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Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XX, Issue 3929, 11 June 1877, Page 2

la Chambers on Friday last, two native cases, Kiokio v. Douglas and Kanimamu v. Ormond, came before the Judge on an application to settle issues and fix the trial for the present sittings. The natives, in both cases, were represented by Mr Rees and Mr Bell ; Mr Douglas was represented by Mr Cornford, and Mr Ormond by Mr Carlile. His Honor, on inspecting the pleadings, decided that no satisfactory issues could be framed on them in their present state, and ordered the cases to stand over. At the Resident Magistrate's Court on Saturday, before R. Stuart, Esq., R.M. , Thomas Sullivan, who was charged with indecent behaviour as well as drunkenness, was fined 20s. for the latter offence, with the alternative of 24 hoxirs' imprisonment. — George Hammond, a supposed lunatic, was discharged from custody, the result of the medical examination not being of a nature to warrant his committal to the Lunatic Asylum.— John Clover was brought up on remand, charged with stealing a pair of boots, valued at 12s. Gd., the property of W. Tuckwell. The evidence of Prudence Tuckwell, aged 15, daughter of the prosecutor, was to the effect that the prisoner coolly walked away with the boots. She immediately gave information of the theft to her father, the prisoner was pursued, and captured with the boots in his possession. He was sentenced to one month's imprisonment with hard labor. The leturo and special experiments to be given by Mr Severn this afternoon (in addition to the evening's entertainment) is to be specially adapted to the pupils of the Napier schools, and as the illustrations will be well explained we hope all will take advantage of the opprtunity thus offered at a very reasonable price. Professor Taylor and Lillie made their first appearance at the Oddfellows' Hall on Saturday evening, before a large audience, a considerable number of skaters being also present. The skating of the Professor and the lady was very much admired, and both proved themselves to be perfect adepts in the art. They went through a variety of performances on the skates in a finished and graceful style ; they also introduced a song and dance, and afterwards danced the varsoviana, Mr Flood accompanying on the piano. The race for the silver cup, for which there were five entries, caused much amusement. The Professor and Mrs Taylor will appear again this evening. The elections for the Borough of Oisborne will shortly be held. The candidates for the office of Mayor up to the present time are Mr W. F. Crawford and Mr W. W. Wilson, both well-known settlers in Gisborne. Messrs C. Smith, Nasmith, Teat, S. Stevenson, H. C. Boylan, W. Adair, R. Cooper, J. R. Hurrey, E. K. Brown and L. Simpson have announced their intention of standing for Councillors, and it is expected a large number of others will swell the list before the day of nomination arrives. We observe that the Olago Daily Times strongly objects to the statement forwarded by the Press Agency to the effect that the Evening Post was now equal in size to tliab journal. The Times says : — " The Evening Post is printed on a sheet exactly the size of the Dunedin evening newspapers, and by giving its readers less

margin it can give a column of news or advertisements on one of the inside pages, and another column on one of the outside pages. What lias probably been done, has been the enlarging of each of its pages by an additional column. The Pusl is a paper creditable to Wellington, but the Empire City will have to increase very considerably in population before an evening paper there assumes the size inferentially stated in the telegram. Though as large as the Dmiecliii evening newspapers, it displays its advertisements so well as to give barely two-thirds of the reading matter which they on an average supply. And until it improves in this respect, it should keep Anthony Trollope's counsel. The sittings of the Supreme Court, in its criminal and civil jurisdiction, will commence before His Honor Mr Justice Richmond this morning at 10 o'clock. The Berkshire pigs at present exhibited in Mr Conroy's shop in Hastings-street are really splendid specimens, two of them weighing over lOOOlbs. They were bred by Mr Baldwin, of Waitangi, and are undoubtedly the finest ever seen in Napier. Several whales were seen yesterday disporting themselves in the Bay. We hear that Mr G. C. Ellis, the chemist, has disposed of his business and that we are about to lose the presence of a valuable citizen, at all events for a time, it being Mr Ellis's purpose to proceed, to the home country. We regret to have to state that a very serious accident occurred to Claud Hitchings, a son of Dr. Hitchings. 