The Western Star. (PUBLISHED BI-WEEKLY.) SATURDAY, DEC. 25, 1880. A Merry Christmas AND Happy New Year.

Western Star, Issue 404, 25 December 1880, Page 2

The Western Star. (PUBLISHED 81-WEEKLY.) SATURDAY, DEC. 25, 1880.

A Merry Christmas AND Happy New Year.

Oua salutation to our readers this morniug is:

Oar wish : That all may to enjoy themselves tKat in aftekyeara the recollections of e ighteeh hundred and eighty will bo those ,o£ pleasure onlyk •

Yesterday the Christina* holidays may be laid to haw fairly commenced. During the day, more especially the evening, the;, town wore a more cheerful appearance than is usual on the day preceding Christmas. Many of the.business places were'tastefully decorated with evergreens,, flowers, seasonable mottoes, &c Amongst these may be mentioned the stores of Meiers Whittingham Bros and fnstone, Messrs Petehell Bros., B. Acheson, the'County of Wallaoe Hotel, and Mr Borne's confectionary shop. > .The first and last nam<»d deserve special mention for the ornamental dibplay on the premises. The butoherg, too, were not behind in ornamental and substantial decorations. The shops were well filled; with the fat of the land. In the evening the Biverton Brass Band played a selection of music "from the balcony of the Commercial Hotel. Service will be held in the Church of England at 11 s>.m. to-day. Bunday hours will be observed in the telegraph office to-day, and the post office will bo closed, as usual on Christmas day. On Monday the post office will be opou from 9to 10 only. The banks will be closed to-day and Monday. A cricket matcft between the Gladstone (Invercargill) and the local club will take plnce on Monday, on "the reserve adjoining the Caledonian grounds; and the return.mutch between the Orepuki and Biverton clubs will be played at the latter place the • following day. The bazaar in aid of the building fund of the Presbyterian Church will be opened at 1 p.m. on Monday, irr the Oddfellows' Hall. From the number and variety of goods, which will be for sale, a visit of inspection will be found interesting. No raffling or other questionable • means of disposing of goods will be allowed ; the .goods are all marked at reasonable rates, ■ and the promoters hope that by fair and ' legitimate trading the objeot of the bazaar will he attained.

Boiing-Day railway arrangement* provide for a special train from Invercargill to Rivertoo, leaving the former plaoa at 10.10 a.m., and returning at •6.30 p.m. The ordinary time-table on the Otautau branch will bo observed on tlmfc day. Provided the weather continues fine, there will doubtless be a large attendance at the Caledonian games on Monday and- Tuesday. Extra .preparations have been .made to render tiio meeting as attractive as possible.. The prise list 'contains several additional items, and the amounts of the prizes are oufilcieiit to induce numerous entries and good conteets. An outer ring has been substantially fenced off, thus enabling, all to observe the performances without crashling. A substantial grand stand bss also been added to the ground, and it is to So hoped Mr Besaigh's enterprise in «reobirig this structure will, bo, rewarded. Hungry and thirsty humanity will find ample opportunity of relieving its wants in comfortable and strongly-areeted booths. The Committee'have aoted wisely in banishing from the ground all games of chance. Tho class of individuals usually attracted to the games by the hope of making a few pounds out of " young men from the country" are not a desirable addition to tho population, and their visits should not be encouraged. The civil servants oi the railway department have no abiding place* Mr Anderson, the Otautau station master, has been " retrenched." Mr M'Leely, late of Tbornbury, takes his place. Wo have not been *ble to learn who tho latter'a permanent successor is. The whole of the unemployed at worft on the Orepuki railway during the past twtf or' three months were paid up in full yesterda*, and dismissed, in accordance with instructions ' from head-quarters. Oar Oreti Plains correspondent writes : w items of news to send you at this time *•. " hard to scrape together. Everything rathe.. ilong in a sort of humdrum way, moving k ncouragement to settlers except tie to givt t. he fortility of the land, which a weather and t. "'H under the influence of shewing its won. "» wo have had lately. » fino growing showe. '*" a few patches of • orops, mostly oats, wk me of the fields eat, are looking splendid, so. ™ «*rly and mng into ear, promising to be v >* to setmdant harvest. The great bo f be. ' train •s in this part is bad roads to cart their ,<5 nirkefc. The Waimatuku railway sobefc atjvo, Mr Mcoaughan (> vi 8g 8t / the Bu '**«»• into the comty J »> J° , e * VeCt * d fr ° m tl,at q»»rter.-Mr to ies Mackintosh had a i«*f* \t , ,- -m L parfc y °* *"rveyors out g off about 6000 acres of the Oladfield at small-lot*, with t ß e,iew,f p „ tting Trs 1 ?2 T rkeL F ' om ihe fine of gav a«d * should meet with ready hand, to m 1 it up. We shall hail with gladness more out *s around tie.-Timber is being laid down Boe ertefcon of 8 new sehoolhouse. Tie com actors expect to start building in a f ew T The echool will be a gre at benefit to fori wtncr, «,d attrition for more tenement L a m. | . .

