LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXX, Issue 11679, 31 December 1887, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The T^ngariro, with the direct EngHeh mail, is expected to arrive in Wellington thia evening, and the mail will reach Wanganui by Monday afternoon's train, when fche Post Office will be open for a public de« livery from 5 to 6. There was a clean sheet at the Police Court yeßfcerday. We would remind our readers that the usual procession of the Fire Brigide will not take place to-night, but on Wednesday evening next. The Wanganni Rifles fire for Liautenant Foster's handicap cup on Tuesday morning next. The only alteration in the handicap j is that Volunteer A. Laird is ecratoh aticl t'^at Volunteers Browne, Oliver, and Davis have 15 points. To-night Mr Sparks will repeat the per* fornrince of fche opera "Lea Cloches da Oor* nevillo" at the popular prices—3?, 2s, and Is. On Monday next he will perform the opera for the last time, and on Tuesday a farewell performance of " The Grand Duohess" will be givew, the prices being 3i, 2s, and Is. Tuesday's Evening Post aays : — We have to record the death of Mr W. H. Thompson (better known as u Zulu " Thompson), who breathed hi* laat at his residenca in Diion« street lash evening, at th« uge or 48. The deceased csme out to Australia about 1860, and was a member of a dramatic company for some time. He then went back to England, and returned as lecturer to a diorama of the American war, with which he travelled all over the world. After being einnectoi with tha show for some time, he purchased it and amassed a large amount »f money, the receipts as a rulß being very good. He subsequently acquired a diorama of the Zulu war, and exhibited it in different parts of the world with more or less success. The soubriqu»t of "Zulu'Vaa gained through his connection with thig show. About two years a?o he settled down in Wellington, and was licensee of the Albion Hotel until his health gave way and compelled him to relinquish business For five or six months prior to his demise he suffered nevei?ely from diabetes, Mr Thompson was a genial, kind-hearted man, and was weli liked by all who knew him. He leases & widow and daughter, the latter being about seven yeara of age. The up-river picnic on Tuesday next, under the auspices of tho Temperance Brotherhood, promises to ba equally sue* cessful with that of last year — more successful it couid not well be. To prevent an? fear of overcrowding, both the Tuhua and Motoua Lave bsen chartered, and a reasonable limit has been placed upon the number of tickets to be offered for Bftla. If on Tuesday morning the reports of th? commit" tees show that the limitation ha 9 baen reached, no mere tioketß will bo Bold. The price of the tickets has been fixed at t,he low figure of 2s 6d for. adults, and Is for juveniles under fourteen years of age. The locality selected for the pionic is a beautiful epot obovo Baorikia, where it 1 is expected that excurnionists will ha^e at least five hours on shore, and will b-.s able lo eijoy themselvas in explorations to their hearts' content. Forthts convenience of those who may not care : to be burdened with the carrying of provisions, refreshments will be : provided on board at reasonable rates. It is hoped that the Garrison Band will" i?e pre» sent, and that a very pleasant day will be i spent,the steamers Btorfcingsharpf rom Bett'fl wharf at 9in the morning and letum 'n; i about 7 in the evening. The Friendly Societies art union, which will be drawn at the picnic on Monday, promises to be a great success. The prizes ' are on view at Mr B, Low's establishment, where the are requested to call and impect them, and satisfy themselves as to I genuineness of the articles. The Friendly Societies deserve to be liberally patronised | in this heavy undertaking, as they have purchased expensive and useful works of art, and. have put thfl tickets within the reach of all, by fixing tho price at one shilling. The public will be asked to appoint a committee on tho ground to draw fche art union: Asa result of the late fire (says Wednesday^ Hawke's Bay Herald) we have learned two things— firßt, that lately the high pressure supply baa been cut off at night, and secondly, that not only did the general public know nothing of this, the council rot having given proper publioity to its inten tions, but a majority of the members' of the Fire Brigade were also ignorant of the arrangement. The oounoil is not treating the ratepayers fairly in the matter of fire prevention. Promises are repeatedly made that are constantly broken, and every time there ia a fire we learn that the safety of the town depends more upon obance than upon a system of water supply that is not only costly enough to ba serviceable, but that the council hae time after time undertaken to make serviceable. The absolutely stupid conduct of the council oould not be more clearly shown than hy the discovery (accidental to at leaat nine persons out of ten) that the high vressure water supply has been turned off at night recently. This most important matter is thought of so little consequence to the ratepayers generally that, beoause of a grotesque adherence to "penny an inch " advertising contraota, adequate notice of the council's intentions is cot given to a tithe of the ratepayers. That the town does nob get burned down is not due to the wisdom of fche council in reference to the water supply. Tho lawn tennia tournament is over, and the fair upholders on the sward of the honour pf Ohristohurch may well bo proud ©f their position in beating all comere T It requires uo ordinary courage on the part of ladies, with complexions to spoil, to stand out in the Bun for three days in succession, and unflaggingly continue the hard work which Bklll with the racket and ball entails. Q-entlemeu, of course, deserve no credit for performing a duty. Mtn are always expected to do that under all circumstancea. Failure in this respect merits censure, but success calls for no eepecjal praise. With ladies it is otherwise, and for hard work oarried to a successful issue, fche Christs church ladies deserve the thanks of the province whose reputation in athletes they have so woll maintained. — Ohristohurch Telegraph. Djr Blache atatea ia the Bulletin Therapoutique ihaJfc in fihronia and simple bran* chilis petroleum in doses of 'a t'easpooaful before meals produce? satisfactory results. In phfchi'sia the experiments have not jet been long enough continued to ascertain the results are permanently beneficial, but it diminishes the expectoration, whioh 8j!*o logep its purulent character. Intending visitors pq the Matarawa picnic on Monday will do well id note that the firat train, at 10.20 a.m., will run 'right through, without stopping at any station along the line The subsequent trains afc 11.5, 12, and 2 p.m — will haul up at all the usual stopping places. Jsr Laird and Mr Baasett waited upon fcho Bandmaptor of jfcbe Garrison Band laab night, to solicit thb k'ndly ofllcas of the band at tho Temperance Bi'otherhood f icnic by the Tuhua and Motou;. on Tuesday nexfc. Mr Cfarichton promised to lay the application before tho band, and to give ! the deputation au iwi&wer without delay. i

