By the Way.

Mataura Ensign, Volume 15, Issue 1181, 3 May 1892, Page 4

By the Way.

May Day. . . _ , , . Demonstration in .London orderly. No news from the Continent so far. Allen or Lee Smith for Bruce ? The base of the monument to Dr Burns, first minister of Otago, is of Port Chalmers bluestone, the sub-base of Waikawa itone, and the column itself of Mount Somers stone. The swamp on the Gore Racing Club's ground to be " willowed," and Mr H. S. Valentine's garden adjoining Cogklan'e Hotel laid under tribute yesterday for the necessary cuttings. A very large number of failures to elect i school committees, and present office 1 bearers will not be superseded till June j The Truant Officer on the warpathhe is now clerk to the Gore School Committee and in that sapacity entitled to sue parents who neglect to send their children i to our Temple of Learning. I Wyndham following Gore in the matter of banquets. Two arranged for t Messrs A. Currie and James Maben. Another member of the Devil's Brigade taking up his residence in Gore. There will soon be one for every quarteracre section. Preparations are started for the addition to Monaghan's Hotel at Wyndham, Mr Bowie being ,the successful tenderer. A Dunedin Chinaman has been on the wallaby in search of fellow-countrymen to take part in the tug of war in Dunedin. He secured some good specimens. The bank returns show a marked increase of deposits for the March quarter compared with the previous quarter. The increase in deposits not beariug interest is L 388.100, bearing interest L 165,000. The increase is 194,000 mure than in the same quarter of last year. Inland money order telegrams up to L2O will be issued on and after Ist iust., and the rate of commission for each pound or fraction of a pound has been reduced from 4d to 3d. The Wellington City Council has decided to put a stop to the/practice of belirmging in connection with auction sales. A resident of the Taieri applied to Mi C*rew, 8.M., for a prohibition order against himself, to have .ffectin Dunedin,

because whenever he went into town he gave way to drink and spent all his earnings. The Bench advised the mau to keep away from town altogether if he wished to better himself: he should exorcise a little Belf-control and strengih of mind, and bank his money immediately he got it. It would be useless to grant the application as the order could not apply. . . Freezing flowers for transmission from Wellington to London is the latest craze. ... t,. The American mission schooner ritcairn, belonging to the Seventh Day Adventist Church, which is now iu readiness for her return voyage from Auckland to San Francisco, is detained in Auckland owing to the very serious illness of Captain Marsh. Some of the members of the Pitcairn's crew, who are all adherents of the Seventh Day Adventist fleet, are in the meantime engaged in canvassing and other work for the mission in the country, while the mate is at present away in Sydney working in the Adventist cause amongst the shipping in that post. Thus Sir John Hall at Leeston on Thursday evening: The Premier's apeeohes, in their abuse of the Legislative Counel and tbeir endeavor to set class against class, were unworthy of his position, and a cause of distrust both in ani out of the colony. Mr Beeves' speech at Christchurch was on a higher level. , .... The same' speaker said it was everybody's interest and wish to have the Crown lands settled. The only difference was as to how best to do it. Mr G. F. Eichardson's plan to give freedom of choice of tenure had been very successful. The present Ministers preached freehold to count-y settlers, and leaseholds oDly to town audiences. Meantime by farm homestead association-* they* were forcing leaseholds on the colony. It was premature to say Mr McKenz'o's administration was a success. He quoted from a friend who had been invited to join suoh associations, to show that they were formed largely by speculators, many of whom would not settle on the land. The eyes would be picked out of blocks aid settlement hindered. He would vote for a continuance of the right to acquire a freehold, and leaseholders themselves would demand it. The proprietors of the ' Picturesque Arias ' met with a reverse in proceeding.. tXst three Bettlers of Pukekohe to reJoW LlO 10s from each of them for 42 Z£m of the work. A defence fund was Ascribed in the district, and the greates interest shown in the case; but though vanquished the Bowermans are not overeomo and intend to appeal to the Supreme Court The Bench decided to admit side and collateral evidence; hence the upjwtting of the applecart. • TA religious paper affirms, on the aUority Of " one of the most active and best-informed Glasgow ministers, thai "some 30,000 men or women go to bed drunk in Glasgow every Saturday night 'Life,'a threepenny Liberal journal issued once a week, will make its appearance in Dunediu nest Saturday. • " The Dunedin Jockey Club has appointed Mr S. Powell, of Christchurch, as starter for all its meetings. Among the deputationists who saw the : Hon. Mr McKenzie while he was in - Dunedin was Mr J. E. Scott. The conyersation was unreported. . Mr D. Wyllie, of West Taieri, has W experimenting in the matter o! growing maize. He has three or four stalks gi'PWing and they hare reached the hefght of eight feet. Mr Wylhe aav« thf maize will not ripen, climatic the cause The maize blooms magniErently, but the ripening recess is interfered with, by the coldness Surinz its growing season. The 'North Otago Times' wan s to know why the salaries of the railway - «rvln*r aue on March 24 were, held took till April 6. Was it to awat in creatine a surplus on March 61 f of Thomas Aitken for sixmonths, for foul riding m a trotting race at the Southland Eacing Club s ' Sing on the 6th inst., has been endorsed by the D.J.C. ~ An old resident in the Lakes district, , Mr Humphrey Dyson, died at Arrow on • Monday, 25th ult., from paralysis. There is a .good story g°'ng the rounds concerning the steamer Elginahire It will be remembered that when , the Elginshire was coming ashore a tailwav man called out to those on board that the vessel was in a dangerous portion. The Story goes that the railway "'• ™«n cried out, "Look out,or you will " "So tb* railway," to which the c^pStepUed,« Wily the thunder don', fenc/ in your railways m thu .' Fox. the veteran tern ' : -nfitanco reformer, celebrates three lm Wfcant- events during the present yearhU 80fch golden wedding, an<

