LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume 4, Issue 168, 21 June 1883, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

. learn that the 'aboiitioii of return and Satarday ralway tioketa has materially affected passenger traffic on our railways, with a corresponding diminution m revenue. There has been no meeting of the Horticultural Society siace the last Show. This is not the way to do business on a satisfactory basis, or to encourage the aupport'/of the public. ; We see that our looal "cooper, Mr Coofe, : is sending away barrels and. casks m considernnm'bers tp.outpid,e d/stricts. A few days ago we saw a number at Greatford station for transportation to Lower Rangitikei. i We are Borry to learn of Mr G. M. Snelson's indisposition, and t?ust to hear of his' early and complete recovery. '- To-day was the shortest day, according tothe almanac. : - Tn-'morrb"w is Dr Curl's usual weekly vigit to Palmeraton, and he can be consulted by -patients at Remington's Medical Hall. The. unnecessarily stringent .rule; enforced with such stem fUrour by onr genial stationmaster, prohibiting hotel-porters coming on the platform, is often the cause of much annoyanoe to travellers. Last evening a lady was travelling by train en route for Napier by the, coach this morning,, and as she .was unattended there' was no one to see fco'her. luggage. She made enquiries as to an hotelporter, but learnt to her surprise they were not allowed on the platform. Fortunately, some person^ seeing her difficulty went m search of a porter, and relieved the lady of her embrassment, of which no notice whatever seemed to be taken by the local railway officials. The Tule is a most absurd one to be stringently enforced m Replace like Palmerston.

are pleased 1o learn that Mr T. H. Paraonß,.contractor, has completed his bnsiness arrangements m the South very satisfactorily. 7 . \i There, was a meeting of the County Council this afternooo, to strike the rate for tbe year. The Hawera Star writea :— The chief goseip m the town ro-day has "been a rumoured difficulty m meeting bis engagements by a man m business near Hawera. It ft- to bd- "hoped that the outcome" of the difficulty will prove better than present appearandes warrant creditors to expect. We trust that m this instance persons will avoid enquiring " Who ia it ?" from the principal, as wag recently done at Stratford. .•-.»- The Wanganui Herald, commenting on the reply lately made by the Minister of Public Works to the deputation respecting the central line of railway, has tbe following :— •• He said that-Mr Roch ford had been engaged m the place of Mr Carkeek to survey the central line. Now, as MrCarkeek's route was from Stratford to the head waters of the Mokau, this is what the ' Artful Dodger 1 calls 'the. central line.' The Tauppisno longer the," qentraliine, fbnt by a .dishonest use of "terms the Upper Mokau has been made to usurp the title. The shuffle oi the cards "-has been neatly effected by starting from Stratford instead of Waitara." Disraeli m his youth was resplendent m attire ; Mr Gladstone reverses the picture, and m hispid age is giving way. to the seductions of his tailor and the demands ot fashion . The Premier astonished the House one night lately by the unwonted, brilliancy of his costume. He was attired m a. faultless evening suit of tbe latest Parisian cut", "and what with highheeled patent shoes and sky-blue silk stock•ings and gold clocks, his appearance of exuberant juvenility was such as to cause the Fourth Party to turn pale with envy. Fifteen petitions were presented to the House on Tuesday, four of them being from Catholics against the praserit system "of education. c'A. Xtorekeepecjn Manners-street,. Wellington, has just acquired a natural curiosity m the shape of a six-legged pig, which he intends educating, before exhibiting,, m the science ot whist and six- banded euchre, m which latter game this intelligent animal will no doubt prove himself an adept. Mr Bracken M.H.R.'will move for a return showing the nnmber of days on which Ministers were absent ; from > Wellington during the recess, with the amounts paid or" due for their trayelling expenses. In the Italian Chamber, on the Bth April, Signor Magliani made his financfaL statement for the past year, and showed a surplus of I'i.OOOjOOO francs, • which woq.ldUb.avo been, three times that amount bat fox the loss occasioned by inundations. We learn.irpm the- Napier. .Telegraph that the Southern Cross Petroleum Company having engaged the services of Mr Tesler, an American oil-birer. That gentleman was a through passenger to Gisborne by the steamer from the South on Saturday. Boring operations will be oomme.i cad as soon as Mr Tesler arrives on the company's ground. In the mennwhile Mr.Stubbs' reports on the paraffin butter deposits are very ericoaragfttg. L The "rSonth" Pacific- Petroleum Company have' oabled for a new engine, which will arrive by the mail steamer, Zealandia from San Francisco. v " It appears that about forty thousand messages are daily -despatched by .telephone m London. ' i - |A remarkably honest doctor sent m a certificate of death, the other day, with his name signed m the space reserved for " cause of death." " . ." A Gateshead (England) engineering firm, employing 1200 men, has all the copying of its drafts and plans done by -youpsf women, who do the work much better tban when it is done by men-