LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXII, Issue 4100, 23 April 1880, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

I.O.G.T. — The usual weekly meeting of the Southern Star Lodge will be held at the Institute this evening, at 7.30 o’clock. Fire Brigade. — The town companies of the Fire Brigade tested their hose last night, and there were six lengths which proved bad. The Keith-street Company test theirs next Thursday. Timber. — Messrs Nichols Tarrant and Company, of Feilding, advertise that they are prepared to supply sawn timber of all descriptions, and in any quantity, to be delivered in town. They also deal largely in firewood. General Church Fund. — At a meeting of Christ Church parishioners, held on Wednesday afternoon, it was determined to send circulars to all members of the Church of England throughout the district, requesting subscriptions to the General Church Fund. Volunteers. — The Wanganui City Rifles and the City Rifles, accompanied by their bands, marched out last night to the cricket ground and were put through battalion drill. There was a very good attendance of both companies, and the men went through the evolutions very creditably. A Volcanic Eruption. — A volcanic eruption is taking place at the Taranaki Sugar Loaves, near the harbour works. A strong sulphurous smell is perceptible for a considerable distance off, and steam is observed coming from a fissure in a rock. The fissure from which the steam comes is 18in long by 12in deep. Wellington Railway Station. — The following tenders have been received at the Public Works Office for the Wellington Railway Station Contract :— Accepted — Alex. Reece, Wellington, £2294. Declined — Mitchell and Clegg, £2362 ; J. Adams, £2376 ; A. Compton, £2549 ; J. Russell, £2693 ; W. Ridler, £2699 ; Towsend and Sabb, £2850 ; James Wilson, £2883 ; Murdoch and Hose, £2890 ; James Lockie, £2978 ; A. Whiteford, £3200. Wellington Fire Brigades. — It seems nearly certain that the Wellington Fire Brigades are things of the past, and that for the future the City Council will maintain a fire brigade of their own. How this will answer, and whether it can be done at a less expense and as efficiently as by the voluntary exertions of private citizens, assisted by subsidies from the Council and the Insurance Companies, remains to be seen. At all events, the brigades have given up work, and are about winding-up their affairs, and the Council have placed Corporation labourers in charge of the plant, &c. There also seems some probability of a dispute with regard to the brigades’ property, but it is to be hoped this will be amicably settled. Wherever they came from, the funds with which premises and plant were both purchased were devoled to fire-extin-guishing purposes, and whoever undertakes the work should come in for the matériel. The plant certainly does not belong to the brigades, except under the condition of applying it to the proper purpose. We foresee trouble in this disbanding of the brigades. In case of fire the Corporation labourers would be comparatively useless. The Council and insurance Companies appear to have treated the brigades shabbily and discourteously, and the latter, with very bad judgment, paid them back in their own coin, forgetting apparently that the interests of the public are at stake. Having undertaken the work of a fire brigade, they should not have retired from the field until time had been allowed for organising a body to take their place.

