LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8102, 30 August 1904, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

•• Some mischievous persons make a prac* ticc of tampering with tbe flood-gates in) connection with the old river-bed near New Brighton, and the result is that Sefton's Island is placed under water. The annual report of the directors of "the Wellington Woollen Company states that the net amount earned during the past. year was not so highly satisfactory as has been, the case for many years past, the lessened profit being due to the increased price of. wool and trade competition. The usual dividend of 8 per csnt is recommended. The team of riflemen that represented the colony at* the Bisley meeting in England last month was booksd to leave Lon- , don by tlie Karamca on the retrirn journey to New Zealand. The Raramea was to have begun her trip on Saturday last, so tha team should reach* home early in October. The Lyttelton Harbour Board has. decided to giv© the New Brighton Borough Council control of the old river-bed in the borough, but some Councillors are afraid that the gift- they wero so willing to reeeiva may prove an expensive one, as the Health Officer has already asked the - Council tc remove a nuisance that exists in the riverbed. Ifc hag been decided by the Council, however, to ask the Land Boari lo vest the land in the Council. In the South Sea-s Stw^e is still difficulty to be met with >vheu a. resident of ths outb-ring settlements wishes to enter the bonds of matrimony. The u Fiji Times" of August 17 says :■■—'* The Rsv Horaes Packe, M.A,, vicar of Suva, proceeded to , Fanning Island by the oable -steamer Iris oi> Tuesday ' morning. The reverend gentleman* will be absent from Suva for som/3 weeks — Hires* or more. Holy matriAony is the beguiling influence which has ia]*en Mr Packe thither. One of the cable hands on this lonely 'islet has determined to take unto himself a' helpmate, and hence tha clergyman to tie the knot." It is reported that one night ' Afc wee_ a resident of Heathcote, who was alighting afc the Heathcote Railway Station, had ** narrow escapo from being killed. He had come from Lyttelton, and as he stepped ©S the wooden platform the 9.15 p.nfi train from Christohureh ran into tho -Stataon^ The man was struck by the engine, an-d was . thrown some, feet along, but was not seriously injured. . It is stated' 1 that the arrangements afc the station are the cause of a good <Jeal of danger, and it has been suggested that the railway authorities should warn passengers of tho danger incurred in crossing the lines wften the 9.15 p.m-. train conies into th© station. Members of the New Brighton Borough! Council, at a -meeting last evening, criticised thei Drainage Board rather freely. Tha Board wants to rate on the capital value,, the Council on th© annual value. The Council's Finance Committee reported that the method was immaterial, as the rat© would come to the same thing in the end. Several Councillors, however, seemed to think thjtfc the Boarcl was wreaking a spit© against? them. One of them said that it had s«fc a trap for the Council. The Mayor said h© thought that it was hardly the proper thing to apply euch. terms to another body of gentlemen, bufc the Council decided to inform th© Board that "you, having mad© a rat© of a .half -penny in th© pound, payable , ou th© capital value, th© Council has arranged to raise the neoessary suni in its own way." The ?sew Brighton Borough Council has •written to the owner of Bligh's Gardens, drawing attention to the agreement made . with tho Council whereby h© -was to keep a gate -unlocked so that pedestrians could pass through th© gardens from the old j river-bed when desired. Th© letter states . I that the agreement has been broken by the ! present tenant, and th© Council desires tha* he should observe the terms of the agreement, otherwise th© Council will be cotn- ' pelled to order him to remove a fence windis on the Council's property. The owner, Mr N. Suckling, has replied, stating that a notice: board has been fixed on the gate, eet requested by the Council, but it haa been removed by some persons, and the present lesseSr .of th© grounds objected to peoplo straying promiscuously over tho plaoe, ©specially as many of them possessed "more impudence than brains." A writer in the Sydney "Daily Tel©-*, graph " has contributod a series of articles entitled "Picturesque Maoriland." "Tha running water," he says, " is half the charm of Maoriland towns, and the Avon is the sol© charm of dreary