LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 933, 28 March 1882, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

School Entertainment. The programme of the entertainment in aid of the Temuka School, which will be held next Thursday will appear in our next issue.. Labob Turnips.—A paragraph has ap-, peared in a Hprfch Island paper stating that a turnip grown in its own , locality measured 38 inches in circumference,. Rangitata is far from being the most fertile part of • Canter* bury, and yet much larger turnips than this 38 inch monster have been grown there. Mr John Speed, of Rangitata, has grown on his farm at Rangitata, this year turnips which measured 43 inches in circumference. Convicted on Doubtful Evidence. —A feeling of horror, rather than of interest, has been created by a strange story which has come to light in Staffordshire., Two years ago two farmers, named Henry Johnston and Samuel Clowes, living at Rushtpn, near. Leek, were convicted of mutilating a neighbouring farmer, one Isaac Brooks. The evidence seemed precise, and the two were sentenced to 10 years’penal servitude. Brooks is described as a “ sort of rustic Don Juan,” and the motion for the attack on him was supposed to be revenge, for one of , his victims. Some months later he was found with, another wound - and again declared that he had been assailed. He lived a strange and moody life,. and began to waste away, as some said under the influence of a guilty conscience. At last he died, but before his death confessed that he had .inflicted .the wounds himself, and falsely charged his neighbours. It is a strange case* The .Home Secretary has ordered a full inquiry. Tbe Lancet inclines, on medical evidence, to the belief that Brooks mutilated himself in a fit of insanity.

Good Templars’ Entertainment. —Theentertainment held under the auspices of the 1.0.G.T., Lodge, in the Templar Hall was a great success. There was a very large tendance, the chair being occupied by WPostlofchwaite Esq., M.H.R. A full report "will appear in our next issue.

A Curious Bequest. —A legacy inherited, under curious conditions has just been, handed over to the Evangelical Church at Baden-Baden, according to the American. Register, A rich spinster died some years, ago bequeathing her fortune to the Church, with the provision that the money should, not he given up till the death of her favorite. cockatoo, whicd she had bequeathed to hermaid. Until than the interest was to he utilised by the bird’s keeper. So the cockatoo, was duly registered and kept under official supervision. Last Christmas Eve it died suddenly, having survived its mistress over 20 years.

R.M. Court. —At the above Court yesterday before S I). Barker, and Julius Mendelson Esqrs., J.P.’s the case of C. Storey v M. W. Jjunda"s—Claim £2 16s 6d judgment, summons was adjourned for a week. In the case of A. Russell v. Eaglestone—Claim £8„ 7.8, Mr Johnston, who appeared for the. plaintiff, handed in a document signed by the defendant in which he agreed to pay at rate of £1 monthly,and judgment was given ac,: cordingly with the addition of one. month’s, imprisonment in default of payment. Martin., y Eaglestone—Claim £l. Judgment for the plaintiff with costs. W. McCann v, G. Kahu—Claim 9s. The case was, nonsuited., on the ground of insufficient evidence.

EXPERIMENTING; ON TSR IMPROVEMENT.. OP Sheep. —'An experiment of great interest to flock-masters throughout Australia is nowbeing carried out by Messrs M'Earland-Bros, of Barngo, New. South, Wales. With the., view; of-increasing the weight of flefce on their, sheep, Messrs M‘Earland have selected a, * number of stud merinos from, the most celebrated docks, in Vermont, IJ.S.A., which., . have lately arrived in Victoria, and are, npwip quarantine. The sheep, (says, the .Argus), are. ofaji. entirely diflereot type., from, the, Australian, merino, being remarkably dense, ip the wood with,stopt bpdies on, short legs. ' They have the. peculiarity of; being covered; with wrinkles, or folds in the. skin, and. on'v these folds the wool,is very heavy, and the, wopl is not nearly so bright and attrative as, Australian wool,but the fleeces are remarkably , heavy, and as high as 301 b .to a fleece has on, several occasions, been reached. The American wood loses, greatly, in., the.process, of; •pouring, but the return of scoured wool is, xnt.ch heavier per fleece than is the case Victorian fleeces.

Spiritualism. —A- new, and • powerful: physical medium has appeared in Russia in . the form of Pelaguqy Nikleaf, a young girl; of nineteen years.. The demonstrations that were. produced in her presence were the. mqst violent on record, cowa,,pigs, and. other; animals seemed to go mad in her presence and tried to climb walls, and at a seance at which were present the most noted spiritualists . of St. Petersburg, the circle had hardly seated themselves when what seemed an electric. shock ran through them, all, then the table . violently assaulted sitters and mediums, upsetting their chairs, and all fell upon the. flqor—when . the chair of the medium began , to perform, such, violent and • astonishing . gyrations, that the whole company took to, their heels.

