LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Tuapeka Times, Volume II, Issue 104, 5 February 1870, Page 5

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Dunedin races will take place on the ;24th and 25th of March.

Me. Ch vpple's sale of mining property at Totters is postponed till further notice.

The Tuapeka Races promise to be the greatest success ever known in the district. At least fifty horses are fully expected to run during the meeting. Harvesting opeiations are being prosecuted «vith great energy in the Mount Benger district. The crops are as heavy as they have been for .some years. Dohing the high flood of the Molyneux, several of the Teviot mineis are busily engaged •constructing new dams, &c, amongst those the dam of Messrs. Carlaw and party is the most .extensive. It is well to know that the postal route' to

England via Brindisi effects a saving of thirty hours over the Marseilles route. The pai-ti-<culais of this route, and postal charges, will be iound with other postal announcements. On Wednesday, the 26th ult., a match for ,£lO a side, distance 1 mile, . between Mr. MTherson's Polly, and Mr. Carlaw's Joe Cope, took place at Moa Flat, which resulted in Joe ..coming in any easy winner by two lengths. "We are informed that Mr. Gammie Maitland station, Tapanui, managed by Mr. Yald■win, has changed hands for the sum of £7000, the purchaser being Mr. Pointer, a gentleman •who has a large interest in runs in the southwestern portion of the province. The Drawing Master for the province, JMr. Donald Hutton, arrived by the Christina M'Ausland. He has been instructed to communicate •with the rectors of the High School and the •various grammar schools as to how his services might be rendered most available. A class in connection with the Dunedin Athenaeum is also spoken of. At the meeting of the Waste Lands Board on "Wednesday, the application of the R. C. Church Committee to purchase sections 12 and 13, block XXXI, Havelock, was considered, and the Committee was recommended to choose two other sections outside a mining reserve. The plan of section 3, block IV, Glenkenich, was Approved. The duties of Music-master and Sub-Inspec-tor of Schools are considered by the Education Board as too onerous for Mr. Taylor ; we may, therefore, expect another music-master and subinspector to be appointed some of these days. Mr. Duncan suggests this, and that the two subs, divide the province between them. The number of Government teachers in the province of Otago is 136, and the cost of education, including school fees, amounts to £24,000. The following curious fact was brought to public attention by recent statistics published in England. In 32 counties of that country, And in 12 of Wales, there are 1,300 parishes and hamlets in which no liquor is sold. Norfolk contains 127 parishes and townships in which there is neither beer-shop nor public-house. Lincolnshire has 116 such places, and Dorsetshire 108 ; Gloucestershire has 83, and Leicester 80 ; Herfordshire has one, Devonshire 23, and Cornwall 25. On a pig-hunting expedition at the Blue Mountain Gorge on Monday, the 24th ult., Mr. Gamble, of the Horse Shoe Bend, accompanied by a mate, made chase down a gully after an old boar, when the infuriated animal suddenly turned round and rushed Mr. Gamble, ripping , up his hip and making an ugly gash of six ' inches. On return to. the nearest house, his mate Bewed up the wound. Mr. Gamble believes there must be at least a couple of thou--sand pigs in the same locality. The following remarkable running against ifeitne is given in a recent number of "Bell's Life in London " : — "A great match came off in Ireland on Wednesday morning last, Mr. M'Cal•mont(9th Lancers) having backed himself to •ride his black horse Spot from Newbridge to • JDubUa in 1 hour and 25 minutes ; distance, 25 miles. The start took place at 6.15 a.m., and •at 7.30.82 kis arrival at Island Bridge Barracks •was timed, thus -Mr. M'Calmont won his match •with. 9min. 28aec. to spare. The horse is an old, -well-seasoned hunter, and was not in the least Stressed by his long journey. The London "Spectator" asserts that *'a •mechanician named Gensoul has invented a machine which reports speeches verbatim. The -idea is the same as that which governed the •mechanjcal.compositor/froin which such great • .things were once hoped. The reporter sits down before a piane, and plays, as it were, upon •the keys, each stroke placing part of a word upon his copy. When in full practice he can .outstrip the swiftest speaker." Should these come into common use, we believe they will be productive of much good. Our Provincial Council members, who grumble at being mislepresented by the reporters, will find their utterances reproduced with mechanical accuracy, juid what they imagined eloquent and telling «peechei, nothing but incoherent ungrammatical jumblfc

Ths " Echo " made its appearance on Saturday last with several blank columns, which forcibly reminded us of Barnum's story of a New York merchant who, on startins: business, engaged a page of the " Herald " for a day, and had his name and business address inserted in the smallest type in the middle of the page, and which advertisement, the story runs, led to an immense trade, by which the advertiser made a fortune. The "Echo" makes a very ingenious apology for its uncommon appearance, but we think it unjustly implies that newspapers — we suppose colonial newspapers — insert " dummies " to a much greater extent than is really the case. We hope, however, the "Echo" will realise its anticipations to-day — it deserves to do so — and find it necessary, from the pressure of legitimate advertisements, to enlarge its size by the addition of a supplement. An entertainment was given at Waitahuna by the Lawrence Amateur Christy Minstrels on Monday, for the benefit of the funds of the Assembly Room. Owing to the unfavourable state of the weather, the audience was not so uumerous as it would have been under more propitious circumstances. Even as it was, however, after deducting expenses, we believe a very fair balance remained in the hands of the committee. The Minstrels got through their rather lengthy programme with great success, and were frequently greeted with bursts of applause. Mr. ¥. Bastings deserves special praise for the inimitable manner in which he rendered his various parts ; in fact, he is always, on similar occasions, an entertainment in himself. Mr. H. Milburne presided at the harmonium. A splendid collation, provided by the committee at Walker's hotel, awaited the performers at the close of the entertainment.