LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXIII, Issue 56, 11 March 1887, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

West Ward. — Nominations for the West Ward vacancy will be received up to noon to-morrow. T?oat> Board. —The U3ual monthly meeting of tho Omaka Road Board will take place to-morrow morniug. yEowrNO Club.— A general meeting of mcmbeis of the Blenheim Rowing Club Arill be held to-night at the Club Hotel, at 8 o'clock, to conai ler whether the rule as to amateur oarsmen shall bs adopted. Borough Council. — There will he a speci-il meeting of the Borough Cou cil to-night m Committee, to further consider the by-laws. Crown Lands Guidb. — We have to thank the Government printer for sending us the latest issue (No 8) of the Crown Lands Guide. Legal Examinations. — At t a forthcoming legal examinations m Blenheim Messrs Charles Barleyman an-1 T. Crump will be candidates m general knowledge and Mr Hasiett a candidate m law. Poetry. — A lady member of the Church of the Nativity congregation has written ancj published some appropriate and pathetic lines upon the death of the late Archdeacon Bntt. The authoreas evidently possesses a measure of the true poetic spirit. To-morrow's Auctions. — There will be several auctions to-morrow. Messrs Sinclair and MacaHster will off. r Romney Marsh and Southdown rama ; and Mr Griffi 'hß a Collard piano and i large quantity ot valuable furniture. Cricket. — In the Cup match to be played to-morrow at Picton bet.wen t ; c local Club and the Spring Creek* c.C, the former will be repcesenced by a team picked from the following players : - Bellairs, Blizzard, J. Entwhtle. O. Holhey, Miller, Baillie, H. Campbell, GreensiU, F. Godfrey, W. Entwi3tle,Andraw-. E. Neal, C. Neal, H. Seymour, Harris, Petheriek, Fuller, Galloway, Barstow, J. Dry, and Gregg. Mr Swanwick will umpire for Picton. A Violent Q barrel. —Oar Havelockcorrespondent lelegraphed to-day: — A dispute oecmred yesterday at Ok<iramio between two men named Bloomfield and Daw.-on. Bloomfield challenged Dawson to fi^ht, and the latter struck Bloomfield a violent, blow on the head with a piece of iron, n/id other blows on the arm and bod v. Bloorafield was brought m to Dr Drury. Masonic —.At Uat night's meeting of Lodge Unanimity, E.C., Bro Trevor, who has lately returned from England, presented the Lodge with a set of ten apron i for the officers, The aprons are silver mounted aud worked m the iv hI; handsome style of Masonio art, and each ouj has the name of the Lodge inscribed m silver upon it. The cost of the set m London is reported to have been fifty guiueas. The Temperature. — The following are to-day's mercury readings m the shade, taken by the Telegraph Department at 9 a.m.— Clyde 62, Russell 68, Aucklmd 75. f astlepoint 69, Wellington 67, farewell Spit 67, Nelson 56, New Plymouth 68. Christchurch 60, Dunedin 63, Blenheim 67, Bluff 60, Invercargill 63, (fokitika 55, Timaru 65, Queenstown 55, Napier 70, Lytt.'lton CO, Tauranga 69, Wanganui 69, Kaikoura 64, Grejmouth 64, Bealey 57, Oamatu 62, Thames 75. Garden Party. — On a brilliant moonlight night and m balmy weath r that was simply parfectim, the garden party m aid of the Institute funds took place yesterday m Mr Thomas Redwood's beautiful grounds at Burleigh. There was a very Urge attendance, and th-j Institute Building fund will reap a large sura oat of the proceeds. The scene at ni^ht, when the grounds we.c lighted up with magia lanterns, and when dancing was merriiy going on upon the centre lawn, was animated and delightful. Thanks to the warm kindnes* and assistance of lady friends, the Institute Committee were able to offer the visitors refreshments of tha choicest kind at ihe lowesb price, and nothing c mid • have been more successful than this element m the gathering The generous interest taken m the affair by Mr an 1 Mm Thos. Redwood, and the hospitality which they extended, will long be rememberel to their honor. The arrangements were carried oat by a Committee consisting of Messrs Winter and G. Robinson, but without the hparty and zealous co-opera-tion thoy received from Mr and Mm B-d---wood, Mr Do Ison (Uie President of the Institute), MrEirll. and Mr Simmons (the Secretary) and other friends, their labors would h\ve been m vain. The refreshment booth was m charae of Mrs B. P. Bayly, who w is assisted daring tho afternoon and evening by Mrs P. B. Parmar an'l Misses Dodson, florton, aDd R. Clark. The two refreshment tables on the lawn wero presided over by Mrs George Bobinson and Mias Bertha Redwood. The following ladies generously contributed the good .things m the