Local and General News.

Marlborough Press, Volume XXVI, Issue 1574, 4 March 1886, Page 2

Local and General News.

Hospital Supplies. —Tenders for supplies to the Hospital, full particulars of which appear elsewhere, must "be sent to the secretary by noon to-morrow. Poaching. —Fish poachers beware. At the R.M. Cou 1 1,‘Christchurch, the day. William Brooks was fin-d L 25, and hia son L 5, tor netting trout in the river Se*y wn. Boat Bpild:no.—Mr A. B rtle't hajust Lurched at Pit ton 11 splendid pleasure The length is 14 fe-t and the breadth 4 feet 8 inches. She is carvel built. .The nnininn is that she is one of the best finished boats ever built in Picton. Picton Road Board. —Tenders for metalling portions of the Main Road between the Wairau Bridge and the Elevation, and also for forming 25 chains of road near Mr John Lankow’s, Tua Marina, must be sent to the Picton Road Board Inspector to-morrow. Startling. —The following somewhat startling advertisement appeared daily in the London newspapers. Is it due to the Dress Reform Association? “Mrs and Miss May have left off clothing of every description. All inspection invited.” Much Over Little.—A dispute about a half penny has arisen between the rate collector of Chatham and the Government auditor, aud as the correction of the error would necessitate a revision of 6,000 assessments the local board has passed a resolution declaring that the auditor is too particular. An Unpleasant Joi-rnet.— Travellers by the aft rn on train from Blenheim to Picton on Tuesday decribe the jolting they got whenever the train star cl or pulled up, as the reverse of ngreeable The breakueck epeed at woich the trains always travel, may be some excuse for these trifling unpleasantnesses, Pianofoute Tuning —Mr A. N. Fan* ner from John Bro dwo d and Sons, the celebrated London pi.inofor'e makers, has arrive! in Blenheim, and is prepared to undertake the tuning, repairing, and regula’ingof pianofortes, harmoniums, or organs. Mr Fanner has splendid testimonial. In the district he is already spoken most highly of. An advertisement appears elsewhere. Local Enterprise.— Mr W. T. Sherwood, our enterprising fruiterer, who has extended his business to tint of buying fruit in la'ge quantities for export, is de»ermine<l to let the outside world know som thing of tho adaptability of the soil of Mar borough for the growth of fruit, being about to send to the Petono Jam Factory 5 tons of peaches. They wre ob ained from Mr II- D. Bell, of Waihopi, and having tested a simple we can say, without fear of contradiction,"that jtbey are well suited for miking jam. Drapery Sale. —Mr T. Galloway, High Street, Picton, announces that he will hold a three weeks’ sale commencing next Saturday. The goods will be marked down very low, so as to effect a clearance in order to make room for Winter goods. This is a first class opportunity to lay in a good stock of drapery, and clothing. Justice for Ireland.—Mr Justice Stephens, during the hearing of a case against three Irishmen charged with assault, and tried on tho 6t,h of November at the Cambridgeshire Assizes, strongly rebuked ono witness who spoko in contemptuous terms of the Irish peopje. His Lordship said that he had passed the greater part of his life in Ireland from choice. 110 was glad to testify on any occasion to the kind and sympathetic character of the people. It was a great mistake on the part of many Englishmen to look down on Ireland. Colonial Municipal Indebtedness. The extraordinary aggregated indebtedness of the Australasian corporations and municipal bodies to Great Britian has been noted with some dissatisfaction in English financial circles. It seems that these bodies owe Great Britian something like five and three-quarter millions, of which more than three and a half millions are debited to New Zealand. This involves an annual interest of over £2OOOOO. The fact that a large proportion of the New Zealand money is invested in harbor works is not held to be a complete justification for such great expenditure. Ingenius. A watchmaker in Newcastle is said to have completed a set of three gold shirts studs, in one of which is a watch that keeps excellent time, the dial being about three-eighths of an inch in diameter. The three studs are connected by a strip of silver inside the shirt bosom ; and the watch contained in the middle one is wound up by turning the stud above, and the hands are set by turning the one below. Wedding in Picton. —Our Picton correspondent wires:—A large attendance witnessed the wedding at Holy Trinity Church, Picton, of Elizabeth Rowe Gard, second daughter of Jos. Rowe Gard, Esq. to Mr John Mowatt, of Blenheim, to-day. The bride was dressed in white cashmere, trimmed with broehe and lace, and wore a lace veil with orange blossoms. She looked charming, The Bishop of Nelson performed the ceremony, assisted by the Rev. Mr Whyte. There were six bridesmaids, five sisters of the bride, aud Miss Mowatt, all dressed alike, with cream spotted muslin, trimmed with lace and white hats trimmed with pa’e blue. The affair passed off very successfully. At the conclusion, rice and flowers were strewn in profusion, when the bride and groom went to the residence of the bride’s parents, and will leave for Altimavloeh during the afternoon.

