LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXIV, Issue 142, 6 July 1888, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Tiik Gift Auction.— The proceeds ol the recent gift auction, some £30, will be devoted to the Nativity Parsonage Fund .Wairau Bounuabies.— Tke Wairaii Roac Board have condemned the Counties Boundaries Alteration Bill of the - Hon. Mj Hislop. Land Boards.— Mr Seymour is goiug tc ask the Minister of Lands what course he proposes to take with reference to tht , Waste Land Boards, whose term of office expires at the end of the present session In Bankuptcy.— A 3s 4d m the £ divi dend (Hornby and Levien' s estate) is advertised as now paj r able at the office o: the Deputy Official Assignee, Mr R. D Nosworthy. The Volunteer Club.— At a meetin? last night draft rules were adopted and Volunteer Tovey .and Capt. Eogers were elected Secretavy . and • Treasurer respec tively. The meeting then adjourned tc Wednesday week. Returned. — Messrs Keys, Baird, Paby autl Woods, telegraphists, who were dis patched to Cable Bay three months age for the purpose of working tho cable messages between there and Wanganui. pending the repairs to the Cook Stvail cables, returned to-day, and they wii forthwith. resume duty m the Blenhein: office. . ; Temeekance. — In response to advertise merit a numbor of persons met m thi Good Templars' Hall, last night, with c view to furthering the temperance move ment. The Rev. G. Grace was voted. t( the chair, and gave an outline of thekine of work which should be aimed at. l Th< Rev. (i. Grace, and Messrs Heyhoe, Earll Chaplain, E. H. . Penney, Hutchens Douglas, Nicholas, and D. P. Sinclair wen appointed a provisional committee to dray • -up rules and make arrangements for i . public meeting at an early date. The Salvation Akmy. — At the meeting last night, Sister Field, wife o_| ; the Captaii (who is now absent m Wellington), read 1 the report of General Booth on the worl of the Army. She once was rathe: rudely interrupted, but the Sprgeant-Majoi who presideel, very judiciously struck h and gave out a chorus, remarking tha while it was being sung, those who wen tired or not interested might leave tin ■ hall. The hint was taken by several im ■ patient youths, and the result was tha though the fiioderate attendance wai thinned order was restored. and the reaclei | was able to proceed without interruption The anniversary celebration m Blenhein 1 will take place early m August. Suout and Smoky. — The sitting of th< I R.M. Court this morning did uot occupy fifteen minutes, — three default cases, ane one application for an orcto^, grantee forthwith, being the only .business. Shor as it was, however, the sitting was a verj uncomfortable one, by reason of the room being filled with a dense volume of smoke The fire had been lighted, hut as the ful force of the gale, just then raging, seemec to have concentrated'itself m the chimney' pot, the only effect of lighting the fire was to drive out vast clouds of smoke into thc room. The Chamber had at the time a temperature a good deal below that o: a respectable vault, and when to the clammy cofd was added a torturing smoke the condition of those on duty was trufy pitiable. The R.M. smiled serenely a: the end of the room, but the clerk ancl th< press men were shrivelled upj and the .bailiff's teeth ' chattered audibly. "~Thc solitary representative of the legal profession, sitting opposite the chimuey loomed, sphinx-like, through the flense cloud. Missing Pigeons. — A citizen -who keeps pigeons lately missed some of his pets and informed the polioo of the loss. The matter was placed m the hands of Constable Sheary, who after a good deal o! trouble traceel them to certain boys, whe by and bye confessed to have taken them, though the pigeons themselves could not ; then be found: The matter being m thc hands p£ the police, Sergeant Scanlan wisely chose the more merciful course oi summoning the culprits instead of laying an information aud arresting them. The lads will appear before the R.M. at an early date.- We understand that only two pigeons were taken, and that to-day one of the young delinquents brought liis booty to the police station, and gave it up with many expressions of contrition. Football. — A practice match of a peculiar but very sensible character will be played to-morrow between the M.F.C. and U.F.C. 15 Marlborough backs and 15 Union forwards will play 15 Union backs and 15 Marlborough forwards, the match to be held m Parker's paddock. The former team comprises Buick, Gaukrodger, Hathaway, Pasley, Young, Thomson, H. and C. Harris, J. Mowat, Gregg, F.'Rpd- [ wood, Simmonds, Shaw, Siefert, Fulton ' ancl McCallum. The latter consists of Shand, Ballantine, Mclver, Redwood W. and G„ Nesbitt, F. ahd L. Dodgon, Jtousjipj Gillespie, F. Hodson, Hale, Rothwoll, Jellyman, — A practice onatoh will also be held, Marlborough v. Union (2nd fifteens)-, m Parker's paddock tomorrow at 2.45 sharp. The M.F.C. second iif teen comprise Robinson, Baillie, Clark, Driscoll, Burns, Dobson, Douslin, Healy, Holmes, Horn, M urphy, Murray, Thomas, Carter ; the Union men are, Tovey, Priddle, Simpson, Coster, McCusker, McDonald, Farmer, Scott, Normanby, Terry, Baker, Shepherd, Hutcheson, Green, Ewart, Nosworthy. .The match will be .played at thc same time as the other on ground separately pegged out. The following will represent the Stars to-morrow m the match- against the Catholic School, for the ball to be presentee! by Mr Hay ;^- Bush (captain,) Carter, Cowaitt, Hyde, Honnor, Ball, Dunn, Barclay,. Jellyman (2), Purser (2), Carroll, Shepheard," and Powick ; emergencies : Brooker, Sowman, Byford, and J. Powick. The Ancient Maori.— ln Mr Proctor's magazine " Knowledge," of April 2nd, there is a review of Mr White's book on f f Thß Ancient History of the Maori." In the course of thp notice j,he lollowing occurs : — " The lament cr incantation v,'hioh heads each chapter evidences not only the grace ancl fulness oE the Maori language .as a vehicle of poetic feeling, but also the truly astounding aptitude af the Maori mind fcjr ab^'apt thought, . Remembering that tho idea of a Supreme Being did not exist among the tribes, we, however, need very satisfactory proof that the subtle speculations embodied m the theory of Aeons, beginning with the age of thought and ending with the age of gods ancl men, and that such definitions as those which are given m this volume, ct)., of Tua as meaning ' behind all matter,' and ' behind j that which is most distant,' are the genuiui; equivalents of Maori thought, and not tlio uncouscioua glpbs ox philosophic interpreters!"'"" "' '." "" '■;■•"

