LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1039, 5 December 1882, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

MurORD School—We understand that the examination of this school takes place next Friday. Temxjka Eoad Boabd.— The monthly meeting of the above Board takes place to day. Tenders for a large number "of road works for the Board close to-day, at 10 a.m.

Ceicket. —The match Auckland Eleven vAshburton Thirteen came off last Friday. The match was a one innings one. Ashburton totalled 124, and Auckland made 154 with the loss of one wbket.

Clearing Sale. —We would remind farmers and others of the extensive sale of live and dead stock, on the farm of Mr John Paterßon, Temuka. Messrs Maclean and Stewart and Mr ~K. F. Gray are the auctioneers.

The Fbaser Case.—A Christchurcli telegram states that- a great scandal was expected at St. Andrew's Church on Sunday, as tho Presbytery had appointed the Key Mr Blake to preach, and the Eev Mr Fraser intimated Ins intention of conducting tho service him« self. A tremendous crowd met at the church, numbers being unable to get in, but they were disappointed, as Mr Fraser got there first, and the other, seeing he was in possession suffered him to remain. The service consequently parsed off quietly. A Handy Boat.—A short time ago one of the Eev. E. L. Berthen's experimental collapsible boats was dropped into the sea 400 miles from the Scilly Islands, having six persons on board. She beat about in heavy weafher, and made the shore m six chys. She then left Scilly in the teeth of a gale, going up the Channel, and reached the Needles in thirty-five hours, travelling sometimes at ten knots per hour. The feature of such a craft is that she can carry seventy persons, with stores for a fortnight, and that when she is folded up and stowed away on the ship's side she measures bat two feet in width by about nine feet in length, and can be made ready for sea in one minute with all necessary gear and her waterbeakers filled.

The Bazaar axd 3-ift Auction.—Wo would remind our readers that the Bazaar and Grift Auction in connection with the Wesleyan Church, got, up for the purpose of endeavouring to free the Church from a load of debt, comes off to day in the Volunteer Hall. For some months past the members of the church and their minister have been actively preparing for the event, and we have no doubt but that the show to-day will prove that their efforts to please have been successful. In addition to the stalls for the sale of fancy and useful articles there will be a refreshment one, where visitors will be able to refresh themselves in a manner that must prove gratfying. The object is a good one and it is to be hoped that the spirited efforts of the congregation to cloar themselves from debt will be seconded by the general public. The Hall will be open at 11 o'clock. Afc 4 o'clock p.m. Mr K. F. Gray will sell at his rooms the live stock etc., presented by friends and wellwishers.

The Yaluu of Beauty.—Laura S. Keiper professionally known as Laura Montague, is suing a Philadelphia circus manager for the £2OOO she was awarded as the first prize in a 'beauty competition,' but which she has not yet received.

Service of Song—On Thursday evening next a highly popular service of songs instituted ' The Start in Life,' will be given in the "Volunteer Hall by members of the Timaru Temperance Union. The performers number 30. The service was given a week or two since in Timaru, and we understand it was well given and heartily appreciated by a large audience.

Was it Bribery.—lt is doubtful whether a more delicate form of bribery will ever be devised than that which is alleged to have been resorted to in the trial of a will case in Baltimore. A new trial is sought on the ground that a beautiful daughter of the contestant was in the court-room throughout the trial, carrying on a quiet flirtation with a susceptible young man in the jury-box, whereby she so influenced him that he confessed his inability to acquiece in a verdict against her father.

The Benevolent Cakwival Sports at Dunediw.—The Benevolent Carnival sports were highly successful on Saturday, especially in point of attendance. The fun principally consisted in well known citizens playing a cricket match against a team of well-known young men rigged out in petticoats. Some of the latter were perfect belles of the period. Others wore coal scuttles and gay-colored prints, and the crowd, being in the humor to be amused, laughed heartily at their absurd antics. An interesting bycicle race and one or two other events helped to fill out the after • noon. Suspicious Fires. —The jury that inquired into the origin of the fire that destroyed the store of a Mr George Eraser at Puerua (Otago) onthel2thult.,returnedaverdict of arson against some persons unknown. The police have now charged Eraser with arson ; bail was accepted himself in £3OO and two sureties of £l5O each. A Wellington telegram states that suspicious circumstances have transpirod in connection with the recent burning of the Cheltenham Sawmills. The New Zealand Insnrance Co. have offered a reward of £SO for the conviction of the perpetrator of the crime. A detective has arrived there to make enquiries into the matter.

