General News.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume II, Issue 97, 18 January 1900, Page 2

General News.

The Oamaru Mail says : — The gunboat Kingdove was reported as having left Wellington on Saturday for Oamara, bufc probably the heayy southerly gale which was blowing all Sunday is responsible for her non-arrival here. The Customs returns of value of exportß from Tinaaru during the December quarter shows a total of £160,687. Novel Hues in the return are £23,684 | worth of produce, shippad to CapeCoJ. I ony and Natal, and £10,000 worth to Spain. The atationmaeter at Stndholme, MrJjow, has offered to go to- South Arioa to assist in tbejKailway Psparfcment there.

The agreement which officers andf -neh of the New Zealand Contingent | i\*n stipulates that each shalJ embark I ith the Oorpe at Wellington and pro- i eed on active service to South Africa, i o such port or place as he may be re- i quired by any military authority on j behalf of the Queen, and shall the**- 1 ifter continue to serve with atxeh Corpi | either alo»e or as part of the Queen* ! regular forces, in way part of- South! Africa to the Southward of the equator ■ until lawfully discharged from such \ service, and be subject to the Imperial .; Army Act aod the articles of war. Any \ member may be discharged at any I time for breach of discipline.- During i service the following will be the rate* i of pay under the agreement : — Major, i £1 la per day j captain, 15a ; lieuten- * aut, lls ; surgeon, 18s ; steff-sergeant, ] Ss ; sergeants, 6s ; corporals, 5a ; bug- ? lera aud privates, 4s. v 3 Now that the preserving and jam- 1 making season is in full swing call at ; he Advertiser office and get 60 1 gammed covers and 50 assorted labels, j jrinted and gummed, for one shilling* } Nothing looks nicer than neatly put up | preserves, and it cannot be done | cheaper. ; Owing to Colonel Penton's ulti- ; matum, the demonstration committee ) abandoned the idea of holding the fare- 1 well a' Newtotrn Park, and a general j meeting is to be called to determine * whether anything- shall be done at all. ; The Waiwera left Lyttelton soon after 5 o'clock on Monday. The most I of the tfork required to fit her for itransport is finished, but Mr Daniels, I th« superintendent, and a few men ' went on to Wellington. Accommoda--3 fcion has been provided for 50 additional * men and 42 extra horset. >; The rations for"the British troops in Africa are as f o'lows' : — Meat, lib fresh* *. salt, or preserved. Maconochie's <* ration, equal to a ration of meat, j When the supply of cattle is abundant ' the ration of -lib fresh meat during.; active operations may be increased by-* the general officer commanding to i l£lb. Bread, l£lb fresh bread, "or lib * biscuit or lib flour or meal. Groceries, l^ coffee and 1 6oz tea, or double. | ration of either ; 2oz sugar, £oz salt ■ 1-36 oz pepper, 1-8 oz chocolate or ) cocoa, when short of tea or coffee, ] Lime juice, 1 10 of a gill, with £oz of' sugar, when fresh vegetables are not i issued, or when th^ medical officer i; thinks it necessary. Vegetables -loz compressed or -Jib potatoes or other !<! < fresh vegetables, or 2oz split peas or 7< 7 < onions, or 2oz rice. Spirits, igill, ; when notified in general orders.? Tobacco not exceeding lib per man, per month from Army Service Corp»| on repayment ; price to be fixed hj\ general officer. Light — Hospital aa \ required ; guards, horse pickets, officers'.! offices, 1 candle per lantern authorised, j Fuel, lib wood or coal, not to be issued^ when it can be obtained by the troops* on the march. This is the maximum | ration, and will be issued only when • available. ] Owing to the want of interest th« ~. Wellington Caledonian Society has \ been wound up. It war decided to send one hundred guineas, which practically represents the funds in hand to the officer commanding tbe High- : land Brigade in South Africa, for the * benefit of wounded, Highlanders. \ Ah important addition is boing mads , to the handsome Convent of the Sacred . Heart at Timaru. A suite of rooms is .' being erected at the western _end to I serve as a hospital for the inmates. 1 The ground floor is 42ft by 29ft, and i the exterior will be completed in keep- '■> ing with the rest of the building, ex- ] cept that the windows will be square instead of Gothic headed. There are three ward rooms on each floor, and sitting aud other rooms, and tbe special kitchen is plaoed on the i upper floor. \ The second draft of stations for th« Primitive Methodist Churoh locates the the Rev. J. Nixon at New Plymouth, the Rev Burnbtfc at | Waimate and Oamaru. Of clergymen 1 once stationed here, the JEW. Clover | goes to Graondalc, and the Rev. '; Eaine to Fielding, Two annoying printer's errors oo- ; ourred in last issue. One made a local state that it was twlikely that a third I contingent would be sent, tbe addition | of "un" making all ihe difference J The other gave Mr H. Quinn &&,{ credit of presenting a horse to the I Patriotic Fund when it should have been Mr H. Dunio. Can it be— let us! whisper — that the local writer's " fiac " ) was hqt copperplate ? T^b Presbyterian Church Sunday School hold their annual picnic to-day | in Enottingly Park. ' " i Those who want boots which will| list through the whole the Newi Year should go to Berry's. There, | priors are fixed to suit the times: .R«.-j pairs a specialty at Berry's, the jh<jp| at the corner of High, and Sheannaa| StreetSj—AdYtf. " ' , t ;( "' : u

