LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXV, Issue 10237, 3 July 1883, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Change of Agency. — Mr H. J. Tilley has been appointed Wanganni agent for the, Australian Mutual Provident Society, in the ' room of Mr J. P. Watt, who has resigned. Mb Lingabd's Bankbtoioy. — The trustees have called a meeting of creditors to be held on Monday afternoon next at the Courthouse, at half-past 2 o'clock. We understand that an offer of 2s 6d in the pound to tho unsecured creditors will be submitted. j . ,_. y t ;\; ;} r '■ The Willmott Company. — This com-, bination troupe,, who Been^to have struck a, mine of wealth at New Plymouth, are an-, nounced to open in Wellington on Monday next. They may, perhaps, appear. in^Wan-., &uri^Bneligh|t>is^|k.(| J_ , | , -■, THREATENING A JtTRYMAN. — Mr Kirfg, the foreman of the jury who tried Brady; on reaching the house immediately after the trial, found a violent threatening letter a\yaiing l hin>;.opening ) with 1 a frenzied appeal 'that' lie 'should bring in a verdict qfjnot guilty. It.-wenVon.^to.. -say, that if he dis-! regarded this/ 1 the 'fate' of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr Burke would, Tpe. .nothjngi to ihWwMcWouTd uWaifririm^as He would I be scalped. The author wasdiscovered and severely *punishedj ■ i-.tunc.'f \ Moemonism rtf England.— A Morrucn ; corrgressfof f Tfiissi&liaiies' waKHeld'bn' March 20th at Moomsbury, England. The report of converts made. in_one year in that country showed that Liveipool contributed 120,j. ; Manchester, 90 ; Leeds, 70; Glasgow, 40!; Edinburgh, Sheffield, .^and.lfgwcasa^ f 3o' eaoh '; ' Aberdeen and Birmingham, 20 qaoh 5 and London only 25. In the lutter.city the missionaries' 'and 'converts " met; ' wilu s f>ad treatment from the roughs, . ... .'" Heavy' ScoiiiNa I.—Almost1 .— Almost extraordinary cricket score has come to us from. India. In a I match. • played' ' re'eently ' ; at ' 'Mora dabad, between two companies of what .used, to 'be known! as < J the 51st 7 JRegiment, r yno Private Davi3 made fifty runs in eight hits ! This astonishing' ,-.feat.,wti3> performed' in 1 the following proportions : — One hit for eight, •one for seven, flve for' six each l ;andon.e for 'Bye 1 ! ''We 'should 'doubt whether Ben* Griffiths, Mr Thornton, or Mr jßonner . ever ■beat that.'' vi.i ' '■ ;• "' ■"-':._ ;, : " s^ Imprisoned in a Stump.— A-.singular' a&ident'happened the' other day in Jfcjiei neighbourhood of the Kanieri road, Westland. About 4pm. a boy named Riddiford,' eleven years 1 old,' wentliii: search of some cows into the bush, in order to get a good ,view t: Jne-. climbed; to; the, topio'f a'stump; about seven or oigbt feet high, but imme--diately on reaching this.elevation.he dropped into 1 the stump," which was hollow, and contained a foot or so of > .water: .-.The" boy iried'f or over three hours to scramble out, and cried for.assistance yrith.all the strength he possessed. 1 ''About "tiaK-. As t V a digger passing by heard the cries, and, ascertaining with some difficulty where they came from, he rescued the boy by means of his belt fronva.inost unpleasant position, :Pbintihg' IN China. — The Chinese compositor, cannot sit at his case as our printers do, but must walk from one case to another constantly, as tlie characters needed cover such a large number that they cannot be put into anything like the space used m {he English newspaper office". In setting up an ordinary piece oft manuscript,- the Chinese printer will waltz up and down the room for a few moments, and then go down stairs for a : ) ! ne of -lower case. Then ho takes the elevator and goes up into the third story after some caps, and then out into the woodshed for a handful of astoniahers. The successful Chinese compositor dosen't need, to be very intelligent, but he must be a good pedestrian. He may work and walk around over the building all day to set up a stick full, and then half the people in this country couldn't read it after all. The Ktob of Thumb.