LOGAL AND GENERAL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 899, 20 September 1879, Page 2

LOGAL AND GENERAL.

Mr. J. Craig returns thanks to all those who so ably assisted at tue late tire on the night of the 17tn. The Rev. W. L. Salter will exchange pnlpits to-morrow witli tue Rev. J. MuAra, and preach at St. Andrew's iv tue morning and at Matawhero m the afternoon.

The next quarter of the Misses Caldvvell and Miss Hett's seminary will commence on Thursday next, 25th lust. The usual monthly meeting of the Star of Gisborue, Loyal Orange Lodge, will be held iv. Messrs. J^erris and Pitt's store, on Thursday next, 25th mat., at 8 p.m. A special meeting of the Turangauui Caledonian Club will be held ou Monday tne 6th October, at 7 p.m.

An inquest into the origin of the tire at Mr. J. Craig's bakery, was held .yesterday afternoon, ac the British Empire Hotel, before Mr. C. W. Fiexumu, Coroner, and a jury of which Mr. J. Xownley was chosen foreman. Tne verdict arrived at by the jury, atter a patient investigation, was that the tire was accideutly caused.

In our imperfect report yesterday of the meeting of cue Poverty Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society, we mentioned that Mr. Sunderlaud had been elected by the members as president, and Mr. George Scott as vice-president. Later iv tne meeting than we were m time to report, iMr. P. H. Bourke was elected hou. secretary. The rules of the society were read over, which was followed by a discussion as to the advisability of holding a show. It was finally resolved that a meeting sh o uld be h e^» the time and plate oe ing left fo r the committee to decide.

To-morrow, m the Wesleyan Church, the anniversary services m connection with the Sabbath School will be held m the morning, afternoon and evening. The morning and afternoon services will be conducted by the Rev. J. McAra, who will deliver addresses suitable to the occasion ; and m the evening the Rev. W. L. Salter will preach a special sermon for young men. The collections made will be m aid of the Sabbath School. On the following Tuesday there will be a soiree, when addresses will be given by ministers and friends, and the choir, under the direction of Mr. J. East, will render selections from Moody and Sankey's sacred songs.

The " Totaliaer, " now so successful m Melbourne, and other larger towns, has been opened at the Masonic Hotel, Giaborne, and from what we learn the odds are much larger than are obtained from the bookmakers. In some cases, quoted from the Australasian, tlte odds paid by the Totaliser have been £100 to £3. The advantage subscribers' have is, that they can back any horse, so that they are almost sure to have a run for their mpney, as they need not invest until about the day of the race, or when they know something. Should an outsider win the race the money is returned to the subscribers less the commission. The events for which the Totaliser is to be utilised at the Masonic are the Napier Grand Handicap Steeplechase, to be rnn 20th October next, the* Melbourne Cup to be run November 4the and the Handicap and Hurdle Race to b, run at Waerenga-a-hika on November 10th.

In the absence of a Resident Magistrate, for Gisborne, to Mr. C. W. Flexman, J.P. has been deligated the duty of holding inquests on fires, or of deaths which have not occurred from natural causes. Mr. Flexman has presided at the inquests on two fires, one at Ormond m the case of Mr Ross's property, and Mr. Craig's "m the Gladstone Road. In both cases, Mr Flexman evinced considerable aptitude for the duties imposed on him, and by his careful and opportune investigations has given proof of his fitness for the responsibility entrusted to his charge.

We wish to remind our readers that the last concert of the season will take place m the Masonic Hall this evening, which is for the benefit of Mrs Cooper and Mrs Jones, who, both of them, have rendered such good offices m nearly all of the amateur concerts which have been held for benevolent or other laudable objects m Gisborne, Makaraka, and Ormond.

Ladies aie like watches — pretty enough to look at ; sweet face and delicate hands, but somewhat difficult to "regulate" after they are set a-going.

In reply to a question put to him at Timaru by an elector oil the 28th ultimo, Mr Turnbull is reported by the Lyttelton Times to have said : — " Most distinctly he would vote against Sir George Grey as being from his previous training and bodily weakness unfit to be Premier. He would let no man stand m the way of the passage of Liberal measures." ' To all appearances, and from what was chronicled m our telegrams of yesterday, there is every reason to suppose that the late disastrous fire at Dunedin was the work of an incendiary. One of the witnesses, James Gordon Hall, proprietor of the Uity Dye Works m the Octagon, states : — On Monday morning, about 25 minutes past one o'clock I got up to give my child, who was ill, some brandy ; I returned to the bedroom and gave her the brandy, and remained up five or ten minutes. I had laid down some ten or fifteen minutes at the most when I heard a rushing noise, and I saw the room illuminated up. I got up and woke the household, thinking that the place was on fire. On coming down my staircase I saw that the fire had been at Waters', m one of the windows overlooking the wooden platform. The blaze appeared to go out, and on my going out of my house the blaze looked like a smouldering curtain. I saw something dark moving this mass of fire. The thing came down and I then saw a body of fire inside. The side door which is close to the window opened and a man came out. I picked up a brick, and threw it at one of the windows, and called out " fire." The man closed the door after him, but I could not see where he went. He had a dark suit of clothes on, and wore a dark felt hat. He was a stoutish man. Another witness, named Simpson, who slept m the dye house on the night of the fire, states: — Mr. Hall called me on Monday morning, and I looked out of the window and saw a man who was dressed m dark clothes. He was m Waters' room, where the stage was. I saw him trying to put out a curtain or a tablet cloth that was on fire on the window. The side door was wide open ; he shut it and suddenly the place was m darkness. Two or three minutes afterwards, the flames broke out m the same room. The Liverpool Daily Post says : — The medical officer's " reasons" for recommending that some of the school children shouid he allowed to run barefooted were formally communicated to the oirkeuhead guardians. Reason number one consists m the assertion of it being a well-known aud uudisputed fact that running about m this way has "a tendency to harden the feet and strengthen their component parts, aud that thereby the great prevalence of chilblains may be much reduced." Reason uuinoer two is that the samo recommendation was made by Dr. Mavatt on his first visit to cue schools. And a guardian cited as a third reasoa the circumstances that the practice prevails largely ia ticooland. It also obtains extensively nearer home ; aud it is solacing to reflect that the many bare feet that are seen pattering the streets both of Liverpool aud Birkenhead are undergoing a process calculated to " strengthen tueir component pares." The doctor's advice is no douut conscientiously given, but general opinion at present is decidedly m favour of boots and stockings, and the young inmates of the Birkenhead union should continue to have the benefit of it.