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Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7549, 20 August 1886, Page 2

On the fourth page will be -found an article entitled "A- Strange Breach of Promise Case." •• ' . . . '' ' There was no business at the Resident -. Magistrate's Court yesterday. The new uniforms for the. Naval Artillery corps arrived from Messrs. Hobson, and Co., London, by the s.s. Kiwi yesterday. ' ■ ■ .. ■ ; We have received from Dv Gilbert two pamphlets published by himself, one entitled ".Who are the true freethinkers?" and the other " The grandeur of trae manhood." Both pamphlets appear to be carefully written,, and will repay perusal. AVo 'regret to learn that tlio. energetic Spit guardian of tlio peace, Constable Harvey, has been laid up for somofow days past, from the effects of a severe kick or ralhov a series of kicks, lie received on one of his legs whilst in the execution of his duties some five or six years ago. • The sea was again rolling heavily in the bay last night, and once or twice the water broke over the top of the Marineparade 'wall. Tlic most noticeable instance, of this was at the rear of the Albion Hotel, a good stream of water finding its way into Hastings-street. At a meeting of the Hawke's Bay Rugby Football Union last evening, Mr V. Logan was appointed to select a team to play against the New South Wales visiting team. The secretary requests that those players ' who used the • uniforms in the Wellington- v. Hawke's Bay match will return them at once, as a monogram is to be worked, upon the uniforms, and this is to be put -in hand immediately. : • There was a full attendance of members of the committee of the Naval Volunteers last evening, when the plans of their drill hall were considered and passed. Specifications for the work are to be drawn' up at once, and the building will be pushed on with as little delay as possible; A vote of thanks was accorded to Mr W. P. finch for his geneious.offor to prepare the. plans and specifications and supervise the work gratis. The committee of tho Napier Park Racing Club met at the Caledonian Hotel yesterday, the president, Mr J. Closed in the chair... There was a full attendance. The meeting considered 24 applications for the position of secretary to the club, and finally appointed Mr A. T. Danvers. Fourteen new members were proposed, makin» the total strength of the club 10S. After the transaction of a mass of routine business the committee adjourned. A Christchurch telegram reports the prosecution of a" farmer for cruelty ', to animals in keeping cattle without food. We understand that an information of a similar character has been laid against a resident in tho "Waipawa district. It is alleged that he crowded sheep in a bare padtlock, that many of . them died, and that when opened it was shown' that they had died of starvation. One. would think that solf-iiiterest, if no' higher consideration, would deter men from such' cruelty, Tho residents of the Chinese camp wore highly pleased (says the Tiiapeha Times) that Mr Sing Lee should have got off so easily as with a ten-pound note, in connection with the disgraceful case printed toy • us a few days ago. They fully expected that he would either be "sent up"; or sentenced to a long term of imprisonment. A feasb was held at the camp in honour of the occasion, when several toasts were drunk, including that of the learned counsel who had so ably defended the case, the^ police, and the culprit. A very happy" evening was spent, and the utmost enthusiasm prevailed. The proceedings closed ■ with the National Anthem. ■ The small economics of the Prince ; of Wales' household are. well looked after by the society papers. For instance, "Atlas" in the World writes : — " Once more I regret to say that the young princesses wore, at the performance of 'Not at Home,' soiled and crumpled dresses of cream muslin and lace, with little capes' of ermine, which had seen better days, on their shoulders. Is it economy or careless ness that turns them oiit in such an extraordinary fashion ? It is, however, agreeable to be able to record that the Princess Louise of Wales had a fresh and pretty new frock on at the State ball on Wednesday night." M. Laboucliere is thus' severe on lawyers : — " As statesmen, or even as poli-, ticians, lawyors have been almost universally failures. Burke augured ill for France under the iirafc Constituent Assembly, because that Assembly contained so many lawyers. I have