Slaxg.—Slang reigns supreme (says JEgles in the Australasian). You hear it from the lips of ' awfully nice' young ladies in the ball room—from the pulpit —at the bar (of both kinds), and eran the universal censor is not free from its influence. In a New Zealand Press telegram it is noted that ' Miss Catherine Kelly,' ' while sleeping off a drink' on a railway line, met with a not unnatural disaster. It would require a long course of Pearson's grammar to enable one to analyse that process of sleeping. As curiosity may be excited as to the fate of the lady, it is as well to explain that she was picked up by the train cowcatcher, performed a somersault to the bottom of a gully, and strolled away ' with a few scratches.'

A FfiIEKD OF the Shail Birds.—At the meeting of the Wairnate County Council last Wednesday, on consideration of the letters received from the Waitaki and Greraldine County Councils re the small birds nuisance, the Chairman said he feared the Council "would make a mistake in attempting the extirpation of fhe small bivds. He had no doubt they were useful in keeping down insect pests, and did more good than harm: Sparrows had been talked about a good deal, but he believed the larks were more mischievous to grain seeds than sparrows, and there would be indiscriminate destruction of goldfinches, linnets, larks and sparrows and other small birds if a price were to be put on their heads and eggs. For his part he would advise the Council to pause in this matter, and leave the birds alone for a few years. He had observed their habits, and believed the small birds kept down the increase of insects, which would he a far greater mr'sauce than the birds themselves. He would be sorry to see the County money expended on their destruction. The clerk was instructed to apply to the clerk of the Greraldine County Council for a scale of payments for the destruction of birds.

Fires.—On Saturday last, at Timaru, a 5-roomed house situated on Maori Hill, and well known at one time[as MeKenzie's Boarding House, but lately in the occupation of Mr Walker, a schoolmaster, was burned to the ground. The l:ou3e was insured for some £3OO, and the furniture for £l5O We believe that Mr Walker had only a day or two previously notified the insurance company of his change of residence. The heat of the fire was so great that it destroyed telegraphic communication with the North for a time (the telegraph line passing just in front of the house), but by noon on Sunday everything had been repaired. At a quarter to two o'clock the same morning a fire broke out on the premises of the Milton Pottery Company, and of three the greater part of the works was destroyed. The fire apparently broke out in the packing room. Had a few men been at hand nearly all might have been saved, but before assistance arrived the flames had obtained a complete mastery. For some time the houses in the vicinity were in peril, and had there been any wind all must have been destroyed. The only buildings saved were the kilns and a brick building containing the wheels for the printing room. Recently much valuable machinery had been erected, and only the day before additional expensive works were completed. An immense amount of finished ware in stock was destroyed by the fire. It is a bad thing for Milton. Forty hands are thrown out of employment. There is a suspicion of incendiarism. The stock in the Milton Pottery was insured for £1525 in the National Office, part of which has been reinsured in the New Zealand, United, and Victoria. A fire occurred in the sailmaking premises of Thomson and Owen, Castle street, Dunedin, last Friday night. The building was insured in the Hamburg Company for £2OO.

