LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXII, Issue 7112, 11 May 1880, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Hon Mr Bryce. — We understand that, owing to the great pressure of public business, the Native Minister will be unable to address his constituents before the opening of Parliament. Sir William Fox’s Majority. — The complete returns for the Rangitikei election are as follows :— Fox, 232 ; Fraser, 133 ; Lyon, 69. Sir William, therefore, secured a majority of 99 over Mr Fraser. There is now not the slightest chance of the election being disturbed or delayed by the remissness of the Deputy-Return-ing Officer in not opening the pollingbooth till forty minutes past nine o’clock. Railway Contracts. — All the railway contracts recently advertised in the Middle Island have been withdrawn. The Dunedin Morning Herald says that the impending report of the Railway Commission is the cause of this action being taken. A Contradiction. — Mr Crombie Brown telegraphed to the Herald on Friday last that on that day he and Mr Ballance travelled from Kai Iwi to Waitotara on a truck attached to an engine, being the first train that went through. This is not true, as the train has been running to the Waitotara for more than a fortnight. I.O.G.T. — The quarterly election and installation of officers of the Southern Star Lodge of this order took place last week. The following were the officers appointed :— Brother Hurley, W.C.T. ; Brother Searle, W.V.T. ; Brother Joseph Brown, W.S. ; Brother Bryson, W.T. ; Brother Graham, W.C. ; Brother D. R. Wright, W.M. ; Sister Marshall, W.D.M. ; Brother James Hamilton, W.I.G. ; Sister Barroll, W.R.H.S. ; Sis.Searle, W.L.H.S. ; Sister James, W.A.S. The Arethusa Company. — Owing to the non-arrival of the Stormbird, by which the members of the above company are passengers, there was no performance at the Princess Theatre last night. The Stormbird left Wellington at 3 p.m. on Sunday, and was detained by stress of weather under Kapiti. She entered the river last night, but did not get further than the Landguard Bluff. Mr Clinton, the manager of the Arethusa Company, came up to town by boat, and the ladies and other passengers will be landed this morning. The Company will open to-night at the Princess Theatre with “The Two Orphans.” To-morrow night “Formosa” will be performed, and for the remainder of the season the published bill will be adhered to. Mr Clinton desires to express his great regret at the unavoidable disappointment of the public last night. Accident. — An accident of a rather serious nature occurred at about five o’clock yesterday afternoon, just in front of Mr Allsworth’s gate on the No 2 Line. A man known as “Joe,” formerly enginedriver at the Warrengate Steam Flour Mill, at Fordell, was riding pretty fast in company with Mr Christie, and when opposite Mr Allsworth’s place, “Joe’s” horse fell heavily with his rider, who sustained a fracture of the right wrist, and of the little finger of the left hand, besides being considerably bruised in various parts of the body. Mr Allsworth got some bandages from the house, and with the assistance of Messrs Cranford and Sutherland, who happened to be passing, tied up the broken limb, and after a time the sufferer started for his home in Fordell on foot, in company with Mr Christie, refusing all offers of accommodation at Mr Allsworth’s. We have not yet heard how he fared after he left the scene of the accident. The horse he was riding broke its near fore leg just above the fetlock joint, and was left where it fell. As there was no hope of the horse getting over its injuries, we understand it was the intention of Mr Allsworth to put it out of its misery last night. An Incident on the Voyage of the Ship Caroline. — The Wellington Post gives the following particulars of a rather startling incident which occurred on the voyage of the ship Caroline, from London to that port :— On the 5th March, while the vessel was making between three and four knots per hour, an apprentice lad named Williams, who was engaged on some work on the port side of the poop, slipped overboard. A life-buoy was at once thrown to him, and the lifeboat lowered and manned. The lad swam to the buoy, which he succeeded in placing over his shoulders. He had no sooner done this when he was beset by albatrosses, which shrieked and cluttered around his head in an appalling manner. The plucky lad felt that his end was near, but he made a struggle for life. He drew his sheath knife, and by slashing at the monster birds, kept them at bay till the lifeboat reached him, and he was taken on board, none the worse for his singular mishap. Williams was in the water nearly half an hour. A Courageous Donkey. — That the horse is a noble animal is an axiom long ago accepted ; but that the ass is just as courageous is not always admitted. An incident reported to the Daily Telegraph from Enniscorthy shows, however, that so far from being devoid of pluck, the donkey is a determined and pertinacious opponent. Encountering a red fox on the lawn of a Dr William Cookman, the ass accepted a challenge to battle with Reynard offered with much grace, and in an instant the pair joined in a deadly encounter. Three times the fox sprang at the nose of his antagonist, and, obtaining a good hold, kept there until the donkey succeeded in knocking him off. At length after a terrific struggle, the donkey succeeded in stunning the fox, whereupon he at once trampled his foe under-foot, and then, catching the body in his teeth, shook it as a terrier would a rat. Victory was now assured, and, to signalise this, the ass ran round the lawn in triumph, carrying the corpse of his assailant with him, until he was finally relieved of his burden by a bystander. The defunct fox was thereupon found to have been a large thin animal of great power and ferocity, and altogether an opponent of no mean character, when the defenceless nature of the donkey was considered.

