LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXIV, Issue 9662, 28 October 1882, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Weatiier Telegbaji. — Indications of strong wind between south-east and east and north ; further fall of glass, and indications of rain after 16 hours. Christ Ohtjboh. — Bishop Hadflcld is in Wanganui, and we understand that lie will preach at Christ Church on Sunday next, both in tho morning and evening. Patea District Aoeicuituhai, and PASTOBAii Association Snow. — The number of entries for the show on Tuesday are — 52 horses, 44 cattle, 38 sheep. Entrances are also jnade of pigs, poultry, and cattle, and entries for dairy produce, implements, &c, have yefc to be received. SnooMN& Match. — We learn by telegram addresssed to Mr Astbury, tho secretai'y of the City Rifles, that the Wellington City Kiflcs fired yesterday and made the score of 710. As the Wanganui score was 741, we presume that the champions of the Empire City, notwithstanding the paltry objections they raised in the matter, must acknowledge themselves to be handsomely beaten. Worker's Meeting. — Afc Trinity Church schoolroom last evening Mrs Hampson delivered .a most impressive and telling address to Christian workers. The large schoolroom was filled with attentive listeners. To-day's mid-day prayer meeting, from 12.30 to 1.30, will be held at the same place, and will be conducted by Mrs Hampson, who will deliver a short address. To-morrow (Sunday) morning, from 8 to 9 o'clock, a sacramental.servico will be held. Progress of Science. — The ayerago member of society when ho brushes his hair in the . morning pays very little regard to tho amount of electricity he exerts over the operation. But if lie paid a visit to Messrs Williamson and Hogg's establishment in the Avenue he would find a patent magnetic and electric brush, the virtues of which are very apparent, sparks fly in the dark, and tho mariners compass moves in any direction indicated by the electric brush. Messrs Wakefield and Hogg are great b'elitvers in the electric principle as a curative system, and they have many Bingular and clever implements which go far to conciliate even, the most determined sceptic.

Statutes. — We have received from the Government Printer a third batch of the statutes passed last session. Wanganui Kegatta. — The general regatta meeting was held yesterday evening at Ferry's Occidental Hotel. There was a good attendance, and Mr J. P. Watt was voted to the chair. Wo are compelled to hold over our report till Monday's issue. Two Men Killed by Clutching thb Eleotbio Wibe. — A horrible accident, attended with fatal results, haa occurred in the Tuileries Gardens, Paris, during a display of fireworks. Two men, in attempting to climb over the railing, caught hold of the electric wire used for the illumination of the grounds,' and were struck dead on the spot, all efforts to restore them to life proving ineffectual. Concentration and Utilisation op Solas Heat. — At a popular fete in the Tuileries Gardens' an experiment was made which Beems deserving of the immediate attention of the English public and military authorities. Among the attractions of the fete was an apparatus for the concentration and utilisation of solar heat, and though the sun was not very brilliant the apparatus set in motion a printing machine which printed leveral thousand copies of a specimen newspaper entitled the Solefl Journal. The Bun's :ays are concentrated in a reflector, which moves at the same rate as the sun, and heats » vertical boiler setting the motive steamjngine at work. Lawn Tennis. — The Lawn Tennis Society of this town are to be congratulated upon possessing one of the best arranged and most satisfactorily planted lawns in Wanganui. To Mr E. H. Babbage the commendation- in this case is specially due, for to his exertions the lovers of an ancient and clever Bocial game are 'indebted for a suitable field for their operations. The ground has been converted by Mr Alexander Laird from a sandy desert into an expanse of turf, the result of a season's grass sowing and cultivation. Twelve months ago this ground, which is a portion of Mr LifHton'g section adjoining the racecourse, was a mere waste. Odd Fellowship. — The importance and influence of Odd Fellowship in this district is somewhat astonishing. At the most unfavourable estimate some 500 persons attended the anniversary celebration of the Loyal Wanganui Lodge last night. Amongst those present were not only veteran Odd Fellows like Mr W. Bamber and others, who in this district have borne the burden and heat of the day, but also visitors from kindred districts. Mr Wm. W. Hale, a P.G. of the Wellington lodge, and Mr W. T. Woods, of the Palmerston' lodge, were present last night, and took a prominent part in the proceedings. Evidence like that of such hearty good feeling between the brethren in all parts is most gratifying. Rich Men as New York. — Speaking of incomes, ex-Gov. Morgan's is estimated at 500,000d01s a year, Bussel Sage's rated at a million to a million and a-half, while Jay Gould's income cannot be less than a half dozen millions. To come down to smaller men, B. L. Stuart has nearly a million a year, while