Local & General.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5553, 26 February 1886, Page 3

Local & General.

The Hon E. Richardson left Canterbury by the Wairarapa last night for Wellington. The Hon J. Ballance, who was expected in Christchurch last night, will not arrive from the South till to-morrow. The Federal Council has its Hansard, the firat issue of which reached us the other day from Hobart. It is published by the Mercury and the Tasmanian Mail, and is got up in the most approved form. The R.M.S. Aorangi, due at her first port of call in New Zealand on March 2, arrived at the Otago Heads yesterday afternoon at 3.20 — five and a half dayß in advance of her contract time. Truly, the direct steam service is a thing to be proud of ! An interesting and instructive lecture was delivered in the Wesleyan Church, Ashburton, by Mr P. H. Brown, on "Wednesday evening, on "The Covenanters/ whose history during the many years of their great struggle for religious freedom he ably traced. The Eev D. M'Nicoll, who occupied the chair, said it was intended to hold a course of monthly lectures. A hearty vote of thanks having been passed to Mr Brown, the proceedings terminated. The Calcutta correspondent of the N.Z. Loan and Mercantile Agency Company sends the following : — Correspondence appears in the daily press regarding the manufacture of Australian and New Zealand wool in India. The article would have to be made up very cheaply, to compete to any considerable extent with cotton cloth here, but it is not intended that the consumption should be confined to British Possessions. There is plenty of labour available, and the natives are naturally very skilful. Such woollen manufactories as there are, pay their way handsomely.

