LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 9420, 22 June 1882, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Electric Light.—An experiment at lighting Lyttelton harbor with the electric light was made on Saturday evening, and proved very successful. The Licensing Act.—A well attended meeting at Wanganui the other night passed a resolution unanimously in favor of a peti> tion to Parliament against amendment of the present Licensing Act, which should have a fair trial. South Canterbury Poultry, Pigeon and Canahy Association.—Exhibitors at the next show of the abore Association are reminded that entries will be received between 2 and 10 o'clock p. in., on Saturday, in Stone's Hotel, Timaru. Rates. —The Temuka Eoad Board notifies that a rate of sixpence in the £ will be levied on all rateable property. The South Orari Board of Conservators make a similar announcement. The rate book is open for inspection at the Eoad Board Office during office hours. 1.0.Gr.T. —A concert and lecture, in aid of the organ fund of the local lodge of Good Templars, will be held in the Volunteer Hall, Temuka, on Wednesday evening, the 28th of June next. The lecturer will be the Rev. D. G-ordon, and the subject "How to get on in the world."

Educational.—Mrs Worthington, for" | merly mistress of the Pleasant Point public ! school, has opened a young ladiea' boarding and day school, in the cottage formerly occupied by Mr Rutland* This is a want long felt supplied, and as a necessity for' such an institution exists, we have no doubt it will be well patronised. Land Tax.—Says the correspondent of the Presi : —Mr Turnbull obtained leave to postpone his motion in favor of a progressive land tax, although Major Atkinson would have liked to have it out then and there, but the Opposition knew that its fate Was assured, and they hoped by keeping it off to secur® the assistance of the newly-elected members for the vacated seats. A Young Lady Hoaxed.—A few days ago the Wairarapa paper contained a lengthy letter said to have been sent by a local insurance agsnt, enclosing a cheque foi £lO, to a lady named Miss Ewington for her gallant services in extinguishing a lire. It now turns out that the letter and cheque were both forgeries, and when Miss Ewington went to the bank payment was refused. The police are trying to discover the forger. Explanatory.—Most people in the habit of receiving letters through the post have been somewhat puzzled lately at noticing a mysterious mark in blue pencil on each. The explanation is, we believe, that the officials, for revenue purposes, have been instructed to prepare a full return of all correspondence passing through the offices during a prescribed period, and the mark in question signifies that the particular letter has been duly noted. An Appreciative Hearer.—A very indecorous interruption to the sermon was offered by some individual in St. John's Church, Napier, on Sunday evening. The Kev Mr Towgood was officiating, and in the course of his remarks he was drawing diff e " rent types of character. '' Take Bill Sykes, for instance," he said, when a deep bass voice added, " and his dog." It would not have been seemly for Mr Towgood to descend from the pulpit and eject the ill-mannered interrupter, remarks the Herald, but if he had done so we might have excused him.

A New Coinage.—The new die for stamping the next issue of gold coinage from the Mint is now ready, and has bson placed in the hands of the authorities. It is only the second die which has been cut for this purpose during the present reign. The likeness of Her Majesty is very properly that of the present year, and not that of the year 1837. The crown which ornaments the brow of the Queen is, however, an Imperial one> notwithstanding the fact that, according to the late Government's pledge, everything appertaining to the title of Empress was to bo reserved for Indian currency alone —Truth, Railway Charges.—The Co-operative Association of Christchurch ha? drawn up a circular, which will bo sent to Canterbury members, to farmer's Club 3, and others likely to take any interest in the matter, on the subject of railway rates. Amongst other things, the circular states it is notorious that carrier s are successfully competing with the railway within 20 miles of Christchurch. A new scale is proposed, under which the charge for produce for 100 miles would be 10s 6d, against 13s 3d as now. Some complaints are alsc made about the system of working trucks, and several cases are pointed out which show that abuses have crept in.

The City of Perth.—The above vessel was floated last Monday afternoon. About noon the steam tug Lyttleton commenced the task of pulling her off, but until the tide rose about two oclock she made no headway • Shortly before three o'clock the tug,after two or thee efforts, succeeded in pulling her off her bed of sand, and once more the City of Perth was afloat. She was then towed to the outer anchorage. On Tuesday she was fitted up with everything necessary for taking her to Port Chalmers. She is making very little water, the hand pumps being sufficient to keep it down. Attempts were made to raise her anehor, but as it was found to be foul of another anchor the operation had to be postponed. There seems to be no danger of not getting the vessel into Port Chalmers dock.

You Tnrui Btjegiaes.—At the Resident M agistra te's Court, Dunedin. last Tuesday morning,Ro bert Gray 12 years, William Gray, 10 years, and Edgar George Thomas, 8 years, were charged with having broken into McGregor Watt's store on Sunday night last and stolen therefrom. The case was fully proved, and the Bench said this was a very awful case ; if the boys were a little older they would have been convicted as buglars. It was difficult to know how to deal with them, they could not be sent to the Industrial School, because it could hardly be said they were neglected children. The boys would be discharged upon the understanding that their parents gave them a good sound flogging with the birch in the presence of a police officer. The parents undertook to do this, ilso to restore the stolen money to the owners. Lost on the Ranges.—lnformation of a sad affair has been brought to Blenheim. The facts as at present known appear to be as follows : —One day last week a shepherd named James White and a cadet naxed John Harris, went out mustering in the country at the back of Blairch Station. Owing to tne fog or snow they lost their way, and wandered about for a day or two until finally, having run out of pro visions, famished ' with hunger and exhausted with exposure White was unable to proeed any ferther, and desired Harris to push on and obtain help. Finding that it was useless to stop by White, unless both were to perish, Harm pushed on and succeeded in reaching an uninhabited house on the Awatere shearing reserve. Here he was found some time later by one of the Messrs Mowatt, in a thoroughly exhausted state, having no food and being unable even to light a fire. All that Mowatt could gather was that White was on the hills and that they must go out and search for him, which they did, and succeeded in finding him at a spot near Mount Horrible, some twenty odd

miles distant from Blairch Station. Harris, though, very weak, is expected to recover in a few days. Messrs Maclean and Stewart will sell by public auction on Thursday, the 29th June, on the farm of Mr Wightnian, "Waitohi, three miles from Temuka, cattle, horses, implements etc. On Saturday next, at their Tiniam horse bazar, a large number of horses. Attention is directed to an advertisement in another column to the effect that all domestic needs can be got in the Little Dust Pan store, Timaru. There is no doubt that the stock in Little Dust Pan is of a varied kind ; in fact everything, ?'from a needle to an anchor," as the saying is, can be got there, and at very reasonable rates, too- We recommend it to the notice of visitors to Timaru, and we are sure that a trial given it will result satisfactorily.