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Mataura Ensign, Issue 82, 9 January 1896, Page 2

We have heard it mentioned that a wrestling match (Cumberland . style) is likely to 'take placa between Scott and Thornley at Dunedin in a few weeks' time. ' Shearers, says the ' Taieri Advocate,' are said to be vary scarce this season, and some of the stationholders in the Taieri district have found it a difficult matter to obtain a full board. Messrs Parker and Preeoe, members of tha Ohriatoburch Pioneer Bioyole Olub, arrived in Gore yesterday, and left again on their machines with - the intention of making an overland tour home. The committee of the Oroydon picnic, held on Monday, desira to thank the shopkeepers of Gore for providing prizes for the children's sports, and the ladies of Croydon and surrounding districts for their generous baskets of refreaumeats. A man named William Donnelly, who was run over by a cab at Christohurch about a week ago, died in the hospital on Monday. At tha inquest a verdict p£ "died from injuries received by bein? run over by a cab, but no evidence to show whose cab," was returned. The frequency of fires in Hastings (N.1.) of late, has led to ft suspicion of arson, which was verified on Monday night, when a citizen discovered a blaze under the verandah of his shop. A small heap of paper had been lighted under the wall of his premises near which were found matches and a quantity oE old linen. In our report of the Mataura Athletic Society's Sports on New Year's Day, we unwittingly gave tbe credit of the conductorship of the Band to Mr Lienert, instead of which it should have been Mr J. Bailey, who also conducted the band during their peregrination on New Year's Eve. An inquiry into several serious allegations againet the management of the Mount View Asylum; -made by an ex-patient, haa been concluded at Wellington. The result of the inquiry shows that whilst the charges made utterly broka down, it was apparent to those holding the inquiry that some of tbe attendants had not tha knowledge, tact, and discretion necessary in those having charge of lunatic!), and that where in dealing with refactory patients it had been necaaaary to use force, unnecessary or ill-applied force had been used by two of the attendaats. It was, therefore, intimated that they must leave the service of the asylum, and they accordingly resigned, and four others- were cautioned as to their methods. A dance in connection with the picnic was held in the schoolhouse, Oroydoa, on Monday evening, and, taking into consideration the stormy appearance of the night, it was well attended. ' Dancing was carried on with spirit till between 2 and 3 o'clock to the music of Messrs Tvreedia and H. McLeod (violins), and Wm. Biolurdson (accordeoo). During the evening Miss Dickson sang " The Gipsy's Warning " in a very pleasing manner, Mr H. Copland recited " How we beat the Favorite" and "TheSpiritof Contradiction," while Me Richardson contributed to the evening's enjoyment by dancing a sailor's hornpipe. An unseemly wrangle took place at the Invercargilt Polioe Court on Tuesday, during the hearing of a oase against some youths for discharging fire-arms in a public place. After a heated passage-at-arma between the Bench and counsel, ia which the latter, was ordered to sit down, the defendants' solicitor said tbe constable givin? evidence was a disgrace to the police force. Peace ultimately prevailed, and the accused were fined 5s each. At the Inrercargill S.M Court; on Tuesday, James Spenoe was charged with having stolen a horse, value Ll6, the property of James Smith, farmer, Otakia, Taieri, on about 21st ult. Sergeant Maodonell stated that accused had bean previously committed for trial on a similar charge, had been let out on biil, and had then attempted to hanp himself, but was out down just in time to save his life. Ha was subsequently convicted of the horse theft and released on probation, but had not been long at liberty when he resumed his evil courses, and had stolen several horses, for which he was now "wanted" in Dunadin. Tbe accused was remanded till yesterday, and further remanded till this morning. Commissioners Walker (chairman), Sberwill, McLiuchlan, and Milne attended the monthly meeting of the Wyndham Town Board on Monday evening.— The matter of clearing cesspits on Messrs Milne's and I Blackley's premises W£s left ia the hands of the chairman ; and it was decided that all householders interested should be notified that if they did not at once connect with the main drain, action would be taken against them. — J. C. Robinson complained of the unbearable stench arising from the ditch in Cardigan road, and the county member (Mr Raymond) expressed his willingness to put on a man to clean out the ditch if the Board would act similarly, but the Board, not recognising any liability, took no action. — Xbe Ravi. J. B. Small io drew attention to tbe stagnant state of the creek passing through the glebe, and the matter was referred to tbe Works Committee. — A suggestioa by G. G. Fjfo that tracings ba taken showing where pegs for connections of main drains were was approved, and a complaint that the inspector was " lamentably or willingly blind to bis duties" passed over in view of no specific charge being made. — Accounts amounting to LIS 153 were passed for payment, the clerk was appointed assessor, and ■ ;t was rasolved to extend the draiu in Bedan j street to tho centra of Turner's section. 4. j

