LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hastings Standard, Volume VI, Issue 1640, 1 October 1901, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Shearing commences on the Marae kakaho station on Tuesday, October 22nd. The usual monthly meeting of the Hastings Fire Brigade will be held this evening. Mr D. T. Murfitt has to-day removed from his old livery premises into his new spacious and up-to-date stables in Market street. The box plan for Pollard's Opera season in Hastings, commencing on next Monday night, will be opened at Chadwick's to-morrow morning. The racehorses Destroyer and Derringcotte left Hastings this morning to fulfil their engagements in Masterton and Wanganui respectively. Mr Charles G. Cunnold, of Hastings, notifies that he has just landed a shipment of the celebrated ball-bearing table mangles besides a fresh stock of the wellknown Beale-Torpedo Sewing Machines. He invites the public to call and inspect at his premises in Ellison road, opposite the brewery. Mr J. T. Lane, representing Messrs Joseph Nathan and Co., was in Hastings to-day to take over the Heretaunga Dairy Factory and creameries. Mr Lang met with a nnmber ,of suppliers at the Manor* factory this morning for the purpose of making arrangements beneficial to both parties in the management of the factory during the term of Messrs Nathan's lease. The American Oup, in trying to wrest which from the Yankees English yachtsmsn have already spent about jE850,000, h described as a " mishappen silver mug of no particular design." The bottom is out of it, its carving is inferior, and if melted down it would be worth, according to present quotations for silver, about JEIS. A good story is being told of three boys who had done well at school, and ■had been rewarded by their parents for their industry. They were describing their rewards to each other. One had a book, dedicated to "a good schoolboy." Another had received a mug bearing his name in big red letters. The third boy scorned such paltry gifts. "My father," he said proudly, " has given me a silver spoon with 'Hotel Cecil' on it!" The opening of a lecture tour among the Dutch is announced, in the course of which thirty alleged Englishmed will night by night traduce their countrymen with infamous stories of atrocities in South Africa. Assuming that these lecturers really are Englishmen . . . unable to secure a hearing for their vile fables in their own country, they sneak abroad to seek an audience which will swallow and applaud anv lie against the British Army and nation. —Express. An American woman, who is a Christian scientist, maintains that mosquitoes have brains and reasoning pewers, that it is "outrageous" to kill the " little harmless inserts," end that all that is necessary is to reason with them, She says : 'lf a mosquito is troubling you just speak to him kindly and say: 'Look here, my friend, yo i If are me alone and I'll leave you alaop.' Then believe that he won't bite you ! Even if he does his sting won't hurt. I hive done this for years, and now enjoy having the pretty little things around and listening to their musical buz2." An item of news of considerable interest to this colony generally, and to producers especially, is contained in a recent Tasmanian paper. It runs thus :— '* West Devonport. The following telegram was despatched to the Right Hon. Edward Barton, Melbourne :—' The Chamber of Commerce and Merchants' Association of Dcsvonport humbly pray that the Federal Government will consider the interests of Nonlurn Tasmania by checking the ruinous competition at times caused by the importation of New Zealand praduoe into t'aa Commonwealth,' "

Tl>p falmon continue to do well at the Hikotaramea hatchery. We hear that sr.u ■ CO.OOO or 60,000 of these fish are to auch an extent that it ia possible that within a short period they will be liberated in the tributaries of the Waitaki. Mr Dalgelish, with his assistant (Mr Ay son, jjnr.), watch these little fish, and undev their able supervision it is almost, certain that the Waitaki will soon have greater charms than ever for wily anglers to induce them to come from all parts of the colony for their sport.— Oamaru Mail.

