LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 279, 7 August 1880, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wo hear that a public di.mcr was given to Mr Wiiliam Grant, at ihe Crown Hotel, on Thursday last, but as the Manager or Committee did n-ot extend the usual courtesy to this office, we are precluded from taking notice of it. We regret this, as Mr Grant deserves well of the district. It's a pity the carrying out of such intended marks of respect falls to thu care of persons who have not sufficient good breeding to enable them to conduct things in a respectable way.

A football match is arranged, we believe, to take place between lif teen boys attending tlie Public School and fifteen others. The match is to be played in the Park, and to come off to-day, at 1 o'c'ock. The boys have be»m hard at it for some time, and a tough game is consequently anticipated. Groat interest is being taken in the result, each side b'ui ng sanguine of success. A petition from the Christchurch unemployed to the President of the United States was signed by 100 persons on vVedne'sdav last.

The colt by Thunderbolt,- out. of Lyra, purchased by Sir Hercules Robinson, arrived in Auckland from the Waikato on Wednesday last, and was shipped by tbe Rotomahuna for Wellington the following day. ! Eight more natives were arrested for fencing across the road being formed on .the Waimate Plains by the Constabulary, on Tuesday and Wednesday last, a:id were brought to New Plymouth on the evening of the latter day. with forty others arrested for the same offence, were embarked on board the Hinernoa o . Thursday en route for Lyttelton. On the way to the steamer the prisoners became very demonstrative, and iudulged in weird cries ami gestures ; and when settled in the boats bid adieu to their native shore with lond cries. They were accompanied by a detachment of the Armed Constabulary. Mr Pitt presented a petition to the House of Representatives on Wednesday last, signed by 1227 persons of Nelson, against the imposition of the beer tax. Truly the Nelsonites are fond of cheap beer !

In reply to Mr Gisborne in the House ou Wednesday, the Hon Mr Oliver said the Government offices and property were insured, the insurances being fairly distributed amongst the colonial offices in New Zealand. The amount on Government House was £IO,OOO ; Departmental offices, £20,000 ; Parliament buildings, £20,000 ; library and books, £SOOO ; and printing offices, £2OOO. The Service Ministry is tenacious of life. In this respect it is following the example set by Mr Hall and his colleagues. Even after the Ministry was defeated in the election of Speaker Mr Service held office. Against whom now can the love of office be brought 1 Bible reading is not prohibited in the public schools in Scotland, and reli gious education is universally givan, yet we read chat larrikinism is so common that in several towns the police are being provided with "canes" to use on the larrikins. At the Town Council of Greeneck, a town where Bible reading and religious education are common, a resolution was passed that the police, in addition to their batons, be provided with canes to de.il with tbe larrikins.

42,400 women of Leeds signed a pctilion praying the House to pass the measure for legalising marriage with a deceased wife's sister.

Referring to'some unpleasant questions lately asked in the House, as to two recent appointments made in, the Native Department, the Times correspondent says : —" A most unpleasant feeling pervaded the House to-day when in answer to two questions put by J. B. Fisher, Government admitted that they had appointed to the position of Native Land purchase Agent a man who had been convicted and sentenced for stopping a mail coach and shooting a horse ; and had appointed to (he position of Native Inter, prefer a man who had been sentenced to sis years' imprisonment for forgery. Last year a certain member of the House was, with difficulty, restrained from ask ing for a return of Civil Servants known to be iu positions similar to the foregoing ; and since to-days admission it is said tl at the question will be put in an uncompromisingly comprehensive form." With regard to the appointment of the forger, the Native Minister says m extenuation that he received a letter of reecommeudation which accompanied his application signed by the Judge of the Native Land Court, a Resident Magistrate, one or t>vo Justices of the Peace, and others, supposed to be respectable persons residing in the district where Harris lived. Mr Bryce is very severe ! Fancy all these official swells being only " supposed to be respectable persons !" In the Ashburton Court (says the Mail of a recent date,) the Magistrate decided that the game known as '" Yankee Grab," when played for drinks only, constituted gambling within the meaning of the Licensing Act, inasmuch as it was played for "money's worth." Mr Purnell, in arguing for his client, tersely and lucidly explained the difference between this innocent amusement, and that abominable hazard commonly known as "a bob in and the winner shouts." Tisch was made the unhappy scapegoat for the offences of every publican in the colony. The conviction notwithstanding, it is moderately certain that this method of arbitration will not entirely drop into disuse to day or to-morrow. " Keep a gamester from the dice, a id a good student from his book and it is wonderful," remarked our greatest poet. It will yet be more wonderful when the viglicnce of the police has driveu every colonial publican to bury his box and dice. Meanwhile it is papably absurd that, while the custom is permitted unhindered, and indeed openly, in ninehundred and ninety-nine out of every thousand public houses, the thousandth should be dropped on. If the d.ce are to be put down, let it, bo so, and 1(4 all the world understand that the game is illegal. But for the police, to prosecute in one case when they tacitly encourage the system in a hundred others is neither just nor reasonable.

An intei'esting discovery hag just been nmde at Sandeherred, in Norway, of a Scandinavian antiquity unique of its kind. Buried under a hillock, a sailing vessel lias been found, which is thought to have belonged to those terrible highwaymen of the ocean, the "Vikings, or Norwegian pirates. It measures about 75 fett in length, and is in an almost perfect state of preservation. It is ai*med arid equipped, as though it had been abandoned where found when on the point of sailing ou some adventurous expedition. All the apparatus used by nautical Norsemen are met with in this ancient craft, the mast of which still is pretty well intact There are fragments of sails and cordage remaining, as well as many specimens either perfect or incomplete of utensils and instruments, which have been eagerly examined by antiquaries. The ship is not yet completely dug out of its present prison near the seashore. When this has been accomplished the vessel—which is thought to be still seaworthy— will be launched and taken to Christiahia, to be do posited in the University Museum. A dispatch has been received from Sir Julius Vogel urging the Colony to go in largely for the cultivation of beetroot with a view to sugar manufacture, thus creating a new industry. Sir J. Vogel say T s he writes not as Agent General, but as a colonist having a deep interest in New Zealand, and the subject being one very suitable for reference to the lloyal Commision on local industries. He concludes with, a tinge of bitterness a s follows: —"As I have noticed of late such a disposition to misconstrue the motives of those who aspire to be useful it is perhaps necessary I should add that I am writing these remarks without con" cirt with anyone desiring to embark in the industry to which I refer, and with no present thoughts of doing so myself."