LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Lake County Press, Issue 980, 19 September 1901, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Tue Arrow Junction dredge resumes work to-day.

Don't forget the Volunteer Ball at Queeustown to-morrow evening. l u Tiie local tennis court will be ready for

aying in the course of a week or so

Thk Arrow Brass Band is shaping very well under Bandmaster Itattigan. We hope to see the Band appearing before the public ere long.

The Queenstown Band is working hard at the contest selection and march. We feel certain the Band will give a good account of itself at the forthcoming contest.

Thk Rev. Mr Stevens preached his farewell sermon on Sunday evening last to a largo congregation. -Mr Stevens was made the recipient of a purse of sovereigns from some Bullendale friends.

Mr R. J. Cotter, on behalf of Cotter Bros., auctioneers, hold a very successful sale of Mr Stevens's household furniture and effects on Saturday last. Bidding was spirited and good prices wuio obtained.

At yesterday's meeting of Lake County Council the business was of an ordinary nature. The maintenance contracts were terminated, and daymen appointed. The majority of the old servants were put on as surfacemen. Full report next week.

Colonel Fraser, Sergeant-at-Arms in the House of Representatives, died on Tuesday last, aged 73. IP' was a colonel in the New Zealand Volunteer Force and saw active service during the Wiikato war. He was subsequently elected a member of the Provincial Council ; was for a considerable period Warden of the Thames -oldiields district. Later he entered Parliament and was elected three times. He was appointed Sergt.-at-Amis seven years ayo.

Some young men would better if they had less point to their shoes and a little more to their conversation.

_M. J. Scobie Mackenzie died on the loth afier a short illness. Born in 1845, he came to Australia when 10 years old, and w,\s engaged in pastoral pursuits in the hick blocks of Victoria and New South Wales. He came to this colony in 1870 and entered Parliament in 188-4. His death is lamented.

The final report of the Rivers Commission recommend that the following streams be declared callings channels into which mining debris may be discharged: —Kyehurn, Hogburn, Frrser River, Cardrona, Arrow, and tributaries, Shotover, Nevis, Bueklerburn, and Dart. The Commission docs not recommend Friedbum, Kakanui, Awamoko, and Taieri.

A. J. Burns, a well-knoivn Dunedin citizen, died suddenly on Sunday morning. He was tiie son of the late Rev. Dr. Burns the Aaron of Otago settlement, and a descendant of the Scottish poet. He was the promoter of the Mosgiel woollen factory, which was afterwards taken over by a company of which he had been a director ever since.

V.*. A. Short* \nd, one of the football team Just returned from New Zealand, died in Sydney on Tuesday. Excepting that he complained that he was wearied by the large amount of travelling, he was apparently in good health till taken suddenly ill on Monday, and succumbed to influenna and kidney trouble.

Mr Soler, Wanganui, the father of the boy i?i tho recent abduction case, has commence:! an action for £SOO damages. There are eight defendants, including Mrs Tucker (mother of the boy, and Mr Soler's for: ■v v. !>•) and her husband, Twentyman Hodgson (In vercargill), horse trainer), and James Dalgliesh (Clutha, sheepfarmer). The case comes on at Warganui about the end of this month.

The manager of the New South Wales football team attributes their non-success in New Zealand to too much travelling, injury to players and loss of the captain. The New South Wales forwards held their own, but the backs were beaten all the way. He favors only playing test matches in future ir New Zealand, the New Zealanders when they come here only playing State teams and combined Australia.

Sergeant Bowman, who has for several years been in charge of the Civile police district, has been transferred to Lawrence. His successor at Clyde is Sergeant Rogers, o' Christchurch. During his period of olt-ce en the goldtields, Sergeant Bowman has discharged his responsible duties with f.rnness and discretion, and has made, qttiie a host of friends who will be sorry to miss him. No doubt, his new station will be much less heavy to work, and in many ways more suitable, so while regretting the departure of the burly sergeant, and wishing him good luck and happiness, we congratulate him on his advancement to a wider and more important sphere of operations.—Cromwell Argus. WniLE the people of Hamilton, Ontario, were prostrated beneath a heat of 97 deg. Fahr., an hotelkeeper of the city-, named Thos. Towers was nearly frozen to death. Powers lias a refrigerator in his cellar holding nearly a ton of ice, and he went inside to see if the door fitted tightly. Thoughtlessly he pulled the door close after him, and a spring lock fastened it.

