LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 402, 18 June 1881, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Outgoing Mail. —The outgoing mail, via San Francisco, wi'l c’ose at the Post-office at 3 p.m. to-day. Acknowledgment. —We are in receipt of a batch of Parliamentary papers from the office of the Government Printer. Wesleyan Church. —The list of services for to-morrow in connection with this Church in the district will bo found in our advertising columns. Trotting Match.— On Tuesday next a match has been arranged between Mr 0. Nicholas’ Fenian and Mr Boyd Thomson’s chestnut pony, £5 a-side. The distance will be two miles, along the main road. The Breakwater.— During a meeting of the Committee o! the Timaru Harbor Board on Thursday, Messrs Jones and Peters wore the successful tenderers for widening the approach to the wharves at the Breakwater, the tender amounting to £533 2s. Mr Essery’s Pork Shop.— The window of this shop last evening was artistically dressed with every description of pork and small goods. We are glad to learn that Mr Essery is being laigely patronised by the inhabitants of the. township and district, and he well deserves it. R.M. Court, Timaru. —At this Court yesterday, William Brown, was brought np on remand charged with stealing two blankets and two counterpanes, at Temuka recently, and' further remanded till Monday next, atj the R.M. Court, Temuka. Converted into Mutton. —As the late train was proceeding northward yesterday afternoon, just after passing (he railway crossing, it ran over and killed a stray sheep from a mob that was grazing near the line at the time. The stoppage of the train was the only inconvenience experienced.

P Alt LI AM ENTA R Y. —In 11 10 HoUSO Oil Thursday last, Rip Premier moved the second reading of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Bill, which was carr’ed. There is, lio.wevei;,.a.strong feeling against going on with it until Government have announced their intension with respect to local Government.

Kerosene as an Antidote. —Mr 0. 11. Mills, of Havelock, states in a letter to a local paper that his brother, Mr- T. HMills has found kerosene a complete antidote in tutu poisoning in cattle. On one occasion he found one of his most valuable coivs nearly dead from,, the effects of eating the poisonous shrub, and, after trying various remedies without success, as a last resource he gave her nearly a pint of kerosene ns an experiment, and in about fcwpaty minutes he was delighted to see that she had completely recovered. Since then he has had fifteen cases through his hand, and never lost a beast.

Discovery or a Buried City.—A city buried in the shifting sands of Southern Algiers has recently been dis covered by a Government officer named Tarry, He bad previously opened up a subterranean river, capable, as it is rather curiously described, of nourishing 100,000 palm trees. This remarkable discovery led him to make further explorations, which were rewarded by the appearance of- a second Pompeii, with inscriptions vaulted passages, and other architectural remains of great beauty. At the latest report a mosque and nine houses have been unearthed, and the hidden river gave promise of supplying enough water to redeem a considerable domain of fertile land from the desert.

T.M.I.A. -On Thursday evening last an ordinary meeting of the members of the Temuka, Mutual Improvement Association was held- in the Good Templars’ Ilajh Mr J. Brown was voted to the chair. The minutes of the previous meeting having been read and confirmed, Mr C. E: Rayner proposed Mr Richard Gee as a member of thq Association. Readings were.then given by Messrs McCaskill, C. E. Rayner, R. Pinckney, J. Brown, and W. Rowe, all of which were subjected to, severe criticism. These criticisms tend to make an evening all the more enjoyable, besides instructing the younger, members in the elocutionary art, attitude, etc. It is a groat pity that the meetings of the Association are not better attended as, besides rendering it discouraging, to the punptn.nl members, the absentees lose, a deal that is both instructive and ampsjng. We would strongly urge them, to, turn over a new leaf, and ‘ roll up ’ as they ought to do..

Rise in Wool. —Our woolocrats will be glad to 'earn that during the London wool sale on the 15th instant a firmer demand was experienced, and that the prices for greasy wool are about id higher than last sales. Other kinds rule about the same as last sales.

Value of Rabbit Skins. —We (Hawera Star) hear from the Wairarapa of one runholder who expended £7OO in rabbitkilling, and netted £IOOO from the sale of their skins. Our informant does not know how much wool was lost through the pasturage destroyed by the rabbits. Significant.— lt is pretty well known (says the Hawera Star) that the sawmillers of the district have recently been more than fully supplied with orders. One of them lately received a letter with a coffin and a death’s head and crossbones drawn on the sheet. Underneath was written m large letters— My Timber. No signature was attached. New use for the Telephone. —The Telephone Company in Belgium have inaugurated a very ingenious and at the same time practical system. Subscribers can, by leaving word the previous evening, bo awakened at any hour in the morning by 7 means of a powerful alarum. Cement. —A patent lias been issued to Mr W. A. Ewing, of Dunedin, for the manufacture of a certain cement, and to be called ‘The New Zealand Cement,’ and to bo made from a calerenus sandstone of the Oamaru, Waipara, and Pareora formation, found in various parts of the Colony. Speculative Results. —The Nelson mail learns from a reliable source that Mr Thomas Russell, formerly’ of Auckland, is known to, have made a profit of £750,000; by speculating in the rise and fall of Turkish bonds on the Loudon Stock Exchange, The operation extended ovo r two or three years when the Eastern question was active. Oalioraphy Humbug. —A great deal of humbug is ofteu talked by people who profess to be judges of handwriting. I showed a profe sor of caligraphy a letter which I had received. He took a very unfavorable view of the handwriting. It was. the handwriting of a, man without learning, without genius, without feeling- “ And now, sir,” I said, “ will you look at the signature I” The letter was written by Lord Macaulay 7.

The New Eddystone Lighthogse.— The new Eddystono the foundation stone of which \yas laid in 1879, is progressing steadily. The light of the new tower already exceeds that of Sineaton's tower. The new light is expected to be exhibited in- March, 1832 In foggy weather a powerful bell, weighing two tons, will bo sounded at the new Eddystoue in quick succession every halfminute.

A Novel Association.—An lion of Gorman matrons and maim-His, 11 uder the significant title of “Clothing League for the Abolition of Petticoats,’’ recently held its first meeting in Berlin. The chairwoman pronounced it to be the sacred duty of every member of the association to discard petticoats and to assume in its stead “ a dualistic form of covering for the legs as well as for the arms.” This daring programme of action was hailed with acclamation of approval by all present save one.

The Revised Bible. —The Americans expect an immense sale of the revised edition of the New Testament. A large printing; firm has issued a circular, saying it is believed there are already 100,000 copies in that city awaiting the day of publication ; but tint as this will not suffice to. inget the demand, arrangements have been made by tbe firm to procure one of these copies as soon as possible, to get the book in, type in twenty-four hours, and to produce at least 5000 bound copies per day. A Takakuan Episode,. Amongst things not generally known in connection with the wreck of the Tararua, says a Southern contemporary, is the fact that there were a couple of ‘ elopments’on board One was from Wellington, where a wife had left her husband and children, to “go off.” She and her paramour were both drowned. The other was, properly speaking, on’y half an elopement. A merchant in Christchurch had arranged to seek pastures fresh, along with a fair one but in order to avert suspicion he went on to Sydney by one boat, whilst she, poor unfortunate, went to Melbourne by the Tararua. She “met her fate” literally on the Otara reef.