THE Inangahua Times, PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20. 1881.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, 20 April 1881, Page 2

THE Inangahua Times, PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20. 1881.

The quoit match for £10 a-side, between Mr Thomas Naysmith and 1 Mr Robert Craig, two well|known local players, took place on Saturday last. At the appointed hour between seventy and a l hundred persons as^ Bern bled at the rear of Cochrane's Hotel, and the distance (18 yard*), having been proa perly marked off, play was comtneno cd. The match was 61 up. Mr Craig managed to keep a slight lead daring the early stage of the game, but the difference in the scoring Was very trifling, and thus interest in the match was well sustained. Towards the close the game stood at Craig 48, Naysmith 45. but the latter then secured two doubles and a single, and 50-all was called. Craig then led off with a double, and his opponent followed with three doubles in succession, a single to Craig then left the game at Naysmith 56, Craig 63- From this point Nay* smith ran right out, thus winning by eight points. A good deal of money changed hands on the event and the winner was warmly greeted. W e believe that another match for £20 bus been arranged between the parties. One trap came to erief in the Left-hand Brunch on Monday night last, owing to the _ breaking of a shaft. The ship-wrecked occupants had to get into the river and wade over, leaving the vehicle behind. The horse Dandy Was bo lame yesterday, after the match with LiJlipee, ihatjhe could not walk off tbe coarse. Owing to the breaking pf the bridge on the race-course on Monday last, no horses or vehicles of any kind could leave M'Gtinley's Paddock, and as a consequence those who were unable to face tbe tramp into Reefton had to seek the hospitality of Mr M'Ginley and Messrs Gallagher Bros. The bulk of tlio?e who remained behind consisted of worsen and children, About one hundred men walked into town arriving at all hours up to 3 a.m. on yesterday morning. Mr John Williams, of Fern Flat, was the only candidate nominated yesterday for tbe representation of Boatman's in the County Council, and was therefore declared duly elected. The Christchurch Press says !— Our Wellington correspondent telegraphed last Friday as follows — A rumor was set afloat yesterday that Parliament would be called tcgother for May 27th, but there is not the slightest foundation for this report. Parliament will not meet earlier than June. At present it stands prorogued to the 19th instant, but a proclamation will be issued in a few days further proroguing it to the middle of next month j but, probably, it will not meet then for the despatch bf business. The prorogation from the date next month to which Parliament is now about to be prorogued will be the final one, and will definitely fix the date in June on which the House will meet for the despatch of business. The London correspondent of the Melbourne Age says:— lhe first hulf of the

winter was exceedingly mild, and Christmas ' and New Year's daj passed .without any. . discomforts of the season, butjop the 18th of , January there war- a snowstorm which was in Borne respects unexampled, -The snow was of that fine, non-coherent sorfc which is ' carried about like dust in March, and the wind bad about tbe force of a hurricane. The quantity of snow was not excessive, perhaps , equal to an average thickness of 6 inches, and vet even in the streets of London it was piled up in wreaths of many feet high! The ' dust found 'its way/ through the smallest cranny, and invaded the interior of every house. It is en record in Hansard that, on ( the word of an honorable member,, the smoking-room of the House of Commons was • filled ' with snow. Passenger trains were snowed up even on the genial- south coast,: ' the Brighton line being the first to become i impassible.. Couls were raised in price 100 per cent., and cabs, or rather tandemns, 500 per cent. London, which really lives from ( hanj $p mouth, and is dependent for its food oil inlceisan^ arrivals; from ihe country, was Hi danger pi a. lamino,'. And extortion in i tbln|[ , becanid ; the , ordeTr oMhe day. of this state of affairs that the arrival of the Protos with a cargo of mutton seemed almost providential. Within a very few hours j after the arrival of the ship in the" river the meat was landed and forwarded to Smithfield market, thereby disappointing not a few who had made up their minds | that, there would be a champagne luncheon in honor of the event, I have not^seenjany allusion to this arrival in the newspapers, which is < strange. But everything has been out of gear, and on the tenth day after the beginning of the wintry storm nothing isVe"t in proper trim. The snow-fall succeeded by an intense frost, the thermometer in many places going down below Fahrenheit's zero. . A thaw has at last set in, but many days must elapse before the enow drifts disappear. Aifiong other misdeeds^ committed by the inclement weather, was the freezing up of the Thames on the day appointed for the boat * race between Canada and Australia. The! river was half covered with icefloes, and the boats would have been cut to pieces before they had got over half the course. A day or two afterwards there was skating on. the Thames at Twickenham, The only races |ossibl| were with sleighs and states.. The number bfaleighs which were turned out at . short notice was quite surprising ; the Prince of Wales had , his in the parks and on the embankment ; and even in the Isle of Wight where the weather is supposed to be always mild, the Queen drove out like a Laplander There hate, Been skiing flices, jand the~Datch' are organising an international affair of the kind,, to come off alternately in Holland and England. If it be not arranged at once it . will be forgotten before next winter. A mos,t singular accUebt occured td a child seven months old at Otaki a few -days ago. By some means it placed a twp-jhiilicg piece, whioh bad been converted in t? a brctoeh, into its mouth. It event flally passed into the child's throat, to remove it from which all- efiorts were unsuccessful. After ' some time 1 (*ays the Manawatu Herald) a quckwitted matron devised a fishing line on a small scale, which, on being lowered into the little sufferer's throat fortunately hooked on to the obstruction, and ' it was then easily withdrawn. . > '•' ' '/ i ■*< :.i 'i ■'-■.- -.-■'■. ■■ ■ ■■',•••/■• The practice of dancing on the occasion of the death of a child is still kept up in the Argentine Kepublic, notwithstanding the intelligence of which the people are so fond of boasting. The Buenos Ayrea Herald says.— "The other day at Chivilcoy an infant died of smallpox, and the corpse was kept exposed for three days, while the friends and the family danced and made fools of them selves in its presence. The consen quence was that several of them have since died of the same disease and have been danced, over." The body of a man was discovered lying in the Otamete stream, about a hundred yards from the railway bridge, on Wednesday, 23rd ult. A pass*book and a receipted bill from W. 0. Moore, butcher, of Invercar* gill, were (the Ensign says) found in the deceased's pockets, and from these it appears that the man's name was Thomas Gray. He was fotmely a resident of Invercargill, where he carried on business as a carter, and about six or seven weeks ago he sold bis horse and dray and came to this district. He obtained employment as a binder on the ' Company's estate near Wantwood, but only i worked a day and a-half. When he left ! the harvest field he stated that his reason for so doing was that 'something had gone ' wrong with his wife in Invorcargill, and his ; child was running about the streets of that town looking for him. From that time until his body was fouud nothing had been seen or heard of him. An inquest was held at Mandeville on Thursday, • when the verdict returned was < Found drowned.' From the • evidence it appeared that the deceased had been drinking havily prior to going to Manx ' deville, • :