LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume 24, Issue 1260, 18 January 1894, Page 3

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

;. The floods in the Mangatore district, New South Wales, are the heaviest for 40 years past. Many farmers are utterly rained.' Lokd Onslow has sent to the:tribe,afte r whom his son born, in New Zealand is ham e a present of a Union Jack. ■'■. .-•'•; Mb Logan started harvest at Maritanga on Wednesday (17th inst.), the crop being Danish oats, and above the average in bulk. „ Among Captain . Wilson's detachment, wias . recently destroyed by the Matabeles, was a son of Sir Julius Vogel. t > TheßE are 28,000 Chinese inhabitants in the qhief cities of the United States—24,ooo of them in San Francisco, and 2000 in New Yorki; Has commenced in the Kurow district, an occasional field of oats being in stock, but cutting, will not be general there until the end of the month. .; Messes W. E. Reynolds and Co. 's announce In their advertisement bn .the. fourth page that their wool sales, during the season, will be held in the lodgerojjni of the Oddfellow's Rattray street, IhtnMin. .A vest heavy, jsiiowet: of rain fell over the neighbourhood of Naseby this afternoonat two. For, a good jiiany tninutes the 'tmii descended in -torrents,, and soon the and water-courses were in full flood, but it, did long enough to do any damagei v D*B Cktr&H lias presented ieverai handsome prizes to the District School to be awarded among .the scholars for special; subjects, iyhich Be made known on the day of tippeuing. It must be gratifying to the te'tehers and pupils to receive such tokens of interest in the welfareof the school. Tot. .b'(jSntry nfeVr Qamaru is looking magnificent just now;, and stock are literally wading in grasi. Although the .crops have had rather much rain, theyure locking well, and dry warm for a few. weeks will make the harvest an abundant one. Potatoes are not plentiful, but look welK "~

The British Governmenk-ftre being urged to Bell part of their Suez Canal shares arid devote the proceeds to the construction of additional warships.—lt is stated that. a difference has arisen among members of j.ne Cabinet about the extent of increasiug the navy. ■• - : "The booth privileges in connection with itfre, forthcoming races were disposed of by Mr'rß. F. Inder on Saturday last, when very -good! prices were realised. The following are 'the names of the buyers and the amounts given :—Booth, Mr B. Monk, £6O ; Gates, Mr B. - Gordon,- £32-;-G rand-Stand, Mr S. Kirby, £4 15s; Cards, Mr F. W. Ihder, £5 5s ; Saddling Paddock, Mr G. Hodgins, £3 ss. There was no buyer for the fruit stand. . At the wool sales in Dunedin, on the 11th inst., local wools, compared with last year, sold as follows :—Longwool, to Id dearer ; fine:half-bred, par; coarse-bred, par to a £d dearer j merino, par to Jd cheaper. As locaV;-wopl is 10 to 15 per cent, lighter in grease'- ; this season, most farmers will find their-net returns sadly diminished.. . Shag "Valley i« suffering'from an over abundance of rain, and .wheat is showing signs of rust. Pasture is good, but complaints are heard that stock.are not putting on condition as they ought. The wet lias retarded the -preparation of turnip land, anr sowing is not yet completed. _ A Nokthekk contemporary believes th i the leader .of the new Opposition may poss bly be not Sir R. Stout, but the man who i sole representative left of th Middle party—Mr George Hutchison, member of great ability, and admirably wel informed on all economic questions, a sound thinker, and withal an incisive and convincing speaker. He is going to be the rising sun of the anti-Ministerial party, and will probably during the session suggest au entirely new program » e for adoption. Miss McCarthy, teacher in the Naseby District successfully.,.accomplished the performance of walking from Naseby to Dunedin, and, so far as sex is concerned, breaking the record. Starting two miles this ■ side of Kyeburn, to which place she wrent'by-coach, she walked to Waikouaiti in' a distance of 54 miles, and ton the third day went'on to Dunedin. She was.accomptHiied in her journey .. by her nephew, Master Cecil Smith. ;They - very pluckily refused profetred lifts on the, way, as they felt sure they could walk the distance.

•We have received a copy of Mills, Dick> andCp.'s Almanac and Directory for the year 1894, an'd'it is certainly"up" to the usual standard: In addition to the usual assortmentof advertisements, addresses of the chief business men, officials of the Government and. others in Otago, contains a lot of useful information on various subjects, as. well as a number of Acts of Parliament, which are likely to be especially useful to people residing in the country, such as the Cattle, Trespass and.lmpounding Act,. 1884, the 'Fencing Act, 1881, the Land and Income Assessment Act, 1891, and others. The Directory is well got up, and is well worth the' Is 6d charged for it, and should prove- of ; value to aU business people. \ Mr Jas. Brown is the Naseby agent. Mr M. Cohen, of the Evening Star, whose name is undoubtedly known to many in this district announces that he is a candidate for a seat on the Education Board this year. He thas/ declined nomination in the past because he isnot" favourable to the continuance of these board, thinking that their duties should be undertaken by school committees in the boroughs, and by the county councils whero their arc no boroughs, and that theinspectors should become colonial officers, but in view of tho very large administration reforms in the Act, the outcome of the proposed conference, he has consented to his nomination. There are three important improvements which he considers could be mide— viz., (1) The breaking of official -cliques, and the classification of our schools ; (2) the grading of the tenchers ; and (3) the equalisation of salaries, besides uniform Interpretation of of tho standards;

