Local and General.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XVII, Issue 4363, 4 December 1897, Page 2

Local and General.

—. * Excursion fares are advertised in th issue for the A.hburton races on December Enoka, a Native, charged with the murd of his wife at Parihaka, was committed ft trail. ' The Borough Council invites tenders f< tbe valuation of the borough ; also for tl .scavenging. The Russian sceptre is of solid gold, 3 long, and contains among its ornaments 2( diamonds, 390 rubies, and 15 emeralds. Telegraphic messengers in London are be supplied with bicycle.by the Poat-maate General as an experiment. While diggh-g a grave at Trusthorpe, leaden bull of Boniface X., who was Por in the 14th century, was unearthed, In the famous Gardtm of Olives, at Jen salem, there are eight iourishing olive trs< that are known to be over 1000 years old. C-.pt-.in McGee, late of the s,s. Tasmanic has definitely retired from the sea, and hi taken a hotel at Young, New South Wales Engine-drivers in Germany receive froi the Government a gold medal and £100 fc every ten years of service without accident At Christchurch on Friday, in Chamber* Mr Justice Denniston granted probate in th will of the late Henry Knight, Alfor Forest. An electric locomotive running betwee Paris and Harve is said to have attained speed of 75 miles an hour, drawing 1 carriages. It has just leaked out that the privat shipyards of the United Kingdom are bulling twenty-eight vessels for foreign naviei Every day the inhabitants of the Unite Kingdom wear £200,000 worth of shot leather, or enough leather to make 100,00 pairs of boots. Every week .9,000,000 oysters ar swallowed by the people of London. Hal of the remaining shells are broken up an used for asphalt* paving.

To pool a hot room, wet thoroughly a large sheet and hang it up in the middle. The temperature will go down ten or twelve degrees almost immediately.

A young man named Walton, a second saloon passenger by the Kaikoura for New Zealand, committed saicide by jumping ov-rboEird while tlie vessel was nearing Teneriffe. He left letters addressed to friends indicating that ho intended to commit suicide. •■■ He was well connected at Home.

For OBce in its twenty yeats' history, the garden of Mr G. T. Smith yields no strawberries to the public. The season has been so adverse this year that the crop has been an utter failure, and, muph to the genial gardener's regret, visitors to the gardens in i guest of the delicious summer fruit have to go disappointed away.

A man in Canada is constructing a boat which, he says, "will cross the Atlantic at the rate of 100 mites an hour. It is in the form of a gigantic cylinder, and the passengers are to be enclosed in an evenly balanced floating hotel, which will remain jto^loqary while the outer shell revolves on the water. Members have given a very plain indica tion to the Government that they will nob submit to being brought back after Christmas, so that the idea of a New Year sitting tniy now be finally dismissed. A determined .fort is made to prorogue on Saturday, the LBth, to.effect which much of the cargo of :heship of Sta,te must be jettisoned. In all .robability the Banking' Bill wilj be referred o the Public Acooun Is Committee.

I It is stated that the late Christchurch I Garrison Band has presented a petition to Kei. tenant-Colonel Gordon, for transmission to Colonel Penton, the head of ihe New Zealand ioreesyK-^uesting that a full inquiry may be made into the connected with the disbandmen't. It he a been further requested that ail proceedings in connection with the formation of a new garrison band may be stayed until after such anauirsr has been held.

Replying to the deputation of Canterbury members which waited uj^op him at Wellington yesterday, the Minister of Lands B»jd that the Government were negotiating for the purchase of the S.arboro and Flaxbourne . .Htyk£to| in Maryborough, which, with several properties of ..ha Assets Realisation Board also to''.be,'Quired zander the Land for Settlements A-t, would mak,* a petal of 220,000 acres proposed to be acquired in thajb nroyincial district. He also intimated 'tbftt£_ was intended to purchase the Glen«W# |state f,nP» n¥Fbur yi provided it '** WiaciW.ed a^a ieasonabhv price. qou.v, c.--Ai i[& Vmm,

