NOTES.

Timaru Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 3523, 13 January 1886, Page 2

NOTES.

Is a, passenger legally entitled to reserve his seat in a railway carriage in the customary manner, by placing his hat or rug on it daring his temporary nbsence 1 This is a question of somo importance, which was settled in a. very summary manner by a guard at the Dunedin railway station' the other day. The train appeared to ■be crowded, and he was appealed to for another first-class carriage. The guard, however, declared that there " was .any amount of room," and pointed to « number of Beats on- which were ranged ■a' number of hats, coats, rugs, etc., each acting as locum tenens for its respective owner. A. suggestion that these seats were "engaged" at once brought from the energetic official an emphatic refusal to recognise any such customary right. To put his ideas into practical effect, he commenced right and left to remove these impedimenta on to the floor. The result was, of course; an indignant protest.from wives awaiting absent husbands who were "seeing after the luggnge," and from husbands patiently biding their time until the last word' should have been spoken by their wives to dear lady friends on the platform. One passenger was so aghast at the daring of the official as he was proceeding to < bundle < a -bandbox, an ulster and a handbag off the seat that he could 1 only gasp out frantically "That— that's, a lady !" The guard, however,' was imperturbable. He only replied, "I beg your pardon, Sir, it doesn't . look like one !" and down went the lady's effects on to the floor, while the unhappy husband looked as if volumes couldn't express what the lady -would be likely to say when she returned. .- It was all.very well, of course, for the guard ■ to settle things in this 1 off-hand manner, but the new arrivals I were not satisfied;- SupposinE* one of them had' Weakly 'taken the Beat : occupied by the bandbox and ,ulßter,.how: would he have looked • and acted'" when' the strong-minded owner raado her appear-

ance and remarked in freezing tones, "Sir, you have taken my seat." He would have slunk out of the way, an object of pity and derision to all the other occupants of the carriage, and possibly would have committed suicide off the platform as the train was rounding the Blueskin cliffs. Consequently the new arrivals didn't interfere with vested interests. There was a hurried tapping at the window-panes, a succession of imploring shrieks to the absent ones to take their -seats,— and in a few- secouda th^re was a. hurrying to and fro in that carriage almost rcomparable 'to that .which — took- ._ place- -in. tha - Duchess of Richmond's ballroom on the night bifore Waterloo." "It'iie'ema clear that if a "passenger, fs, nftt. "allowed ~..f>p~ reserve 'his 'seat 'while; he g»es .to'get' .his ~ cup 1 of tea or n plate 'of soup' at a_stoppin'gplace, a new terror will, be added to'railway travelling... On, the other. hand the practice is open/.tb . There are persons fond of ' plenty of room, who would be-, aieanx.enonglr, we fear, > to reserve an additional seat beyond the one to which they are entitled. jhe.;gueß!tibn" ought, however, to be settled ..eithfcr^ <bne > ; way or the other, •so that ' ' may know what ■• is . their, position in the matter. . ;:.'.' ■...-.■ ■ • .-"■. ; - ■■ -^ It has long;- been proverbial that the "restorer " is always abroad, anxious to try his hand on the most beautiful of the many__ancient.buildingß_,handed down.by , our forefathers. His zeal is as nothing. however, 1 compared withthat of the in- •' telligent conipoßitor, anxious to improve . . jthe 'oldest and choicest passages ' handed : down to us by the poets. . For instance 'wb recently had occasion to quote Pope's well-known line — • . : . ■ ;.■■:..-. . Man never is; but always to be blest. ' The passage did not suit the printer, who changed the ." always" into " also," im--parting a depth of meaning to the line which eyen.yet.we have not beenjible to fathom. We have come to the conclusion that .these, .-same worthy, .gentlemen; amiable as they are in many respects, ■ never arej and "never- will be Weßt, but that- a far> different fate awaits them. " Still, we are more fortunate than the outraged writer 'described;' by Max Adder, ' whose. poenv ■♦' The Surcease of: Sorrow," was so fearfully mutilated. r There was one line-r: -: <; . •■; ,: •.- •■ .. ' : iir';i . •-■■'. •'.■■ i Take away (the jingling money; it is only glittering dross— which the compositor rendered as follows : — „ .•-.. . !.".- :Tako away thy jeering monkey on a sorely y. ; glandered hos3. ■ „; ; *; '--.-." •In another verse ooonrs'the words-^ " . I am weary of the tossing of the ooeau as it heaveB — which in the sance,. unromantic hands blossomed out into 1 am wearing out my trousers, till they.' re. open at the knees. After this nobody can bo surprised that _ r poets die young; or that.compositorß wear ; ; the air of guilty men with a dark and' ' dreadful load of Bin weighing them c down. As puets and newspaper . men always write in the most clear and legible . manner, of course there is hot a single word of extenuation . to be urged on behalf of thi culprits who Jiprry them ■ jnto an untimely grave. ■ , .. r , ■ , .