A queer Plant.— The laughing-plant grbws in China, and .is po called because its seeds produce effects like those secured by laughing-gas. The flowers are'of a bright yellow, and the seed pods are soft and woolly, while the seeds resemble small black beans,artd only two or three grow in a pod. The natives (Chinese) dry . and pulverise them, and the powder, if taken in small dozes, makes the soberest person behave like a Site us clown or a madman, for he frill dance, sing and laugh most boisterously, fknd cut the most fantastic capers, and be in an uproariously rediculous condition for about an hour. When the excitement ceases, the exhausted exhibitor of these antics falls asleep, and when lie wakes he has not the slightest remembrance of his frisky doings. Queer.— The Rev. : Mr Isitt. made a rather startling statement at Mr Glover’s meeting at the Rechabite Hall last night. He said that he had received information from a gentleman, in whom he placed implicit reliance, that recently a policeman forced his way into a leading hotel of this city at three o’clock on a Sunday morning, and'on making his way upstairs found upward of one hundred men drinking and gambling in the billiard room. The constable sent in his report of the matter to his superior, but no action whatever was taken, and the zealous policeman, who wa j only performing his duty, was told that unless he refrained from watohing certain hotels he would probably lose his situation. —Wellington Post. Church .of England.— An exchange says: —The annual income of the Churchof England is nearly £B,ooo,ooo,exclusive of University endowments, and Ecclesiatical Commission funds. The officers of the Church of ‘England consist of : 2 Archbishops, in receipt of £25,000 per annum; 31 Bishops, in receipt of £145,000 ; 20 Deans, in receipt of £40,500 84 Archdeacons, in receipt of £17,500;. 105 Canons, in receipt of £163,000. The number of working clergy is 22,750, who divide something like £7,500,000 of Church revenues, and £1,000,000 of Ecclesiastical Commission funds, between them if these funds were equally divided, the working clergy would each receive about £4OO per annum. The income of the Church of England represents a capital of £226,000,000. An 111-Bred Pup. —One sunny Sabbath morning the late Rev. Samuel Hamilton fouud himself preaohing to an attentive congregation at Kentucky town. It so happened that a tipsy man strayed like, a hluck sheep into the fold ; but no one objected and things ran smoothly enough. Presently a small dog entered at the open door and trotted down the ai-le until it reached the front of the pulpit, when it set up a furious barking at the minister. The tipsy man, with the utmost gravity, arose and walked, steadily down the aisle to where the dog was barking. Seizing tho animal by the neck, he held him up before the congregation for a moment, and then shaking him furiously, he broke out with “ Tree a preacher, will you, you ill-bred pup. This was too much for Mr Hamilton. He could not restrain his laughter and he took his seat, not being able to dismiss his congregation. Quite so. —One of the successful publican’s candidates at a recent election of a Licensing Committee at Dunedin in returning thanlcs to the ratepayers is reported to have spoken thus :—I say it is thoroughly distasteful to reasonable aud sober men that others, as soon as they choose to become teetotallers, whatever their past career has been, should point the finger of scorn at those who have been sober men all their lives.. (Cheers.) The majority of men in this community are sober andtemperate men. (Applause). Then why should they he pointed at with scorn as not fit to take part in public affairs, and as being inferior to those who hold different opinions ? Every man who has lived a sober life has just cause to complain when a reclaimed drunkard points the finger of scorn at him. (Loud Cheers). The CnuRCH Militant. —The Church militant (says a Home paper) has been distinguishing itself of late in more ways than one. At Beccles, the Rev. James LeFleming Mitchell, curate of Sotterly, was sentenced lately to seven days’ hard labor for striking a policeman in the face with a candlestick ; anil at Birkenhead the Rev. Henry Ehvell Smith was fined £1 and cost 3 for violently assaulting a Mrs Hardiman and a man who was walking with her. “ While lam not prepared to contend,”says a correspondent in ‘Truth,’ “ that the first sentence was too severe, the second certainly appears, by comparison, very much too lenient, for the Rev Smith seems to have had even less justification for his remarkable proceedings than the Rev. Mitchell. But the disparity of sentences has long since seemed to be remarkable. ’ A Veby Wicked Institution 1— ‘‘ The great question of the sinfu’ness of raffles at bszaat3, ” says a correspondent in Truth, ”is not to be permi.ted to rest et all events in Scotland, The Fiee Church Presbytery of Inverness bus decided, by a large majority, that raffling is not only contrary to the law of the land, bur to the law of Go!, < an d cannot he regarded as harmless or allowable for any object whatsoeaer ; ’ moreover, ‘that the practice is dishonoring to God, who is irreverently appealed to as disposer of the lot, contrary to every principle of sound morality. * “ I wonder if R has everoedurred to the p -op'e who innocently contribute their shi lings towards a raffls for a cushion, a firescreen or some such article, thst they are guilty of blasphemous impiety in c tiling upon the Almighty to name the winner of the coveted object ? ” Marlborough Racing Club.—A meeting of the Marlborough Racing Club was held last evening for the purpose of setl ng accounts in connection with the recent race meeting Present—Messrs T. Redwood (in the chair), W. B. Girling, W. E. P. Cloußton, 11. A. W. McKenzie, secretary. The following emouats and stakes won were past for payment: —A. McColl LBS 10s, G. Seymour L 23 15s, A. Prior L 3, C. H. Owens L3S. E. S. Bell L2(l, G. W. Riley L2B 15s, J. W. Walts L 3, J. A. Hathaway LI, H. Redwood Ll 3 C. Redwood L 3, F. Gentry LB. The total amount of accounts passed, including printing, advertising, labour, etc., and sundry outstanding accounts, was L7OB, after deducting which there .will be a b dance of LIOO to be carried to the Club’s credit as a result of Ihe meeting No doubt a great deal of the success of the meeting is due to the exertions of the secretary,MrH. AW. McKenzie,for which he is to be heartily congratulated, more So heciuso the Club had a balance on the wrong side of the l dger lrtst year. Catarrh of this Bladder.— Stingin* irritation, inflamation, all Kidney and similar complaints, cured by *• Buchu* paibs.” Kempthorno, Prosser & Co., Agents;, Christchurch.