LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Fieb at Papanui. — The Sawyers' Arms Hotel, Papanui, was totally destroyed hy fire early this morning. Ifc appeared that shortly after midnight, Mrs Wild was roused by smoke in the bedroom, and afc once called her husband, who found that the premises were on fire. He raised the alarm, and it was only with difficulty that the inmates of the hotel managed to escape in safety. The whole of the building, furniture and stock together, with a quantity of building materials intended for the new additions being made to the hotel, were destroyed. The total estimated loss is £1600 ; and the insurances are — National, £600, Liverpool, London, and Globe, £400. The Agricultural Show. — The time for receiving entries has been extended to Thursday next, afc 6 p.m., at the request of exhibitors at the Northern Show. Auckland Corporation Wateewobks.— By advertisement appearing in this paper yesterday, the Auckland City Council invited tenders for the whole of the plant and works requisite for supplying Auckland with water. Theße were fco have been sent in on or before Monday, Feb. 22, bufc fche time has now been extended to Monday, March 22. Extradition.— ln the New Zealand Gazette, of Ocfc. 29, is published for general information the particulars of a treaty entered into between Her Majesty the Queen and the King of the Netherland for the mutual surrender of fugitive criminals, as well as a copy of the Order in Council for carrying into effeot that Treaty. The Govebnob's Flag. — By proclamation in the New Zealand Gazette; of Oct. 29. his Excellency the Governor appoints thatthe seal or badge to be worn in the Union Jack used by the Gjfovevnov of New Zealand, when embarked in any boat or other vessel, shall be tho Southern Cross as represented by foiir five-pointed red stars eni blazoned on the white shield aforesaid, and the mqnogium N.Z. in red letters in tho centre of tho Southern Cross.

The Railways.— During the Races and the Agricultural Show the trains will run as notified in an advertisement. CsrcKET.— The matches U.0.0.C. v. C.C.O. and U.C.C.O. v. College will be continued on Saturday. They will commence at 2 p.m. Imaiigbation.— Mr Holloway has now completed his examination of New Zealand on behalf of the English Agricultural Labourers' Association, and is likely to proceed from Auckland for London direct hythe ship City of Auckland. Qpobuji op Licensing Coubts. — By proclamation in the New Zealand Gazette, oi Oct. 29, his Excellency the Governor declares that three members of every Licensing Oourt now constituted nnder the Licensing Act, 1873 (inolusire of the chairman of suoh Court,) shall form a quorum thereof. Gaol Retubns. — The general gaol return for October is as follows .—ln Lyttelton gaol—Males, 121; discharged, 38. In Addington gaol— Males, 44 ; females, 32 ; total, 76; discharged, 41. In Timaru gaol— Males, 21 ; female, 1 ; total, 22 ; discharged, 7. TfITABU and Waitaki RAILWAY.— In the New Zealand Gazette, oi Ocfc. 29, the following list of successful and unsuccessful tenderers, for the Hook contract of the Timaru and Waitaki railway, is published for general information :— Accepted : David Proudfoot, Danedin, £35,852. Declined : George Pratt, Timaru, £36,025 2s 2d ; E. G. Wright, Christchurch, £37,502 ; Hadfield and Co., Ohristchurch, £38,750 ls 4d ; W. Fuller, Christchurch, £39,800; Allan and Stumbles, .Timaru, 39,960 9s lid ; Brogden and Sons, Wellington, £44,622 17s lid. Thb Salmon. — The floating cage was placed in the river Avon yesterday, in the presence of Beveral members of the Council of the Acclimatisation Sooiety and a considerable number of the public. The cage having been duly placed and moored in the river a few yards below the Victoria Bridge, the young salmon were brought over in a boat, and carefully transferred to the cage. There were ten in all ; and the fish, some of them measuring eight inches, looked remarkably healthy. It is intended to keep the cage moored in its present position for about a fortnight. At the end of that time, it will be taken down to Sumner, and placed in a locality which has yet to be decided on by the Council. It was feared that if the salmon were liberated, they would never bo seen again j and the object which the Council have in view in making this experiment is to secure tho spawn. The result of the experiment will be looked forward to with muoh interest by the publio, who will no doubt be glad to hear of its success. The experiment has been undertaken mainly at the instance of Dr Campbell, who has interested himself very much in the subject of pisciculture since he has become a member of the Acclimatisation Society of Canterbury.