Few people are perhaps aware (says the Daily Chronicle) that there exists in our 801 l Office a sealed-up bag of letters and documents which onoe belonged to Queen Elizabeth, and has never been opened. It seems that, according to tradition, it contains the secret correspondence of " our great Eliza " —possibly the love letters of Elizabeth—and that it oan only be examined with the joint consent of the reigning Sovereign, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Lord Chancellor—who, considering Queen Elisabeth and her affairs are ancient history, might now be induced to see for themselves, if not tor the public, what the bag really contains. Mr A. L. D. Fraser, during the discussion in the House on Friday evening regarding troopers' horses, brought a retort upon himself through implying that Mr G. Fisher, who had spoken previously had disparaged the horses from the Napier district. Mr fisher, in reply, said, " The hon. member ia quite wrong. I never said the horses on the East Coast were no good, for I never spoke about the horses on the East Coast." " Besides," continued Mr Fisher, "it is well understood that the East Coast district produces better horses than men." If Mr Fisher's qualifications to speak about horses be not superior to, his opinions concerning man we can scarcely feel flattered at the left-handed compliment which he evidently desires to pay our district.

The following comment from the Australian Star illustrates how the New South Wales folk took the beatings of their representative football t*am in New Zealand:—"Were ou,r mm beaten Ht the game of football or at N-w Zealand past i'me of bullocking ? ("rood and unbiassi d judges, hailing neither from New South Wales nor from 'the Britain of the South," who in previous years have witnessed the games in the latter countiy, have declared that all the science was with the New South Welshmen, all the 'north country navigation' (main strength and stupidity) with the Maorilanders. A beefy giant, armed with a claymore, would most probably effectively carve a smaller master at arms weildi::g culy a puny rapier. And it the contest was to the death the giant would brobabl.y claim that he 'got there,' science or no science. But football is not a sport necessarily played to the death. It is. or should bs, uii exhibition of scientiiie skill, and not merely a display of the c?-:paraiive ease with which hard, heavy u*"i! can prance oyer others of slighter WW,

The quarterly summoned meeting of Court Heretaunga was held last evening, the C.R. (Bro. Taylor) occupying the chair. After routine business had been disposed of, two new members were initiated. The initiation fees have been'.'reduced thy lowest being 5s and the highest Constable Pidgeon stiil bears truces of rus terrific conflict with the maninc who attacked him so murderously whilst being conveyed to the Wellington Asylum, but all things considered he escaped verv luckily. As there is no means of communicating with the guard whilst the train is travelling the Government authorities should send two men with a powerful lunatic, like the man Holmes, otherwise the consequences may be verv serious. The clearing sale c: dairv :->,-i held at Mr Davey's farm. Oatlands, i'ukii!-:. by the Hawke's Bay I\muors I'o-opai-a tive Association v SS -v»!l attended Some 3 30 cows were put np t. ; uelt as a numbor of young stock. Quotaiions were as follows .-—Cows in profit nnd springing from £5 to £Boa ; ave: -s'ing .as Vis all through ; yearlings £2 9s, weauars Jb'l ss, fad ewes lis fid. Cows on behalf of various other clients were also offered, aud sold at prices varying from £4 to £7 10s. A meeting of the Tamatea Council was held to-day. Otene Wirinana being in the chair. The by-laws were passed through their.final stages. A report relating>o the working of the Council since its inception was submitted by the Secretary and adopted, and this with the by-laws will be sent to Wellington for the" approval of the Native Minister. A lively discussion took place over the tohunga question. Several members suggested toil the so called tohungas should be examined by the Council as to their skill in curing, aud ascertain the relation between these and spirits. If the Council find that a tohunga can benefit the people by his method of curing diseases it will issue a license, but unless this license be given no one will be allowed to practice tohungaism. A coachman brought before the court in Paris excited some curiosity, as he bears upon his body a complete record of the Dreyfus affair tattooed m blue, black, red, and green tattoo, the work was done bv a soldier in an African regiment, and occupied eighteen months in completion. The chief picture is an allegorical representation of the degradation ceremony tattooed on the man's back, and which occupied three months in tattooing. The doctor was so impressed with the beauty of this picture that he offered the man £lO for the skin of his back, undertaking to remove it in an almost painless manner, but the man said he drew the line at being flayed, though his experiences with the tattoo artist were not very far short of it^