GENERAL NEWS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5982, 23 September 1897, Page 4

GENERAL NEWS.

ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES. The arrivals in the colony in August were 1140, and. the departures 1007. THE NEW ZEALAND' RIFLE TEAM. At a meeting at Wellington last night, attended by about seventy officers and men of the loaal volunteers, it was decided to give the New Zealand rifle team which competed at Bisley a pixblic reception on their arrival on Oct. S, and entertain them at a smoke concert in the evening.

| A SUBSIDY WITHDRAWN. The Post has authority for stating that the shipping companies have withdrawn their annual subsidy to the National Dairy Association for assistance in the shipment of produce to Great Britain. The subsidy was .£3OO, divided equally between the Xorth and South Island branches.

SETTLEMENT AT GISBOENE. , A tcle.oram from Gisboi-ne says : — The area of bush that is beinw felled in this district this year amounts in the aggregate to fully 15,2u0 acres, and it is estimated thab this will involve an expenditure in labour for felling alone of ,£20,000, whilst .£30,000 will be required for fencing, .£12,000 for gi-ass seed .sowing, and .£22,000 i'or the 50,000 sheep that will be required to be put upon the country as scon as the grass grows, making in all a total expenditure of <£84,000 now being made and about to be niadeinderelopingsettlenientin these parts. The additional area of country being broken up is required to keep pace Avith the natural increase of flocks, as the gross increase last season amounted to 168,000 sheep, and will, of course, be greater with the present lambing. The total number of sheep on March 31 last was only eight thousand short of a million, and this was in spite of 79,000 sheep having been sent out of the district in the shape of frozen mutton. Last year's wool clip amounted to 17,476 bales, bringing in a revenue of which, with the receipts from frozen < mutton and other products of sheep, made the flocks of the district give a return equal to .£220,150.

THE MUSEUM. The -Ethnological room in the Canterbury Museum, one of the jnost popular departments of the institution, has just received considerable additions to its collections, in pursuance of Captain Hutton's • policy of increasing these till they shall be thoroughly representative of the various blanches of the 'human family. The additions include specimens illustrating the industrial arts as practised in German New Guinea and the- Bismarck Archipelago, comprising stone adzes; -somewhat like these of the Maoris, necklaces and other . ornaments of boars' teeth, and shells, a ghastly object in the form of a loop of bamboo, used for carrying the severed head of a conquered ■foe. -From Celebes have' come a handsome and gaily-coloured mat, topa shawls and a sarong (loin-cloth) and a waterproof jacket sarong of some woven material, a curious shield decorated with shells and tufts of horsehair, and a blowpipe with ■ its poisoned darts and quiver to hold them. Both these collections were obtained from the Dresden .Museunn From England the Museum has received interesting collections of South African curios,' aniong them two snuff-boxes, one of ivory and the other of a nut or gourd, effectively decorated with brass wire. Thera are also some very well-carved ivory spoons for taking snuff, and a singular amulet of ivory used by a Mashona, or witch doctor, in his incantations. A Maslionaland hunting knife, with ivory hilt and carved wooden sheath, is another interesting object, in this collection. There, is, besides, an ancient South African dagger,, the ivory handle of which is yellow, with age. A wooden pillow, carved 'out- of a single piece of wood, also comes from the Dark Continent. Several objects of interesthave been procured from* South America. One of these is a curipua skull cap with a fringe of hair, ..resembling the tonsure worn by C;ipuchin> monks in Chili. Two beautiful chips, one' of " make wood and the other of' a wood like mahogany, have been sent from Brazil. The North American collection ' has been increased by the addition of a : number of articles, among them a dancing rattle, a stone chip adorned with eagle's feathers, a ' pouch beautifully worked in porcupine qui]ls,.a curious fishhook from British Columbia and a 'mallet used in the preparation of bark cloth. Tq. the Oriental collections" have been added a Persian scribe's brass pen and ink holder, a silver necklace from Turkey, 'arid a Jewish phylactery — a wooden case covered' with leather containing manuscript prayers in Hebrew, and with a- leather band to strap it around the arm or the forehead. The 2>hylactery is very old, and has evidently been much worn. A peasant's diptych— a wooden case — containing figures of the '■ Virgin carved in relief, has been obtained from Russia, and a curious bone j implement used in dressing skins from Norway. ''