Untitled

Bruce Herald, Volume XVII, Issue 1614, 27 January 1885, Page 3

. Messes J. A. Duthib & Co. sell by auction this aftcrnooD, on the premises, opposite the old Bruck Herald office, the household furniture, &c, of Mr H. Henderson. An estate near Napier, the property of the N.Z.L. & M. A. Company was sold by auction the other day, and some of the land realised up to £40 per acre. Dvbing the year 1884 the total amount of gold exported from the colony was 229,946 ounces, valued at £921,797. In the previous year the total quantity was 248,374 ounces, Trttied at £993,352. Thb body of the late Joseph Bragge Slack, the noted Melbourne litigant, has been exhumed, and it was discovered that he had been strangled. Barnes, who confessed to murdering him, awaits his trial. The evidence is very strong against him. Thb 'Daily Telegraph' attributes the recent fall in prices of provisions in England M much as anything to the large importations of New Zealand mutton which haß made meat of all kinds cheaper than it has been for years. Lv a letter from Mr Charles Pharazyn, dated November 17, we find the following :— "I saw last week in Smithfield Market tome prime mutton from New Zealand which had just been sold at Is 4d per lb — above the price of some splendid- looking English sheep hanging side by side," An inquest on the remains of James Isbister, who committed suicide by hanging at Roxburgh, Was held last Wednesday. The evidence disclosed nothing but that he had been low-spirited for some time previously. He had £33 10s in his possession, and owned • team of four horses, dray, &c. The jury returned a verdict oifelo de se. Thb murder of Mr Anketell, manager, and Mr Burrup, accountant, of the Union Bank of Australia, at Roeburn, Western Australia, was committed on the 12th inst. Both victims were asleep at the time they were killed. ' The cause of the crime is as yet a complete' mystery, but tracks whioh have been discovered in the vicinity are be ing followed up. At a. meeting 'of the Toko. School Committee on Friday the Annual Report for presentation to the annual meeting of householders was considered and adopted. The Committee ' nominated Messrs Fraer and Fraaer to the vacancies on the Education Board. The Chairman thanked the members for their uniform courtesy and attention to business during bis year of effice. The Waippri, Lovell'a Flat, Moa Flat, Berwick, and Ahuriri committees have .^j^ominated Messrs Fraer and Green ; and Goal Creek, Waitepeka, and " Teviot committees Messrs Ramsay and Fraer. /■-, ■■. .'' '■:; „ " -■■■„■. Thb new Police Offences Act, which came into operation on January 1, is so >tringent And severs in its penalties that it is more thin probable many Magistrates will be very chary of convicting upon it. As a case in point, last week at New Plymouth a man was indicted for using obscene language in a public place. The bench was about to infliot a penalty,, proportionate to theoffenoe, - which was not of a very grave character, but' reference to the Act showed that ah "offender under this clause must be sent to . gaol, without the option of a fine, and they discharged the accused. Sir Saxjx. Samuel, Agent-geueral for New . South, Wales, has joined the league. which is being formed in opposition to the Imperial federation movement. The principal object of tHe league is to disseminate information Amongst members of Parliament, and others, ' and show that the system of Imperial federation is impracticable. Sir Saul Samuel, in the oourse of some remarks at the Empire Club, said that the Australian Colonies were! thoroughly loyal, but that they would never submit to Imperial taxation. A fire brokeout at midnight of Friday in the upper story of a building ia Elliot-street j Auckland; One of the rooms -'-was, used as a! workshop b'jrMr j. H.Bo'lines, scenic artisb 'of the Opera house, who slept in a room adjoiuing. The flames were soon extinguished I>y the Fire Brigade, and upon search being mule, the dead body of Holmes was found. Death must have resulted from suffocation as the body was not scorched or burnt. It v conjectured that the deceased was reading in bed, as some charred magazines were found near his pillow. ' All, who know anything of Ballarat will be acquainted with Ballarat Joe. For many years he has got his liviDg, and a good one too, by grinding au organ about the stre its. Some years ago he went to England and purchased a new instrument, but was wrecked at the Cape on the voyage out. He, however, procured another, and has been grinding away ever since. The other day he was arrested on a charge of drunkenness, and upon being searched in the lock-up there were found upon him bank drafts representing £900, eighty- six soverg eigni, and some silver. "CivTs"in last week's 'Witness' was very rough upon the teetotallers. la a " Passing Note " devoted to the New Year's issue of the 'Blue Ribbon Chronicle,' he points out: that the journal in question is full of printers' errors and misprints, and mildly hints that the festivities of the season are to be held accountable for the blunders. He describes the paper as in a state of " typographical intoxication." We are inclined to be more charitable than attribute the host of blunjsljji in the teetotal paper to the fact that suffered from, biliousness induced bj over doses of plum pudding and mince pie, without "a drop o' the crater" to qualify it. .'.■■•. ■'•

