Local and General News.

Lake County Press, Volume IX, Issue 468, 29 April 1880, Page 2

Local and General News.

As 'will be seen by advertisement in another column, Mr T. Newton, who gave two performances in the Athenaeum Hall last week, signifies his intention of giving an entertainment for the joint' benefit of the Arrow District Hospital. and Arrow Athenaeum' on Saturday next, Hr Newton i 3 organising a Variety Troupe to travel the Australasian Colonies, and on Saturday evening will be supported by Mr Beaumont, from Inv'ercargill, and several amateurs. He has, during a period of four years, giv.en no less than thirty-four entertainments for tho benefit of charitable ftnd other public institutions'! Such disinterested liberality is deserving qf recognition at the hands of the public, and we hope that a full house will show its appreciation on Saturday night'. The fact that all the proceeds i are to be locally distributed should secure this result.

-The contractors for tunnelling at the Victor Emmanuel claim are now nearly through with their contract (100 feet on the low level, making a"total' of 300' feet), an<f we J&e informed, on reliable authority, that the reef is three feet in width on the floor of the drive; with gold .plainly visible throughout. The Company intend, if possible, to get a crushing through at'the All Nations} battery before the season closes'. Some 20 tons of stone are at present in the paddock, and an effort will be made to crush 50 tons. This mine, although unavoidably left idle for a tjime, .ijill probably before long prove highly remunerative. .. . . ■, \ Death has for the second time visiied the ' Arrow District Hospital. On Thursday Tast, Mr J.ames Mitchell, late manager of the Tipperary Company, Macetown, died in the institution from a complication of disorders preying upon a constitution previously undermined by sickness. Deceased was" takon ill abdut a fortnight befqre his death, and" was carried down to the Hospital by the Macetown miners, who turned out in their usual kindly manner for the task. Mr L. Resta did all that lay in his power for the sufferer, and (on behalf of the Company) engaged the services' of an attendant to watch each night during his sickness. The news of Mr Mitchell's death was received at Macetown with great regret,' and a goodly number of his fellow-workers there attended his funeral at the Arrow Cemetery on Friday. . _Mjss M'Cracken announces, her intention of given lessons in vocal and instrumental'music. The musical attainments of this lady are of no mean order, and pupils should progress' well under her tuition. Our attention has been called to the unprotected and exceedingly dangerous state of the old Barracouta shaft. Situated; as it is, within a few feet of the track leading to the bridge, it is almost a wonder no Qasualties have occurred; However, more than one valuable animal has made a final. plunge into it; and perhaps the Town Councillors might do something to remove the possibility of human life, being sacrificed. Byrthe-way, our Town Councillors appear to forget that they have responsibilities lower down than the Camp, hence the unrepaired and dangerous state of the bridge we referred to a fortnight since. The two jobs might be attended to together.' . "We have been shown some splendid specimens of Derwent potatoes, grown by Mr P. Butel in his garden at the Arrow Hour Mills. Two of them weigh four-and-a-half pounds, and so heavy is the crop, putting aside the question of size, that judges put it down at twenty tons to the acre.

