LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2143, 30 December 1890, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Temuia Rules. A Government inspection parade of this oorps takes place is evening. Absentees will bs fined. Temuta Lite Stock Sale.—The fortnightly aale of Temuk* takes place to-day. In our advertising columns Messrs J. Mundell & Co., and Messrs A. E. Cox and E. R. Guinness enumerate entries to be submitted by th^m. Magisterial,—At the Resident MaCourt, Temuka, yesterday, beJ. T. M. BUyhurst, Efq., J.P., D. Dunn and J. Crimia were charged with uclawftilly fighting in 8 public place, and were fined 20s each, or in default 7 days' imprisonment. The fines were paid.

The Governor and Te Whiti.—lt is reported that Te Whiti of Parihnka ba« received a telegram from the Governor saying he will hold a big meeting there in March next, le Whiti replied that he agreed with the meeting, but «H2gested that it be held at Wsitara, when he and Tohu would attend with all important men. The Governor is sending his and Lady Ouslow's photographs to Te Whit'. Pkisoners at Milford Sound.—The Hineraoa has returned from Milford Sound, where she landed a batch of prinoners who are to make a road to open up Sutherland Falls, it rained nearly all the time hi torrents, and was still raining when the steamer left. Moat of the huts wero then up, and all the storeslinded and secured. The men and officials, daspite the nnpropitfous weather, worked very well.

The Hon. John Burks an» tki Election. An exchange says :—"Mr John Burks O'Brien was arrested in the polling booth, Wanganui, by Constable Brown fof disord«rly behaviour, and rofuslng to leave the polling booth whsn ordered te by the returning officer. Hia ' get up ' was very amusing, having a Grown upon his head, green goggle" on, duat-ooat, and knicker bookers, and armed with a walking ■tick. He was brought up at the Police Court to-day and dismissed with a caution."

Serious JFires.—Bush and grass fires have been raging in the country districts arouDd Christchurch the last few days, and i great deal of damogj has bean done to gras3 and grain crops. A strong nor'wester carried the fira with astonishing rapidity. A fire broke out on the Lseston show groand on Boxing-Day, while sports were bsiner held, and great damage was done to plantations, and women and children were carried to a placa of safety with difficulty. The Maria Andrews Park at Rangiora was completely destroyed, the estimated damage being £3OO. At West Oxford a mod destructive fire occurred, destroying, amoog other prop6rty, Mra Perham'a sawmill nnd plant, valued at £350, uninsured. The properties of Booth. Lorgensoo and Lace also suffered considerably, as their tramways were des'royed and a quintity of bush burnt. A fire broke out in the larga brick warehouses of Messrs W. and G. Turnbull and Co., Custom House Quay, Wellington, on Thursday afternoon, A large quantity of sug*r, flour, and papar was destroyed. The loss is estimated at £3OO, which is covered by insurance. New Zealand Chess Congress.—The New Zealand Chess Congress opened at Wellington on Friday morning. The representatives were Messrs F. Siedeberg, JDuuediu ; A. M. Ollivier and H. Hookham, Christchurch ; A. J. Littlejohn, R, J. Birnes, W. Brown and G. Bolton. Wellington ; and J. Edwards, Inrercurgill. Others from Dunedin aud Manawatu were also expected. In the evening Littlejohn J (Wellington) resigned to Barnes (Wellington). Brown (Working Men's Club) shortly afterwards beat Edwards (Tnveroargill) through queening a pawo. Hookham (Otirietohurcb) had the advantage of a knight against G. Bolton (Working M«n'a Club), aud acored an ensy win at 10 o'o'ock. Siedeberg (Dunedin) lost a pawn to Ollivier (Ohristchuroh), whose position tLen rapidly improved, and Olliviftr won the game of tha day shortly after 11. On Saturday Liit'ejohn beat j Sexton (Palmerston North) Brown played against Mouitt (Dunedin) and was beaten | on the 44th move. Bolton played a very even gunn with Siedeberg, and won on the 63.-d inovo. Hookhaiu woa his game with and Ollivier his with Barnes.

