LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 3610, 5 April 1881, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Temuka Road Board. The usual monthly meeting of the Board will be held tp-day. Auction" Sale.— Mr K. F. Gray will offer for sale at Winchester Fair, tomorrow : heifers, store cattle, sheep, etc. - The’Frisco Mail.—The next steamer with the incoming mails, via San Francisco, will be due at Auckland to-morrow: Resident Magistrate’s Court.— There were no criminal cases set down for hearing before the Resident Magistrate tp-cfuy; Timely Assistance. — A meeting of Orangemen was held in Dunedin on Friday night last, when the sum of £7B was collected for the assistance of persons “ boycotted ’’ in Ireland. Smart. —Two Christchurch young ladies, fast companions, and who generally are dressed alike, made a wager as to who could dress the quickest. The winner’s time was 3h 15m 425. Jewel Robbery. —On Saturday night last the premises of Messrs Webster, jewellers, of Melbourne, were entered by burglars, and watches and jewellery to the value of £IOOO taken. Good News. —Although the returns of the Customs Department are not yet complete for the financial year ended 31st ult., yet they already show nearly £60,000 above the Treasurer’s estimate. Trespassing hi otice.— Mr P. Warning notifies that in consequence of stock being disturbed all persons found trespassing on his land at Milford, will in future, whether in pursuit of game or otherwise, be prosecuted. Temuka High School. —We have been favored with the following roll of honor for the past quarter at the Temuka High School by Mr J. Leary, the Principal : 1, J. Nicholson, 253 marks ; 2, Elizabeth Ackroyd, 244; 3, J. Bligh, 232. Contracts. —The Temuka Road Board invite tenders for several works, to be in by 10 o’clock this morning. Amongst these we notice the Board calls for forming and shingling the footpaths in Temuka, and we hope that ere long pedestiians may be enabled to traverse them in comfort. Mail Steamer Missing. —A cablegram from London states that the steamship City of New York, which left Auckland on Ist ult., had not reached San Francisco and was a week overdue. A steamer had left San Francisco for the purpose of searching for her. Sporting. —Amongst our local sportsmen who tried their luck and their guns on the Ist instant, we have been informed that Mr Boyd Thomson was the most successful, having bagged sixty-seven clucks- It is the usual thing to forward a brace or so by the successful ones to the nearest local paper, but up to the present hour the custom, in regard to ourselves, lias been the more honored in the breach than the observance. A Death Shock. —At St. Marie la Blanche, France, a young woman who was supposed to have died in a fit was buried by order of some friends. While the grave digger was filling in the grave he heard a noise coming from the coffin. The leading functionaries were summoned, and the woman, being taken from her coffin, was found to be alive. The shock proved too much for her, as she was seized with another fit, and this time died in reality.

The Wauiate Gold Affair. —The Waimate Times states that not with standing the fact that the recently reported discovery of a quartz-reef near Pudding H'll turned out to be incorrect, there is a very general belief that there is good payable gold within a short distance of Waimate, arid that the belief is wellfound, it hopes to be .able to give, some indication in its next issue. Meanwhile a number of the business men are interesting themselves in a proposal to offer a reward for the discovery of payable gold in the district. Already £325 is guaranteed, and a meeting is to be held early next week to take further steps in the matter.

The Durability of Life,— Buffon, the Naturalist, makes the following calculations on the the durability of life : From the best calculations, only on# out of 3210 reach the age of 100. Of 1000 infants nursed by the mother, about 300 die ; of the same number nursed out, 509 die. More people live to a great age in elevated situations than in lower ones. Of the children born alive, one fourth die before seven months old, one third before the twenty-third month, half before their eighth year, two-thirds of mankind die before their twenty-ninth year; three fourths before their fifty-first .year, and of about 12,000 only one survives a whole century.

The Coming Session.— The Wellington, correspondent to the Christchurch Press says that a rumor was set afloat on Friday last to the effect that Parliament will be called together on May 27th’ There is not the slightest truth in this report, as Parliament will not meet earlier than June. At present it stands prorogued to the 19th instant, but a proclamation will bo issued in a few days further proroguing it to the middle of next month, but probably it will not meet then for the despatch of business. The prorogation from the date next month to which Parliament is now about to be prorogued will be the final one, and will definitely fix the date in June on which the House will meet for the despatch of business.

