LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1307, 24 February 1885, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Excursion to Ashburton.— Tickets for the Ashburton excursion are now obtainable at the railway station. Cricket.— The Inlerprovincial match between Otago and Canterbury commenced on Friday last. The following are the scores up to Saturday night: Otago, first innings—l7l; Canterbury, first innings 164 j second innings for 5 wickets, 57. Masonic,—The regular monthly meeting of Lodge Southern Star, No. 619, S.C., w 11 be held in the Lodge Room, Geraldine, on Thursday evening, when a lecture will be delivered by Bro. Rev. Geo. Barclay, P.M. Illness of Me Back.—The Press says that Mr Back the well-known Traffic Manager, is very ill with inflammation of the lungs, and cannot be seen on business. Mr Hannny the Assistant General Manager from Wellington will arrive, and take charge shortly. Mr Back is not expected to resume his duties for six weeks.

Furniture Bale. —Messrs J. Mundell and Co. will hold a sale of furniture on Friday next at Woodbury,

Geraldine School Committee. The ordinary meeting of this Committee will be held to-morrow evening in the schoolroom at half past seven.

Meeting of Creditors.—A meeting of the creditors of Stephen Taylor, a bankrupt, is convened for to-morrow at 11.30 a.m., at the office of the Deputy-Assignee, Mr W. 0. Beswiek, in Timaru.

Mount Peel Rosd Board, —ln our advertising columns will be found a list of the roads which the Mount Peel Road Board propose to exchange, deviate or close. Flans of the proposed alterations can be seen at the Road Board office.

The Shooting Season. —The shooting season is now drawing near, and, to meet the requirements of sportsman, Mr K, P. Gray, licensed dealer, Temuka, announces that he is prepared to acll ammunition at lowest rates. Cartridges, bis own make, he is prepared to sell at £1 per hundred.

The Recent Attempted Suicide.— At the E.M. Court, Timaru, last Saturday, Denis Toohey, who recently attempted to commit suicide in the Temuka Park, was brought up charged with the offence, and on the application of the police, who said the man was not yet fib to be at large, remanded till Saturday next, Monthly Stock Sale.—Messrs J. Mundell and Co., will hold their monthly sale of stock at their yards, Geraldine, on Wednesday March 4th. The new sale yards at the Waehdyke will be opened by a sale on Friday March 6th. Messrs Mundell and Co. are now receiving entries for the above sales, particulars of which will be published in a future advertisement. Temuka District High School.— The Chairman of the Temuka District High School Committee, Mr J. T, M. Hayhurst, announces in our advertising columns that all the necessary information regarding the secondary branches of Education now being taught in the Temuka District High School can be obtained from the Head Master, Mr W. Bryars. Accident,—A nasty accident happened at Geraldine on Sunday to Miss Westlake* Lieutenant of the Salvation Army at Temuka. She was alighting from a trap, and, slipping, fell heavily to the ground, bruising her face, and hurting her wrist very badly. Much sympathy is felt for the unfortunate girl, as she is very much liked in Geraldine by all who have attended the services conducted by her.

The Temuka Rifles.—A special full-dress parade of the Temuka Rifle Volunteers will be held in the Volunteer Fall, Temuka, on Friday . evening next, at 7.30, to consider the advisability of procuring undress uniforms. There being a few vacancies for recruits anyone wishing to join the corps are requested to leave their names witn any of the officers, and be in attendance at the Volunteer Hall at 8 p.m. on Friday next.

New Zealand Industrial Exhibition. —A meeting of the sub-committee will be held in (he Literary Institute,, Geraldine, at four oVlock to-morrow afternoon. Applications for space upon forms, which may be obtained from the Chairman (Vlr Pearpoint), the Secretary (Mr Cunningham), or from members of the Committee, must be sent in -before the meeting so that they can be forwarded to Wellington before the Ist of March.

