Untitled

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5441, 23 July 1879, Page 2

We are unable to present our readers with any information from the South this morning. All wires but one between Napier and Wellington wero down, and that one was working but indifferently. The accummulation of private telegrams during the last three days was so great that at Wellington all messages handed in after three o'clock yesterday were refused. We think that the telegaaphic authorities iv Wellington might have arranged to let the Press receive a short message of fifty or one hundred words, stating the progress of the " No-con-fidence" debate, even though we had been charged at exorbitant rates. In- a case such as this a brief Press message might be allowed to take precedence of ordinary telegrams, which could not be delivered until this morning, even if received at night.

The origin of the Maoris has caused many theories to be propounded, and now it is suggested that they came of the same stock as the Japanese. The " connecting link " is found in bells of most singular formation, and with inscriptions in an unknown language upon them, which have been found beneath the surface both in Japan and New Zealand, but, so far as we are awaro, nowhere else in the world. We believe that Mr W. Colenso has in his possession one of these bells, found iv New Zealand, and a gentleman who has recently returned from Japan says that he saw several of a precisely similar description which had been found in making excavations there. It is somewhat singular that neither the Maoris nor the Japanese have any legend or theory to account for the bells, and they cannot decipher the inscriptions. The bells are evidently of extreme age, lout we imagine it hardly impossible that tiey could have been the handiwork of a people common to Japan and New Zealand who preceded the Maoris and the present Japanese in the occupation of the islands, yet tho facts appear to point to some such solution of the problem.

All English cablegrams for dispatch by the next steamer from Port Darwin to Banjoewangie must reach the former port by ten o'clock on Thursday evening.

Hirini Matohuna, a Mahia native, was yesterday arrested by Constablo Shaw on a charge of stealing £34 4s from a whare, and then setting tho whare on fire to concoal his crime.

The company attached to JRainer's Diorama of tho American War are expected to arrive in Napier this morning by the Ladybird. Many will be surprised to hear that the company numbers nearly a dozen members. It includes a brass and a string band, men to manago the scenery, &c.

The fancy dress ball at the Theatre Royal last night was, notwithstanding the wet weather, largely attended and very successful. About thirty - five couples were in fancy dresses, some of theni. boing exceedingly pretty. Mi-s Eornian, in a Turkish dress, as "a Lady of the Harem " was perhaps ontitled to tho palm for costume, but Miss Gleeson as " Winter," and Mrs Rendle in an Oriental dress, were also to be complimented on their dresses. Of tho gentlemen Mr W. Ashton, as Lazorelle, was ono of the best-dressed, but for fancy costumes the prize must be awarded to Mr Rendlo, who appeared as a clown, and Mr Garner, who was disguised as a negro. Refreshments were supplied on the stage by Mr Johnson, and the arrangement of the room, &c. , was contided to Messrs Swan, Garner, Gilberd, E,

Ashton, G.T.Cross, andW. Humphries, who may be complimented on the success of the ball. The dancing \vas to a String and brass barid> led by Mr G. Garry. The dress circle was set apart for spectators, a largo number of whom wore present during the eveiiingi

At the animal meeting of ratepayers of the Puketapu Road District tho following gentlemen were elected wardens :— G. Peacock, w. lloslop, T. Graham, W» Blbourne, Ji Bickiiell, and 1. Parsons (chairman).

The following donation has been received towards tho building fund of St. John's Sunday-school :— -Tims'. Tauiior, Esq., £loi At the annual meeting of ratepayers of tho Okawa Road District,. held at .Puketapu on Saturday, the 19th inst'., tlie accounts, as audited, for the financial year ended 31st March last were" laid before the. meeting and passed. The undernamed gentlemen were then elected a Board of Wardens for the ensuing year,: — Mossrs N. E. Beamish, chairman, G. T. Scale, Thos. Hallett, J. Bennett, T. Milne, Fi S. WftterhoUsrj, arid A. Shieidv Arrangements were entered iipon for road repairs and formation in several localities'.

