Local and General.

Clutha Leader, Volume XVII, Issue 835, 18 July 1890, Page 6

Local and General.

Mr "Wrsiipw is r being requisitioned to ■*&m test mbiPaieri -seat. "! William 'Mea/'a settler -in 'the Chatton •^istricfci.iSouthland, was thrown from his *3iorse on Saturday morning, at Stoney, iiijuriea from whicli He_> <died. *•■ ■ An -Aucidander.; proporei a farmers': '■union to keep up the prices of all produce j in " the Colony, the producers taking Iwhat they can get •£ or what fis sold „;- ••- „} ;■..-. At a .meeting held . at. Napier the value; 1 «of small settlers was, weiriliiistrated 'by Mr t Millar^ av ho -stated "that he kuew men; "who made a good' living olf 50 acres of 20 of which they used for fattening •sheep, and the .balance for producing graia -nud root*,cropsj by which means they made . l their land carry as much as five sheep to" 'the acre." ' On Saturday afternoon a number of *lads started a*' hare and hounds" chaso •on the western suburbs of Auckland. One •o£ them :as r-hound ; was a -lad named ', 'Thomas Wilson j. son of Mr Wilson, a : The lads kept running and. nvalkingjat short intervals for an hour and a-half. ...They had; run up hill from Citus * Greek* for a iinish, when Wilson suddenly <f .Xam ; donc/' and. fell senseless*, all 'efforts to restore liiin proving fruitless. s*he igirliLeta, Meiirant, aged 16, who •committed suicide .at Dargaville, it transpired ,at '; the inquest, waa always conto 'be a x very and -intelli- ! -gent girl, but was a' great reader of novels' ■and sensational tales, and her parents think that her -mind -might have become turned' through reading these. The jury returned a verdict " That the deceased <took<» dose- Of ''-rough on rats ' while in a of temporary insanity caused by reading sensational literature. " Oonstable Duggan had -what looks like a miraculous escape from a terrible death on Wednesday last on tho track between 1 the Roaring Meg and Cardrona. While -riding along the track in question, which "was reiidered dangerous for travelling •owing *to the ' recent heavy frosts, the horse slipped, and falling heavily rolled over a steep embankment, and by the time he had reached the bottom was al■■most'knocked into a pulp. The constable, 'however, was either thrown out of the, saddle or succeeded in divorcing himself ■ from -it before the animal began his descent, and so escaped with nothing worse l fhan a=sovere shaking. — Tuapeka Times. Shortly after 6 o'clock/ on Thursday •morning last week an alaj:m of fire was given, . the locality of the 'fire appai*ently being about a mile from Naseby oh the Kyeburn road. A number of residents /proceeded to the place, when it was found -that the dray belonging to Robert Cochrane, a carrier, on which was a good deal of kerosene, was on fire, and investigation showed that "the unfortunate man himself had perished, the body presenting a shocking sight. ' Cochrane, who was an 'elderly man, well known and respected, is supposed to have gone, to sleep leaving '■the candle burning. Referring to the death, the Mount Ida Chronicle •states that <fi<om-the position of the body it would appear that the deceased was -endeavouring to get out of the waggon, avhesa one or his feet waa caught and he ~was unable to extricate It. When the first arrivals reached the scene a terrible sight was presented to their gaze. The waggon was one mass of flames, and in front, hanging head downward, with his feet jambed near the feed bag and his -clothing all on fire, was poor Cochrane. He was quickly~pulled from the dray, but •was found to be quite dead, his body •being charred beyond recognition. The- operative clauses of Mr Tanner's Bible-reading in Schools Bill are as follows : — ' The school committee of any school- district already, or which may hereafter be constituted under ' The Education Act 1877,' may sanction the daily reading, with or without comment, of a of the Bible in the public school or schools in such district within school 'hours, aud such reading shall be in accordance with the schedule attached 1;o tMs bill. Where comment allowed the instruction given must be of a strictly character suited to the capacities of the children, who may be questioned thereon.- The time during which such reading shall take place shall be at the beginning of, or at the cud of the meeting of the school, and shall be inserted in a time-table to be approved of by the committee, to be permanently aud con•spiciously affixed in every schoolroom in which such reading shall take place. Any rscholar may be withdrawn by his or her ;parent or guardian during such reading, •without forfeiting any of the other benefits •of the' school." Tlie schedule specifies 118 ■lessons from various portions of the Old 'Testament, 18 additional psalms, 98 New 'Testament lessons from the Gospels, aud -31 f vom the Acts of the Apostles. The -Lord's prayer and ten commandments are •to be"Gonr.mitted to memory. 'tThe'ipuplicans-of Victoria seem to receive ;a very short shrift at the hands of the magistrates. At the Footscray Police Oour^ireeently, Jane Nancarrow, licensee,, of the , IIs.lt:- way House, and Amelia Lan-' dor.ff, 'of t&e Stanley Arms Hotel, _ were charged . with Sunday trading. On the 15th Juue two men named Alfred Comber and Charles Menner were arrested by the Footscray r police for being drunk. The police ascertained from them that they -obtained licjuor that day from the two hotels' mentioned, hence the proceedings. They were put in the box, and admitted having obtained drink there, but said that they were drunk at-the time from the previous night, and- had no. clear recollecvtion. ..In Mrs: Nancarrow's. defence William Osborne and a female servant swore that they put out Comber and Menner, and that they had no drink in their presence. , A fine of L 5 with 5s costs was imposed/ Before a word had been heard in Mrs Landorffs defence the mayor an•nouncpd the same penalty. Counsel protested, and besought the bench in all Seriousness to think well what they were about in fining a person before the dofence~i was freard, especially as the vvifneß^Sie, •were drunk at the : time of the" decurericesf they were-swearing to ; bu^.he added, if . the bench hadjmade up 'their minds, there" was an end of: the matteK '. -The mayor-^- --" Not only, have lye made up our minds, but we have already entered- up the fine in the book"*.'- --Penalty Ls^with 5s costs. And this is a fair cample of how they manage these affairs in Melbourne. .

