LOCAL AND GENERAL

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume III, Issue 361, 8 October 1889, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

A notice has bean served upon the proprietor of the Poverty Bay Herald, by Mr W. Brassey, solicitor, notifying that a writ for libel will be issued against the of the journal referred to, on account of a para, graph that appeared on Saturday evening, The Whataupoko .Road Boapd met on Friday afternoon. It was decided to have the works on Valley Lane performed to the satisfaction of Mr Warren, and that u small sum be allowed to McCarthy for filling in the holes. The Board drew the Engineer’s Attention to the inferior gravel that was being put on Russell Street. The following accounts wi re passed : -It. Knox, £2O; F. Hicks, £4O; J. Ollivier, £4 tss 6d ; D. McCarthy (provisional) £3 15 s , The paving in Bnllanoe Street; was ordorod to bo lluu® without delay,

At last night’s meeting of the Mutual Improvement Society the President gave an account of his wanderings in the North Island a short time ago. The description was an interesting one and was enlivened by various stories culled during the journey and told again in Mr Ward’s inimitable manner.

At a meeting of the Kiiti Road Board yesterday a report was received from the committee of ratepayers appointed to draw up a schedule of works in which they re® commended the Board to apply for £2OOO. It was agreed that the Board at its next meeting should proceed by special order to adopt the Loans to Local Bodies Act. A deep interest is being taken in the lectures delivered in the Theatre Royal by Mr Daniells. The Eastern Question was the subject dealt with last evening. “ The mystery finished, or the borderland of eternity,” is advertised for this evening. This will deal with one of the most interesting lives of prophecy found in the .Scriptures, and will follow human history from the fall of the Roman empire to the close of probation. The opening of the rowing season will make this afternoon quite a festive occasion. The services of the Gisborne Band will enliven the occasion by the discourse of sweet music. The launch Snark will lead the procession, which is to take place just before 4 o’clock. Fine weather ia all that is required to make the opening ceremony the most successful of its kind that has yet been held in Gisbcrne.

On Friday evening the lady members of the Cinderella Qudrille Assembly gave a return dance, tn at being the closing dance of the Assembly’s season. Miss Crawford acted as Secretary for the ladies, who excellently carried out all the arrangements in the way of providing music, refreshments, etc. There were between fifty and sixty couples present, and the dance (which took place in Porter’s hall) was a great success, concluding at about 2 on Saturday morning. The first annual meeting of Licensed Interpreters for the purpose of electing a council for the district of Gisborne, which includes Hawke’s Bay, took place yesterday at the office of Mr E. F’. Harris, when the following gentlemen were elected : E. F, Harris, President; J. P. Hamlin, VicePresident ; A. McKay, Secretary and Treasurer; J. Carroll, J. T. Large, M. J. Gannon, and T. W. Lewis, jnr. The other districts are that of Auckland, Wellington, and Whanganui. The Hon. Mr Fergus, Minister of Justice, is President of the Association.

A special meeting of the Borough Council was held last night. Mr Gilberd made an offer to continue boring for another 100 feet at the rate of £2 per foot, time being allowed for payment. Want of space prevents our giving a report of the discussion on the subject. Cr. Dunlop proposed, and Cr. Lucas seconded, that the offer be declined. Cr. Townley proposed and Cr. Whinray seconded that the offer be accepted. The amendment was lost—for : Crs. Whinray, Townley, and the Mayor; against: Crs. Dunlop. Lucas, Lewis, Taylor, Hepburn, and Coleman. This means that the well has been abandoned for the time being. The Chilians have (says a Home paper) evidently discovered the secret of longevity. From a recent return it appears that nearly 500 persons out of a total of 2,500,000 are upwards of a hundred years old. One man puts his age down at 150, making himself the oldest man in the world. After him comes a woman aged 138; two women and one man report themselves at 135 ; 132, 130. and 127 each have a representative, while there are seven 125 years old, eight 120, twenty-seven 115, and no less than ninety-one aged 110. But they are mostly coloured persons. The whites in Chili are‘cut down like flowers at the early stgs of 90 or so. At the Police Court yesterday morning Alfred Weston pleaded guily to a charge of being drunk on Saturday evening last. Mr Campbell Thomson, who was on the Bench, said he was sorry to see Weston in that position again, as he had hoped that the previous convictions would have induced him to mend his ways. He would be fined the same amount as on the previous charge, £2, with the alternative of 14 days’ imprisonment. Mr Thomson expressed a hope that Weston would now give up that wretched habit. The prisoner asked to be shewn the law relating to his case, as he did not consider he was drunk when arrested, A judge had passed the remark that no person could be called drunk so long as he was able to walk home and treat those around him with civility. The Bench said the prisoner had admitted the charge. Weston was then removed, and shortly afterwards paid the fine. An inmate of the Adelaide Lunatic Asylum, known as Louis Brennan, has been identified by Queensland police officers as W. O. Geddes, who insured his life for £2500, and was reported to have been drowned at Gaboolture twelve years ago. Concert and Shakesperian Entertainment to-night, Tuesday, October Bth, St. Andrew’s Literary Association, Admission : One Shilling.—Advt.