iHa^bobßoabd.— Thenextmoetingof the Timaru' Harbor- Board is to be held on 'Wednesday next! Boabd OP : Edttoatioh.— Tho ordinary monthly meeting of the South Canterbury Bfcard.of Education is to .be held to-morrow morning. " " :■-". .'•■- Cooirrx- Council.— An ordinary: Tneeting of the Geraldine! County Council is to Jib he'd" tliis morning at eleven o'clock, in the Counoil Cham.bers, T Messrs Maclean and Stewart's bui'dings. " '"' ' „."'" Called Away. — The ' "Ven. Archdeacon Harper is to leave Timaru on Tuesday, next for : Auckland, to attend the. sitting of the' Anglican Synod in that city. The Areh- . deacon -will probably be absent from Timaru " about four weeks. Steam Collier Company. — A special general meeting of the shareholders of. the Timaru Steam Collier Company. (Limited) ' will be lreld at the registered "office of the Company (Messrs JJoss.Sims and Co.'s office) on the evening of the 20th inst. The Director of Sew Gardens; — Sir Joseph Hooker has tendered his resignation of the office of Director of the -Botanical Gardens at Kew, after thirty yeara' occupation of the post. His connection with the. gardens terminated on the Bame day that Professor Huxley retired from the Presidency of the Koyai-. Society. Professor Thistleton . Dyer, whoso name is well known in tho colonies, succeeds his father-in-law, Sir Joseph Hooker, ' as Director of Kew Gardens. " . Thb Weather.' — The weather, which has for some time been very hot, and damaging to crops and pasture," took a turn for the-, better yesterday. During the early part of ,the day heary. oloudß began to ; ~ obscure the heavens, and in the afternoon very wel- ' come rain began to fall, and showed everysigns of continuing for a day or ao, but shortly after midnight it cleared off. : What : little rain that has fallen will do a vast-deal of good, and will put our farmers into better spirits. : ■ . . ' . • ■•"■•■'•.•■ ' INTERCOLONIAL WkATHBB .ExOHAKSe!— Niew Zealand— Still high pressure • highest in the North ; genorally fine weather, though heavy and gloomy sky, with passing Bhowers in places, and light winds, except strong in the . N.E., : and at New Plymouth; fresh windsorer the centre from the N.W.~ Australia — High pressure to the E. and S.E. ; winds S. and S.E. ; gloomy~sky and slight depression to the westward. Barometers. — In New Zealand— At Bussell, 30 3 ; Wellington, 30.1} Bluff, .30.1. In Australia^-At Sydney, 30.3; other places, 30.2. . . „ ;•; B,BaiDßi?x Magisteate's CotTET.iTiMAEtr. — At this Court yesterday, before J,Beswick, Esq.', E.M., ' T. W. Hall and H. J.. LeOren, Esqs., J.P.'s, Michael Maley 'was/charged witlrresisting and assaulting a con stable,- and - with wilful damage to property. After Sergeant Cullen had proved tho charge?, accused was fined 20a and costs. Benjamin Goodman was brought up on remand, charged with neglecting to contribute towards the Bupport of his wife. Accused said ho had been wandering about the country, looking ". for work, and had at last obtained a situation ' in tho Mackenzie Country; Inspector Broham said accused must have gotrgobd wages in the Mackenzie Country, but had only sent his wife £1. Accused,- in' answer to the : Bench, .said • his situation 'would ' last about two months. The case was adjourned for a month.' Charles White -was charged, by his wife, .Catherine White, with neglecting to support her. An order was granted to Mrs White protecting her earnings. The Court then rose. . , . , \' .' ■ ' S.C.J.O.— At the meeting of the Committee of the South ■ Canterbury Jockey Club, held on Monday evening, the following members were present : —Messrs JT.