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Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XX, Issue 3871, 13 March 1877, Page 2

"We are informed that Mrs Dennan has kindly collected the large sum of £21 15s 6d for the widow of the unfortunate man Grregson, who was drowned at the Spit on the 23rd February last. Nine guineas of this has been expended in the purchase of a sewing machine for the widow, and the balance, £12 6s 6d, handed over to Mr Scully, to be paid in to the treasurer of a general fund which j is being raised for the benefit of Mrs Gregson. We hear that Archdeacon Williams and his family leave for their new residence in Gisborne to-day. It is notified that Mr R. Brathwaite and Mr J. Ramsay have been elected members of the Herctaunga Road Board in the places of T. Tanner, Esq.. and Cant. W.R.Russell. We learn from our Hampden correspondent that tho stables on the Gwavas estate were destroyed by fire on Wednesday, the 7th instant. The buildings were not insured, the policy having lapsed a short time ago, and was not renewed. Much sympathy is felt for Mr H. M'Lean, who is responsible for the loss. The various effects, such as buggy harness, and implements, belonging to the Carlyon family, were saved! The origin of the fire is as yet unknown. The first; anniversary of the Loyal Clive Lodge, 1.0.0.R, M.U., will be celebrated by a soiree and ball in the lodge room, Farndon, this evening. A procession will march from the lodgeroom at 6 sharp, and tea will be on the table at 7 o'clock. la the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday (before A. Kennedy, Esq., J.P.), Henare Ngapu, the Maori who was charged on Saturday with assaulting Mr Charles Palmer, was again brought up on a charge of horse-stealing. Inspector Scully applied for a remand until Wednesday, which whs granted. Mr Sheehan, who appeared for the prisoner, asked the magistrate to admit him to bail. His Worship consented to do so on bail being given, the prisoner in £500, and two sureties in £250 each. Samuel Bell, for drunkenness, forfeited his bail of £1. It will be seen by an advertisement in another column that a meeting of the ratepayers in the Malcaretu and South Ruataniwha districts has been called for the purpose of considering the advisability of dividing the Waipawa County. Tho meeting will be held in the schoolroom at Ashley Clinton, on Thursday next, at 2 o'clock. We hear that the feeling of the settlers in the Makaretu district is strongly ia favor of the division. The meeting of the Mutual Improvement Club last evening was largely attended, and a dramatic rehearsal was gone through, after which it was arranged that, as the meetings in future would be solely for dramatic purposes, it would be advisable that they should take place in the Rechabite Hall. The first meeting will be held on Monday next. Mr Lyndon will dispose of to-day, on the premises of the Rev. Samuel Robinson, the whole of that gentleman's furniture and effects* particulars of which will be found in our advertising columns. The sale commences at 11 o'clock. In Wellington, newspaper men pursue bolting horses, tail on end, hoping to get a sensational par, perhaps of a serious accident. — Wanganui Chronicle. The Tischler-Zeitung states that a razor recovers its edge if left for half an hour in water which contains sulphuric or muriatic acid in the proportion of one part by weight of acid to nineteen of water. The razor is carefully wiped on being taken out of the acidulated bath, and passed over an oilstone. The acid bath is said not to hurt the blade ; on the contrary, the quality of the metal in some cases improves by the immersion. So with the scythes and sickles. The time lost in the harvest field in the early morning in sharpening scythes would be spared by laying the blades for half an hour in a bath prepared as above described. As soon as taken out of the bath they are •wiped, and a soft sandstone bone passed along leaves a good and uniform edge behind it. The method is said to be adopted on French farms, and if good there it might be introduced into carpenters' and joiners' shops. The railway works on the WanganuiManawatu line are, we are glad to say, making satisfactory progress. Tho alterations on the Wangaehu bridge have been completed, and those on the Turakina bridge are proceeding rapidly. The process, however, is a tedious one, and although the cast-iron blocks on which the braces rested have been removed and replaced by wooden ones in wrought iron casings on the first span on this side of the river, it will be six weeks or two months before the whole is finished. By that time it is expected that the whole lines from Turakina to the Rangitikei will be ready for laying the permanent way, the rails for which will be brought along the line from Wanganui. — Wanganui Chronicle.

