LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hastings Standard, Issue 93, 13 August 1896, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Skating Kink at the Princess Theatre was again largely patronised last evening. Arrangements for the Athenaeum plain and fancy dress ball are complete, and the affair promises to be the event of the season. In the Native Land Court this morning the case for the claimants in Poukawa was commenced, and is likely to occupy some time. A quantity of reading matter appears on our fourth page, including an account of a sensational steeplechase. When it is stated that the race was run in five sees quicker time than Waratah's win the previous year, the performance stands out as unique. At Masterton on Monday two boys were sentenced to three days' imprisonment for stealing pigeons. Recently Drake Wood, formerly a wellknown labor organiser, was killed at Ilfracombe, Queensland, by being thrown from a cart. A domestic servant in Sydney, who had some words with her mistress, afterwards made attempts to commit suicide by poisoning and drowning. The Spectator considers that directly the demand for bicycles slackens, and competition brings prices down, the average cost of a machine will settle between £5 and .£7. The "Irish ruffian" who assaulted Lawyer Jellicoe in Wellington on Monday night has not been found, notwithstanding a reward of .£IOO for his conviction. Jellicoe's imagination goes a long way we think. The Rev. Bertram Hawker, of Adelaide has donated a cheque for £IOO to the Bishops' Home Mission Society as a thanks offering on the occasion of his marriage. Mr Robert Ponting, the sole survivor of the steamer Alert, which foundered some time ago, has commenced an action for damages against the owners, HuddartParker, & Co. A miner named Johnson, at the Golden Fleece mine, Walhalla (Vic.), was caught in the rebound of a wire rope, which broke under a strain of a two-ton fly-wheel, and he was thrown a distance of 200 ft. His neck was broken.

On the night of the 24th ultimo a round piece of iron was placed across two rails at Bowenfels (N.S.W.) railway station. A goods train struck the obstacle and knocked it clear of the line, without any damage having been clone. What they are coming to at Home. One of the largest Board Schools in Essex recently advertised for two assistant teachers at £B4 and £SO respectively, " in addition to rations, lodging, and washing, besides an allowance of four guineas per annum ' in lieu of beer.'" At Slough, near Windsor, an old widow named Palmer, was found dead in an arm chair, with a portion of a clothes line wound several times round her neck. This was pulled so tightly that it closed the windpipe, and excluding air from the lungs caused death. The following candidates are spoken of for the new Pahiatua constituency:— Messrs Job Vile, H. W. M'Cardle, G. Whitcombe, S. Bolton, F. Y. Watty, and J. Taylor. Tt is thought that the sitting member for Waipawa, Mr Hall, will also be"a candidate, one half of his electorate being taken from him. An alleged attempt by an incendiary to burn down the Ferry Hotel, Marlboroughtown, is being investigated by the Blenheim police. The dining room of the hotel was found to be on fire late on Saturday night, and circumstances pointed to some one having opened a window and thrown some inflammable material into the room. One morning a little boy was crying in an apartment of a royal palace in Berlin. The father enquired into the cause of it. " Oh," said the eldest son, " I was only showing my little brother who was Crown Prince in this establishment." " Oh, indeed!" was the reply, " please to come to my room, and I will show you who is Emperor." Eight sampleo of Yictorian butter were analysed a few weeks ago by the Gorernment Analyst in Western Australia. A copy of the report was tabled in the Legislative Assembly recently. It §howed that of the eight samples tested ibxee *'erg found to be genuine butter, while the other five were adulterated to an extent varying from 13 to 17 per cent. The substance used for adulterating included cocoanut oil, palxnoet oil, vegetable oil, and animal fct.

A parlormaid for Flaxmere is advertised for. The rainfall in Dunedin during July amounted to about 11 inches. Kain fell on 24 days. Mr "William Slowey, formerly of Westport, who went to South Africa a few years ago, was badly wounded in the leg in a recent engagement against the Matebele, and the limb has since had to be amputated. When in New Zealand Mr Slowey was a prominent footballer. A information is reported to have been laid against D. M. Harris, who recently disappeared in a mysterious way from Patea, as there is alleged to be something wrong with the accounts of the Patea West Boad Board of which he was secretary. In Dunedin recently a white woman married a Chinaman. The bride was dressed in black, in accordance with the Chinese custom. After the ceremony a collection was made, realising £4O, which was handed to the wife for her separate use. A criminal libel action was tried at Lumsden, Southland, against one who, acting for a lodge of Good Templars, wrote to the Wallace Licensing Committee, reflecting on the conduct of an hotelkeeper. The Stipendiary Magistrate will hear legal argument at Invercargill. The Forbury School Committee intends holding a special meeting to consider a statement made by Mr Lester (one of the committeemen) at the Schools Conference, to the effect that the strap was going at times for the space of an honr and a-half or two hours without intermission. Fowler Fries Heinsuit, a farmer, had on Saturday a family consisting of hk wife and three children (says a Toronto telegram of May 11). This morning he has nine children. His young wife presented him with six babies at one birth, three boys and three girls, all bright, welldeveloped, and able to cry lustily. She is 27 years old. Mr Justice Denniston refused the discharge of a Christchurch bankrupt who owed considerable debts to medical men, whose claims he had, His Honor considered, not made any reasonable effort to satisfy, though he had paid off other creditors. His Honor animadverted severely on the debtor's conduct relative to the men who had come to his assistance in his ill-luck On Saturday last the first speech in Waikato of the coming election campaign was delivered at the Pukete gum-field by a canndidate for the Western Maori division named Ngarangi Katitia, of Pater. The candidate is a half-caste, and had with him a following of about 20 to assist his candidature. He also had a large printed placard showing the amount of property he was possessed of in land and live and dead stock, with a list of his principal supporters in the various parts of Taranaki. He spoke very strongly against the King movement. His remarks in this respects were not well received by some of the Ngarireka natives, but it is believed he w r i'.l receive a very large amount of support in this district, particularly from the Ngatihouria tribe.—Waikato Times.

A telegram to an English paper from Massowah confirms the intelligence of the acquittal of the Italian General, Baratieri. In their verdict the members of the Courtmartial deplored the fact that the command of the Italian troops should have been confided to an incompetent leader. The verdict dismisses as not proven the charge that the General had attacked the enemy on other than military grounds, and adds that he remained under fire in the first line throughout the encounter, and was one of the last to retire ; and although he omitted for the time being to give final orders, he did not throw up his command. Accused was acquitted of the charge of neglect, and the Court added that there was no reason for proceeeding against him on the ground that he lacked capacity. 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. 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, &c. In bottles, 2s and 2s 6d, at Neil's Botanic Dispensary, Emerson street, Napier, and all leading storekeepers.—Advt. Neil's Corn Curb 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. Mr. L., a broad-minded pressman, met Mr. C, a Prohibitionist, the other day. " That's a nasty cough you've got," said L. " Come and have a rum hot; it'll do you good." "No, thanks; Woods' Great Pepperment Cure for me; it beats all your rum hots for coughs and colds, it's sold everywhere."—Advt.