LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XIII, Issue 2552, 28 December 1891, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The fruitgrowers of Southern Tasmania have arranged to ship early this year 200,000 caass of fruit to England by the Orient Company and other steamers. The Mail and Guardian companionship acknowledge Christmas greetings from their fellow-craftsmen of the " Qtago Daily Times." The card is a very beautifully designed and printed one. A girl named Rose Griffin, 18 years old, belonging to the Salvation Army, fell while going up the railway bridge steps at Lyttelton on Friday evening and fractured her skull. She lies m a very precarious state. The latest diversion for lazy minds is announced from Paris, as a game called '' Oyster Loo." The bivalves are placed one m front of each player round the table, and an equal stak« is placed beside each oyster. The oyster which " yawns " first secures the sweepstake for the lucky individual who is seated opposite to it, A Dunedin telegram a few weeks ago announced the death of Mr J. D. Fcraud,late of Dunedin and Clyde, one of the pioneers of mining m Otago. It is now stated that there was no trti*h m the report which found currency that he was dead. He was m Adelaide on the 12th inst., recovering from a severe illness. "There was a great deal of truth m a remark made by a prisoner at Court m Napier that prison was a terribly slow place to spend a holiday m." This comment is made by the " New Zealand Herald, " writing , obviously, "asone having authority." Yet we cannot remember hearing of our friend having acted as an amateur convict. It is wonderful how some people come by knowledge. The Greytown Borough Council, for economical leasons, omitted to print their annual balance-sheet this year. They re-ceivt-d a reminder from the AuditorGeneral that an omission cf this sort — unsanctioned by the Governor—entails a penalty of £5, and the Council have wisely decided to print their financial statement as usual. At Lyttelton on Thursday a lad named Abbott, 11 years, son of the niglitwatchman on the wharf, was playing m front of a house where furniture was being removed, when four dynamite caps fell out from among the goods. The boy picked one up and commenced tapping it on the fence, when it exploded, shattering his left hand badly. He was attended to by Drs Peryman and Guthrie, who found it necessary to amputate four fingers. On Christmas Day a little three-year-old son oi Mr George Cole, of Wakanui, had one of his legs brokenin a very simple manner. He was leading a sheep dog with a string, when the dog gave a bound which threw the boy to the ground, and on picking him up his father found that his leg was broken between the knee and ancle. Mr Cok- coiiveyed the bey to Ashburton and Dr Tweed set the leg during the afternoon, and the patient is progressing favorably. Referring to the settlement of the land the other night, the Premier said :—Since they took office last January, 36 Special Settlement Associations had been formed, with 1200 members, and the area applied for was no less than 250,000 acres, of which 97,000 acres had been token up m the Wellington district. None of the sections were more than 200 acres m extent, but if the policy of their predecessors had been followed," the whole of the area would have been taken up m sections of 2000 acres and more. It is net often that a representative of the press has to maintain his right to report a meeting with an exhibition of the noble art of self-defence, but such wa« the experience of a Manawatu journalist. The chairman of the school committee read a report that on December 3 the thermometer registered 140deg m the sun and lOOdeg m the shade, and then intimated that this was not for publication. The journalist intimated that he would use his own discretion, whereupon a member of the committee tried to eject him. "But the journalist was young and active, and he not only maintained his ground, but obtained an apology for the insult offered to the majesty of the press. A witness named Fox, summoned to give evidence m the sealskin case at Invercargill did not turn up when called, and a warrant was issued for his apprehension. After his arrest the Court resumed, and was about to take his evidence, but he refused to say a single word concerniug the case, on the ground that he'had been "jammed into a police cell for nothing." All the persuasive powers of counsel could not move him, and ! after a lot of talk the Court adjourned for a couple of hours to allow him to cool down, granting him also his liberty. On resuming, Fox was as obdurate as before, and there was no option but to adjourn the hearing till