1 ; The boy, who is about twelve years of age, was riding in one of the trucks at the reclamation works, and attempting to pass from one of them to another he fell, and several of the trucks passed over his legs. He was immediately taken home and attended to. Yesterday he was thought to be better, but it is feared that one or both of his legs will have to be amputated. " Is your master up ?" asked an early visitor of a nobleman's valet. ' ' Yes, sir," replied the valet, with great innocence ; " the butler and I carried him up about three o'clock." Scene in the Grand Jury-room. — Foreman : " Gentlemen, it is not necessary to administer the oath of secrecy to this witness, as he is a member of the press, and nobody Avould believe anything he might divulge, anyhow. " An old story is well re-told in a recent issue of a Southern journal as follows : — " A jury has been impanelled in a case of a Mi' Johnson, charged with killing his wife. The evidence Avas x^ositive and conclusive, leaving no doubt of his speedy conviction. To the amazement of all, the jury, after a short absence, returned a verdict, 'Guilty of horse-stealing.' The judge, astonished, asked an explanation, stating that the indictment was not for horse-stealing, but manslaughter. The foreman, with his hand upon a huge lawbook, and with an amusingly dignified air, informed the Court that 'it was not a case of manslaughter, but womanslaughter, for which the law made no provision, but being satisfied the man deserved to be hanged, they had brought in a verdict of horse-stealing, which, in that country, would be sure to hang him.' " (( One of the first results of the great stonewall victory," states the G-cclong Times, "is that a well known estate owner, on the western line, near Colac, feeling the general insecurity with which landed property is menaced, declines to spend any more money on improving his estate, and on Monday dismissed seven men who were previously at work upon the erection of a stone wall for him. Next week it is the intention to dismiss from 30 to 40 more men, as he is not safe in investing money upon property that is threatened with confiscation and burstingup taxes. We of another instance in which a landowner declares his intention of bursting himself up, selling out, and clearing away to a place where the rights of property are respected." At a recent meeting of the London Society of Arts, Sir Samuel Baker, the celebrated African traveller, said it was a curious fact that a negro had never been known to tame an elephant, or any wild animal. Although on old Carthaginian coins elephants were represented as being employed both by these people and the Romans, they were trained either by Arabs or Carthaginians, never by the negroes. You might travel all over Africa, and never see a wild animal tamed and petted. It had often struck him as very distressing that the little children never had a pet animal, and though he had offered rewards for yoimg elephants, he had never succeeded in getting one alive. Loanable capital in London, according to Suez mail news, is very plentiful, and terms of accommodation low. Short loans have been obtainable at 1& to 1| per cent., and three months' trade bills are discounted at 2 per cent., which is the present Bank minimum. The Scotsman reports that the German Government ' ( have come, or are on the eve of coming," to an arrangement for the purpose of a shipbuilding yard on the Clyde. The price is said to be £250,000. A few days ago, on the authority of a London journal, it was stated that the works of Messrs R. Napier, of Glasgow, had been sold to Dr A. Kirkwood, for a client, for £250,000. Can this be for Germany i At an entertainment given on Monday last at the Thames, by Mr E. D. Davies, the ventriloquist who was lately performing in Napier, so affected was one of the audience (.says a correspondent of the ]Y.Z. Jfei'fild), that in response to the request of the little girl who speaks from the box, asking for a shilling, he threw the desired amount on the stage. Professor Fay was tied witli ropes by Mr John Watson, Mr J. D. Wiekham assisting by his presence on the stage, and so effectively, that the Professor took 35 minutes to release himself, but lie did it. This led to a diversion on 'Change on Tuesday morning from the price of scrip to bets of tying, when a knight of the hammer volunteered to bo bound, and release himself within live minutes, or otherwise forfeit a piano. One stout gentleman, being well up in timber hitches, accepted the proposition, and tied the squire up apparently secure. Two minutes had searely elapsed when he came forth unbound and free — outdoing the professor, and proving that talent in that particular direction exists at the Thames. The report is again current in the Southern papers that Mr Rollcston is about to join the Ministry, and that it is not improbable that Mr Whitaker will retire from the Attorney-Generalship. One of the best and most energetically managed acclimatisation societies in the Australasian colonies is the Queensland one. From the first it lias devoted the larger portion of its funds to the introduction of useful fish, fruit, ornamental trees, shrubs, grasses, &c, and the settlers of Queensland are beginning to reap the benefit of the society's enterprise. Even the great teak tree has been introduced and successfully acclimatised. At a recent meeting of the society, a settler wrote respecting the proper mode of growing some of these newly-intro-duced trees. Some teak trees were stated to be 25 feet high, though they were- tender pot plants four years ago. These teak trees were 8 inches in diameter at the base, and their tops covered a space of 15 foot in diameter. There is now growing freely in Queensland cinnamon, cloves, pepper, the Brazilian wine palm, the date tree, and almost all the tropical and semi-tropical plants of value in commerce. The arts and sciences have either been acclimatised or are in a fail 1 way of being so in that colony. — Auckland Herald. The Heart's Action — Breach of promise case. _...