Cycling.—At the Pioneer Club's Meeting; at Curiatchureh, E. Hassell, of Tim&rn, won the Miia Maiden Roadster Race, and J. Wh 9 !an (530 yardß start) t,be ThreeMile Visitors Knee. Tks Htjntlley Disaster.— The bodies of Tracy and Smith, killed in the Huntley disaster, have been recovered from the mine. The funeral of the two men was held on Friday. It is hoped the man Hynduian, who was injured whilst assisting in the rescue, will recover. The Wiather.—A very welcome rain fe 1 yesterday, commencing early in the morning, and continuing with occasional intervals of fine weather throughout the day. The change waa a most welcome one, but it is a question if it will greatly benefit the main grain crop. However, grass and turnips will ba much improved thereby, and after so long a drought even the gentlest of showers provaa acceptable. Granted that the oor'-westers keep off for a few days the change should do much good.

The Ministrt.—The Wellington Post says :—Ministers, having elected for the sake of office to throw honour to the winds and to keep their Beits in violation ef their pledged word and written engagement, any further negotistioo or arrangement with IheiD on the purt of the Opposition is out of the question. They have ohown, indeed, that their word is ns good as their bond, by proving both to be worthless, and showing that neither can be relied 00, so that the Opposition leader who again trusted thorn would deserve to be deceived, as he doubtless would be. A Printing Recorb.—The Lyttelton Timee says :—A convincing proof of the phenomenal demand fornewspapers during Christmas-tide may be found in the fact that the quantity ef piper that passed through the fast rotary printing machine in this office duriog ihe six days preceding Christmas Day amounted to close upon eight tons in weight, and was equal to 121,925 sheets, being a length of ninetyfour miles and thirty-nine yards. We can safely say that this is the largest printing, in any New Zealand office, that has e?er been done in one week." And yet there are a few egotistical people about who believe they will crush the Lyttelton Times. They have sworn to spend £60,000 oo crushiog it, but it does not appear that they are nearer doing so now than they were three years ago. A S*MOW3 Nwcsawob.—A correspondent of the Press signing himself " Aggrieved " writes to the Press under the above heading : —•' Your topio of the day in Saturday's issue on the Christmas Eve musical (I) disturbances was very much te the point. They constitute a serious nuisance. In my house a lady is lying ill, and liar medical man has assured me that her state has been aggravated by the suffering she endured on Christmas Eve, as she got scarcely any sleep owing to these blackmailing ruffians, New \ ear's Eve is approaching, and he has warned me that I must use every effort to prevent a similar bad night. Sir, it has come to this—that it the police will not protect me I must protect myself, and I intend to do so with what force and weapons I c»n master." Another correspondent is even more emphatic in his remarks. An Awkward Predioameni. —On Saturday morning an accident happened on the Ashburtoa traffic bridge, whereby Mr William Sutherland, of Winslow, was placed in a most awkward position, and uarrowly escaped losing his life. Mr Sutherland was driving toward* Ashburton, and when about the centre of tbe bridge he met an eight-horse team waggon the driver of the latter vehicle keeping nearly to tha centre of the bridge. Mr Sutherland consequently had to kesp close against the guard rail, and just as he came opposite the front of the waggon his horse got frightened, capsized the trap, and threw Mr Sutherland on to the bridge, and between the front and hind wheels on the ne»r side of the waggon. Mr Sutherland, with remarkable presence of mind, rolled over five or six times in the direction the waggon was travelling, and finally clear of the wheels. Before he could' regain his feet, however, his own horse had got up, turned round, and came dragging the overturned trap after him, and put one foot within an inch of Mr Sutherland's neck. Mr Sutherland scrambled to hia feet, and esc»ped with nothing worse than a shaking, a dusty jacket, aod a couple of bruises on bis knuckles. Th 9 horso was not much hurt, but the trap was much damaged. The year just closing tias been one of singular misfortune for Mr Sutherland and only on Wednesday morning he lost over £IOO worth of property through a fire destroying hia contractor's camp. It is to be hoped that the new year will be a happy and prosperous one for him.—Prese. The Nbw Year.—Hitherto New Year's Eve has always passed off very quietly in Geraldine, but this year townsfolk are promised some diversion. The fire brigade have determined to have a torchlight procession and display of fireworks, winding up with some raalistic scenes of tbe duties psrfornaed by that oft-quoted body of men, 'The Darktown Fire Brigade.' No doubt many of our readers have sesn the almanac depicting the operations of this brigade at a fire, and members of the Geraldine Fire Brigade have resolved to givo a praotical il ustration of the work done by their dusky brethren. A small engine has baton constructed, the cottage to be burnt down has been obtained, and prepara'ions generally are in a forward state. Whether the dusky lady to be cmied out of ihe building, or the one who who jumps into the sheet will be forthcoming, has not been allowed to transpire, but if no hitch occurs soma fun may be expected, tima the members of the brigade are assiduously taking up subscriptions in aid of the show. On New Year's Day the Geraldine Good T«mplars hold their auoual picnic in the Park, opposite (he Roman Catholio Church. A procession will leave the Good Templar Hall at 10 a.m., and en arrival on the ground a programme of sports, etc., will bs gone through. Tbe Brass Band has been en- I gsged, and a first-rate day's amusement j should be eojoyed by those who attend. On New Year's Day at Tmnuka there will be a grand picflio in the Victoria Park under the auspices of the Temuka Lodge of Good TerapUre. This is tho fist attempt of the kiod, and it is likely to be attraetive. It may be mentioned that no churge will be made for admission, but a vary srmll sum will be charged for the two meals provided, Games, etc., have been arranged for. At Wiochester a dunes will be hi Id in the Public Hall on Now Fear's Eve, T;ie.mauagement hive always been successful in conducting their several auiuseiiientH w t'j decorum, and may expect to ba liberally patronised.