.Ms John-Law, of Gitnmerbtirti, advertises for tenders for cutting and tying 45 acres of oats. The Diine&'n Assembly of the Knights of Labour passed a resolution expressing che desirability of the Government giving i-flecr to Lheir promise to proceed with the tunnel on the'Otago Central near Hyde, in order to procure work for the resident miners in that district, whose employment is slackest during the summer months. " The Admiral " .supplies this interesting item :—"I understand that Minnie, the winner of the three trotting events at the Roxburgh races on New Year's Day, has been proved to be a well-known performer -called Tot. This case of ringing-in was fortnmUely discovered by a visitor to the district, and the-mare.aud ruler (who afterward confessed his complicity) have been disqualified during the pleasure of the club. The matter has been officially to the D. J.C., and will be dealt with at the monthly meeting on tHe 25th inst."—Star. The Gore Standard says :—" On Tuesday afternoon Ranger Campbell returned to Invercargill after a visit to the Hon. John M'Kenzie, Minister of Lands,* at his residence, Heathfield House, Shag Point. The object of Ranger Campbell's visit, we understand, was to confer with the Minister regarding several estates in the Southland and Wallace districts which have been placed under offer to the.Government. We hear that as one iesult of the interview Morton Mains, Waicola, and Ocean View r (F6rtrose) Estates, among others, will probably be acquired by, the Government' for small farm settlement purposes."

Ajj event which has caused considerable talk in Woolwich garrison has been reported; -A'..deserter . named Thomas Roberts; an artilleryman, had been by,ohe" of tb&Lohdon magistrates ta Hpllpway.Gapl to await an escort. A . corporal and^gunher froth Woolwich went to fetch him back to headquarters, and on arriving at the: Royal Arsenal railway station they went into the Bull public-house (opposite) to have a drink before going up to the barracks.; Roberts, persuaded the escort take- the handcuffs off for a few moments to facilitate drinking the beer. This they incautiously.did*' on which Roberts bolted. " The escort rushed into the street after him and called to him to surrender, and on receiving no response fired at the fugitive deserter. The ball missed him, and he escaped. The street was crowded, but fortunately no one was shot. The New Zealand Medical Association will (says the Press) consider the following resolutions concerning friendly societies, at a meeting to be held shortly in Napier :• " (1) That the members ot each branch or district should agree upon a uniform price per year per club member, and that individual tendering be abolished. (2) That club attendance mecns ordinary medical attendance exclusive of consultations, operations requiring extra medical aid, dentistry, parturition, and miscarriage. (3) That none but benefit members can subscribe to the medical fund, and that so-called honorary members be not placed on the doctor's list. (4) That no encouragement be given to men in receipt of an income of more than £2OO ayear to become benefit members of societies. (5) That the age of children allowed to receive free medical attendance shall not exceed sixteen years. (6) That the distance for medical attendance shall not exceed three miles by the nearest road-from the lodge, and that there shall be no contract for extra mileage unless the society make themselves responsible for payment. (7) That the wives of members be examined."

• It may not be unsatisfactory to the people in this part of t-h.6- Colony to"be assured that Nes.Zealand has seen the last of the notorious Butler. We are enabled to state upon authority tlie fact as to his leaving the Colony and his pressnt location. When Butler was within a few months of completing his sentence', the Government, we think wisely t . determined that he should be em couraged on his release to seek other climes, where he might have a chance of rehabilitating his character and fortunes, and be removed from the opportunity of avenging himself, as he had often threatened to do upon certain persons against whom he entertained strong animosity. He was approached on the. Subject through . a proper. official channel; and eventually; in consictcration of a short remission of his 5 ; time; He agreed to clear dut at puce, provided that arrange' merits were made for his doing so without publicity, so that he should;not land in',a new country i branded,, man'. On leaving prison h 4 wits consequently quietly embarked oil Hoard one of the direct steamers under an assumed. nanie..Snd his passage paid: He was furtiief; furnished with a small .sijiii of money, so that he\sllouid. not be without means until he could fitid. emp'loymerit. He landed at Rio, and was tliere until quite recently, but, by.advices received, was contemplating proceeding to_ th? United States, where, by thistimp, he has presumably taken up his permanent abode; unless something has turned up to keep him in the Brazils, which, in the disturbed state of the country, is not improbable.—Star.