refreshment department : — Mesdames Parmar, Rayner, J. J. Sinclair, T. Redwood, George Robinson, Earll, A. P. Green, Branson, Williams, Bayly, White, F. B. Farmar, Muir, Furness, R. Dixon, George Carter, Diaper, and Mias Dodaoi. The Committee have to heartily thank these ladies and all other friends who co-opera- ed man affair which will not only benefit the Institute m a financial success, but will also popularise it and bring m new subscriber?. Their thanks are specially due to the Friendly Societies' and Hibernian Bands, who played admirably, and to the cab proprietors who took passengers to and from the ground* at very low fares. The garden p .rfcy at Bur'eigh will long be pleasantly remembered by nil who were privileged to take part m it. Wairau Road Board. — The monthly meeting of this Board tookplaoe yesterday afternoon. Present: Messrß Ward (Chair man), Goulter, Pollard, and Richardson. Leive of absence was granted to Mesirs Avery and Watt*. The Secretary win instructed to write to the Picton Borough Council and ask for further information as to the objects of fche proposed confer- i ence re harbor improvements. Resolved, : That Mr Folster be paid the sum of £1 83 as compensation for protective works, Onamalutu Road. The Insptctor was i iostructel to get the swiog bridge on the I New Road over the mill creek repaired, i The Seoretary was instructed to take the i necessary steps re exchange of road oa ] Maher's property, Onamalutu. Resolved, i Tha 1 ; Messrs F. and H. Hammond be i requested to clear the gorse growing on I the road near Mr Riohardson's. Resolved, < That Mr Monro be written to and re- < quested to replace the watling fence lately • i burned down by him. Mr Pollard was | authorised to get the neeessarv clearing ' i done from Old Hillersdcn to Birch Hill, j J Tho meeting then adjourned. 1

A Horse Story. — H ere is a queer story, ' as told by the Wairarapa Star:— The relatives of the young man Riyuer Greeks, who recently died at Grey town, relate a curious story about the doings of a horse, which w 11 be rend hy believers m premonitions wi'.h considerable interest Greeks hal bsen ailing a long time, but his death was very sudden and unexpected. &. few hoars bsfore he died some friends from Oatterton paid him a visit, and- Greeks ' promised to drive them back. Shortly afterward Greek's horse appeared at ! the door and did its best to force an entrance into the house. To h amour ) the animal, it was allowed lo go through the rooms and passages. This it did, stopping for some time m one place and sniffing very loudly. On reaching the staircase it tried hard to ro up-stairs, and began snorting and sniffing. At 'this juncture the animal w.\s turned out. Some time afterwards Greaks took suddenly ill, and died m one of the upstairs rooms ; but a still more extraordinary coincidence was that the undertaker placad the body and coffin on exactly the spot where the horae had been sniffing so loudly. In the meantime the horse disappeared from the paddock, and was subsequently found m the cemetery. The Problem Solved. — The Tarana'u Daily News has given the following instance of what may be done by means of economy : — : A family of teu, living mileq m the heart of the bush m this district, have been practiaiug economy after the manner which Major Atkinson is sometimes wont to tell the people to live. The entire groceries consumed by this family of ten persons amounted during the year to the sum of £15 ! This almost appears incredible. How they managed it may be a mystery to many, for they h-.ve not starved themselves, and the best of it is that the head of the house has a credit balance at h : s bankers of £20 r , the proceeds of his industry and economy. A elimpse of how they fared will be interesting, They lived on home-made bread, eggs, milk, !mtb«r, meat occasionally, tea once a day, hop beor (from hops grown on their section), twice a day, and fruit. They had no sugar, but obtained wild honey and use! it as a substitute. They were exceedingly economical m their draper's bill, and the aid of the shoemaker was apparently dispensed with altogether, as th 9 children wore sandals made of pinewnod soles, with cowhide straps or nDpors. These facts have beei vouched for, and there is not a shadow of a doubt as to their truth. The Prince Imperial. — In consequence f the circalab on of th i story that the Prince Imperial had left a na iual son, a repre entati'.'e of ■■'. Lin lon newspinor proceeded to Chiselhurst and had a talk on the subject with .Ylnnsigsor Qoddard, who was bett-;r acquaintc.l with the Prince Imperial anl his mole of lif-.j than