Local and General Intelligence.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1676, 22 March 1890, Page 2

L oc al and General Intelligence.

The New Zealand Exhibition is to be closed on the 19th proximo. The Hon. J. White's cheque at the Victoria Racing Club's autumn meeting was £5547. When the Jubilee Plunger emerges from gaol he will be able to write a book entitled " How I lost 151bs in three months." An Inveroargill telegram of Thursday's date states that 1000 bags of this season's oats have been sold there at Is 2d per bushel. The Numurkah branch of the Victorian I Farmers' Association are strongly in favour of a change from Protection to Freetrade. For having in his possession a bullock's akin from which the brand had been cut, a Wilcannia (N.S.W.) butcher was fined £10. There were ten patients in the Tuapeka Hospital last evening— nine male and one female. Two patients were admitted into the institution during the week and three were discharged. We are advised by cablegram that milling wheat is bringing from 3s 6d to 3s 7d in Melbourne, and farmers' lots at the out ports 3s 2d to 3s 4d in Adelaide. Milling wheat commands 3s in Sydney, and chick feed from 2a 9d to 2s lOd. Feed oats are slow of sale in Melbourne, the quotation for seed oats being 3s. In Sydney heavy feed oats are steady at 2s2dto2s4d. i

The " Statist " says that no New Zealand mining company formed in London has yet paid a dividend. We learn that the Representation Commissioners have finished their work, but their report and accompanying maps will not be ready for some days. Nine three-horse drays and a six-horse waggon are at present engaged in carting grain from Papakaio to Oamaru, this method being found preferable to sending it by rail. THE shooting season will not open rm<nl the Ist of May, the Government having disregarded the recommendation of the Acclimatisation Society to fix the Ist of April as the opening day. It has been discovered that the roof of the Dunedin First Church (Presbyterian) is in such a dangerous condition that the church will have to be closed until repairs are made. The New South Wales Government have decided to spend the sum of £25,000 in establishing mining schools throughout the colony and £50,000 in the erection of a technical college in the same interest. Three years' hard labour was the sentence given to a Sydney man for uttering counterfeit coin, and a further two years for haying ! the manufacturing plant in his possession. Man cannot make money as he likes in this world. With reference to the tenders called by the Clutha River Board, for the erection of goods sheds, we are requested to explain that the specifications have been altered and alternate tenders are now asked, one for red pine and the other for birch. The estimated population of Victoria on the 31st December, 1889, was 1,118,077, of which 593,823 were males and 524,254 females. The population of New South Wales on the same date was 1,122,200 -namely, 618,300 males and 503,900 females. Geelong has just paid for 45,427 eggs and 5965 heads of sparrows destroyed. It has been reckoned that had the sparrows not been killed and eggs destroyed there- would have been in the district 411,136 more sparrows this season than there were last season. Mr H. B. Tucker, who was proprietor of the Bridge Hotel, Waitahuna, for many years, and who has had control of the ' Farmers' Arms' Hotel, Balclutha, for about twelve months, has sold out of the latter, and intends shortly to take his departure for the Home Country. It is rumoured that a heavy action is to be tried at one of the early civil sittings of the Supreme Court, Dunedin. The action is brought against trustees for alleged imprudent investments, and the plaintiffs are represented by Mr Jellicoe, of Wellington, a full bar being retained for the defence. During the past eight months a firm in Invercargill has purchased 100,0001 bof rabbitskins, the value of which was £5,000, or an average of 3d per lb. The vendors included a good number of small farmers and country workmen, and the money represented by these skins was no doubt a welcome addition to household funds. An •• Old Miner," writing to the " Evening Star," makes the following suggestion:— " The Upper Waipori Alluvial Gold Dredging Co. having an area of 300 acres, with good prospects on the false bottom, I would suggest that the company lose no time in getting the main bottom, boring and finding the correct depth and the prospects, which, if favourable, would make the property the most valuable in New Zealand ; and the shares, instead of standing at 9s, might be worth as many pounds. One of the obligations imposed by the Mahomedan religion is that interest for the use of money must not be accepted, and, says the " Hawkes Bay Herald," it has received a striking illustration in Napier. A Hindoo named Sheriz, who has resided in Hawkes Bay for some time, received £10 10s 6d from the Post Office Bank as interest upon money deposited, and, valuing his religion more than money, he handed over the amount to the Napier Hospital. We can do with more Mahomedans. The distribution of the new "Crown Lands Guide" (says the Wellington "Press") will be a very large one, it being the intention of the Government to advertise the country by this means in every direction. Copies will be sent to all the newspapers, hotels and public libraries in this and the Australian Colonies and India. Each boat in the Union Steam Ship Co.'s fleet, the direct liners, and P. and O. and Orient Co.'s vessels will be supplied with a substantially and handsomely bound copy, bearing the name of the vessel printed on the front cover in gold letters. A chemist at Marton, Wellington, has growing in his garden a flower called the kaipoc, which is fatal to the whole species of moths. We ("Rangitikei Advocate") have seen some of the flowers, on each of which was a full-grown specimen of the common moth. Some of them were alive, but they could make no attempt to fly. It seems that moths are fond of the flower, and once they get their probosces into it, they never fly again. It has been suggested that if the flower were grown in sufficient quantities in orchards, the codlin moth pest would soon become a thing of the past. Much attention has lately been directed to the " book fiend." " The Picturesque Atlas," "Victoria and its Metropolis," and several other works and pictures have (says the Melbourne correspondent of the " Daily Times") been suddenly sprung on people, whose signatures have been procured in a perfectly surprising way. There have been two prosecutions up-country for perjury, one of an agent and the other of a customer. The former was committed for trial, the latter acquitted. Many business men in Melbourne have been forced to pay for a wretched lithograph supplied to them at a cost of 10 guineas ; and there is not the slightest doubt that the signatures in some cases were not theirs.