I In Algeria there is a small river whid is really and truly writing ink. Tw streams—one strongly impregnated witl iron, the other, flowing through the pea moss contains a solution of gallic acidand when they units tbey form the rive of ink. Unfortunately, the river is run ning; to waste, because the natives do noi write and can't drink it. The Eev. Mr Grubb, speaking al Wellington, said some of the Presbyt 'rian ministers to whom he had talked smelt remarkably strong of the pipe, He had never been able to persuade iiimself that the smell of the pipe was the ->dor of sanctity. He always felt uncomfortable when the aroma of tobacco was wafted to him from the person of a minister, because he at once felt that his sermons must be smoke dried. Surely, if God had intended him to smoke he would have placed his nose on top of his head. He, therefore, objected to ministerial volcanoes. Teh thousand bales of rabbitskins, representing about 30,000,000 pelts, were exported from New Zealand during 1891. These are valued at about Lls per bale, »t L 150,000 altogether. There was also exported about 40,000 cases of preserved rabbits, valuer 1 at about Lio,ooo, making a toial value of skins and rabbit meat for the year of L 190.000. A party of ladies and gentlemen from Timaru made the ascent of the Godley I Glacier to the Sealey Saddle, a dividing pass of the Southern Alps, between the east and west coasts, on April 20, under the guidance of Mr M. Hannigan. They had some formidable difficulty to surmount, and one of the ladies had a narrow escape of being struck by a falling rock, weighing about a ton. ' The ' North Otago Times ' understands that Mr Emmerson, stationmaster at Waiareka Junction, has devised a scheme for exterminating rabbits, by which he anticipates he will be able to clear New Zealand of the pest in five years. No details are yet forthcoming as to the process. { The Taggarts have been washing dirty linen in the R.M. Court, Dunedin, and in two cases heard last week the sons were victorious over the father. Mr Carew said it was a very sad thing when a parent and his children were arrayed against each other and contradicted each otbcr on oatb.

Some very good ground is just opened on the Wilson river, Coal Island. The prospectors can make LI a day whenever they can work. They have had, however, only three days' work during the last hvo weeks, in consequence of the wet weather. There is no doubt but .that some of the ground is very rich. McGrath and party make lOoz por man in a week; others L2 and L 3 per man por day. It is strange that the ground is said to be very limited. Only 31 men are on gold, and those above and below them can do nothing. A few prospects rs are out, but they have ■ not reported anything good yet. Western Australia should afford a profitable market for a certain quantity »f New Zealand produce, judging by price? ruling in Perth not long ago. Here are a few of the leading figures '— Potatoes, L 8 18s to LlO per ton ; onions, LlO to Lll per ton ; butter, Is b'd to 2s per lb ; bacon, Is 4d per lb ; and cheese, Is 2d to Is 4d per lb. The population of Western Australia is, at present, very small, but the extent of its territory is enormous—about ten times that of New Zealand. When the Princess of Wales became lame many years ago threugh a white swelling on her knee, many English women affected a slight halt. The " Alexandra limp" was all the style. Since she became hard of hearing it is more or less a fad among Et glish women to affect to be a little deaf. Fashion is a queer thing.