— lf the " ball," or cushion-like surface on the top joint of the thumb be examined, it will be seen that *» the centre— as, indeed, in the fingera also-r---is a kind of a spiral formed of fine grooves |n the skin. Tho spiral is, however, rarely 'if ever quite perfect— there are irregv^arities or places where lines run into each other here and there. Examining both thumb's, it will be seen that they do not exactly"; match j but the figure on each thumb is the same through life. If the thumbs of any two persons nre compared, it will further be found that no two are alike. There may be, and generally is, a "family resemblance' between members of the same family, as in other features; there are also nation." characteristics ; but the individuals differ. AH this is better seen by taking "proof impressions "of the thumb. This is easily done by pressing it on a slab covered with a film of printer's ink, and then pressing- it on a piece of white paper ; or a little aniline dye, India ink — almost anything may be used. The Chinese take advantage of all this to identify their important criminals, at least in some partß of tho empire. We photograph their faces, j- they take impressions from their thumbs. An Eccentric Legacy. — Among the whimsical bequests of Englishmen none is queerer than that made by a Mr John Enill, collector of the Port of St. \yea, who died in 1811; : He directed that once in five years two old women and ten little girls under ten years of ago, dressed in white, should walk in procession, with music, from tho markethouse of St. Ivesto a pyramid which he had erected on the summit of a lofty hill near tlie town, and which he had designed for his burial place. They were to dance" round the pyramid singing the Hundredth Psalm, and for the purpose of keeping up this custom he made chargeable an annuity on certain freehold lands, the trustees being the incumbent of the parish, the Mayor of St. Ives, and the collector of the Port, who were allowed iCIO for a dinnei'. on the processional day. Whether the effect of the procession and. the 'Hundredth' Psalm has beon what the testator intended or not, it appears from a-xecent address before a temperance conference that, with a population of more than 7000, there has not been a single caso of drunkenness bofore the local Bench for more than two years. A Social Sore. — If the oldor countries of tho Northern Hemisphere are sorely affected by the Anarchists, Nihilists, Fenians, and all the tribe of social .malcontents, tho newor'States of the Southern Seas are not free from internal pests,' which threaten to attain to an equally bad pre-eminence at no distant. date The malignancy of the roiigh element in Melbourne is too well known to need comment ; but it is disheartening to find that even tho little country towmhipß are not free from the most aggravated forms of tlie larrikin pest. . The iiaglehawk correspondent of a Melbourne paper describes an occurrence which! is simply startling. He says : — " The usually quiet township of Beywood was thrown into a state of excitement the other night by the " conduct of about half-a-dozen larrikins "to two well known residents, a minister of religion and a railway official. The larrikins, seeing the two gentlemen walking along the main street, used some very objectionable language, and followed this up by throwing stones at them. Tho two sought shelter in tho ministor'3 house, which was soon bombarded with stones by the noisy crowd. At last the patience of tho minister became exhausted, and providing himself with a pistol, he and his friend sallied forth, but only to meet with freali anuoyanco. After vainly cndoavotiring to put a stop to the disgraceful proceedings in a quiet mannei 1 , tho railway olliciul went. loivuriU the crowd with a view to identify soino or tlicui, when half v brick wu l.ii'j'.vA with a siiiv iriiu, and it utruck Im.i ou -li;. :-g. X^o :ma'.'cU!i' iiuu lookout ha jiislul imil iii'od over the heads of tho ruwilios, who quickly iliapcrßcd." . 1

San BBiNcisco Maii. — The Southern portion of this mail was placed on board the Rotorua yesterday afternoon, and she sailed from Auckland at 3 o'clock. She should arrive at New Plymouth early tliis morning, when the bags will bo transferred to the Wanganui train, ■which, will arrive this evening. The Post Office will be open for the delivery of. letters between 8 and 9 o'clock. - - -' Pbofbssoe Sample. — This now celebrated" manipulator' of ' horses" held a very' successful class yesterday morning in Mr F. R. Jackson's saleyards, Tho'professoraocured elev»n »ew pupils, besides attracting many of his old ones. He left by the train yesterday" afternoon for Marton, and wiJt subsequently make his way to Bulls, Feilding, Palmerston/Foxton, and Wellington. - 1 Measttbing-wibe. — It appears that there is likely to be some little trouble in connection with the application for a patent of the steel measuring-wire, alluded to by us yesterday. Mr Atkins claims to be the inventor, but, on the other hand, Mr Humphries, Chief Surveyor of Taranaki, contends that he, jointly with Mr B. S. Brookes, of. that district, are the real originators, and that the latter gentleman actually applied for a patent for this wire in 1880. . Only a Motjsb.