LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XLIII, Issue 15000, 31 January 1899, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Tiie hitebt addition to the Telephone I'lxchange i.-> Nn. 197, Herman's sample rooms, luily way Street. We wul:l remind inteiulitig purchaser!' that the rattan wave and Tapanese goods tr be sold by auction on Wednesday by Messrs Williams and Harper, will be oi iiew this afternoon and evening in thr Oddfellows' Hall. Tjiie committee of the Wanganui and West ' ('vast Cycling .Club wjll meet next week tO| tu^lly JJV-ss .tfre for its next spoils meeting, (■<> be J^eld on Cook's Gardens on Raster M-Qnday, this year falls early, namely 3rd Ainv- Local riders will, therefore, be wish tn keep in training. The members of the Wanganui Rowing Club who competed at the Auckland Regatta on Saturday last, returned by the 1.20 train yesterday. The crew is deserving of congratulation, for the respectable show they made, which was all the jnore creditable seeing that they had a jn-w j&ian in t,he boat at the last moment, .md -the trip at their own exjienseJ ' -They afjea^. iv Jiigji terms of the hospitable manner iv .wjjit^ .they were treated in the northern city, yj,ici l«-dp;e that they met " foemen worthy of tlieir steel " in the Pieton crew, .the V*nners of the Champion fom,

I Mr Adams, of the Hell Street orchard, advertises 100 cases of apricots to arrive in a clay or two. Tho first term of the Girls' College commences to-morrow. The school opens this year with 19 boarders, with a possibility of the number being increased to over 50. The largest number of boarders previously in any teim was 15, the numbet on the books for the last term of last year. The responsible authorities would do well to pay a little attention to a dangerous .spot on the river bank enclosure, immediately at the end of Bolton Row. The river has encroached to such an extent that there is only a few paces between a wide opening in the fence at this spot and the fall of the cliff. At AVellington yesterday a Chinaman was fined £3 and costs, or two months' imprisonment, and another Celestial was mulcted in 30s, or one month's imprisonment, for assaulting Mr. and Mrs. Ferandos. The latter were in the shop of the accused, aud it dispute arose over the sale of some articles. Mr. Ferauclos was rather badly ks-acked about by the iron weights thrown at him. The Otago Daily Times stales that at the Cambridge University examinations in December JMr. W. A. R. Fitchelt, took the degree of JB.A. On the clay after the examinations closed Mr. Fitchett won the 'Varsity Volunteer Corps Sergeants' Challenge Cup. Next clay he broke his collar- ' bone at football, but has made a good re covery. A Press telegram states that, regarding the bumping of the s.s. Waikato when leaving Oamaru, the pilot had to take the vessel a mile clear of the port, and left her at the place where he had ugreed to leave her. The chart shows 27ft. of wa er, deepening as the open sea is made. The Waikato was drawing 18ft. Bin., and the rise and fall of the sea would not be more than 3ft. The bumping is, therefore, inexplicable, as the place where it occurred must be at least lj or li miles at sea, with probably 30ft. of water. Tito remarkable scene at the Gospel Tabernacle, New York, recently, when the '?ev i. B. Simpson's plea for funds to eonJuct the work uf the Christian Missionary J Alliance was su icessful to the extent of 622,500, lhe "entire i.udience emptying ,heir pockets of coins and bunk notes," ■lie giving a cheque for i) 2,000, aim au.lher the title deeds of a valuable house, ras more than equalled about two years mo tit a similar gathering, when the reuit Aias a sum of £30,000The Bishop of M:incl;oster made lbt startling i-tatement thu other d-iy thit he .neaches on an average twel'-e feriiums a reek. As he is known to res'.ud Satuiday .s his "day off." this gives him, the Manhester Evening News points out, an aver- j ige of two sermons «>n every v. Diking clay \ hro-.ighout tlw yeai. Jitemcml cring tbe miltipl icily of his engagements, and the aboi'r involve' 1 iv, administering a large md populous diocese, this is a marvellous lecorcl of work dune. Bishop Fraser wa-. udefati gable, but it is doiib'iit l whether ,c had lis _'iod, an -iveiaje as Bishop Monr'louse. Mr. John Murchie, at pesent of Suva, is at present on a visit to Wanganui, accompanied by his daughter. Mr. Murchie is touring the colony, after a sojuurn of 30 fears in Fiji, and is "naturally very much interested in the progress made by Wanranui, he having been a resident of our own many years ago, and taken part in the building of the old Tresbyterian Church. Mr. and Miss Murchie are stayng at Chavanne's , and among tiie old I'riencls JMr. Murchie has met during his brief stay here is Mr. F. M. Spurdle, vhom he had the' pleasure of knowing in Fiji 26 years ago. The