LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1050, 2 January 1883, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Temuka Road Boaed.-— The monthly meet* ing of the above Board takes place to day.

The Butter and Cheese Factory. —We would remind intending contractors that tenders for erecting the above factory close to-morrow.

Concealment or Birth,— Tho police at the Thames, hare laid an information against a young woman named Annie S ackpoola, whose dead infant was recently found in a lake there, for concealment of birth. ; ■ ?

A Delighteul Preventive. —London Truth says that if the masses could be persuaded to eat fruit after their meals, drunkenness; ~wo\ild cease to be the reproach of Britain as a nation. ,

Edmonds’s Q-lbe Club.— Members of the abort; club are notified that opera rehearsals for the future; will take place in the schoolroom every Wednesday, erening at 7.30 o’clock. It is ho be hoped that members will attend regularly, , ; ~ , Primitive ’ Methodist CnußOH.—The anniversary serrices in connection with the above church were preached on Sunday last by the Rev. J. Smith (of Waimate) to i full and attentive congregation*. Last evening a tea meeting in the same connection took place, and was ah entire success. ■ A full report, will appear next. G-EEALtoINE ‘ Co’CNTY COUN(3IL.—-Mr W. Wills, returning officer for the Temuka riding, notifies that tho election of a member for the said riding in the room of the lata Mr J. • Mendelson, will take place: bn the 16,th of January. Nominations of candidates must be made with tho returning officer, before noon of Tuesday next. Enterprising.—A , Committee has been i formed in Oamaru, for the purpose of endearoaring to arrange with Sir Julius Vogel the best means of securing the construction of a line of railway up the Lindis Talley into the interior* The line would open up a large area of, agriciilturalcouiitry at present in possession of the Government.' ‘ 11 Exchanged. —A. little time ago the Nelson consignees of some boots,, imported from England, found on opening the cases, that some of the contents had been abstracted, and the weight made up with bricks and rubbish. The Hawke’s Bay Herald says a Napier firm, Messrs Davidson* Irvine and Co., have had .a similarly vexations .experience. They received from. England a consignment of goods, including a large case of ready-made clothing. The entries at tie custom was duly passed, and the duty paid. But when the box was opened it was found that some one had abstracted the whole of the clothing, and filled the box with dirty rags, gunny-bags, , and general rubbish. Whether this was done at the London docks or on board the vessel will probably never be discovered. The Tbmtation was Too G-reat.— The following yarn is told -by the Mataura En- > sign —The • dodges ’ resorted to by thristy souls in order to obtain a ‘ nip 1 are already proverbial, but two brothers not a hundred miles from a district near ■ Balolutha once played about the neatest trick on record. Finding themselves one morning very drj,’ and not having the wherewithal to satisfy their longings, they agreed upon the following unique plan : They were to walk down the road till opposite an hostelry,w'hen one of them was to fall down in a pretended fit. The other was then to rush in with the alarming news, and auggest that a little brandy might revive his afflicted brother. No doubt, they argued, the publican, moved by commiseration, would bring out an ample supply, and the soi-doisant invalid might then have his share, and languidly pass the vessel to the other, who would .doubtless contrive to empty it. The plan in i*s preliminary parts succeeded admirably. The horror-stricken brother rushed in frantically with the news, and the host, as they anticipated, came out with a large g’ass of brandy. This was handed, to the invalid, who eagerly seized it, and drained it to, the dregs,. The. disappointed survivor, stung by this unfraternal conduct, fruitlessly ca ! led out. ‘Halves, halves! 1 but the whilom sick limn arose and said exultingly ‘ Na,ma, .gang and get a lit of ye’re aiu. 1 Tableaux.

/■•-J ■ . ■%„ ... Keel/Hauied.—On a . recent date, the unusual sight of keel-hauling throe Arab sailors bn board the Egyptian frigate Sotida was witnessed. They were tried by courtmartial, found guilty of mutiny, and underwent this terrible punishment. They were dropped into the sea, dragged undiir the keel, and hauled* up to the starboard jardarm. It is needless to say that death soon terminated their sufferings. And thin in a Christian;land! f ? ’ \

Me Bbioht ok Was;— -Mr Bright, replying to a correspondent/ saye he- lias not-»opposed • any war op the ground that ail war ; was unlawful ahd immoral. Of the war in Egypt, he might say that it han no better ■justification, than other wars which hare gone before it, and that doubtless when the : blood is shed, abd the cost paid, and seen and Weighed, we shall be generaliylbf that opinion, perhaps the bondholders, and those who have got promotion and titles and pensions will __ defend it, 1 but thoughtful and Christian men | will condemn it. , ' 1

