LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 914, 7 February 1882, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Qukenstown Fire,—A coioner's jury have feund Waldmann, of Queenstown, guilty of arson in setting fire to his premises in Ballarat street. This refers to the store from whence the fire spread, not to the attempt to burn down his private house. Fire Brigade.- At a meeting of the above, held yesterday evening, the following tenders were received for the .office of enginekeeper—Mr A. W. Surridge, £10; Mr W. Weir, £lO •• Mr Sheen, £lO. It was decided by ballot to give the office to Mr Weir. Piscatorial.—Mr J. M. Ollivier, of the Temuka Hotel, on last Friday brought home a monster groper from the beach, which weighed 48|lb. Mr Ollivier with Messrs Thomson, Nicholas, Whitehead, and Stenmg, on that day went on a fishing excursion to the beach, and besides the groper they brought home seven large kawais, and about three dozen hen ings. The groper was caught ] by Mr Ollivier by throwing a line into the su'-f. After it was brought home it was cut up and divided amongst those who took par fc in the fishing excursion. An Inhuman Mother. —An extraordinary and almost incredible story of cruelty comes from Jersey City (New York), where a mother is charged with deliberately starving her child to death, and announcing its death, providing a coffin, and actually arranging the body as if for burial bef6re it had breathed its last. When its condition was discovered, starvation had so far advanced that life cou-ld not be saved. This remarkable parent is charged by her own sister with having lost three other children in the same way. The Dreamers. —A new sect has been founded in the Western States of America called "The Dreamers." The persons who compose it considers dreams Divine revelations, and therefore they shape their actions according to what they think they learn in the silent watches of the night. When they dream dreams which they cannot understand they go for explanation to the " Chief Dreamer," who is the head of their sect, and who either explains them or pretends to do so. The influence he thus acquires over them is very great, as he becomes acquainted with their inmost personal secrets. The sect is not as yet very extensive, but it makes up for the lack of its size and influence by intense ignorance and unquestionable stupidity. It has its head-quarters in a small town in Minnesota, to which it will probably be confined.

Threshing Peas. A rather novel •method of threshing out peas (says the North Otago Times)has been put in practice by Mr William Jessop, of Ngapara, -which may be of use to farmers generally. The objection to putting peas through the threshing mill is that (although the mill makes eban work of it) many of the seeds are crushed and broken. The use of a flail is a process that might extend the operation into the harvest of a succeeding year, and is therefore practised by those who have only a small quantity to thresh. Mr Jessop takes the blades of his chaffcutter out, and the crop being fed in the ordinary way, the arms of the cutter beat out the peas in a most effectual manner and without injuring them. A man rakes the haumes out of the way as they pass through the cutter. A gentleman who has watched the operation says it is effectual and expeditious. We give the idea publicity as it seems to be a practical one, and might be utilised by many farmers. Thompson's Diorama. —This magnificent diorama was exhibited at the Yolunteer Hall last night to a splendid house. The views are. beautifully painted, and give a capital representation of the recent war in Zululand from the beginning to the end. The diorama opens with a view of Pietermaritzburg, the capital of Natal, from whence the scene changes to the banks of the Tugela river, where the British troops were encamped the the before the disastrous sattle of Isandula. All the incidents of war are graphically pourtrayed, one scene of which is extremely Sensational, It consi3te of a party of Zulus, who are destroying the fences around Colonel Pearson's intrenchments at Ekowe. The officers had previously placed a torpedo at the foot of a post so that when the post was pulled up the torpedo would explode. A low rumbling noise is heard, the scene suddenly changes, and the Zulus are observed blown into the air. This scene was loudly applauded. The second part of the entertainment consists of a series of wellexecuted views, showing tha progress of the war, including the battle of Ulundi, the capture of Cetewayo, and the death of the Prince Imperial. The diorama is by far the best we have seen here, and it is needless to say that every incident was lucidly explained by Mr Thompson whose capabilities as a lecturer in connection with the diorama of the American. War are already well known. A large number of articles were given away, including a valuable tea and coffee service, Mr Thompson ohoosing indiscrimately from among the audience those on whom he wished to bestow gifts. The way in which gifts were formerly distributed was by giying tickets at the doors, but this would now bring Mr Thompson under the Gaming and Lotteries Act which was passed last session, and to evade this law. he has adopted the plan of giving the prizes to anyone he may choose from the audience. As he generally accompanies the gift with some funny remarks, this part of the entertainment affords a g3od deal of amusement. The diorama will be exhibited again this evaning, when children will be allowed to see it at the low charge of sixpence. Special Tkeat.—Mr Thompson notifies that in order to give children an opportunity of seeing the diorama, thoy. will be admitted this evening to the front seats for one shilling, and to the. back seats for sixpence. Amongst the presents to be given away is a silver watch and a tea and coffee service. We recommend the advertisement to the attention of parents. They cannot give their children a better or cheaper treat than to bring them to witness the diorama.

