LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11443, 28 December 1904, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A cable from Bombay states tfiat Inaya.- V tulla, the Ameer's eldest son, has artivdd at Calcutta. «' " v .',"..' v ", The takings at the Carnival H«ga,tta yesterday were ,£SB 16s 3d* mado. up a& follows:—Gates 18s, flagship 17s, sale of programmes .£ll, 10s, subscription's ' 11s 3d. ' ' '". . ' ''. - Mr Stringer, who. ran the Bonito ;into , third position yesterday, received -quite an ovation when receiving his chequs last night at the .yachtsmen's meeting. ' -Mr Stringer is regarded aB the father of yachting in Wanganui, and his auocess-was very popular. ' '■ ' ' , The feature of yesterday's, regatta .was the number of 'wins' scored by the representatives of the Union B.C. Wearers of the light blue competed in eight events, of which they won sis and secured a second and a third ..position in the other. racos. Altogether the .club won <£o9 .in prizo money — a performance which' iimst be very gratifying to their" supporters! Much amusement has bes.n caused in town by the Kazoo hand" of the Wellington Navals, which, uuder the leadership of Petty officer Houchen paraded the streets in the evening, and very, kindly collected a goodly sum for the local Hospital. Their selections, though jnot »f?ora tho best masters, wer,e certaiiily performed with much spirit, and the holiday public , recognising their efforts in .a good cause, - gave liberally. ,

. . A first . offending drunk was convicted and .discharged at the Police Court this morning. Tehitana Turoa, one of Wanganui's famous chiefs, brother of Major Topia Tu- ' roa, died this morning a£ Baetihi. The following were the various amounts ' won by -the various crews at yesterday's regatta,:— Unions, «£59; Stars, .£l6; Waitemata, £10; Wanganui, .£5; Aramoho, £5; and Nelson, £2. The house destroyed by fire on Sunday • night at Tayforth was "a 12-roomed one, , valued at ,£750, and was insured for .£6OO - in- the South JBritish. The furniture, which waa uninsured, was valued at .£2OO and included a valuable piano. Tho London correspondent of the Pas- • toralists* Eeview, writing under date 4th > November, says he again saw some' Wanganui beef, which -was a perfect -picture. There was no bettor quality, hard beef iv. Smithfield. It was fetching top price, ' " but "that price was only Is lid for hinds . and Is 7d fores. - Mr Frederick W. Frankland, eldest son of Mr F. W. Frankland, formerly Government Insurance Commissioner in New Z«aland, and later associate acut.ary of the , New York-Life Insurance' Company, was .married in- Sydney on the 10th inst. to Miss May Je^nette Scott, youngest dang-h-tor of the lute Mr .James Scott, of Wanganui. It is strango indeed- that a small place like Waitara the gate money at a regatta 'should amount to almost double that re- _, ceived at Wanganui. The receipts hereyesterday only totalled, some .£4l- odd, | while at ,the last Waitara regatta no l-sss than jEBI was paid' at the "gates." At the" • latter placo the' river is scresried off, and . only those who- pay can secure a good view of ,. the . sports. vSome'such scheme should be adopted here, or, a more. systematic effqrV made to collect;' money with the subscription boxes. - The visiting and local yachtsmen have .- been loud in their praiso of Captain Allsop of the s.s. Storm, whosa ship was a great convenience and pleasure to onlookers at yesterday's events. The Captain . not only gave up his ship to the public, ■ but also stopped unloading operations —

the cargo was coal — and when the races were over, slung .the visiting yachts on to the trucks. It should also be .mentioned ''that Captain Crotty, of the Stornibird, lowered the boats from the trucks into the river.

On September 30 last there were 393 merchant ships under construction in the " Kingdom, with a gross tonnage of 1,046,308. On- September 30, 1903, the number of vessels under construction was the same, but tha tonnage was 139,700 less. .Thus there has beeu some recovery in the ship-building trade of the United Kingdom. ■In Germany the tonnage building was 163.990, an increase of 51,610 tons"; in .the United States 91,478, a decrease of 178,130 tons ; and in France 83,532, a decrease on the twelve months' of 35,492 tons. " . God helps those who help themselves," remarked a well-known citizen to-day,

when discanting on the enterprise and progress of the Sedgebrook and Eastowja suburbanites. The utterance was called f oith "in consequence of the information being imparted to him that the ' ratepayers of the Aiataongaonga riding' had sufficient faith in the energetic and far-seeing local body which administers the affairs of the district to isles ui> :MIBOO: MlBOO of tho debentmea of the 'ii2BQo' loan at o'per cent., -raised for improving and protecting-Shake-speare's Cliff road. The Public Trustee took up .£IOOO of the debentures, and - double the amount, if necessary, r would

have been subscribed by the Matadhg'aonga ; .eettl^rs. Tke experieinjfe-.-of the- 1 -suburban road board is a --valuable, object -lesson to Other local bodies throughout the colony.