— The late fright of Prarce at the manifesto of Prince Napoleon recalls to a foreign writer a story about Mdlle. Rachel, the. great . tragedienne. One night in 1848 the lady was in the green-room of the Theatre ITrancais, previous to going on the stage to recite the "Marseillaise." Attired as the Republic, with a Phrygian : bonnet, and carrying a tricolour standard, shepaced the floor, rehearsing in a terriblei voice fragments of Ronget de l'lsle's hymn^ Aux armes, citoyens, &c. But suddenly she uttered a piercing Boream, dropped her flag, and threw herself inta the arms of. the actor 'Regnier. 1 She had seen a mouse. ' ' 1 ,Ybry Sbnsimvb. — CrPolson, as chairman of ., the committee of the, Wanganui County Council appointed to inquire into the claim for expenses of the Kaiwhangaroa IFerry, sent in by the .Rangitikei Council, wrote to the latter body .asking for copies of certain documents, so that the committee might report properly -on' the ; matter. , ;Mr Milne, chairman „ofj. the Rangitikei county, , said that !" Mrf poison's letter betrayed a Btate of want of confidence between^ two, local bodies which shpuld not exist, and ; was, .in' i his ' opinion, 'little' short., of an insult." Undeterred by this piteous piece of official, weep- ; , ing and wailing, the Rangitikei yftgincE • 'agreed to supply the "copies asked for.™ •-. Wham I *' Accommodation. — The Public Work's Department is falling for tenders, to .be sent in by noon ,pf Tuesday next, -ioiaAditions' to* the Wanganui goods' shed on the wharf. From' % an' inspection 'of the plans and specifications, we find that ,the present shed, whioh'i's' one hundred feed' long, is to ,be extended.sixty.feetifurther'inthe direction of the bridge. ■. The additional part will be exactly similarto the existing shed, except that' there will be "an entrance facing Taupo Quay for carts, to back into and deliver their goods. There seems to be op'.y a limited sum at the disposal of; the,department, but' should the tenders ,, prove to be sufficiently moderate in amount, the exten-, ? ion will be eighty feet instead of sixty. Chinese Bankbotts. — Bankrupts have a hard time jin China. The North China Herald of January 24th says that the broker of the silk firm of the Red Peacock shop of, Shanghai, -which has .suspended payment,: was walking on the street when he was set upon by a crowd ef bankers, creditors' of the firm, who carried. him off. to the house, where they hung him up by the queue so that his feet were off the ground, and otherwise maltreated him. A foreigner heard the disturbarice'and informed the police, some of whom were sent to the house, where they fonnd the man still hanging. He' was taken to the police station for protection, after which a number of bankers repaired there and clamoured fqr him ta be given up to them. As' appears to ba usual in's'ubh cases, the bankers stated their intention, if the man came into their power, of biting him to death, and eating him afterwards, and there is no doubt they would have bitten their debtor's servant severely had he been given into their hands. Cekbicaii Twaddi-e. — The Hawke's Bay Herald says that it never before met with so much unmitigated nonsense in short compass as was talked by a clergyman after a tea in Dunedin. Addressing himself particularly to working men, he impressed upon them the necessity of taking a hot bath and putting on clean linen every evening when they returned from work. Next he spoke of the " horny-handed sons of toil," and said it was a pity horny-handed-ness was a necessary consequence of toil, yet it was not an irremediable evil j and here he solemnly proceeded to advise the said sons of toil to rub their hands with glycerine or olive oil every night before going to bed. Did it ' never occur to him that hornyhandedness was Nature's protection against blisters, and sores, and did he over try to handle a. spade or cold iron with hands softened by glycerine ? Tblepiionic Cosnir/NiOATio.