LOCAL AND GENRAL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VII, Issue 1085, 3 August 1880, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENRAL.

*' The iram&ay- along the; Gladstone Road is progressing with such rapidity, that almost »i>ef ore the end of the week it will ' hjive reached tfte terminus of tbe Corporation boundary. The question then -is, if 'the' tramVay can go -so far in. so short a time, whether, in a little more • time, \it could not.be carried on to Ormond^ taking into account that we haVe* -'the "ifbn rails; and- that sleepers* are not very costly. If % tSe^ails'TV ill' carry road ' metal, " they will '"s'ttrefy cHrry the goods of ordinary commerce. Why then -throw thousands, of. pounds away en a- metalled road, the metal '■ of "which will shortly become embedded in .the sand, when a tramway with carriages drawD b} 7 one or two horses woitlil answer all. the purpose at oniß-gixth of the cost. . In W.estland, in the Middle Island, there -are now on a soil all or" 1 which is sand, two "■- hundred and fifty nines" of horse tramways, lie. carriages are drawn by horsea, andthe' same have lasted six years; 4he" rails being of wood. The cost is £300 per mile,: and the maintenance, after the first four }%ys§i4s;.oDly £40 .per every, mile and a half ' per "year.' ■ We observe, that Hansard and other Parliamentary papers have been regularly lent ''to line Poverty 'B,&y Library by our mein^j-^aadfthey.mayJ^e seen there during library liours by any person interested., These papers are found to be a most useful .adjunct' to tnelibrary by/those who study "tiid ' drift "of New Zealand politics and. iSgi^latron;' -r ■ :• ■ .• «■• • Mr. George M'Lean, M.H.R., told the foUowing very good story in .the course of a<receilt speech he made, in the House : — There was •, ©nee, , a ..celebrated England trainer pained John Scott. He had' a' very garrulous wife who was very bard to ; manage ; and one day he was asked, ' ? How do you manage to get on so well tvitli that ;scoldjng wife of yours?" "Well Sir," said he,. "I never answers her. Nothing -b^lls £il*old woman like a walk over." ..\Vje w do.. not play at billiards much. '■kiclaedi '¥c play' veryy lit.tle; ;; It is no matter what points are given iis in a game, •foTour adversary always .'iniikes a pomfcot 1 getting thej/ fifty up " before we have got gut of the forties. We once tried pool with-'tli'e- '-result : of being •"•holed-?' three tunes in/success,-, and the aii'air in something under ten minutes cost five ' and six, ; with ritf'sipay; kmtbunt of ' ' ebivff " -added. Subwe were induced , .to. try ' ' muff pool/ because We were fold by the marker that nothing was ;but experience soon showed us that however many muffs there, were playing against we proved .eufeei«;es.ipi%slie'Wgge3t. j j§ii?ff of .all the ..players!' There is now anew game started at the board of green clottt'in-the M'a,sonib. i'ltois is called the ' ' fl-Y^ba^ pyraaud. " It ,is sq very, very easy 'to play, that is if one ' only mows 'how' 'to -ihuifce tfauubTis, pot the-, •^edFj-'inid keep-yourown ball from getting" tin to 7 trouble by. sending "it into a pocket, winch then closes "the- 'score' <f or the time being. We-notice that Mr. Scott, the ■ sprvitoadr rleapee $t -t'ne M^sojiic % tables; "ann'oiaices' a' very hanfobmtfji/ilonjal gold sig|igt,tring to- -be given to the ( highest average scorer of any breaks in the.tourna- ' rnent. Tile" game is really a very exciting one, and appears to be in great favor with - ; players, especially those wtio command the art of making cannons and pockets with flukes at intervals. ■?-A remarkable case oova't v a' medical nature -catne before ttte district. coroner at Kakaramea receutlyV says the Patea Mail. A man had fallen apparently in a .fit, and died within a few. minutes. Examination of the body after death revealed a- most curious .effect of a tumour in the aorta, a large blood-vessel leading" out "of ' the 'heart. The tifttour had feyemed a cavity, of amau's fist behind the breastbone at the top .; and this pulsating cavity, beating constantly though slightly against the bpu'e, "'had gradually worn a dent or hollow in the Jxme. Dr. Keating, who made a medical report to the jury, showed the cavity in the bone to two persons. The tumor musD ,hav.e Jt>e.en a.lojng time in formation to proi.duoe .'by such gentle agency an effect so reniar&ablei 'As the tumor' got larger, there would be an increasing tendency to burst on aii unusual effort^, of the body, " such as running or lifting. The crisis' came last " Sunday, when v "the man was*" hurrying or stooping, iiud the accumulated matter burst into the cavity of the pericar■"dium, flooding the cavity -with blood, -and arresting, the . htjart'a . action aluiost^^tt-i stautly. He .': $&&< -n^t been known./'Vd ''^B^plaJn^Saii'enJ.of 'p f jtip.. at any time. L•v,T]l&^9aifevbf^Stl^>^i6&niston's funnifeure, previously postponed, will be ! held on . Tkursday the sth inst. IA"O,'- ' ,-. Major Paul, ■ Seapgeaht-at- Arms,- like' for three, consecutive sessions' been a. subject for the jeers ' and gibes of those members of the House who possess aouls above such trifles a^, forms and ceremonies. His dignified style of bearing '•"th'e riiEfce,' or, as Mr. Swan-son terms it, ".that gilded bauble," brings upon him 'torrents of cutting irony, and he is generally looked upon as an expensive luxury. His salary was (till 11 olclbck one night last week') £250 a ye"ar ; but abont that hour 6?" the evening 'he lost £100 of ifc, •'the 'Committee of Supply ruthlesslj sweeping away that sum. The genial . Seasjeant-afc-Ar.ms is singularly unfor't'uriate in this reduction.. Three years ago. he bought out Dr. Greenwood for a sum equal to his first two year's pay, and therefore up to the present session he hai^, practially done, the work for noth,ii?g- . ; Now in the first year of profitable service lie finds himself reduced to |bbß miserable', pittance of something less"; than £3 per week. We may mention\.thafc the' Sei'geant4at-Arms has many cluties to perform besides attending: the House its sittiugs, for he is really the executive officer of the Speaker. It has been suggested to newspaper editors that when they were hard pressed for original matter — jokingly, of course — that- they should take a chapter out of the Bible and put it in their paper, as it would be news to thei majority of their readers: The nearest approach to this is in a West Coast paper. iThfi editor has : devoted a portion of one^of his columus to inserting tlie'" Fixed andMoveable Feasts " of the year, aS laid .down by the Book of Common Prayer. A capita} story is being told in Brisbane (says the " litdktiip.") A r 'gay Lothario," who- Occupies an exalted- •position in the •Civil Service,'' was'-ftmusing himself the other .evening whispering soft nothings .over a back garden fence to a buxom Hebe — or Abigail, it matters not which. The mistress coming on to 1 the verandah saw and understood the position, Gh'diug down the garden she reached the wooer's •side unp.erpGived,_, and .gently murmured, "Mary, 'i told jfoit ; that' I preferred you receiving ' your followers in the kitchen." Mr. r's reply is nqfc. recorded, nor -do we know whether he waited to hear what was said. " Sam, why don't you talk to your master, and tell him to lay up treasures in heaven ?" " What de use ob him laying up treasures up dar ?" replied Sam; ".he neber see urn again."