b A thunderstorm with heavy hail and rain 1 - passed over Ohristchurch yesterday after- - noon.' Id the city Boma glass- was broken, ' and in tbe suburbs the : orchards suffered ; severely. Several street* were flooded. E The official time given for the 410 yds » hurdles, won by F. Robins, Gore, at [the ' Invercargill sports on New Year* Day.fwas > i only 3-sths of a see. over the world's record. ' This was obviously a mistake, as Robins won > as he pleased, and if he had been pushed > could easily have done the distance in a | second and a-half less. ; The cycling track, recently laid down on the Caledonian Ground, Gore, is now in good order, and is being taken advantage of by a , number of oycliata every evening for training [ purposes, several of the Mataura cyclists i putting in an appearance now and then, j t ■ i > It is expected that there will be four candi- ■ dates for the Ohmtohurch seat— viz., Messrs ■ J. L. Scott (in the Government interest), B. ■ M. Taylor (Independent Liberal), Tbos. Tiy- ) lor (Prohibitionist and Progressive Liberal), ) and Mr Charles Lewis (Conservative). | . At a meeting of shareholder's and creditors I of the Longburn (Manawatu) Slaughtering ' and Freezing Company, the representative of ' the official liquidator stated that after all the ( capital wan called up creditors would receive , ' about 8s in the <£ ' and shareholders ; nothing. It was decided to offer the whole works and property of the company for sale. . ; A column of farming news, including a i record of some interesting experiments at ' Lincoln College with turnip fertilisers, ap- ' pears on Page 4, where also will be found a ; comprehensive account of the spread of a ■ new cattle disease in Queensland, and other r matter. A meeting of farmers was held at Mosgiel ' on Tuesday night to consider a more satis- ; factory method of paying for threshing. ; Most of those present favored getting threshing done at a price per bushel. Ultimately 1 a deputation was appointed to wait on mill- ' owners regarding the matter, and report at a 1 later meeting. The Borough Council decided a few weeks , ago to test the wells in the town with a view : to procuring a village fire engine (should the supply available prove adequate. T^-day preparations for a start were made by qieans of the pulaometer under the" supervision of Mr B. W. Jones, of Invercargill. J 1 A correspondent of the * Wellington post ' has compiled the following statement of. the. number of inches in Hansard this year occupied by the speeches of the most prominent members on each side of the House ■' — -On the ■ Government side :Mr Saddon, 4756 inches ; Mr Ward, 3498 ; Mr J. McKenzie, 1625 ; Mr ; Russell, 1198 ,- and Mr Hueg, 816— ar a. total of 11,981 inches. On the Opposition side he , gives : Captaiu Russell, 1610 ; Sir B. Stout, , 1918 ; air Buchanan, 700 ; Mr Duthie. 1121 ; . and^Mr Ball, 691— 0r a total of 6043 inches. i is some talk of the establishment of a new Tennis Olub in Gore. There are two , good asphalt courts on tha Caledonian Ground, and as these are .not at present used it is thought that were steps taken they could be procured for the proposed club. Those interested bai better set the ball arolling at once, as the season is getting on. We see no reason why a successful club could not ba established here, and as there is a club at Mataura and others further afield, interest in the game could be sustained through arranging matches,/' The Hon. W. P. Beeves left Lyttlaton on Monday by the Brunner for Wellington, whence he will leave for England on Friday, to take up the duties of Agent-General. About 60 parsons met on tha railway station to bid him farewell. After the usual hand-, shaking, cheers were given for Mr and Mrs Beeves. Mr Beeves, in returning thanks, said the paiting would not be for ever, and hoped when they met again they would be just as good friends as they ever were. The Lake Ohau correspondent of the ' CUmaru Mail ' states that the loss of sheep by the snow of Hat winter is proving in some cases even nioresecioua than was anticipated. At Richmond and Cowan's stations, Tekapo, only a few hundred sheep ware mustered out of 20,000 and 10,000 respectively turned out before winter, while the Glenmore, Braemar, and Balmoral stations also lose heavily. At the Wolde, where shearing is finished, twothirds of the flook are said to be missing. . Most of the other stations have not yet finished shearing. A meeting of tha N.Z. Bugby Union was held at Wellington on Monday night to receive the resignation of the seoretary, Mr B.D. Hobeo, who is leaving for Australia. Several members spoke