The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1880. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 317, 13 November 1880, Page 2

The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1880. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

We are glad to learn that New Zealand oata in Melbourne are in great demand, and the price rising rapidly. A shocking accident occurred at Christ: chur«-h on Wednesday afternoon. A child was run over by n tram car, and its arm completely crushed, so that it had to be taken out at the socket. An inquest was held at Winchester on, Wednesday, before Mr Nugent Wood, coroner, touching the death of Andrew Macpherson, whe was found lying dead near Winchester, on Monday last. A verdict of Accidental Death" was returned- .

Mi K. F. Gray having had suitable yards erected for hplding stock, &c, opposite the Presbyterian Church, notifies his usual monthly sale of horses, cattle, and sheep to take place there on Tuesday next, at 1 o'clock.

tfcd Kelly was executed on Thursday morning, at the Puutridge gaol. A large crowd assembled outside the building, but everything passed off quietly.

Tenders are wanted for breaking up about 40 acres of land, and sow the same with turnips at Milford

Upwards of 20,000 persons are reported to have }isited the ChruUcliurch Agricultural Show. A report reached Wangauui ou Thursday that Moffatt, who lately served a term of imprisonment for gunpowder making, }ias been shot in the Tuhua country. Moffatt was warued to return, as the natives would not allow white men iu their country, but he would not leave and he was shot. It is uudeistood that the Government have decided to reduce the railway charge for the conveyance of timber by threepence per 100 feet; such reduction, however, to apply only to timber carried for the purpose of export.

Instructions have been sent to the Acting Agent General for space at the approaching wool exhibition, to be held at the Crystal Palace, Sydenham, for New Zealand competitors, who will have simply to consign their exhibits to the agency in London, where they will be duly cared for, exhibit orH paying only freight to London, A dratt of stud Merino rams and owes from Tasmania were sold by auction at Christchurch, on Thursday, and realised excellent prices. The highest priced Merino ram was 190 guineas, and the sale realised about £3OOO.

A party of three, working at Hindon, Otago, got three pounds of gold for six weeks' work in Charlie's Gully. Four thousand four hundred excursion tickets were issued at the Dunedin railway station from the 6th to the Bth inst.

The prize of £SO offered by the proprietors of the Canterbury Times to the individutd who should name the first three horses in the C.J.C. Handicap in the order in which they passed the post has been won by Master KL.C. Digby. Upwords of 5000 coupons were received dating from Aug. 23, the winner only turning upon Oct. 22. The Times remarks: — "The winner is the son of Mr F. Digby a»<r ounraders will not fail to at once note the strange coincidence which allots the C.J.O. prize to ihe secretary of the C.J.C. itself.

Referring to the Press Association fele. grain from Auckland, stating Mr Maginnity, under-Secretary to the Telegraph Department, had written to Sydney asking the head of the Telegraph department there not to employ telegraphists recently dismisped here for going on strike, the Wellington corrospondent of the Lyttelton Times learns on good authority that a circular to a similar effect was a-nt to all the Australian colonies, the names of the strikers being furnished to the various colonies This was done by direction of the Government, tho Department acting under instructions.

Under the heading of " a deliberate in suit," the CUiistchurch Echo publishes the following letter which was addressed to its editor :—"Christchurch, Nov. 8, 1880. Dear Sir,—lf you will be good enough to write one of your telling and sarcastic leaders in your wide-read paper on the subject of the Christchurch mayoral election I shall feel obliged. I may state that Mr Ayros must be properly -sat upon'; and if you do so £5 will be at your disposel. Shonld the article appear on Tuesday or Wednesday, meet at Queen's Hotel on Wednesday next7'3o p.m.—Yours truly J, G. W. Browne. F. H. Valpy, Esq., Christchurch."

A strange effect of lightning is vouched for by a French provincial journal. A young man was walking, a few days since, along the country road to Richelandiere during a violent thunder-storm. In his hand he carried an unlit carriage lamp. Suddenly he felt what s3emed to him to be a violent blow on his arm. He supposed that the thunder had either struck him, or something wad near him. What was his wander and surprise may be imagined when he perceived, on lookiog down that the lamp which he held had been lighted. The curious phenomenon was witnessed and testified to by many persons who were proceeding along the same road to market.

. Mr Waddell, an Otagonfarmer, has achieved a cross between the ordinary domestic fowl and cookatoo. The progeny boar unmistakeable evidence of their derivation. Though very fair layers, they do not make good brood hens. Those who laugh at the idea will, according to the li Otago Daily Times," have ocular demonstration of the fact by I visiting the next exhibition in Dunedin ' where they will in all probability have ' an opportunity of seeing a few of these I fowls.

