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Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5163, 27 August 1878, Page 2

A special meeting of the Municipal Council was held yesterday morning, in the Town Clerk's office, for the purpose of confirming bye-laws Noa. 14 and 15, passed by the Council at a special meeting held on the 20th ultimo. Present— His Worship the Mayor, Crs. Swan, Williams, Dimviddie. and Rochfort. The minutes of ihe previous meeting wore read and confirmed. LI is Worship said that a special meeting was necessary to confirm certain bye-laws previously made by the Council. He moved, "That the bye-laws Nos. 14 and 15, made under a special order of the Council at a special

meeting held on the 26th ultimo, be now confirmed. Or. Swan seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously. The Council then adjourned. The Theatre Royal was very fairly patronised last night, notwithstanding the heavy rain that fell during the afternoon and evening. The burlesque of " Ixion " and the pantomime were repeated for the fifth time, and passed oft' as successfully as previous representations. At the conclusion of the burlesque Mr Clinton, the manager, came forward and in a neat speech said he desired to express his hearty thanks to the public of Napier, and also to the Press, for the very liberal support which they had given to the company, and especially for the success which had attended the production of the pantomime. He begged to inform them that he had engaged the services of the celebrated artistes Miss Edith Pender and Mr Charles Dillon, who would appear in Napier for the first time on Monday next, supported by the Comedy and Burlesque Company. To-night a novelty will be introduced in the shape of an entertainment by male and female minstrels, members of the company, Mr Clinton, who is an excellent. " corner man," also appearing. The burlesque of "Fra Diavolo," with Miss Jennie Nye and Miss Bessie Vivian in the principal characters, will also be produced, and the performance will conclude with, for the last time, the winter pantomime, which has had such a successful run. The man Thomas Hall, who attempted to commit suicide in the Waipawa lock-up on Sunday morning, was brought to town yesterday and taken to the Napier Hospital. We hear that he had severed his windpipe, though lie did not cut an artery. He had been brought from Hampden and lodged in the Waipawa lock-up on suspicion of being insane, but he was not considered to be of unsound mind by those who saw him in Waipawa, and hence he was not so vigilantly watched as it appears his state of mind required. From our advertising columns it will be observed that George Gray Russell, general manager of the National Mortgage and Agency Company of Ne*v Zealand, notifies that an interim dividend of 2i per cent, for the half-year ending 30th June last has been declared, and will be payable on and after the 3rd proximo. The Rev. J. Spear requests us to acknowledge, with thanks, the following additional subscriptions from Napier to the v Wairoa Church of England Building Fund " : — Grant from Hawke's Bay Trust Fund, £50 ; Royse, Stead, and Co. (per M. R. Miller), £5 ; Rev. De Berdt Hovoll, £1 : total subscription to August 22, £301 5s 6cl Further subscriptions will be thankfully received and acknowledged. In the House on Thursday night the Maori member Taiaroa spoke on the Electoral Bill, and amid the laughter of the House delivered his views on female suffrage and female representation. He said he had no objection to a woman sitting in that House. The legislation would not be improved thereby. In the first place she would have to leave her husband and neglect her children at home ; and secondly, she would interfere with the proper work of the House, and the laws would suffer if she were on these benches, because her presence would distract the ideas of the two gentlemen who were seated one on each side of her. The House was convulsed with laughter, and with a genial twinkle in his eye the noble Maori sat down. There were no cases at the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday morning. Mass will be celebrated by the Rev. E. Reignier next Sunday, Ist September, in the Hampden school-room, at 11 a.m. Mr E. T. Gillon, late editor of the New Zealander, ha 3, according to the Post, ceased his connection with that paper. At a meeting held recently held in London in connection with a movement to provide "Speech for the Dumb," Professor Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, in the course of his speech, said : — To illustrate the purely mechanical nature of speecli he spoke of having received, from across the Atlantic a few days ago, one of Mr Edison's phonographs, and after placing the machine on a table in his Liverpool hotel, and turning a handle his friends, who had brought the instrument, wore addressed by name, and were thus greeted : — " Once for all, I wish you a pleasant voyage and a happy time in England." These words, he said, had been spoken into the phonograph at starting, and rendered faithfully at the other shore of the ocean 3000 miles off. A genuine Australian patriotism is in process of development — it is almost needless to say, not in politics (writes "iEgles" in the Australasian). A young Australian at one of the English Universities, who is a first-class cricketer, was lately asked to play in a match on a particular date. He was just about acceding with pleasure to the request, when he inquired against whom the match was to be played, and was informed the Australian Eleven. He promptly declined, on the ground that he would not play against his countrymen. The Wellington Post has a goodhumored joke at the expense of Mr flees : — "The question is that the debate be now adjourned," said the Speaker. About forty members eagerly shouted out " Aye." Then came the stentorian lungs of Mr Rees in a terrific and long-pro-longed {i No," which sounded almost as loud as the forty " Ayes " put together. The Speaker ruled that the " Ayes " had it, when thereupon Mr Rees called for a division. The preliminary orders were given, but a hitch suddenly occurred. Mr Rees was, of course, named as one of the tollers for the "Noea," but a second teller could not be found, and so the division fell through, as it was evident that Mr Rees constituted a minority of one. Still, as according to Mr Whitaker minorities should be represented, it was manifestly unfair to adjourn Mr Rees. His vote was thus rendered of no avail, and he was practically deprived of his privileges as a representative. This is tho deduction to be deduced from Mr Whitaker's arguments, but we should like to know how he could devise a scheme for the representation of Mr Rees, Our lady readers will peruso with intense .interest the following particulars as to the dresses of the bride and bridesmaids at the late vice-regal wedding in Sydney, of which we gave an account yesterday : — f The bride was attired in a magnificent train of white old English brocade, with underdress of white Ottoman silk trimmed with very deep Brussels point flounces— this lace, intermixed with crepe lisse also ornamenting the train ; a tulle veille, very long ; and a wreath of orange blossoms, myrtle, and heath. The bridesmaids wore pale blue silks, draped with damasse of the same shade, and ornamented with bouquets of heath and heather, with hats to correspond. Each wore also a large gold locket (presented by the bridegroom) with a broad band of brown enamel edged with dark blue down the centre, and on the brown band large diamonds. Tho Hon. Lady Robinson's dress, very handsome, was of very dark brown faille, elaborately trimmed with cream pillow laco, after tho old English pattern, with bonnet and parasol to match. The bride's presents included a very handsome blackwoocl and oxodised silver writing set, and an easel photograph book from tho Mai'quis and Marchioness of Normanby. The wedding trousseau included several dresses worthy of mention: — An evening dress, in the princesso style, of pale blue failln, draped with damasee of the same shade and ornamented with fringe and crape lisae ; a very stylish visiting dress of silver grey corded silk, trimmed with black velvet and Hair de June ; a ball dress of cream damasoo and laoe, ornamented with dark maroon velvet: a black net dress, trimmed with satin and real old ' rose point ;' and dresses of homespun and trimmed silk."

