Untitled

Bruce Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 1859, 27 May 1887, Page 3

Messrs J. A. Duthie & Co. hold a stock sale this afternoon. They will also offer freehold land in the estate of the late Robt. Chalmers. To-morrow Mr Jno. Thompson will offer for sale at his rooms, Lawrence, property at Waitahuna, belonging to Mr James Thompson. The Chinese Commissioners now in Sydney say that their object in visiting Australia is "simply to see the condition of our people, how they get along, and how they are treated by the official and other classes of the place." In the Midland district in England 25,000 dozen locks are made every week. Tha lowest priced padlocks are sold in Calcutta at s|d per dozen, which includes free delivery, and no charge for packages. The services sf the Wesleyan Church will be conducted on Sunday next in the morning by Rev. R. Taylor, subject — Children's sermon ; and in the evening by Mr C. King, subject — " Probationary Discipline." i The Otago Land Board has decided that j the amount of business they have to deal with is so greafc that they cannot in the iu- ! terests of economy meet less frequently than once a week. The ' Southland Times ' winds up a highly appreciative report of the Fisk Jubilee Singers by saying :— " We owe them a debt of gratitude for teaching us how to sing, and it is to be hoped we shall profit by it." Thn Government Printer has favoured us with a copy of Professor Hutton's report on the Tarawera Volcanic District. It is neatly got up in pamphlet form, and illustrated with numerous lithographed copies nf photographs. A THRESHING-MILL and elevator belonging to Mr Robertson, of Waitahuna East, were destroyed by fire on Mr Sinclair Williams' place at Round Hill on Tuesday. It is supposei the fire originated through chaff and refuse having been burnt up on the ground adjacent. The mill was insured. At a public meeting in Wellington on Monday evening, convened to consider the subject of Protection to Industries, Mr Fisher pointed out that of the £186,000, by which amount it was proposed to increase the customs, only £25,000 could apply to the encouragement of local industries. The Official Assignee iu Bankruptcy for the Otago district has called attention to the remarkable idfference between the stated and realised assets. The figures are, 1884— Stated £263,000, realised .£30,872 ; 1885— Stated £97,329, realised £37,248; 18S6— Stated £107,199, realised, £57,917. The ' Sydney Mail ' says that the member for Murray district, having found his responsibilities and expenses as a membsr of the House too great for him signified his intention of resigning. A public meeting was called, eloquent speeches delivered, and a subscription list handed round. The result was promises to the amount of £14 a year. A RETURN presented to the Legislative Council shows that in Otago 1,346,554 acres I have beeu abandoned on account of the rabbit pest since the district first became infested. The loss to the revenue has been £32,803. In Southland no runs havo been abandoned, but much land had to be re-let in ISB3 at an estimated los3 of £15,000. The 'Tapanui Courier' apologises to Mr T. Stanbrook, of Waipahi, for stating that he had couie into a fortune aud wa3 about to leave for England to take possession of it. [ We are s?rry for Mr Stanbrook, but trust one of his wealthy relatives will verify the report at some not distant date. Lawrence, says the local paper, hoisted one flag in honor of the Queen's birthday. Milton did not even do that. We celebrated the holiday as we celebrate most other holidays. Shop3 were closed and business suspended, and the day wa3 made like a Sabbath, minus the excitement of church bells and the attractions of divine service, According to a Wellington paper, the debate on the Women's Suffrage Bill was not only amusing, but at time9 somewhat loud. In fact, Major Atkinson was so shocked at the indelicate remarks of some members that he took up his bat and went out, exclaiming that he was really ashamed of what was going ou. It would seem chat free speech ia glorified iu the House as well as Freethought. A meeting of the Jubilee Committee was held at the Athenaeum on Wednesday even-

