LOCAL & GENERAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2290, 8 December 1891, Page 2

LOCAL & GENERAL.

Chuech op England, Geraldine.— The Bishop of Christchurch will be in Geraldine to-morrow, and hold a confirmation service in the evening, commencing at 7 p.m. The Minister op Lands. —The Hon. J. Mackenzie, was entertained at a banquet at a banquet at Whangarei. Replying to the toast of his health he warned the people not to be deceived by a section of the New Zealand press whose interests it was to uphold a monopoly in New Zealand. Acclimatisation. —The Acclimatisation Society of Dunedin unanimously resolved that it did not see its way to adopt the suggestions in the letter frpm the Marine Department re having only; one society for each island, as the society has now as much country under its charge as it can manage in a satisfactory manner. If a conference is resolved on the society is willing to send delegates to disouss any matters for the common good.

Strange Death. John Ferguson, a boy of five years, died at Cambridge, Auckland, from eating green gooseberries. Eel Fishing. Four Maori women passed through Temuka last Saturday afternoon with a splendid haul of eels, which they had caught that day in the stream that runs by Mr O. P. McCallum’s farm. They had about 80 eels altogether, but they were small ones with the exception of three eels, which were very large. One of these measured 4 £ feet, and 16. inches round the girth, and weighed 221 b. The next one measured 4 feet and weighed 15.1 b, and the third weighed 181b.' They were wonderful monsters, and the Maori women were highly elated with the success they had met with.

Sharks.— A party of amateur fishermen, consisting of Messrs Woodley, Holwell, and Wyatt, and Masters Woodley (3) were fishing in the Milford lagoon for trout on Thursday afternoon, and not being as successful as they expected determined to fish for kawhai. Here again they were unsuccessful in their efforts, but ou Thursday and Friday afternoon they hooked no less than 130 sharks of all sizes, some being as large as five'feet in length. On dissecting some of the sharks the reason for the absence of trout and kawai was apparent, the sharks being fill! of these and other fish. It was evident that the fish had been lying in wait at the mouth of the lagoon for the small fish, and perhaps this will account for the scarcity of tront in the Opihi this year. Liberal Banquet.— At the banquet to the Minister and members of the 1 Liberal party at Eketahuna, forty persons, were present. After supper speeches were delivered by the Minister of Justice, Messrs T. L. Buick and A. W. Hogg, M.H.R.’s, and several other prominent Liberals of the district. Mr Buick explained the objects of the National Liberal Federation at some length, and invited those present to join the organisation. The Hon. Mir Reeves, in referring to the rumored withdrawal of capital from the colony, said that he did not believe that there was any general exodus of capital, but suggested that some withdrawals of recent years might have been caused by the rates of interest being lower than formerly. The proceedings were brought to a close shortly after midnight.

Bankruptcy. The schedule of the liabilities and assets in the estate of T. K. Macdonald is as follows.;—Liabilities —secured creditors Wellington Trust and Company, £9870 (security valued ai £10,300) ; Colonial Bank of New Zealand, £8412 (security valued at £15,517) ; F. R. Macdonald £5007 (security valued at £1000) ; F. R. Macdonald and R. Greenfield £750 (security valued at £945) ; T. G.

McCarthy (security second mortgages), £450 (security valued at £6130); James Gear, £350 (security - valued at £I.OOO. After deducting second mortgages, which necessarily appear twice in the statement, secured creditors show a total of £24,839, against which they hold assets of a value in all of £31,932, leaving a surplus of £6193. The list of unsecured creditors is’-as follows: —Personal debits, £7BB (5s 3d, Maori Hemp Company; liabilities—Homes l and Bell, estimated at £1950; Johnston and Co., estimated at £180; total, £2130. The

total liabilities unsecured is £2OIB 6s 3d. The book debts are estimated-> to : release £I4OO, and the surplus.from property in the hands of secured creditors,' r £6193, making a total of £7s93—against unsecured creditors, £l9l8 —ora tptalsurplus ; lit the estate of £4674. ... . \ Political Address.— Mr D. Pinkerton, M.H.R., addressed the electors on Friday night in the City Hall, Dunedin, which-was comfortably filled. "He reviewed the session, defended the Government anil their measures, and, referring to the Land Bill, said that the Hon. Mr Stevens admitted that the question of freehold was the whole point at issue. He contended that working men ought to have' representation in the Council, and stated that the Payment of Members Bill was thrown out to make this impossible. He stated as a fact that the Governor was a Tory, though he was said to be in favour of represen-

tatives of the working classes being-to the Council, and even of similar representation to the Imperial Parliament. A vote of thanks to Mr Pinkerton, and thanks for his consistent support to the present Government, was carried unanimously. Sir R. Stout, who was chairman, paid a generous tribute of respect to the character and ability of the late Sir F. Whitaker, who, though often on the other side of politics, held many advanced and radical views.

