LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1565, 15 March 1887, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Temuka School Committee, The monthly meeting of the Temuka School Committee tabes place this evening. Temuka Cadets. —On Friday last twenty of the carbines allotted to the Temuka High School Cadets came to hand, and yesterday the same number of belts arrived. Entertainment at Geraldine. —An entertainment will be given to-morrow night in the Good Templar Hall by the [members of the Geraldine Band of Hope, the proceeds of which will be devoted to the fund for prizes and general treat.

Smart Woes. —Mr Badham thrashed out an 80-aore paddock of wheat on bis Rangitata farm, and with two teams carted all the grain it produced a distance of 12 miles in 30 hours. He says it is the smartest carting on record, but he does not intend negotiating an overdraft this year. Public Holiday at Geraldine.—ld respense to a numerously-signed requisition (which appears in another column), Mr R. H. Pearpoint, Chairman of the Geraldine Town Board, has proclaimed Thursday next a public holiday. This should ensure a good atendance at the public sports, which take place in the park Tawhaio,—Writing from Alexandra, on the 25th ult., a correspondent of the Auckland Bell says: —Tawhaio’s day is done. He will shortly leave here, I learn, for Lower Waikato, to be on land owned by his own tribe. He will shake the dust of Maniopoto off his feet. He is disappointed and disgusted with them and the failure of his plans for kingly authority. A Long Sleep.—ln the French village of Thenelles there is a young lady who has enjoyed an uninterrupted sleep since June 1,1833, Her name is Margaret Borgenval, and she is said to be exceedingly beautiful; though, as was only to be expected, her three years’ trance has made her rather thin, During the whole period she has neyer been ill, and she appears no older than she did when she first “ went off.” Every now and then a dose of peptone is administered to her.

Geraldine Public Sports.—Owing to an error the handicaps of Messrs J. Reece and F. Bull, of Peel Forest, were wrongly stated in our issue of Saturday last. Both men named should have been given the limit distance in all the handicaps declared. The distances for both men should have read as follows44oyds hurdles 30yds, 100yds syds, 440yds flat 26yds, 200yds 13yds; 880yds, Reece 60yda; 1 mile, Reece 125yds.

GbalN RetußNS. —An estimate of the harvest for the province of Canterbury gives the following as the approximate yield for 1887: Wheat 4,200,000 bushels, oats 4,650,000 bushels, barley 330,000 bashels. The Government returns for North Canterbury, just collected, are as follow ; —Wheat 122,239 acres, yield 2,806 076 bushels j oats 91,340 acres, yield 2,333,673 bushels; barley 7,548 acres, yield 193,216 bushels, potatoes 6345 acres, yield 37,950 tons.

The Timabu Haebob Boabd Case.— Shaw, Savill’s case against the Timaru Harbor Board for the loss of the ship Lyttelton, damages £32,802 16s Bd, began yesterday morning in Wellington. It is expected to last three days. Mr Harper, in opening for the plaintiffs, said the real plaintiffs were the Underwriters and some owners of uninsured cargo. His contention was that the ship was lost through negligence of the man acting as pilot, who was not licensed by the Harbor Board. Bbbaoh or the Licensing Act. At the R.M. Court, Timaru, yesterday, D, Mahoney, licensee of the Shamrock Hotel, was charged with selling liquor after hours on the sth March. The defendant pleaded guilty, but urged extenuating circumstances as it was the last night of the circus, and the members of it were having a dinner. Constable Livingstone proved the offence, and a fine of £5 was inflicted, with costs, the conviction being endorsed on defendant’s license. Chaeitablb Aid. — A return was laid before the last meeting of the S.C. Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, showing the number of destitute persons in the South Canterbury district receiving charitable aid at March, 1887, and the annual cost. From it we make the following extracts : —Timaru Borough : 8 adult males, 18 adult females, 37 children, total 64, amount £321 14s 3d ; Levels; 7 males, 13 females, 36 children, total 56, amount £240 14s lOd ; Temuka: 3 males, 10 females, 35 children, total 48, amount £l6O lls 6d; Winchester; 1 male, 3 females, 12 children, total 16, amount £SO 19s 8d ; Geraldine; 3 males, 10 females, 35 children, total 48, amount £209 7s 8d; Waimate Boiough ; 4 males, 11 females, 32 children, total 47, amount £202 8s 5d ; Waimate County: 7 males, 9 females, 29 children, total 45, amount £216 lls; Mackenzie County : 1 mala, 2 females, 3 children, total 6, amount £24 0s lid. Thus 35 adult males, 76 adult females, and 227 children, total’ 388, received aid at a cost of £1426 8s 3d.