Agricultural. —lt is stated on good authority (says the Ellesmere Guardian) that the Hon W. Robinson, well-known as Beady-money Robinson, intends next season to sow 16,000 acres of land with wheat. Diphtheria.—We notice in the Taranaki Budget that Dr Murray G-ibbs has treated twenty - three patients suffering from diphtheria, at Tikorangi, with bluegum steam and that all are convalescent. Swift. - Lyman Haskell's multi-charge cannon was successfully cast on October 28, at Reading, Pa. Along the bore are four pookets, in each of which a charge of powder will be placed to accelerate the speed of the ball after it leaves the chamber of the gun. It is claimed that the ball thrown by this gun will pass through 2ft of solid wrought iron. The charge of powder will be 1301 b, and the weight of the projectile will be 1501 b. Fire. —A fire broke out in Mr Coxhead's photographic studio, Timaru, about 3.30 a.m. last Sunday. The fire was discovered by the constable on the beat, and as both front and back doors were locked, the back door had to be burst open, when it was discovered that the fire was confined to a room in which there were chemicals of a combustible nature. The fire was got under before it left this room. Mr Coxhead was insured to the extend of £250, but that would not cover the value 0 f his property. Contempt of Court. —In the case of A„. Russell v. John. Carter, yesterday, the defendant was being examined as to the reason why he had not complied with the judgment of the Court to pay the debt. He stated that he was not in a position to do so, but in ; answer to certain questions he confessed to, having satisfied two other judgment sum-, monses which were issued against hira subsequent to the present plaintiff's judgment,. When the Court asked where he got themoney from he refused to answer at first, but afterwards stated that he had got it by his own labor. Upon being pressed he said, he had obtained the money in exchange for a. cheque, and the Court asked whose cheque it was, and from whom he had obtained it, but he persistently refused to answer the question He was then given into custody until the rising of the Court, when he was brought up again and asked the same question, which, he still refused to answer. The Court next asked him to answer the question, and apologise for having committed a contempt of" Court. He refused to do either,, and was sentenced to be locked for 24 hours. Doubtful Law.; His Worship theResident Magistrate gave rather questionable decisions yesterday. In the first place, hefined Mr A. Lawrence £s.for. having his two. cows trespassing on the railway, without taking into consideration that the gates wer6~ open and the fences broken. He next fined, Mr A. Storey £2 for a similar offence, and, Mr Gr. Taylor 10s. Mr Storey had only onecow trespassing on the railway, and MrTaylor two, and yet the latter was fined only one-fourth of the amount the former v?as,. His Worship said the object of a fence- was; to keep one's own cattle on one's own land,, and not to keep neighbor's cattle from tres--passing on it. This is an extraordinary.statement, especially in the connection his. Worship used it. We ask Mr Beswick is. the object of the G-overnment in fencing; railways to keep the train within the fences, or to keep neighboring cattle from trespassing thereon ? The law relating to fencing is. exactly the opposite to what Mr Beswick laid it down to be. Mr Taylor was also. charged with having allowed a cow belonging to him to wander on a road. Mr Taylor produced a map to show that theroad was nob under the control of the Road Board, and therefore not a public one ; but Mr Beswick only asked him in a cavalier sort of way, without giving the question the • slightest consideration "Is that all," and fined him 10s. If the road was not a public one the information was bad, and to fine Mr Taylor was most illegal. Mr Beswick will some day find it to his advantage to give a little consideration to cases of this kind, else he will lay himself open to unfavorableoriticism.