.proved, he will escape the flogging. The barque Portland; from London, arrived at Wellington on Saturday afternoon, after an eventful passage of 106 days. During tho voyage the steward who was named Edward Bowick, committed suicide by taking carbolic acid. He had been drinking heavily prior to the event. He was 45 years of age, and is believed to be a native of London. On Saturday 13,810 bags of grain were carried on the Christchurch lines, and tho number of bags collected on Saturday at the various stations on this section was 25,550. The following note, which we (North British Agriculturist) havo just received from an extensive and, so long aa times permitted, highly successful Scottish farmer, speaks more eloquent than anything we have seen or heard of the reality and magnitude of farming lossed in recent years : "Forty-five years ago I commenced farming with barely LSOO, which in the course of forty years I converted into L 40,000 ; but during the last five years 1 hovo lost L 20,000, and if times and seasons do not chango I will soon end »3 I began." The Wosloyan Gift Auction takes placo at Mr Gray's rooms to-day at 12 o'clock. A magnificont Leicester ram han just ccino to hand, tho gift of Mr Marcroft. This aaiuial, we are assured, ia one of considerable value, and whonld draw tho : '■ attention of &ome farming couununlty. '

Yesterday afternoon (saya Saturday's Lyttolton Times) a telephonic message was uent up from the Heads to the effoct that something which appear d to b« wreckage was visible about 16 miles north-north-east of the Heads. The tug Lyttelton was despatched to see what the wrockago was. She returned about seven o'clock, and reported that the supposed | wrockage was a dead whale about 89ft in length. It was very much decomposed, and had the appealanco of a vessel on its side, as it rose and fell on the water. It was found 13 miles from the Heads. An immense number of sharks were round the carcase, large pieces of which had boen eaten away by them. The effluvia arising from the carcase was reported as being abominable According to a contemporary) there Is some use in Royal Commissions after all It says that the electors of Bruce are to be sincerely congratulated. Mr W. A. Murray M.H.R- for the district, has intimated that he will be unable to address his constituents before next session, owing to his engagements as a Royal Commissioner. History repeats itself in bankruptcy proceedings. A man filed his schedule the other day in Wellington, with the happy result that the debts remained with tho husband, while the landed estate remained with his wife, " who purchased it with her own earnings'." The bankrupt knew nothing about her property, not even that it was three times the value of his debts. All he knew was that he had settled nothing on her but tho furniture, and that simply from motives of " pure love and affection." Just so 1 An editorial dig in the ribs ia thus given by a Nelson paper to a Wellington contemporary :—The Evening Post, a paper that is usually careful to say nothing which may offend a sensible mind, relates this week that a brute namod McCraich stamped on his wife until portions of her body were pounded into "jellified flosh." This nauseates the reader, while the idea could have beon just as easily preserved if the writer had said : u Mr McCraith, by his saltatory evolutions on the body of his spouse, speedily converted her into a female blanc-mange." When will the daily press employ men of culture 1 THIS is how a West Coast journalist neatly manages a "puff" : —We don't know how to draw attention to an undertaker's advertisement. We cant call him an old friend or an old acquaintance, for in one respect we should be aorry to see him a frequent visitor ; but nevertheless, as a friend in the way of assisting humanity in a last but neceß»ary extremity, Mr Quinn has never been backward, and he begs to notify th tt he is prepared to undertake the last sad offices of humanity at a great reduction on previous terms. Hymen is recognised in a quarter hither to closed to him. The following is one of the clauses of a recent Act: —All marriages, both of the parties being British subjects, which bt*fore the passing of this Act have beon solemnised on board one of Her Majesty's vessels on a foreign station in the presence of the officer commanding such vessel, whether solemnised according to any religious rite or ceremony, or contracted per verba do presonti, shall be valid in like manner as if tho same had boen solemnised witfiln Her Majesty's dominions with tho due observanca of ill forms required by law. Referring to the fact that tho Rotomahana would convoy South a number of bishops, archdeacons, and clergymen to attend the Goneral Synod at Christchurch, the Wellington Post Bays that it was remarked in reference to the last session of tho Synod, which was held at Nelson threo years ago, that every steamer which conveyed a single episcopal, clerical, or lty member of that Synod experienced exceptionally bad weather. Tins applied to fully a dozen vessels. Our contemporary hoped that the Rotomahana would not b« similarly unlucky, but as our readers know, that vessel experienced a most tempestuous passage down tho coast. Calais is much excited just now over a daring exploit of Mdllo. Jobso, an actress at tho theatre there. Bidel, the lion-tamer is also in the town with his menagerie, and he introduced the young lady info tho lion's cage, where she recited Victor Hugo's " Caravane." Her voico was as distinct and steady as if she had beon on ' the stage. BicJel stood by her side, but had no occasion to interfere. When Mdlle. Josse left the den she was enthusiastically cheered. She expressed her readiness to repeat the experiment, but tho public would not allow her to incur tho risk. On the following night, however, the public were destined to experience a much greater sensation, which dovolopod into quite a panic. According to the Gaulois, the floor of the cage gave way, and there was some probability oi the lions making their escape. Indescribable tumult ensued, the audience rushing on masse to the doors, and several persons were almost crushed to death. A Wellington publican, having had a gas bill sent in for L2B for a month's supply, insisted on having his meter tested, when the discovery was made that it had been incorrectly read. Instead of recording 88,300 feet, it showed 1800 feet. The Gas Company did not take its correction kindly, but instantly preferred a demand for Ll.for testing the meter —a charge that the publican declined to acknowledge Baying that the company were bound to keep their own property in repair at their own expense, and that the circumstances of the case showed that he was qui to justified in requesting that the motor might be tested. A lawsuit was tho result, and Mr Mansford gave judgment against tho complainant, with costs.