LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1992, 9 January 1890, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Masonic.—The regular meeting of Lodge Sm hern Star takes place at Geraldine to-night, when officers will be installed. Musical,—Mr Sidney Wolf will be at the Oddfellows’ Hall, Temuka, this afternoon. for the purpose of making arrangements with pupils for singing, pianoforte, organ, etc. Midland Railway. The tender of J. Anderson, of Christchurch, for the construction of the first section of tne Midland Railway at Springfield is accepted. The total cost will exceed £6O 000. Silver.—Some fine specimens of native silver have been discovered at Puhipuhi. The ore containing it is similar to that of Broken Hill. It is reported that all prospector* are to be ordered off the Puhipuhi field as the term of their license lias expired, and if is suggested, therefore, that the Government should declare a field open north of Tangipakura river, where there is little kauri. The Premier.—The Hon, Mr Mitchelson has received a telegram from Major Atkinson saying that he is much bettor. The Premier talks of returning, but Ministers are trying to dissuade him from coming back until he is thoroughly established in health. [Later news states that Mr Robert Leckie, private secretary to the Premier, left WVI ington on Tuesday night by the Takapuna to meet Sir Harry Atkinson a( the Bluff.] The Exhibition. - The Exhibition Commissioners have decided to keep the Exhibition open continuously on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The men are to ho paid extra. The Exhibition has now been open six we»ks, and the paid admissions number 126,537. They have thus in six weeks exceeded by 33,000 the paid admissions during the threw months that th<* Wellington Exhibition was open. The total receipts to Saturday wero £lO,lßl 7s Bd. Geraldine Domain Board. The monthly meeting of this board was held on Tuesday evening last. Present Messrs A. White (in the chair), A. Sherrat, J. Williams, N. Dunlop, and R. Taylor. A letter was received from Mr J. Aitken, asking for compensation for the board having allowed a dray to go into the park for wood, thereby knocking down some of the grass and spoiling it tor cutting.—lt was decided that the board could not entertain the application, the right to the grass had been taken subject to free access to the park being had at all times. Accounts amounting to £1 14s Id were passed for payment, and the meeting terminated.

Fibres, The Agent-General informs the Government that he has received samplos of sisal from the Governor of the Bahamas, showing a great proportion of fibre in the leaf. The Governor states that the cultivation of the plant has been successful beyond anticipation, fir F. D. Bell has also obtained three samples of cordage made in America from ISew Zealand flix. It ia now extensively used in the States for cordage purposes, as distinct from binder twine. Merchants in London are anxious to get regular and authentic information of actual shipments from New Zealand to England, the United States, and any other country. A large part of the increased importation in 1889 represents orders for transhipment to America, where the consumption is clearly increasing beyond what was expected by the trade a few months ago. It is anticipated in London that 15,000 tons will be exported from New Zealand this year, and the prospect of such a sudden augmentation makes it very essential there should be some regular, information available.

Tampbetn« With tie Railway Lines. —On fcatur 'av morning when t'-e Olinton train, due st Invercargill at 10.55 a.m., reached Mills* Hoad Slulion, just as the engine was about to pull up, before going ° n to a siding, it passed over a large fang bolt. Meanwhile the guard bad gone up to move the points to let the train run into the siding, when ho found two iron bolts known aa “dogs’* and several stones of considerable size placed on the rails at both ends of the siding. Detective Madden wont out by the 4.15 p.m. train, ind when going to examine the place where the stones wore in the morning he discovered three stones planted in the check rails, two iron dogs, a piece of an iron bolt, and a large stone on the main line. After removing these, and when the train had gone past, the detective kept watch until $ p.m., but no liing occurred, •sho t y after 6.40 on Monday morning he noticed a boy named Brogan, living near bj', placing the stones on the line? flie was promptly secured. An in vestigation as to whether bo had accomplices will be made,

