LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 626, 14 February 1879, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Mr. Townley, of the firm of Large and Townley, has failed to fulfil his contract, by which he agreed to have Mr. Adams'." temporary stationery shop completed, by ' moonlight last night ; but an extension of time , has been allowed, i by,, . which Mr.' Townley is to liave the building completed by day-light to-morrow morning, including the first coat of paint. " The'long, patient and exhausting enquiry held yesterday afternoon, m the, CourtHouse, as to the origin and cause of the late disastrous tire m the Gladsone Eoad, resulted m an open verdict. Whether the fire broke out m the sh.6p of Mr. Nasmith or that of Mr. Best, ha 3 not been _ cleared Up, and we suppose will never be ascer- , tamed. That the fire was purely accidental there can be no doubt whatever. The respectability of all parties, and the absence of all motive,, sufficiently indioates . this. Mr. Best and Mr. Nasmitu; are both heavy losers by the catastrophe, from which it will be long before they are able to retrieve themselves. ' * ' Owing to the steamship Wanaka not having arrived during the morning of Wednesday last, and as there was no other;, opportunity of proceeding to Wellington until next week, Major Withers was unable to land and inspect the Volunteers ; but he has intimated to the Commanding Officer that lie will give due notice previous to his. return from the South, /when he intends, Unless other arrangements are made at head-quarters, to be able to inspect our local f corps. ■, i. . ... Father Hennebery's anecdote of "the thundering I big ; / feiuher; '' which :h& > gave laajb , night i during his discourse, was "a very indifferent imitation of an expression once used by Boatswain Smith— an old reformed man-oV warsman, who used to preach to the sailors at Wapping, near the London Docks.' In his discourse he addressed the old " salts ", . as wliftpping ■ sinners. The difference between 'the two stories, is, that the former is vulgar ; the latter witty ; but both irreverent, and quite but of 'place, m the pulpit. Mr. T. Bryant desires us to offer au explanation with regard to a rebuke he met with last evening from tile Rev. Father Hennebery, Mr. Bryant had received an injury to his leg on the evening o/ the fire. Anxious to hear the preacher, he seated himself at the Western wall end of the Church, and rested his leg by 'putting it oh the form where "there were no sitters, when he was told to sit upright. Mr. Bryant says, as he has always been known to have due regard to decent and proper observances, he felt greatly*' annoyed. . • ■ ... ,A rare chance for private buyers and stdrkeepers To-Morbow, at Sam Stevenson's sale of Clothing, Boots, Drapery, and Sundries. — [Advt.] Our advertising columns inform us that ' Mr. E. J. Upham has established himself m Gisborne as stock,' station, and general commission agent; 'as also registry-office keeper. Mr. Upham is a thorough man . of business, well known to the setters of the district, and. m every way competent for his work. •Messrs. Bourke and ' Fryer ■"" 'announce that they have 400 first-class Puriri house blocks for sale, '■ Among the incidents connected with the late fire, may be mentioned the following s— Along with other removals of Mr. Adair's drapery stock was a parcel of ! coats. A Maori wa3 seen during the absence of the authorised watcher to take off his old coat, and replace it with a new; one from the parcel mentioned. While. he was doing this, another Maori was fitting,himself with a. pair of ne,w trousers from a bundle, ! also ' belonging to Mr. Adair. • There was too much excitement^, and too little time, to give the fellow m charge' 1 ; Erskine, the man who saw the. robbery, commit;ted, : contented himself With making the fellow pull of the appropriated trousers, after^.;whichj having . first given him a thorough and complete kicking, the Maori ' : was allowed' to go free. Oh the Whole, there was very little peculation at the late fire. Mr. Townley, who was summoned to attend as a juror at the inquest on the late • fire, '■ did not put m an appearance, and was fined by the Coroner 205., the penalty to take : effect after ; Monday >next, unless sufficient cause be shown by him for his absence. The Coroner said that, for the future, he would inflict a fine m all similar cases, as it was not only disrespectful to the Court, but caused other jurors considerable detention. A gentleman, one of b\ir large pastoralists, informs us that he lately forwarded from Gisborne a number of sheep to Auckland for sale, The sheep sold fairly, but the freight and charges on every sheep amounted to over eight shillings. It would have paid him better, the gentleman tells us, much better, had he sent them to be boiled down for the tallow. A meeting of the Poverty Bay Club, is convened for 7 o'clock this evening, at the Masonic Hotel. Messrs. Combs and & Co. give notice, m our advertising columns, that they will, for fourteen days, commencing on Monday next, offer undoubted bargains to each and everyone who favor them with a visit. Every article is to be marked m plain figures, so that there may be no deception. As the sale will last for fourteen days only intending purchasers will do well to make an early call. S. Stevenson's unreserved auction sale of Drapery, Clothing, Boots, &c, will take place to-morrow, at 11 o'clock. — [Advt.] A short time ago, it will be remembered, • a Wanganui resident drew Maritana m a sweep, When Mr t)elamain refused to let the mare run unless he received a large proportion of the sweep if she won. When this piece of sharp practice was exposed, •Mr Delamain defended it, on the ground that ii Was ' a common practice on the turf. Some-one thereupon wrote to the Australasian, an acknowledged authority on such matters, stating the case, and the sporting editor replies: — '' We ai-e surprised at the owner making such a demand from the holder of Maritana m the sweep. Such conduct was certainly not .sportsmanlike." , . , We have received the following m relation to the case of the unfortunate man Jacobson :— " Editor of the Herald: Sir,— Enclosed please find One Pound for the unfortunate man Jacobson, although the amount is small, I hope it will stimulate others m the same cause. — H.L." The money awaits Mr. Jacobson at our office.