- G. Kerr (Chairman),!. Hall, D. Maclean, B. K.. Taylor, J. B. Stansell, Q. G. Milea, J. Meikle, and F W. Cook (Secretary). The Sub-Committee appointed to 'prepare a draft programme submitted one, which was revised and adopted. The next race meeting is to be held on May sth and' 7th, "in order, to fit in with the annual sports of tho South . Canterbury Amateur Athletic, Club. Theßret day's 1 races will be a Hurdle Race of 80 sovs, distance 2 miles j District Plate. of 40 sovs, 1J miles.) Timaru Cup oE 200 bovb.lJ" miles j Welter Handicap of .30 eovs, 6. furlongs ; ■ Hack Hace of 10 sovs, \ mile ; Flying Handi* cap of 40 6ovs, 6 furlongs. Second day— • Hurdltf Handicap of 60 sot's, H anilrs | ' ' S.C.J.C. Handicap pf 150 sovs, 1£ miles: Selling Eace- of 40; bots, 6. furlongs; Pony Race of 20 sovs, 6 furlongs ; Winter 'Oats of 50 sovs, 1 milo ; Hock Eace of 1O : sove, 6 furlongs ;"Consolation'6f SO s"oVß,"l"mileT "Tt ■- was resolved that Mr, It. Stansell be again asked to act as Clerk" dfjho Course. After discussion Mr,G. Dowse, handicopper to tl>e - Dunedin Jockey Club, was appointed • handi-' capper: to the Club.',. ., After ; .V routme.'bußiness.itwasresolved.thotjneetings ". of the'Committoe bo held in future at 2 p.tn.. not at night. The mooting then terminated.

C B attest, N.Z.A.— The first parade' of the year will be held this evening, yihem members will assemble in drill order at halfpast seven. Tha Band will bo in attendance,! and the Battery-will probably havo a marchout. Recruits can be enrolled at. this parade and during the month. As there are only, a few vacancies, those wishing to join should lose no time in coming forward. ; , " What's iw a Name ?" — We have before us three wrappers of papers which, oame to hand by the San, Francisco mail yesterday. The 6rst is from London, and is addressed to "Misß — —^ Tumorrow, Canterbury, 'New South Wales, New . Zealand ;" the other is from Paris to "Mr , Tunaris Herald, Tunaris, New Zealand ;" while tho third, from San Francisco, runs, "Mr —^ ', Timeora'u, . Ne/ve" Zedland." Wo give, the Post-office officials credit for their "nous" 6r instinct in getting ' the papers delivered into the right hands., Of course where we have 1 marked : — , names appeared. Hion School Boahd.— A special meeting of" the Timaru High School Board of Governorß was held yesterday morning at the Secretary's office,'2faia'Boad.: ! Me'mpers prer Bent -The Ten. Archdeacon' Harper (Chair-, man), and Messrs Goldsmith, Elworthy, Butter, Sims, Balfour and Talbot. The Mayor wrote applying for leave of absence from tho meeting. The application was granted. The Chairman said that ha had received no notice from Government of the filling up of the seat vacated by the rerfghatign , of the Rev. W. Gillies. Mr Suttor said Government would notify in tho Qatette the acceptance of Mr GiTHeV're'signatiSn 'and"~publlsh Ch6~name of his successor. The Chairman then informedmembers the meeting had been called to consider application* for-'the^aaeißtanfc mastership at the school. Sight applications were, received and considered in Committee. Four of tha applicants were B.A.'s of the New Zealand TTniversity, 'two of Oxford and tWo of Cambridge Universities, England, and the Board expressed themselves' as highly pleased with the number of good men that had applied for the post. • Members found it' very difficult to select a msster, and much time was spent- ia; : going through testimonials. After a great deal of trouble and discussion, the list was cut down to two to choose from — one a B.A. of the colony, and tho others B.A. of Cambridge— and it was "decided that tho gentlemen interested should ba communicated' with, and asked to meet the Board on Monday next at 2 p.m. A further expenditure of. £9 on" the gymnasium, asked for by- Mr Wilson, .the architect, was granted, ftndoA-the.motipn of'Mr Hutter, the salary of Mr' Laing,. tßlri-nisister at tho school, was raised. to,. #225,_per; annum. The Board then adjourned^to -Monday next. Caledonian Boounr*. — At tt, meeting of, tho Directors of the Sputh Canterbury Caledonian Society held at the Secretary's Office 1 on Monday evening, the President, MrjA : . Sinclair, being in ihe chair, there were present tha whale of the Officers, and a very largo number of the Directors. -After the minutes had been confirmed, a letter was received from, the- Hon Secretary to the Foresters' Sports Committee, touching the ownership- of certain posts.