Her Wants Week Few.—The Wairarapa Star says : The following telegram, re eeived by the landlady of > Masterton hotel from a housemaid in Wellington that she wished to engage, exhibits an advanced stage of ' servant-gal ism.' For the sake of the young lady we suppress names : ' Will come in a fortnight ; must bare twelve month's engagement, double bed, use of piano and private parlor, three evenings, breakfast in bed, and every Sunday out ; 30 bob a week, and you know.' Poisoning or Dogs.—A. great deal of alarm wa9 created in this town last Sunday, when it became known that dogs were dying in all directions, awing to some unscrupulous miscreant having laid poison, evidently for their destruction. A largo number of dogs hare been killed—many of them were very valuable ones —and in some instances cats and other animals havealeo been destroyed. A more dastardly piece of business than this we have never heard of. To lay poison in the heart of the town 5 where it might roach even human beings, is a very serious offence, and nothing would please us better than to see the person who has been guilty of this oowardly actiou punished severely. Wo eincernly trust the police will leave no stoue enquiring into this matter, und, if they bring the perpetrator of this atrocious conduct to justice, they will have the good j wishes of every man in the town. | Te Whiti's ancestors and an Eclipse. I -—The Nelson Mail says that TeWhiti viewed the eclipse, with a calm indifference. Be tween 40 and 50 years ago ho had seen a total eclipse of which he considered Saturday morning's performance to be but a poor imitation. It, however, recalled to his mind an anecdote he had learned from his father, which he related with some animation. His (the father's) tribe and another had some differenca which necessitated an appeal to arms. Tli3 hostile forces were drawn up in battle array at some place on the west coast of the North Island, and at a distance of not many hundred yards from each other, were engaged in getting up steam by singing their war Bongs and dancing the haka, when at near midday, the sunlight began to fade. As it grew darker and darker, tho spirits of the intending combatant' fell lower and lower, and at last, when the sun became totally obscured, they turned tail and fled, regarding the, to them.unaccountablo phenomenon as an omen specially sent, as a warning to them to desist from fighting. In this anecdote we have an instance of history repeating itself. Detecting Absconders. —The Wellington Post of Saturday says that in view of the recent frequency of cases of absconding by the San Franciso mail steamers from Auckland, the Government have deicded to adopt a course which it is thought may hare some repressive effect on excursions of this kind. It is understood that the number of these outward towarists, whose modesty leads them to suppress their names in the passenger lists and not to seek valedictory paragraphs in the papers is considerably larger than is generally supposed, it being often deemed advisable for prudential reasons that a discreet silence should be preserved on the subject by those chiefly interested. It is positively known that in ono or two recent cases the departure of the absconders could have been prevented had there existed any means on the spot of authoritively identifying them. They had been seen on board, but nobody was in a position to interfere with their intended exit. To meet this difficulty it has been determined to draft off to Auckland from each of the principal New Zealand cities a detective well acquainted with the personal appearance of most of the inhabitants. These detectives will have express instructions to exercise a strict surveillance over each departure of a mail boat, and to be specially on the alert during the day or two preceding its departure. Steamers arriving from other New Zealand ports just prior to the mail steamer leaving will be privately watched. It is thought the knowledge of these precautions having been taken may have a wholesome deterrent influence on would-be absconders. Members of the Auckland force will exchange with the detectives eent thither from the various southern towns.

The Timartj Harbor Loan.—A large and influential meeting of ratepayers of the Levels riding was held at Pleasant Point on Friday evening. Mr C. Wright, returning officer for the riding, occupied the chair and explained the purpose of the meeting. The financial position of the Harbor Board, and the whole question of the harbor works—past, present, and probable future —was placed before the meeting very fully by Mr Moody. He showed that with the expenditure of £130,000 at Timaru, they had now a depth at the end of the breakwater of twenty-two feet, equal to that on the Port Chalmers bar; while with an expenditure of £350,000 the Oamaru Harbor Board had only twelve feet. Mr Bruce said that South Canterbury compared most favorably with any district in Australia or America, and that with the judicious expenditure of another £IOO,OOO the harbor would be on a par with many that had much more money spent upon them, and be quite capable of placing the district in safe and direct coni'.nunication with any part of the world. Messrs Orton and Anderson pointed out that the past expenditure would be of comparatively little use to the district, unless we had the energy to push the works to completion, as could be easily done by the plan proposed. Messrs Greig, Young and Stumbles strongly opposed the raising of the port charges as tending to tax the producer, and also favoring the large landed proprietors, besides having a deterrent 'effect upon shipowners. Mr Moody clearly showed that this was a matter of detail, upon which their views could be practically expressed at the Harbor Board elections in January, and as eight out of the eleven members must be elected by agricultural districts, the matter was fairly in the hands of the farmers. He showed that without a harbor it would cost £16,000 extra freight on the produce of the | district annually. The meeting terminated 1 with a Tote of thanks to ths Chairman.

llapvv Termination of a Police Case. —At the Balclutha Court last Thursday a young man named Mcncil was charged by a Miss Churnside with having shot at her with intent to kill her. It was expected that; the evidence taken would have rew-alcd some very interesting features, but the case was withdrawn without any evidence being taken at all, and what was better, the respective parties, acting under their counsel's advice, adjourned to the nearest Registrar's office, and were made man and wife before they were twenty minutes out of the Court.

A Sensib ie Girl.— A young lady who resides at Lake Preston, Dakota, has lately created quite a furore among the eligible young men of the neighbourhood by an advertisement in the local newspaper. She 6ayß ._'i m eau business. If there is any young man iu this country that has as much sand m him as a pound of plug tobacco, I want to hear from him. I have a free claim and homestead, am a good cook and not afraid of work, and willing to do my part. If any man with a like amount of land, and decent face and carcas, wants a good wife, I will fill the bill.

