Lake County Press. PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY. The trust that's given thee guard, and to thyself be just. Arrowtown: September, 12, 1901. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Lake County Press, Issue 979, 12 September 1901, Page 4

Lake County Press. PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY. The trust that's given thee guard, and to thyself be just. Arrowtown: September, 12, 1901. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Attention is drawn to the sale of Mr Stevens’s household furniture and effects on Saturday next by Mr R. J. Cotter. A single buggy will also be sold after the isale. A few friends met in the Supreme Court Hotel, Queenstown, on Tuesday evening last for the purpose of bidding Mr M. O’Meara good-bye. Many, kindly references were made to Mr O'Meara’s sterling qualities. I Mil Gudgeon, sold the trout-netti ig licenses at Queenstown* yesterday. Although several lots were passed in, the moat important sections were sold. Lake Hayes brought £4, the purchaser being Mr James White.

TiiE.Queenstown Rifles' volunteer ball, ; to be held' in the Garrison Hall, Queenstown, on tlie evening of Friday, the 20th inst., promises to be liberally patronised. The arrangements will be very complete, and; patrons.caa rely on having a most enjoyable time. The charge of admission is only 55.. The officers of the Queenstown Rifles desire that all volunteers attending wear their uniforms. The final of the series of winter socials was held in the Atheneum Hall last evening, over 30 couples being present. A first-class supper was provided,, reflecting the greatest credit on the energetic ladies' committee; The music supplied by 1 Messrs Stevenson and Webb added considerably to the enjoyment of the evening. Dancing was kept up till 3 a.m.,. all regretting.that all good things unfortunately come to an e^id. The Catholic community- are about to 1 begin to renovate or rather complete St. Patrick's Church, Arrowtown. The. Rev. Father O'Donnell has made a car vase for funds and with the best possible results. Many have given £2O each. The children attending St. Patrick's school have also a project on hand' in connection with the repairs of the church. They intend holding a children's art union, in: or- | der to raise funds for a certain gift towards the building. We wish our Catholic friends every success in their undertaking. A sad and sudden death occurred locally yesterday morning, Mr James McGrath, cler c in Messrs Cotter Bros.' establishment, being found dead irt bed. Deceased young man had been in illhealth for some time-, and on Tuesday afternoon, thinking ne had the influenza, took to bed. It was never for a moment anticipated that anything serious would happen. Before be l-time he did not appear to be any worse. However as before stated he was found dead the following morning. It is presumed the actual cause of death was heart disease. An inquest will be held this morning Deceased was much respected, and to the sorrowing friends we tender our dee}) sympathy. The funeral takes place this afternoon, leaving St. Patrick's Church at 3..

Mr Scobie Mackenzie, ex-M. H. R., is reported to be seriously ill.—Evening Post.

The escort from the Goldfields passed through Milton by train from Lawrence on Tuesday ; there were thirteen boxes of gold, and the whole was valued at about £45,500. The News says that Messrs Macalister Bros, have issued a writ for £2OO against the Invercargill Corporation, on behalf of one of those injured by the explosion of the rocket on the occasion of welcoming the returned troopers. From Wednesday evening’s News : We learn on good authority that the Imperial Government, finding the price of oats in New Zealand has gone too high-, has arranged for a supply from Canada, for the use of the troops in South Africa. The Bulletin says that no paper with a circulation ever skites about it. The circulation speaks for itself. Just so; and when you road in a journal a weekly statement that its circulation '‘is advancing by leaps and bounds,” you can bet that it is at a standstill. Many doctors affirm that measles and influenza, which have been epidemic in many places this winter, have been introduced by returned troopers, and that summer will see an outbreak of malarial fever in the colony from the same cause. Thus the stay-at-homes miss the glory but share the bacilli. i Hawera County Councillors had a minor discussion recently on the subject of poisoned grain, during which the question arose as to whether grain which had been dosed for some time lost its sting. All doubt on the subject was set at rest by the chairman, who said a person in the district had some poisoned grain lying by seven years. One cold morning he served this out to his ducks, and in a short time the flock had turned their feet upward. Sir Thomas Lipton has recently given to the world his recipe for success in business. The advice is characteristic of the man who offers it, and is excellent. He says :—Work hard ; deal honestly ; excercise care and judgment ; advertise freely and judiciously. To a New Zealand business man whom he met in London, Sir Thomas said “ Advertise in the journal which you know to bo progressive, which is alive to the wants of your people and district.” Such as the Lake County Press for instance !

