LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1068, 8 February 1883, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Library Gbant.—Of the grant sanctioned by Parliament last eesssion in aid of public libraries, Temuka will receive £2O 5s 2d; Geraldine, £18; Winchester £ll 19s 4d ; and Timaru £67 Os Id. The Lonohuest Case. —His Excellency Sir William Jervois, after carefully considering Longhurst’s case, has decided that ha can see no reason for interfering with the sentence which was passed on the prisoner. The Property Tax.—The property tax for the financial year amounts to about £IOO,OOO. Thursday, February Bth, will be the last day upon which the property tax can bo paid without the (addition of the 10 per cent penalty. R.M. Court. —At the above Court, yesterday, before S, D. Barker, Esq., J.P,» William Elliott was fined 5s for having been drunk and disorderly. Sarah Hay, charged with stealing a straw basket from the shop of J. W. Miles, was remanded in her own recognisance of £lO until next Monday.

The Governor's Visit to the South Island —The following is the probable programme of His Excellency tho Governor’s contemplated tour in the South Island ; —His I’icelleiicy proposes to leave Wellington for Christchurch on Friday, February 16th ; on Friday, February 23rd, leave Christchurch in the afternoon for Timaru ; on Monday, February 26tb, leave Timaru in the morning for Oamaru; on Tuesday, February 27th, leave Oamaru in the afternoon for Dunedin ; on Monday, March sth, leave Dunedin for Invercargill by rail; on Thursday March Bth, leave Invercargill far Queenstown ; on Tuesday, March 13th, leave Queenstown for Dunedin. Tho Governor will hold levees at Chridchurch and Dunedin soon after his arrival at each place.

Toeeign Interest in Eeitish Colonies. —Though neither Germany nor Russia hare any colonies of their own, they both seem to take considerable interest in England’s outlying possessions. The Germans, it is stated, find trade with Australia extremely profitable, and many well-known firms in Berlin are now expending a cons derable amount of money in extending their connection. Recently a well-known Russian, M. Miklacha Maklay, has been travelling through the Australian colonies, and we hear from St_ Petersburgh that the Emperor has ordered £2200 to be alloted from the Imperial Treasury in order to enable him to work up the results of his explorations. His Majesty has also ordered M. Maklay to be informed that the cost of the publication of his book of travels will be defrayed from jthe privy purse.

The II a itBO it Boa an Election—For Mount Peel Mr John Talbot was, on Mondaylast, elected unopposed. Messrs A, B. Smith and J. Wilson wore, on Saturday last, nominated for the Mount Cook district.

Tub Result of a Fatal Accident—At the inquest on Frederick Chapman, the jury returned a verdict of‘Accidentally drowned,’ adding a rider censuring the 3orernment for failing to have the George street pier properly lighted. It was stated that deceased was 28 years of ago, unmarried, and intended joining the ministry of the Scottish Church, ihe pier is to be lighted at once.

Rust in Wheat,—We beard in Timaru last Saturday that the district was ruined by rust in wheat. We have since made in quiries, and find that such is not the case. There is some rust in late crops, but it does not affect the wheat, as it is only in the straw. It will do no harm, whatsoever, and as the crops are above the average, being perhaps the best that have been reaped in thi 8 district for many a year, the harvest cannot be looked upon otherwise than a very prosperous one.

Escape r OF Peisonbes.—Three female prisoners escaped from the Wellington gaol on Monday afternoon. Two of them are named Dobie and the other Douglas. The former were only recently sent to prison for passing base coin, while the latter was com milted for trial for housebreaking and stealing wearing apparel. The prisoners effected their escape by placing a form against the wall, and, during the absence of the warders they scaled it* The police are out searching in all directions. Later news states that the female prisoners who escaped from gaol last Monday night, were recaptured on Tuesday morning at the back of Mount Victoria, and lodgedin gaol.

Feightening the Celestial,—A Wellington paper says:—An amusing incident occurred at the railway station the other day. Amongst those who were awaiting the departure of the tram for the Lowar Hutt was a Chinaman residing in that locality and two young sparks residing in the same neighborhood. Finding the time hanging heavily on their hands, the two bucolics looked about for some means of spending their leisure, and espying the innocent Celestial standing near a post with a basket in his hand, they q uickly went behind him and applied the poles of a galvanic battery to his ears. In a moment the unsuspicious fe.low was lying prostrate on the pavement, the sudden shock having caused his total collapse, and rolling his eyes about in a most ludicrous manner, whilst the look of astonishment depicted on his countenance may be better imagined than described. Some time elapsed before the disciple of Confucius could be made to regain his feet ; and when the train moved away from the platform he was seen shaking his head, as if doubting the assurance of the young men that they had only been ‘ gammoning ’ with him.