Archbishop of Canterbury, as everybody knows, ii a great teetotaller and „ ■'reo.uent speaker on temperance platforms. Vt the luncheons given by his Grace at \uicms centres of his visitation, hovuver, herry and sltuet were liberally supplied, md were, it is said, highly appreciated by he clergy and churchwardens present. The .listjnguished host himself, oi course, drank lis tea or eoltee at <he high table. Prominent lemperance advocates are not, us n ,\ile. supposed to provide liquor at theit .liimers, but the Archbishop may be an exception. Al any rate, his Grace is almost jure to hear more of it. — Exchange. No doubt the postal authorities have to '■wrestle with some peculiar addresses occasionally, but the wonder is that so many * if these incoirectly addressed communicaions find their way to tbe proper quarters. The other day Mr. W. H. Vereker Binlon, Inspector under the Wanganui Education Board, received a. publication from •i well-known firm of English publishers, bearing the following remarkable address : "W. H. Vereker, Esq., Inspector of Schools, Education Department, Bindon, Auckland, New Zealand." This is almost us good as the missive which the London Post Officials were once called upon to deliver, and wliich was vaguely addressed, "To my mother, who keeps a little apple stall just outside London." At the ordinary meeting of the Building JJiommittee of the Education Board yesterlay, it was resolved that the repairs at Normanby be attended to by the carpenter ; that a 400 gal. tank be supplied to Aurou ; thatthe carpenter report nn the repairs necessaiy at Bulls ; that the Board will find half the cost of repairs to shed at .Tainui ; that sundry repairs asked for at .Mosstown be referred to the carpenter to report; that the Education Department be written .. to respecting the Hibsidy on lettering classes, pointing out that this was really sign-writing, and that the Board considers they are entitled to the subsidy under the Act ; that a further application be made to the Education Department for a subsidy of. pound for pound on. the transfer from the Rees be■paest, and also for £400 for the Palmerston North Technical School ; that a cyclostyle be supplied for the use of the science master at the Wanganui Technical School ; that the Secretory communicate with Mr. Robbins, of Hawera, respecting an art nastcr for the Hawera Technical School. Says the Otago Daily Times:— The extensive railage iately of sheep from Otago .md has led us to institute inquiries re.o Canterbury has excited some comment, qiecting the quantity and character of :tock wliich is being sent north. It is not possible, however, to obtain an exact reurn of the number of sheep the railway is larryiiig from the one provincial district to mother, for stock is sent bythe truck load, md there is a great difference in the numbers carried, about twice as many store sheep as fat sheep being put in a truck. During the past three months it is safe to lay that fully 100,000 sheep have been ient by rail from Otago to Canterbury. From Thursday of last week to Thursday next 20,000 sheep will be railed from the loulh to the north of the Waitaki. The sheep sent are chiefly store sheep for fattening in Canterbury, where grass is now llentiful, and they are then sold to much greater advantage. So far as can be ascertained, fat sheep are not sent in. great utrnfers to Canterbury, and, at any rate, the manager of the New Zealand Refrigerating Company here does not anticipate my difficulty iv getting all the sheep that ire wanted for the Burnside Works. Very few have gone to Canterbury from the district' around Dunedin, and what have gone ire store sheen. A meeting of the Committee of the Wangauui Horticultural Society was held last evening at Mr. Wray's offices, there being present — JMessrs. A. D. Willis (chairman), Browne, Benefield, Babbage, Gibbons, Wray, and Mrs. Wood. Matters ill connection with the autumu show were di,s•jussed. Mr. Willis intimated that he would give the same number of prizes (eight) as he had "given last year. Miss Blyth will give a prize of 10s, and Mrs. Field a prize of 6s, for the best plan of a child's cottage garden, drawn, to scale, the competition to be limited to children under 14 or 15 years of age, as the Society may decide. It was resolved that the accounts and statement in connection with the Spring Show, as read by the treasurer, be passed. The statement showed the Society to be-in a most flourishing condition. The total receipts in. connection with the Spring Show was £88 lis 9d, and the expenditure £52 5s 6d, leaving a surplus to date of £36 6s 3d, to which has to be added subscriptions still to come iv amounting to £5, and donations £2 2s, and assets valued at £7. As Mr. Benefield remarked, this is the best balance-sheet ever presented in connction with a flower show on tjjis coast. It was resolved that JMessrs. Ueijeljeld, Willis, A. Laird, and Babbage be a Committer t# reuort re replenishing and repairing the' Society's plant. The Secretary was Instructed 'to write to the Government, asking for special prizes for apples suitable for expoit. It was resolved that the Rev. A. O. Williams be elected a member of the Committee. It was decided to call a committeee meeting for the 10th of February, to go into the matter of preparing a catalogue, and that members be asked to come prepared witjl suggestions for additions to tjie c&Ulogiie /. ' ''•"•''■