The conversazione in honour of the Most Rev Dr Barry will be hold some evening next week. Yesterday afternoon, a bricklayer named W. H. Bowen, who was engaged in working at the Convalescent Home on the Port Hills, fell from a scaffold, which gave way under him, and broke his leg. He was taken to the Hospital, where the bone was set, and everything possible done to alleviate his suffering. The Revs C. Boddington and G. E. Mason will conduct at St Michael's and St Mary's (Addington) Churches a series of mission services, beginning to-day and closing on Monday week. At St Michael's the services will be three or four on each day, and at Sfc Mary's they will be one, two or three, according to a list which has been largely circulated. Scats are free, and there will be no collection, except ou Sundays and at the final, or " thanksgiving" service. Hymn books will be provided for all comers, and an earnest invitation is extended to everyone who can attend. Last evening the temperance lecturer, Mr Matthew Burnett, addressed a crowded audience in the Wesleyan Chiireh, Woolston. Mr G. Bowron, senr., occupied the chair, and in a few happily chosen sentences introduced the speaker. Mr Burnett's address was of rather a diversified nature, and consisted of personal reminiscences of prominent teetotal advocates in tho Old Country ; a sketch of the public career of Thomas Whittaker, ex- Mayor of Scarborough; several pictures from real life, and a thrilling account of a brilliant journalist who went down to a drunkard's grave, unsaved. Thi3 evening Mr Burnett will lecture in the Free Methodist Schoolroom, Selwyn street, Addington, on " The March of the Great Destroyer Arrested." On Saturday evening there will be an open air meeting in the Market Place, beginning at eight o'clock. Captain Garcia, tho Secretary of the Society of Arts, and the Committee whose special business is to see to the arrangement 0? pictures sent for display at the • annual exhibition in connection with this I Society, are just now having a busy time s of it in arranging the various exhibits as ' they come to hand at the large room in | • Simpson's Buildings, where the exhibition I . is to held. Although exhibitors generally , have not complied with ii»e request of the s Society's circular, to given fourteen days' i notice as to number and size of the i pictures they intended to show, and ' have consequently given a deal of b trouble to the Committee, there fa , no reason to complain either of the 1 number or qua!!!? ** B • that have come in, and this year 3 e*_k l " r tion promises to be one of the most sue- , cessful that has yet been held under the ' auspices of the Society. The majority of those artists who have sent pictures in f former years are exhibiting again, and in I addition there are some who are showing i us their merits for the first time, notably I Misa Hotchkins, of Dunedin, and Miss • Sperrey, of Wellington. It is gratifying to . note that during the past year there has j been a large increase, both in the working • and ordinary members of the Society. The [ exhibition will be opened on Monday next, j i by Mr R. Beetham, President of the I ; Society; and on that and the following . evenings an extra attraction for visitors will be provided by vocal and instrumental music, contributed by ladies and gentlemen whose talents in this respect are well | kn*wn. Joaeph Krebla, an employee of the Mil--1 waukee car shops, was bitten in the calf of ' the right leg by a dog, but did not experi- '■ enca any trouble for about a month, when 1 the premonitory symptoms of hydrophobia 1 seized him. He complained of a severe 1 pricking sensation at the wound and at 1 points along his right side to the crown of 1 his head. He had a swelling in his throat, | was unable to swallow, and was restless to [ such an extent that he could not sleep. He was taken to a bath establishment, the ! theory having recently been advanced 1 here that a treatment of Turkish baths 1 would cure the disease if begun in time. > He passed five hours in the sweat room on ' the Saturday evening, with the temperature at ISodeg, and on Sunday passed two hours there. Saturday night he obtained six hours of undisturbed sleep and rest, > and Sanday he agara slept soundly. The '■> dangerous symptoms have disappeared, > and the man expects to resume hia usual s work to-day, shonld they not return. The k theory that his disease has been brought j on by imagination is disproved by the fact that he gave no attention whatever to the I dog bite. He is a Bohemian and not a [ reading man, and knows nothing whatever of the symptoms of hydrophobia. The large hall of the Working Men's , Club has never been so crowded as it . was last evening, when the Dramatic Class and Variety Troupe of the W.M.C and M.S.A. tendered to Mr Alfred Ingleson a farewell benefit on the occa.sion, J of bis leaving New Zealand. As stage* manage? $ad OHO oi the best and most hard-working" Members of the Dramatic Class, Mr Inglesofl has done" crich to entertain the many visitors who have attended the Club upon "entertainment nights" for a long time past, and it was gttitifyjjJg to see that so large an audience assetnbkdto bid him farewell. The Dramatic Class ajrpeared in Craven's drama, " Clouds and Sunshine," in which Mr Ingleson took the part of " Joe Spurrit," an old post boy, with his usual spirit and versatility. He was well supported by Messr3 Theodore Leonard, F. Arbuckle, and J. Davidson, and Misse3 Nelly Ray, May Hartle, and Sarah Porteus sustained the other characters. The variety and combination troupe followed with a rather lengthy programme, Mr F. Arbuckle being interlocutor, Mr T. Hobbs tambo, and Mr J. Sinclair bones. Songa were given by Messrs E. Maurice, T. Hobbs, W. H. Ashford, J. Sinclair, T. Musson, and J. Gent. Mr Tom Williams gave one of his comic lectures, and the farce of " Leave it to Me," in which Miss C. Fischer and Ruby Wilton played with much vivacity, concluded the entertainment. Mr Ingleson said farewell in a short but appropriate poem, entitled "Good-bye," and he received quite an ovation of applause as he left the stage. " j^gles " in the Australasian, relates the following : — The ahip at sea, or the caravan in the desert, have journey a scarcely more adventurous than that of the teamster in the back country, and his difficulty is sometimes increased by the confusing similarity of names of localities. For example, there is a place between Cobar and Bourke called Curraweena, and near Hungerford, on the Queensland border, is a, sbation called Currawynia. Some time ago a bullock teamster engaged to take a load (mostly grog) from Dubbo to Curraweena, a distance of about 250 miles. Misunderstanding his destination, some of his brother carriers advised him that grass and water are plentiful on the Marra, and that he could make a good trip through Brewarrina and Eringonia. He took their advice, and all t\ ent well with him as far as Brewarrina. There he was further advised to run up the Bokhira, down the Widgegaroo, across the Warrego, and then to follow the Paroo down to Hungerford. On tha way a dry time stuck him up for several months. Meanwhile, the owners of the loading, becoming alarmed, placed the matter in the hands of the police, who traced the teamster to Brewarrina, but could not track him further, so that he was set down as a dishonest fellow who had sold his loading and cleared out. Nearly 12 months afterwards he turned up at Currawynia, having travelled neaxly 500 miles to find that he had to go back through Bourke over 200 miles to reach his right destination. He had crossed the Queensland border without meeting the Customs patrol, but his recrosaing again was not without its troubles. On the assessment roll in Washington there are 100 coloured men assessed at 20,000d01s each. A Yankee has undertaken the profitable task of ascertaining the weight of the common house fly. He has found that it takes IS.OOO of thorn to balance a pound weight. The City of Moscow boasts the largest apothecary establishment in the world. It employs over SOO laboratory and other assistants, and dispenses daily a thousand prescriptions. There are eight Jewish members in the present British Parliament, and of these five are Liberals, while three are Conaer- ' T.itives.