LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1246, 30 September 1884, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Geraldine Town Boakd. The usual fortnightly meeting of the Board will be held to-morrow evening in the Literary Institute, at 7.30. o’clock. Effiot Burning,—Mr Bryce’s effigy was burnt at Wanganui last Saturday night by a few roughs, for his determined opposition to the Harbour Eating Bill now before the House. Waifs from thb Lastinqham.— The natives at Waikane, between Wellington and Foxton, have picked up a human leg with a boot on it, and also a quantity of wreckage, supposed to have belonged to the ship Lastingbam. Monthly Stock Sale.—Messss J. Mundell and Co. hold their monthly stock sale at the Geraldine saleyards to-morrow, Oct. Ist, In our advertising columns will be found a list of entries to date, and additional entries will be received to hour of sale. Winchester Fair.— In consequence of the Geraldine Eaoes taking place on Thursday next, the Winchester Fair, which takes place on that date, will bo hold at 10 o’clock a.m. : Entries can be yarded the previous night without extra charge. Young Men’s Club,—We would remind the young men of Geraldine of Iho meeting to be held to-morrow evening in the Good Templars’ Hall, for the purpose ef establishing a Young Men’s Club in Geraldine. The Eev. J. Preston has been requested to take the chair. A Bon Mot.—A grand ball was given last Friday evening in Timaru in honor of the youngest member of the Rhodes’ family coming of age and the division of tbe property amongst them. During the evening Mr J. M. Ollivier, of Christchurch, who was present, said “ he had come to Timaru before any ‘roads’ (Rhodes) were formed, and it was only right and proper that he should be present at the final distribution of the ‘ metal.’ ” The “metal” of course meant the wealth which is to be destributed. Band Concert at Teuuka.—To-night, should the weather be favorable, the members of the Temuka Brass Band give an open-air concert. The following is the programme arranged ; Grand March, “ Reception quick step, “ Wait till the Clouds j" quick step, “ Soldier’s Last Letter;” anthem “ Realms of Bliss j” quick step, “ Strawthatched Cottage;” valse, “Loving and Hoping;” quick step, “Follow, Follow;’’ quick step, “Auld Scotch Songs;” “God Sava the Queen.”

Ths Stbkkts OB Loitdon. —We hare all heard (says a Home paper) of country lads who thought that the streets of London were paved with gold, but most of us were under the impression that these simple-minded folk belonged to bygone days and became extinct long ago. If newspaper reports are to be credited, however, the superstition has not yet disappeared. An orphan lad, from Tipperary, is said to have made his appearance at the Thames Police Court the other day to ask for assistance. “ But why did you come to London, my lad ?” Mr Lushington asked, “ Why, sir,” was the reply, “ you sea thore was nothing to do out yonder, and folks told me that if I could only get over hero I was sure to get work, as London was such a fine place, and it* streets were paved with gold ; but (with a sorrowful shake of his head) I haven’t come across any yet.” He is not the only one who has been disenchanted by London experiences.