R.M. Court, Temuka.—A first offender at the above Court, yesterday, was ordered to contribute os to the revenue by S. 1). Barker Esq., J.F. He paid his fins like a man, and made straight for a place where he could quench his thirst. That was not, however, easily done. He worked perseveringly but without success, his thirst still continued to increase, just in proportion to the number of “nobblers” he took, till about. 4 o’clock in the afternosn, when lie stumbled up against the constable on duty, and was accorded free lodgings in the lock-up again last night. Soon in Trouble.—Harry Power, the once famous bushranger, who was recently released after serving 15 years in Pen! ridge was re-arrested within two or three days in Melbourne on a charge of drunkenness. It appears that, while under the influence of dri k, he went into a ■ jeweller’s shop in Elizabeth Street, under the impression that it was a publichouse, and leaning his arm on a show case on the counter broke it. When given in charge he went quietly with the constable to the watchhouse end gave his name as Duncan McOaskill.

S.C, Volunteers foe the Soudan.— The Ashburton Rifles held a Church Parade last Sunday, and from the Guardian we learn that after the church service Captain Douglas, addressing the company, said he had received a letter from Captain Hamersley, of Timaru, enquiring if any of the Ashburton men would volunteer for service in the Soudan. Captain Douglas then announced that a special parade would be held on Tuesday evening next (to-nigh t), when volunteers for the service referred to by Captain Hamersley, could be enrolled. Personal.—At a meeting of the Napier School Committee on the 10th February Mr F. W. Wake, third master, tendered his resignation of his post, he having been appointed second master of the Timaru school. It was unanimously resolved that the resignation be accepted with Mgret, and that the Secretary write to him expressing satisfaction at the manner in which ho has performed his duties whilst in the Napier school, and wishing him every success in his future career. Mr Wake is well-known in the Geraldine district, having previous to his departure for Napier been in charge of the Geraldine Flat and Woodbury schools, and his many friends will be pleased to learn of his succes in obtaining the position of second atete; in the Xiiparu school, i

Temuka Mechanics’ Institute. —'l he Hon. Secretary to this Institute, Mr L. E. Haines, reminds members that the general meeting to consider the advisability of closing the Institute on Sundays takes place on the sth March.

Sporting.— At Tattersall’s, Duuedin, on Saturday, the following were the quotations 100 to 33 Vanguard, 100 to 30 Wapiti, 100 to 25 Lady Emma and Trenton, 100 to 11 Sou’-wester, 100 to 8 July and Captain Webster, 100 to 4 Adariiant, Nelson, Leon, and Minerva, 100 to 3 The Poet, 100 to 2 Matanaka and Makoia, 100 to ITauroa, 200 to 1 Clogs. Lady Emma was backed to win £SOO at 100 to 20, and there were offers to go on, but there was no more money forthcoming at the price. About Trenton 400 to 64 and 100 to 18 were booked, and takers wanted to continue at the later price. Bates accepted 1000 to 20 about his chance. The Dunedin Races.— The attention of those desirous of visiting the Dunedin races is directed to the very liberal arrangements made by the railway authorities for the occasion. Return tickets, available till the 9th March, will be issued to.day (the 24th), the 25th, 26th, and 27th February, the fare from Temuka being 23s 6d first-class, and 17s 6d second-class. ■ Passengers can break the journey ar, any stopping place on the line. A special night train from Christchurch passes through to-morrow night, stopping at Temuka to take up passengers. Full particulars as to time, etc., will be found in our advertising columns. The Weather.— After another week of splendid harvest weather a change set in on Sunday afternoon, a southerly breeze springing up and bringing with it heavy dark clouds, from which a light rain fell in (he evening. The night, however, kept fine. On Monday morning a shower fell, and a drizzle continued till noon, when (he clouds broke, and the sun shone out warm. An hour or two’s good breeze will be very beneficial to, the grain in stock. Several farmers about Geraldine and Woodbury bad made preparations to cart in on Monday, but of course they will be delayed a day or on account of the wet. Last night the weather again looked very bad.

What the People Drink.— “ Tell me what a man drinks and I will tell you his character.” If the same applies to communities, it ought to be easy to characterise the New Zealand cities. Thus Dunedin drinks twice as much brandy as any other city, judging from the bonded warehouse reports. Wellington comes next—sed longo intervallo —followed closely by Auckland ; but. Auckland heads the Genera list, and Dunedin is away ahead in gin. In rum Auckland does nearly as much as the rest put together, but Dunedin, the “ land of the canny Scot,” proudly maintains her supremacy in the “ whuskey ” line. In wines of all sorts, too, says the Wellington Press, Dunedin bears away the palm ; and in ale and beer, it is a case of “Dunedin first, the rest nowhere.”