The Borough Council meets this evening. JMr W. Pinches invites tenders for the erection of a residence at Turakina. Mrs L. Jones, teacher of painting and drawing, resumes teaching on February 1. Sketching classes will be held on Friday and Saturday afternoons. Afc the meeting of citizens last evening, in connection with the N.Z.R.A. meeting, Major Sominerville mentioned that Messrs Thain and Co. had generously offered a valuable Mauser rifle and 500 rounds of ammunition as a prize. In collection with the approaching Harbour Hoard elections, it is the intention of Messrs A. ]J>. Willis, James Thain, A. J. Parsons, and R. M. Gatenby to address a metting of ratepayers in the Borough Council Chambers on Friday evening next. Mr F. Hardy, of Dunedin, second officer in the service of the China Navigation Co., Shangai, now on leave, who has bsen studying navigation at the Trinity House Navigation and Steam Schools, Wellington, lias passed his examination for a certificate of competency as "master of a foreign- I going ship" in the mercantile marine. The examination both in navigation and seamanship was conducted in its entirety by Sir Arthur Dou_las, Bart. The prison-labour gang, under the direction of Mr. R. T. Noble Beasley, is at present engaged in effecting what should materially improve the splendid Cook's Gardens, by the construction of a carriagedrive from the present Maria-place entrance, underneath the entrance. By a nice steady grade the new drive will come out just behind the western end of the present hillside enclosure, where a cutting has alraely been made, down the slope on the other side overlooking the grounds, and emerging from the Nixoii Street entrance, off Guyton Street. When completed it is bound to be taken full advantage of by visitors desiring to see the sights without any wearisome efforts in doing so. From a summary prepared by the Inspector, Mr. Vereker Bindon, showing the result of last year's examinations ot the schools under the Wanganui Education Board, we take the following figures: — Standard VI. : Presented, 472 ; present, 158 ; absent, 14 j failed, 50 ; passed, 408. Standard V. : Presented, 823 : present, 799 ; absent, 24 ; failed, 204 ; passed, 595. Standard IV. : Presented, 1380 ; present, 1301; absent, 79; failed, 260; passed, 1041. Standard III.: Presented, 1509; present, ' 1453 ; absent, 56 ; failed, 255 ; passed, 1198. Standard 11. : Presented, 1353 ; present, 1311 ; absent, 42 ; failed, 77 ; passed, 1234. Standard I. : Presented, 1366 ; present, Jij36 ; absent, 30 ; failed, 41 ; passed, 1295. There were 114 presented for work above Standard Vl., and the total presented for all classes was 10,176 (including 3159 below Standard I.), of whom 6658 were present, 245 absent, 887 failed, and 577 J. passed. The percentage of passes ou the number presented was 83.6, ou the number examined 86.7, and on the roll number 57.4. The- Manawatu Times, speaking of the performance given by JHarmslon's Circus, which opened there on Saturday night, says: — "The circus is, however, beyond doubt, one of the best combinations of its kind that has travelled the colony. All the performers are talented artists, and their different feats are of a startling and unique character. The horses are a firstclass lot of animals, and being in splendid condition showed to advantage in the ring. Another noticeable feature i.s the large proportion of lady artists. The acts in whichthey appear are among the most attractive on the programme, the richness anu variety of their costumes giving an additional charm to their performances. Special mention should ba made of the despatch with which the long programme, consisting of over 25 items, win gone through, tnis being due to tha excellent management of Mr Robert Love, and the interest was thus maintained from start to finish. Then, again, the clowns, led by the irresistibly funny jester "Jo," were successful in securing loud and hearty outbursts of laughter, their gags and jokes being entirely new. There are many other noteworthy features in connection with the combination unnecessary to mention, but as originality is the great aim of the management, even the oldest circus frequenter will find much that will amuse and interest him during the thiee hours' entertainment provided." The circus opens here on Thursday evening.