LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXIV, Issue 9662, 3 November 1882, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Pboposed Swimmino Baths. — At a meeting of gentlemen interested in forming a baths company, held on Wednesday afternoon, it was decided not to take any further action in consequence of the public apathy on the subject. Cmckkt. — The match fixed for tomorrow between the Wanganui Cricket Club and tho Cft. John's team, cannot be played, in consequence of tho continued absence at Dunedin of some of the best members of the latter team. A Satisfactory Appointment. — Sir E. C. Homer was, on Wednesday last, appointed clerk to the Patoa County Council in the room of Mr Black, resigned. The appointment is a thoroughly satisfactory and popular one in every sense, Mr Homer ', being an able man, and one well fitted for ' the position. CimtNEY ox Fike. — A chimney at Mr Mcßeth's house, opposite the Masonic Hotel, , caught fire about half-past seven yesterday } morning, and was extinguished by the Keithstreet Jfiro Brigade, under assistant-foreman • Sharpo. The fire took an obstinate hold ■ of the roof, and the woodwork was somewhat damaged. Defective Pimahs. — The supports of the two pillars which grace tho portico of i the Bank of New Zealand have been dis--1 covered to bo thoroughly rotten — that is, if \ decay and so important a commercial institution can bo named in the same breath. In fact, the pillai's bulged out in a most alarming fashion. Workmen, however, are now engaged in putting in new supports, nnd ! making matters safe and sound. Weekly Chronicle.— This important weekly journal, containing as it does tho latest news and fullest reports of recent public proceedings, will he published at - noon to-day, in time for despatch Home by the 'Frisco mail, which leaves Wanganui this afternoon at 3.30. Intending pur- [ chasers will find it advantageous, profitable, [ and convenient to remember that the Weekly Chronicle in n stamped wrapper ' is sold at sixpence. Durie's Creek. — The recent fresh in the river and creek carried away the temporary " protection works, composed of bags and so 3 forth, which had been placed at the outlet j of the culvert. Matters, however, have just j been sot right, by filling in the mouth of the creek with clay nearly up to the level of the cement culvert, with a coating of scrub on 1 the top. It is hoped that this will properly J set so, that by Christmas time the outlet can ) he concreted. 3 Al/TEBATION OF BAILWAY METALS. — For f some time past great inconvenience has been - experienced in tho station vjremises by the I fact that an incoming train cannot be brought - on to the discharging line at the rear of the Customs shed without an absurdly intricate ' amount of shunting. The matter, however, a is at last to be cured, and a number of work- ) men were engaged yesterday in altering j points and laying down metals, by means of which a train, after discharging its passen- . gers at the platform, can be taken on to the required destination direct without any 3 shunting whatever. Other alterations would 3 be required in the lines before the railway t premises could approach perfection, but this j is a step in the right direction. l An Appropriate Presentation .—Some 1 time ago Mr Nettleship the well-known x jeweller of the Avenue, wh» is a private in the City Rifles, announced his intention of 3 presenting a medal to be competed for by t the band of his oompany. The trophy is ) now complete, and is entirely the work of 1 the donor himself, a fact unusually interest- , ing in connection with these presentations. It takes the form of a double star, with a r garter, across which are two raised bugles 3 of singularly good workmanship. On the I front of the medal are the initials W. C. E., 3 and on the reverse will be engraved the j name of the fortunate winner. The trophy j is beautifully finished, and shows Mr Nettleship to bo a master of his art. The r handicaps for the competition were published , long ago, but the day for firing has not been C fixed,^for will it probably be so, until after tho return of the volunteers from Dunedin. 3 TitE Waitaki Bailway AccrnrcNT. — The Evening Post says : All that the public [ know authoritatively about the investigation touching the recent formidable accident on [ the railway a few miles from Dunedin is * that an official private inquiry has been held, t and the result transmitted to headquarters. ) That is not sufficient. The public has a . right to demand more. It is not satisfactory ' that the more fortuitous incident of none of tho injuries sustained by tho passengers ' proving fatal should prevent fidl publicity ' being given to an enquiry respecting a : disaster which had all the potential elements j of extensive fatality, and J escaped such fiilnliLy silmoht by a miracle. The accident may occur again, but the miraculous escape L may not. Why the mere fact that nobody 1 happened to be killed outright by last Saturday's accident should bo deemed to remove all necessity for a public examina- , I ion when the same circumstances, with the slightest possible modification of detail, ' would have involved the destruction of the 1 whole train with all its living freight, it is i indeed hard to conceive. '

A Bia Tent. — Mr Macfarlane, the wellmown sailmaker and ship chandler of Taupo IJuay, is constructing a bell tent, 36 feet in iiameter, and calculated to hold some 300 people. It is intended for the services held by two evangelists who are just now minisiering at Waverley and elsewhere, and it can be easily moved from place to place, Mb Chadwice's Sale. — At two o'clock this afternoon Mr Joseph Chadwick will svield the hammer and endeavour to dispose of a very large quantity of stores, particularly important and useful to Wanganui householders. As will be seen in another column, Mr Chadwick will offer for sale a collection of goods as varied as from a needle to an anchor. His auction rooms should be thronged this afternoon. A Wheel — On Monday last, a fish known among the Maoris as a "wheki" came in contact with one of the divers at the Sugar Loaves, and before the diver was aware of the presence of the fish he was firmly encircled by its numerous suckers. The fish was about five feet long. The only release possible for the divor, under the circumstances, was to kill it, which he accordingly did by cutting it in two, one-half of which he brought up with him to the surface as a trophy. A CirAliliEN&E. — The Napier Fire Brigade has invited our local firemen to take part in a competition for teams of four or five men, to take place at the annual conference of delegates in January next. The conditions proposed are that thero