heard many lawyers address tho House of Commons, but I "cannot call to my mind above three who ever rose above nisi priits in a speech, or who had a real grasp of the subject. As— to cite Burke again— that eminent man said — ' A . lawyer can no more understand a great political issue than a mouse can understand the partmition of an elephant.' " At a religious meeting in America, a number of females stood upon the benches, notwithstanding that they were desired not to do so. A venerabje pastor then arose,and said, "I think, if these ladies knew they had holes in their stockings, they would sit down?" Upon which there was a great fidgetting among the ladies, and an immediate sinking into their seats. A young minister, who stood beside fhe venerable gentleman, blushing up to the temples, said, "Oh, brother, how could you say that? " " Say that ! " replied the old man. " Why, it must be a fact; if they had not got holes in their stockings, I should like to know how they could get them on." Lieutenant Colonel Playfair observed, in the Geographical Section of the British Association, that his experience in Tunis had proved in the most forcible manner (lie importance of preserving forests. In Roman times the proviuce of Africa arid the territory of Cartilage were the granary of Europe. In what was now practically a desert, the remains of magnificentßoman farms were everywhere found. The small hill sides were now nothing but sands. This was entirely- due to the , destruction of tho forests with which they used to be covered j for tho vegetable soil had been washed away into valleys, and there it was now to be found bnried beneath some feet of sand and water-worn pebbles. During recent cold weather in Florida millions of iish were frozen. Dwellers along the rivers turned iv at once and began clearing the fish away, and they began none too soon. They carted loads into then' orange groves and buried them j at tire roots of trees until they were afraid ; to dispose of any more iii that way, lest ■ the trees should bo killed. Then they ' began filling barrols.and boxes with the ] fish, and when they were full they stacked i up the iish in, mounds, and still dead lish j came ashore in millions. Abandoning any ( attempt to gather them lip, the dwellers ] along shorn raked them into iieaps along 1 the sand and shovelled wet sand and gravel j on them to keep down the stench. For I two weeks or more afterwards tho fish kept 1 coming ashore. i wV. curious incident in the lifo of tho late ' 1 iVI. Victor Hugo has just been made 1 known. When after the coup d'etat of ■* Dec. 2ho managed to escape from Paris J disguised as a workman, he took fhe < name, and carried in his pocket tho Hvrct, ! ol Miittliion Lam-in. It. now appears that' ' this choioi of a now name ■was by no ' means' a matter of chance. Eight years < before tho poet had befriended an ouvrier * named Matthieu Lanvin, and had :pro- £ cured for him a situation. When, after 1 tho Empire had been proclaimed, Victor | Hugo was proscribed, and had to ily, it ' was doubtless the same Matthieu Lanvin, a who not only suggested a name to his * benefactor, but by giving him his li'vret c enabled him to support his assumption of J it in a manner most likely to allay the * police suspicion. Tlio bread had been >> cast on the waters to .some purpose in this <■ particular instance. An extraordinary consternation has been oxcitcd in Ghent, Belgium, by some vevehv- jj lions which have buon imulo by ti band of I v

-thipvea caiiinK . themselves '-'-Tfio Black Cravats." When they we're arrested (says the Paris correspondent of the Melbourne Argus) they were found t6 be in possession of a number of 'valuable articles," Avhich were supposed to bo a' portion of their booty. But the thieves protested they were the, reward of their .participation in nameless' crimes, involving in .their infamy some of the foremost citizens •In Ghent.