Local and General.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXI, Issue 5520, 12 November 1901, Page 2

Local and General.

Weather Forecast. — Captain Edwin Wires -—North to west and south west gale • S'laes fall, but rise afber ten hours from now } ndioationa of rain.

False Alarm of Fibb—Shortly after nine o'olook lasb night tho fire bells rang oat

an alarm, and the engines from both stations were got oub in a remarkably short bime, fortunately only to find thab their services ' were not required, the alarm being a false one. A Tardy Grant—Mr Budd, oonfeobloncr, Timaru, has received word from the Hon W, Hall.Jones tbat Parliament has granbed him £60 compensation for loss -sustained in connection with bhe volunteer e-icampmehb ab the Levels during Easter greek, 1900s Poor O*T Crops—Thr Timaru Herald hears that in some dry situations oats are coming into ear on straw only three or four inches long. The only thing thab oan be done ia such oases is bo burn stock into the paddocks. Rajp¥WAl SejiTiiEjjtßNT— The Grown Lands Department announce thab the RapuwaS settlement! formerly the property of James Sullivan, situated between the Opuha and K,kahu rivers, aboub 8£ - miles from Pleasant Point, will be open for selection on the lease In perpetuity system on Wednesday, December 9bh. The area of the land is 2248 acres and it ,ha 9 been sub-divided into five farms, ranging from 264 to 630 acres, at rental* varying from 3s 91 to 5s per acre per annum.

Ashburton Mototeo Rifles-^ The

Ashburton Mounted Rifles will hold a practice match at the Laghmor range on Thursday and Saturday, for which a drag will leave McConnell's stables each day at

'1.30 p.m. After the practices two teams will be picked to fire a match against the first and second teams of the Ashburton $- qards on Thursday, the 21sb inst.

St. S'i'EfrHßN'jjj Church—The Vicar would like io give notice to the parishioners that during the serious illness of Dr

Hunter the bells will not be rung a« usual during the week .until the beginning _£ Advent, December Ist, and ori Sundays the bells will nop be chimed, but one bell

will ba rung for three minutes jusb before the services.

Frozen Mbat Trade — The exports pf fro>slo meat from bhe colony during October, as compared by the Departmenb of Agriculture, show 14.Y8i.owt of beef, valued ab £15,960, aa against <.225t)wt, valued at £5534 in October of lasb year ; 206,6-4 carcases of mutton, valued at £118.514, against 30,194 e*rcases, valued ab £19,629; 5022cwb legs and pieces of muttoa. worth £6144, against 783cwb, valued ab £902, and 16,259 carcases lamb, worth £8372, against 6531 carcases, valued at £2787.

A Qualifying 'Tommy.'—Ab the Borough Council meebing, last evening, epeiking upon bhe proposal emanating from a North Island Borough Council, bhat there should

j be a ohange in the system of voting at else ions to pub a sbop to plumping, Or Reid, {_ opposing bhe scheme, referred to the utterances of previous speakers as 'rob. 1 If ber on, another Councillor took occasion to condemn the t.ce cf such an expression, nob that he was" la 'fayo* oi the proposal, which he looked upon At 'tommy rob,' bub nobody objected .(to tajs phrase.'

Borough School—A meeting of the Borough School Committee was held last evening bub our report is unavoidably held over.

Railway Passenger. Tbaffio— The ex« press train from Christohuroh today was an i exceptionally long one, and oarried a large number of passengers. Among the passengers were His Excellency the Governor, Mr W Hall Jores, Minister of Public Works, atd Judge Ward Reaoing Room of the Public Libbaby. —The Town Cierk informs us bhab in all < probabiliby bhe reading room at the Pubic Library will be re.dy by bhe end of the week.

Trinity College Examination—Mr Alfred Mistowski, examiner of the Trinity College, London will arrive in Ashburton on Saturday, 23rd November when he will hold a practical examination. Gambling—Lasb night's Truth contains the following paragraph :—' We ail gamble. I don't say it is wioked. Bub Ido say it is Infinitely harmful. Ib oauses much ruin In innumerable cases. Yet we all gambleladies as well as men.'—Bishop Juliu*, in the course of his sermon on Sunday night

The Bgbough Bouldebs —At the Boroogh Council meeting last evening Or Reid facetiously enquired of the Mayor, where were those 41b loaves which the Editor of the Guardian had stated were lying about the Borough streets, A smile want round when His Worship professed his Inability bo answer Or Reid, and th. latter was chuckling when Or Davidson informed him thab be could show him soma good sized boulders. Another Councillor thereupon remarked—' He asked for bread and they gave him a stone,' and the smile was audible Oddfellowship — The usual monthly meeting of bhe Nil Desperandum Lodge of Past Grands was held in the Lodge room last Friday evening; the President, 0 R Johnston, in ths chair The new bylaws were adopted, and the Seoretary instructed to find oub the cost of printing the same. P P.G.M T Norgan, who has just returned from England, was present, and, at the request of the Lodge, promised to give an address on his trip Home, and what he saw there, the address to be given next Lodge meeting. The Secretary reported thab the arrangements for open* ing tho ladies' Lodge were nearly oompleted.

