PROVINCIAL AND COLONIAL.

Cromwell Argus, Volume VII, Issue 327, 15 February 1876, Page 7

PROVINCIAL AND COLONIAL.

The streets of Invercargill were lighted with gas for the first time on the Ist instant. We notice that a man named George Cockroft, a butcher, was drowned at Grahamstown some days since. Cockroft was at one time in business in Invercargill, where, we believe, some relations of his yet reside. Four young girls at the Thames have challenged a like number of the men of the North Shore Club (Auckland) to row a distance of three miles for £lO. The challenge is said to be bona fide, and the stake is likely to be increased, if desired by the challenged party. A Wellington telegram, Bth instant, says;:— Smat, who perpetrated the Hutt outrage, was brought before the li.M. this morning and committed for trial upon two charges of attempt to murder. The principal evidence was given by Young and Theist. Young looked very pale, and the wounded arm hung down shrivelled and powerless. Smat newer once raised his eyes, and looked to be pining away. We have received Number 1 of a new weekly publication issued in Christchurch, in the interest of the Licensed Victuallers of this colony. It is entitled The New Zealand Licensed Victuallers' Gazette, and will be edited by Mr T. H. Fielding. It is a neat specimen of typography, and the matter chosen is appropriate and pointed. The proprietors,' in their. _address to the licensed victuallers, announce their motto as follows :—" 'The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the'truth.' This is the motto we have chosen for our journal. We mean to act up to it. Unhesitatingly we announce our determination to place before the Licensed Victuallers and the general public, persistently and ; consistently, weuk by week, our views with reference to the social interests of the community with which the Licensed Victuallers are intimately associated." The latest novelty in public "amusement' in Paris is a trapeze performer who allows himself to be tired out of a mortar a distance of some 45ft. before he catches the swinging-bar. The mortar is actually charged with gunpowder, which is lighted in the ordinary way, and makes a loud report. The effect of the powder is,to loosen a spring, which sends the man spinning through space. At first there was some difficulty in adjusting the spring to the required nicety, and when the performer came to try it he was shot about 6ft. too far, sustaining a dislocated shoulder and a broken rib. He persevered, and has now succeeded in having himself ejected at the required rate. "L'Homme Obus," as he calls himself, is just now one of the sights of Paris. Not Bad for the J.P.'s.—ln the Wellington Museum, like all other institutions of a similar character, a book is kept in which visitors are requested by a notice posted above to insert their names, occupation, and residence. Just before the end of the last session the clerk had occasion to look over the book, and found during the month Of August about forty or fifty " J.P. 's" attached to as many names. His astonishment was great. J.P. stood for the Justice of the Peace certainly, but where on earth could so many of them have sprung from all at once ? Curiosity prompted him to make enquiries, and shortly afterwards he found to his extreme disgust that J. P. stood for " Journeyman Printer" as well as Justice of the Peace. It appeared that most of the printers in the Government Printing Office had taken it into their heads to visit the Museum in a body, and as the " occupation" column in the visiting book was rather narrow, had contracted their profession to J. P. They have not got over the bitterness engendered by the late election at Wakatipu. Messrs Manders, Cope, Harris, and others "wire in" to each other heartily through the Mail every week. The following extract from the last epistle of Mr Lewis Harris conveys a fair notion of the style in which it is done : Belonging as Ido to the genus homo, I do not profess to be infallible, and I daresay can lay claim to my share of what is vulgarly called "cheek," but 1 boldly assert that I lack the brazen-faced assurance it would require to ask any man to record his vote for a gentleman of Mr Cope's social and political calibre. Any person who heard what fell from his lips at the declaration of the poll, and has read his " explanation," will confess that, mendacity of the most unblushing description appears to be his forte, and that he can claim kinship with the immortal Tom Pepper, who was kicked out of a place that shall be nameless for a similar weakness. He likewise taunts Mr Btadshaw's supporters for lacking a sufficiency of brains to get up sundry squibs against himself and Mr Manders. As it is a well-known fact that charcoal will leave no mark on a black man, it was not thought requisite to make use of any, such expedients. ;

The Colonial prize-firing at Wanganui will commence on the 24th instant.

In the way of showing how colonists travel (says a contemporary), it may be mentioned that the daughter of lir Turner, now resident in Auckland, and aged about eight years, has already been seven times round the world. Mr T. L. Shepherd (the late member for this district) addressed a well-attended meeting at the Blue .Spur on Tuesday evening. After reviewing and explaining thejjpolitical position, he gave his reasons for retiring from political life, ascribing fit to private causes. At the conclusion of his address, which w:-s very well received and repeatedly applauded, the following resolution, proposed by Mr James Campbell, of the Otago Mining Company, was carried with acclamation :—"That this meeting has listened with great pleasure to Mr shepherd's able exposition of the political situation, and begs to thank him heartily for the same. Further, this meeting regrets that he has seen lit to retire from political life, and trusts he may again find it convenient to represent a goldfields constituency in the General Assembly of New Zealand."

Mr W. Talboys, London House ?Drapery Establishment, wants everybody to know that he is clearing out his stock of Drapery, Millinery, Clothing, Roots and Shoes at a shade over cost price. He desires to draw attention to the prices quoted in his advertisement in another part of the paper, which will satisfy the reader that he really means business, and is determined that purchasers will have no cause to go away without being persuaded of the bona fide* of this Clearing Sale.—Note the address—Talboys' Lo\ t dov TTotjsr.— Arlvf ..

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