-. -Unhappily, "the loathsome' story proved to be .too true,/ and one of; the persons .'implicated- poisoned himself ; with., strychnine immediately after.", his, examination by tlie magistrate, a second (a foreign consul) blew'liis brains, out, a third drowned himself, a fourth put an end to his life by hanging, and two other, suicides arc recorded. ■ ■ ' ', ; '- A jury sat on May 21, at the Liverpool , Sheriffs Court, to assess the damages in an action for breach' of promise," broughtby Margaret Lloyd, of Liverpool,, against Adam Hall, of St. .Anne's-on-Sea. The parties nietMn 1875, while the plaintiff was on a" visit to some friends at Bury, where the defendant also had relatives. Defendant paid .her marked attention, and they went yachting and boating together. He then made a promise of marriage, which was accepted by the plaintiff, who introduced him, to her relatives and friends. During courtship about SOO.lettors were written by defendant; Some of these, which were of a most affectionate description, were. read. Defendant in his evidence said they frequently quarrelled. He had investments which brought in only £100 yearly, and he could not afford to marry. Two years after theiv : engage- • irient lie asked to'be released,' but plaintiff declined. The jury awarded the plaintiff . £90,0 damages. ". • ' -■■-'■■ ; - According to the description of <i certain locality in the neighborhood of Ghuznec'street given at a meeting of the Benevolent Society it .would apv pear that Wellington has asmuch reason to be ashamed of its housing of the poor; as many'olde'r cities. A lady connected with the Ladies' Christian Association', in" an interview with the trustees respecting' ■the case of an unfortunate creature' who had been refused admission at thehoa-. -pital, stated'-'that the"- sick "woman had. ieen taken from a hovel., which appeared to have been • built of grocers' packing boxes, and resembled a fowlhouse more ; than anything else. ; It" was also stated that several people lived in, this den, in comparison with which an iron tank on' , the reclaimed land, would-, appear to; be a .desirable residence, and- that on a recent occasion When a. certain minister of ■ religion went to visit the woman referred, to,' who ■\vrts reported to tie dying,, he was threatened with violence for. daring to intrude. — New Zealand Times. • > The following description of banks and, banking in the colonies is extracted from " Tlie Cruise of the Bacchante" :— " The. third thing we particularly noticed while' in, Australia was the line buildings, that, seemed to bear more than a due proportion to the shops and private residences, both in large and small towns. Of these' tlje chief were always tlie banks. Banks lend money, and always require On this they foreclose, and all over the country are the stations that belong to this or that bank. The banks set capital afloat through the country^ If the -bor- 1 rower is. fortunate, energetic, ', able, and' industrious, lie pays his, interest, wipes, off his debt, and blesses tlie banker. : Ifhe is neither one of them, the -bank eaja him up. They sometimes. close their jaws on the squatters,' and eat one of these up as well. Squatters with limited capital borrow ; money on tho security of their' station, stock, or wooL If they go itoo far they get embarrassed, and the end of' embarrassment here, as in the Old Coun--try and tlie world over, is the same." ! . Te Whiti-hos improved upon his effort" of ,1881; when he propounded the riddle, "Tlie' potato is cooked." He.-Jias now, announced that "The egg is blown." The shell of an ogg, the contents having been blown out, liave been forwarded -to a "VVanganui chief, and underneath the address are these words : ■" Na Te-Whiti, . Ponekc. " There is room (says the_ Hawcra Star) for plenty of solutions of this riddle;It has one advantage : over' the cooked potato, that an empty egg-shell will' bear carriage the better of .the two. The following solutions are v offered :— That ]Te Whiti havin" been taken, his, house at' Pftrihaka is but an empty shell, and further meetings there are deprecated; that the fight at Hastie'a lias had the desired, effect, 'and there is no use in incubating the eggs of that poHcy any longer ; that the result of Te Whiti's Wellington consultations with Mr Kees have convinced him' of the hopelessness of looking for any satis-' factory outcome of his agitation policy. No donbt such riddles-are open to hundreds-, of solutions ; the right one being, of course,' that which" is afterwards found to square, best with the developments of the future.,The scene alter the vote on tho Home Kule Bill (says "Atlas" in the World)' , quite throws into the shade anything that has occurred, in the House within the memory of living- man. Mr AshmeadBavtlett was'sacrilegionsly called a " tin-j pot militianmn;" such- words as' liar, thief, and scoundrel were freely bandied, and lists (some not too cleanly) were i shaken in the face' of Mr Chamberlain. Mr Seager-Hunt was the subject of actual | assault "and battery, and Lord