Fears are entertained for the safety of Mr William Gourley, late of Mataura.' The ' Ensign .'. says that ho left the residence of his uncle, Mr James Pol look,' with whom he was staying on the Bth April, to go rabbitiiig. He Was seen near the Maori Bush, Mataura';at ahbut 4 p.m. on the same day, bu* r has not since been heard of. His dogs returned home on the .following day. Mr Pollock and - Constable Fretwell' have searched the river banks and the bush without discovering any trade of the missing man."' GourleJfiS thirtysix of age, and is well knowfc in Clinton and Balclutha.' . .... The Chinese miiiers at Upper Waikaia are doiiig remarkably well. The ' Tuapeka Times' correspondent states that their earnings range from £IOO to £SO per week per man. Law, physics, ana divWty are'welTsupplied with female members in the United States. The lady doctors number 530, dentists 420; while 68 are preachers, and 20 practice as lawyers. Some ladies' adopt two or more callings at once. A lady living in St. Louis notifies on her door-plate that she is an " elocutionist, poetess, washer and ircmer." A case"' was heard in the ' District" Court, Christchurch, in whieh a man who bought some'Kalifat wheat sued to recover damages for loss of orop.: The wheat, which is a .Russian w'as'proved had" tteen sold to him as spring wheat, whereas it was a winter cereal. He sowed in September, and the consequence was a loss of crop. He was awarded the value thereof. He also sued for the value of grass at the same time, but it was held that as sbop as- he saw the wheat was going to bo a failure "he ougSt'to have taken measures to secure the grass. -A somewhat tragical occurrence is reported from JUetterkenny, County, Donegal. A man name'd DenmVMartin ano/his sister Margaret resided with their" brother's child, seven years' of age, on' a mountain farm just outside the relief district of Letterkenny recently formed. Their farm contained twenty-six acres, held at a rent recently increased to £4 3s Bd, There had been distraint" for rent, and it ia'stated that the entire produce of the farm was exhausted seven weeks ago. It is not kpown how they lived since, but on January 22 attention was attracted" to the house by the screams of the child, and It was found : there were several cuts' on the child's face, which, in the absence of her brother, the woman had inflicted. Being questioned; she said she did it to prepare the child for heaven. It appeared that neither the woman—who is now a raving lunatic—nor'her brother had tasted food for four days. A neighbor brought in some milk, but the woman refused to take it, saying,'« We don't need it; going to heaven.' She has been removed to the lunatic asylunj. , We (' Lyell Times ') are not great on Spuds, but a Spud Three and'a half Founds is pretty fair for Waikato. The minor charges preferred against Butler were disposed of at the sitting of the Supreme Court on Wednesday last. As' was expected Butler pleaded guilty to the charge of burglary at Stamper's, but. he pleaded' "Not guilty'' to the charge of stealing books from the choir of the Catholic church. On the charges of burglary and larceny he received sentences of eighteen and ten years' penal 'serv'ftucte, to run concurrently, birt if"h's'conducts himself weLVhe will,' according to the regulations, be entitled to a remisidou equal to about ono-fourth of his term. ' The charge of presenting a loaded revolver at the constables was abandoned at the suggestion of the Court, but in respect to" the other charges of murder Mr Haggitt will consult with the AttorneyGeneral as to whether they, .will be proceeded with or not. The Crown Prosecutor gave the Court some interesting information as to Butler's criminal career. It appears that ho arrived" in Victoria by the ship General Palmer in 1553, and that he graduated in crime in 1800, at the early ago of twelve, when he received twelve months iov vagrancy. At sixteen he was convicted of robbery under arms. In Victoria he was known by the aliaset of George Lee, James Wilson", and Midway. The Victorian police described him as " an expert burglar who usually carried firearms." He left Victoria with" the intention of joining one Maurice de Harven, another discharged prisoner from Peutridge. He was born at Kilkenny, Ireland, in IS4B, and is therefore thirty-two years of ago. At the last sitting of the Waste Lands Board a letter was received from Mr Warden Stratford, suggesting that all applicationa made for land within his district be advertised for one month'. It was resolved to inform'the District Laud Officer that in the case of an application" of an exceptional nature requiring an advertisement, he should be authorised to insert such advertisement.

The Rev. Mr Byng delivered an interesting lecture upon " Matrimony,", at the Temperaribe Hall" Duflfedin last week. In the course .of his'remarks the rev. lecturer quoted divine authority for marriage, and said that it was designed solely for man's happiness and the prevention of impurity of life. The vaunted freedom of the bachelor he characterised as rubbish, and having been both a bachelor and a married man declared unhesitatingly for the comforts and joys of marriage. In reply to the question : ""When am I to marry?" he would say that no young man should think of marriage before he has attained twenty-five years; and no young lady before she was nineteen. He specially those intending f,o marry, to choose some one in their oWn station of life, and of their own religion, as though instances had been whore unequal marriages had been happy, yet as a rulo the opp'osito was the case. . . . The editor of the. ' Jjyell Times' has received a lawyer's letter threatening an action for libel owing to certain statements contained in his correspondence column recently. He says:—"My answef to thiß letter is. .Mr Cowan. As a Barrister, you are entitled to' that c6uftesy due from one Gentlemen to another* therefore accept my thanks for yeur kind intentions, I have been told that Lawyers, are not allowed to enter the kingdom of Heaven, I am glad of it, for after you have hanged me, you and " Your Client," will no doubt depart in peace and happiness, to '' the wanner and more congenial regions below " where I trust you m;ay long remain.—l am, Yours truly, T. J. Metcalfe." A Gisbbrne telegram of the 22nd iiist says : —The Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday again presented an undignified scene. A case against A. F. Hardy, for perjury, was proceeding and during the examination of one of the -witnesses for the prosecution, Mr Matthew Price, one of the presiding magistrates, expressed his astonishment at the witness recollecting what had transpired about three months ago. The witness objected to discredit being thrown upon his testimony, and

Mr Price replied that the.witness' recollej was better than a shorthand! Reporter's 3 Mr Bees, solicitor for the prbsocutioiil monstrated with the Bench and ' stated] such scenes tended to bring the admini'str] of justice" hi'to 'contempt, and made it difl to conduct cases in' a' proper way. Mr Mad Price forthwith committed Mr Rees for! tempt, "and ordered the bailiff- to take ha charge, which the bailiff did. Mr' Reel fused to withdraw the expressions compl] of, and the Bench* fined him £1;-and] adjourned the Court, but Mr Rees declinl pay' tho fine. When' the Court a] assembled, a number of persons were anl to pay the fine, but Mr Rees wbuld not] sent, preferring to take the alternative ! fortnight's imprisonment. Mr Rees deoj t6go on with the case, and his clients'b unable'to eonduct their case, and refukin] employ other counsel, another adjourn* for two hours took place. Eventui through the strong pressure of friends of i Mr Rees consented 'to the payme: the fine, and appealed in Court'for'nisei in the afternoon. d