it a meeting of the C Troop of .Southland Husaars on Wvdnesd&Tj Mr F. Woodward was unanimously elected Lieutenant. The entertainment in aid of Mr Niehol Millar, given at the Oddfellows' Hall on Wednesday evening, was not Tory largely attended ; but wo understand there were a considerable number of tickets sold outside that were i>ot represented. When the returns are in, we trust the results will be" better thanwas apparent by the number present that night. The programme, which consisted of vocal and instrumental music and ft reading, was gone through very spiritedly, the following wellknown InJy and gentleman amateurs taking part: Meedames Huntefe atrti Crockett, Messrs J. B. Hunter, Myers, Wceden.'Thurgood, A. Daniel, Haybittle, Decris, and Horr. The concluding piece, the amusing song and' chorus " The Mulligan Guards," by half-a-dozen gentlemen got up a ia Jaek Falstaff's ragged regiment, led by " Captain" Bateman, was the hit of the evening, causing much merriment, and was a capital wiud-up to the ; performance. "A patient in the local hospital) named James Weir, aged 87, died there on Monday last.

Attention is drawn to an alWation in the date of the N.Z. Loan and Mercantile Agency Co.'* first'tale of wool. Tuesday, 4th January, at noon, is the amended day and hour. The National Mortgage and Agency Co.'s sale it altered to same date.

A meeting of tliii Committee of the R.CiC.. was held on Thursday evening at the Marine Hotel, when aletter was redd from the Secretary of the Gladstone Club, challenging the Riverton Club to play a mutch here on Mon * day. After some consideration, it was agreed that the challenge be accepted, and the following members were chosen to represent Eiverton : —Mills, Woodward, Pattison, Weeden, Booth, Reyling,'"" Fish, Howell, G. Daniel, H. Daniel, ; ond Kelman; emergeiicy—M'lntosh and Hopcroft. The ground sub-committee reported that they had decided to Use the municipal reserve adjoining the hospital as a ground for ;i practioe and playing matches; and as Mr Ins.tone had kindly given the use of his iron-roller, it was resolved to get ittuseocked at onco, so as to be -ready to play the match oh Monday. An intimation having been received from Orepuki Club that they wished to play the return match in Kiverton on Tuesday, it was agreed tlmt they be entertained; at a dinner in" the evening. Several tenders were received for-providing the dinner, and t'lat of .Mr M. Shiels, of the Wallaoe County Hotel, accepted. The team to play against Orepiiki is to bo picked on Monday evenmg.

Memphis bad a celebration the other day to conmemorate its freedom from yellow fever this summer. The streets were decorated and two triumphal arches were raised, one of which was formed of cotton bales. A procession three miles long, composed of civic societies and: trade?, marched through the chief streets, large crowds assembling to witness' the ceremony. The Governors of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas attended, < The Empress of Austria bast just received a singular ma"k of honour from, the Czar. He has conferred pn his august cousin the title of honorary colonel of a regiment of Uhlan*.. .•. A man commonly known as " Billy " Cooper, of the town of Van Etteh, was walking on the rail road track at a point not-far distant ftom his home. In crossing the railroad bridge he made a misstep, and, slipping, fell between the ties in such a mariner that he was fasteued too firmly to extricate himself. Only his head remained above the ties; but his position was so cramped that he was unahle to get that out of the way of danger. There suspended in that awful manner, with the body daugling below tLe bridge, he heard a't'rain thtinderin'g along in the distance; approaching every moment nearer and nearer. No one will ever know the struggles for life which the poor fellow made, but they were futile, and with arms pinioned to his side he was unable to signal to the engineer. The train came sweeping on upon its helpless victim until within a few feet of the spot, when the engineer saw the man's head, and endevoured to stop his heavy train. But too late, the moving mass passed ©v«r, cuttiug the head from the shoulders as clean as it could have been done by the guillotine itself. Holloway's Pills.—Excellent Pills. -—The resources of medicine and chemistry were long and fruitlessly tried before they yielded a remedy which could overcome disorders of the stomach and nerves till Professor Holloway discovered his purifying and tonic Pills. They are the safest and Burest correctives of indigestion, heartburn, flatulency, torpidity of the liver, twitchings, nervous 'fancies, despondency, luw spirits, and declining strength. Holloway's Pilis supersede all irregular action in thefejdy, and so strengthen and support theeystem that disease departs, and leaves the patient not at all shaken. This is the grand aim and objeet of medical art,to regulate disordered functions without damaging the constitution by the remedy ; and admirably is this end. attained by Holloway's Pills,