The Ashburton Guardian of Thursday writes :—Yesterday Messrs Saunders Bros. despatched from their mill, in execution of a shipping order from the Cape, 21,000 bushels of oats. This large line was loaded in a little letjs than 15 working hours, and practically proves material benefit of our railway system to a large establishment like the Ashburton mills, where every advantage is taken of situation and close proximity to the main line. Fifteen 7oars ago Mr J. Hunt carted his produce to Christchurch,! three days being occupied by the trip down. Allowing another day to reach Lyttelton, it would have taken our genial friend about lb tee years and a half with a dray and three horses to remove the oats we have referred to. or a month with thirty drays and ninety horses.

The New Zealand oats (says the Eondon cerrespondent of the Auckland. Herald), which are arriving in London are making a considerable impression here in a quiet way. A gentleman brought some to me the other day, which he had picked up in the docks—the leakage from sacks of oats whiph. were being taken put of the ships. Ha thought that such corn had never been seen in this country before. I met another gentleman from Markrlane, who brought the oame report as to the impression New Zealand oats were producing there- I am told that they are selling at more than 30s per quarter, With such a quality of oats as these, I dp. nqt see why oats should not pay to ship to England as well as wheat. That i 3, if anybody can be persuaded to show oats again who has once had to sell them at Is per bushel. At any rate, to send such corn home is indirectly a great benefit to the Colony. A few samples going about the country are capital immigration agents.

English society (writes 'Dagonet" in the Keferee) has professed itself to be shocked at Mr Bright's declaration that the upper classes have little respect for the practice of religion and yet in their hearts they must know that it is indisputably true. At a time : when Sabbatarianism absolutely oppressest the poor and interferes with the liberty of the lower middle classes, the aristocracy has openly cast away all decent Observance of the Lord's day. Cards, billiards* and games of chance are played in the best houses, and even the country is disturbed with the noisy revelry of the upper ten's Sunday outing.

Mr Maxwell (says the Oamaru Mail of the new superintendent of Railways) is known to but few of the public, even by name, but we understand that he has afforded some evidences of his ability to fill the position to which he has been elected, We are far from familiar with Mr Hannay, general manager, for whom, as a man and an official, it seems everyone has a good wood, but we felt aure that Mr Hannay's knowledge and attention to his duties would earn for him promotion, and are pleased to find that the Government has, at least in one instance, acknowledged merit in a befitting manner. As an administrator of the affairs of railways, we believe that Mr Hannay has not his equal in the Colony.

The chief Tamatawa, of Taiporohenui, makes it knows through the local paper (the Hawera Star) that he will be glad if hi 3 pakeha friends will abstain from visiting him ou Sundays. . Since he became a member of the Church of England, many years ago, his faith in it has never failed him, and he regards Sunday a« a day of rest, and as the Sabbath of his Church.

A young man who, it is alleged, had been in the habit of addressing communications to certain representatives of the gentler se*, which did not altogether please therm was (says a Wellington paper) waylaid by a fair dam&el on Saturday night, who gave him a severe thrashing with a horsewhip. The victim cried lustily fo*r mercy, but he was not let off till he had received what his chastiser considered to be his full deserts. It ia rumored that a Court case will enh.ue.

In an analytical article on the published colonial accounts for the June quarter, the Wanganui Herafd says : "We have got as nearly as possible at the position of the first quarter of the financial year which may be summed up thus—a slight improvement on the corresponding period of last year, but a marked deficiency when compared with the estimate. The accounts for the June quarter appeared in the Gazette of the 16th September last, and by the same rate of progression we mny expect the publication of the quarter about Christmas There has been something said about the Telegraph Department from time to time in our columns. The esti" mated revenue from this branch of the public service on the quarter was £20,000 but the amount collected was only £16,6f5. The railway receipts were in as bad a condition. The estimate for the year was £950,000 or £237,000 per quarter. The amount paid into the Treasury whs only £189,949, which, with a week's revenue to be added, leaves a large deficiency."

An excellent remedy to remove blight from apple trees is said to consist simply in the application of spirits of turpentine with a soft brush. The remedy is instantaneous ; the blight melts away like B ugar in spirits, and turpentine is perfectly harmless to the tree, no matter how delicate it may be.

In New Mexico they have a happy way of dealing with street disturbances. F.our drovers came into the town of Cimarrou, signalising their presence by the discharge of pistols, with which they sportively extinguished the street lamps. Their proceedings wera obnoxious to the sheriff, who, however, did not feel himself strong enough to attempt any interference. The drovers, having apparently injured no one, departed, and the sheriff took counsel how he might be avenged. Hearing that they were camping at a short distance from the town, he went out with strong following before daylight, hoping to catch them asleep. The camp was surrounded, when a shot was fired out cf the bushes, killing one of the sheriff's party. The fight then became general. The drovers, who refused to surrender, were shot, and the sheriff, having finished his woork, went back to inform the coroner that five bodies were awaiting his inquest. It is always well to do every- , thing in an orderly manner. I