LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1073, 20 February 1883, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Committed. —Susan Madden has been committed for trial for attempting to commit suicide at her husband’s grave at Oamaru.

Prevention or Cruelty to Animals. — His Excellency the aovevnor consents to be patron of the New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The Milton Pottery.— The journeymen potters at Milton are agitating to get up a company on a small scale to work the pottery. They have enlisted the aid of the Mayor of Milton.

Tiie Reason Why.—A novel idea has occurred to a Liverpool tradesman, who advertises that he is able to sell cheaper than others because ho is a bachelor without encumbrances, and does not want the profits of a married man with a large family.

Resident Magistrate’s Court.— At the above Court on Saturday last, before S. DBarker, Esq., J.P., GK Ramsay and JCampbell were brought up charged with having been drunk and disorderly, and fined 10s each or the usual alternative.

Royal Alexandrovna Lodge, 1.0.0. F.— A summoned meeting of the members of the above Lodge will bo held to-morrow evening at half past seven o’clock, for the election of delegates to the Grand Lodge. All members are requested to attend.

Concert at Woodbury. —A concert was to have taken place at Woodbury last Friday night, but in consequence of the evening being very wet, the same was postponed till next Friday. It is to be hoped that the weather will this time prove propitious, and then a lirst-rate evening’s enjoyment may be relied on.

A New Kind or Harmonium,— The following notice, which appears in a contemporary, has rather a peculiar look about it: —“Notice. —The person or persons who surreptitiously removed the ! Church of England harmonium 1 from the sehoolhouse, Ophir, will please return it, or further proceedings will be taken.” The Grain Season. —The price of grain has risen unexpectedly. Wheat rose last week from Bs -Id and 3s (3d, to 3s 8d and 3s 101-d in Timaru, and it is expected that it will reach Is. Earley ranges from 3s 3d to 4s, and oats from Is 9d to 2s. There is great competition amongst buyers, and in all probability the prices will be maintained.

The Electric Light,-- The N.Z. Electric Light Company on Saturday night lit up the hall of Watson’s Hotel, Dunedin, with two of the smallest Erush arc lights. The trial was thoroughly satisfactory and the light is to be continued. Three negatives wore taken by a local photographer to test the effect of the light for photographic purposes, and all three turned out well. The plates were exposed for two, ten, and thirty seconds. Burnt in Efimov. —The Hon. John Bryce" was burnt m efllgy last Saturday night ati Waipawa. The elllgy was placed on a white horse at the head of a Jong procession, the town band, playing the ‘ Dead March,’ On reaching the river-bed the ligure was fixed to a stake on the centre of a pile of firewood. The elllgy was then addressed as the first white man who had shaken hands with the arch llend TeKooti for fourteen years. A tire was lighted and the whole burnt amid groans and a display of fireworks. Phrenology.— Wo again remind our readers that Professor Fraser will lecture on phreuologyaud physiology in the Volunteer Hall this evening. As the lecture is to be free of charge wc anticipate that he will have a full house. The walls of the building will be lined with cartoons and paintings, delineating anatomical and phrenological subjects, and illustrative of the lecture. The professor has been highly spoken of by the Press wherever he has appeared. He has been 17 years lecturing on phrenology and kindred subjects, and is the author of several works. We hope to see him well patronised. The first lecture is of special importance, and ladies are invited to it. On Wednesday evening he will lecture on ‘ How to read men like open books.’ The lecture will be illustrated with IOOU cartoons and some hundreds of 1 lantern slides.

Clearance Sale.—Attention is directed to Mr J. Langskail’s clearance sale of boots and shoes. Mr Langskail’s stock is well-known to be first class in quality, and as he is now lidding a'genuino clearance sale, during which be purposes selling at less than cost price, our readers arc reminded that it is very probable great bargains will be got from him. Wo should advise them to try, at any rate.

Fires in Theatres. —A firm of London engineers have patented an invention for extinguishing fires in theatres. They propose so to arrange gas pipes all over the building as to be able to turn them into water pipes at a moment’s notice. That is to say, by touching a lever the gas is to be forced out and replaced by water, which will pour down upon the fire. The invention allows of the water being directed to any particular part of the theatre, so that behind the footlights, where the outbreak generally occurs, the gas pipes might be turned into water "jets without affecting the lights in other parts of the building.

Progress of Temperance.—England’s re*

venue fromjdrink is falling, and London Punch sarcastically remarks that “ The Chancellor of the Exchequer is having a bad time, and most of the journals are mournful. The working man is not quite such a sot as he was, and the income tax payers are trembling. In a country like England, which draws onethird of its imperial revenue from national drunkenness, this is a serious matter. Drink pays our Army and Navy, or it pays the

interest on our Rule Britannia debt; and without drink we should have to look to what are pleasantly called ‘ other sources of revenue.* Lot us hope that this national sobriety is only a passing cloud. We cannot

for a moment think of reducing our expenditure.”