Dentistry.—Mr T. G. Rowley, surgeoudeutist will be at Mr Eichbaum’s, Geraldine, to-day. Land Sales. The land sales for December show a great falling off, except in Auckland, which Rads the colony in this respect both in December and Novemb-r. Evicted Tenants Fund —AtTimaru the visit of the liish delegates resulted in £269 7s 6.1 being collected for the Irish Evicted decants Fund. The sum of £250 has been cabled Home. Fine Shavings eor Pillows. —ln A meric i it seems that pillows and mattresses stuffed with pine shavings have been found to be efficacious in alleviating lung and bronchial trooblrs. Cases in proof of these are cited by translantic journals, which have devoted consideration to fche subj jet. The suggested remedy is a simple one aud should be inexpensive. A Narrow Escape.—A thrilling scene occurred during the manoeuvres of soma German cavalry recently at Ereig. There was a large erowd of spectators, and a woman aud her little child accidentally got in front of a regiment of cuirassiers which was charging at full gallop. There was not time to get out of the way, but an officer who was in advance shouted to the woman to lie down with her child. Naturally the habit of obedience was strong in the woman, and she immediately obeyed the order, putting her own body over that of her little one. The entire regiment passed over her like a whirlwind, the horses in whose track she lay all being made to jump over the prostrate couple, who escaped bewildered but absolutely uninjured. Samoan News.—News from Samoa states that a public meeting was hold on the 7th December, at which all the districts of Samoa were represented by chiefs appointed for the purpose. Mataafa resigned the title of King of Samoa, and Mulietoa was reinstated in that position. The throe consuls signed proclamations stating that the Governments of Germany, Great Britain, and the Doited Slates would from henceforth recoguise Malietoa as King, and urging the two parties in Samoa to effect a reconciliation. Feur of Tamasese’s chiefs met Malietoa and told him they were satisfied with the turn events had taken. ! False Imprisonment. —An English ! paper says :—lf we were to give a list of all the people who have been cast into prison wrongfully during the p, B t few years we should have to issue a tweotypige snpoleraent, Eight years ago Edmund Galley was awarded the ridiculous sum of £IOOO for forty years’ wrongful imprisonment. It was not till 1881 that his friends discovered a witness able to prove bis innocence of a crime of which he was convicted in 1836. Everyone remembers, of course, how Peace confessed to the crime for winch William Habron bad been sentenced to death. At the time of the (rial the judge told the prisoner ho need hope for no mercy, but the sentence was afterwards commuted to imprisonment for life. Not many years ago Mr W. H. Barber, a London solicitor was proved innocent of a forgery He bad already served four years’ imprisonment, and the Government gave him £SOOO. .Recently the Home Secretary, speaking in Parliament of persons who have been hanged, said , ‘ Two 1 believe to have been innocent ; one was undoubtedly insane.’

UNH \bak Fnouqh.—A curious complication in ceouection with a marriage has occurred ia Brisbane. An illiterate couple repaired to the registrar to have the knot tied, but that official discovered that the fair one was under age. H e had therefore to refer ihern to the magistrate, before whom certain oalhs as to the nonexistence of a guardian had to bo taken. This over and some necessary papers signed, the magistrate assured the couple that all was right now. They ought to have taken the papsrs back to the registrar, who would have performed the ceremony, but they concluded from the magistrate’s words that they were duly made one, and they “acted accordin’.” The next incidentin the story arose after the bir hof the first-born, which the proud father duly registered. Then the registrar diacovered that the couple were not on his books, and tosk action against the parent for registering as legitimate the birth of a child which was illegitimate It took some trouble to explain to the couple that a ceremony of marriage had not been performed in their case, but when this was brought home to them the result was singular. The “ wife ” refused to be legally married and elected to separate. She was Bred of her bargain, and hailed with gladness the chance of relief from it “ Bfgone Dull Care.’’-Under the above' tttle the ever-popular Mr Fred Maccabe gave one of hm charming entertainments at the Volunteer Hall, Temuka. on Tuesday evening last. There was a very fair attendance, and the appreciation of the entertainment was shown by the continued ripple of laughter which formed an accompaniment to his most humorous sketches, and the strained attention during, and hearty applause following his more serious efforts. The first part of the entertainment consisted of light sketches of society and other characters ventriloquism, singing, etc. in his several delineations Maocabe was inimitable, that of the street musician being excellent. Ihe g«t-up was good, and (he imitaiion of the playing and singing of a London street musician whose voice has been rendered husky and strained by dissipation, exposure, and disease, was simply perfect. An imitation of Henry Rnssdl’s singing of ” Sunshine After Rain ” was also very good, the song being backed tip hy a most artistic accompaniment. However, the most, successful item was undoubtedly his rendering of “ I’m • Vot Meso'f at all, Molly Dear.” The peculiarly Irish humour of this song received full expression, and the audience loudly applauded it, Mr Maccabe’s ventriloquial etiects are well known, at all events by repute, and those who bad not had an opportunity of bearing him previously must have hud rovsoFiabie doubts as to ivhetlier he was not aided by an accomplice. The entertainment concluded with 1 a clever sketch of “The Magic Statue ’ m which he is assisted by Mademoiselle Minnia. Mr Maccuhe sustained the dual parts of a student and a confidential old servant, while Mdile. Minnia appeared as a statue raagtcdly endowed with life bhe executed a Spanish dance with oistanetle accompaniment, and in Scottish costume a reel, with much grace, and to the evpisnt de ight of the audience. [a cliqrmtor of a servant, Mr Maccabe m-nagod to introduce some very ornusino BO'gs, which, like his preceding ones” were well received, The entertainment’ which lasted tor about two hours, was certainly one of the roost enjoyable that has yet been given in Temuka. ,