-r. — Convenient communication between the watch tower on the gaol hi]' and the St. Hillstreet Ere Brigade station on the one aide, and Captain Cummins's house in Bell-street on the other, is now an accomplished fact. Several gentlemen ascended the tower last night and put the wires to a practical test. Captain Cummins, who was of the party, rang up the inmates of his own house, and conversation with them was easily carried on and plainly heard. Singing in the Bellstreet house was distinctly heard on the watch, tower, and one of the latter volnnteered a stave in response, which was not only audible, but appreciated and applauded .-at the other end. The telephone ht;s been fixed and connected by Mr J. H. Horn, who. has been quite successful in every respect. This latest addition to the protection of Wanganui from fire, and to its extinction when discovered, is so easy worked and understood that, in case of an emergency, it could not fail to be creditable both to the town and the Brigade. Tub American JtAct.— On January 2, 1776, at Cambridge, Mass., was first hoisted the " Grand Union " flag of the crosses of St. Gteorgo and St. Andrew, and the thirteen alternate red and white stripes, emblematic of the union of the thirteen colonies against British tyranny. This was the flag in use when the Declaration of Independence was read by the Committee of Safety at Philadelphia, in the presence of Washington in New York, and from the balcony of the State House in Boston. On August 14, 1777, Congress resolved, "That the flag of the United States bo thirteen stripes, alternately red and white, and that the union be thirteen stars, white, in a blue field, representing a new constellation." Once the stripes were increased to fifteen, but in 18X8 they wore changed hack permanently to thirteen, perpetuating the original thirteen •States of the Union, and it was decreed that for every new State coming into the Union a star should be added. The stars have five points; those on their coins six. Thoy wens first arranged in a circle, afterwards in the form of a largo star, and now in parallel lines. Buying a Bankhupt Stock. — It turns out that Miss McNae's stock of drapery and millinery ia not to go far away from its present home after all. Mr Joseph Paul, having engaged the insurance tariff in mortal combat, and utterly annihilated it, found time to send in a tender for Mias McTNWs stock, and, as his price was higher thau anybody else's terms, he becomes the proud possessor of the bankrupt assets, and the hearts of the creditors rejoice at the prospect of a dividend. Mr Paul interds to retail the stock at such absurdly low rates that any creditor can considerably supplement his dividend by buying up some of the goods and getting the benefit of the reduction. Deep, however, as is Mr Paul's heartfelt sympathy for Miss McNae's creditors, lie does not intend to make any exception in their favour, and everybody who marches into the shop at the corner of t.he Avenue with money in their hand 3 will find a miscellaneous and valuable assortment of ladies' millinery, nick-nacks, and odds and oucls, to bo sold nearly 100 per cent, undorcost in'iee. Curiosity will impel some people to umk'j the veniuro, uacl there uro not many who go into Air Paul's ahoy and come out totally 'proof iigninsl. his blandishments.

Sale op ITjikbhoeds. —At Mr Albert Burns's auction mart yesterday afternoon the White Hart hotel, at Marbon, was put up,, and knocked down to Mr W. P. Currie (who was understood to be acting for Mr Thomas Beid), at £2050. A freehold houßO and section at Aramoho found no bidders, and was passed in, though the reserve prioe was very low.; ■ , ' ' ' iNTBBBSTiNa Cbeemont. — The solemn profession and. reception. ..of .-t^o young- ~ 'ladies Into the" Convent attracted a Tory large congregation at Si. Mary's Catholic Church last night, not a single seat being vacant in any part ef it. The ladieß who thus entered into solemn obligations were Miss Ellen Matthews, who made her profession as a novice, and took the name in i -religion ; 0f ... Sister Mary^Bose; iand"Miss Mary Ann Koach, who, having completed her noviciate, made her final and lifelong vows . of poverty, chastity, and obedience, assumed the habit of a nun, and will henceforward be known as Sister Mary Agnes The ceremony, which was accompanied by the usual rites of the Catholic Church, was perfornieclby Bishop Redwood, assisted by aid Rev. Father Kirk. Tho' bishop delivered- an impressivo address upon the higher life, as exemplified in the vows of the cloister. •. ■ ■