Mis-Spelled Words. —A mis-spelled word may lead a whole generation off the right track. ‘ Nine tailors make a man,’ is an old saying, and a good illustration of his statement. To look down on the worthy profession of the elobheutter because of such a proverb show's a want of proper instruction. In the olden time, when a person died,

he church-bell tolled once for every year ;he departed lived. But from the tolling of

the bell no one could tell whether the deceased was a man or woman. To satisfy public curiosity, perhaps, on that subject, the sexton, after tolling the age, gave eight quick strokes of the boll if the deceased was a woman, and nine if it was a man, and the quick strokes at the end of the tolling were called ‘ toilers, ’ because they were at the tail end of the whole business. Hence the proverbs ‘ Nine tailors make a man.’

Successful Swindle.— The ways of the swindler are as numerous as the leaves of the forest. Here are two very neat dodges : A young doctor who found himself in a Dakota village without a dollar to pay a heavy board bill, concocted a plan by which a waudoiing tramp played the part of a small pox patient, and the doctor vaccinated the entire population of the town with some innocuous acid at 2dols. each. Ihe swindle was discovered

too late, for the enterprising physician and his bogus patient skipped out with 300dols, each. A western circus manager arranged to have a wax baby dropped from a secondstorey window.in every town which his show visited, just in time to be caught by one of his athletes. The performance was successful several times, and crowds went to see the

-hero of the rescue, until the newspapers exposed the trick.

New Store. —Wo notice that Mr J. W, Velvin has opened a new grocery store in the. shop next to Mr Tangney’s, Main South Road. Mr Velvin has opened with a capital stock, which we have no doubt he will soon increase as his business extends. He is commencing in the proper way. He is selling everything Tory cheap, and as this is exactly what is wanted in Temuka we have very little doubt but that he will succeed. He is, besides, going to supply cash customers at greatly reduced prices. This is another good feature in his way of doing business. The complaint in Temuka is that all the cash customers go to Timaru. It will not be necessary for them to do so in future when they can get goods cheaper in Temuka from Mr Velvin, and we hope the people will recognise that by leaving as much of their money in the town as is

possible for them, they will help the place along, and prevent it from going to ruin altogether. We have frequently pointed out to the owners of property in this town that to spend their money elsewhere would even--1 ually result disastrously to themselves, and

we hope that if Mr Velvin gives them fair value, as wo feel sure he will, they will recognise this fact.

A Bewildered Foreigner,— A foreigner | who has evidently never learned Chinese, nor \ sought at the bottom of a page or the end ofi

chapter of a German tale for the verb which tp gives a meaning to all that has gone before, writes to a contemporary bewailing the difllculties of our vernacular. He says that when he exclaimed, looking at a number of vessels, 1 See what a ilock of ships,’ he was toldjthat a flock of ships was called a fleet, and that a licet of sheep was called a flock, and it was added for his guidance in mastering the intricacies of our language, that a flock of girls or quails is called a bevy, and a heavy of wolves is called a pack, and ■ a pack of thieves is called a gang, and a gang of angels is called a host, and a host of porpoises is called a shoal, and a shoal of buffaloes is called a herd, and a herd of children is called a troop, and a troop of partridges is called a covey, and a covey of beauties is called a galaxy, and a galaxy of ruffians is called a horde, and a horde of rubbish is called a heap, and a heap of oxen is called a drove, and a drove of blackguards is called a mob, and a mob of whales is called a school, and a school of worshippers is called a congregation, and a congregation of engineers is called a corps, and a corps of robbers is called a band, and a band of locusts is called a swarm, and a swarm of people is called a crowd, and > a crowd of grapes is called a cluster, and a cluster of stars is called a constellation;

Important Sale.— An important sale of pedigree stock will be held next Friday at Pinda Farm, Waitohi, The Dinda Farm flock, on which Mr Marcroft has spent so much attention, is well known. It is second to none in South Canterbury, and ererything is to be sold without reserve!

Cheap Property. —Farming properties are evidently at a considerable discount up Vincent County way. From tho Dustan Times we learn that at an auction sale held by Mr George Eache at Butcher’s Golly, near Alexandra South, last Tuesday week, the local hotel realised £IOO. The sum of £ll was the highest bid for a securely fenced 14-aore paddock, 11 acres of which were sown down in a really good crop of oats, and the remaining 3 acres in potatoes. Altogether the sale is said to have been an unsucessful one.

Oyster Openers.—' Talk of opening oysters,’ said old Hurricane, ‘ why nothin’s easier, if you only know how.’ 4 And how’s bow?’ inquired Starlight. ‘Scotch snuff,’ answered old Hurricane, very sententiously. * Scotch snuff. Bring a little of it ever so near their noses and they’ll sneeze their lids off.’ ‘I know a genius,’ observed Maister Karl,' who has a better plan, He spreads the bivalves in a circle, seats himself in the centre, and begins spinning a yarn. Sometimes it’s an adventure in Mexico—sometimes a legend of his love—sometimes a marvellous stock transaction. As ho proceeds, the 4 natives ’ get interested —one by one .they gape with astonishment at the tremendous and direful whoppers which are poured forth, and as they gape, my friend whips ’em out, peppers ’em, and swallows ’em. 5 ‘That’ll do,’ said Starlight, with along sigh. ‘ I wish we had a bushel of the bivalves here now — they’d open easy.’