The Victorian Minister of Education has received a strange complaint from a stateschool teacher in one of the rabbit-infested districts of that colony. The teacher, a lady, writes that she is afraid some of her more youthful pupils will eat the poisoned wheat laid down near the school and intended for the rabbits' consumption. She also fears that the rabbits will crawl underneath the schoolbuilding and die, and as already one school has had to be closed in consequence of the unendurable smell from the decaying bodies of poisoned rabbits beneath and around the flooring, the teacher's dread would appear to be not altogether without foundation. The Education Department have the subject under consideration.

At the Land Board meeting on Wednesday, Murray, Roberts, and Co. wrote stating that an arrangement had been made between the lessees of Runs 223 and 226 b that the boundaries remain as at present fenced— viz., along the Lander Creek— and requesting that the Board would give effect to the agreement readjusting the licenses as from the Ist of March next.— Consideration adjourned for a week. Ranger Hughan reported having again inspected the fencing on section 18, block v., Table Hill, and stated that with the exception of about fourteen chains the fencing had been completely destroyed, much of the wire having been removed.— Valuation approved. Regarding the applications made for reserves at Tuapeka East for the purpose of cutting and dressing flax, Ranger Hughan reported regarding the quantity of flax which it was estimated could be obtained from the land.— Licenses granted for one year.

From our Melbourne files we learn that an appeal to the Full Court is to be made in the Moss-Somner will case. The verdict of the jury that undue influence had been brought to bear on the testator was the subject of much criticism, and there is little doubt but that had the Chief Justice alone heard the case the will would have been sustained. The trial lasted some fourteen days, and Mrs Moss' cross-examination was the principal feature of it. Mr Purve3, who handled her, is a cross-examiner of the rough-and-tumble type. There is no great delicacy about his work, his chief aim being apparently to irritate, his witness and draw him into a personal' altercation, from which the witness retires in due course badly worsted. Seven counsel were engaged in the case, the costs of which already amount to some £10,000. The whole estate is only worth about £30,000, and another trial ought to about absorb the whole value in law costs.

We regret to hear on the best authority that Sir Harry Atkinson is no better, and that he is very despondent. We hope, however, that the rest he contemplates taking will have • beneficial effect. Best and a mind free from care are the best physicians in his case.

The report of the Victorian Mining Department for the last quarter of the year 1889 shows that the gold yield during that period was 162,9020z, the highest yield for any single quarter since 1887. The yield for the last three quarters exceeded that of the previous > year. Baiiarat beads tne list in the yields for the quarter with 55,1680z gold, Sandhurst following with 36,6820z. Compared with the previous quarter there was an increase of £25,555 in the amount paid in dividends.