eulogigtically of Mr Hobsn's efforts in forming and keeping together the N.Z.R.U., remarking the only difficulty would be finding a worthy successor to him. Mr Hoben in replying said be thought the Union's fighting days were over, and that now that it embraced the whole colony it had the loyal support of every union in New Zealand. The privileges in connection with the Gore Racing Club's Summer Meeting, on Wednesday and Thursday of next week, were offered at auction by Mr T. H. Brewer yesterday afternoon, fetching the following prices. Temperance booth (outside), Mrs Neilson, L 3; tempenncs booth (inside), T. Hewitt, LS ; luncheon booth (outside), Mrs Lovell, 10s ; luncheon booth (inside), J. MoKechnie, L 8 10j ; right to sell fruit, E. Tamblyn, L 3; right to sell cards, J. Knight, L2O; horse paddock, W. O'Brien, L 5; total L4B. Before the advent o£ a Prohibition Licensing Committee, the privileges realised (in 1S91) L 133, the grand stand booth fetching L JI, and the outside booth L4O. *rSeveral cases of sheep-worrying have been reported to us, and from their frequency and seriousness, flook-ownera near the town should be on the alert, and thereby save themselves much expense. On one farm close to Gore, on the east eide of the river, recently, some dogs got among a flook of ewes and lambs, and did damage to no lass than 45 of tbe aheap; but it ia only fair to state that on the owner of the dogs being made acquainted with the damage done by his dogs, he at once paid compensation. Numerous other cases hava also come under our notice, and in BOino instances a greit loss has been inflicted on those whose sheep the dogs have been amongatV'lt might also be added that in a Dumber of paddocks adjacent to the town ipoison for dogs has been laid, so that owners of valuable dogs had better for a time keep them on the chain, Regarding the strange disease on the barque Lotbair, which put into Kelson last week for assistance, conversation with Captain Oapranza leads to the conclusion that it was not dengue fever. The first symptoms were uselessness or paralysis of the feet, which crept upward till it reached a vital part. There was no pain or swelling; no lots of appetite or spirits ; no vomiting ; in fact all ate heartily throughout. Seven men, including tho captain, who are still suffering, have excellent appetites, but their leea are useless. There is plenty of medicine on board, but tbe disease being unknown here the captain cannot use it. The symptoms shown by the victims, medical authorities here Btate, from the description, cannot be dengue fever, and the disease they think is due to purely local causes, suoh as poisoned food or water or poisonous exhalations from the pargo. Late on Tuesday night, a slaughterman who had been looking for cattle, reported finding the body of a man on Snowy Mountain at the back of the Fagataff, near Duivedin. The police went out yesterday morn, ing, and have brought the body to t&wn. Itis much decomposed — almost a skeleton— and appears to be that of a man advanced in years. In the pockets were found a purse containing 6d, and a newspaper cutting of the last poem of Adam Lindsay Gordon. Close at band was a sack containing boots, and two loaves of bread. A tent found about a mile away had evidently been occupied by aj-abbiter, but there was nothing to identify the occupant. A copy of the ' Otago Witness ' of 21st November last was in the tent and ialso a 'diary with some original verses in pencil. The- body has not, so far, been identified, ' ,

Ah interesting experiment is being tried at Newbold Ebenezer Ohapel, Rochdale. All the young mea of the congregation who possess musical instruments, and can pJay them, have been invited to bring them to the evening service, and to accompany tho singing. A party of four from Gore— Messrs Baker (2)acd Day (2) -passed through Wyndham yesterday, with a view to spying out some land they have taken up in the Otara district. They had a complete outfit for several days' stay in that locality.' Young meu like Baker and Day should be the makings of good settlers on virgin land,—' Wyndham Farmer.' BDefandant, in one of the rabbit oases this morning, said that though he bad not trapped or poisoned rabbits on hw place to any great extent, the flood had destroyed about three-fourths of them. They (the rabbits) ware lucky to get such a merciful death, being saved from the torture of traps' and poison. To Boy the least of it, luck . sometimes assumes ourious phases, Another disappointment awaited the Gore Swimming Olub in their effort to get off the much-postponed swimming carnival yesterday. It has now been decided to hold it over until February, when the aquatic sports will be hold in' conjunction with tbe club's usual annual races. A. and T. Inglis, Dunedin, commencetheir annual summer sale on January 16. Saa page 1. BVedo and Bayly's Palace of Varieties at Gore on Race Nights. Otago Boys' and Girls' High Schools. Prospectuses on application. Tothill, Watson and Co/sell a big line of sheep from Wantwoodat Tuesday's sale.