Californian Quail. — These birds are to be found in considerable numbers in the Kiwitea District, near the homestead of Mr F. Bryce. The Burgess Roll. — At a meeting of the Public Works Committee of the Wellington City Council a suggestion was made by the Mayor that the burgess roll should be printed in such a way as to be vendable at a shilling. This (says the Chronicle) is an excellent suggestion, and we trust the Council will adopt it. Work for the Lawyers. — We learn that the difficulty with regard to certain of the Avenue sections below Dr Earle’s, which was supposed to have been settled, is still likely to give some trouble to the owners and occupiers, some of whom have been served with notices to give up possession on behalf of the original owner. We also learn that the claim will be resisted. Copper. — From the Chronicle we learn that further specimens of copper have been brought in to Wellington from Manawatu by the coach. They were found to contain 75 per cent of mineral. This is highly satisfactory. A piece of the metal was examined by W. T. L. Travers, Esq, when that gentleman gave it as his opinion that doubtless the mine was an extension of those discovered on the D’Urville Island, or the Dun Mountain. Accident. — Yesterday as a man named Daniel Bayless was employed cutting wood in Messrs Cross Brothers’ timber yard, three of his fingers were within a share of being taken off by the circular saw. As it was, they were cut to the bone, and the injuries will prevent him from working for some time. Dr Warren, who was quickly in attendance, did what was necessary in the way of bandaging, and does not anticipate any serious consequences from the accident. Football Club. — The annual meeting of the club was held at the Victoria Hotel on Wednesday evening. The report and balance-sheet as read by the Secretary were adopted. The following officers were elected :— Hon Secretary and Treasurer, Mr J. Stevenson ; Committee, Messrs Allison, Barton, Marshall, Powell, W. M. Smith and Thatcher ; Messrs P. Smith and Wheeler, country members. A resolution proposed for the election of Mr Montgomery as Captain of the club was postponed until it could be ascertained whether he would accept. It was decided not to join the proposed Wellington Football Association, but to form a West Coast Association, embracing the Wanganui and surrounding districts. A Settler in Trouble. — We take the following from the Manawatu Times of the 21st instant :— Mr Alex. Cameron, of Ngnawakaraw, was last evening arrested and lodged in the lock-up upon two charges. It appeared that Cameron had taken a number of cattle from Mr McConvey, of Turakina, to pasture on his land. Mr McConvey gave him authority to sell three cows on his behalf, but instead of handing over the money accused spent it. There is, however, a second, and more serious charge against him, of secretly disposing of a bullock without Mr McConvey’s knowledge or consent. A Stolen Kiss. — At the Resident Magistrate’s Court, Timaru, on the 20th instant, a woman named Graff, whose husband is up-country, proceeded against one Jonathan Allpress for assault. The case excited much amusement. The prosecutrix alleged that on Thursday last, Allpress called at her house for a small account, and as he failed to get his money he forcibly extracted a kiss. Allpress stoutly denied the alleged endearments, and the case had finally to be adjourned to enable Mrs Graff to produce corroborative evidence. Lord Beaconsfield’s Policy. — The Journal des Débats considers that “Lord Beaconsfield, by his energetic attitude, by his language at once brilliant and ardent, has re-invigorated the English hearts, which the purely economical policy of his predecessors had softened. England is again accustomed to the thought that she has a part to play in the world, and cannot disinterest herself in what happens on the Continent, They reckon what Lord Beaconsfield’s policy has cost in pounds sterling — but was not this policy of moral elevation inevitable after the enervating policy of Mr Gladstone ? How can one calculate, since all the consequences have not yet been produced, what has been or will be the cost to England of the suppression of the clause in the treaty of Pans which closed the Black Sea to the Russian ships of war — a suppression which Mr Gladstone should modestly aod silently have accorded in 1871 ? England has found out that what cost dearest of all is to effect a re-entry into Europe after the defection of leaving it, and the time always comes when re-entries are necessary. This is why the Government of Lord Beaconsfield, in spite of all its faults of detail, will leave a lasting remembrance in the English heart.” Sydney Exhibition. — The Sydney Morning Herald, in an article on photographic exhibits at the Sydney Exhibition, says :— “New Zealand photography is most extensively represented. It is startling to find a country which, but a few years back was a stranger to the arts of civilisation, producing numbers of works of the most artistic character, and closely rivalling those of lands in which a refined taste has been cultivated for centuries. Mr W. Collie, of Napier, has a really magnificent display of negatives, taken by the wet collodion process, comprising some of the most remarkable scones to be found in New Zealand. Nothing we have ever seen at English photographic exhibitions could surpass them. They are simply perfection. Mr R. H. Bartlett, of Auckland ; Mr A. T. Bothamley, of Wellington ; Messrs Fox Brothers, of Thames ; Mr W. B. Gibbs, of Wellington ; Messrs Hart, Campbell and Co., of Queenstown, Wakatipu ; Mr J. I. Taylor, of Motueka, Nelson ; and Mr W. T. L. Locke Travers, also exhibit a splendid collection of photographs of New Zealand scenery, to the merits of which, it would take a volume to do justice. In addition to these the Oamaru Chamber of Commerce, the Wellington City Council, the Corporation of Dunedin, and the Hokitika Committee each exhibit numerous photographs, specially token under their superintendence, in which the scenic glories and marvels of the wonderful land of the Maori are reproduced with astonishing fidelity to nature.”