Harting- " ton's waistcoat was torn in the melee. At one time a free fight seemed inevitable. The cheers and counter - cheers were taken up by the spectators ; a, mob of all sorts ana. conditions of men ' took possession of the outer lobby, where Lord-Har-rington (somewhat ruffled by his experience inside) received an ovation; aaid amongst' the distinguished visitors sat tranquilly the "autocrat of the breakfast, table," who talked pleasantly to the diplomatists till M. de Stael. claimed his' place. : • i News received in Palmerston, Queensland, from the township of Mocarthur, diselosss a singular state of things. . The white population numbers 150, and there is a considerable number of Europeans.on tho stations. Drunkenness and rowdyism , are rampant, and there is a perfect epi : domic of lawlessness. The, crime and outrages which have been .perpetrated beggar description. AU the Queensland outlaws flock there, and horse:stealirig, forgery,and crimesof violence arecommon, while debts are repudiated. Horses stolen in Queensland are brought there, and vice versa. The place is daily growing worse. • Drunken men practise all day in the streets with rifles and revolvers. A per-.' feet reign of terror exjsts, ,and respectable people submit, being in fear of their lives. A gang of rowdies stuck up two stores,' but the proprietors resisted,' and,- -the. crowd retired, after firing their rifles' into' the stores. Respectable people talk of establishing Lynch law; The manager' of one station says that one notorious scoundrel is butchering his cattle and selling them to the public. It is impossible to hold a public meeting, as the J blackguards form a majority. The ex.istenco of grog shanties has much" to do with tlie demoralisation. ■ The Wangatatta murder trial - has . ended in the acquittal of the accused, Mrs Stevens. John Plum was a farmer, living separate . from his . wife, near Waugaratta. Mrs Stevens Svas' a woman of no character, living near him.,On a Thursday night she went, by iiivitation, to stay At his house. She was seen there on 'the Thursday evening. On ' the Friday ' evening Plum's house ' was burned down, and his body was found in the ruins. Arsenic was found in his stomach, and a large sum of money, which he was known to have had,- could , not be discovered. The money was got' concealed ' in. Mrs Stevens' woodheap. The theory for the prosecution was- that she poisoned Plum, stole his money, and then burned his house down. But except that his money. was found on her premises there was actually noevidenco against her. Sho had arsenic in. her' lionso, but' she was in the Habit of using if to preserve birds. She denied she-had ever been near Plum's house, bub as she went thore for an immoral purpose ■ a denial could have been expected. She did not attempt to prove herself innocent by showing what she did with herself all day on Friday; but the law did not require her to do so. She simply had to defy the Crown to pro'vo her guilty, and this she did successfully. Mrs Stevens therefore vent hoc, though, as the Chief Justico said, it wns a most suspicious case. In our day there has been no movo delightful humorist. When he died the Press of England and America Was filled with tributes to his memory. In New York a meeting of newspaper folk was held, at which it was resolved tliat Iris memory should really and truly bo per-, petuated. The wanner in which this was: done is amusingly told in the following letter : — " A few summers since I passed a week's vacation at Waterfowl, Haine, and during my visit went' to the village graveyard to view the final resting place of Artemus Ward. With some trouble I found tho grave, there being nothing about tho plain white slab to distinguish' ifc horn many .similar ones around. While thinking and ; wondering that no monument had ever been. erected to the humorist, a country-, man approached, to whom I said,•Sly friend, can you tell me why it is that Artemus never hns had a monument erected to his memory V ' Well, stranger, I guess I kin,' was the ropty. ' You see,: arter Artomus died, three or four hundred printer fellows down in New York got 1 together and passed some bqaufciful resolutions, saying that Artemus should have a monument, and they would pay for it then and there ; and then thfey took up a collection, which amounted to 20 dollars and 00 cents, so I'm told : and since thon this town hain't soon either nionumont or money ; but stranger, we did get a copy of the rdso/itiioiis I'" ..