- -This letter; was handed over to the Secretary to endeavor to arrange the matter amicably. A number of accounts amounting to some £200 having been passed for payment, the preliminary statement, was brought: forward. ..This showed the receipts from all sources (including a deposit of £136 which will, be available in a few days) to havo amounted, to £697 10s 34, whilst the expenditure was £4 under that sum, bat, as was expla,itiod by tha -Secretary, this statement was merely approximate, as great difficulty had been experienced in getting accounts rendered? and a full return of the members', tick^tt issued had not yet. been made. It, however, appeared certain that the entire overdraft would be Cleared off, and n small balance remain to the credit of the Society. The Seoretary ' then reported that the Society's tender for the- lease of the ground had been approved by the Timaru Recreation Domain Board, which would forward tb*. lease to the Government for signature. The Society undertakes to expend' £600 oo improvements before Ist January, 1888,. and to pay an annual rental of £5, the lease being for ' twenty-one '. years. Whilst this matle'i?' -was under discussion, tha -Treasurer, Mr T. G. Macpherson, made some remarks anent the Secretary's Bnlary, which were received with a touching silence whioh must have -bean truly gratifying to all except the officer in question. Messrs Sinclair, Cpurtiajand Palliaer were requested to attend to having the necessary documents prepared. ..Mr 1 T. Jowsey submitted plans for terracing the ground, and was authorised to employ a surveyor to take the _ levels and make a rough estimate of the cost of the work. The Secretary was also instructed to write to the Secretaries of the Lancaster Park Company and the CJarisbrook Cricket Club requesting rough ' tracings of the plans for terracing their respeotivo grounds and a general idea of .the cost of the same be forwarded to Timaru. Several very delicate points concerning special prize winners in running events were then brought forward, and were ordered to be referred to the Referee newspaper. . The decisions will be made known ds soon as possible. Mr B. Ferguson having been requested to submit to the Directors at their next meeting designs for medals for the members of 'the team from the Sydenham Rifles which won tho bayonet competition, the Directors separated with hearty congratulations on the result of the most successful of all the many meetings of the South Canterbury Caledonian Society. PAiNFtft Accidbnt.— A rather peculiar and very painful accident happened .to a farmer named 'Lawrensoir early yesterday afternoon. He gave . his horse, which was i attached to a spring dray, a n.id-day feed in i Sefton street, and after the horse had enjoyed I it Lawrettson proceeded to 'put the blinkers on i again, hi* wife having in themeantimetaken [ her seat in the dray. In placing the bit in the animal's- mouth something startled it and t away it bolted at a tremendous pace, lawron- i son' who" was standing immediately in front of ] the horse got knocked down, and the dray I went over.his nghfc Bide and shoulder, frao- ] turirg hi* collar bone and nearly all his ribs, ( besides injuring his right luDg very seriously. ] Mrs tftwrenson partly fell and partly 1 jumped' out of the dray, injuring her face very seriously, and bled very much, one 1 of the branches of tho left temporal artery I being severed. Both sufferers were at once f attended by Dr Lovegrove, who after < dressing Mr tawrenson's wounds, ordered 1 his removal to the Hospital, as thd injuries i he had sustained' were of the moßt serious I nature. Tho horse, with dray attached, i after turning-the Melville Hotel cornor, went | at a racing pace along the Main South Road, and attempting to turn' Gabites' corner i quickly,' came to grief, • spreading itaelf and I dray all. over theroad. .„ ' . - : i