The Wellington Post says, in connection with the Separation rumour : — " At his sale to-day, Mr Duncan said that in consequence of an article which appeared in the Neio Zealand Times, a want of confidence was felt as to the continuance of the seat of Government in Wellington. This had had a depressing effect in commercial and financial circles, affecting more particularly landed properties. He had that morning waited on the members of the Government to ascertain if there were any grounds for the statements which had been so rashly published, and was informed by a majority of the Ministers whom he saw that there was no foundation in fact for the assertions which had been made regarding Separation. Under these circumstances, and from the fact that he had received several requests by telegram and letters from the South to postpone the sale, he had reluctantly consented to do so until early next month. " Tha watch worn by the missing man Cane (says the Rangitikei Advocate) was cleaned some three and a-half years ago by Mr Meyer, of Wanganui, who perhaps could furnish the number and make of. the article. The Hawke's Bay police have come to the conclusion that Cane could not possibly have been a victim of violent death at the hands of any of the believed Woodville murderers, as it is alleged that he was recognised at a station on the Napier side some time subsequent to that tragic event. But the general impression seems to be that the police have been following the wrong man all the time. It is almost certain that Cane, just previous to his sudden disappearance, was mounted, the animal he was riding being well known in the Sandon district, and the police have been on the trail of a man travelling on foot. The idea that Cane had lost his road in the bush seems most unlikely, as he was well acquainted with bush travelling. At a recent meeting of physicians at Bogota, in New Granada, an interesting account was given by Dr. Luiz Hernandez of a visit which he had paid to a half-caste farmer, named Miguel Solis, living in the Foot Hills of the Sierra Mesilla, who confessed to being 180 years old, but is believed by his neighbours to be really much older, Dr. Hernandez was informed by some of the oldest inhabitants of the district that they well remembered Miguel as a reputed centenarian when they were boys; also that the name of Miguel Sons, colored farmer, appears in a writ, still preserved, of the contributors to the building fund of !a Franoiscan Monastery near San Sebastian, which was founded in 1712, and that the present Abbot is positive it is the same man. Dr Hernandez, when he visited Miguel, found him at work in his orchard ; his skin was the color of parchment, but he was robust and active : his snow-white hair was twisted turban fashion round his head, and his eyes were so bright that the doctor felt quite uncomfortable when they were turned upon him. In answer to questions as to his habits, Miguel said that the secret of his living a century or two was very simple — simply never getting drunk, and never overfeeding. " I eat only once a day a big hearty meal, which it often takes me half an hour to get through with ; but," he added, " you see it is not possible in half an hour to eat more than you can digest in the next twenty-four." He went on to say that he had not made up his mind about meat, but he did not eat much of it. He fasted on the first and middle days of each month, eating nothing, but drinking all the water he could swallow. He always let cooked food cool before tasting it, and to this precaution he attributed the fact that his teeth were as sound now as they ware 180 years ago. The Indians in the" neighbourhood firmly believe that old Miguel has sold his soul to the devil, and strange to say, Miguel entertains the same opinion with regard to the Indians. Indian papers state that an extensive fire at Mandalay (Rangoon) destroyed 4750 houses, including those of several queens and princes. .No lives were lost. The steamer Europa, homeward bound from Bombay, sank after collision with the Staffa. The crew and passengers were all saved, and landed at Ferrol.