I A Strakge Mania—A -citizen of Berlin» Prussia,' a mah in comfortable circumstances, is periodically attacked, with; a desire to knock off hats. He afterwards makes up the loss to the astonished victim of* this strange fancy ; j by the payment of three tnajers. According to the calculation of his family, in the past - year he had been obliged lb make good the loss; ofrtwo. [.hundred and sixty-seven hats. At a recent musical festival, fifty three hats sacrificed to this curious frenzy, end-for the evening’s entertainment he paid a hundred and fifty-nine thalers. ~ IV A Dipaetiko Each.— One by. one, says the Manawatu, Standard, the old Native llaugiliras are passing away. A splendid old chief Hirate, Taka, is dying at the Bay of, Islands, , Hira is one of the besit canoe' architects in New Zealand. He . designed: and buf.it the : canoe which went from the North and won the North jShore *regatta race. He w splendid specimen of the Maori rangitira. £ Rangitiras in the old time, though‘Children of • Nature ’ and somewhat wild, were at least ' v men often bovihgihg a fine'sense of * honour, and were above the sharp tricks and shady ways of many of their successors. It is a matter for regret with admirers of the race - that so many of the old great men. jielding > to the inevitable law of nature; ftre fast fading away. - :; ' 1

Ak Exbeotakt Mikbb.—Our (Daily Times) Lake County correspondent writes:— A miner at Bracken’s Hally .possesses »i kitten which has evinced a strange predilee-j tion for fowls. This singular kitten follows' the fowls about all day, goes to roost with } them, reheves the sitting hen, actsmotlrer to young chicks—in fact, makes itself generally useful in the hen-roost and' out ! of it to the feathered tribe. Perhaps the strangest thing about this kitten is that the h ens and roosters let it do pretty much' as it likes. .The 1 sanguine miner, who is a lirm believer in Evolution; daily expects that his wonderful; kitten will follow the more useful example .of ; hens, and when this occurs I shall duly inform your readers of such an interesting phase of Evolution.’ -

History Repeats ItsbiiT,— The Tuap«ka Times is responsible for the following“ A _ rather good thing has been-told us of a; gentleman who•; lived not 1-00 miles from Lawrence, This gentleman is noted for being a strict Sabbatarian, and for being, fond of the “ bawbees”;also. One of bis customers who owed him the large sum £2, received a threatening letter demanding payment at , once __jf not sooner. The debtor was a' ' farmer, and not being able to spare the time, very well through the week; he came in: on a certain Sunday, calling at Mr —*e private residence, and saying that he had come to pay his account. Mr——— looked at his irreligious _cußtomeit jjJ4ih:.holy. iddigi u nation, and eaid: “JS r o, it’s Sunday," and I can’t take the money, but -you can leave it ; with Mr So' and-so next door for me;”: The debtor, exclaimed : " This ’ is a distinction without a difference with a vengeance !” and walked off to his mountain home again, mui- ; toring something about a “ pious fraud." We'' fancy that wo hare heard alljthia before.

Experimenting.— I The widow of Dr Tanner, of fasting celebrity, was separated from her husband, and the 'cause of the divorce, if we, are to trust, to .that account that has found its way . into . some of the French papers, is not a, little curious. The. doctor held, among other curious theories bn the subject of . diet, that a man’s character was largely influenced by the nature of the food of which he partook. French beans, for instance, produced, he considered,.an irascible tendency ; carrots people; timid and sullen ; turnips made them, kind and-amiable. . To test hi* theories he put his >• wife On an exclusive regimen of • French'; beans, with the result of exasperating .that lady’s temper very much after a week of it. The , doctor , proud of this confirmation of theory* jiqw. proposed to correct the ; effect* obtained by employing an equally exclusive' dietary of turnips; but the .lady objecting tb’ be mafic the subject of any further expefi- : mehts, and, perhaps entertaining doubts of the doctor’s sanity, applied for a divorce abd obtained it.