i'KKDEits.—Tenders for contracts Nos. 4 and 5 for the Geraldine Town Board must be sent in to the Chairman not later than 4 p.m. to-morrow. Satisfied Ceeditoes.— The proceedings against McGrath, a defaulting Wellington publican, have been withdrawn, the creditors having accepted a composition of 10s in the £. Steps will be taken to hare hi* bankruptcy annulled. Thb Kaitanqata Coal Coiipant.—The Kaifcangata Coal Company show a net profit for the year of £3962, notwithstanding the mine was closed for six weeks in winter by fire. A dividend of 10 per cent was declared. Quite Right.— The Wellington draper Who has to some extent been boycotted by the Early Closing Association has decided to take legal proceedings against some of those who took part in the proceedings lately. Public Woeks Statement.—The Public Works Statement will probably be brought down on Friday next although it may have to be further delayed until early in the following week, on account of the extension of time granted to the North Ishnd Railway Committee to bring up their report. New Zealand Mutton at Home.—The following appeared in the Dover Telegraph of 14th May, under the heading, “ Cheap Mutton”: —“Dover for the past few weeks has been inundated with cheap mutton — sheep, as big as bullocks—from New Zealand. First the grocers took up the enterprise, and succeeded so well that the master butchers had great rivalry against their fourteenpenny mutton chops ; now several Dover butchers have been supplied and are selling mutton as cheap as tallow, whilst others have been compelled to reduce their former prices. The fear is that the supply will not meet the increasing demand, and then home-grown mutton will advance to famine prices.” Landslip in Timabu. A very eerious landslip took place in Timaru last Sunday, which resulted in knocking down a part of the wall of Messrs Maclean and Stewart’s horse repository. Owing to the wet weather the land at the back of the building gave way # fell against the end of the repository, and burst m the wall, with the result that three horses which wore in a stable there were killed, and a quantity of harness damaged. Mr Moore, who had only just left the stable, had a narrow escape, and another employee was just going in when the collapse occurred. One of the horses belonged to Messrs Maclean and Stewart, another was one which a Mr Macpherson, of Paroora, had bought there on Saturday, and another was one which they had in charge. The value of the three horses was £SO. Bishop Moean. —The Rev. Dr Moran, the newly*appointed Archbishop of Sydney, was, on arrival at the scene of hi* future labours, accorded a most enthusiastic reception by all classes of the community, who assembled to the number of about 20,000 persons. Every window and balcony in the vicinity, and even roof* of houses and mast* of vessels, were packed with numbers of people anxious to obtain a glimpse of the new prelate. The spectacle presented was one of the most imposing ever witnessed in Sydney. The Archbishop was met en board the steamer by about 70 clergymen, and conducted to the Cathedral, which piv- ■ ' .1 • • rarely paralleled in Australia. In answer to various addresses received by him, Dr Moron replied in eloquent and feeling terms, paying a high tribute to the faith and piety of the Irish people in the “dear old Land of the West.”

The Rabbit Nuisahoe.—The Wellington correspondent of the Oamaru Mail elates that some startling revelations in connection with the administration of the Department which controls matter* affecting sheep and rabbits hare been made by a joint committee of both Houses. The funds at the command of the Department amounted last year to £17,000, but the expenditure amounted to £32,000; and what has not been discovered is, where the additional £15,000 came from. Chiefly through the instrumentality of the Hon. R. Campbell, however, it has been discovered that the money ha* been expended in a most irregular manner. Having learned this much the Committee intend to sift the matter to the bottom by a careful examination of the books of the Department, for which purpose a sub-committee have been appointed, and they are having all the vouchers produced. It is considered highly probable that there will be a dismissal of the whole Department with a view to having it re-organised by reinstating only such officers as have shown themselves worthy of the position. A Distressing Case.—A distressing case of a very peculiar nature was considered by the Committee of the Wellington Benevolent Institution recently (says the Post). The Relieving Officer reported that »inco the last meeting of the Committee he had • applied rations to a woman and several children whom he had found in a starving condition. The mother was the wife of a man who had recently been obliged to seek the protection of the Bankruptcy Court, and who had since then been in a very desponding state of mind. Since filing his schedule he had never done a stroke of work, but had remained moping at home, and as the wife was without any means of her own, she and her children had been reduced to the verge of starvation through the neglect of her husband. The latter seized every article of food he could lay hi* hands on, and apparently did not care whether his wife and little one* died of hunger. He absolutely refused to allow the woman to seek assistance from anyone, and had it not been for the kindness of Sergeant Anderson, who had supplied her and the children with food at. his own expense until he could afford it no longer, they would have been starving long ago. The Relieving Officer further mentioned that when some raw meat was sent into the house the other day the little ones were so hungry that they actually tore it up md ate it before it could be cookedThe Committee thought the case a most distressing one, and it was decided to continue the supply of rations for a time.

1.0.G-.T, Picnic. —The first picuio of the season from Geraldine took place yesterday, when the members of the Welcome Retreat Lodge, 1.0.Gr.T., numbering about twenty proceeded in one of Messrs J. Mundell and Co.’s coaches to the beach at Milford, where they highly enjoyed themselves, returning between seven and eight o’clock the same evening.

The Weathbe.—The weather continued very wet all day last Saturday, and the rivers were very much swollen. Tbs only serious damage, however, which came under our notice is that which occurred to the Opihi Bridge. There was a very heavy flood in the Opihi, and the recently-built part at ths Temuka side was nearly capsized, while seven or eight feet more of the approach was washed away. The part of the bridge which wss washed away, however, does not matter very much, because it had only been temporarily erected, but the approach is more serious, as the river is continually encroaching on this side, and if some!Hug is not done it will soon spread over ‘he land. We pointed this out some lime ago, and understood that steps had it?n taken to turn the course of the river down the middle of the river-bed. We are convinced that this is the only way in which the river can be prevented from spreading eventually up to Mr Horton’s place.