MiTHtinflow Kkarmw. MP. *or DcTOnr'Ort. has directed nttention to the plethora of money In »* h-vt* »* the Boyal Patriotic P«nfl Oommirtumexa. TlieEussian WarFundis now reprinted bv ft o.pitai of something like £550,000, whilst the beneficiaries m almost exclusively the mrriw widow* of men who served and died forty-five years a«>. The reoonrtrtution of this fund and its apnhcation to current needs, is demanded. It is a wonder this matter was not looked into before, considering many who served in the Busflian War were not in very good circumstances. Wb have received rroni the committee of the Otego Patriotic Fund a circular soliciting aid from those who have not vet subscribed The sum of £7000 has already been subscvibed u< Dunedin, R nd it is sought to raise it to jeio.ooo. They were selecting drivers for the transpoit waggons of the second Victorian contingent. One rather un -likely looking man offernd his services. "Dovoulcnow anything of transport giving?" ««kpd thP general. "Yes, sir," answered the volunteer. " a lot I've been at it all my life. I'm a liearse diiver." He was taken. The curiosities of civilisation are ♦endless. Here is the Melbourne - Un.del takers' Bpvuw" lamenting the war, fcecause-weli, the reason is obvious when jou come to think of it :— " The undertaking trade is unique in brir q the only one that has cause, from .business apart from political motives, to regret that war has bioken out. . . "Wf are somewhat inclined to ask if -some scheme could not be devised thereby the relatives of those who .fall in battle might have the privilege of securing the transport and burial of their loved ones to the home of their birth, where, with such honours as are their clue, they might be laid to re&t in native «oil." Or, perhaps, the "Review" would prefer a war on British soil. The Christchurch office of the Union Steamship Company has been advised that all volunteers in uniform proceedIn- to Wellington by Thursday's and Friday's steamers to take part in the -«• farewell " to the second contingent will be granted special reductions. The saloon return fare will be £± and the steerage 16s, available up to and including the following Monday. As ■there are already a large number from the south— Oamaru alone senduig .fifty— early application is necessary, so that the company may have time to anake special 'arrangements far trans. port in the event of the ordinary steamers not being sufficient to accomodate the passengers. An African journal tells of a liou who put up a waiting record of 24 hours. The cyclist who was up the tree writes to say that he beat the lion easily, because he did not climb down from his perch until an hour after the Jbeast had sorrowfully and hungrily departed. A Yankee editor has drawn up some new game laws which he wants adopted. The following is a summary : Book agents may be killed from October 1 £o September 1 ; spring r poets, from"* March 1 to June 1 ; .-scandalmongers', from April 1 to February' 1 ; umbrella borrowers, from August 1 to November 1 and February -1 to May 1 while every man who accepts a newspaper, and, upon being .juesented with his bill, says, u I never ordered it i" may by killed on the spot without reserve or relief. The Patriotic Fund in "Wellington now amounts to £5100. Ebflb Corps in South Canterbury ' "going to witness the departure of th<> ' contingent will receive free passes f ' half the ttiength of a corps travel. It is thought these men will have to pro. 1 vide themselves with food and accom '"inodation i^. Wellington. It is said that a circular has been issued by the railway department, giving leave to railway employees to "volunteer for service in th« Transvaal should any desire. ■s "- ' i pLivBR Bainbridgb, the long haired man, who described himself as a raconteur and who gave out that he was- on v a .walking tour round the world, met > with an accident in the Otahuhu district on Monday afternoon, a shot from -a revolver going through the left side of his cheßt, just escaping the heart. H,e stated that he was walking along the road with a loaded revolver in his hand, and that he tripped over something and fell, the result being that .the revolver went off, and the bullet went througn his chest. The condi tion of Bain'bridge is a critical one. He is in the Auckland hospital. It Appears he visited farm near the Tara-naki,.-river, and the farmer's wife, in -conversation, complained of the havoc .-weasels made with her poultry. He *e&id h« would shoot them with bis re-

volver. He ebot one, and in clamber 1 * ig up the river bank slipped and fell, the v.capon g>>iJg off. The bullet penetrated hi.s chest, missing his heart, and came out at the back. It is doubtful whether he will survive, He made a statement at the hospital that the affa r was purely accidental. At a social to Mr Wilford, M H.8.. for the suburbs, the Premier reiterated t hat the colony's defences were ready jjn crbb of an Emergency. They were ' I to have lucre ammunition, more rifles, and more volunteers. No expense was to be spared, and he had taken every precaution against danger. It is said on good authority that the Hon. J. G. Ward has in view the accelerating of the express trains by reducing the time which they will stop at jeitain stations. For instance at Oamaru it is intended to stop no longer lhan will allow incoming passengers to alight and outgoing passengers to take their seats. By this means the time »f the journey will be considerably shortened. — N. O. Times. Robert Howson. aged 81, who muidered lioberl Fuller at Whangarei. and was committed to the asylum for life, is dead. Ms John Steel Guthrib, manager of the Chiistchureh Press Company for the past six years and formerly editor of the Press, died on Tuesday morning. He had been ailing for some years, but it was only lately his complaint took a serious turn. He had j been connected with the Press since j 1863. It is now provided that the Customs duties on parcels by post from England to New Zealand may be paid by the senders. The " Timaru Herald " says that it is reported that a change of crossing places for the express trains is soon to be made south of Studhoime, co that the speed on the level country north of %is station can be increased. We have to acknowledge the receipt from Mrs Butt (Waimate) of 10s 6d for the Patriotic Fund. His Worship the Mayor has received a wire from the Postmaster. General, authorising him to frame letters or telegrams on business con. nected with the War Patriotic Fund or contingent demonstration.