Local and General.

Clutha Leader, Volume V, Issue 235, 10 January 1879, Page 6

Local and General.

_ The establishment of a High School for girls in Wellington is being agitated. Sir Geo. Grey will turn the first sod of the Waikato Railway at Hamilton in a few days. The date for receiving objections to Henley Road District is extended to 14th February. We hear that Mr ward has resigned the office of Registrar of the Supreme Court and Sheriff. The Rangitata bridge, having been repaired, is now open traffic. Trains passed over the bridge on Saturday. Robert Park, Dunedin, is gazetted Accountant in Bankruptcy, and J. C. Brown and Jonas Harrop, Visiting Justices at the Lawrence Gaol. Mr Bills, from Australia, leaves Lyttelton for England on the 9th to select a shipment of birds for the Canterbury Acclimatisation Society. Four cases of temporary insanity, caused by excessive drinking, have been before the Resident Magistrate, Oamaru, during the past week. A commencement has been made with the survey of the Edendale-Fortrose rail-, way line, Mr J. Black, C.E., having last started with the work. A fire broke out at one o'clock on Sunday morning in the shop of Mr Solomon, Thames-street, Oamaru. The building was completely gutted. The late Mayor of Dunedin (R. H. Leary, Esq.) was on Friday elected without opposition as Councillor for High Ward, vice H. J. Walter, Esq., elected Mayor. The Poverty Bay Herald learns that Makaraka and Matawhero have been visited by a plague in the shape of caterpillars, and that several crops have been destroyed by the depreciations of these insects. Two .Presbyterian ministers and a Home missionary are expected to arrive from Scotland shortly. They are the Rev. David Gordon, of Strabane ; the Rev. Mr Sutherland, of Edinburgh ; and a Mr Graham. The Hon. W. J. Clarke, M.L.C., is the largest landed proprietor in Victoria, being registered as the possessor of 104,352 acres of land, worth L 476,727. The land tax on this property amounts to L6OOO j)or annum. It is intended to re-lay a great portion of the rails from Christchurch to Dunedin with 52ib steel rails, equal to 641 bof iron. This has been found necessary in consequence of the wear and tear caused to the light rails by the heavy traffic' The change will begin at Selwyn on Monday. The Committee appointed to consider the schemes sent in for a supply of water to Christchurch are going to make an experiment with a three feet cylinder sunk in one of the islands on the Waimakiriri. This plan has' been suggested by Mr j William White, a well-known Provincial j contractor. Messrs Parker's property in the Waimate district, of 9500 acres, was sold during the week to Driver and Co., of Dunedin. The price has not transpired, but it is believed to have been satisfactory to the sellers. This property was Avithdrawn from sale a short time ago at L 9 103 per acre. Mr T. Kelly, member for New Plymouth, and Mr H. Weston, proprietor of the Taranaki Herald, have been charged by the Harbour Engineer with conspiring to oust him from his appointment. The Committee of the Harbour Board are investigating the charges. The matter has caused some excitement. The Rev. A. Blake, M.A., has been . appointed by the Dunedin Presbytery to Ilaveusnourne, Rothesay, and St. Leonards ; the Rev. Mr Boyd, to Winton and Forest Hill ; Mr Blackie (student of divinity), to Cromwell, Bannockburn, and Bendigo ; the Rev. Mr Lothian is continued at Alexandra, Clyde, and Blacks. The following home missionary appointments have also bean made : — Mr Morris, Catlin's River ; ?»fr Gilbert, Upper Waitaki ; Mr Anderson, Tapanui outfield ; Mr Stewart, Saddle Hill, Brighton, and Kuri Bush. A squatting acquaintance of mine shears over 140,000 sheep (writes _Egles in the Australasian). Towards the close of the shearing he made his appearance at the station. The evenings he found very dull, and at last suggested to the young follows, who served him for Ll a week each, a game of whist. "Oh, not whist," suggested one of them, " we have no practice. Let us play a four-handed game of euchre ! " The employer gracefully acq uiesced, and ere the sitting was over had the 1.0.U.'s of the whole party. Before returning to town all hands were paid, and their cheques were just about enough to discharge the liability of each of the partakers in the game which relieved the ennui of the owner of 140,000 sheep. On Friday evening Mr A. Kinross, a ' candidate for the y'Mataura in the Grey interest, .addressed .a, meeting . of the electors at Invercargill. He expressed himself most decidedly' in favour of the Government on all party questions. He approved of the deferred payment system, and claimed credit for supporting it in the Provincial Council. He would be in favour of a reduction of the price of deferred payment land, and an extension of time so that at the end of three years dummies could not hand over the holdings to capitalists. He lauded the Hon. Mr Stout as Minister of Lands, and advocated manhood suffrage, with one.year's colonial ' and short local residence. The numbers should be eliminated from the back of ballot papers. He believed in an elective \ Council, but the power to elect should be j vested in proper parties, and not capitalists. He agreed with the principle of the land tax, and thought that they should subsequently have,' an income tax. . He would support the Ministry in adopting measures to restrict Chinese immigration. A unanimous vote of confidence, •was passed in the candidate at the.conclusipn of his address.