A Nice Boy. — A lively young messenger boy in the telegraph department, Hokitika, has been found guilty of destroying messages to save himself the trouble of delivering them. He used to affix signatures to the receipt forms • himself. Through one of these freaks 38 immigrants were landed at Greymouth instead of Hokitika. Conflicting Vikws. — An American paper tells a story of a man who having just bought a horse consulted various authorities as to the manner in which it should bo lodged. Ho read that a side window in a stable makes a horse's eye weak on thafc side ; a window in front hurts his eyes by the glare ; a window behind makes him squint ; a window on a diagonal line makes him shy when he travels ; a stable with a skylight is too hot in summer and too cold in winter ; and the absence of a window makes the horse blind. The animal was taken to the auction mart. The Big Pkize at Sydney Regatta. — A telegram stating that a £1000 prize would be given at the anniversary regatta at Sydney is. taken from the Sydney Town and Country Journal. The following on the subject was lately published : — The anniversary regatta committee adopted the programme for the regatta of 1875 on Tuesday. There are fourteen events. In case of gentlemen amateur crews coming from England and America to compete with Australian crews, a prize of £1000 will be given. As the regatta takes place in January, there will be little time for " gentleman crews " to avail themselves of the liberal offer of £1000, whioh is no doubt a modification of the proposal made by some enthusiastic sportsmen some time ago to invite the champion pullers of the world to meet on the Sydney course, and frank them out, besides giving them a prize of £1000 to pull for against a picked Australian orew. Musical Owticism. — The following specimen of musical criticism (saya the New Zealand Herald) is unique. Ifc is only necessary to the complete enjoyment; arising from the perusal of the passage that the ordinary reader be armed with an attendant* pocket dictionary of scientific terms. Ifc is supposed that the passage relates to the music at the recent performance of " Faust " afc Wellington by the English Opera Company, and fchat — (the surmise is somewhat hazardous, bufc we must nofc confess fco ignorance) — fche language, though learned, is intended to be laudatory : The opera (ifc is said) "is not of fche class usually deemed 'popular' musio, being characterised by a certain lack of melodic continuity, and a tendency to quaint and bizarre harmonies, remoto modulations, and chromatic progressions, and fco a lavish use of the diminished seventh, the augmented sixth, and, above all, the chord of the ninth, the latter a distinctive feature in M. Gounod's compositions." Education o* Women. — The Clothworkers* Company, London, have voted the sum of 200 guineas per annum during the pleasure of the court in aid of the higher education of women, namely, £105 towards establishing exhibitions in connection with the North London Collegiate and Camden School for girls ; £52 10s towards establishing a scholarship in connection with the entrance examination at Girton College, near Cambridge, for " ladies of scanty means, especially those engaged in or preparing for the profession of education;" and £52 10s towards establishing two exhibitions for ladies afc Merton Hall, and others in attending the lectures for women in Cambridge. Wheel Skating. — A lady correspondent of a contemporary writes as follows : — You recollect the people who, years ago, when we were young, used to skate about on wheels in the great ice scene in fche " Prophefce ?" Well, this, which was then looked upon as an accomplishment suitable only for acrobats and ballet dancers, has become the fashionable amusement for girls, who twirl ahout on wheels over a piece of hard asphalte, in the hottest sun, and gay they enjoy it ! There is very good to a in the tonts, arid we always find somebody to gossip with, and the place is so convenioiitlv situated that one can take it in tho midst of one's calls or one's shopping, or before or after the park. ' ' ]