Ah ardent admirer of Mr Gladstone, aud a diligent Btndent of a)l his published utterances, has taken the trouble to hunt up and measure all the printed reports of the Prime Minister's speeches in the British Museum and the Library of the House of Commons. The result is that from his first recorded ■peech to date, Mr Gladstone is found to have talked just about 15 miles of newspaper column print. The wonderful fertility of Mr Gladstone's genius is strikingly apparent when it is remembered that he never talks for the- mere Bake of talking. All his speeches bear the mark of careful study, and whether read immediately after delivery, or perused after the lapse of years, they are full of interest and instruction. Mr Gladstone is one of the very few public speakers who always retains his freshness, and whom the world never tire of listening to. Teams from the Bruce and Clutha Rifles, ten men aside, fired a match on the Milton range on Saturday morning last. The weather was wretched, a fierce gale blowing from the left front, with brilliant sunshine. A.3 a consequence, the scoring was very indifferent, especially at tha 600 yards, where the aiming was close on 20 feet off the target. The conditions of the match were— 7 shots at 200, 500, and 600 yards, with a sighting Bhot at each range. The visitors won the matoh by 45 points. After the match, both teamß sat down to an excellent luncheen at the White Horse Hotel. After which, the usual complimentary toasts were given and responded to. The acoringbook was not given to our reporter, therefore we are unablo to give the scores. Vol. Sinaill, with 6*o points, was the highest scorer for the Clutha team, and Leut. Reid, with 61, was the highest scorer for Bruce. Thx installation of officers of St. John's Lodge, 461, S.C., took place in the Lodge Room, Council Chambers, Milton, on Friday evening. The ceremony was most impressively carried out by Bro. Neill, District Grand Secretary, assisted by Bro. Caldwell, Grand Steward, Grand Lodge of Scotland, and Past Master, Bro. Dr Reid, of St. John's Lodge. Following were the brethren installed :— W.M., J. Hollick; S.W., W. M'Elrea ; J.W., F. Twiss ; S.D., J. A. Gray ; J.D., W. Moore ; Treasurer, F. Bastings ; Secretary, O. Mahoney ; Organist, F. Grant ; 1.G., A. M'Kechnie; Tyler, F. Julius. After the ceremony, the brethren adjourned to the White Horse Hotel, where an excellent spread was set before them by Bro. F. Bastings. Au hour or two were spent in social intercourse and music, and the company broke up at a reasonable hour after having thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The representatives of the Grand Lodge expressed themselves as highly gratified with the progress made, and all were of opinion that Freemasonry in Tokouiairiro is bow established upon a sound and lasting basis, and that the Lodge has a long era of prosperity before it. We do not object to Mr Gerald Massey receiving a free railway pass, if a similar privilege is granted to ail itinerant lecturers and showmen, but every rightminded person must object to this particular individual being singled- out for the special privilege, more especially when his line of teaching is of such a nature as the following, which he is reported to have delivered himself of on a recent Sunday at the Dunedin Lyceum : — " There were two things which in his estimation constituted the unpardonable sin of the parent against the innocence of childhood — the one, Allowing children to run the risk of blood-poisoning through the filthy process of vaccination ; the other, permitting the minds and souls of their children to be inocculated with the more fatal virus of the false orthodox dogmas." His views upon vaccination are held by large numbers .of welleducated persona at Home, who prefer to pay the penalties inflicted for neglect of vaccination- rather than running the risk of innoculating their children with foul disorders ; but his coupliug this with the teaching of the doctrines of the christiau religion is one of the grossest insults he could possibly offer to the community in which he is at present- residing. If Mr Massey is to have' a free railway pass in order that he may: travel the country and spout sach outrageous stuff as this the sooner an indignant protest is raised against it the better.