On Sunday next divino services will (D.V.) be held as follows I— By the Rev. R> Fraser at Waipukurau dt il a.ni., at Kaikdra at 3 p.m., and at Waipawa at 7 p.m. ; by the Rev. J. W. Spence at Porangahau at 11 a.m., and at Wallingford at 3.30 p.m. ; by Mr W. Finlay Wilson at Woodville at 11 a.m;, and at Tahoraite at 3.30 p.m.

For the last ten days the Gas domrjiny have been iisinghalf Greymouth and half Newdabtle do&l in tbe retorts, and find the local article a great improvement on the imported. The Brunner coal gives about 1000 feet of gas per ton, or something like 12 per cent., more than the Newcastle coal, and the gas is of a better quality. We, understand tliat at the conclusion tif the present c.dnliract for Newcastle coal no more will be ordered, the Greymouth mineral being exclusively used instead. Consumers may now reasonably hope that the gas will be better, and that some reduction will be made in the price.

A County Council which shall be nameless is diligently advertising for a person to perform the combined duties of. " secretary, engineer, treasurer, valuer, QOllSfltflP, Oftd-lUftUmati,?? at a salary ©I £250 per annum. And those Councillors Wonder that they haVe feceived so .few applications !

Tohu, one of the Taranaki natives; has passed a by-la wj. Which 1 at first Sight appears a very reasonable one. He has enacted that all the natives shall pay cash for everything they shall purchase of the European. The wily savage has, however, inserted a clause lower down, whichi will undoubtedly have a neutralising effect on this otherwise useful provision. The clause alluded to provides that all debts incurred before the passing of tlio by-law shall be then and there wiped out. Who says the Maori is not civilised ?

Horses arc absurdly cheap in Russia just now, for owing to the demobilisation of the army, the surplus cavalry horses are being .sold off by auction at ridiculous prices. The "Live Stock Journal" says that a party of Prussian Jews recently attended the" sales and redrossed the frontier With a thousand horses they had purchased for 285 roubles, or rather less than a shilling each. These worthy Children of Israel would make an excellent speculation, the lowest price at which a fair animal could be obtained on the Prussian side of the frontier being twenty guineas.

The Bey of Tunis has f diinded a paper which subscribers are bound to edit in rotation. A capital idea; but who's responsible for the libels ?

On dii (says Land a?id Water) that our American neighbors have again gone far ahead of us, and that some of the wealthy inhabitants of New York have had telephones arranged from their drawing rooms to the opera house; hence they can hear every note of the various singers without leaving their domestic hearth. True, they cannot see the singers, but that is sometimes no loss.

Gold mining appears to be "looking up "on the West Coast. A number of new rushes are reported, and most of them appear to yield good gold. Of one of these . the Grey JRiver Argus says : — We are informed by telegram that Matheson and party, of Kumara, washed up for five weeks on Saturday last, and obtained £800 worth of gold, and have four or five years' work before they can work out their ground. There are several parties on tho Kumara who are making from £12 to £20 per week, and two shares have changed hands at £400 per share within the last month.

A very extraordinary yield from a single grain of barley has been reported to the Colac Herald by Mr Wallis, a farmer at Murroon. The barley is known as the Tartarian, and 1 a stray grain was sown. with some peas last'season. Shortly after coming up, it was noticed by Mr Wallis to throw out several stems, each of which bore .prolific heads. When it had reached maturity, the grains contained in the several heads were counted, and found to ' amount to no less than 5903.

The following atrocity is from the Auckland Free Lance : — Hurrah for Auckland ! . One of the sons of the soil has just been made an M.A. We understand that many of the daughters were made MA's long before.

The Wellington Chronicle says : — " A letter received by last mail from Mr Edward Pearce states that the interest charged in England on trade bills at the time the mail left was If per cent, per annum. Just so ; but in New Zealand the' banks do these things better, and charge only a modest 10 per cent, with any extra charges they can clap on.