An Epidemic of Marriages—Servia is in j trouble now with an epidemic of marriages, remarks an English paper, Tbe cause is the system of marriage banks founded as an j encouragement to thrif-, bub whioh have : proved bo have quite an opposite effect, 'ihe young men and maidens of Servia begin paying into these insbibubions ab an early age on the promise of a premium on marriage Immediately a small sum has been accumulated, the desire for marriage grows overwhelming, with the result that bhe first offer is snapped up, Iv consequence prematurely early and unhappy marriages are general. The matter his now reached suoh lengths that ib is seriously broubling bhe Government, and the advisability of abolishing these banks, which are held to be the root of tbe evil, is being debated. The Frisco Mail -A telegram fiom Auckland states thab tbe Sonoma, with the Frisco mail, has arrived, afber a rough passage from Pago P*go. The pasengers are Misses Gibson, Hilton, Kennedyj Mesdames Kennedy, Andersor., Brown, Whittle, and child; Messrs Kennedy,! Anderson, Bell, Lambson, Tamer, Marshall, Valentine, Funge, Ellis, Whittle, Birch, Fathers Alnsworth and Lane; Captain Patterson ; 20 in the second class, and 3 steerage. An Autograph Hunter—An amusing Incident is reported as having taken place shortly afber M»j tr General Sir Hector Macdonald's departure from Wanganui (says the Wellington Post) The train was stopped at St Johu's by a solitary woman, who signalled with her parasol bo bhe guard. The amusement of bhe General and other passengers, and the disgust of the train cffiolals, cau better be imagined than described, when ib was discovered bhat the supposed passenger was an autograph hunter waylaying the General for his signature.' Hecffiereistenb importunity prevailed, aud she signature having been given, his Majesty's express resumed its journey northwards. The Labour Market-In the latest report on the state of the labour market appears tha following {—Ashburton,— Building trades; still very brisk; all builders are fully employed, and are likely to be for soma time. Engineering trades : Fairly good. Boot trade : Good. Clothing trade: Tailors and dressmakers are very busy; business was very brink during the annual show apd carnival week. Retail trade (general): Fairly good In all branches. Miscellaneous: All locil industries are fairly busy, but are not doing e.s much work as for the corresponding month of last year. Unskilled labour * A few applications for employment have been made during the month. . The Late Queens Library-Since the death of Queen Victoria the library at Balmoral has been thoroughly overhauled and carefully catalogued. There is (says the London Truth) a large miscellaneous collection of books in every department of modern literature at Balmoral, including a great number of Scotch works, but nothing of any value. Queen Victoria jkept there a collection of manuscript sermons, several hundred In number. When her late Majesty was pleased with the termon that was preaohed before her, either In the Castle or at Crathle Church, she always requested the oiiciiblng minister to present her with a copy of his discourse, and there must h.ya been a augictent number of Sermons by Pi Norman Macleod, Prin? cipal Tulloch, Dr John Macleod,|Prlncipai Story, Or Macgregpr, and Dr Oameron Lees to make up a large printed volume. •• the Otago Wi?nkss."—The Christmas annual of bhe Otago Witness is to h*_d. The chief literary features of the number are stories by the well known New gaaland writers Jessie MaoKay and Fabian Bell. The illustrations are among the finesb we have seen produced in the oolony, being printed on fine paper and standing out clear and sharp* They embrace pictures of bhe tourist resorbs of bhe colony, the goldfield towns of Otago, bush and farm Ufa, land and sea scapes, eto. Altogether the number is an excellent one, and circulated as ib it likely bo be bo a large extenb In the Old Country, should attract bhe abtenbion of the leisured Glasses, and induce them to come and'eee for fcflejiiselypa the beauties oi New Z >al_nd. ■»->•■

A Motor Bicycle—The firsb New Zealand manufactured motor bicycle was made by Messrs C. T. Jessop and Co., of Temuka, a_d if?as ia Ashburton yesterday Mr Every, if. the. firm, gave'ia few spins through the main streets and'attracted much atbention, The motor Ib easily manipulated^ and any intelligent oyclist could learn to drive It in half an hour. To'start the machine the rider mounts in the ordinary way, turns on the electric switch, which Is p.ked to one of the handles, and which ignites the pharge of gas in the cylinder of the engine ab each revolution. The power of the epgtne if about 1| horse, and the we'ghb of the whole machine is only 7-lba. Sufficient petrol can be carried for a 100 mile run. The speed of the machine can ba regulated from a walking pace up to aboub 23 miles an hour. The Eclipse Cycle Co. are booking orders for Eclipse Motor Bicycles, and Mr Carson, of that firm, will be pleased bo furnish any information upon application!