LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 21, 16 May 1876, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wc have to ajwlogise to our countiy readers for the non-delivery of The Mail last evening. An accident occurred to our steam-engine, whichreu.derecl.it perfectlyimjiossible to send out the country edition. We hope that our friends will accept'tliis excuse under the unavoidable circumstances.

It is notified by advertisement that a meeting of the Sons of Temperance will be held" in the Mechanics' Institute this evening at 7.30 for the purpose of opening the Excelsior Division No. .'J.

An important notice to shareholders in the Oamaru Mutual Benefit Building Society "appears in another .column. , r The business transacted at the Resident Magistrate's Court this morning was of ' an unimportant nature, the time of the' Bench licing occupied with several civil caseßpvlnch were of no public interest. .The jSteiding 'Magistrate was Mf_ T. "\V. Parlcer, We are glad that*feh"e"contr3&tors commenced thc£wbrk the steep hank in Itchen-street adjoining St. Luke's Church. It is' tgfbe hoped they-will be favoured with fine.'weather, and get the job done before sets in. . It is expected to be finished:in about four weeks. A curious discussroil (writes a London correspondent) arose atfone of the Bums' festivals.- One or two gentlemen hailing frTlinjbhss far north resolutely inaintainod-that the new-

Duke of Cordon was the richest nobleman in Britain as regard^titles; but on the bet being taken, Pdrthshmffivas found to own tiie winner in the who, according edition-of-jj^Dofl," just published, Owns tlie enormous number .-of, twenty-tliree titles, being six more than any other nobleman of the United Kingdom. For the information of your Perthshire readers I giwyou a note of them :—Duke 1, Marquis 2, Earl 5, Viscount 3, and 12 of Baron—the last being that of Glenlyon, which in 1821 by George-V-fc--on the present" Duke's grandfather, the.' then Hon. .James Murray. Notwithstanding the wonderful " of New South Wales^tn erPßpft ears to be a large amojmtof following paragraph, taken from" a recent issue of the "Town and Country Journal," is true, a3 we presume it is : —"During last month meals were given to 6,262: destitute persons, and 3.56S others were • offered shelter in the City Night Refuge and Soup Kitchen. If only a tithe of these were cases of undeserved distress, the institution must be accomplishing a noble work. Besides this distribution of food and affording of shelter, the officials relieve distress v 'in many other ways, and actively endeavour tovalleviate the sufferings of those who apply to them."

A Maori enthusiast in the Itptoraa country lias posted up in a conspicuous place at Inland Wairoa, at the head at Lake Taraweivi, the following extraordinary notice as a wariijmfa to tourists :—"Tc Wairoa, District of April 14th, J1876 : This, is a nofcifiottion of mine to the~Europeans who intend visiting Rotoinahana for tlie purpose of viewing the wonders there, that you do not come to the Wairoa on Saturday or Sunday on yonr way to Ilotomana. It is a setting on one side of the law of the Creator, tlie j Lord of the heavens and the earth, and all ; created things. Should any person of the ■ European race transgress and trample on this j laV of mine, they will be subjected to a fine ;of £l each. Any money so collected will be , .devoted towards the propagation of the amongst my own countrymen.—KereijjflMA Te Wharetotara, Servant of the itord." It appears, however, that Mr. 'liaretotara, who indulges in trances and other religious experiences of a very high wder, has not the power to enforce his proclamation, and the result is that tourists are now laughing it to scorn.

Wanganiri is proud of its weeds. It possesses, or rather did possess, a dock root 9ft. in perpendicular growth. - The "Poverty Bay Herald" says:— "About six -weeks ago the Ven. ArchdeacoS* Williams forwarded four bottles of ..the gas obtained from the artesian well at-.Makaraka "to the Geological Survey Office at Wellington, with the object of ascertaining whether it was of any practical iise. Mr. Skey's " report came to hand a week or two since.,he described the contents of three of the bottles : - k litlv

major portion S£Jhe -fourth; pronbnnced to£ consist of hytogen-Qf ja diet before us "tfe are of opmon that proper steps should be taken to prove whether the gas-aveil could not be turned to some profita--He-account.- - Our readers are already- aware that it burns freely even-in its, crude state, and it would be only reasonable to conclude tarsstttfr" pttTifyiiigprocess, its ligthih<j "and heating properties would be greatly enhanced. It is similar in many respects to the ordinary coal- gas, ih - fact, the principal ingredient in the latter may be said to be. liglrt carburretted hydrogen, and there appears to be no possible reason why it should not prove a'most valuable and economical gas. The "Post" says:—Sea-sickness not only causes very distressing sensations to those who are so unfortunate 1 as to Mailable; to its attacks, but also is stated by modern medical authorities to .be positively injurious to the sufferer, instead of being a beneficial ' relief to the system, as formerly supposed, j A very sad instance of its deplorable effect upon some constitutions was furnished during a recent trip of one of the local steamers. A gentleman, who was_a.j?assenger. on board, suffered terribly from sea-sickness, his paroxysms being so violent that it was reinarked by a spectator they -' seemed to loosen the very teetli .in his head/ Nor was this any idle exaggeration.' "An exceptionally severe spasm" came on, and, to the horror of those who witnessed the!'occurrence, the unfortunate man actually shot the whole of his front teeth over the Wlwarlis in one fell bftJffiU side ! He was carefully and kindly attended to, although we regret to state that oae'iSllo\Apassenger was unfeeling enough to pr(3s a doubiras to whether tlie departedfcm.- • ciscfrs were liis own. teeth.' Happilj?>tlie surorer is well known <to _b& paipicrjlarly pujfctual in paying his bills, so the ill-natui'ed remark fell harmless."