The large station bell at Port Chalmers was removed the other day, and the following inscription left in its place : — " Great inconvenience is caiised to the inhabitants of tho port by the extreme loudness of the station boll, and it is unanimously agreed to remove it to a placo of safety; also, owing to the general stupidity and ignorance of the employees, it is thought prodont to abolish it altogether, its last restingplace being the jetty end. — Signed, Waken-em-up."

The Bishop of Manchester, speaking at the inaugural meeting of the Rochdale Funeral Reform Association, said in the extravagance of modern funerals tho bondage of fashion was a tyranny from, which all classes were desirous of being relieved. Scarfs, gloves, hat bands, and trappings of funerals could not be done away with too soon. He thought the working classes had been betrayed into this extravagance by the allowance made by burial societies. He condemned the f eastings at funerals and costly monuments, and would advocate economy, at the same time avoiding niggardliness.

M Leon Say is understood to be engaged in preparing a detailed narrative of one of the largest financial operations on record — the repayment of the debt which the State owed the Bank of France. It may be remembered that after the Franco -Germ an war the Government was obliged to borrow no loss a sum than 1,530,000,000, to meet the first demands of the invador. The whole of this sum has now been returned to the bank, the last 60,000,000 francs having been paid in about six weeks ago. The circulation of bank-notes was never disturbed, and the bank, authorised by law, was enabled to increase its paper issue without seeing ita notes suffer, any depre^

tha^tbe T t co , nse< l UenC£ > naturally was mat the forced currency was nierelv nonnnal* and that few pers^s were^War? that it was egally abolished on ?h c Ist of January last. After the Avar notes nf ono, two, throe, five, twenty «*£? ! I one hundred franc llroKL^ gradually .the smolte^tedSSS! and now it is not easy to obtain Sven on 6 hundred franc-notes, while the metallic reserve n tlio bailk is laW thaT S *SK at the close of the EmpSef ' * W A curious calculation of the prdpdrtion of deaths by accident in some of tile 3 dangerous avocations is given mS recenty delivered inaugural addiid? the Presidents theNordiern Instituted Mining Engineers. Froni a mass of official reports the number of deaths* In mines m the merchant service) in tHe Royal Navy, and oh railways is quoted « and ft deduction is drawn that the "ratio of deaths pel' looo persons employed" is less in coalmining than in the navy by drowning,. and is about one-half only of the deaths m the railway service? ' -' ' q "tH W^i Wa * ¥<* ti iooranga] . fl?. L^ Btr A the 18th upon the, body of Annie Stanton, a 'young . woman who had been married only threi " fSdn geared from the evidence that after their marriage the. decetid} aU S* A us ? and wßnt td Adelaide, tilt . retbined honie on the third day. They' retired to rest about 11 o'clodk, and thfc young woman was just falling asleep' when a tremendous crash on the iron rooT of the house caused her « to jump fully , two feet from the bed, and. to fallback hT* ln ?A ke a < do S\" He * tusbandsaid' he could hear her heart beat. She la*; awake aU night; tumbling violently, and was Unable td tide Un the fWing'Bdft: ; ing. Medial assistance was called iris but she expired on the following evening r r,oTn^l eCtS of ' thefri Sht. Anexami? notion of tho roof revealed the fact that a large stone rmist have been thrown on, it from a hill behind the house, doubtless ', «L^ bffffft o * B tp, have , a l . foundout fodmduals) could not tia. ,

And still tho missionary cause' waxes' stronger. New Bedford has a cleveryoung lady worth a million of dollars* , and of a "rather pious turn of mind " who made up that mind that she would be a missionary. Could anything be more beautiful? The Church accepted her services, and when asked what field ot labor she had. in view, she pensively •; looted down at-W l aTen d e f rioves • and replied} " I think I will go td Pans ! " • 8

A new form of attraction has beed lately resorted td by the proprietdrs' of - some of the largest shops in the busied ' of London thoroughfares, by having a ' a group of pretty young women at work ' on sewing-machines close to the front window.

