LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 24, 19 May 1876, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Post-office .authorities notify that • mails for America, Britain, and' Europe, vis, San Francisco, will close at Oainarn on Wednesday, the 31st instant, at 4 a.m.; and via Snez, on the 4th prox., at the same hour. •? There was a very short sitting of the Resident Magistrate's Court this morning. Sydney Campbell, alias Craig, was summoned for creating a nuisance in Wansbeck-street by throwing impure and offensive matter into the public-street. The Inspector of Nuisances had previously cautioned the defendant, and Bench inflicted a fine of 30s. Two drunkards were summarily dealt with. Mr. Parker, li.M., presided. i' We regret to record the somewhat sudden dentil of a man named James Brightful, which occurred yesterday morning. The deceased had latterly been in the employ of Mr. W. H. Clayton, and, a few days prior to his death, had been engaged in sinking a well, during which time lie caught a severe cold, followed by an attack of fever, from which the unfortunate man never rallied. The funeral took place this afternoon.

An uglj' accident happened to a lady, liniiictl Williams, last evening. She was returning home down Humber-street, and when uf . ... opposite Galbraith's timber-yard fell down a iarge hole in tlie footpath, which by .some means had not been properly covered over. Williams' ankle was badly sprained, and she also received a severe shock to her nervous system. We would venture to suggest that tho.ic persons who have occasion to sink those pit.-; oil a public footpath should at least see that the}' are securely covered over btiore dark. On making enquires this evening wc learn that Mrs. Williams is in a very weak state.

intimated by advertisement that the •IJevf" B. Backhouse, Agent of the British and •Foreign Bible Society, will preach on .Sunday ngxfc, tlie i-'lst inst., in the Presbyterian Cngrcli, .it 11 o'clock, and in tlie Wesley C'liffreh at (!.:*>. A special service will be HeM jh the Presbyterian Church at three in On Tuesday evening, the 'J3nIS'M 1-. Backhouse will deliver a pictorial lecfllre on Livingstone and the Bible in Africa, and we trust that the public generally will support heartily a .Society which has done, and is still doing, such a large amount of good. v. Inferring to r, paragraph which appeared in a recent issue, respecting the burning of sonic stacks of wheat at Trotter's Creek, near Hampden, we arc informed by Sub-Inspector M 'Cluskoy that the perpetrators of this act of incendiarism have not yet been arrested, but we trust the police will use every exertion to bring the offenders to justice. As showing the absolute necessity of cleanliness and pure air in the dairy, a writer in the "Practical Farmer" gives the following. He says it is admitted by butter makers of ex tensive experience that impurities and noxious odours in the atmosphere, -where cream is rising, will injure the flavour of butter. We recollect that a neighbour killed a skunk, more than 100 rods distant, and an offensive and pungent odour from the dead animal was wafted during the entire day towards the pantry in which there were several pans of milk. The butter made of that cream tasted so offensively of the odour | of that skunk that- it could not be used for culinary purposes. X. A. Willard writes on on this subject, that "when milkers are allowed to come directly from the stable to Un- milk-room, it will be impossible to keep the latter place sweet and clean for the time being." Things at tlie Thames must be looking rather down when we find the "Star "so hard up for a local as to chronicle the harrowing details of a turnip being eaten up by a goat. Our contemporary says : —" A China- ; man who hawks vegetables was weak enough to have his go-cart to-day on the side of the street while lie went to serve some customer at a distance. There was a vagrant goat in the neighbourhood, who espied a lusciouslooking turnip peeping out of the corner of the cart. The goat went for that turnip greedily. a» if Nanny knew that her time for a feed was limited. John Chinaman on returning saw the thief at his cart, and lie put i on a spurt which was evidently a pace to | which*lMtea unused. On the way he picked tip a stoSHiSnd went for the goat, but the ; latter evaded the stone and got off clear, 1 John's disgust." Four locomotives on tlie Fell principle, similar to tho.;e in use on the Mont Cenis Rsiilway, am being manufactured for the New Zcjpliml Government at tlie Avonside Works, BrfiJWW One of them (says the "Southland Titrfes") is completed, and was tried with success the other (bay at the works, where rails are being laid down with a very steep gradient, for the purpose of more fully testing the efficiency of the engine, which is intended for mountain work. The Mont Cenis engines were designed and made in France, but those for our Government are of English design, as well as of English manufacture. We talaSjjjne following paragraph from the " Kapundaßerald " :—"Mr. A. Steif, of Marrabel, brought into our office, on Friday, a sample of vinegar taken from a bottle of in which, even to the naked eye, thetprej&ice of a large number of animalcule- visible, but which, inspected by means*wthe ordinary Bristol .-j*~ 7

