PROGRESS OF WANGANUI.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10192, 16 November 1900, Page 2

PROGRESS OF WANGANUI.

Tup figures in last month's Gazette, showing the Customs and Exciee duties collected at tho several ports of Now Zealand for tho quarter ended 30th September, arc interesting, ns showing the progress of Wanganui. Auckland heads the list with £142,808, then follow in order Wellington ,£128,076, Dunedin .£120,974, Lyttelton. and t'hristchurch ,£89,243, Invercargill ±19,093, Napier .£16,565, Wanganui i' 14,028, and Nelson .£12,234. With tho exception of Narier and Nelson all the above ports show increases on the corresponding quarter for 1899, Wanganui, however, having pride of place in this | Mspeet, with an increase equal to 25 p&r cent, tho figures for 1899 being j £11,592. Wiuiganui's position is in marked contrast to Napier, the latter showing a decrease of .£3217, as against War.gauui'3 increase of £2436. According to the ,=ame Gazette, Wanganui showed up well in tho matter of postal nnd telegraph business, the revenue for tho quarter ending September, 1900, totalling .£8709 0s 7id, the four largo ce-ntres alone exceeding this sum, the figures -being— Wellington £19,019, Auckland £15,766, Dnnedin £12,007, Christohurch ,£11,337, Invercargill .£6143, and Napier £5080. From th 6 above it will be seen that Wangamui waa not far behind such a large centre as Christchurch, white the revenue obtained here exceeded that of Invercargill and Napier (tho nest in order) by a considerable sum We may mention that thenj are 17 postal, districts in New Zealand.

Telegraphic, commercial and sporting news will be found on our first page. The Hon. J. G. Ward is gazetted Minister of Public Health,

It is officially announced that tho rato of capitation to be paid iftdttlt Volunteers for the . year,, elttlbig Feßruary 28th neXt shall, EWMounted corpfi, £$ 10s per mfln; all other fcor]ps, JS2 loi\ Tho ip'liowinjj ekamiti&tlcA $$& nave been irrinied WN. tw 1 education Board'n TiApeeWrS lor ,the local schools — 'Wrtugamn Boys', , Monday and Xafnt^ day, December 3rd and 4th; ."Wnnganiii Girls', Thurgda.y f .iand Friday. , 6th and 7th; Infant ,)schtiolj Monday, 10th; St. -John's .School, Tuesday, lljth. • Tho New Zealand Shipping, SliawSavill, and Tyser Companies have dcc'ded on a fixed rate for carrying wool during the coming season, Th» i'sto fixed upon Id pet- Ib fok 1 greasy and Id fur Bcollred,i Jjy either steam or sail, ihis ia \i, higher- than last year. Thero will be a charge of 5 per cent primage for steamer consignments. William Townlcy wns fined .£3O and costs by Mr Stratford, S.M., at Dunedin yesterday for sly-grog selling at Port Molyneux, ill the Clutha district. Mr Paterson, for defendant, asked for time to pay the line. Ilis client was a hard-working man not in a position to pay. One month was given to pay half the fine, when, if necessary, an application could he made for an extension. On Tuesday night a man, under tho influence of drink, on returning home, went to lllc house, of a neighbour fey in stake (both houses beinef Very similar)., and ns no oile came in response to his knocking he broke in the ba^k door, and strnck his neighbour in the eye as he was rushing out of his bed100m to see what waa the matter. The ensa waa investigated before the Magistrate, who dismissed ail information laid by the injured neighbour against his friend. A peculiar incident occurred a. few nights ago oil tile West Cdast. While two mm—P rentice and Mulligan — wore golijg Home ilftor t:h'e higllt shift at tho Globe. Battery, a treo was blown over ana tell 6h them, pinning tli^m to the ground, whero thpy remained till their mates cut away the »ree and extricated them. .Both were severely bruised. Tho tree lell in such a position that its full weight was not .oh lite unfortunate men, otherwise they must have, been killed instantly. • Geoigo Arundel, an inmate of the Duuedin Benevolent Institution, left tho homo yesterday morning to visit tho gravo of his wife in tho Northern Cometeiy. Ho there attempted suicide. At a lato hour in the afternoon lie was found in a very weak slate with a quantity of blood about him. He was removed to the Hospital, but died beforo arriving; there. It was found that ho had Jnadp Ihren tills into tile super- I ficial Veins in Ilis left leg, And laid also attempted to cut his throat. He was 82 years of Age': The. London Times,' correspondent with General Rundle Icllb Ihe following story of red tape:— Owing to thenecea-" sity pf cutting dofyn baggage to the lowest possible point, so that sufficient food and forage might be carried. General Rundle's eighth division left their tents behind. The division was presently jo' ned by tho Kast Yorkshire Regiment, who also left their tents behind. As a consequence, payment of "field allowance" to officers and men of that regiment has not been sanctioned by tho Pay Office on the ground that the paymaslor is credibly informed that the regiment is not "under canvas." People in Dover (says an English paper) are asking why tho two new French mnil packets— the Nord and the Pas de Calais — have been fitted with powerful electric searchlights corresponding w.th thoao used in tho French navy. Tho searchlights, which arc on tho bridges, have been erected by tho French Government, and it iB said that each is in charge of a naval officer, although the boats are ownej by a company. Tho steamers were leccntly transferred from the day to the night service, and the searchlights are sometimes trained on the land fortifications of Dover. The Cheviot News reports an oge;eating contest which took place there last week. The contest was the result of a little chaff, in which one of the gentlemen said that he could cat more fried eggs at one sitting than either of hia friends. Tho challenge was at once accepted, and the contestants settled down to work. A ccinmittec of three was appointed to superintend the fr"iiicc operations, and one individual was told off to fetch and carry the eggs from tho store. At a given signal the gourmands started bus ness, and in fifteen minutes No. 1 had demolished no fewer than eighteen eggs, No. 2, going hard, following with ten. No. 3, \Vho lieltl the Amberloy record as a putteraway of eggs, retired from the contest with five to his name. Tho following from the Otac;o Times should interest Wangauui Collegians : — In addition to tho four young New-Zea land officers on H.M.s. Hannibal, of tho Channel Squadron, one of the midshipman is a Dunedin boy— James Ritchie, son of Mr J. M. Ritchie. Young Ritchie only left Wanganui Collets '•'vmo eighteen months ago. He passed his examination for entrance int) tho naval servico with three first classes, and was at once appointed a midshipman. There are thus on this one ship of Her Majesty's fleet officers representing Otago, Canterbury, Wellington, Hawko's Bay, and Auckland. It is a singular coincidence that so many young Now Zealanders should be on ono^wnrship, as presumably it would bo too much to expect that tho colony is so well repicspnted on other vessels. The Alexandra Herald reports some narrow escapes from drowning as a result of tho recent heavy rains. Mr Bardsley and Miss Jamieson attempted to croha the ford on tho Fraser River, which waa running very high, when both buggy and horso were swept bodily down the stream and turned over and over. Miss Jamieaon had a narrow escape, being carried down the stream about 150 yards, when.ahe was rescued, comparatively unhurt. Mr Bardsley managed to swim, ashore. The horse \raa drowned, and the buggy smashed up. Dr Gregg, who was sent for to attend Miss Jamieson, essayed to cross at the place, but his horse was carried away by tho current. The doctor and his horse, however, managed to reach the shore safely.

