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Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7632, 4 January 1887, Page 2

On .the fourth page will be found an article entitled " Strange Phenomena at Rochester, N.Y."

A sharp shock 'of earthquake was felt at Waipawa at 5 o'clock on Sunday morning, the direction of the tremor being east and west. '

The railway along tlie breastwork at the Spit is in a bad condition arid the railway employees had to be at work all day on Sunday making repairs, &c.

At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, before Mr G. A. Preece, R.M., Charles Jones and James Newton were each fined 5s and costs' for drunkenness.

Miss Letitia Frances Selwyn, a sister of the late Bishop Selwyn, of New Zealand, died at her residence, Kendal Lodge, Richmond, on Sunday, November 7th.

The inmates of the Refuge will be taken for an outing at Petane to-morrow. They will be conveyed there and back in two of Mr W. Villers' coaches, kindly granted for their use' free of charge. .

Tho Napier Ride Cadets met for drill in Waterworth's Hall last night, Captain Adams in command, "There was. a. good muster of both squads, and the lads acquitted themselves very creditably.

The ordinary monthly meeting of the Chamber of Commerce should have been held yesterday, but fell through for lack of a quorum. Messrs M. R. Miller, J.-T. Carr, and N. Kettle attended, and adjourned the meeting.

The grass on the improved side of Clivesquare is perishing for want of water. There are four or five water taps on the ground, and a moderate length' of indiarubber piping would enable the' whole of the ground to ho watered.

Captain Adams desires to acknowledge with thanks the. folio wing further (Subscriptions towards the Napier liille cadets' uniform fund :— " It. D. ,M," £5 ; Mr G. Richardson, £1 ; Mr E. Lyndon, 10s ;- Mr J. W. Craig, 10s'; "J. II." 2s 6d; W. H.Duncan, £1 Is.

The stewards of the Napier Park Racing Club have received a letter from MrM. llyan asking them to reconsider the disqualification of his inareKatherinq, soias to allow him to bring forward evidence. This matter will be brought before the committee this evening.

At tho ordinary fortnightly meeting of Court Sir Charles Napier, A.0.F,, held last night, it was decided to celebrate the anniversary of the Court on January 28th by a smoke concert in the Foresters' Hall, A committee, was appointed to mako the necessary arrangements.

The miners' votes are to be got for the Government somehow. The Wellington Post says-: — "The Mines' Department have issued a, complimentary Christmas card to the miners throughout the colony, as a sort of reminder that they and their interests are being fully looked after. This is quite a new departure, but one which will doubtless be appreciated by the mining community of New Zealand. There is an appropriate engraving on the card, which is very handsomely got up."

We regret to hear that Mr F. Tankard, who has been bandmaster to tha Garrison Band for more than' six years, and has in that time brought the players under his charge to their present high state of efficiency, has sent in his resignation. We understand .that this, step is due to the fact that the positioirof bandmaster carries with it no remuneration, and that Mr Tankard can no longer afford to give his services gratuitously. Every other Garrison Band in the colony pays its conductor.

According to the superstitious, the year just closed should have proved one of the liiost unfortunate on recerd, owing to the number of events celestial and terrestial which occurred on that unhickiest of all days, Friday. The year 1886 began on a Friday, ended on a Friday, and saw no fewer" than S3 Fridays. Four months in the year liad five lMdays in them. Five changes of the moon occurred on a Friday, and both the longest and the shortest days of the twelvemonth wero Fridays.

The lighters had to wait for berthage turns at the breastwork yesterday, another proof of the inadequacy of the accommodation for the increasing trade of the port. In another sense the delay was good evidence fliat the breastwork in the Iron Pot was not commenced any too soon. The improvement has not yet resulted in what is needed, as the dredge requires overhauling, and consequently there are no berths available for landing cargo, . .

The present " Liberal " Government passed ft law by which it is possible- to line a photographer for "i taking a, view " on Sunday, or a carter for driving a team on that day, as has been done in Hawke's Bay. This, however, docs riot prevent the Government setting linemen at work'on the railways on Sundays. Perhaps this is not the result of smug hypocrisy, butcomes of a desire to let the common people know that they must not look over the hedges because their superiors steal horses.