The Opening of Kawhia. —Tho Hon. Mr Bryce, tho Hon, Mr Rolleston and party landed at Kawhia on Friday evening, and were well received by the :..i‘h ’.-ought numerous presents of food. On tiaturdav Cipt. Fairchild buoyed tho Channel of Kawhia harbor and found that he could go in and out with the Stella at dead low water Mr Percy Smith, Chief Surveyor, planned a township for laving out. The Hon. Mr Bryce had an interview with the Hon. Wetere, tho principal Chief of the district, and tho latter went on board the Stella in the evening and had a long talk with tho Defence Minister. Captain Fairchild sent up a number of rockets, which greitly pleased the natives. On Sunday Mr Bryce and the Hon. Mr Rolleston rode to Aotea, and saw a large district with which they were well pleased. All on board the Stella were gratified with the beautiful and fertile appearance of tho Kawhia district. The Government have received the following information from Mr Bryce respecting Kawhia : —Tho Stella loft New Plymouth on Friday morning, and entered Kawhia before nightfall the same day. A large number of natives were present and immediately the steamer dropped anchor! three cheers were given, the assemblage apparently being glad to see the Europeans. After the cheers the Maori welcome was added. Eighteen feet of water was found on the bar, and at the proposed township and close in shore four fathoms A good channel was also discovered some distance past the spot; selected for tho town. The Government lands are said to be the best in the harbor for a town. They are not much broken, and in tho highest part will probably not be more than one hundred feet above high water mark. Around the harbor the ground is somewhat broken with few flats of any extent. It is however, good grass Und,. but is now covered with ferns. The surveyors who accompanied Mr Bryce were set to work without delay in pegging off the township, the boundaries of which were pointed out by one of tho principal chiefs. The township having been sketched out the surveyors then went on with detail work, several of tho natives belonging to the place acting as chaiuraen. It has been decided to call the town ‘ Kawhia,’ the principal street being named ‘ Taiuni,’ after one of the original canoes which landed at Kawhia. No difficulty, it is thought, will be experienced in tho surrey and occupation cf the sew township, as the channel has b >en buoyed by Captain Fairchild, of the Stella, who states that a vessel can enter Kawhia and approach the proposed town without difficulty. Yesterday the Hons. Messrs Bryce and Rolleston proceeded to one of the arms of tho harbor in a canoe, where they disembarked, and taking horses, proceeded to Alexandra by the Hikurangi track. The journey on horseback extended over nine hours, but this was clue to the slippery state of the road, after the continuous rain, Mr Bryce is of opinion that in fair weather the trip from Kawhia to Alexandra by the same track can be accomplished in six hours. The Ministerial party arc still at Alexandra.

Temuka School (Jou.\iiTXEK.—An ad journed meeting,of the Terauka School Com

mitteo was held in the school-house las Friday. Present—Messrs Mackay (Chairman), Brown, Gray, Kirk and Pearpoint. Correspondence inward and outward was read. It included two letters from the Board of Education, one from Mr John Talbot, and four to the Board of Education The Chairman promised to see Mrs Rowe and ascertain the account of Miss Gertrude Rowe, to enable him to take her position before the Board. Applications for the post of third teacher was then read, and it was resolved (o recommend the following, to be seWed from in the order named Mr J. L Meager, of Port Chalmers; Mr J. B. Marshall,of Dunedin; Miss Marion Schofield, of Christchurch. It was resolved t'>at the Rev. G. Barclay, and Messrs Wakefield and Balfour be the three gentlemen to receive the Committee’s votes as members of the South Canterbury Education Board, A Sad Stobt. —The extraordinary effect which a false accusation has upon sensitive people was (says the South Australian Register) sadly exemplified in the case of the woman Hodges, upon whose body, which was found in the Torrens, an inquest was held on Tuesday, the 9th inst. She had been accused of stealing a watch from a person named Hartland, which caused her so much mental depression, although her conscience proclaimed her innocent, that she determined upon self destruction. The day after the charge was made, when her husband went to Belliar, the poor woman rashly cub short her existence by throwing herself in the Torrens Lake, and evidently fearful of the future of her infant, about six months old, carried with her the helpless babe to a watery grave. One of the most pitiable facts in the case is that only on Tuesday afternoon, when it was too late to allow her to completely absolve herself in the eyes of the public, the detectives arrested a well-known old scoundrel named Pierce, and found the missing article on him

The Gbaphic.—We have received from the publisher the Summer Number of the Graphic. It is splendidly got up, and has been accompanied by a large and interesting picture entitled ‘ Summer Goods.’ It was accompanied by the following letter which speaks for itself. “ 190, Strand, London. September, 1882 -The Publisher of The Graphic (London) has much pleasure in forwarding you a copy of the Summer Num her now issued for the present season, and in doing so he would like to draw your at • tention to the wonderful advance that has been made in this country in the art of Colour Printing, and in its appreciation by the public. A recently published Direc tory in America, in commenting on the subject, contains the statement that over 70,000 dollars, or £14,000 sterling, were expended on the production of one of these Special Season Numbers of the London Graphic, and although the author adds that ‘America today stands without a peer in the delicate finish of her illustrations, etc.,’ it is doubtful whether any propnetorate in any country has expended so vast a sum on the publica tion of one single issue ; of a number subsequent to the one before referred to, over 520,000 copies were issued, and the number was out of print in a few days. More than 160 tons of paper were comsumed, and the total cost of production was 85,000 dollars, and the pages if put end to end would have made an unbroken line of paper reaching from London to New York. The whole of the illustrations being printed in many colors, and each sheet having to go through the press separately for each color, represents a total of over 15,000,000 impressions. These facts speak for themselves, and may be in teresting to your readers as showing what Old England is doing in the way of printing newspapers in colours.” Mr Wheelband invites tenders for harvesting 25 acres barley and oats, Mr D. McCallum notifies that he will on the 10th February next [apply for a slaughterhouse license, for part of section 6383, Epworth. Messrs Maclean and Stewart have a most desirable leasehold of 115 acres for sale, situate about 8 miles from Timaru, also a milk walk with 20 milch cows.