Too Beai.is.tic. — " Oh, my child, how did your face becorno so briiised ? Come to mamma and tell her all about it." " I— I — I was ovor"cros3 the r-o-a-d playin' with Mis' Howe'ff littlo g-i-r-1 — boo-lioo-00-oo." " And did she. hurt you' like this?" lr Y-y-y-y-e-s." " Well, that was really naughty in her. What did-Bhe do to little /Georgie?" "Sh-sh-sho knocked me down an-an' then she hit me wiwith a b-r-i-c-k and pounded me with a b-r-o-o-ni-stick," " Oh, dear, what a terrible child ! Well, don't cry any more, Georgie What were you doing when this happened ?" " Pl-pl-playing we-we-was m-a-r-ried." What a Real Mbbitin is Likb.— The following is from tho Saturday Journal : — The wind being easterly, we had thirty fa'homs of water, when at ten o'clock in the morning a bb& monstor liko a man appeared near onr ship, first on tho larboard, whore the master was, who took a grappling iron to pull him ' up ; but our captain, named Oliver Morin, hindered him, being afraid that the monster would drag him' into the sea. The master, Lomone, struck him on the back to make him turn about, that he might view him better. Tho monster, being struck, showed his face, having his two hands dosed as if he hud expressed some anger. Afterwards he wont round tho ship, and, when he was at tho stern, he took hold of the helm with both hands, and we wore obliged to make it fast lest he should damage it. From thence he proceeded to tho starboard, still swimming as inenj- do. . When he came to the fore part of the ship, he viewed for some time the figure that waa on our prow, which represented.a beautiful woman, And then he roso oat of the water as if he bad been willing to catch that figure. All this happened in the sight of the whole crew. Afterwards' he oame again to the larboard, where they presented to him a codQsh hanging dowu by a

Ape ; he handled it without spoiling it, and ;^hen removed the length of a cablo, and <?amo again to the stern, where he took hold of !the helm a second time, it that very moment I Captain Morin got-a harping ready, and ;took ifc himself t<i strikehibi'with it ; but the cordage being entangled, ho missed his aim, find the harping iron only just touched the , monster, who turned ab.oufc, showing his face as he had dono before. Afterwards ho returned to the- bow and. gazed again, at the figure on tho prow. The mate called for the harping iron, but he was frightened, fancying that this monster was ono La Commnne who had killed himself in the. ship the, year before, ani had been thrown into the sea in tho. sfftne pnsSßgS". ~ Hi) was contented to push his back with the iron. The.monster had the boldness to take a rope held by .two sailors, who drbtv him partly up tbo side, but he fell into the water again, and then withdrew to the distance of ft gnnshot.- Me came again alongside afterwards,' swam round the ship, and then made off, and we have never seen him since. The " merman " was about eight feet long ; his skin was brown and tawny, 1 without/feny' Bo'ales j all his '.motions were like ! those of men ; the eyes of' a proportionable size, a little mouth, a largo and flat nose, very white teeth, black hair, the chin covered with a mossy* beard, a sort of whiskers under the nose, the ears like those of men, fins between the fingers of his hands, and feet like those of ducks. In a word, ho was a well; shaped man. ' ' •'' '■ ' ■• ■ Railwax Accidents n? As is well known to readers of Russian works of I travel, 'Russian railway traffic- is worked" with ! such slowness-'and care that accidents are less frequent than Jon the- busier jmd quicker lines !