_ We refer our readers to the advertised I I time table for the excursion Lraina to Casllecliffon Monday and Tuesday. A Bailing race will take place at 2.30, to start from the Heads ; a prize of 20s and the entrance fee, ss, will be given ; four boats to start. The tjde la specially Buitable tor fishing, and a prize of 5a will be given to the one who succeeds in landing the most fish in a given time, beninning at 10.30 o'clock. The train will run to-night to and from the Heads, as advertised. Another fair house greeted the second production of Lea Cloches de Cornevillo at the Princess Theatre last nighfc, by the Sparks Operatic Company, and we were pleased to notice that the defects of the previous evening were conspicuously absent. The choruaeß ran smoothly , and in the Btage department generally there was a marked improvement. Mr Imndon fulfilled our expectations by very much improving on his first representation of Gaspard, and we are pleased to be in a position to accord him the well merited praise which hi 3 performance deserved. In the Chateau scene he was particularly successful, a:d throughout sustained the character in a most creditable manner. Indeed the same may be said of the whole performance, which ran very smoothly. Hitherto we have omitted any notice of the orchestra. Not from want of. appreciation, however, but from the merefact that anything in this direction whi-h the promoter undertakes can always be relied upon as being really good. In return for fehd time, patience, and exertion bestowed upon the production of the opera, we hope to see it liberally patronised during the remaining night* of the aeason, To-night tho price 3 will be the same as last night. As the OHROsricit! will nofc bo published again until Wednesday morning, any tilegrams of interest arriving on Monday or Tuoaday night may be seen by the puolic on application at our publishing office. We hear that the Premier is in Wellington, and that after nexb week the Cabinet will eet to in earnest on the work of retrenchment. Mr James Duigan retires to-night from the literary control of the Herald. The editorial chair will he resumed by Mr Ballanca next week. A soft passenger by the 8.M.8. Buapehu which left Wellington last weak was relieved of £6 5s jußt prior to his departure. IHe got into conversation with & man of middle age, who said he was a follow passenger. This person eventually asked for a losn of £6 5a t) pay some bills before the steamer left, as his money was in his luggage and he could not get it just then The request was cheerfully complied with, and the middle-aged one departed never to be seen again by the legitimate passenger. The latter could not take action in the mattor, as he would have had to lose his passage in order to appear at the Court to secure the punishment of the swindler. From the description the police received they are of opinion that the man is identical with a spieler well known to them. The London Times published the following accouotof a painful incident resulting in the death of two English ladies in the Bngadine: — "Miss Alice Barker, sister of Mr Barker, of Albrighton flail, Salop, and her niece, Miss Florence Barker, were staying at Promontogno. On the morning of the 13th October Miss Alice Barker, accompanied by an experienced guide, started for the ascent of tho Bondascar Glacier. They reached the Bnow at 9.30 a.m., and the summit, 11,0001 c, at 2 p.m. They commenced the descent, and after waiking : an hour and a half the guide beoatne aware that his companion's strength was failing, owing to the intense cold and heavy snow. He used all his knowledge to keep up her strength, but unavailingly, and Miss Barker suddenly fell dead in his arm. The guide 'carried h=:r as far as he could, but after a time he was obliged to place her beneath a rock, used as a shelter by tho chamois, and returned to the village. A paity of eleven men at once started at 9 p.m., and reached the spot at 4 s.ru. returning with the body to Promontogno at 10 a.m. on Friday rooming. Miss Florence Barker was in delicate health, and the terrible realisation of the guide's report.by the return of the ree vering party, -was a (.shook too intense for her strength, and she died on the Sunday morning." Our readers are reminded that Mr Kirk* wood's studio will be open during all the Chri fcmtts and New Year holidays. $hoee wiahiDg to have tbeir photo's, taken shouldavail themselvei of tho opportunity while" the ohefap rales last. F rjt«-class work will be done afc the following prices :—^atte, size; 10s 6d per doz j cabinet, 17a 6d.'— Advt. j Visitors from the country before return* mg homo should m»!i« a point of being photographed at Mr Mart ; n's studio. The pi'ioes for all sorts, and siz93 of photograph* have been reduced to about half the usual . charge, Mr Martin has decided to -con-" titue these low charges throughout the school holidays. — Advt. „ . At the handing «ovev of the stakes in the Beach-Hanlan match, Sir John Eobertson i moved, and it was oarried by acclamation — 11 That in the opinion of- this meeting the wonderful success and unrivalled career of William. Beaoh, the champion sculler of the world, entitle him to public recognition as our most illustrious representative of what; strength, skill, pluck, and endurance in manly and natural sports can accomplish when combined with integrity and unas^ eUming worth." A. testimonial .for Beach I was started in the room md £546 subscribed ; Joe Thompson heading the list, and Hanlan, amid the' cheers of those present, handed to the Mayor of Sydney, who presided , .£lO towards the fund. Joe Thompson also gave £25 apiece to Kemp and Nelson, tfce trainers of Beaoh.