A Little Wonlek. —Wellington has developed an infant prodigy in the person of a little girl not four years old, who is possessed of a memory so retentive as to enable her to repeat poetry as readily as the majority of children are able to do at 15 or 16 years. Ethel Anderson, for that ip her name, is a tiny little creature about two feet high, who is almost certain to be heard more of in later years. Her memory is something wonderful, and the feats she is able to’ accomplish can hardly be credited. She finds no difficulty whatever in committing to memory page after page of poetry, and we are assured that she can repeat several verses of any poem after hearing them once. Her first appearance in public was made at the anniversary celebration of the John Knox Lodge last week, on which occasion she recited “The Little Vulgar Boy," of 24 verses, and immediately afterwards repeated another piece of eight verses, standing on the table for the purpose.— Exchange. The s.s. Aosangi. The steamship Aorangi (says the Press), punctually to advertised hour of sailing, left the jetty at 9.30 a.in. on Saturday, brought up for a few hours in the stream, and thence proceeded for Rio de Janeiro. The same remarks which have been made in reference to the admirable despatch of their direct steamers given by the New Zealand Shipping Company since the inauguration of the service, apply equally in respect to the Aorangi. When she arrived at Lyttelton from Wellington last Monday she had on board an immense quantity of heavy railway material, including some 2600 rails, besides the usual assortment of general merchandise. The requisite quantity of labor to discharge the inward cargo and fill the vessel in time to leave at her appointed hour was, however, at once put on, with the result as above. The stevedores worked by night as well as day, of course, to accomplish it, but they had her finished with in good shape on Friday afternoon. The steamer took away a large cargo. The chief items were gold, worth £22,000 ; some 10,668 carcases of frozen mutton; about 2000 bales ef wool and skins; 5803 sacks of wheat; and over 1000 cases of preserved meats. The steamship Doric is next on the company’s list, and leaves at the end of next month.

Evil Forebodings. —ln a letter addressed to the Philadelphia Star, Dr. R. T. Trail remarks —We shall not wait long for lha appearance of the expected pestilence!, for we are approaching a very pestilential period. Jupiter, 1000 times as large as the Earth, revolves rour.d the sun every twelve years ; Saturn in aoout 30 years ; Uranus once in about 81 years; and Neptune once in about 164 years. The perihelion of all those planets does not occur at the same time more than once in thousands of years. In the sixth centuiy, and again in the sixteenth, the first three were coincidental in perihelion'; and these were the moat pestilential periods of the Christian era. The perihelion periods of Jupiter and Saturn coincide with the extensive prevala'nce of plague, cholera, and other epidemics. But in the future, from even now to 1885, we are to hare what has not happened for 1800 years—viz., the nearest approach to the sun of all] four of these planets coincidentally. The obvious deduction from this fact and theory is that the changes of the earth’s temperature, and the changed condition of its atmosphere, consequent on the interference with or abstraction of the usual amount of its light and heat, will be increasingly unfavourable to life and health on our globe. From 1880 to 1885 the adverse influences will bo the greatest ; after that they 1 will gradually diminish.” Weils’ “Rough on Coens.”— Ask fir Wells’ ‘‘Bough on Corns.” Quick relief, complete, permanent cure. Corns, warts, bunions. Kempthorne, Prosser and Co., Agents, Christchurch. 1 An alteration appears in Messrs G. Kruse and Co’a advertisement, to which we draw our readers’ attention. Mr B. H. Poatlethwaite invites tenders for rolling wheat land on the Eaukapuka Estate, Geraldine. A Great Business, —The United States of America is the home of some very large enterpiiaee, but none perhaps greater than the business conducted by Mr G. G. Green, of Woodbury, New Jersey, U.S.A. He is the propriator of the well known Bosohee’s German Syrup, which is unequalled os a remedy for Pulmonary and Bronchial affec tiona. He manufactures also Green’s August Flower for djspeptia and all disorders of the Liver. These preparations aroused through out the civilised World and thousands testify to the r valuable curative properties. Both preparations have reached au immense sale solely on their merits. Hampla bottles of each are sold at 6d, or full-sized bottles at 3a 6d. All druggists keep them.