: There were, ? according 'to tilie. depart- ■> ! mental -returns, 15,423.328 sheep in the! •eolorfy on the 31 't of M iy last. At the sale of. stud sheep at Sydney this: we^k, "Vermont rams ranged from 30^s to t 260gs, ewes from 35^s to 150gs. Because he could not get buttered toast for tea Charles O'Kidfe, of Masterton, assaulted his landlady aud had to pay LI and coats. Mr D. Harris Hastings has been appointed official ag*:nt in New Zealand for the Tiismanian Exhibition to be held! at Launceston. A church parade and open air services are to be held in Auckland to augment the fnnds.for the ;relief of the survivors of the Six Hundred. Sir Robert Stout has stated to a news- I paper reporter that in his opinion the present Opposition is just as able and capable as any Opposition we have had in Parliament for yeais. English papers mention the death of an infant, due.to poison odors from a kerosene , lamp kept burning all night with the wick, turned down— a dangerous practice. Mr J. E. Brown, formerly conservator of forests in South Australia, has entered on similar duties in Now South Wales, and is organising a forestry department. A message from Adelaide says a great mice plague has appeared at Kapunda. Entire wheat stacks have been demolished, and many farmers have captured as many as GOOO of the pest in a week. A correspondent of a Nelson paper has made the discovery that L 1,700, 700 i.3 lying in the Union Bank, unused. The money was subscribed over 30 years ago to assjst the settlers at Taranaki, who were driven from their homes at the outbreak of the ! war. What is to be done with the money now ? It is said that in the event of the Opposition stonewalling the Estimates, as threatened, Ministers intend simply to keep them at it, putting up supply every day until completed, even if it should take till sth October, when the House expires by cm 1 notion of time. In that case the Ministers will leave with the obstructionists the onus of paralysing the business of the country. The total receipts of the railways for the four weeks ending 21th May, 1890, amounted to L 101,177, and the expenditure to L 53,784. In the corresponding •period of last year the revenue was L 90,039, and the expenditure* L<±9,40(5. The North Island portion of the receipts last month was L 29,157, and the South Island L 75,0.19, while the expenses were respectively LIG,7-72 and L 37,011. In the course of the financial debate Ministers -distinctly stated that they intended to ask the- House to vote them full supplies, and that should the Government have a majority at the general election they would summon Parliament in the first week in Apri'» The postmastergeneral also stated, amid cheers, that he was not one of thoso who held the opinion that another loan was brewing. If the country would only act wisely, it would return members pledged to resist further borrowing. Arthur Clampett was a passenger by the Ruapehu, which arrived at Wellington on Monday night. He goes on. to Christchurch. Clampett writes the following letter to the editor of the Evening Press : — "Sir, — My sole intention is to make a a public apology in the near future. For this reason I have crossed the ocean, and hope by my life and ability to prove to the community of New Zealand an advantage in my own profession. I shall return the amount of my passage to the gentlemen who have been so anxious for my return, with many, thanks, t regretted leaving the Colony, and I trust that the future will tell better things. God forbid that I should ever experience a repetition of the past. — Yours respectfully, Arthur G. Clampktt alias G. T. Sullivan.', — It is stated that a gentleman in Christchurch is prepared with evidence which he considers sufficient to justify proceedings being taken against Clampett for false pretences, and intends to in- ■ stitute proceedings immediately upon Clampett's arrival. At the Police Court, Gisborne, on Monday, William Black, a laborer, was charged with having, about the month of March,, murdered Robert Streeter, at Whatatutu. Mr Booth, R.M., granted a remand till Monday 21sfc inst. At the time little can be said a3 to circumstances which', gave cause to suspicion against Black of murdering Robert Streeter. The disappearance took place in March last. The prisoner, Streeter, and two others were engaged in a fencing contract on | Foster's station, and their camp was in a rough bit of country about eight miles from, the homestead. There was ill-feeling between the two men on account of the attention paid by Black to Streeter's wife. One Sunday, as two of the men in camp vere leaving for Whatatutu for stores, Streeter and Black. left the camp to go out shooting, but Black returned without Streeter, and, in reply to questions, said they had quarrelled and the latter had taken the huff and cleared out. Since that time Black has been several times in town and has lived with Mrs Streeter as man and wife, wearing the dead man's clothes. Since the disappearance was reported strict inquiries have been made, but no trace has been found of Stre3ter> although it is most unlikely he could c >nic away from thejpjace. without calling at places en route. Inquiries are being made at every police station throughout. the Colony for Streetei; and a search party is to scour the country in the vicinity of the camp in the hope- of coming across human remains. Black, some time agoj was charged with criminally assaulting an old Maori woman of 70, who, however, condoned the offence. ■