The Taieri County Council will in future meet at Mosgiel instead of Outram. The Police began to receive their increased rate of j>ay from the Ist January. > Au hospital bazaar, held.at f Cromwell on Boxing Day, realised the handsome sum pf L3OO. •-■•■• ! The crops in the Timaru district will be far below tho average this season, owing to-drongh.il - '• Over twenty persons bare been drowned in the Northern Wairoa river during the last twelve months. The police seem to be no nearer capturing the Kelly gang; nor has Weiberg, the Avoca gold robber, been re-captured. Though, not yet formally decided, it is practically settled that Major Richmond will be appointed to the. vacant Speakership of the Council. A new Plymouth telegram says that the Rev. Mr. Isitt, W«Wleyan Minister has obtained 12 month's leave to visit the Hot Springs for his health. Wm. Monk, a Waipawa settler, has been committed for trial , on .charge of forging a receipt for LlO, and also for perjury in connection therewith. A serious fire is reported from Marton, Rangitikei. It broke out. during Friday afternoon in the new Temperance Hotel, and destroyed it and a Mr Russell's house. An extensive fire occurred at Sydney on Christmas morning at Grossman and' Harling's Swiss fancy warehouse, Georgestreet. The damage done is estimated at L 2500. A large nine-roomed house on Grafton road, Auckland, was burnt on Thursday morning. It was occupied by Mrs Carlyle as a boarding-house. All were absent at the outbreak of the fire. One of the workmen on the Rangitata Bridge was blown off that structure on Wednesday and carried some distance down the river by the force of the stream. He was fortunately rescued by one of his fellow-workmen. A man named Weir was on Thursday committed for trial at Christchurch for attempted rape on a young girl, aged 16. Both were living at a farmer's place at White Cliff—the girl as servant, the prisoner as ploughman, A Wellington telegram says : — lt is understood that some hitch ha 3 occurred regarding the railway free passes for the Press of the Colony. Mr Macandrew positively refuses to authorise the issue of them until such time as the matter is is brought before the Cabinet. At the inquest at Wellington on Thursday on Jolin Christie, aged 76, who died from sunstroke while mowing on Tuesday, Dr Tribe stated that it was most dangerous to work in the sun immediately after dinner. It had caused a number of deaths from sunstroke in India. On Saturday last sparks from the railway engine set fire to several private premises in Timaru, and burnt some valuable property. An inquest is to be held regarding the fire on Friday, and legal proceedings will probably be taken. At least L3OOO worth of damage has been done lately by this cause. At the Ashley County Council on Fri- . day, when speaking of the stoppage of railway passes, one of the members said he had refused to give up his, and had travelled on it that very day. The Chairman said it would be better to take the travelling expenses ont of a special fund of the Council. The matter then dropped. It is understood that the Government are organising a Detective. Department.for the whole Colony. It is probable that Inspector Thompson, of Auckland, will be Chief Inspector, and that there will be three detectives in each 6f the principal towns, and that the Government will endeavour to prevent their identity being known to the public. During the week some showers have fallen in the Timaru District, and in some cases have proved of great benefit to the crops. The harvest will begin in a few days, and already reapers are at work. It is expected that oats will open at 3s to 3s 3d, and wheat 3s to 4s 9d. No transactions of importance are reported during the week, but a feeling of enquiry is being manifested by the millers. There is'every prospect of the Geraldine County going to pieces, and each of the five ridings forming separate counties. This is owing to the County town being Temuka instead of Timaru. A large majority of people think if Temuka is allowed to be. head quarters, Milford harbour will be studied instead of Timaru. There is intense excitement in the whole of the County over the matter. Terrible as is the disaster of the Scotch Bank failure (remarks a contemporary) there was one characteristic incident with a gleam of humour in it. An old maiden lady, who was post-mistress and telegraph agent at Wick, had all her savings in the local branch of the City of Glasgow Bank. A message came through early addressed to the manager, instructing him not to open the doors, as the bank had suspended payment. The old lady presented herself at the branch at the opening hour, and drew out all her cash. She then proceeded to the bank parlonr and informed the manager that as an important telegraphic message had arrived for him she had just brought it along herself ! At a recent meeting of the Education Board in Napier the Inspector reported that out of twelve teachers who came up for examination only five succeeded in making forty per cent, ofthe total number of marks obtainable. The papers set were of an elementary character, and, the Inspector adds — " lam sorry to report that one teacher Was found copying from a book during the history examination. I refused to allow the history-paper of that teacher to count in the examination. " In reply to the Chairman, the Inspector said, that the teacher who had discovered ii royal road to history did not pass. The Board decided to dispense with the services of those who had failed to pass the examination..