Hospital Inspection. — Mr G. S. Cooper, the Under-Secretary, inspected the Hospital yesterday. We understand that his visit was at the instance of the Government. The Hawera Times. — Mr Joseph Ivess has discontinued the Hawera Times after the second issue. There was obviously not room for the Times and the Star together. Inquest. — An inquest was held on Saturday, at the Hibernian Hotel, on the body of Elizabeth Rouston, who died suddenly on Friday last. The jury returned a verdict of “Death from natural causes.” Gigantic Railway Schemes. — One of the features of the present revival of trade is the enormous schemes of railway construction just put forward both in Europe and Asia. The French Government have sanctioned lines which must cost about £150,000,000 ; those of the Italian Government, 840,000 millions of francs ; and the Austrian schemes are of equal extent. Yet, great as are the requirements of European States, they are but a drop in the bucket compared with those of Asia and America. A New Industry. — We (Press) are given to understand that two gentlemen are now in Christchurch making arrangements for the purchase of the necessary plant for the distillation of acetic acid. One of the gentlemen in question is owner of a considerable tract of bush land in the Peninsula, in the clearing of which, large quantities of timber will have to be heaped and burnt at considerable cost. If, therefore, this timber, hitherto cleared at great expense, can be utilised in the manner stated, a greatly enhanced value will attach to bush property, as it is computed that one cord of wood will produce 36 gallons of acetic acid, worth in England 1s 6d per gallon. Gas. — The quarterly balance-sheet of the Invercargill Municipality, just published, shows that the receipts for gas consumed, and its residuals, amounted to £952 12s 11d. The cost of interest, engineer staff, and auditors for the same period was £1328 11s 5d — or a loss of £375 18s 6d. At this rate, if the members of the Corporation were a private firm they would soon make the acquaintance of the Bankruptcy Court. Te Whiti’s Latest — The Wellington Post says that a telegram was received by the Government on Saturday from Mr Parris, to the effect that a Native arrived from Parihaka at Kaipokonui yesterday, and informed Manaia and his peoole that Te Whiti had given positive orders that there must be no interference with the Constabulary road-making parties on the part of the Natives, who were strictly ordered to let the road-making proceed without obstruction. Sydney Exhibition. — The percentage of visitors to the population of the city who entered the Sydney Exhibition was 150. At the Paris Exhibition, 1878, the percentage was 43 ; at the Paris Exhibition, 1867, 24½ ; at the London Exhibition 1851, 22½ ; at Philadelphia, 1876, 22¼ ; at the London Exhibition. 1862, 21½ ; at the Vienna Exhibition, 1873, 19¾ ; at the Paris Exhibition, 1856, 12½ ; and at the New York Exhibition, 1853, only 2¼. A False Prophet. — The Hawera Star says :— “From the present aspect of things, it may be that the Government will have to protect Te Whiti from the wrath of some of his own followers, who have been heard to state in an open manner that if he were to advise them to go to war with the pakeha, they would now be inclined to shoot him. The scales are at length falling from the eyes of some of his dupes. We shall calmly await the result, feeling assured that the way the Government is acting is the best road out of the Native difficulty.” Rabbit Slaughter at Colac. — The Western Meat-Preserving Company of Colac, Victoria, commenced the season’s operations on March 30th, since which enormous numbers of rabbits have been sent into them. The Colac Reformer states that on Tuesday night 3838 pairs were brought in ; Wednesday night, 2151 pairs ; Thursday, 8763 pairs ; Friday 4000 pairs — making in all the wonderful total of 13,753 pairs, or 27,506 rabbits. Mr Farrington, the manager, finds that it is not possible to permanently manage more than 2700 pairs daily, and has had to give the carters notice to so far moderate the loads as not to exceed the number. Two thousand seven hundred pairs daily for only five days in the week would give 27,000 rabbits weekly, or 675,000 in a season of 25 weeks. This is precisely 50 per cent more than was brought in last year. A Rival to Te Whiti. — It may not be generally known, says the Manawatu Times, that Manawatu can boast of a rival prophet to the seer of Parihaka. The wise man, whose name is Kere, resides at Awapuni, and his predictions are held in great respect by his dusky followers. Amongst other of his prophecies is one that in a very few weeks this county will be again visited by a flood which in its magnitude will far surpass that recently experienced. So implicitly is it believed by the Maoris that from Jackeytown down to the Oroua Bridge there has been a general stampede with their stock, goods and chattels from the low grounds to the hills in the immediate vicinity. Those of the tribe who are friendly with Europeans are beginning to feel wroth with the sceptical and unbelieving Christians who will not secure their own safety while there is time, and insult the power of their prophet by treating his admonitions with contempt. A Curious Fish. — A correspondent of the Canterbury Press at Akaroa says :— “Mr G. Wright, who was outside the Heads fishing on Thursday, got fast to a monster, which he succeeded in bringing to the surface, but owing to his enormous size he had to cut the line. He describes the fish as being about 24ft long ; his head was something the shape of a shark’s, quite smooth on the top, but his back was covered with small spikes about 2in or 3in long. He had two large fins on the back, which were striped something like a gurnett, blue and red skin. The tail was about 4ft from fin to fin. When hauled up first, he came open-mouthed at the boat and struck it on the side, almost capsizing it. The width of its open mouth would be nearly 3ft. The above account can be relied on, as Mr Wright is well known here, and has been fishing from a boy, but says that he never saw anything of this description before.”