Our TeKapu. correspondent, writing oft. the 3rd instant, says : — "An entertain- ; ment in aid of the^ School funds took ' place last eVenlag in the schoolroom-, . Frafcertown. The evening's amusement ' consisted of singing, reading, recitations, i &c, winding Tip with a dance. Mr E. Gray presided at the harmonium. Much credit is v due to the ladies and gentlemen who volunteered their services for so •worthy an object. The school-building has recently been lined, and undergone a few other alteration, -frhich have not only improved ?ts appearance internally, but will add materially to the comfort of ; the master and children in winter. There ! are still a great many improvements that might be made if the necessary funds were forthcoming — for instance, the building would look all the better for a coat of paint and probably last a- little longer. At present its appearance from a little distance is that at a patch of brown fern on a mountain side. It would also be a slight index to the energy of the committee, if the panes of glass in the ■ windows were occasionally replaced, as the exigencies of time or circumstances remove them. But these probably would be dangerous innovations, xinworthy of the time and place, and might place me in th» same position as the Red Indian who was discovered by his ciders with a bar o£ soap and a clean shirt in his possession. Some alterations to the Scamperdown bridge appear to be in contemplation, pile-driving apparatus and timber having recently been brought on to the ground. I believe it is intended to lengthen the bridge by about 18 feet at each end. This, although it will give the structure a somewhat patched appearance, will render it much more secure." Messrs Brunton and Higginson, O.E.s, have been appointed to value the Otago railways in order to the adjustment of the account between the Colonial Government and the Provincial Government of Otago. The Dunedin regatta promises to be a great success. The Guardian says the entries Ate numerous, and Mr Mills, of the TTnion Shipping Company, has placed the s.s. Wellington at the disposal of the committee as a flag ship. The Oamaru JTvem'nff lluil says: — "The consummate cheek of some people is truly astounding. It seems that on account of other engagements, the AllEngland Eleven could not visit Hawke's Bay. We should have thought that the people of Napier would have taken this as a slight instead of an honor. But, no ; after the information had been received, the Mercury came out with a paragraph in which was the following sentence : — " Our cricketers believe that the AllEngland Eleven are afraid to meet them. Will wonders ever cease ? — the AllEngland Eleven have met their equals at last, and that, too, in the smallest province in New Zealand." A legislator who made his mark— of what nature need not be said — in the House last session, appears since his retarn to have made himself obnoxious to a member of the fair sex. From a recent issue of the Wakatipu Jfail we learn that at the local Police Court Margaret M'Kean was charged with assaulting and beating Henry Manders, and rued ss, or in default to be imprisoned twenty-four hours. A charge against the same prisoner for breaking the windows of Mr Manders' dwelling-house was withdrawn. An application was further made asking that the same prisoner be bound over towards all Her Majesty's subjects, and Henry Manders in particular, but his Worship did not consider sufficient evidence had been produced, and he therefore dismissed the case. It would be a good job for the colony if the example of Mr Kives, of Nelson, were more generally followed. The New Zealand Times hears that Mr Rives, who is a young gentleman of considerable property, is importing some first-class stock of various kinds, including horses, sheep, and cattle, and that he has purahased for New Zealand several of the progeny of the famous French racer Gladiateur. They arrived in Melbourne on Sunday, and are entered fer the 1878 Wellington Derby. That one Parliament can create innumerable Boards, but that fifty Parliaments cannot make them do their duty when created, is a new reading of the old proverb, which is aptly illustrated by the Hokitika Local Board of Health. The West Caast Times says : — " The Pnblic Health Act is treated almost as a dead letter by the local authorities. A flagrant instance of neglect has recently occurred in the centre of the town. A child died from scarlet fever a few days ago, after a short illness. Not the slightest effort was made to isolate the case, and during the patient's illness, and after her death, the house in which she lay was visited by numbers of women, and even by some children. The resnlt might have been easily forotold. Several other cases occurred immediately