microscope, presented the appeSteace of -acrowded eel-pond. One can imagineN »it beiiig healtfiy to siflSi Iranian stomach, as. just possible ;the animalcnlse might jSßprovevfenjurious after they got there, it JJmuch rapre probable that. they might origiijate a, -|ariety of complaints of such a cliaiCcter as to - the sufferers and puzzle the medical fraternity as to tlieir origin." The " East Anglican Times" reports a curious decision by the chairman v of a spellisfe-. bee held at Lowestoft: —The cgmjietitorsnacl been reduced to three, and the competition was for the first prize. -The gave the word " piquancy,", which a lady spelt correctly, while a sc}ioolmastgr fcspeli/ik"peconcy." The word hftring been' explained, the schoolmaster he h'ad understood it, though he knew it perfectly well, because the interrogator ?nispronoun«!d it. The chairman was called on to decide, and he ruled that the interrogator had pronounced the word after the Freheh manner, and he decided in the schoolmaster. "The result .was that tliej candidate who spelt the word correctly 'di|l not get the first prize, and the caiididate ; whb put seven letters together, which formed r&f word to be found in the recognised diction-* aries, was declared by the chairtnatß th\ winner of the first prize/' The a gift, by Lady Smith, of books, in which shfe had written her name and the reason of the gift, and the schoolmaster, on being sented with the books, said that moment waS the proudest of his life. ' l

A remarkable sign has been put upijfat d public-house in Melling, near Lancaster, kepf by Miss Remington (says the "Carlisle •Journal"). Tlie sign is hung by the centre from the front of the house, so that it can be read on both sides. On one side appears the words, " O that men should put an enemy into their mouths to steal away their brains and oil tlie reverse the following : —O, thou invisible spirit of drink, if thou hast no name to be known by, let us call thee the spirit of evil." The sentence on both sides is surmounted by a well-executed picture of

Sliykespeare. According to the "Nation," American diplomatists do not confine themselves to diplo- f macy, but undertake other duties of a hardly' less important nature. The late American Minister to Peru was, it is asserted, habit of lending money -at' high ratesk of iuterest on the security of jewels, /fxliis caused some comment in the American papers, and now "another extraordinary revelation" is made. It seems that Mr. Washburne, the late Second Secretary of Legation in Paias, was a short time ago home on leave of absence, and during his stay in New York advertised in his own name in the " New York Clipper" for a first-cass bareback male and female rider " for the " Great American Circus, Paris, France—the Palace Circus of the World." He, in short (says the '''Nation"), "appears to have acfed as agent of a spirited American circus proprietor, who has just opened, or is,eab'out to open, a. monster hippodrome in pails." The "New York Tribune" also inquiry, that Mr. Washburne tried, during his stay in that city, to secure animals for the "palace circus." This is considered below the dignity of the diplomatic service, but it must be remembered that to negotiate the engagement of " bare-back male and female rider " is good practice for those still more delicate negotiations, the conduct of which is the chief duty of diplomatists.

The estimated receipts of the Municipality of Lawrence for the year ending 31|ti3"u'ly, 1877, amount to £1,395 los. Sd. ; allowing for interest (£470), salaries, and various incidentals, the to be available for public works is' *£625 16s. Sd. An anticipated Government subsidy of £ 183 is included in the estimated' ; r.(sceipt3. The probable receipts and expenditure of the Corporation of Roxburgh for the ensuing municipal year are estimated at ; JBBB2 ; and they leave, after salaries and miscellaneous charges have been allowed for, the sipii of £l5O to be expended on public works. "THie Corporation of Roxburgh expects a subsidy of £OO. It may not be generally known (says the " Star ") that the fidelity of Government officers is mutually assured, under the Government Officers Guarantee Act, IS7O. Mr. Woodward, as Chairman of the Board, has just issued the first notice of a call to cover a defalcation. The defaulter, W, W. Yause, was a postmaster and telegraphist at Otago. His defalcations amounted to £67 6s. 3d., aud a call of twopence per cent, on the amount of his guarantee is required to cover it.

"Atlas," in the London "World," writes : —"The special artists and correspondents who are accompanying the Prince of Wales on his Indian tour begin to weary of the monotonous round of pleasure, and the still more monotonous duty of sketching and describing the same scenes of rejoicing over and over again, always from a new point of view. Sturdy Mr. Simpson, of the 'lllustrated London News,' who had already circumnavigated the globe pencil in hand, writes home to a friend : ' I want to see no more fireworks at this side of the grave.' According to present arrangements, his Royal Highness will leave Bombay on the 10tn of March, and will arrive at "Portsmouth on or about tlie 20th of April. The Serapis will take a full month to accomplish the voyage, and at least, ten days will be occupied in stoppages in Egypt, Malta, Gibraltar, and Lisbon."

Atlas, iu the London " World " writes : " I spoke recently of a young lord who had been on the stage, and it may be interesting to know liow far the ' superior'. classes are represented in the profession. The sons of Lady Fanny Cole, Lady Harriet Searle, figure there ; both being hard-working pains-

taking afctors, tlnftoh neither has been fortunate. x popular light comedians are is a sonsfe: The aristocracy theatres. polifico-rasmonable countess proprietress of her father's King-street, and is occasionally seen in her box, of -all-she surveys.' The wealthy Earl " arrogantly holds Her Majesty's Theatre, as though a vastsumintlieproduction of "Babil" at Covent Garden, and is believed to be at present concerned in another venture Lord JNewry is still nominal of the Globe."