; Presence of Mind.—A- young lady in Sydney had a, very- disagreeable experience recently. Sbe-vesided at Ddvres Pbintj 'in' the centre of Sydney1 1 and : whs 1 fclajriafc ‘some sacred music bn the piano. 'Rearing a hisring noise,she turned suddenly* and was ‘considerably surprised and startled at seeing a snake coiled round the back of the Austrian chair on which she sat; with the head intently fixed towards the key-board*! si if the reptile were thoroughly ' enjoying the iiouud of harmony' that floated forth ftfond i the [instrument. With great presence iofj mindi Miss; Brot continued playing, . knowing the power which music has, or is said' t.o exercise, pyor snakes, and at the same time she called for ©no of her brothers, who ran in and quickly despatched the venomous reptile, which after being measured was found, to he 3Eb 9m long. Where it cainb from is a mystery, but in all probability it was attracted by tb) sound of the music, and equally in; all pro--bability had Miss Brot left off playing when she saw it it would have struck her with its fangs. ■

European Flax Cultivation. — The Ashburton-Guardian says Mr M. .Murphy, secretary of the Canterbury A. and P, ’Association, has received a letter on the above subject from Mr H. H, Lamount* 'of' San Francisco, iii the course of which he says

' I would state that the proper way to remove scepticism of any kind is to give ocular demonstration of the subject in question; but the proving in this instance involves considerable time, expense and; risk, for all of which 'Tamwilling to be responsible, providing that your company are willing to encourage ineU 1 What I would ask them would be to rent ■ me' at /« moderate rent about 100 acres of clean, good fenced land, prepare it and save the. seed. I will get the latter of the very, best, quality, and I will be in new Zealand in time for ;'tho harvest with my machine, and convince; you of the truth of all T stated in ,my previous letter. If the company are,. ,then persuaded that there is sufficient merit iu the, invention to warrant them having a business iirerest’in it, that could be arranged at' the time j or perhaps my proposal wouldjto more agreeably carried out could there be same pro arranged basis of purchase, but that seams to be quite impossible ; under 'exiatnti* oirouTOtances,.; How.ever, if froucan suggeiiuatiy' iray,* T shall? be glad to consider it.’ •' 4

Tub Wbatheb. —The weather, which has been very disagreeable for the past few days, cleared up yesterday. We believe that no very extensive damage has been done to the crops, which are excellent throughout the district. The only thing that suffered was the hay. We learn that the storm of lust Thursday did a great deal of harm to ripe hay by shaking all the neeS out of it. Mining at Naseby.—The Mount Ida Chronicle says -Mining intelligence generally throughout the district is of a very hopeful character. Many claims are washing-up, nnd although the results are not made public, there is every reason to belieye that some of the returns are equal to those of former years. From Garibaldi come news veritably of a. golden type. An old mine r lately gone to that locality informs us that he has seen better prospects washed from one of the ridges there than has gladdened his eyes since th* early days. According to his tale, nuggets of gold the size of peas are frequently coma across. N.Z. Flax in Victoria— New Zealand flax fibre is growing in favour in Victoria. The Melbourne Age says“ The Committee of the Victorian Chambers of Manufactures visited the rope, jute, and mat works of Mr James Miller, cn Sandndge road. Mr C. B, Whitty was present, and about 20 members of the Committee composed the visiting party. They found tho works much larger than they antiepated. About £50,000 has deen expended on machinery and other appliances necessary to carry on the enterprise. There are about 70 looms, two engines, four boilers, and other machines is full swing. The jute; works employ nearly 300 hands, the rope works 60, and the mat ■works from 55 to 100. The rope and twine is made from Russian' Manilla and New Zeaand hemp. Italian flax is used for making engine packing and twine, but Mr Miller expects to be-abletouse New Zealand flax entirely at an early date. The mats are made from coacoanut fibre and coacoanut yarn. New machinery is being continually imported, and at no distant date the establishment will assume very large proportions, -as the demand for the goode made is continually increasing, and the Home and intercolonial trade expanding. The works have been established for 20 years, and their history has been one of growth and progress from tho beginning, when they started as a mere rope walk The weavers and stitchers get from 15s to 25s a week, and the drawers and doffers from 5s to 10s, a very large proportion of the employes being young girls and children

