LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS

Marlborough Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1973, 1 October 1886, Page 2

LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS

Vital Statistics. In the Pelorus district for the quarter ending yesterday Sept. 30. the vital statistics were as follows : —Births 6, deaths 2, marriage 1. Concert at Picton. —The concert to be given at Picton this evening in aid of the school library promises to be highly successful. There are no fewer than 26 itenl3 on' the programme. Mr Lucas’ Accident. —lt has been fnuod necessary to amputate Mr G. Lucas’ toe, in which, it will be remembered.a bullet was lodged a few days ago by the accidental discharge of a revolver.*

The Last Straw,—Mr A.R.Guinne3 > M.H.R., has presented the already afflicted patients of the Greymouth hospital with Hansard for last sessiou, That ought to kill them off, if nothing else will. The Rise In Wool. —The riso in the price of wool has given pastoral leaseholders new life. We understand that the pastoral rents for. Otago for the halfyear have nearly all been paid, the amount at present outstanding being under £2OOO.

Local Literary Lady. —Out of something over twenty competitors Mrs Allen, of Picton, has been awarded the third prize for an original story, in the Canterbury Times short story competition, entitled “ How 1 proposed.” We congratulate Mrs Allen on her snccess. The story will appear in the next issue of that widely read and excellently conducted paper “The Canterbury Times.” Lecture. — On Wednesday evening the Rev D. J. Murray delivered an able aud humorous lecture in the Wesleyan Church, Spring Creek, to a large and appreciative audience. Mr J. B. Green occupied the chair, and several Blenheim friends gave musical selections during the evening. Last evening the rev. gentleman delivered an interesting lecture on “ Shams” at the Wesleyan Schoolroom. More Legal Light.— From to-day a new legal firm commences practice,though here the faces of its members are not strange to us. Mr E.T. Conolly, of Picton, has joined his son, Mr John Conolly. of Blenheim, in partnership, and will visit Blenheim twice a week. We are glad to welcome so universally esteemed a lawyer ani highly respected a man as Mr E. T. Conolly to the professional ranks of the place. Havel*Ck.— Under Wednesday’s date our correspondent writes that the petition for a mail service between Havelock and Picton has been signed by over 80 persons, and that it is intended to forward it through Mr Cono'.ly, member for the district, aud the Chief Pos’master, to the Hon. the Postmaster-General, Our correspondent continues as follows : *• Seeing that the extension asked for is only from The Grove to Havelosk it is to be hoped that the Depanment wil see its way to grant this small concession. I am informed the mail services from Torea to Manaroa and from Torea to Endeavor Inlet are to be dispensed with at the end of this year, but hope it is not correct, especially just when au expensive fishing industry is about to start, in fact the promoters have already laid out about LloOO in plant and buildings, and they will doubtless depend on Manaroa pcst-office f< r tbeir mail. Every inducement should be offered to encourage settlement in outlying districts and reasonable postal facilities are almost as necessary in the nineteenth century as bread and chee-e. Even should a branch service show a small deficit at the termination of the contract it wi'l be money J'udiciously spent, and I am sure Dot a olitary in-jtanpe poultf be found where a taxpayer would ijegrfidge £hg expenditure of such small amounts from tbe'publip purse when it affords the piopeera of settlement ihe pleasure of retaining in? tercourse with theig old fiiends. —4-t P meeting of the Havelock C,G-, held at the Ma.sonic Hotel. Mr Guinness in the chair, the question of thp formation of a Cricket Association for Mirlborough wq,s introduced by the receipt of a letter from tne Wairau Club ou the subject The proposal met w ith the hearty concurrence of the meeting and it was decided to ask Mr S. P. MeNab to represent the Club at rfie meeting of to be held in Blenheim on Saturday even jog. Thgre will be a general meeting of the Club this day week (Oot. 6tb).” 1