The Nelson "Mail" understands that, in view of the possible shortness of winter food for live stock, an experiment is being made with the Scotch thistle with a view to utilising it in this direction. The thistles were tried in a small way last year, when the cattle were found to take very kindly to this new description of food, and in consequence of the success of the experiment it is being repeated this year on a larger scale. The thistles are stacked when green, and, it is stated, come out of the stack perfectly sweet, and are much relished by the cattle. La Grippe is finding its victims in Dunedin ' by the hundred daily, and is, unfortunately, accompanied in its travels by a typhoid epi. demic more dangerous and more difficult to combat than the influenza. The presence of typhoid is attributable to the indifferent quality of the water now being used in Dun* edin. It is expected that a number of the Dunedin schools are likely to be closed for a brief period, as the influenza has been found to be infectious. It has now taken a firm hold in Lawrence, has attacked a large number of people, and still continues to spread. Messrs Stewart and Gabe, of Long Gully Reef, Waipori, had a cleaning up on Wednesday last, and have every reason to be satisfied with the result. From a crushing of 120 tons of stone they got a return of 620z 13d wt of retorted gold. This represents about a fortnight's crushing, and is only one of a series of splendid yields which have rewarded the party since they commenced to wbr& fcho claim. The yields since operations were begun have, we understand, averaged about lldwts to the ton, and there is every indication of this result being continued, if not, perhaps, exceeded. .At present the machinery is at a standstill owing to a scarcity of water, but as it is intended to make additions to the plant that may not cause much inconvenience or loss. Previous to hi 3 departure for Home, the Yen. Archdeacon Beaumont was the recipient of a large number of maps and pamphlets from the Lands Department, contain* ing the fullest information concerning the Crown lands of the colony open for settlement. These it is the intention of the Archdeacon to " ' distribute among the right kind of people on his arrival in the Old Country ; and, as he intends to travel extensively through the United Kingdom and Ireland, as well as on the Continent, and has personally a large knowledge of the subject, he will be able to do a good service to the colony. The Minister of Lands is to be commended for his alertness and zeal in availing himself of such excellent opportunities of advertising the colony and promoting settlement. The dwellinghouse on the Mount Stuart estate was burned down at an early hour on Wednesday morning. The house was one erected in the early days, and might have been seen nestling among the trees not far from Mount Stuart railway station. The manager of the estate (Mr John E. Palmer) had only left the house a short time on his way to see after some sheep, and when out on the hills he observed indications of fire in the direction of the homestead. He hastened there at once, and succeeded, with the assistance of the station hands, in saving the household effects. Mrs Palmer and the children, who were in bed when the fire broke out, had barely timeto escape without injury. The fire is supposed to have originated owing to some defect in the flue. A match between the Dunedin and Law* rence Bowling Clubs takes place on the latter's green to-day. The Dunedin players are —W. Wright (skip), M. Sinclair, T. Moodie, T. Evatt ; A. M'Diarmid (skip), F. Siedeberg, J. Ross, J. Scoular ; D. Baxter (skip), J. Mitchell, A. Mowat, J. Leighton. The Lawrence players are-E. Wakefield (skip), P. Uren, J. Tanton, M. M'Lean; J. J. Woods (skip), J. Johnson, W. Anderson, W. Sutherland; A. Macdonald (skip), G. Jeffery, H. Darton, A. Motherwell. A tennis match between the Dunedin and the local clubs will also take place to-day. The representatives of the Dunedin club are— F. C. Crump, Jas. Edgar, W. H. Ash, and J. E. Gunn ; and of the local club— W. Hindmarsh, L. E. Haines, H. L. Darton, and A. Morris. The inhabitants of Dunedin are threatened with a water famine ; the supply is now re* stricted to a very small allowance daily, and many firms using water power have been compelled to cease work and discharge their employes. At the last meeting of the City Council, letters from business people placed in this predicament were received, stating that they were at a standstill, and orders on hand were being cancelled, and asking to be allowed to use water for four hours daily. The Council, however, on the report of the surveyor, decided to allow no water to be used except for domestic purposes. Within the last fortnight the quantity of water stored in the reservoir has decreased by seven million gallons, leaving now only a sufficient water supply for thirteen days. What may have to be done at the expiration of that time, should the dry weather still continue, is problematical. , The strike among the English docklabourers and coal miners is rapidly spreading through the country, and there is every appearance of a very determined struggle be* tween Capital and Labour being at hand. At Liverpool thirteen thousand imported labourers are employed at the docks taking the place of the men on strike. The collieryowners of Lancashire and Cheshire still re* main obdurate and refuse to yield to the men ; but those of Leicester are yielding to the de* mands of the strikers. The strike has resulted in 30,000 mill hands being thrown out of work, and severe distress is reported among the dock labourers at Liverpool. The Warwickshire colliers have accepted an advance ' of 5 per cent, down, and an additional 5 per cent, when a further advance has been conceded elsewhere. The Board of Trade has been asked to arbitrate between employers and employed but hesitate to do so.

A sensation was caused at Inveroargill on Wednesday when it became known that Mr Chas. Freeman, an old and respected citizen, had been found hanging dead in an outhouse attached to his dwelling. Though an old man, being over seventy, he was remarkably active and robust, the last man it was thought to commit suicide. It is known, however, that he had invested a good deal of money in mining, including Nenthorn stock and company shares, which turned out badly. At the inquest it was shown that deceased had been in depressed spirits for some time past, the result of bad speculations. The jury re. turned a verdict of suicide while temporarily insane, though it would have described the case with much more accuracy had they made " out a verdict of murder against the mining frauds and company sharks who robbed the old man of his savings, and so caused him to lay violent hands upon himself.

There is a rashness about Dunedin boat-ing-men (writes our correspondent) that, unless checked, will plunge them into financial difficulties some day. As a small return to the Dunedin ladies who presented them with a challenge cup, they invited a large number of the former, with their spouses, to a moonlight excursion on the Osprey, a well-known pleasure-boat. A hint was given, at the same time, that the feelings of the hosts would not be hurt if their fair guests brought with them a due provision of edibles for the refreshment of all hands. The ladies responded in large numbers, and, at the appointed hour, arrived with baskets and hampers, and their lords and masters, brothers, cousins, and lovers. Imagine the dismay of every male guest when he was mulcted in half -a-crown for his fare ! The rest of the trip was occupied in calculating whether it would not have been cheaper to pay the ladies' fares as well, and leave the hampers at home, and also by conjecture as to whether their hosts were on the free-list or not.