LOCAL AND GENERAL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XII, Issue 2423, 3 August 1891, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

It is said that, the unemployed difficulty in Victoria ht's been settled sununarily by the Premier and the Charity Organisation Society. The manager of a theatrical company was sued at the Hobart Police Court, for marching a "convict gang" through the streets in connection with the performance of '■ His Natural Life." All the officers of the iNaval Defence Force in Queensland have, it is reported, received three months' notice of dismissal, in consequence of a policy of retrenchment which is to be adopted. In a private letter received by a Dunedin resident it is stated that Arthur Clampett is about to marry a Christchurch lady, with whom he became acquainted during his evangelistic career. A man named James Wake was found dead recently in an Unley (South Australia) tram car from heart disease, IJe had gone two trips with the car before it was disccvered that he was dead, the driver imagining that he drunk. Ellen Weston, who was run over by a cab when returning from the electric light carnival at Christchurch on Thursday night, died on Saturday afternoon in the hospital, not having recovered consciousness. At the inquest a verdict of '' accidental death " was returned. The " Fielding Star "says :•—The careless application of the branding iron is often the cause of a cancer in cattle by so much pressure being applied that the skin is burned through. When this happens there is afterwards a collection of matter which invariably ends in cancer. The " Post" states :—Ministers, have sent round to all the banks to ascertain the number of cheques of various amounts, say £5, £10, £20, £50, etc., that have passed through theii hands during the past year. This evidently points to the intention of the Uovernment to propose a progressive stamp tax on cheques, A young woman was the other day found almost dead of starvation in a condemned house in Fitzroy, a suburb of Melbourne. ■She was lying on the fjoor in a fearful state of emaciation, was in a very low condition, and crawling with vermin.. She stated that she had been starving for some days, and had entered the house to die. She was too weak to give any particulars. The woman was removed to the hospital. At a meeting :>f the Methven Coursing Club, held on Wednesday last, the Treasurer stated that there was a satisfactory balance in hand, and it was resolved to hold another meeting on August 19. An All-Aged Sweepstakes of 20s with £2 added, and a Puppy Sweeptakes of 10s with £1 added. Both events to be open, and entrances to be made by 8.30 on August 18, so that all prclimi- ' naries may be arranged in good time. Several stories arc being circulated about the unemployed at Huuterville. One is that a member of the Salvation Army, who has taken up his wife with him, applied to a storekeeper for some things not down in Hie Government list, and as he had no money, hu oll'ered his cornet in pawn. It was, however, sadly against his grain to part with it, as, he said, he could do so much good with , it among the unemployed, According to the " Wellington Post " a quantity of exceedingly well-devised base coinage — principally sixpenny pieces —is being put into circulation. An imitation sixpence of the Jubilee year issue is in the hands of the police, which was passed a night or t%vo ago. The dies, both on the gbyerse and reverse sides, bear a remarkably coftect reseuiblance' to" the original, and if laid quietly on a counter without, being !'.' rung" might be easily accepted. Although | the counterfeits appear to 'be genuine coins, ,'jthey at;e'composed' of nothing but miilb'6akl ; jr«j;/ningly sijvercd over. : ' ' "' I 1 Jj(in^aii Jtlyslop, anU Co s .'.' Imperial.'.' Pure Ceylon and fftdja^ "peay $y§ ' the best tfoe market. —(Aflyb.) I True economy. To purchase Oouutess ' I Tea for two shillings. Free from ajiy ex. pepg of astriiigeucy

There are 22,500 men in the Shearers' Union. A woman named Lily Wright, alias Thompson, died suddenly at her residence in George street, Christchurch, this morning. Mr M. Salek's premises, Timaru, narrowly escaped destruction by fire on Sunday morning. Mrs Salek was awakened by the smoke with which the house waa so full, that-Mr and Mrs Salek and daughters could not go down stairs but had to escape by a ladder. In getting^down the ladder Mrs Salek fell and was 'severely shaken. The fire, which ! had got a good hold of the kitchen fireplace, I was extinguished by a few buckets of water, the damage noc exceeding £5. In an article on the Australian Commonwealth, published in "Greater Britain" of May 15, Mr Strangways, ex-Premier of South Australia, says :—" The federation of the Australian colonies will come as surely as the rising follows the setting sun, but the formation of a partnership in which the partijp.rs have different interests, are to have different amounts of power, and in which one or two partners can coerce all the others, is not always a stable concern. Federation will come, but the Australians should bo guided by the actiou of a steamboxt captain i in difficult, navigation, and 'go ahead ea*y,' J postponing for an indefinite period the day I when it will be found that the letters federation sj-elt separation/ The following is going the rounds of horticultural journals, and is here given in what it is worth :—ln Berlin, a new experiment, that of serving a dinner party with salad grown under the guests' own eyes, was successfully tried ut the house of Priueo and Princess Bluchei- the other day. Here is ■ the recipe :—" Take good germinating lettuce seed and soak it in alcohol for about six hour* ; sow it in an equixl mixture of rich soil and unslaked lime and place it on the table. After the soup, water it with lukewarm water, whereupou it commences to sprout immediately." At the Prince's party the thing worked like a charm, and the lettuces, when plucked and prepared for eating, were the size of Barcelona nuts ! In the annual report on the condition of the natives in the Auckland district, the fact is deplored that there is no improvements in their social habits. Some had adopted a better class of house and a better class of house and a better method of living, but they are exceptions to the rule. Example seemed to have little effect. Laziness and want of thrift were the curse of the Maoris. They cultivated barely sufficient land to provide food for themselves, and any extra effort was made only iti preparation for a big political gathering when there was likely to be a large attendance of people, and a proportionate consumption of food. They lacked the maiu incentive to downright industry, that is poverty, for they could always make a fair amount of money by gumdigging at irregular periods. Kauri gum, remarked Mr Bishop, seems to afford an inexhaustible mine of wealth. The wuole of the native population of the North, and some Europeans also, depended upon it for subsistence. The mortality amongst ■ the Maoris has bi«i below the average of late years. The " Pall Mall Budget " of June 11, in its article on "Kith and Kin," has the! following:—" Here is astraw that shows that the Labour Encyclical really does blow one way. Most of us have heard of the Yankee editor who received peremptory instructions to reverse the politics of the pape>- at twenty-four hours' notice. 'It's a sharp cuivc,' mused the editorial engineer, adding with philosophic desperation, 'but I'll take it.' By reason of a hint from the Vatican, or possibly from a perusal of au oarly copy of '< the Pope's Encyclical, Dr Redwood, Arcli. bishop of Wellington and Primate of NewZealand, has negotiated a similar sharp curve. His Grace is the proprietor of the i "Catholic Times," a journal that ir.ade j itst f conspicuous during the late Anti podean strike by its vigorous chamj bnship of the cause of the shipowners as Against the men. But the Archibishop has discovered that, in pursuing such a policy, he was hardly on the right tack. He has issued a pastoral letter to be read in all the churches under his jurisdiction, brimful of the soundest labour sentiments."