Charles Lillywhite, the story of whose wrongful arrest in Wellington, charged with being Blatch, the Colchester murderer, and subsequent couveyal to England, aroused so much interest, will shortly return to this colony. A touch of romance is added by the statement that he is engaged to a New Zealand young lady who refused to believe one word of the allegations against him, even when things looked their worst. A Balceutha parson, in last Sunday night’s sermon, complained that the .Sabbath was not well observed in the locality. That day he saw one man attending to his horse, another hoeing in his garden, while at another house the blinds were down, signifying that the inmates were not out of bed. This does not say much for the attractiveness of Sunday morning services. It is evident that prohibition is not a cornucopia of blessings. A. Scotsman was once ■ travelling iiv Morocco, and came in contact with the Court. Kaid MacLean’s European features encouraged him to approach him in quest of information. Being a linguist he tried French, German, and Italian without result,.and at last ho said in a half-subdued tone: “Am stuck noo.” Guess his surprise when Mac Lean replied : “ Na, ye’re no. Hoo dulua ye speak yer mither tongue ?” This is amusing, but unluckily Kaid Mac Lean was born near London and has been very little in Scotland. A correspondent informs the Tuapeka Times that the question of an eight hours’ day is being brought unpleasantly home to farmers in that district. The moment five o’clock comes horses in the plough or cart are pulled up sharply, the work in hand is promptly dropped and a signal whistle or a shout is sent on to others working in the vicinity, who also knock off forwith regardless of circumstances, and take their way homeward to the wonderment or exasperation of the “ boss,” who will still slog away for a couple of hours until the falling darkness compels his retirement. At the County Court, Castlemaine, (Vic.),, before Judge Hamilton, the case of Halfpenny v. the Eaglehawk Consolidated G.M. Co., in which plaintiff sued for £“3000 damages, on her own and her children’s behalf, for the loss of her husband, who was killed in the mine on 20th November, 1900, concluded. The Judge summed up strongly in favor of the defence, and the jury, .after a short retirement, gave a verdict for the defendant company. Mrs Halfpenny, on hearing the verdict, stood, up in. court, and.throwing up her hands and wildly calling out, 11 Qh, my poor husband,” fell to the ground. On recovering from the fainting fit she went into hysterics, causing a very painful scene in. Court, and had to be carried out.

A curious illustration of the operations of nature was mentioned by Dr Chappie when lecturing at Wellington under the auspices of, the St John’s Ambulance Association on the functions of the skin. The case had come under his own notice, and was that of a child who complained of a pain in its side, where by degrees a little prominence was formed, during which the pain became intensified. After a certain course of treatment had been carried out under prescribed conditions, a small hole became visible at the seat of the injury, through which a blade of green grass worked to the surface. Subsequent inquiries elicited the fact that the patient had been playing on the lawn with another child, and had been pelted with grass. A blade had got into the trachea, and thence to the lungs instead of the stomach, with the result that Dame Nature got the “spike,” and expelled it through the ribs. Saith the Capetown correspondent of Melbourne Argus ; “ The sentencing of rebels is being made a very impressive affair. Troops are drawn up on three sides of a square ; the public occupy the fourth. The prisoners are placed in the centre, and the officer in command announces their doom. It may be death ; it may be 10, 15, or 20 years’ hard labor. But it is frequently death. The public are then told to go home and lay the awful . lesson, to heart. Next morning, if the ■sentence bo death, the prisoners are strung up in the presence of a batch of leading town and district folk, who, as on the previous day. have been ordered to attend. Woe betide the unfortunate fellow who scoffs at, or disobeys, these orders. Before he knows where he is he is clapped in gaol, or sent to cool his heels at the coast. Only a few days ago a member of the House of Assembly, Mr Du Plessis, of Cradock, was fired out of his native town along with a dozen prominent farmers, for some obscure reason. And scores of others are similarly treated. This seems to be the only way to stamp out rebellion,”

One of the greitest deals in oats that has taken place in Southland fur man y years (says the Standard) was reported in Gore last week, Mr M. Hanley having sold 50,000 bushels to Messrs Henderson and Batger at a satisfactory figure, for shipment to South Africa. A Sydney cable states that Pedrana, the driver of the Whitecliffs coach, which was stuck up and robbed, was not anested. The report arose through his accompanying the police to the station to supply particulars of the robbery. Apparently to be seen in the company of a policemanin N.S. Wales is prima facie evidence of arrest. The Parliamentary correspondent of the North Otago Times is a bit of a mind reader. He says that when Mr Seddon goes home for the Coronation next year he will not return. He will" receive a • commission as Governor of a South-' African colony, and when he has served his term will bo raised to the peerage. What a burden to him that correspondent's brain must be. Pkopue who remember the excitement that was occasioned by the escape of the notorious Jonathan Roberts, from Ripa Island, thirteen years ago, will be interested to learn that an account of his subsequent adventures is at last to be given to the public. A diary that was kept by the convict for some time after his successful dash for liberty has come into the hands of the Lyttelton Times, which promises that the story will be sufficiently sensational. All the public know of the mysterious affair at present is that Roberts slipped away from the working gang at Ripa Island during the mid-day meal, and disappeared as effectually as if he had been swallowed up by the little channel that divides the spot from the mainland. The only sentry was at the door of the shed in which the convicts were dining, and as Roberts escaped by moving one of the sheets of iron that formed the side of the building, he obtaineda long start before his absence was noticed. All efforts to trace Roberts proved unavailing. The first instilment on the diary will be published in the Canterbury Times this week, and other instalments will follow in succeeding issues.