LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 194, 4 December 1876, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

We notice .that Mr. W. Conyers, the General Manager of Railways, has moist con« siderately set apart Thursday, the 21st inst., as a geheralholiday for the officers and men on the Southland Railways. The programme will include an excursion to some suitable spot, also a dinner and balL Everyone musft recognise the thoughtfulness of the act, for on those festive occasions when ;other: folic recreate and enjoy themselves the railway employes have to work the harder. What between opening of new lines, excursions trains, and other supplementary work, tha officials on the North Otago lines havehatl pretty hard times of it of late, so we trustj in the general relaxation they will not ba forgotten, and that a day will likewise ba set apart for their " outing." As announced by telegram, one of tha adult passengers by the Albion from Melbourne was Mr. Chee Ki Chee, who is stated to be the largest man in existence. Thi* huge Celestial is a native of Shang-tung, hi the north of China, is seven feet nine inches in height, five feet round the chest, an. I weighs twenty-nine stone six pounds. Hi i strength is said to be immense, being able 11 lift a ton with the greatest ease. As Mr, Chee Ki Chee is thirty years of age, we pre« sume he is done growing.

When the late Agent-General died in Lon« don he left five unmarried daughters behind him, one of whom is of impaired intellects. "We notice by a telegram from Australia thaft the steamship Northumberland had arrived,, on board of which were the Misses Feather* stone, no doubt the daughters of the lata doctor, who are returning to the land of then? birth.

The members of the Fourth Estate are» generally credited with the reputation of; being "good livers," upon the truth op falsity of which, however, we will not ven« ture to express an opinion. There are some of our brethren who rather glory in the fact. The editor of the Patea Mail has been tasting the beer'from his local brewery, and pronounces it the best in New Zealand. We» beg leave to question the truth of the statement, for although all obher brews may havo been sampled throughout the Colony, the Patea man has not yet visited Oaniaru, and until he has, we dispute the palm awarded even by so qualified a judge. As there is no pleasure without an alloy of some sort, so social gatherings in the shapa of tea meetings, although excellent things fit themselves, are not without their drawbacks, A case in point occurred during the past week in the North Island, which is thus retailed by the local journal:—" People have become so accustomed to combine a semi* religious entertainment with tea and buns, that it was not at all surprising yesterday evening to discover that several maternal heads of families, with dozens of their interesting offspring, had assembled at the Presbyterian Church in good time, ; as tlaey thought to obtain seats at the first taites. No little disappointment was felt when the cold truth forced itself upon these hungry ones that there was to be no. tea, nor buns, nor jams and lollies. : One good lady vas heard to exclaim, ' I never did see nothing so mean ! I ain't a-going to listen to their dry sermons." . *

The never-resting, untiring energy of Mr. Smith, of Titanic Steel, fame -mil "not. aßov him to rest upon his oars for a momeati. for we learn that an application" for lease ef beach from the Huatoki Eiver to ;the Hentt River for the purpose of erecting works t» smelt the iron sand has been sent in to the proper authorities. It is proposed .to start a company-with £20,000 capital, with power to increase to £IOO,OOO. The shares will U £1 each, and till the £20,000 has been subscribed, may be called up within, eight to twelve month 3, and at the rate of" 2s. 6d. a call per share. It is said that the £20,000 will be siifficient to provide plant and enable the works to be carried on till returns caiibe obtained. It is proposed to make crude metal and ship it to England, to be made into steel. Should it afterwards be found desirable other capital could be called «P for the purpose of establishing rolling nulls. Mr. E. M. Smith is amongst tb,e movers m this matters. .• • ;

A mournful moan cornea from Victoria. In a recent issue, the Bendigo Advertiserwrites :—"The great mining industry of Bendigo will quietly fade into insignificance year after year, unless a reaction is provoke* by interested means. Goldfields, cities, and towns will be undesirable places to looate nl. by-and-bye if the* population continues" s» rapidly to go off. The once great Ballarai has lost about 7,000 inhabitants in a fevr years; Castlemaine is dwindling down to a roadside nonentity; Ararat will soon only 1* represented by bricks and mortar; and Sandhurst is also following in the wake. Stawell appears to be the only mining centre that is attracting population at present. » is really painful to witness the continued &» taking place in the oldest mining sites of v® Colony. Our mines are now in the descendant in two ways, declining towards declivity." Some amusing things were said recently* a luncheon on board the Crawford, R.M., for Wellington, in ing thanks for the navy, remarked"

id alteriSCsJv" much since ho wan arc officer l sha& sifiee.. of> «r $> y«ufs> aij», that lie mill scarcely recognise it. When lie was i tho navy they used to sail in wooden lip ami lire the guns from the hroadsid's. ,m they went! ahout in t.'a -Lef.H'.-.< asid• Kmt 0 guns t'.ii'i.auli the spout r Sdil ho hail n doubt they would fight a* wi'U ;<.; ever. hi» brk£ an<l spe*<£fo canted rent laughter. Uik,,i|ttaday la«t I writes thta &twtf>ormqh while the Lyttetton lay hair-hound 1 tlio Opawa River Mouth, a number of the iswngers went ashore at Oiltwn's Point in larch of curiosities among the tUhrin thrown pou the shores of Cloudy Bay. In the )iir»s of their rambles they discovered ivorai human, skulls, bones, and a complete ;uleton, which they concluded wtare the iiiafns of Maoris. These relics had been icuVßSad by the waves, -and the tinders uughtfulty scraped some holes in the sand id again buried them, ft is on record that 'd Raiiparaha fought a sevens batiste on the lores of Cloudy ~»y, when he reduced the ibu located hereabouts to slavery, and it is jobabte these remains date from that iriud.