Fibb at Obabx. — A fire occurred at the Orari Village Settlement on Friday night whereby the dwelling house of a laborer named Mr Philip Buckley was completely destroyed. It appears that Mrs Buckley used the fire at about 10 p.m. for the purpose 1 of warming some food for a child and then went to rest, leaving, as she supposed, everything safe. About half past twelve she was awakened by the crying of the children, and getting up found the fire had got a complete hold of the building. As there were no men at hand she was unable' to save anything and had just time to get the children out, Mr Buckley was away in Timaru at the time with some horses for sale and heard of it while in the sale yards. The house was a wooden one of two rooms with a lean-to, and roofed with iron. It had a brick chimney on the north end. The value of the building was about £SO. It was insured by Messrs White and Smithson, of Timaru, but to what extent and in what office is not known. In addition to the loss of the building Mr Buckley has lost clothing, etc., to the value of £3O, and as Mr Buckley has a family of three children, the fire will prove ft very serious blow to him.

Woodbury Races. —By an advertisement which appears in another column it will be seen that nominations for the Handicap Hurdles, All Aged Handicap District Race, and Wcodburv Oup must be sent in to the Secretary of the Woodbury Club not later than March 19. The weights will appear on the 26th inst. and acceptances on April 2nd. Canvassing for subscriptions to these races is being pushed on vigorously by the Committee. Last year the meeting held at Woodbury was a thorough success from every point of view and it is to be hoped the public will aid the Committee in endeavoring to make the meeting of 1887 a success also.

Kakaho Bush School. — Ob Thursday afternoon last the annual treat and distribution of prizes to the children attending the Kakaliu Bush School took place and a presentation of two handsome gold bracelets was also made to Miss Meredith—under whose control the school has been so successfully conducted for the last two years, and who has now taken tbs position of Mistress of the Westport Girls’ High School, The day was beautifully tinei and there was a large attendance of parents and friends of the children, and all appeared to thoroughly enjoy themselves. In che evening a dance took place, and a number of songs were rendered, the vocalists being Miss E. Meredith, and Messrs Aitken, Blackley, and F. Ellery. Accident. — On Thursday afternoon a somewhat serious aooident happened on the road between Kakahu Bush and Hilton. A large number of persons had been visiting the former place on the occasion of the distribution of prizes at the public school, etc., and while returning home the horse attached to a coach belonging to Mr Bradley, and driven by Mrs Ryan, bolted when going down a rather steep cutting. Before the bottom of the cutting was reached the coach collided with a light trap, driven by Mrs McOoll, and full of ladies and children. The trap was knocked over the side of the embankment, and its occupants thrown in all directions. Happlily none were hurt, but both shafts of the trap were broken, and the axle bent. By the collision the coach passengers were also thrown out, and they fared worse than those in the trap, Mrs Bradley and Mrs Ryan being the most seriously hurt. The coach was also greatly damaged. The horse was stopped at the bottom of the hill.

A Smuggler’s Device. —The ingenuity of smugglers writes a Geneva correspondent of the Daily News has never perhaps been more strikingly illustrated than it was a few days ago on the Swiss-Italian frontiers. An innocent looking waggoner, with a waggon load of cheese, arrived at the Italian Custom House at Ohiasso. The cheese weighed altogether 3 tons, and the waggoner, who was “childlike and bland,” whistled blithely as he duly presented his papers, which certified that he was employed by the firm of to convey the cheese, which formed part only of a small order, to its purchasers at Marignan. The paper was examined and found en regie, and before resuming his journey the waggoner stepped into a neighbouring cafe, for the day was hot. But the delay for refreshments was destined to prove fatal to the waggoner’s hopes, for during his absence a douanie’s suspicions were aroused, and he examined the cheeses. They proved to be not cheeses at all but solid, compact rolls of tobacco, artfully done up in cement; this, again, was covered with canvas, which was painted to represent cheese. Of course, the find was instantly confiscated, and the blithe waggoner was transferred from the comforts of the cafe to the hardships of a jail.