Following up A _Dm at.—IThough 1 Though foreign opinion now does justice to the conception and execution of the Egyptian campaign, no part of it (says the Pall Mall Budget) strikes military critics, especially in Germany, so much as the pursuit. Each nation has its virtues and failings in war, and if we might dare for a moment to question the omnipotence of German soldiership, we might point to certain cases whore there was * uome slackness in reaping the fruits of victory. ;fhmr was there , a more complete defeat than that of the Austrians at Komggratz. Their infantry was mingled in a mass, and quits incapable of further Their cavalry and almost annihilated in sacrificing themselves to enable the infantry to get off the ground at all. If the German cavalry and hone artillery had pressed an during tile night of the 3rd of July, followed by a:couple of army corps, the rout must have been almost as complete as that of the Egyptians. It was the same after MacMahon’s defeat in the Vosges. His army ought to have .been destroyed, yet the Crown Prince actiially lost touch of it altogether. The French defeated at Orleans might have been extinguished if the pursuit of Prince Frederick Charles had been hot enough. Even Bourbaki was suffered to escape into Switzerland, and the magnificent success of Sedan and Metz were operations into which pursuit did not enter because of the conditions of the two cases. We are far from undervaluing German strategy and tactics,’but we may be permitted in all humility to suggest that it is just possible for that nation to learn something from their neighbors. With every allowance for the inferiority of the Egyptian, soldiers, it must be acknowledged that the covering of the whole country with pursuers, and the rapid occupation of Cairo was a feat of arms worth placing as a model before military students, I.O.O.P.—The usual fortnightly meeting of the Loyal Alexandrovna Lodge, 1.00. F., was held on Wednesday evening last, the 27th December, 1882, Bros. J. Blyth, J.P.G., in the chair. After the roll of officers had been called, and the minutes of the last meeting read and confirmed, several members were proposed to become members of the lodge. Hearty rotes of thanks were awarded to Messrs Postleth waite, Wakefield, and others for their subscriptions to the sports; to the Crown Brewery Company, ; of Christchurch. for tbeii handsome present of a cup, presented by them through Mr Peter Coira, of the Royal Hotel; to Mr and Mrs Fenton, of the Temuka Hotel, for their handsome present ofr a cup, value £9 9s (nine guineas) which was not competed for on account of the weather, but which it was decided afterwards should be competed for next year at the usual sports, by the Oddfellows of this lodge only, and that the same should be won two years in succession by the successful competitor before the same becomes his property ; to Mr K. F. Gray for selling the booths, etc., free of charge; to the members

of the Temuka Park Board Committee for their kindness in,letting the lodge have the use of the cricket grolipd for the sports. The election of officers for the ensuing term was thou proceeded with, with the following result!—Pro. Dr Campbell as F.Gk; Bro. Comer os V.Gr,; Bro. Win. Rt. Uprichard was re-elected Secretary for the sightn term, and Bro. iJ. Whitehead was re-elected Treasurer.' J.P.Gr. Bro. James Bljth then presentedjto Bros; E. Smi'h and Martin Dunn on behalf of the Sports Com-

mittee a very handsome Cup and a Medal respectively to each of them, they being the r winners of the Oddfellows’ Eaco, and in his remarks wished them all success in the future, on behalf of the Lodge. Bros. E. Smith and M. Dunn thanked the members for their presents.: It was decided that at the next i meetin g after the installation of officers there • be the usual spread,and that Bros, TJpviehard. White and Campbell arrange about the carrying out of same. The Lodge then closed. On the same evening the Brethren met at Bro. P. Coira’s Hotel at the in* vitation of Messrs Smith and Dunn, Bro. Blyth, J.P.GL, occupied the Chair, and a most enjoyable evening was spent. A. hearty vote of thanks was passed to Bro. Coira for the liberal manner jn which he had entertained the Company.

Messrs Piegert and Fauvel want a good strong lad, Messrs E. Wilkin and Co n il) hold a sale

of stock at .rashdyke Yards to day. Mr J. H, Dickinson, Milford, advertises f that orders for black and red currants, and raspberries, loft at Mr Dayev’s shop, will bo promptly attended to. Messrs Maclean and Stewart will hold a of stock at Washdyke Yards, to-day. fcp On Saturday next they will sell the house I and section now in the occupation of Mr D. W McCallum, Arowhenua. On the 11th 1 January, on the farm of Mr M. Wightman Waitohi, they will hold an extensive sale of 1 ire and dead »tock.

Holloway’s Pills.—Easy Pigestion, — These admirable Pills cannot be to» highly -ippreohte I for tho wholesome power tiny cxorl. over a, I disorders of the stomach, liver boweh. and kidneys. They instantaneously relieve an ! steadily work out a thorough cure,| and in its course despel headae' e, biliousness, flatulence, and depression of spirits. It is wonderful to watch the daily improvement o( the complexion, as Holloway’s Pills purify the blood and restore plumpness to the face, which had lost both flesh and colour. These Pills combine o*ery eioelleece desirable in a domestic remedy. The most certain and beneficial results flow from the occasional use of this regulating medicine ; even persons in health, or when following sedentcry occupation, will.find it an invaluable aperient.—[Ad vi’.l