Eobert and Odgen Goslet are each rated at 250,000d015. Bennet is reckoned at 600,000d015, D. O. Mills figures at 250,000d015, and the Vanderbilts (William K. and Cornelius) are not much below him. The estate of A. T. Stewart and Co. has an income of a million, which renders Cornelia Stowart the richest widow in America. The Astors (John, Jacob, and William) are estimated each at a million and a-half, while Wm. H. Tanderbilt probably has five times that sum, and yet within five minutes' walk from the place where these men live one can find multitudes whose whole lifo is but a prolonged battle with famine. A Land FxrEßtiiENT. — The Duke of Sutherland has just decided to make an experiment, the result o£|which will be watched with interest by agriculturists and others interested in land. The sheep farm of Kimbrace, extending to about 44,000 acres, has been broken \ip into nine separate holdings, which are to bo let under very favourable conditions. It has long been a standing [ grievance among middle class and small farmers that the hill grazings of Scotland are almost all laid ont in holdings of from 20,000 to 70,000 acres, -which are only accessible to the capitalist. With a view to remedy this state of things, His Grace has resolved on making the above experiment at Embrace. The farm was taken over by His Grace in 1877, when the well-known series of land reclamation was effected upon it, from 1300 to 1400 acres having been brought thoroughly into cultivation, and now bearing excellent crops of oats, turnips, and grass. Altogether a sum of £40,000 has been sent by the Duke of Sutherland in reciaimiag the land and putting it in its present condition. Part of the letting conditions is that His Grace will supply all the capital needed to meet the requirements of the nine farms in the matter of houses and fences, leaving the capital of the tenants free to be devoted to stocking the farms and like purposes. General Dean-Pitt. — The European Mail of Bth September has the following : — "The new keeper of the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London is Major-General Dean-Pitt, C.8., who spent his early life in Tictoria and New Zealand, in which latter colony he distinguished himself greatly during the Maori wars of 1863-66. He it was who raised, organised, aad trained the Victorian Volunteer Force.- On the renewal of the war in New Zealand in 1863 ho was commissioned by the Colonial Government to raise local corps to aid the troops. In a very short time he succeeded in raising upwards of 2000 men, for which service he was promoted to an unattached majority. At the end of 1863 lie was appointed assistant military secretary to Sir Duncan Cameron, and he served throughout tho Waikato campaign of 1863-64, taking part in the attacks 'on Nukumaru and Kakaramea. On the departure of Sir Duncan Cameron he was appointed assistant military secretary to MajorGeneral Chute, and served in the Wanganui and Taranaki campaign of 1865-66, including the assaults on Okotuku, Putaki, Otapawa, and Waikato, and the march through the Taranaki forest. For these services he was mentioned in despatches, and nominated a Companion of the Order of the Bath. He was assistant military secretary to the Governor of Victoria, Viscount Canterbury, from 1866 to 1872." A Petroleum Romance. — The following interesting story of how fortunes are lost and won is told by an American paper. It appears that when the petroleum excitement became rampant, a citizen of Pittsburg went to Titusville without any money, and after a few weeks fell in with a prosperous speculator and " struck oil," making 400,000d01s to 500,000d01s a year. He increased this sum to 1,500,000d015, and was urged by his friends to retire from the oil region with the wages of his luck. This he refused to do, and before another twelve-month ho had lost it all but a few thousand dollars. Then he returned to Pittsburg, and went to work in a legitimate way. But the fever of speculation attacked him once more, and ho betook himself a second timo to Oil Creek. After various shifts and adventures, fortune revisited him, and ho was able to count his million. Trying to double this —he had fixed his fortnne at 2,000,000d0ls — he was again financially wrecked. This time he was so poor that he stayed among the wells and was forced to earn a livelihood as a day labourer. New opportunities opened to him, and a third time he got very rich. Reckless speculation once more brought him low, and he left for California, hoping to improve his prospects there. The fascination of petroleum drew him back. He made a fourth fortune and lost it ; and finally a fifth, with the same rcpult. Within a few months the fickle goddess has smiled for a sixth time, and he has invested all his money in Government bonds — well-nigh 1,700,000d01s. — and foresworn speculation. Ho sold all his oil before'the recent tumble of prices, and says he has learned wisdom by experience. Peter Bell Again.— Victoria House is to be the grand centre of attraction to-day for Bargains, and judging by the success of these " Cheap Saturday Soles " at this establishment the " Cheap Lines " advertised in another column for to-day ought to create a stir.