-6f Western Europe.- During " tho 'lost few days a report has been, issued, by the Minister of Railways d> tailing the accidents that hare occurred from 1880 up to the end of last year. In 1830 the total was 434 killed and 675 wounded, which included 23 passengers killed and 68 wounded, 235 railway employes killed and 474 wounded, and " outsiders," 176 killed and 183 wounded ; tfie latter category comprising persons killed or injured in traversing tha linos at level crossings, Ac. In 1881 the figures were : — 2-4 passengers killed and 102 wounded, 198 employes killed arfd 459 wonhded, and outsiders, !58 killed and 157 wounded ; the total being 380 killed and 718 wounded. Tho following year, 1882, occurred the famous landslip on the MoscowKoursk Railway, when, owing to heavy rains and the stnallriess of the culvert, a huge embankment collapsed and buried a train which happened to be passing over it at the time. Hence the mortality among passengers was abnormally high, the total. being 64 killed and 124 wounded. Among the employes the fatalities were 214 killed and 427 wounded t and among outsiders 170 killed and 166 Wounded ; the total being 448 killed and 717 wounded. In 1883, 23 passengers wera killed and 78 wounded, 211 employes killed and 456 wounded, and 204 outsiders killed and 183 : wounded | tho total ' being 439 killed and "717 wounded. Last year the figures were:— 2s passengers killed and 85 wounded, 170 employes killed and 387 wounded, and 223 outsiders killed and 182 wounded ; the total being 420 killed and 654 wounded. From tho above figures it will bo seen that the annual average of the accidents on the 14,00^ miles of Russian railways is about 420 killed and 700 wounded. Immerse pains are taken by the Ministry of Railways to keep the list as low as possible, and in every case a searching investigation is instituted, and carelessness or negligence heavily punisbod. The Obigin ot tiib Rttsbiaus. — Those interested in folk lore mar perhaps be glad to read the following legend as to the origin of the Russians found by Colonel Prjevalsky to be current among the Mongol inhabitants of Zaidan, and published in the Busski Invalide.: — " In former times there lived in a cave, far away from all peop'e, a good hermit lama, or priest, who passed hiß- life in- praying. A pair of nomads, consisting of an aged mother and her daughter, happened to go that way; and the daughter while tendingcattle came upon the cave of the holy lama, who was at that time ill. The compassionate maiden offered him some sour milk, but he did not like to taste it. At lost he gave way to her entreaties and took the sour milk every day until ha got well. Eventually, out of gratitude for tho cure, tho lama married the maiden. As soon as the Czar of that country heard of this ha ■ sent his troops to kill the priest who 'had so flagrantly broken his vows, and committed tho sin of uia-riage. When the troops approached, the lama gathered a bundh of reeds and stuck them in the ground round his tent, and then, by force of prayer, caused them to ba all turned into soldiers, who defeated the troops of the Czar. The latter sent a second and a third army, but both were beaten, as the lama continued to pray and turn into more fighting men the reeds broken off by his first created defenders, so that the holy lama soon had a great number of troops. After the defeat of his third army, the Czar left the lama alone in peace, but the latter did not wish to live any longer on the earth: The lama left his wife to rule the people created from the reeds, and from those arose tho Russians. They have white bodies, and their hair is often fair, because the stems of the reeds were of a yellowish color, and the tops somewhat darker."