Christchurch A~ This beautiful creek runs through the chessboardlike streets of Bit-town— arid the Biketown people spend a lot of money on it. It i* fringed with green lawns and willows, and oaks and ©lms, a-nd toi-toi with, its whit© feathery* flagy, and the water 'beneath is al deep emerald. In Christchurch you rend a boat for a week and you upend most o?, your time <m the stream, which is scarcely wid© enough for two boats to pass, and you can always get a Christcburch girl to-stest -'■ foi«*you, *or sit by your sid© when you ram the nose of the boat- into a grass bank, and -■'■'* let timo amuse yon, veiled from the vulgar gaz© by th© drooping wands of willow. That is how most Sydney fellows spend theii- days in Cbristchnrch/' The best medicine known is SANDER and SON'S EUCALYPTI EXTRACT. Test its eminent powerful effects in coughs, colds, influenza; the relief is instantane-^ ous: In serious cae©s, and accidents of all kinds, be they wounds, burns, scalds, bruises* sprains, it is the-eaf<6t remedyno swelling — no inflammation. ALike sur* prising effects produced in croup, diphtheria, bronchitis, inflammation of lungs, swelling, etc., diarrhcea, dysentery, diseases of the kidneys and urinary orgam. SANDER and SON'S EUCALYPTI EXTRACT is in, use at hospitals and medical « jlinics all over, the globe; patronised by,--*' bis Majesty the King of Italy; crownedA .vith medals and diplomas at International . Exhibition, Amsterdam. Trust in thiir* ipproved' article, and rsiect all others.-^ - [Advt.) —, . " * -.[i

■ -_. - A Messrs George W. Andrsws and Albert Cram have been nominated for the vacant Paeat on tbe Ashburton Borough Council. The time for receiving tenders for the .new rudder for the barque Boieldku has been extended to Thursday next. A male patient, who had escaped from Sunnyside on Sunday, was arrested at Lyttelton last night, " by Acting-Detective Connell.* A Whangarei settler tried Schmidt" s treatment., a-coording to the Agricultural Department's leaflet, on a valuable cow which was suffering from millc fever, and a cwnplete cure was effected in twenty-five minutes. The cab proprietors at Masterton have •pfused to pay a license to stand in the precincts of the railway station, and remain •ut-side the gates, by way of a protest. Passengers conseqheutly have to carry their luggage -aune distance. •The man whose obstreperous conduct on board the. s.s. Rotomahana, on Saturday night,, rendered ifc necessary to handcuff him, was brought befors Dr M'Arthur, S.M., at Wellington, yesterday, and fined 40s, with, the option of fourteen days' imprisonment. . At Masterton to-day, Augustus Sfcempai "was fined £6, and coats £2 16s for allowing pigs to wander and- having his slaughterhouse unclean. The evidence showed that the premises were filthy, and the Magia'y trate advised the defendant net to come Irefore him again on a similar charge. The Indian coolie is- now firmly established as a labourer in the Fijis, where during tbe last decade he has ousted tho local native from employmenfcj as a result -, of the native's in<loleno3. The coolie_ return to their nat ive land after a few years' service ; three hundred and seventy left' Suva for Calcutta in the chip Ems oh August 18. - The Premier's open resaine!- Speaking to the toast of Mr Seddon's health at the Hon C. H. Mills' residence on -Saturday, Major Donald, of Wairarapa, told jiow, when other means failed him, a, letter from the Premier had" given him entrance iverywhere in the United States-^-even to White House. The -Premier (says the " New Zealand Times ") replied' thafc he had heard of a man who, finding himself unable to get entrance to the -celebrated Monte Carlo, raked up an old" letter signed "R. J.. Seddon," and the recommendation of the signature carried him past all obstacles • without further trouble. j An instance of early preparation, for a ' marriage was told afc the Donald-Mills wod-ding on Saturday (says the " New Zea- - land Timee.") When Mr V. E. Donald was born, twenty-seven or twenty-eight yeaj-s ago, his father, Major Donald, buried a bottle of wine and planted a tree over it, with the intention of removing ifc on ' tho occasion of the boy^ marriage. Considerable difficulty was experienced in removing the tree last week, so firmly 'had its roots embedded themselves ; however, the bottle waa sound when taken from its hiding • place, and the wine was used to drink the bride an-d*- bridegroom's health on Saturday. Afterwards the bottle was refilled, and will be buried again until flic next marriage in the family. .