Sunday Evening Services.—The Rev. G. Barclay held his monthly service in the Good Templars’ Hall, Qeraldide, on Sunday evening last. The hall was crowded. Owing to Mr Barclay having suffered a good deal last week with his throat and chest, the lecture usual on these occasions was dispensed with, and the rev. gentleman preached an excellent sermon from the text “ And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw Him they besought Him that He would depart out of their coasts,” Matthew viii., 34. —Mr Oorrie Johnston, the well-known evangelist of the Plymouth Brethren, who is just now visiting Geraldine and the surrounding districts, held a service in the schoolhouse, Woodbury, on Sunday afternoon. . A very large andience assembled, the schoolroom being crowded to excess. Mr Johnston also conducted a service in the Oddfellows’ Hall, Geraldine, in the evening, when there was again a large congregation, the ball being comfortably filled. Mr Johnston chose for the subject of his address Acts xiii., from the 30th to the 41»t verses. Mr Johnston delivered an impressive sermon which was attentively listened to, and evidently appreciated by the large number of persons present. New Traction Engine and Combine.— On Saturday last the new engine and combine which have been purchased by Mr,W. G. Campbell, of Timaru, in England, and which were brought out by that gentleman to Port Lyttelton in the Timaru on her hst trip, arrived at Geraldine. Mr Campbell has brought the engine and combine overland from Lyttelton, and in doing so had to cross the Port hills. The arrival of the engine had been expected for some time, and its advent caused considerable interest. Both engine and combine are of the latest pattern, and have'many valuable improvements, quite a number of which have been effected to the order of Mr Campbell himself, who has secured the patent for the combine in New Zealand* About the greatest improvement effected in it is an arrangement designed by Mr Campbell, whereby the chaff can either be carried up the elevators and taken up with the straw, or, after having all the dust blown out of it, can be bagged for use. The dram of the combine is sft 6in in width, and is so protected that it would be almost impossible for a person to fall into it. The “hummilers ” —a most peculiar piece of machinery used in dressing the grain—are of the latest and most improved pattern, and it is said will dress wet or sprouted grain to perfection. The riddles of the combine can be changed without stopping the machine, and it is also claimed for this machine that it will thrash oats with a riddle smaller than can be used in other machines when thrashing wheat. Mr Campbell has also hit upon a means whereby a farmer can see the amount of grain that is in the machine, and can tail whether it is being driven too fast or otherwise. Another contrivance indicates the extent to which the drum is open without the necessity of • going up on to the machine to look. Other improvements have also been effected. The engine is a high, pressure compound one of eight-hoise power, and like the combine has been built by Messrs Edwin Foden and Sons, of Sandbaeh, Cheshire, England. One of the greatest improvements in this is that good steam can be turned into the cylinder at the will of the driver by merely pulling a rod, when the power can be increased fourfold with the greatest ease. Its-weiijht is eight tons, and it is hung on powerful spiral, springs which greatly modify the jar caused by travelling on the hard roads. The diameter of the large travelling wheels is 7ft, aud it can travel at the rate of six or seven miles an hour. The engine is both light and strong, and during the trip from iOhristchuroh behaved splendidly. A public trial takes place on Friday next at the farm of Mr L. Wilewk» Geraldine*

Minor Industries on the Farm.— The attention which English farmers are now paying to their pigetyes, barnyards, and dovecotes shows that they are beginning to learn the lessons which the thrifty cultivators of France and Belgium have been teaching them for many years past. The “ minor industries ” of country life have long been neglected by us; but the bad seasons of the past few years have led our tenant farmers to try whether money cannot be made in other ways than those to which hitherto they have given most attention. Wheat, everybody knows, is no longer a profitable crop, and even grazing is barely remunerative at present prices.—Standard. Desfaibins Bankers.— The number of suicides among the brightest and most capable of business men, bankers and others, will be reduced to a minimum as soon as the specific virtues of Am. Hop Bitters are known. As all men who work with their brains and neglect to take the needed exercise, the food taken does not nourish; and dangerous debility, physical and mortal, ensue. Bead Advt.

Railway Refreshment Rooms, Timabu, —D. McGuinness begs to inform his numerous friends, and the travelling public in particular, that having taken the above rooms for a fresh term he has decided to reduce the charges hitherto made, and in future they will be as follow : —Breakfast in readiness for early trains, Is 6d; Hot Lunch or Dinner, served up in the hitherto well-known profuse style, on arrival of North and South Express trains, Is 6d. Tea and Coffee always in readiness, and choice confectionery, &o. The lessee would especially draw attention to the Ladies’ Private Dining-room, which has been specially arranged and furnished for their convenience. A waitress is always in attendance. The usual Is Lunches are still continued at the Club Hotel.—Advt.