Eokfobd t. Union Company.— Wednesday's Evening Press says Judgment was delivered yesterday by Mr Justice Richmond, in the case of Eckford v- the Union S. S. Co , who held that both vessels ( Waihi and Mohaka) were in fault, and ordered each party to pay half the damage suffered by the other and its own costs The accounts were referred to Ur D. T. Stuart to ascertain the amount each party has to pay the other. Sensational Reading. —Mr Tucker yesterday showed us a pamphlet, which has just issued from the Timaru Herald Office,giving the story and evidence of the prosecution of Thomas Hall and Margaret Graham Houston, who are charged with attempting to murder Mrs Catharine Hall The little book has been compi’ed by Frank Cameron, of the Timaru Herald, and besides the printed matter, which should furnish some sensational reading, it contains litho portraits of the ief actors in the sensational trial. Business Change.— From an advertisement appearing elsewhere it will be seen that Mr Douglas Dobson. C.E., has succdeded to the business lately carried on by his father, and to which he will add that of architect and valuer. Mr Dobson, senr. will for the present superintend and carry on the Land Transfer work. Mr Dobson juo. is a rising young engineer and it will be remembered that he recently seoured the Lso bonus offered for the best scheme for the Fairhall diversion. We wish Mr Dobson sacces. The Stark Pdrchase. —lt is under* stood that Mr Mitohelson, M.H.R., has preferred a specifio charge against one of the witnesses (Mr Seaman) in the enquiry into the Stark purchase. The charge is to the effect that Mr Seaman gave false testimony. The Royal Commission appointed to investigate the whole circumstances connected with the purchase will also deal with the charge against Mr Seaman. Wairau Hunt Club.— The meet of the Wairau Hunt Club which was postponed from last Saturday owing to the inclemency of the weather will be held tomorrow afternoon at Mr Paul’s. This 1 will be the final run of the season, which, notwithstanding that the club have suffered a drawback in not being able to procure a new pack of hounds, has been a very successful one. An advertisement appearing elsewhere notifies that a genera! meeting of the club will be h-ld on Thursday evening next, at the Club Hotel, when the question of amalgamation witli the Nelson Club will be considered. Borough School Committee.— The ordinary meeting of the Committee was held last evening. Present Messrs Healy (chairman), Macey, Falconer, Renfrew, Parker and Jellyman. A letter was read from Mr Harding tendering his sister’s resignation and stating that there was no probability of Mias Harding recovering her health for some time. The Chairman reported that he had made arrangements with Mr Luca 3 for properly carrying on the schools during Miss Harding’s absence. It was resolved, on the motion of Mr Jellyman, that Mr Harding’s letter be forwarded to the Board recommending that applications be called for by advertisement for a headmistress to have full control over the Girls’ department. Messrs Birch and Renfrew were appointed a Visiting Committee for next month. A bonus of 20i was votel to the caretaker for the extra work he had to do in cleaning the schools after the recent flood. Aecouut* were passed for payment as follows : -Gosling, firewood, LI 5s Sd ; Card and Rabone, L2 17s 6d ; Handen. cleaning schools, LI 3s ; Fell Bros., L 36s 6J ; caretaker, L 3 Os 6d. This was all the business. Captain Cain’s Body Exhumed.— The Timaru correspondent of the Christchurch Telegraph wired on Tuesday last ns follows :—Professor Ogston arrived from Dunedin by the express yesterday afternoon, and was met on arrival by Inspector Brokam, Mr J. W. White, Dr Mclntyre, and other gentlemen. They had a consultation later on but the result of it has not yet transpired. The body of the late Captain Cain was exhumed last night. It was taken to the deadhouse at the Hospital, where a pout mortem was held by Professor Ogston and Dr Hogg, Drs Lovegrove, Mclntyre, and Stewart being also present. The Professor found the body very much decomposed, and took out portions of the brain, liver, kidney, rectum, and other parts of the intestines, leaving really little but bone and skin in the coffin. The men commenced to lift the coffin about 9 p.m. and had it on the way to the deadhouse at 10.10 p.m. The pout mortem took about half an hour, and the coffin and its contents were then removed and relaid in the grave. Professor Ogston takes his specimens to Dunedin to-day. The sight at the grave was a ghastly one, and the night being a fearfully dark one, added fresh horror to the scene. Undressing a Bailiff.— The Manawatu Times tells the following good story about a Moari lady of Awakuri. At one time in the Waikato, a horse, the property of her husband, was seized by the bailiff in connection with some land dispute. When lie took possession of his equine prize, a son of our heroine was riding it and he refused to loose his hold of the reins, not* itkstnding the repeated efforts of the legal luminary. To make the task of tin latter more difficult our heroine came up and pulled at his arms, but he would not give up the horse. She then adopted a novel expedient and commenced to undress the worthy bailiff as he Btood holding the horse, and despite his efforts, at last had quite removed his nether garments. The performance was witnessed by nearly the whole population of Cambridge, where the occurrence took place, and so shamed was the gentleman by the exposure that he gave up his hold of the horse, and the boy galloped off,leaving the man of law standing in the centre of the paddock rubbing his bare shins, and bewailing his ludicrous position.