Dramatic . Entertainment. — On nest Friday and Saturday evenings a dramatic. entertainment of a noyelcharact.er is. promised, to be given in the Volunteer Hall by Power’s _ iEsthetic Party,, entitled.■ “.Bustle . and < Bounce.” The play is a new one,.and if are to judge by tHp critiques of the. southeriV papers given to us by the agent the company, it will be well worth seeing. The plot, according to the Southland Hows, is very* simple.. It is that a certain lover makes up! his mipd to propose to the object of hia! affections, but his intentions in this, respect! become known to some of his friends, who! rush in at, the very moment that he is to pop the . question. The interruptions! furnish .no end of amusement, and keep the! audience in roars of laughter, from beginning ! to end. Mr Harry Power, who appears in® seven different characters during the . per : ® formance, is a comedian of great reputation, ■ well known in Hew Zealand. Mr Julian J.® Langtrey is a spendid baritone, singer, and® Mdlle de Glorian, as a singer, dancer and ® comedienne, ranks very highly in her prof as-® sion. On the whole we feel confident that® the .entertainment will prove an excellent® one, and we trust as we seldom get first-class® artists to visit this town, they will meet with® such encouragement as will induce them® to come again. ®

Buog-v Accidents. —As Mr A. Storey of Winchester, was driving down the street lasts Saturday evening, in front of, Mrs Gibb s shop, something annoyed the horse attached! to the vehicle and he began to kick furiousjvj In being pulled up by Mr Storey he wounaj round, ran on the footpath, and would probably have gone in through Mrs Gibbs window only for, the way he was managed] The horse still continued kicking wildly, and turned across the street, going on to path again at the other stopped till one of the wheels was caught, by the post of the. verandah itj front of Mr Boyd Thompson’s shop, where in was firmly held. One. .shaft of the vehicloj was broken right off, but further than thaj very little injury was done,. Mr Storey, stuca to the horse admirably, and only for thi plucky way in which he held him, the pro! babilities are that, as there were a good many on the street at the time, a good deal oi harm would have been done. Mr Storey had a child with him in the trap, but it sus] tained no injury. On the same day at Win Chester, a book agent who is, travelling foJ Messrs Thompson and Hiven had anothei smash up. His trap was broken to pieces, and a large quantity of books very muph damaged, jT

Incidents in Court. —A good deal of .amusement was created in the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday, by the case in which Mr McCann sued a Maori named George Kahu for 9s, for two bags of coal supplied. The plaintiff swore that he had supplied the coats, and that the defendant neglected to pay for them, but when asked to produce his books be stated he had neglected to bring them to the Court. There was therefore negligence on both sides. The .defendant neglected to pay, and then the .doctrine of contributary negligence came in, for the plaintiff had neglected to bring his hooks, and .the rule of law is that where there as negligence on both sides a verdict as given for fhe ,defendant. However, in .this case things were more difficult. The plaintiff had sworn that he had supplied the coals, and the defendant replied “ I never had no coals.” The rule of grammar is that two negatives make ,a positive, therefore the ,defendant had .admitted having received the .coals and was liable to pay for them. Here .then was the difficulty. By rule of law ■the defendant was entitled to a verdict, and by the rule of grammar the plaintiff ought in all justice to get judgment. So the conflict between grammatical and legal rules became .extremely perplexing, and the incomparable genius of the heaven-bern Magistrate, who sat there maximus in nfimmus, was for once taxed to its utmost capacity. A way out of this intricate labyrinth was, however, sound. Mr McCann was ordered to go home and get his books. He did this, and when he returned a conversation in dumb show took place between himself and the Bench. The _ result of it all was that the defendant had been entered in Mr McCann’s book as a Maori, and on the ground that it might be any other Maori the .case was nonsuited. There was one thing in the whole proceedings which was very reprehensible. After Mr McCann returned to Court with his book, the Court enter ed into a conversation with him in monotones quite inaudible to any one except those who took part in it. What could Maoris present infer from this, but that there was a conspiracy going op. This .should not have occurred, Mr McCann should have been placed in the box, so that everything he said would be .audible to the defendant. Of course it was & piece of oversight, but if the verdict had been against them, the Maoris would have gone home, believing that Mr McCann Jiad nse.d undue influence with the Bench > and it would have the .effect of lessening their respect for the law.

Mrs Gibbs advertises that she has .opened a registry office for servants. Mr Ashwhell advertises that he has bought jbhe hook debts in Mr Be yd Thomson’s and all moneys must be paid to him by the 20th pf April, or they will fie sued for. Attention is directed to the advertisement pf Mr Ferrier, photographer, Timaru, which appears in another column. The panoramic views turned opt by Mr Ferrier are excellent, and well worth the money charged for them.

We direct attention to the advertisement pf Messrs Davies and Murphy which appears in another column. The advertisement speaks volumes for the enterprise of that firm, and gives an assurance that they have an un. limited supply of drapery to suit all tastes. Of all the drapers in Timaru, there is none more enterprising than Messrs Davies and Murphy and few hare succeeded in establishing an extensive business so rapidly. A few years ago they started in a very modest way in a little shop on the site of the premises they now occupy, and year by year since they have been extending their business and their business premises, till now they are second to none. Houses which at first looked down on them now regard thqm as very dangerous pivals, and well they may, for when other houses complain .of dull times Messrs Davies and Murphy are busy. And how have they attained this degree of success ? Simply by advertising. They have from the beginning been very extensive advertisers, and paid more for it than perhaps all the others put together; in fact they published an advertising sheet of their own for a long time, which could not have cost them much less than £3OO a year besides the quantity of circulars they distributed, and the advertisements they must have had In other papers ; and what is the result ? It is that one cannot enter the house any day in the week without finding customers waiting to be served. Messrs Davies and Murphy have also to a great e.xtent worked on the cash trade principle, believing, like sensible men, that quick sales and light profits are better than allowing goods to stay on f heir hands for years until they get out of date, as is the case with other drapers we know. The success of Messrs Davies and Murphy proves beyond doubt fbe utility pf advertising. They have made a very extensive business in about four, years, and there is no doubt that their success was in a great measure, due to advertisements.