He kicked on the door, which is 14in thick, for a long time, but no one else was in the house, and there was no response. Groping round, he took hold of an oak strip and pounded the door. He felt himself rapidly becoming weaker, and bracing himself for one last supreme effort forced open the door, and then fell in a faint on the cellar rloor. It was some hours before he recovered consciousness.

Do you know, asks an American journal why the thistle is the national flower of Scotland ? The story is a pretty one, and very characteristic of the Scotch. It is said that centuries ago the Danes were making an inroad into Scotland. They were advancing cautiously at night ; but, unfortunately, they were barefooted. They had got close to the Scotch camp when one of the men at the head of their column stepped on a thistle. Did you ever put down your foot squarely upon a real Scotch thistle ? If you have, you will not be surprised to hear that the man gave a scream of pain. His scream awakened the Scotch. They sprung up and perceiving their enemies, fell upon them and defeated them. And the thistle was made the Scotch flower. A -well-knowv local resident being too economical to take the Press sent his little boy to borrow the copy taken by his neighbor. In his haste the boy ran over a dog, and wis bitten. His cries reached his father, who ran to his assistance, and, failing to notice a barbed wire fence, ran into that, breaking it down, cutting a handful of flesh from his anatomy, and ruining a new pair of pants. The old cowtook advantage of the gap in the fence and got into a barn and killed herself eating oats. Hearing the racket, the wife ran, upsetting a four gallon churn full of rich cream into a basket of kittens, drowning the whole dock. In the huiry she dropped a set of false teeth receutly got from Mr O'Kane, the dentist, and the baby, left alone, crawled through the spilled milk and into the parlor, ruining a brand new carpet. During the exitement the oldest daughter ran away with the hired man, the dog broke up eleven sitting hens, and the calves got out and chewed the tails of four rine shirts.

Being editor of .1 paper is a happy life, much more so than the much vaunted policeman's. If the paper contains much political news they won't have it. If it contains too little chey won't have it. If the type is too small they can't read it. If it is large they say it takes up too much space, and they don't get value for their money. If he has a few jokes he is a " rattle-head." If he doesn't admit jokes, he is a "dashed old fossil." If he publishes original matter he is either an "idiot," or a" —gas bag." If he does not he is too lazy to live. If he gives a public man a complimentary notice he is a "crawler." If he does not he is a

" one sided skunk." If he attends church he is a hypocrite. If lie does not, he isri freethinker and not lit to be receiveWf

under the same roof as an honesty man's daughter. If he remains in his office and attends fo business people complain of his unsociableness and " sickening pride." If he goes to a public house with a friend he is a drunkard, and ought to be ashamed of himself. If he does not drink, he is too mean to live. Uhe bills Ids subscribers they stop the paper. It he doesn't bill thorn they can't get a squaring up, they never know how they stand, lie is trying to - have" them, and that he has no more idea of business than ho lias a chance of getting to Heaven. If lie writes a "local" they growl that everybody knew all about the matter l)»f,.ic he did If be doesn t put in -'locals" they say "What is the use of his miserablJ nag V If he .does., t pay cash in advance-fci- everything he gets, h0 is IUJ t to b ? -"tlasted. I he pays like ,n 1. .nest man.fchey; say that he stole the b »o.Ue." ' W-iiat'isan editor to do H» Exjhange. '.' /-'..; ■_

A singular procession passed through the streets of Gisborne a few days ago, when a flock of 150 turkeys, driven by men on horses with dogs, passed along. They had come twenty-seven miles in three days, crossing a river and several streams, and were being taken to auction, where they realised from 4s to 4s (Id each. The Mayor of Montreal warned twelve Italian Anarchists from Patterson against coming to Canada to plot against the Duke of Cornwall’s life. The Canadian police are not anxious, but with a view to redoubling precaution have arrested hundreds of suspicious characters in Montreal and many other cities, all of whom will bo detained till after the Royal visit. A return “ of the loss of life at sea for the year 1900 ” has been issued as a Parliamentary Paper. A table shows the lives lost by wreck, drowning,'or other accident in British merchant ships registered in the United Kingdom, and from this it appears that the number of masters and seaman employed was 224,545. Of this number 1044 lost their lives by drowning or wreck and 105 by other accidents, making a total for the two classes of 1140. This represents a proportion of one in 215 lives lost by drowning or wreck and one in 195 by drowning and other accident.