An Interesting Comparison. —lt is interesting to compare the different ages at which her Majesty’s children have been married. The Princess Beatiice is now betrothed in her twenty-eighth year, the Princess Royal married in her eighteenth year j the Prince of Wales was married when in his twenty-second year ; the Princess Alice in her twentieth year; the Duke of Edinburgh in his thirtieth year; the Princess Helena in her twenty-first year ; the Princess Louise in her twenty-fourth year ; the Duke of Connoujht in his twenty-ninth year ; the Duke of Albany in his thirtieth year. The united ages at marriage of the five Royal Piincesses make 111 years; the united ages at marriage of the four Princes make 111 years. By striking an average one finds that Princesses are married at 22 1.5 years, and Princes at 27f.

The Social Revolution through the Obakgh Wreath.— 'there is an interesting paper in the current number of the National Review. The writer, who signs himself “ A humble but Democratic Tory,” says all we have to So is to apply the law of competitive examination to the law of marriage. All boys and girls in the country should be sent, of course, to the national schools, and the surviving of them to the universities, and then “ the man and woman who stood at the head of iheir respective lists in the examination would become husband and wife,, and so on all down the list. It is thus obvious that the clever son of a storekeeper might marry a duke’s daughter, and that an earl might wed a farm servant’s child.” The scheme is by no means altogether in the air, for already do not the girls who stand at the head of the examination lists at Girton marry the men whose names are appended as examiners? We wait for some of these ladies and gentlemen to subject the ingenious theory of the National Reviewer to the test of experience. A Serious Mistake.— At a garden party given by the Governor of New Zealand in Christchurch lately (says a Napier paper) Miss Genevieve Ward, the celebrated English actress, was among the guests* and the wife of an Archdeacon, noted for her dislike to the theatrical profession, was also present. The latter dame was not acquainted with Lady Jervois, the Governor’s wife, but, struck with the appearance of Miss Ward, jumped at the conclusion that she saw her hostess in the striking-looking lady who bore herself so regally. Without waiting for an introduction she hastened to present herself, and a brief but pleasant conversation ensued. The Archdeaconess— turning to a friend, who had watched the interview in surprise, exclaimed: “ What a charming woman Lady Jervois is.” i What! ’’ said the friend—" Why, that’s Miss Genevieve Ward, the actress.” Paralysed with horror, Mrs Archdeacon gasped, staggered and fled. The incident will be a popular story in Christchurch for man ay day. ‘ ,

Gordon's Last Dispatch.— lb tha Iwfc dispatch received bj the English Govern* ment from Khartoum, Gordon wrote as follows “ The only reinforcements the Soudan has received since November 27, 1883, the date when Hicks’ defeat was known in Cairo, is seven persons, including myself, and we have sent down over 600 soldiers and 2000 people. The people here and Arabs laugh over it. I shall not leave Khartoum until I can put someone in. If the Europeans like to go to the I will give them steamers, but I will not leave these people after all they have gone through. I fear it is too late. We must fight it out with our own means. If blessed by God we shall succeed, if not his will, so be it. Where is Wood f Kind regards to him and Generals Stephenson and Graham. You say your feeling is to abandon Soudan. So be it, but before you do that you must take down the Egyptian population, and this the Arabs do not see. According to all accounts 5000 were murdered at Berber. All is for the best. I will conclude in saying we will defend ourselves to the last; that I will not leave Khartoum ; that I.will try and persuade all Buropeani to •scape; and that lam still sanguine that by some means not clear God will give us an issue.” ■ , Dos’* Dii ik TH* Houbb.--" Bough on Bate ” clears out rate, mice, beetles, roaehee, bed bugs, flies, ants, insects, moles, jiok* rabbits, gophers, Kempthorne, Prosier and Oo„ Ohriitohuroh. 1 Mr J. Paterson, Springfield, Temuka, advertises for a girl. Mr Edward Johns, Geraldine, offers £1 reward for information respecting the person who broke his window on the night of Tuesday, the 17th inst. ■* Mobal Tubpitcdb.—Blame attache* to a jury of intelligent men when they condemn a man for crime whose moral nature baa been perverted by indigestion, diseased livor and kidneys. A thoughtful judge may well consider whether society would not be better served by ordering a bottle of Hop. Bit* era for the unfortunate in the dock instead of years of penal servitude. Brad Advt. .