afterwards, and at the present moment there are perhaps half a dozen cases of scarlet fever in the town." No one who is not hide bound by prejudice (says the Otago Daily Times) can faii to see that the attitude of the Home Church of England towards the Church o£ the Colonies, its daughter, has been of late such that it is impossible to doubt that she desires to cut the painter. Whether the members of the Church of England out here are glad or sorry, pleased or displeased, that this should be the case, they are surely ill-advised in their refusal to recognise facts. Their position is like nothing so much as that of an old squire some thirty years since who ignored the existence of the iron horse, and always travelled post. While we do not fail to admire the respectability of the position, we do not think that it is a sign of much common sense. Facts are stubborn things, and have an awkward way of confronting those who will not recognise them. The true blue conservative element in the Anglican Church will some day or other find that, while they have been stubbornly refusing to acknowledge the possibility of any change, they have all the time been preparing the way for the most radical and sweeping of reforms. They might as well try to stop the sea with a mop as prevent the Anglican Church from proceeding towards the completion of its local autonomy. Mr E. L. Blanchard, writing in the Birmin'/ham Gazette, says: — "An odd story comes to me from the North. A regiment quartered at a certain city in Scotland had among them an expert gymnast who taught his brother subalterns how to walk across the barrack room on their hands. While thus engaged the other evening the door opened aad the colonel, a stern disciplinarian, entered the room, looked attentively at the inverted company, shook his head gravely, and departed without utteriug a word. An order to be on parade next morning was tne least punishment expected for tbis breach of discipline. Some days passed, however, and, no notice being taken, it was thought an apology and explanation should be offered by the prime instigator of these unsoldierlike movements. A reference beiDg made to the memorable night, the colonel amazed the intending apologist by exclaiming, " Hush, sergeant, I would not have anybody know it for the world. The fact is I had been dining out with an old brother officer, who had served with me in India, and 'pon my life, I had no idea the wine could have had such an effect upon me, but when I came to see if you were all right in yonr quarters I could have sworn that I saw you all upside down.' " An old fable says : — " The grasshopper came unto the aunts, and demanded parts of their come ; whereupon they did aske, what he had done in the sommer, and he said he had sung ; and they sayde, if you sing in the sommer, then daunce in the winter."

The latest pulpit sensation in England is the appearance of Prdfessor Francis W. Newulan', autkor of Phases of Faith, |v the bid Uuitarian Meeting-house; Birmingham. After having for years occupied an extreme position among religious sceptics, he has recently united with the Unitarians. The building was crowded with hearers, many of whom had travelled a considerable distance in order to enjoy the privilege o£ hearing this distinguished scholar and writer. An English newspaper correspondent describes him as " a tall, spare man, with deep-set luminous eyes, a worn and thoughtful countenance, with an expression sometimes of melancholy in its repose." The teit taken was, "It is more blessed to give than receive," and the topic discussed the growth of Christian morals. The sermon was rich in thought, and was listened to with great satisfaction. One of the living curiosities at Barnum's menagerie and circus is a man tattoed from head to foot. His name is Constentenus> a Greek by birth, and it is stated that he was one of the party, who penetrated Chinese Tartary for mining purposes some years ago, and engaged in an insurrection there/ The natives captured him and two of his companions, and instead of putting them to death, adopted the more cautious plan of tatooing their bodies and setting them free. The process of tatooing occupied six hours a day for three consecutive months, and the torture inflicted was so severe that the captives used to beg for death instead. Captain Constentenus was the only one of the trio who survived the ordeal, and be carries about on his person one hundred and eighty-eight pictures of men and animals and geometrical figures. A lady of great beauty, as far as concerned her lace, but of very clumsy limbs and waist, gave rise to the following jcii d'esjirit :— " Oh, nature was thy plastic baud, When forming her so hasted, That ctmrins unequalled iv thn land Should bo so badly waistcil ?"