.-The splendid of the various "yacKts in yesterday's Tace was the theme of comment with all who saw it, and was certain an education * to Ideal yachtsmen. The seamanship displayed by the crews of the H two v first boats was of an, especially high class. Dauntless (Wellington) the winner had a very clever crew, who know their boat liko a book and nover mado a . mistake.' Better still, perhaps, was way in which the second boat, Wayward, was sailed by her builder^ •Mr C. Bailey, of Auckland, who but for an unfortunate chapter of accidents would probably have crossed the line first. His craft had the

misfortune not only to- 'lie run into by

another boat, but on the first round, the lower pin of her inuder wjiß catiied avfay through striking a" snag, and her skipper had to sail her over three parts of the

course with his arm up to the elbow in the water in order to steady the rudder. Mr Bailey avers that he never ,had to put jn such hard work in a race in his life, and most people can well believe it. The fact of hiß having made sxich a fine showing in a semi crippled condition, says. more than anything else for the' boat's abilities, and for his own skill as a -sailing master. - * •< * One of the venerable gentlemen, who attended, the Old Diggers' meeting yesterday r eehds our reporter the following chatty letter. Many of the terms' and expressions used bj the- writer may be-un-intelligible to all but\ the initiated in goldfields lore, but as there are many of the latter about, as wits much in evidence at the meeting yesterday, we give the letter verbatim et literatim : —-"Dear Mr Reporter, — You didn't think it good enough to put in miich time with us old ,co vies yesterday and bo missed getting 'laid on to some- good patches of payable ground. I Jroow r von wanted to bo off to that new rush down on the Wanganui River, but you found most of the claimß pegged off, and if yon did jump one of them yon perhaps- found the - sinking too hard or too much water lo make it pay — but I will lay you on to a good thing, a real good payable lead, nothing , patchy^ about it, and- lis easy to get on to, not like the toads Mr Peake was telling us about yesterday, where <£14sO a ton wouldn't pay. Well, jump on your bike and go right up the Avenue, take the Mosstown road and keep every turn to the right till you run up to' a sandhill, then turn into Brickmaker's Flat and ask > for tho camp of Jack Titter— donft laugh'^ please— and when you find Jack work him for all he is r worth. I ' caution you Jaok can akite

a bit, but when you get the headings off, my word, you'll find some good stuff undetneath. . It'll go an ounce to ' the tub, for he can .give you stories ad lib. of the comic side of mining life, and some blood curdler3,.tpo;-for-he.cah'tell.you of Levy, Sullivan,- Kelly, and, a host, of other desperadoes. — Yours, .etc., — One of « the Old

Fogies. P.S. — When you think you have worked this claim out there will lie some good fossicking' left for those who come after you." • .

Undoubted evidence has been obtained of the existence of swine fever close to Adelaide. The authorities are taking prompt steps to stamp it out.

A horticultural curiosity has been grown in Ashburton in the shape of three roses on one stem, two being bright pink, and the other nearly white.

The Commission appointed to take evidence in the Melbourne fish importing scandal aro still sitting at the Bluff. The evidence is voluminous, and to cope with it additional typewriters have had to be engaged.

The Western Star is informed that at present; several miners aro «nvploy&d at tho .West Beach combing, and those lucky enough to secure water are making^rom .£ls to\£2o per day, the wash thrown up by the'-sea being- very rich.

Probably the business portions of Wellington have never been bo cleaii as, on Saturday. This is due in a largo measure to the wood-blocking of the streets, which, if properly attended to, will go far to minimise the dust nuisance.

Tfie port of Nice was dug out of the solid rock in 1751, enlarged in 1773, and restored in 1830: " Prior to 1860 very little business was done; since then the place has vastly increased in trade, and it is predicted will soon be one of the finest ports in the Mediterranean.

News was received by # the San Francisco mail that on the night of the lQth' ult. tho magnificent Missouri State Building at the St. Louis Exposition was destroyed by fire. ' The-building was a one-story block, measuring 312 ft by IGOft, and cost 150.C00 dollars to erect. The new graving dock which is to be constructed at Port Chalmers at a cost of .£75,000, is expected to be completed in about two years. Tho dock, which is to be 50Oft in. length with 70ft width at on : trance, will accommodate any vessels that are likely to visit the harbour. It will be built in cement concrete.

The Victorian Department of Ports and Harbours have received information that the supposed wreckage (resembling the kcol of a capsized vessel), which had been Keen on the sth inst. off Cape Schank, had been seen by the master of tho Konoowarra, and ascertained by him to be the carcase of a dead whale. The carcase was about 50ft long by 20ft broad. At present it is floating in the Straits, about , 40 miles from Wilson's Promontory. All doubt of itß being a carcase, . says the master of the Konoowarra, are set at rest by the smell which fills its neighbourhood.

A man named Albert William Bonfield, 23 years of ago, was foiind guilty, at Adelaide on the Bth inst. of haying murdered a girl named "Carolino Hinds, aged 17 years and 9 montlus, at Kensington on October 28, but tho jury strongly recommended the accused to mercy on account of his youth. The couple had been keeping company for about 12 months, and it appeared that the crime was the outcome of jealousy owing to the girl dancing with other men. The accused, owing to an infirmity, was unable to dance. The death sentence. was pronounced, but the jury's recommendation was forwarded to the proper authorities. •

Regarding the shipment of Roscommon ..sheep despatched to New Zealand on the 4th instant by the Ruapehu, a long period 'of elaborate preparation preceded their departure. ■ Tlie* sla&ep were selected, from a number oB ihe h&sb docks in Ireland as far back as September, and were assembled at Tomona, County Roscommon. Instead of tho grass to which they had been accustomed, they were taught to cat all kinds, of rJfoots,. vegetable^,' bran-cake of all kinds, cut hay, etc., "and even fruit. The animals were exercised daily, and gradually accustomed to do without grass underfoot, while their feet were washed with hardening lotions to prepare them for the long voyage. This is the first batch of Roscommon that has yet been sent out to New Zealand, so that the shipment is in its way an interesting and useful experiment.