Sheep-worryingk :—We understand that Mr George Wood head has had several of his sheep killed by dogs at his farm, Milford. The owners, are known, will have to pay pretty dearly for the bloodthirsty freaks of their dogs.

A Welcome Rain. —The rain which commenced on Friday night continued without intermission till late on Sunday, gladdening the hearts of farmers, whose pastures have been for some time completely dried up. Winchester Fair Sales.— The usual monthly Fair at Winchester will be held to-morrow, when Messrs Maclean and Stewart, and also Messrs Wildie, Allan and Stumbles will offer a large quantity of live stock for sale by public auctiori.

T. and G. A. and P. Association.— To-morrow evening a meeting of the members of the Association vyiU be held in the Star Hotel, at half-past seven o’clock, for the purpose of settling on details in regard to the registration of the Association, and other important business.

Mr Bradlaugh’s Appeal.— The Court has dismissed Mr Bradlaugh’s appeal against the disallowance of his demurrer in the action Clarke v. Bradlaugh, to recover penalties from the latter for sitting and voting in the House of Commons without first taking the oath.

A Splendid Voyage. —Accounts state that the Dunedin whaler Splendid has been very successful. Since leaving Dunedin in November last she has captured seven fish, which have yielded between 70 and 80 tuns of oil. The oil has been transhipped at the Chatham Islands into the schooner Jessie Nicol.

Reform. —Reform appears to be quite the order of the present day, and we are glad to observe that Russia is following in the wake. We learn that an Imperial decree has been issued announcing that a form of representative Municipal Government for St. Petersburg will forthwith be initiated. Jewellery of the Present Age.— A novel piece of jewellery is now being exhibited in Paris. It is no other than a huge spider in diamonds, the abdomen of the insect being formed of one large yellow diamond of an oval form, while the legs and fangs are composed of small diamonds. It is indeed said that spiders in gold, silver, and precious stones are to take the place of the jewelled rags for which there has been such a passion of late, the spider being equally emblematic of good luck, as well as being more uncommon.

Another Fire.— On Friday night last a stack of straw was set on fire on Mr Benbow’s farm, Waitohi, within three or four chains of the house. It appears that on that day a quantity of wheat had been threshed out, but fortunatety it had been carted away, and before night the machine was taken away also. There is no doubt but that it was the work of an incendiary, as the stack was set on fire about three feet from the ground. We understand that the matter is in the hands of the police, and we hope the offenders will be speedily brought to justice. The Kelly Gang. —At Edinburgh, on the night of the 4th inst, a commercial traveller, his father and sister, were shot by two men whom the}’’ met in the street. Later on the same men wounded three policemen, who saw them near the Custom House and challenged them. One of the men then shot himself through the head and the other attempted to do the same, but was prevented and captured. When charged with the offence he refused to give any account of himself or his companion. Their names are said to be Grant and Seymour. They are stated to have belonged to Kelly’s gang of bushrangers, and after that gang was broken up to have gone to London from Australia to assist' the Land League or other Irish agency. The three policemen and the persons shot in Edinburgh, it is believed by the same men, are likely to recover.

' Refusing a Concession. —There is one person in England who at all events had no idea that coercion is necessary for Ireland. He is a parson, a baronet, an absentee Irish landlord, and an Englishman—about as homeless a combination as a Parnellite couldMesire for denunciation. He is Sir Cavendish Hervey, rector of Theydon Gamon, in the lovely wilds of Epping, in Essex. This reverend baronet has an estate in Louth, one of the counties supposed to be the worst in Ireland. When the day came for the collection of his rent be sent instructions to his agents to deduct 10 per cent. The tenants unanimously refused to accept it. “Nothing new in that,” perhaps you say. Patience I They refused to accept it because they declared that their rents were low enough already, their landlord a good and considerate one, and the harvest sufficient to cover his rightful demand. They therefore insisted upon the agents taking their rents in full. A finer testimonial to a landlord has never been presented in onr day.