iug, when various arrangements for the celebration of tho day were considered. Ib was decided amongst othor things to have, if possible,"a procession of Volunteers, Friendly Societies, &c, &c, to be headed by a band to be improvised for the occasion. Next Wednesday a meeting will be held, at which delegates from the lo^al bodies and all concerned are expected to be in attendance, when definite plans will be arranged. The ' Evening Horald ' says that the 750z. nugget reported to have been found io the Wakatipu district weighed but a little over 60z3. We see that the wonderful find has been duly telegraphed everywhere. Pity a little more caution is not exercised in giving publicity to such things. Scarcely a day passes but we read of some report being denied or materially corrected, while the unreliability of telegraphic intelligence is becoming proverbial. Some idea of what the invasion of rabbits ma} r cost may be gleaned from a recent statement made by the Hon. J. Salmon ia the Legislative Council of Sydney. It appears that in that colony, up to date, 7,853,787 rabbits had been destroyed and paid for at a cost of £361,492 103, exclusive of several claims yet unsettled. This means that every rabbit killed in the colony had cost the Government £llid, and if we add to this the one-third of the bonuses paid by the occupants of the runs, every rabbit killed will have cost ls Sd. It is getting too ordinary an occurrence for persons to remove periodicals from the Athentoum table, and hold possession of tbem for indefinite periods. The latest freak of this kind is the appropriation of the last numbers of the ' Illustrated London News ' and ' Graphic ' before anybody else had a chauce to read them. This, especially to those who are reading the serial stories, is a great annoyance. If the persons who took the papers are not subscribers, they are thieves ; and if they are they ought to know better. Talking about the objections raised to ferrets and weasels, and the reasons why they will not have them in Canterbury, "Puff" in the 'Evening Press' says:— "Because a tame ferret bit a baby at Outram, and another one killed some ducks j somewhere else ! You must bear in mind ' that the ferret is the natural enemy of the [ rabbiter as well as of the rabbit, and the rabbiter is a power in the Stale ! Especially about election time, eh ? Oh, quite so ! Are our children to be dewonred and our 'umble 'omes dewastated by ferocious beastesses, just along o' these ere blooming squatters ? Never ! Britons strike home 1" Those weary of the antiquated tea-meet-ing, or soiree as it is now somewhat euphemistically called, may gather a lesson from the Oamaru brigade of the Salvation Army. They recently held a "musical hosanna meeting and sandwich banquet." The hosannas started at 7.15, and after the assembly was satiated with them, they made a start on the sandwiches at 8.30. A shilling was charged for the sandwiches, but the hosannas were free. They are shrewd are those Army fellows. They knew well that yelling hosanna for an hour and a quarter would make everybody so hungry and thirsty that none would begrudge a paltry shilling for slops and saudwicbes. The Auckland 'Herald,' in an article on the political situation, says, after giving reasons : — "lt may therefore be regarded as not at all improbable that, in the event of the Ministry being defeated, the Premier, instead of asking for a dissolution, will resign and clear the way for the forming of a fresh and more natural combination. One thing at lea3t appears to be with common consent agreed upon, that Sir Julius Vogel must no longer be allowed to retain a position in which he paralyses public confidence both in and oat of the colony. Whatever may be the office assigned to him, he must cease to have the political administration of the colony's political affairs. On this point the House and the country are, we believe, in thorough accord, and this once gained, arrangements for securing a strong and satisfactory Government will not be attended with any serious difficulty." That this may prove a true prophecy must be the prayer of all who wish well to New Zealand. There was a very narrow escape from a serious fire at the residence of Mr R. Humphrey on Wednesday night. Mr Humphrey was from home, and his wife, who had retired for the night, was aroused about 10 o'clock by the sound of a report in an adjoining room, and upon going to see what was wrong, she found the place on fire. She immediately raised tha alarm, and assistance was soon to hand, and the flames were speedily extinguished, The paper and scrimp were burnt from tho wall of a portion of the room, and a picture and some other articles were damaged. Mr Humphrey, who is insured, estimates that from £15 to £20 will cover the loss. The sound referred to, which was also heard in a neighbouring house, points to the explosion of a kerosene lamp as the cause of the fire. We clip the following from the Melbourne • Aga' of the 14th inst.:— "A private letter recently received from Montreal, Canada, brings intelligence of the death of Pastor Chiniquy, formerly a Roman Catholic priest, who, it may be remembered, gave a course of lectures in these colonies and in other parts of the world against the Roman Catholic faith, similar to those now being delivered by Miss Edith Gorman, •' the escaped nun." Pastor Chiniquy seceded from the church on account of monetary dispute with his archbishop. Being a popular preacher and temperance lecturer when in the church, he was presented with, large sums o£ money during his travels in Canada, and became wealthy. He refused to give up his riches to the church as required by its rules, hence his secession. On his departure from these colonies, he returned to Montreal, and through the influence of his family he wa3 induced to re-consider his position. After a time he decided to return to the church, and was re-admitted after making a public recantation."