the following morning, as the the only other witness for whose arrest a warrant had also been issued, had not been found. Fox was committed to prison till the next day. We have received from the publishers a copy of the Christmas number of the "Otago Witness." It is an immense publication, which has as its special feature a collection of original tales and sketches by New Zealand authois—all good, and showing that the literary talent of the colony needs only to be encouraged m order to take a prominent place m the journalism of the times. Few of our readers are strangers to the "Witness." We will not make comparisons, but writing of the paper as it appears before us, we must say that it is a credit to New Zealand. In its tales and sketches, its serial fiction, its agricultural, sporting, and mining news, its own Civis (though he recently appears to have been bitten by a political mad dog), and above all m its country uews it is not excelled by any weekly m New Zealand, and is approached by but f *»w. The Melbourne correspondent of the " Star " gives the following particulars of the recent disastrous storiv m South Australia : —A destructive cyclone occurred on Friday afternoon m the inuidrpds of TicYera and Kadina. It was about three miles m width, and the devastation wrought along its track was remarkable. The approximate area of the crops destroyed along twenty miles of the course of the storm is estimated at 10,000 acres, and the loss will not be less 1 than £15,000. When the cyclone struck Tickera, on the coasr,, it churned up the wheat Irom the soil, and mallee trees were torn up by the roots. Mr John Farrell, a farmer, living about four miles from Tickera I township, suffered most severely. His house, 'which is of stone, rocked before the wind, and his position was so ajarming that he took his terrified wife out of the house through a dangerous drift of blinding hailstones, some of which wore as large as hen's eggs, and he had t<? shle'd her m ths open plain. Mrs Farrety is under medjeal treatment. The house was battered m, and the trees surroundiwg if were blown down. JS'inun. Hyslop an/1 OoAs " Imperial' pure Oeylor aiid Indian Teas are jf.h.e bes m the market. -JAdvt,) Ask for Niiiian Hyhlop, and Co,'s Imperial new seasons Pure Ceylon and ipdjait Teas. Special pricesi—(A4vfc,)

Mrs Pender, wife of the Inspector of Police, died at Christchurch this- morning of consumption.- The many friends of Mr Pender m this district will sincerely sympathise with him m his sad bereavement. Members of the organising Committee of the proposed Horticultural Society are reminded that the adjourned meeting to receive the subscribers' lists is appointed for to-morrow (Tuesday evening) at 8 o'clock, nt the Arcade Chambers, when it is hoped thkt all will make a point of being present. ! The remains of the late James Allen, an old Ashburton resident, who died on Christinas morning at the age of sixty-five, were carried to the cemetery on Sunday. Fifty Druids attended the funeral, and at the grave the burial service of the Order was read by P. A. Bro Robert Clark. In the course of his speech at Auckland Mr Ballance, referring to the WhitakerHutchison libel case said he could not, of j course, hare expressed auy opinion upon this , subject while Sir Frederick Whitaker was alive; but he had inquired of the officers of the Treasury, those who were m the position of thoroughly knowing all about this subject; he had gone into the matter himself, and he stated deliberately, after due reflection, m the presence of an Auckland audience, to whom the late Sir Frederick Whitaker was well known—he stated unreservedly that thore was absolutely no foundation whatever for the charges made against him—not even a shadow of foundation for the charges made against him. The Akertnan combination had a very satisfactory house on Saturday evening, and the programme submitted was of a mostentertaining character. Mr Akerman was m his best form, and elicited rOars of laughter by his funnimeuts. His songs and negro sketches were especially amusing, and the. littleniggerTom|Th«mb, who was interlocutor m the chair business, played "up to his chief admirably. Miss Willis is a very sweet vocalist, and a great addition to the comfiany. Miss Pearl Akerman, the celebrated ady contortionist, also takes part m the vocal work, and this department of the entertainment was made all the more attractive by the singing of Mr Wilson, who contributed several songs m good style, notably "Killarney," for which he was encored. The company play again this evening. We learn they are en route for Australia, whence they return with a strong addition to their numbers and novel* ies.