Reid & Gray. —We have received Messrs Reid and Gray’s illlustrated catalogue of machinery. It has been printed by Messrs J. Wilkie & Co., Dunedin, and it is really a credit to them. By

this all previous catalogues are cancelled, and new conditions and terms of sale are issued, under which the firm undertakes to pay freight or railage to any. port or railway station in New Zealand on goods of the value of £5 and upwards, purchased from them. As the catalogue gives the price of most implements farmers will have no difficulty to calculating what anything they;may order will cost. It is needless for us to try to enumerate the many implements of which the catalogue gives illustrations. They are too numerous to particularise. AU kinds of ploughs, harrows, and rollers are there, as well as the non-canvass reaper and binder, chaffcutters, turnip - cutters, drays, carts, threshing mills, wool presses, cheese presses, &c. These, together with a large list of fittings, make up a splendid catalogue, to the reading of which farmers would no doubt find a good deal that would interest them. As the catalogue will be sent free of charge to anyone desiring one, farmers would do well to send for one at once, as it is likely there wiU be a great run on them.

A Trip to the Holy Land.— The MidUlster Mail says ; —On Sunday, the Rev. John Dickson, of New Zealand, who is at present on a visit to his native country, conducted the: services to the second Pres-

byterian church, Cookstown, iu which he worshipped when a boy, and in the evening he took charge of the united service, when he gave a descriptson of a recent visit to the Holy Land. Mr Dickson has been detained longer than he expected in this country, owing to business arising out of the sud-

den death of his respected father and other relatives, and in the meantime is making good use of his time, by assisting his ministerial brethren and diffusing information in regard to New Zealand, Australia, Egypt, Italy, France, and other , countries which he has had the privilege of visiting. His description of his visit to Palestine, which took place on his homeward voyage, was extremely interesting, and was based on Romans viii., and Ist verse, “ There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” He ascribed the present condition of the Jews and the Holy Land to the fact that the converse of the text is also true, and that, as the chosen people are now under Divine wrath, so they may yet expect that all the prpmises of their return, will be fulfilled, The address, which dealt principally with the social and political state of the inhabitants, and with the prospects of missionary efforts in the country, was attentively listened to by a large congregation. . i

Timabu Wool Sale. —The first wool sale of season, in Timaru takes place to-morrow.

Forgery.— George Harrington, aged 14, was committed for trial for forgery for £5 in the National Bank, at Dunedin. Temperance Social at Temuka. —It has been arranged that the tea in connection with the temperance social at Temuka on Friday evening next shall commence at 6.30 and the public meeting at 8. The Bey.. L, M. Isifct, of Christchurch, and J. K. Elliott of WefltogtOnj are expected to be present, and some good addresses are 'anticipated: '