Dog Poisoning at Oamaeh.—The lam* kins have discovered a new piece of devilry, ■wherewith to amuse themselves and annoy peaceful citizens. Procuring supplies of poison, they roll it up in meat, and throw it to the dogs which are on the chain. We have heard of several cases lately. In one case a very valuable dog was found by its owner in a half paralysed and sick state ; but fortunately the dose of arsenic given to the poor animal was too great, the consequence being its effect was to make the dog sick, and so save its life. In the second case, the poisoned meat had not been thrown within the reach of the dog, and it was discovered by the owner of the animal. The meat had been sown up with black thread, and on being taken to the chemist and opened, it was found to contain enough strychnine to poison a small army of dogs. In some other eases that have come to cur knowledge, the prisoners have succeeded in effecting their devilish purpose. The question very naturally arises, Where and how was all this poison obtained P And that is a question we refer to the police for solution, for it is one of very serious moment, as showing that the sale of poison is not hedged around by sufficient safeguard,—Oamaru Mail. The Life oe an. Aotob.—The Weiner Zeitung is responsible for the following strange story with reference to the return from New Zealand to Pesth of an actor who was very popular in Hungary some twelve years ago. According to the Weiner Zeitung the actor was doing his twelvemonth of military duty in a regiment of Hussars at Vienna, when he saved the life of a lady, whose horse had run away in the Taborstrasse. The lady, who was known in Vienna as * Lady Sayton,’ felt so grateful to him that she obtained his exemption from further service, and induced him to accompany her'in her travels. After some time * Lady Sayton ’ went to Egypt, and thence by way of India, China, and Japan, to San Francisco. Upon landing there she was arrested, and then it appeared that her real name was Lenora Price, and that she had been in the service of a California millionaire, from whom she had purloined enough money to make the grand tour. The Hungarian actor was arrested at the same time, but he had no difficulty in proving that he was in no way an accomplice. After being set at liberty, he obtained employment in San Francisco as a messenger, a shopman, a pastrycook, and a groom in a circus. He afterwards got engaged as a clown, but, the manager of the circus becoming bankrupt, he joined a party of emigrants to New Zealand. He followed for some time the humble calling of a chimney sweep in Otago, and he has at length returned to his native country as poor as when he left it. The Value or a Newspaper.—Says an American writer :—A good newspaper is a money saver. If you want to sell or buy anything you may see the current price in u newspaper, and you will also see what you might want advertised. You don’t have to take hearsay, and thus suffer from mistakes and delays; you just turn to your paper and know all you wish to find out. You will often gave the subscription cost of your paper by one single order for goods. You will often find chances for good bargains advertised that cannot be found in any other way, Journalism requires more self-sacrifice, in* defatigable labor, patience, endurance, and nice discrimination than any other profession. No class of men furnish so cheaply the in* dispensible intelligence, wisdom, and virtue for the support of the Government and the welfare of the people as the well-trained and efficient journalist. Every good citizen should take a good paper; he owes it to his country, his family, and his own self*rospect and interest. The local newspaper adds to the general wealth and prosperity of the place, as well as increases the reputation of the town. It benefits all who have business, enhances the value of property, and it benefits you in every way. It increases your trade; it cautions against imposition; it saves you from loss; it warns you of danger; it points out different advantages and increases your profits. If you want such a paper, you must not consider it an act of charity to support it, but as a means to increase your own wealth as well as that of the place in which you live#

What They no With Their Girls During the hearing of a case at the Resident Magistrate’s Court, Gore, last week, in which a German was charged with an assault upon a farmer at Waikaka, some discussion arose as to the right of way over a paddock owned by the complainant. A witness named Howe, also a Waikaka fanner, caused some amusement by saying in the course of his evidence, that it was a well known fact that the German squatters gave their daughters’ hands in marriage in exchange for land. Mr McOullock remarked that a family of daughters would be a valuable possession if that were the case.

Mr K. F. Gray is a cash buyer of wheat, oats, and barley. The National Mortgage and Agency Co., Timaru, are buyers of wheat and rye grass seed.

On Thursday next Mr K. F. Gray will hold a sale of sheep, cattle, pigs, horses, tip carts, household furniture, etc. Messrs Siegert and Fauvel have been appointed agents for Messrs A. Moore, and Co., of Timaru and Christchurch, and are now prepared to purchase wheat, oats, and barley, on the above firm’s account.

Mr O. H. Eeid advertises in another that he has on sale a large supply of stationery and fancy goods, violin stings, concertinas, etc. It is only a little more than 12 months since Mr Eeid commenced business in a very modest sort of way here, but every mouth since ho has been increasing his stock, till now bis shop looks as if be were doing a firstrate business. We are glad to see people succeeding, especially through their own exertions. There is no danger of the future of any town which has enterprising men in it. One of the secrets of Mr Eeid’s success is that he gives as good value as can be got elsewhere for the same money. If he continues to prosper and go ahead as he has done for the last 12 months, his business will eventually dovelope into an important one.