Manawatu Herald.. THURSDAY, DEC, 15, 1898.

Manawatu Herald, 15 December 1898, Page 2

Manawatu Herald.. THURSDAY, DEC, 15, 1898.

The Salon Cinematographe and Edison's loud-speaking phonograph will be exhibited at the Public Hall on Monday Dec. 19th. The Town Clerk notifies that an election for the office of Councillor will be held on Wednesday, 21st "December. Tenders are called by the Borough Council for lighting and dog registration. Tenders are to be lodged on Tuesday next. It may interest school-teachers to know that return tickets are issued by the Union Steamship Co. to them at a reduction of 20 per cent during the school holidays. On Saturday the Horowhenua Club will send some members over for a game with the Oroua Polo Club on their ground at Herrington. Carrier-pigeons in China are protected from birds of prey by a little apparatus consisting of thin bamboo tubes fastened to the bird's bodies with thread passed beneath the wings. As the pigeon flies along the action of the air through the tubes produces a shrill whistling sound, which keeps birds of prey at a respectful distance. The Premier of Victoria, Sir Geo. Turner, on behalf of the New Zealand Government, has offered a bonus of £100 for the delivery of 200 swallows within two months. The Russian scheme does not seem working well. The Austrian Government contemplates the formation of a new army corps and the reorganisation of the artillery and engineers. Owing to the severity of the drought the bulk of the stock in the Central Riverina has been deported to more favoured districts. An official of the United States Treasury is engaged in studying the administration of the island of Jamaica as a model for Puerto Rico. The Admiralty authorities have invited the fishermen of Newfoundland to enrol as stokers and seamen in the Naval Reserve. The departure of the Rotoiti from New Plymouth for Wellington was postponed, for the steamer is to bring down. a large consignment — 400 tons— of butter for transhipment to London by the Tokomaru. The " Mad Mullah," who recently headed a small rising among the border tribes on the Swat river, has been expelled from that locality and lias fled to Kositant. Saturday's English mail brings authoritative news as to the title taken by Gen. Kitchener on his elevation to the Peerage. It is " Lord Kitchener of Khartoum and of Aspall in the County of Suffolk." Lieutenant R. G. Warke, of the Royal Artillery, who was sentenced to death in connection with the death of Miss Jane Yates, of Liverpool, has been reprieved. Mr J. Barrell, an ex- American Minister at Siam, is visiting Pekin. He urges Great Britain and the United States to defend the integrity of China, to enforce Government reforms, to prevent any privilege in the leasing of ports, and to insist on 4i open door " trade including the Russian, French, and German spheres of influence. Otherwise, he says, China is threatened with partition, which will prove disastrous to American and British interests. A cargo of sugar recently brought to Auckland by the steamer Taieri from Fiji was computed to be worth more than ,£40,000. At the last meeting of the Education Board the appointment of Miss G. Wanklyn as cadet, was confirmed.

A Dundee paper considers that the proposed action of the Christchurch Meat Company in opening shops there for the sale of New Zealand meat is " the most important development in Now Zealand trade for a considerable time past, and the result of the company's enterprise will be looked forward to with great interest." The nomination of persons qualified to fill the vacancy in the Borough Council closed yesterday at noon. Two candidates have been proposed, viz., Messrs Geo. Nye and John W. Walsh, and as there is only one vacancy to fill an election will be held, notice of which is given by the returning officer, Mr Chapman, in another column. Mr Wanklyn is haying erected five commodious loose-boxes at the Manawatu Hotel, which the proprietor finds is much needed. Mr Harry Robinson Captured on the Hadfield Estate the other day a notorious wild pig. Notwithstanding that for years past he has been fre- ! quently pursued by hunters and dogs, the glory of •• downing " the ferocious monster fell to Robinson. Nine years ago, the late Mr James Wallace secured the same pig, and after marking him and lopping off one ear, let him loose on Mr Hadfield's run. He is a real old " Captain Cook," and weighs nearly 5 cwt. It took several hours to run him to earth with the aid of a couple of good dogs. This lineal descendent of Capt. Cook's early pioneers is now imprisoned on " Mr Waugh's property and a large number of people from various parts went to view his highness last Sunday in his state of incarceration. — '* Mail." Among the queen ants captured in and around Buluwayo, for which a prize of half a crown is paid by the Sanitary Board, have been some specimens measuring 4£in and as thick as a man's thumb. It is a mistake to suppose that Spain fs decaying. The population has nearly, if not quite, doubled in the present century, and the country in itself is infinitely better off than it was a hundred years ago. A note of warning, very much needed, was given by the Board in the following resolution carried :—Playground Supervision — Resolved that head-teachers be informed that assistant and pupil-teachers are expected to assist in the supervision of the children during recess Sir Edward Monson, British Ambassador, in the course of a speech in Paris, said he hoped that before the Christmas season there would be a termination of the rumours of war between France and Great Britain. The Minister of Lands states that while his health continues satisfactory he will not resign his portfolio. He is feeling much better than he did, and does not think he would be justified in quitting the Ministry just at present. A Chinese literatus has been sentenced to death for threatening a missionary. The Dowager Empress has decorated a missionary, and issued an Imperial decree declaring that the missionaries preached good moral. The qualification for a London brigadesman is a five years' seaman's certificate and four months' special training before he is allowed to attend a fire. The girls of Thorndon School have a record of which they may well be proud, for in the just-concluded examinations not one of their number in the whole school failed. The death is announced of Sir William Jenner, aged 83 years. The Queen deplores the loss of a true and devoted friend.