Electrical Development by Friction. —A curious instance of electrical development by friction has been observed in a Berlin brewery, though nut without causing a goad deal of alarm among the workmen. The building is constructed of stone and iron, the floor being laid iu asphalt. In the upper story of the malthouse was a malt-cleaning machine, from which the malt was taken through an iron shoot to waggons below for distribution through the works. It was found that if this machine remained in operation for a length of time electricity was developed by the friction of the malt with the shoot, and in the most isolated portions of it tho tensions of the electricity was such ns to cause a continuous stream of sparks. The malt itself crackled, while tho sparks flew from it to tho hands of those standing by, who looked upon the manifestation as one of demoniacal origin. An expert was called in to examine the phenomenon, and the subject was brought before the Electrical Technical Union. Dr Werner Siemsns showed how, through the influence of the asphalt floor, the maltroom was so insulated from the other portions of the building as to become a large Lcyden jar. Sagacious Animals.—The other day the Oamaru Mail reported that a horse belonging to a resident in that town turned on the tap of a tank containing rain water when it was thirsty, notwithstanding that a good supply of water from the town waterworks supply was always get-at-able by it. This was considered very intelligent on the part of the horse, but another paper must outdo it, so it quoteslas follows from a New York paper : 'Mr A. H. Clark has a sheep which, during tho summer, was pastured with some calves in an apple orchard adjoining the house. There were several trees in the orchard well loaded with early fruit, the trees being about six inches in diameter. One evening Mr Clark heard considerable noise in the orchard and upon investigation found the sheep and calves quietly eating apples under the trees. In a few minutes they had all the apples eaten, when, to his surprise, he saw the sheep back off several yards and then butt the tree with full force, bringing down a quantity of fruit. These the animals proceeded to eat as before, and when the supply gave out, the sheep replenished again. This was continued at intervals.' And now we will give an instance of intelligence on the part of a dog. There is a Timaru gentleman who owns a retriever dog (very likely there are many such) and who also loves a glass of beer, but does not like the trouble of fetching it and objects to enter a hotel to procure it. In thi3 emergency the dog is utilised. He faithfully carries the measure into a certain hotel for the beer, standing on his hind legs with his fore paws on the counter while being served, and he will never leave the bar until the bar tender has supplied him with a biscuit for himself.

Narrow Escapes.—The Hawke's Bay Herald of the 28th ult., relates the following narrow escape of two children from serious injuries :—' The inhabitants of Waipawa'were thrown into a somewhat excited state on Thursday evening, by the vagaries of a halfsavage cow. The animal was being driven through the township by a lad mounted on a horse, who appeared, to put it mildly, to have little idea of the pain that can be inflicted by a supple stockwhip. Suddenly the cow bolted charging at all in her path. The first object that caught her attention was a girl about nine or ten years of age, daughter of Mr Grolder, watchmaker, who was caught up on the cow's horns, and tossed in the a : r. The animal then made a further rush at another littls girl, who sought to escape, by running into the yard attached to the postmaster's residence. The child stumbled as she reached the gate, knocking the latter open by her body as she fell, so that when the cow charged her, the impetus of the animal's rush carried it over the little girl's body into the yard_ Some persons ran up and shut the gate, thus securing the furious beasts until steps could be taken for its safe removal some hours or so afterwards. It is a wonderful thing that the children rushed were not more seriously injured than fortunately turned out to be the case, neither of them having received hurts likely to result in worse than temporary disablement.' The Southern Free Press states that while employed in felling trees in the Hokonui bush recently Mr Jas. Sangster, of Mataura, an experienced woodsman, Avas struck in the face by the branch of a falling tree, and, being stunned by the blow, before he could clear himself wa", pinned tojthe ground by the tree itself, a ponderous one over 40ft long. It fell upon his body in such a manner that although his neck was fairly entrapped it was free from the pressure of the superincumbent mass, and his life was thus saved as by a miracle. His face bears unmistakable marks of his adventure.

Messrs Maclean and Stewart will sell a easehold property at their rooms, Tirnaru, next Saturday.

Ths G-eraldine Poundkeeper announces that lie will shortly sell a dark bay horse, if not released.

Mr K. F. G-ray will attend tho Winchestar Fair n?xt Thursday, and at the conclusion of the st-ki of cattle wi'l sell an engine and combine, etc.

The National Mortgage and Agency Company announce that to meet the wishes of their constituents who wish to sell instead of shipping their wool home, they will hold regular sales during the season. The date of the first sale will be advertised anon.