A match at football was played at Balclutha on Tuesday between Clutha 2nd and Tokomairiro High School which resulted in a draw. The Toko, players wera overmatched, but notwithstanding that they gava the Clutha some hard work. Clutha were forced down twice and the School once. The Clutha, owing to their superior weight, were the best in the scrummages, otherwise the School had the advantage of them. Clutha obtained a tr3>-, which was disputed as the ball was not thrown out straight. For the Clutha, Matheson and Rattray played best, as did Grey, Daniels, Patterson, and Nelson for the School. The Clutha team provided aa excellent lunch, to which the visitors did ample justice. Sometimes curious things are done, and witty things said, at sales of work connected with the churches. At a recent sale of work of one of our city churches, some of the ladies of the congregation were endeavouring to dispose of some garments which had been made by them. There were not many present, but amongst them was a frolicsome young man, who took up a gentleman's night shirt, and slipped it over his head. One of the young ladies was greatly shocked and scandalised at the exhibition, but was thus reproved by a married lady, who was also engaged iD the sale : — " My dear Miss , the worst wish I could wish you would be that you should never again see a man in his night shirt during the whole course of your life." — " Mercutio " in ' Auckland News.' A paragraph, emanating from the 'Evening Post,' has been published iu all directions to the effect that Sir George Grey treated Sir John Hall in anything bub j, gentlemanly manner in the lobby of the House, and in fact raised quite a scene. The Wellington correspondent of the ' Lyttelton Times' has interviewed Sir George on the subject, and was informed that the Hon. Robert Campbell brought Sir John to him, and Sir John grasped his hand, saying, " I trust bygones are bygones." Sir George Grey, taken by surprise, withdrew his hand quietly, and walked away. There was no scene, as the 'Post' implied. Sir George feels that Sir John Hall did him a grevious injustice over the fee paid to Mr Rees by Sir George Grey's Government for defending the Parihaka natives, some years ago. He also thinks Sir John Hall's gridironiag indefensible. The Burns Statue in the Octagon, Dunedin, was duly unveiled on Tuesday, in the presence of between 7000 and 8000 people. The ceremony was performed by Miss Burns, a descendant of the poet. Sir George Grey gave a speech which waa of course eloquent. A banquet wa3 held in the evening, and under the influence of the rosy god some of the speakers spoke a bit about politics, and Mr H. S, Fish took the opportunity of gassing about corporation affairs. This was accompanied by thumping of the table, stamping of the feet, and other musio, and one gentleman varied the proceedings by placing his fist in the vicinity of Mr Fish's nose. We gather these interesting particulars from the 'Times" report, which says that during this part of the proceedings Sir George Grey and other gentlemen left the hall. The closiog portion of the ' Times' ' report seems to indicate that Willie's brew had been exceedingly well patronised, particularly by a gentleman from tho country, who occupies a highly dignified civic position when at home. The schoolmaster is abroad again. Oao, who ought to be at home at Soacliff, is loose at a place called Mokoreta in Southland, and wrote to the ' Mataura Ensign ' a description of a bit of a hop in a cockatoo's bara, in tho following fashion — we can always spot the schooly correspondents by their style : — '• We have a large sprinkling of prepossessing young ladies whose personal attractions and mintal endo.vmiut3 are very considerable ; and I must say that the hearts of these bachelors are the reverse of being impressible when they are not captivated by the charms which our young lalies possess. That this hull i3 an event which ii highly appreciated is abundantly testified by the lively appearance which this valley presented on Friday, the Gth instant. 'As when the potent rod of Amram's son in Egypt's evil day, waved round the coast up called a pitchy cloud of locusts,' this event attracted a large concourse of people of both genders towards Mr Peter M 'Gill's comparatively quiet homestead," &c, &c, all in tha same strain. We give a kindred specimen from a Sydney paper. The correspondent is deploring the absence of a light in the poat-offiie at Burrawang, and say3 : — " On more than one occasion people have, while engineering their way through the murky darkness, or dodging the numerous sledge-holes that grace the roadway iu front of Mr Dunne's establishment, found themselves in unpleasant proximity to the terminal anatomy of somo oaten-fed equine." j Our Lawrence Correspondent writes : — j "The musical and dramatic entertainment here on Tuesday evening, to celebrate the opening of the new Volunteer Hall, was a great success, the financial result totalling about £30. Miss Mason, from your quarter, made her first appearance here, and gave two items, which were enthusiastically received. Miss M'Nicol, who is a great favorite, was in capital voice, and rendered ' The Daughter of the Regiment ' with her usual ability. She also took part ia a duet with Mrs M'Farlane, 'The Lily and the Rose,' which gave every satisfaction. Messrs Woods, Foster, and Braik did justice to their several pieces. Master R. Stenhouse's violin solo, ' The harp that once,' waa a treat. Mrs Woods presided at the piano in her usual creditable style, and Miss M. Rolfe (violin), and Mr Graham (cornet), with Mr and Mr3 Woods and Mr Stenhouse, contributed two overtures in grand form. The musical portion wa3 followed by a laughable farce entitled ' The Secret,' which put everyone in good humor. Miss Kelleher, as the jealous wife, played her part with great ability. Miss Arthur made a very pleasing Angelica. Messrs E. Rolfe and E. P. Campbell were very good in their respective roles. Mr O. Fraer as a stuttering porter,

did his little well, and Mr M. Fraer, as Thomas, the knowiug servant, was very amusing, and kept the audience in good humor throughout. All the performers were recalled at the end of the piece. Great credit is due Mr Woods for the admirable programme presonted."