LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hastings Standard, Issue 29, 30 May 1896, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A quantity of reading matter appears on our fourth page. The new telegraph regulations come into force on Monday next, when sixpenny wires will be transmitted for the first time. The promptness with which claims are settled by the Citizen's Life Assurance Company is always a matter for congratulation. A letter of thanks for prompt settlement is published in our advertising columns to-day. It is worthy of note that the tipster of the Standard, " Gipsy Grand," named six of the winners out of the seven races at the Masterton-Opaki meeting, and in the other race he named the second horse. At the Wangamii Steeplechase meeting he named five winners in seven races, with two seconds. Mr E. M. Smith's mission to England has resulted successfully, and it is proposed to float a company with a working capital of £45,000 to deal with Taranaki ironsand. The member for New Plymouth will, no doubt, receive a great reception on his return. Alf Lawton's Company, which gives its opening performance at the Theatre Royal, Napier, this evening, comes with the highest credentials. It is a variety entertainment in every sense of the word, and a very clever one at that. A late train gives Hastings residents an opportunity of witnessing something really good. When a letter is posted on the train at Napier the sender generally takes it for granted that it will reach its destination in a reasonable time. But this is apparently a delusion. An important communication that should have reached us at 11.30 a.m. on Wednesday morning was not delivered until after the arrival of the express that evening. A letter posted on the train yesterday morning was not de livered until to-day. Surely some one is responsible, and the officials will be thanked for remedying a serious defect. Thompson, the cyclist, who left Napier on Thursday afternoon in an endeavor to break the record to Wellington, had rather a rough experience. He reached the summit of the Rimutaka an hour ahead of Fabian's time, when his tyre burst. He changed machines, but the chain of the latter becoming entangled, Thompson was compelled to give up his task. He received several bad falls, and was frost-bitten on the journey. It was a pity that circumstances did not favor him, as he is certainly possessed of indomitable pluck. The Good and Kind Club held their usual weekly meeting at St Matthew's sehoolroom last night. There was a fair attendance. Before starting the usual amusements a meeting was held and a quantity of business transacted; Mr J. Wawn was elected Chairman and Mr M. Cheer was elected to the committee. Singing and dancing occupied the greater portion of the evening. The song of Mr T. Bishop and the Roman rings performance by Messrs Peddie and Cheer were thoroughly enjoyed. One new member was elected.

The ordinary monthly meeting of the Hastings School Committee will be held o.n Monday evening. The Hon. J, M'Kenzie, who was taken ill in Auckland on Thursday, was able to be about again yesterday, and hopes to give his promised address on Monday evening. Volunteer T. Jones, of Kumara Rifles, recently established a record for the colony by putting on 105 at the three ranges out of a possible 120. At Yass, New South Wales, Mr Edward Arthur, the secietaryof the Jockey Club, has died in the local hospital from injuries received in a struggle with another man. It is stated by the Taieri Advocate that in three months 110 fewer than 200 Assy-, rian hawkers arrived in Duncdin to be distributed among the various provinces in the colony. The Melbourne Age quotes the circular report on trade with Japan, to show that there is no warranty for the existing hopes of Japan being a market for Australian produce. Mr 11. S. Fish, of Duncdin, leaves for the Home Country by the Ruahine, but he will be back in .ample time to take part in the general election. Christchurch unemployed are agitating for an Eight Hours Act, and have requested the Government to deal with the matter next session. Last week Constable Dunlop, of North Melbourne, committed suicide. He told a mate that he had been caught drinking in a hotel and feared the consequences. Two deaths from leprosy occurred at the Lazaret, Little Bay, near Sydney, during April. In one case the victim was a native of the colony, age 51, and in the other a man aged 63, whose birthplace was unknown. It is said that Mr M'Dougal, managing director of the Coal Creek Company, has been summoned for the payme nt of 29 coffins, which were supplied by a Greymouth undertaker at the recent dire disaster. It is expected the case will be settled out of Court.—Brunner News.

To sliow the fear expressed by outsiders re the safety of the Brunner mine, the Brunner News mentions that one of the neiv comers, a man who is an experienced miner, on informing his relatives that he was working in the Brunner mine, received the following cable —" Leave immediately, have wired you .£10." A serious affray occurred at the British Lion Hotel, Sydney, the other night, and the landlord drew a rovolver in his own protection. The weapon went off, shooting a man through one of his hands. With reference to a paragraph in .yesterday's issue re a resolution passed by the Knights of Labor the words "by" and "on ' were inadvertently transposed in the line which read: " the attack ox the police by the correspondent." The words should have read the other way about. A witness recently stated that he was unable to testiiy as to a certain occurrence because he had a " domestic trouble " just about that time. " What was that domestic trouble? " asked the magistrate. u Well to tell the truth," said the witness " I was in prison for stealing a cow." The Ensign reports that the frozen rabbit export industry, so far as the Mataura district is concerned, has gone on increasing in magnitude and importance ever since the commencement of the season. At the Mataura Freezing Works the number of rabbits received for freezing has mounted up by appreciable degrees from 1000 to considerably over 5000 per day. At a meeting of the Christchurch Tailoresses' and Pressers Union, which was attended by delegates from the various political and labor bodies, the question of sweating was discussed at some length, and a motion carried, " That the Government be asked to amend the Factory Act to the effect that all work be done on the premises of workshops or a factory and that any contravention of this enactment be a punishable offence for both employer and employee." In the "Wellington Magistrate's Court a married woman who took home work from a factory stated that she was paid at the rate of sixpence per dozen and was only able to finish a dozen per day. A portion of her time, however, was devoted to domestic duties, and if she were to neglect these and continue work late at night she might finish one and a half dozen articles, thus making ninepence per day. The statement was corroborated by another woman who did home work.

A Johannesburg resident wrote on the Bth March to liis friends in Sydney : —" I should strongly advise people not to come here at present, and until this trouble is all settled. There is very little fresh building starting. One architect, who had over £30,000 work ready to start prior to the crisis, had £25,000 of it cancelled by the clients who employed him, and many others in like proportion. No one but tradesmen should come here at all. Wages are very low in clerical or shop lines, and niggers do all laboring work, and are also chambermaids, and nurses, and everything else except mechanics." Much consternation was caused last winter, amongst the medical men in Wellington, by the introduction of Woods' Great Peppermint Cure for Coughs and Colds ; that a very bad cough could be cured by a 1/6 bottle, and a whole family, with a 2/6 bottle, was a serious loss to them. It is sold by all Grocers and Chemists. —Advt. Stop that Cough by taking Neil's Balm of Gilead, a positive cure for coughs, colds, chronic bronchitis, influenza, &c. In large bottles at 2s 6d, at Neil's Botanic Dispensary, Emerson street, Napier, and all leading storekeepers.—Advt. Neil's Celebrated Liver Tonic, a pure botanic remedy for all affections of the liver, biliousness, jaundice, yellowness of the skin, indigestion, See. In bottles, 2s and 2s 6d, at Neil's Botanic Dispensary, Emerson street, Napier, and all leading storekeepers. —Advt. Neil's Compound Sarsaparilla. A household medicine for purifying the blood and toning up the system. In large bottles at 2s 6d at Neil's Dispensary, Emerson street, Napier, and all leading storekeepers.—Advt. Neil's Corn Cure removes either hard or soft Corns. A few applications only necessary. Is per bottle at Neil's Dispensary, Emerson street, Napier, and all leading storekeepers.—Advt.