Important to Fruitgrowers.— The representative of a Dunedin firm was in Geraldine on Friday making enquiries anent the fruit-growing capacity of the district,' He' stated that-plums, black currants, strawberries, gooseberries, apricots and peaches of every kind would be required for canning and jam purposes, - also pickling vegetables were in great demand ; and his firm would throw every opportunity in the way of fruit growers to establish a, connection between here and Dunedin. This is a splendid opening for gardeners who, as in past seasons, will probably have an overplus of fruit and vegetables this year. ’ Geraldine St. Patrick’s Sports As-sociation.-We wereyestefday shown, by Mr R. H. Pearpoint, three handsome flags made by Mr J, S. Keith, of Timaru, to the order of the Geraldine St. Patrick’s Day Sports Association. The flags are each ,15ft. x. 7ft. 6in.’,’ and are composed of the best ship’s bunting.* They are well got up and nicely figured, representing the three nations; a flag for each, England, Scotland, and Ireland. They ought to make a good appearance hoisted above the ground at the next St. Patrick’s Day Sports j.' The flags cost a good bit and the Association will need a few donations to pay for them. Land Settlement. —At the weekly meeting of the Trades and Labour Council, in Wellington, the secretary submitted , that all the information which he had gathered relative to the application made to the Government some time since for setting apart a block of 5000 acres of land which it was proposed by the council should be worked on coropefatiye principles wasareply from the Minister for Lands who wrote to the effect that he regretted that in the existing state of the land law it was out of the* power of the department to comply with the request. The Minister, however, expressed the hope that during next session of Parliament a Bill would be passed/’into 1 law giving effect to the aspirations, of the Trades Council in this direction., ;- i V ■ Export of Potatoes, t- Mr Turnbull, manager of the Christchurch Farmer’s Co-operative Society, says’; “ Good potatoes shipped in small boxes' oir hampers would find a ready market in London.- Potatoes are selling there at £4O a tori to February, the price gradually declining; afterwards till it* gets down to about" £5 to April. The potatoes which were last'sent Home arrived at the wrong time Of the year—to September and .then they were in had condition. To keep potatoes to good condition it will hq necessary to arrange with the shipping companies for proper ventilation on' the’ passage home.” We have- frequently-'suggested ! that a small company ought to be formed to try the experiment of shipping potatoes home, but our advice has not been taken. Athletic. The Dunedin Amateur Athletic Club’s, sports were fairly attended. Postlethwaite, of Timaru,: won r the long and high jumps, and the 120 yards hurdles. In the high, jump he cleared sft 4fin, Dr Fitzgerald clearing Bfl2|to. E. N. Burk the ex-professional, won, the two mile scratch race to llmto 17sec, and the 1 mile handicap from scratch to 4inin 58 l-sth sec. Hooper won the half mile in 2min l-sth sec, 'with Burk second, Bain (scratch) won the mile walk easily in 7min 31*4-sth sec.' W. A. Low (9yds) won the * ladies’ bracelet in 55 l-sth sec, and also won the 100 and 250 yards handicaps, tying with Postlethwaite for the special prize for most .points. The cycling events —one, two, and three miles—were won by Ewing, who rode a cushion tyred Safety. The strong breeze blowing militated against good time. Struck by Lighnting— During a heavy thunderstorm /recently a house in the course of erection in Powell street, Homebush, Sydney, was struch by Ightntog, a a plasterer named George Walton, aged 29, being killed. Five other men, named Charles Howish, James Robinson, William Beckingham, George Gordon, and F. Bonfeel, who were also employed on the building, were rendered insensible. The men were working as iisual until about 8.20 a.m. when the violence of the storm forced them to take shelter in the house. Shortly after they had done so a heavy- thunderclap was heard being immediately folio wed by a flash of lightning. The men remembefedno more until Robertson regained consciousness. Seeing his mates lying on the floor around him he came to the conclusion that they were dead, but further examination showed him that that was not the case. They gradually came to, except Walton, whoso clothes were seen to be to flames. Dr. Jones, of Homebush, was immediately sent ‘ for, and he found that the deceased had been struck .at the back of the neck. The 'flesh from the base of the spine was severely scorched and almost black. Death must have been instantaneous. The deceased was a married man and leaves a ' widow and family. Hewish was injured on the foot, but not dangerously. After being attended to, he was sent home, and will probably be able to return to work in a week or so. The house was considerably damaged, a window and door being blown rig.it out, and most of the woodwork splintered and some crockery broken. The Coroner was informed of the occurence, but has dispensed with an inquest. The “ Star ” Cycles are Easy to But, Easy to Ride, au 1 can be obtained on payments from os per week, or discount for cash. —Adams, Curties&Co., 70, Manchester street, Christchurch. Cycles from £5. —9

SYNOPSIS OF ADVERTISEMENTS.

Geraldine Road Board—Tenders invited for works. Comer & Larcombe —Funeral notice re late Mrs Farquharson. J. Muudell & Co. —Additional entries for Geraldine stock sale. Shearing at Mount Peel —Will not begin until 21st; hands engaged. Church of England, Geraldine—Confirmation on Wednesday (to-morrow) at 7 p.m. Temperance Social —At Temuka on Friday evening next ; order of arrange- f ments. A, E. Cox —Geraldine live stock sapr entries ; also private sale of halfbred wethers. Geraldine County Anglers’ Society— Annual fish dinner at Geraldine Crown Hotel on 18th. T. Anderson, Temuka Boot Store—Has just received a large consignment of boots and shoes, and will continue to sell at cost price; cheap repairs. D. Taylor, Storekeeper, Temuka— Has removed to new premises, next Rank of Ne\v Zealand, arid opened a new andvaried stock of groceries, hardware, crockery shearing requisites, etc.