GENERAL NEWS.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XX, Issue 2873, 31 August 1892, Page 2

GENERAL NEWS.

The London Times states that the AgentsGeneral were originally commercial representatives of the colonies, bat have now assumed the positions of Ambassador.--, an 1 are destined to take an important pm sn securing the Federation of the Empire. The Queensland Government, with a view to fostering the export trade in meat, have written to America to procure the serricw of a man competent to deal with slaughtering aad the preparing and packing of meat in all branches for the market, to act as instructor in the latest methods as carried on at Chicago. He will be attached to the Agricultural Department on arrival, and will travel about among the meat preserving workt» iv much the same way ad the manager of a travelling dairy. The Ameer of Afghanistan informed the Viceroy of India that the fightirg which has reoently occurred in the Pamirs is the result of Russian aggression. He has appealed to the Viceroy for help from England, and this appeal has caused considerable sensation at Home. The Russian Greneral on the contrary maintains that they were exploring peacefully when the Afghans opened fire on them and decline! all overtures for a truce. Mrs O'Brien, who was arrested on a charge of murdering a farmer named Cornwall at Warracknabeal, by administering poison, has been found guilty and sentenced to -death. Pratt, suspected of being an accomplice, was acquitted on the capital charge, but convicted of baing an accessory after the aot. The New Zealand Herald's commercial report of Friday last says the success of the auction disposal in the chief centres of New Zealand, of goods consigned from Melbourne on behalf of insolvent estates, opens up a rather ugly prospeot for importers acd retailers. The deplorable state of affairs in Melbourne will compel some fertility of resource as to quittance of overstock, and as the drawback on duty paid stuff will pay the New Zealand duty, there is no reason why we should not have a trade disturbance from the necessities of our neighbours that may bo awkward. There is go other spot in Australia tha* goods can be shipped to for ctsh disposal unless at a tiaci-ifioe, for all the colonies are iv trade trouble. Some of the unemployed pub on roadmtiking in Otago country districts do not seem enamoured of the job. 4t a recent interview of uuflmployed with the Mayor of Duuedin it was stated that several of the men had been wur.dug iv the Oatliui district road- nuking, but the wages they earned there were not sufficient to keep them and 3 provide for their families. The storekeep?r.3 i refused to give them further ore lit uuless a they got a Government guarauteee for the f payment of th ir aooounta. The prioe they were paid, 1 4s to 17s a chain for foiling, t logging, and stacking, was too little to pay 9 for food for themselves, and they could send nothing to their fami ies. There were about - 250 men abroad-making at one time, but I only 30 or 40 remained now. . The Auckland SUr says that it was stated in the proceedings of the Crowa Linda Board that Mr J, C. Firth had applied for a2l v years' lease of 132 acres near the Terrace j Hotel, Lake Taupo, and that Mr Firth had c boen granted a provisional lease for three . years. As considerable curiosity has been evinced as to the intentions of Mr Firth in % making such an application, we may state I that Mr Firth has several patents socured r for insulators on board ships with refrigev rating michinery, public warehouses, etc., t in which ground pumice figures as a principal ingredient. He states that if his patents s turn out as well as he anticipates, he will a employ a good deal of labour at Like , Taupo, and find a considerable amount of i traffic to the railway. , The Southland Times reports that Mr Quintin McKinnon, of Te Anau, came into Invercargill on Saturday, the 13fch instant, 3 with a rather alarming tale as to the condi- •. tion of things with regard to provender at v Milford Sound Prison. It appears that r supplies have "been running short there for ' some lime, and when Mr McKinnon left 1 the Sound a week ago all hands had been on I reduced rations for a fortnight or more. Ha r telegraphed to the Government after reach - B ing Lumsden, and, after ascertaining from * him thai provisions could not b. 9 sent overland, the Government replied that they would ; be sent by sea, to arrive on the Ifth, by i which time, Mr McKinnon says, th,e prison f stores would be complfttely exb/iusted, Me 1 Sutherland's resources having been drawn ' upon to the fullest extent. The overland journey was not accomplished without conJ Biderable difficulty and risk, and Mr McKine non received quite a number of soars and * bruises. The enow was heavy on the pass, j and had not frozen hard. 8 With reference to a notice that the War c Office had decided to grant to old soldiers 1 who had served their country in the Crimean " and Indian mutiny campaigns a pension in 6 recognition of their past services, although these men were not actually entitled to . pension, Captain Daveney, the officer paying j Imperial pensions at Auckland, has published c the following circular sent to* him from the Royal Hospital at Chelsea, so that all old x campaigners may clearly understand how , their claims will be considered : — '' The . Royal Hospital, Chelsea, (3.W.). July c l.9th, — The Commissioners of this Hospital i are empowered to select for pension old ' soldiers who received medals for cimpnigns * earlier in time than the year 1860, on the " following oonditions ; -1. That the number 7 selected in any one year shall not exceed one huudred. (Applications from those unsuc--0 cessful in one year may be renewed in Janue ary, the folio wing year). 2. That no soldier y already pensioned shall be selected ; but, for >, this purpose, a deferred pension (reward for ;t good conduct) need not necessarily disqualify. y 3. That the soldier be certified by competent 4 local authority to ba destitute of means of support. 4- That the unforfeited service s rendered shall have amounted to tea years, tl 5. That no soldier discharged with a bid t character be selected, unless he suffers from s wounds, or be recorded for gallantry. " a In the ' Australasian ' o.f the 6th insfc ap. , pears a letter from Mr J. J?ottie, yeterjuaryI. surgeon of 232 Castlereagh Street, Sydney, t relative to rhe remarkable and permanent * cures effected in sheep and lambs by the use r of 4 drench invented jointly by the managers * of three large stations. Mr Pottie says ; — 1 " Although I supplied the remedy, yet the 3 honour of this valuable fact belong to Mr ' s Ge>. Fairlmrn of W.irrah. Mr F. L'iJer, of . Wai la bad ah, and Mr G. J. Griersou, oi . Brookgong Station, \V"agga. The3e are the 9 gentlemen who have solved for Australia the r great problem of worm prevention. I de&iie 3 to say, as a student of helminthology, that 1 no such discovery has ever been made in any r other part of the world. There ne?d, there- •* fore, be no mete doctoring of diseased sheep, for those lambs, now very large-framed t sheep, have not in any way shown any nyinpB toms of disease. I suppose that tbece are only three stations iv all Australia who can f boast of this feat. What, then, has been f discovered, is this — Ist. — That lambs so treated remain heaUby for life. 2nd. — That i lambs so treated grow much larger than - those not so treated. 3rd. — That those large ■ sheep fatten faster than the small : that is to - say. if ten acres will carry ten small sheep, it { > will fatten ten large sheep wuieb had the r lamb drench." — It might be worth while for | the * Sheep Committee * (of which body, by t the way, we have heard nothing for along [ time), or some of our principal local flockmatters to inquire farther about this promising sounding specific.