Educating the Horse. We would remind our readers that Professor Licbtwark will give a tree discourse on " the horse" in the Temuka Volunteer Hill to-morrow evening, and at the conclus'on of his rem»rks will fonn a clans of those desirous of understanding; his system. The professor's system is most highly spoken of, and we hipe to see his classes well attended.

Home, Sweet Home.—Two hundred and fifty miles on crutches for the sake of being among hisrelations at Christmas time was (says the Wellington Press) the feat accomplished by au old cripple here recently. This old man $ who hue lost one of his leg& and has to walk on crutches, left Taranaki some three weeks ago, without a penny in his pocket, for this city, intending to earn his food as best he could, on the way down. Fortunately he happened to fall in with an exception* ally good-hearted lot of people during the journey, and so arrived here safely a couple of dnys ago. He at once applied to the Banevolent Insttiution to pay his passage to Lyttelton—he stated ha would walk there if he cou'd—where he had friends who would keep him, and the trustees at their meeting decided to grant his request. Almost the whole of this rem.ark«b't> journey was made along the railway line.

Waitohi Wrhbtlirs.—There is a nest of wrestlers in Waitohi who must be looked after. They distributed tbtmselves between Temuka end Ashburton last Boxing Day, and flung down ereiytbiog that came in their way most comfortably. We all know how yonng Thornley threw the great champion Ross, and also the Maori champion, at Temuke, and at the same time young McKinooD, and Keenan —a beardless lad— were knookiog others about at Ashbarton. They threw everythiog that came in their way, until at last the two Waitohi boys bad to taekla each other. Then Greek met Qraek. And this is the way the !ooa ! paper apeaki of them : " But the bast fall of all was the last between Merlinnoo aad Keenan when the last named although two atones lighter than the handsome* representative of the Island of Skye, gave the ' Highland picture' all he c°uld do to pat his light antagonist upon st >e grass." The Waitohi boys laugh at th ; »- TLey ware having a bit of fua for themselves;. Bravo Waitohi.

SYNOP3IB Qff'ID'riBRTISEMiNTS. P. W. Huttco & Go;.—" Tbenks awf'lly.' A, White, Geraldine —Wantß a Btrong boy.

Dane©—ln Winchester Public Hall tomorrow ev-eaing.

Temuka Riiss—Government inspection parade this evening. J. Angland, St9r Hotel, Temuka—lnvites tenders for harvesting oats. A. Temuka—Notice re Buckeye Harvester ; has Donaghay'a binding twine, oil, and sundries in Block. Geraldirie Fire Brigade—lnvite the public to attend a torchlight precession and display of fireworks to-morrow night. D. McCaskill, Biker and Gonfactioner, Temuka—Has reduced prices of fancy goods and Christmas novelties ; is prepared to cater for picnic parties ; English and Colonial confectionery ; splendid line of wool mats for sale.