anyihing el o. Asked as to the trn hof tho main statem nt, as well as of the detai's. Monsignor Go Itkrd indignantly r.:.olied •' There is not a word of truth i i tho. atrocious calnmny published by th.! Figaro and reproincod m L mdon." The simple fact i 3 that the Prince Imperial never wont out to Hfc«y the nijhf; on a visit without being accompanied by his valet Uh.m-.n, win is now retained m the impress' ecrvioe :it F.irnborough hill. The Prince Imperial's nvra'u-y is unquestionable. It is oid that it should bo a Frenchman win attempts to besmirch tne pure son! of the defenceless dead. Aristocratic Fon — According to a H me paper an amusing tale isflmtiog ab ut at the expen c <>f the Marquis of YVaterfurd and hi-i hroth-r, Lird ChurloS Beresford Both of tham are said 1 1 be rather rollicking spirita, who can never resist a joke As they were walking do.vn some street m London they saw a crowd of rugi^ad urchins eh iflSng anl plaguing a pompous pulicem n. The Ma quia offered one of them ha'fa-crown to throw some mud at tin great man. "Show us yer bullion." the tempted one answered incredulously. Having got the money, the boy fulfilled his bargain by defiling tha policeman's face with mud. A fiery zigzag pnrsuit ensued, and he was captured. Having boldly confessed what incited him to the crime, he was confronted with the noble lards. The policeimn grimly and menacingly asked for their names, and heard incredulously " the Marquis of Waterford," "Lord Charles Beresford.,' He angrily asked for the urchin's also. The little Cockney, with his hands m his ragged pockets and a wink of hia eye, made a valiait ieply -. "I'll never round on my pals ; I'm the Djok of Westminster !" Thereupon tableau. A Ludicrous Mistake.— A rather amu 3 ing story is told at the expense of Mark Twain — and the same story ia already a standing joke m society. Not long ago the humorist was travelling m the country nd stoppel one evening at a home pre sided ovjr by an elderly woman. He was shown to a room rather bare of ornament and fumit'ire, yet slept peacefully until morning. When the morning came an! he arose, he became mindful of the fact that although he had provided himself with a toothbrush he had forgotten his tooth-powder. He consoled himself with the thought that there must ba toothpowder lying somewhere about. After a brief search he discovered something m a small box on the mantel, which certainly resembled tooth-power. At any rate, he used it vigorously on his teeth and found it satisfactory. When he got downstairs he apologised to his hostess for using her { tooth-powder. She appeared surprised. " What tooth-powder ?" she inquired blandly. "It was on the mantel," Mark replied. "On the mantel ?" ahe repe ited. " Yes, m a small bos. Io wag excellent," he declared. " Gool gracious !" he ejaculated, " that wasn't tooth-powder." " What was it !" asked Mark, n>w slightly alarmed. " Why, that was auntio." said she. It seems that " auntie " had been cremated, Clever Operation.— Referring to the Prenohman, Paul Bert, who has recently died, an exchange says : — The legion of dogs, rabbits, and tired-nut horses cut up by him (M. Bert) reached a figure formidable even for the returns of a French vivisectionist, and the special details of his successes m this particular line show the grafting of portions of flesh of organs, and of entire animals upon otiier anirnal3. One of his pet triumphs, shown off to members of the Aca n imy of Sciences, and a mihjrfct of adraii-ing wonderment to all P.iris was the grafting of a mouso on the back of a eat, an operation which succeeded perfectly, the mouse becoming apparently a part of the cat, drawing its sustenance from the body of tho latter, and seemingly sharing the emotions, movements, and preoeptionß of the feline economy with which it was thus brought into aneh intimate relation. Deformed Fish. — Two remarkable Bpecimens of deformed fish were taken from the rearing pond at Delaford ia November last, and brought to the South Kensington Aquarium. Ouo is a tn.ii!; about three years old, whose tail ia bent to such an extreme that it stands at ri.rht an>les with the body of the fish. Its mode of progress is labored, aid its appearance is very peculiar. Ths other i 3pec men is an ordinary stickle' ack, measuring four inches m length, whose body is swollen through dropsy to the extent of one inch m diameter. At first tight its appearance is similar to a young mouse, and it requires olose inspection to grasp the fact that it la a fish. It moves irery slowly, with great erponditifn nf Force, the weight of the contorted body . being oanßid rablo. ■•