The following incident, illustrative, of the state of religious knowledge in the country districts of New South Wales, is , recorded by the Marrandi Times'.— "Not l long ago a lad nearly 18 years of age bad r to give evidence in a police court on Liverpool Plains. During the examination he was asked if he ever said. his prayers, and his answer was to .the effect that he had never heard of them before* Again he was asked if he knew, who God was, to which he replied, « I do not. know him, but he may bo a boundary-rider on tho next station.' "

The Whitehall Review Hints thai London ladies* maids make qjiite a good . thing by lending money at 25 per centi Id their young ladies, when, as occasionally happens, the allowances of said young ladies are delayed.

Wilder and Co., of Honolulu, who were having a new steamer built at San Fran cisco j offered to give a free passage i for one year to any one who would guess her name. Three hundred guesses' were ' sent in, and two were correct.

The confessional, as practised in the Anglican Church of St. Margaret's, Liverpool, has been condemned by the Chester Consistory Court. Chancellor Espin said he had visited the church and found in each of the transepts a chair and prayer books screened from the body of the church by a curtair , and evidently used as confessionals.

The Pay of Plenty Times mentionsthat Several of the " unemplloyed " the other day refused work at £2 per week, demanding £2 10s. At the Rangiora Borough Council last week it was mentioned that £1 per week and board had been refused by farm-laborers out of work. Of the Tauranga loafer the Times remarks'. — "One of these persons, whofrom his inexperience and general incapacity would be dear at almost any - price to an employer, furnished his friends in the old country with a most ' gloomy account of his circumstance?, ; warning them of what they might expect; '\ if they came out to the colony. '

It is stated that in consequence of the unprofitable character of most of the great mercantile pursuits in England "the amount of unemployed money held - in London is over £1 20,000,000.

A disgusting spectacle, accordining to the Birmingham Post, is stated to haye 1 taken place at Willenhall. A bricklayer's •■'■ laborer in the neighborhood undertook to ; kill three rats with his mouth within, a ■ quarter of an hour, himself' being .blind- . fold. The rats were secured with a string to a table surrounded with, spectators in < the yard of a public house, and the man killed them in the manner and time specified.

Richard Kenna, a wealthy resident of Bathurst, who was refused burial in the Eoman Catholic cemetery, was interred in the presence of about 3000 persons, in a vault erected in a private piece ; of ground in the borough. No clergyman officiated, the deceased's nephew reading three simple prayers. The reason the de ceased was not buried in the cemetery was because he refused to withdraw his son from the Sj'dney Grammar School,to which the Koman Bishop objected as a Protestant institution.

As this is from an American source its truth is, of course, unquestionable : — " A bankrupt shoemaker, who, being crossed in love, took to tho woods and gradually sank to the level of a wild animal, has been captured in Tennessee, where he is undergoing a process of training which, it is hoped, will sufficiently tame him for exhibition. The ex-shoemaker is, so says an exchange, covered with a layer of scales, which drop off at regular periods, like the skin ot* a rattlesnake. It is to be hoped that his appearance will considerably improve before he presents himself to his late sweetheart."

Our jocose Gisborne contemporary, the Poverty Bay Herald, has the following : — "Our three bank managers, it is. a matter of regret to learn, are suffering from severe colds. This is attributable, so they say, to the bad drafts they are so frequently exposed to. We italicise the words ' bad drafts,' because we think the managers intend a witticism, and we' should not like to deprive them of their laurels. They also state that they have lost much flesh of late, and explain the cause by saying they have been kept so many hours daily in their ' Sweating Room.' Customers say this can scarcely be the case, as managers have melted little or nothing of late — not so much as a bit of stamped."

A stroke of good fortmne, it is said, has befallen an officer serving with his regiment in the Khyber Pass. Some years ago he quarrelled with his father, ran away from home, and, as is common in such cases, enlisted as a private in a foot regiment. By degrees he rose, and now holds the position of an adjutant to his corps. Quite recently his father died, and evidently had forgiven his truant' son, seeing that he has left him a fortune of £60,000 and an estate neal,; Pvoqkferry , ''' in Cheshire, ■ - '