, Thk Agent- General. — A cable message » was received yesterday from Sir P. D. Bell E intimating his willingness to accept the offer made to him by the Government, of l a renewal of his engagement as Agent--5 General for a further term of three years, • at the same salary as before, £1250 per s annum. The question of the Agency- . General may now therefore be deemed to ) he definitely settled. j Child Killer by a Ferret. — A child, ,■•■ aged five months, died lat Sheffield Uost pitnl recently, through injuries inflicted Dy a ferret. Tlie baby was left m its cradle, l aad m the absence of its mother theferret \ got at it,. and bit its forehead over the loft . eye. The child'seriesattracted the mother, who, howevor, was too late to prevent fatal injuries. — Mark Lane Express. Certificated Teachers. — A rail list of teachers holding certificates of licenses . under the Education Act is published as a . sujjplement to. tho Gazette. The • total [ number of certificated teachers is 2260, J and there are 85 who hold licenses. Of ' the certificated teachers employed m I teaching, 905 are men, 80 married women, ■ and 334 unmarried females. GJhere are ■: also 314 nien, 196 married women, and 131 unmarried women holding certificates, ) but not engaged m teaching. , 5 Destitute Snobs. — Viscount CanterJ bury has struck a lucrative employment. 3 He dines out with - persons of inferior •, social standing and receives a big fee for . so doing. Another Peer m reduced 3 circumstances has become a drummer for £ a large piano firm ; so says Labouchere, . who prints a great many things that are not Truth. r A Bad Impression. — Captain Russell L stated m the House on Wednesday that 3 the prevalent feeling at Home regarding New Zealand was ' absolutely astounding. > The general impression was that it was a „ bankrupt colony, the fortunes of whfch were administered by — well, he would not ' uso a stronger word than spend-thrif ts. " Even schoolboys seemed to 'have been I taught ih tlie -geography lessons that the 1 principal products of the colony were ' theoretical politician^ancl deficiency bills. I . A Lovely Rise. — A good story is cur- ■■ rent about the Budget. After his three hours' speech the Chancellor of the Exchequer went to ..have a bottle of cham--3 pagne to wet his whistle. He was charged t sixpence more than usual, and on inquir- . ing, quite innocently, why, he was 5 answered, " The new duty, sir." * Food, for Stoats and .Weasels. — 3 Thomat: Benns, laborer, of Glenister- ' street, North -Woolwich, was chajged on ' May 18th, with the unlawful possession of B two pigebns, the property of _ Henry Allf ibone, Brigg, Lincolnshire.' The magis--1 trate elicited from the prosecutor that he exported stoats and weasels I for the New Zealand Government for i the purpose of exterminating rabbits. I He had sent out between 300' and k .400 of these animals this week, with r 4,000 pigeons to serve as their food during c the voyage. He p&id 9s 6d per dozen for i the pigeons andft'old them to the Governt ment for 10s 6d. fn this way he had de--3 spatched some 4,000 stoats and weasels 3 and 50,000 pigeons, making m all a # . dozen - cargoes. Each stoat and weasel ate 100 t 'pigeons during the voyage. He had had s some huudreds ot pigeons stolen. Benns r was fined 20s. s RETRENCmiENT.-^.Consternation will be 1 spread by Mr Witl^'s retrenchment' motion m all laboring households, when its 3 effect is fully realised. The Premier, we understand, has made it clear 'to the l' Economy Committee, whom Mr Withy 1 represents, that if li# accepted the motion t it would be necessary to apply the pruning f knife to, salaries below the amount which i the Government have hitherto regarded . as the standard viz., those of 1 £150.. Thus the- laborer earning his I. few shillings per.diem must bear his pro- - portionatp §hare of retrenchment.* Mr ; Withy, m the course of his speech yesterday, ; showed that the Civil Service salaries i .paid by the colony m sums of .less than f £150 per annum amount to £366,000, but a the wages paid by the Government' to , mechanic's, labourers and assistants swell r the total to about £639,000 per annum. t Thus he contends that the reduction he a now asks for, beiug spread over a wider v range than those already earned out, will 5 be less felt by the individuals concerned. ■ It is said that a reduction of one shilling , per day m the wfiges of the labourers cmi ployed by the Railway Department, which is almost certain to be made if Mr , Withy's resolution is adopted, would re- [ suit m the saving of £46,000 per annum. 5 —Post. I Clearing . Salvage •■ Sale.— All goods E damaged. at the late fire must be cleared, ) and to effect the same, great reductions are being v made. Men's and boy's clothing, s overcoats etc., blankets, Manchester goods, > dress materials, wool goods and hosiery, i ulsters, jackets, millinery and f&ncy goods : at greatly reduced prices for cash.— Sjule & Hay, London House