Waste of Food. —lt is stated by the vary best authorities that Iho quantity of food wasted in London alone would be more than sufficient to supply ibo tabD requirements of all the surving poor in the metropolis. Equally certain is it that the waste which goes on in (he large establislimenie and holds in London is in a leaser degree prevalent in the households of tbs middle classes. The Chewing Habit. — It is growing more and more pleasant to the American woman, especially of the refined son, to have a quid in her mouth. She keeps chewing away at it on the promenade, in the theatre, and in the nursery ; and, after sufficient practice, Iho inconvenience of extra aa'ivary secretion is got over. But it is not a quid of tobacco, It is an indiarubbet. Nor is it a dirty piece of any size, such as used to be popped into a schoolboy’s mouth and chewed to cracker consistency. It is a specially prepared caoutchouo lozenge that the American lady chews. And there are now forty-two factories in the Lnited States devoted to the making of these quids. Automatic House Feeder —The-e is now on view at Christchurch a very clever invention, called “ The Automatic Horse Feeder.” It is especially useful to all persons who wou'd like their horses fed early without themselves being present. An alarm dock is used, the bell taken off, and a cog wheel attached to the axle of the alarm. When the alarm goes off the cog wheel revolves on the top of a lever, opening the lower end, teleasiug a bolt from under the drop door of a box containing the feed, which is fixed out of the horses’ reach above the manger. One clock can bs arranged to feed several horses by connecting the different feed boxes with a wire, aed fastening tln reto a bolt, to go under each door. It can be set to deposit fosd in the manger at any desired time. Husband Poisoning Extraordinary,— A murder trial which for magnitude and horror could scarcely be matched in the criminal annals of any country, is about to begin at Gfros-Bescherek, in Hungary. Ihe accused, who number no less than eighty, are all women, and they are charged, eiiher as princ pHaor accessories, with poisoning the husbands of about a half of their number. Tire whole of the prisoners are natives of a village named Melencse, which is inhabited by a Servian population. If what is stated be true it has been the practice for many years of the women of the locality to get rid of obnoxious husbands by poisoning them, the drugs used for this purpose being all obtained from two old women wha had a local reputation as fortune tellers. These mysterious deaths of unpopular husbands have been going on for the last seyen years. A Scotch Ghost Story.— The Scots Observer is reviewing some Scotch ghost stories. The scene of one of these is laid in a country house in Fife, Here, on her way downstairs to dinner, a visitor stopped to pick up something from the floor. When she looked up again it was to see a lady, richly dressed and very handsome, emerge from a short flight which opened upon the chief landing, and hurry down the great staircasa. She made room with a bow, and as the figure passed her by she remarked the evil smile upon its lovely lip Neither at the table or in the drawing’room did this stranger re-appear ; and as this was so, the seer told what she had seen to her hostess, who put the subject by, and did not return to it till one day when she and the other were going over the house. Among other rooms they looked into that one from which the lady had come. The walls were lined with family portraits, but one place was vacant, and the picture that should have filled it stood face inwards on the floor. Said the mistress of the house—“lt is the portrait of one who brought disgrace upon the family. This used to be her room,” Then she tamed the picture, and behold I it was the very face and form her guest had seen upon the stair.

Chess Tournament. —The interprovmcial Chess Tournament was commenced at Dunedin on Monday evening with five competitors. Mr Smith, of Christchurch, was pitted against Dr Stenhouse, Dunedin, and Mr Barnes of Wellington against Mr Hookham of Christchurch, Mr Siedeberg, of Dunedin, having a bye. Mr Smith adopted the Sicilian defence against Dr Stenhouse but made a weak move in his 13th, of which Dr Stenhouse took advantage. The play was continued till the 46th move, when Mr Smith resigned Mr Barnes adopted the Detroff defence ’ agamst Mr Hookham. The game between Hookham and Barnes was abandoned as a draw at the sixtieth move, when the latttr was left with a bishop and three pawns against his opponent's bishop and two pawns, but the superiority was not sufficient to force a win. On Tuesday, Smith, of Christchurch, played the Scotch gambit, in the match with Sideber» of Dunedin. The latter had the best oTthe play after the seventh move, and eventually the Christchurch player resigned. >r Stenhouse met Barnes, the latter a. opting the French defence. Dr Sten-hou--e got into difficulties and resigued at about the twenty-fifth move. Hookham and biedeberg met, the former adopting the Huy Lopez game. At the fourteenth move the Dunedin player allowed his adversary by an oversight, to take one of his knights. The game ended in uookham s favor. » v f, r(^ ioti ° £ who bava used the Jumbo brand Baking Powder in that makea light, nutritious, an 1 digestive breed A « tha ’ D B re disnts are of the fineefc qualities, and no injurious elements being used iu the preparation, bread, etc made with this powder will keep fresh and motao longer than with any other powder Powd".-£ 4 "™ "|“ J “ mb,> ” bra " d

SYNOPSIS OF ADVERTISEMENTS. Mra Mclli-aifh, Geraldine- Wants good ! general servant for farm. s f T. Palmer, Cade’by, Temuka—Wants tenders for stocking and forking. ~T - & ! * ow1( ?> Surgeon Dentist—Will beat Mr Eicbbaum s, Geraldine, to-day. Gray and Montgomery, Temuka—Sqi brlf acre of land and five-roomed cottage, stable etc., fronting on Main Road, on 31st January on account of Mr T. Powell uar J> o d rlo t i ir 1 ” 8 ot c " dit »' s 1. and J. Thomson, Drapers and Silk Mercers, lunaru Mave made extensive p ltr chases, at clearing prices, of neck, plush, and fancy nbbons, seif ginghams, straws, garae”‘brM<i"e ' i pongeo