We recently had occasion to administer a severe whippingto the Oamaru Mail in conj nection with some very disreputable practices to which it descended during the elpction. Writhing under the lash of honest criticism, and greedy for a portion of our circulation in this district, the' Mail amuses us by pretending to take up the wrongs of Mr "Ramsay, of Hyde, who in his very awkwaid position—being still compelled to evade at all hazards our repeated invitation to an exhaustive inquiry into what we wrote during the election, which he was foolish enough in ah unguarded moment to dispute—does not see that the Mail would eagerly patronise any living creature whatsoever who would only devote himself so readily to concocting a long series of abusive falsehoods about the Editor of this journal. The result is the distribution of some silly leaflets in which Mr Ramsay is compensated by a certain amount of interested pandering to his vanity for his having so far forgotten himself as to supply, the Oamaru.Mail with a tissue of childish in ventions about this paper. Had our young friend confined himself to statements having some i emote resemblance to the truth-he would of course have received no notice whatever from the Mail; as it is,; he is naturally received with open arms," flattered and beguiled with much edifying lavishness, and hus thus, to his evidput boundless ecstacy, got' into print the joyful news to the world that we once honoured Mr J. J.. Ramsay with a sub-leader! Our contemporary knowing our young friend's besetting sin, is simply making a tool of him. -The 'Mail;will 'even, for instance, in its desire to gratify .its" revenge.for our exposures, endorse so deliberate a falsehood as that we "excluded.vail ?Johnite -letters during the election—both the originator of the statement and his new. patron knowing perfectly well all the time that our columns actually bristled with them for- weeks and months, while those of the Mail'were closed against everything which did not ply for its Ministerial hire. The touts and toadies of the election cnunot brazen things out in this way. Every sensible person knows what all this , really means. We made certain statements which, under urgent were denied to save votes ; .we .challenged an exhaustive inquiry, and the. culprits take refuge in vulgar .abuse and the invention of ridiculous and reckless falsehoods, about nsl- They know perfectly well what-the'result to their member and . themselves • would - have been had bur suggested inquiry-been faced. It is just the story of the -two Palmerston challenges over again—the" bad cold "and the " other arrangements " and. the paid caterwauling of the lurid pitmen' repeated-in the piping accents of the Mail and its misguided caterer, as the only jtudent. "."-answer "to a straighforward challenge. 4 natural satisfaction this virtual confession of the truth of all we-.-said„ and wo leave the subject there so iaT""aa : thisidistrict is concerned : while as regards Otihiaru , >vc need not take a singleste|jLtaexp6se'*£he iiiSarested malice which has giVeri rise to thesVpaitry slanders. The fact -JJiat they originated With the Oamarn a sufficient j&iarHntefl throughout that -district Chat'" there" is not ft word of truth inithenu .. •;•

A co.ncs.rt ..and dance will he held at P.itearo'a on Friday, February 2nJ. The land and income lax is payable in one sum on Wednesday, January 31st. See advf. As will be seeii by an ad vertisement in another column, that Wednesday and Thursday, January 24 And 25, will be observed as part holidays by, the local branches of the Banks of New. Zealand and New South Wales. . The list ■ for the Borough' -.of Naseby for the year ending 31st March, 1895, is now open for inspection at the Town Clem's office. " As will be seen liy our advertising columns, the-Farmer's Agency : -Company, will hold a stock sale at on Saturday, January 27th. Up to _the present a fair number of entries have been received, and the sale promises to be a 'success. Entries are invited. Mjessrs Donald Reid and Co. intimate that theinatmual sheep fairs will be held ia this district about the middle of February and towards the end of March.,. A concert and dance .will be held in the Town Hall, Naseby, on Wednesday, January 24th, (first race night) in aid of the funds of the Mount Ida Miners' Association. As the association has undoubtedly been of use in the past in protecting the interests of the. miners in the district, it is well deserving of sympathy and support; and it is to be hoped a bnmper house will reward their elforts. The annual meeting of the Mount Ida Miners' Association is advertised for Saturday, the 27th January. t A good attendance of miners and those interested in mining is requested. iisoi _ y,-- I The Under-Secretary of the Department , of Justice has' informed us that under section , 9 of "The Alcoholic Liquors Sale Control , Act; 1893;" which provides that where more local authorities than one have jurisdiction within £tClicensin» Governor shall appoint which of-.iuch local authorities shall, for the purposes of the Licensing Acts, be deemed to have authority throughout the district; .It is proposed to appoint the Waihemo C nl *nty Council to have 1 authority in terms of the section above Quoted throughout the licensing district of Waihemo. Why this should be so we are at a loss to understand. Waihemo is a smaller couuty thars Maniototo, .arid Palnierston, -the headquarters; is situated at the extreme southern end of the Waihemo electorate. Central Otago's claims are here quietly ignored. The Hon. John M'Kenzie's supporters cannot blame Scobie Mackenzie ~ for this palpable political job.