The San Francisco mail arrived in Ash- 1 burton last night, wd was delivered to box- ( - holders and callers immediately after sort- . Log. Out of the enormous number of women in Constantinople—the population is nearly a million—not more than 5000 can read or write. Messrs Friedlander Bros., Limited, will hold a clearing sale of horses, cattle, sheep, implements, etc., at Mr Charleß Storier's ' { farm, Coldstream, Binds, on Monday. ] December 13. , Not often does such a property come into the market as that to be offered by auction by Mr Bullock at the Arcade on Saturday, December 18, when will be put to the hammer the excellent farm of Mr D. L. Inwood—7oo acres in the Lowcliffe district. We (Dunedin Star) regret to lear that His Honor Judge Ward has been laid up for the past fortnight ab his Dunedin lodgings ; by a rather serious attack of illness, ib is gratifying to announce the Judge's convalescence, though he is by no. means quite recovered as yet. A fire occured at Riverside, Wakanui, this morniug about 9 o'clock, by which Mr Hugh McCosker lost his stable, a quantity of harness, chaff, and sundries, the dwelling house being saved with difficulty after about three hours' hard work by willing neighbours. Yesterday some brush was being burned, and the nor'wester fanning the embers into life, the fire broke through the plantation, igniting the stable as above stated. During the thunderstorm which passed over Rangicra at midday on Tuesday, a valuable five-year-old horse belonging to Mr White, of the West Town Belt, was killed by lightning. It was grasing with a number of other honea in a paddook near the racecourse, when the lightning struck it on the head, near one of its eyes, and paralysed it, death occurring an hour or two afterwards. The Union Steamship Company's fine steamer Waikare is advertised to begin a series of excursions to places of interest in ) New Zealand and elsewhere on January 20 from Port Chalmers. The first trip will he round (he West Coast Sounds, and will occupy nine days. Balls, regattas, picnics, etc., will be features of the excursions, while the daily programme generally ia of a most attractive character. The second trip starts ou January 29. Mr Ferriman, the local agent, is now booking excursionists. It may be of interest to some of the readers of the Guardian to learn that the secretary of Seattle Chamber of Commerce on the West Coast of the North American continent U.S. has forwarded to this office a copy of the " Seattle i'ost Intelligence " newspaper containing a quantity of information about the Klondyke goldfield, plans of the routes thereto, and maps of the district. We are also in receipt of a letter stating that all enquiries concerning the goldfields may be referred to the Seattle Chamber of Commerce who will on behalf of that body answer the same free of charge. A good story is told of Dr Youl, the lately deseased Melbourne coroner. At ohc time a Melbourne spiritualist doctor made it known that he could diagnosce any disease from which a person was Buffering, and prescribe a cure if only a look from the hair of the patient were sent to him. The humorous coroner clipped a strand of hair from the head of a corpse in the morgue and sent it along in a letter to the spirit-raiser. Then he let his friends into the joke, and they anxiously awaited the reply, it came in due time, and was brief enough, and quite emphatic. It read—" Bury this man at once." Just is Time fob Chbistmas.—ln order to keep "up-to-date" with ,our steadily increasing business we have decided to effect considerable alterations to our premises, and to make room for the builders w'b hive resolved to greatly reduce our stock before Christmas. We have therefore cvi ed a large quantity of our Tweeds and Worsteds, etc, to clear at the following reductions :—Men's suits to measure, usual prict. 90s. now 70s; Men's trousers, usual price 25a, now 15s od; etc. We hare also pleasure in notifying that we have jußt been appointed agents for the famous "British Lion" and " Waverley" Bicycles (both gents' and ladies'), which we are now Belling with all the." up-to-date " improvements at the lowest cash prices, or on the most liberal terms to suit the convenience of our customers. (Every machine guaranteed).— Craighead and . Bebryman, the leading Tailors _nd Outfitters. Synopsis of New advkrti.kmknts. N.Z. Railways—Excursion fares for Ashburton races. Friedlander Bros., Limited — Hor.e Pair, December 22. Next wool sale Dec. 16. Tinwald Racing Club—Programme. Borough Council—Tenders warned for borough valuation ; also for, scavenger. Church Notices—St Stephen's, '1 he Tabernacle D. Thomas—3so hoggets for sale, Tuesday next; Horse fair, Friday next. Last skin sale of the season, Friday, December 10. F. Ferriman—Notice re excursions to West Coast Sounds. Longbeach Road Board—Notice re proposal to alter a road. Borough Council—Street closed. Ashburton Racing Club — Acceptances close to-night.