shall be a hose and reel, and a hose-reel and ladder competitions, with a first prize ranging from £25 to £40. There will be other events in the programme. Captain Cummins has accepted the invitation on condition that the proposed competing teams are not too' larae. PiCTtraE3QTJB New Zealand. — Under this attractive title, Mr H. K. Gilmour of Auckland is issuing an illustrated work, an advance copy of which is before us. The letter, press is from the pen of that veteran and experienced journalist, Mr 0. O. Montroso, and is well written and interesting reading. The full page tinted illustrations by Mr B. Rawlins, are representations of some of the most picturesque and beautiful scenery in the North Island. Judging from the first part of the work we should say that it deserves and no doubt will have a very large circulation. ' It is dedicated to Sir George Gt-rey. Wo may add that Mr A. G. Lewis has been appointed local agent for the book, which is printed at the Auckland Star office, and is a creditable specimen of their work. Annual Standard Examination. — The inspector, Mr Foulis, commenced his annual examination of the scholars of both sexes in the Girls' High School yesterday morning. The numbers present were ns follows :— Girls', 4th standard, 41 ; sth, 27 ; 6th, 9 ; total, 80. Boys, 4th standard, 67 ; Etli 22 ; 6th, 13 ; total, 102, making a grand total of 182 children presented for examination. The inspecter will not get through his labours in Wanganui for 8 or 10 days f urtheir. The clssses of both schools were found by Mr Foulis to be in thorough order and efficiency, and he expressed himself much pleased with the assistance received from the various teachers in supervising the classes. It may be added that the numbers presented for examination yesterday far oxeeeded those of former years. Mrs Hampson. — The> - e can hardly be two opinions amongst thinking people as to the good work this lady evangelistic is doing in Wanganui, but in one matter thero can be no question. Considered merely as an elocutionist, Mrs Hampson has seldom been equalled in the course of our experience. Her voice is well modulated and trained, and without apparent effort she contrives to reach the furthest limits of the building, so far of course as its defective acoustic properties will admit. Her reading of Holy Scripture, and the declamation of the hymns, is very remarkable. Few, for example, who had the pleasure last night of hearing her read the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, (that magnificent prophetical passage couched in Anglo-Saxon language, which it is to bo hoped no revision will ever impair), are likely to forget it. At the Bar. — An exciting scene occurred at the Thames the other day. As a small mob of cattle were being driven through the town one of them charged into the bar door of the Pacific Hotel and chased Mr Uarrop, traveller for Messrs Clark and Sons, through the bar into the back room, but Mr Harrop managed to escape. The bullock then made for Colonel Frasor, who was standing with his back to the animal, quietly writing a memorandum. Luckily a chair intervened, which tho bullock caught on his horns, thus saving the colonel from serious injury. He, with others in the room, managed to escape. Beyond tho breaking of two chairs, the builock did no damage. On proceeding up Shortland, the same animal charged into tho Imperial Hotel. Ho put his head through a plateglass door, and then went out again, doing no other damage. The Household Tiioops. — The effect of the prosence of the Scots and Grenadier Guards in Alexandria on the natives, and some foreign residents, is thus described by the correspondent of the Standard : — " Transplanted from London to the centre of the ruins'iof Alexandria, the soldiers viewed the strange scene with undisguised wonder. From the back slums groups of ragged scowling Arabs of tho lowest class gathered at the corners of the by-streets. At first they appeared to view the scone with sullen indifference, but as company after company strode past they were unable to conceal their feelings of astonishment. I overheard one man ask his neighbour, in an awe-stricken voice, how many thousands of them were coming. To which the other piously replied, ' Allah only knows.' While another exclaimed, 'All is lost ; Islamism is overthrown.' In the Grand Square a large crowd, formed of the representatives of every race in Southern Europe, was gathered. The admiration was not unmixed with envy, nnd the fact that England had really undertaken, single-hauded, to conquer Egypt for the Khedive, seemed for the first time to be impressed upon many of them. A Greek remarked, in a tone of astonishment, ' Why, the English really have soldiers, as well as ships and money ! ' While one of the Khedive's officers, standing near, exclaimed, enthusiastically, ' What, does that dog Arabi think that he can fight such soldiers as these ?' " Eccentric Cattle. — Mr Freeman R. Jackson's fortnightly collection of beasts, is generally as placid and well conducted as a highly trained menagerie or an exhibition " happy family," but on Wednesday last several of the cattle behaved in a manner thoroughly calculated to injure their reputations. Several pedigree bulls, possessed of that engaging liveliness inseparable from early youth, were in tho sale, and Mr Joseph Abbot became the purchaser of one of them. But neither the dulcet tones of the auctioDeer, the vigorous language of the purchaser, the strenuous efforts of his subordinates, or even the vision of a number of cows in the distance, could induce this youthful monarch of the herd to go quietly to his new destination. One drover present made a rash sporting wager that he would rope the animal in five minutes, but long before that period of time had elapsed the bull had sent the drover and the crowd generally flying in all directions. The unlucky maker of the wager lost his money and his temper, though on the other hand he gained a series of bruises which will not improve him for some time to come. Those bystanders who wero in a position of safety so much enjoyed the scene that they sent the hat round and presented the drover with a salve in the shape of a pound'i worth of silver. The obstinate bull idtimately . left the pen of his own accord, and with an '. evident sense of triumph, joined the ladies : of his herd, and departed home in peace. : Inspired, probably, by these playful pro- ' ceedings an eccentric cow was found per- ' ambulating the streets at 2 o'clock yesterday ' morning, bellowing with a tone and force < suggestive of a foghorn. Wanganui house- ' holders turned uneasily in their beds and ( devoutly wished that animal converted into I prime joints. j