Whimsical bets on the outcome of the Presidential election caused considerable) amusement in the Western States. It McKinley is elected (said an American journal some weeks ago), Henry WinstPd, of TCinkley Junction, Indiana, is to engage in a butting match with a full-grown ram ; while should Mr Bryan he the victor, John. Hums, of the same town, will drink three pints of hard cider while standing on his head in a Lnrrel. Arthur Williams, of Burr Oak, Michigan, hns agreed to support the mother-in-law of his neighbour, George Stebbens, if the Democrats win; whflo it they lose Mr Stebbens will twist the tail of a vicious mule 'owned by Mr Williams onoce .1 day for threo weeks. The strangest bet of all lias been made by George Wren, of Deepwells, Wisconsin, and Samuel Carr during the next four yearse, and if the former, who is ail ardent Bryanite, loses, he is to wear ail his clothes backward during the nest four years, and if he wins, the other man is to walk backward during Mr Bryan'B inoumbency of office, and is to eat crow pie every day for breakfast. The late Mr James Chaso, who died iv the Napier Hospital last week, at the ago of 84, came into prominence some 25 years ago, on the death of a distinguished namesake, Chief Secretary Chase, of the United States. The old whaler was an American, and believed himself to ba related to the statesman. Liko many of the men of his class ho had formed a matrimonial, alliance with c, Maori womaji in the early days, and he was at this time the father of a grown-up half-caste family. Hi was at tho tima in reduced circumstances, when an advertisement was brought to his notice inquiring for the late Secretary's nearest-of-kin, to whom a large iertune had fallen. The old man was surprised at the number of friends, old and new. that immediately made their appearance, ready to lend him small sums of money, or confer any little favour in their power. A prominent merchant volunteered to "finance" him, rigged him out superbly in broadcloth, and set afoot the necessary inquiries. But, on the failure of the City of Glasgow Bank, tho merchant disappeared from the scone, nothing inoie was heard of the legacy, the new-found friends vanished as quickly as they had appeared, and the old gentleman dropped again out of public notice. — Post.