In a sermon at Auckland recently the Rev, A. Reid, Wesloyan minister, took {he Heir Apparent to tusk for his Sab-bath-breaking propensities. He saidtlie Prince of Wales, in answer to the prayer of the. Sabbatarians, was a few years afro hronght back from i^jie verge of the grave, and now he opeuly insulted the best feel-' ings of tho religious community ,of the old land by calling a business meeting on a Sunday) and by inviting the AgentsGeneral lie also insulted these colonies. Ho trusted Sir I' 1 . D. Hell would bo made to feel that New Zealand disapproved of his action in attending such a meeting.

A party of theatrical amateurs from Napier visited Danevirko on New Year's Bay, and in the evening gave a performance including a comedy, farce, and singing to a moderate hut appreciative audience. A counter attraction elsewhere that was not over till late resulted in the first patron ot the entertainment not putting in an appearance till 8.20 o'clock, but BOine time later, when the curtain rose, the front seats of tho hall wove comfortably filled, Tho (Iraniaticparty spent tho following morning 'vuralising in the bush, and in the afternoon they "wero driven to Woodville. The horses were fast and staunch,' the road good, the weather fine, and. the scenery delightful, so that the party thoroughly enjoyed themselves, returning to town yesterday greatly pleased with their outing.

The dryness of tho last two years is conclusively shown by some iipures courteously . supplied by Mr Cartwright Brown, detailing the rainfall at Ureenmeadows :— Last year the monthly record was as follows:— January, 3"4S inches; February, 1 "07 ; March, l - 28 ; April, 2-41 ; May, 2-87; June, T2B; July, Q7O; August, 182; September, 228 ; October, 1-77 ; November, 3'OS; December, 0"10; total, 22'7-i. There were 114 days on which rain foil, but only on. 92 in any appreciable quantity. In ISBS the rainfall was 2S-34 inches; in 188-1, 42'2-i inches; and in 1883, 48'1'linches. During 18S6 thcro were no fewer than 200 windy days, on 7 of which it blew a gale, and there was not a single day on which there was absolutely no wind.

Tliove was a' good case of turning # /ie tables on New Year's Day, result i"fa' inn-would-be hitter Retting hit, i*ncl prettyheavily. Early in the nion-'i'g "• gentleman discovered • in liis oo.aWl-housc, sleepiiig in the toiggy, a Up J«»lM.»fi vagrant

curled up ver|s- comfortably. . . When, awoke, lie, was impertinent, so a. policeman was sent for. .This' roused the. vagrant's ire to a great degree, and while tlie messenger was absent the gentleman was threatened . with assault. He.took

little notice of the threat until an attempt was made to put it' into execution, when he went for the pugilistic loafer in scientific stylo, aud gave him "a_ real good hammering." The most nrominent result to tho vagrant of. the beating was a very pronounced black eye, so that he will possibly seek. retirement for a day or two, in order to- avoid curious questions by the police. A meeting was held at the Town Hall last evening, his Worship the Mayor in the chair, to consider the desirability of publicly celebrating the laying of the first block of the breakwater. There was a good attendance of representatives pf the variousMasonicLodges,FriendlySocieties, Volunteer companies, and the* Napier Fire lirigr.de. The Mayor stated that the meeting that evening was the result of one held on the preceding Thursday at which the town members of the Harbor itaa.nl were present. At that meeting it was felt desirable that there should be a public demonstration in honor of the. coinineiiceiueiit of such a groat work, and tho following resolutions were passed :— " That the lirsfc stone of -the breakwater

be laid {if practicable) on Thursday, January Kith, at 3 o'clock; that the Mayor be asked to convene a meeting' of rcpresertatives of the several Volunteer companies, fire brigades,. Masonic and Friendly Society Lodges, to act in conjunction witli the HarUor Board Committee, in arranging the form of the d< ; i!iii;;.--.!:-.;ii'in j that the stone be laid by tlie Chairman of the Board." , It was proposed by the Mayor, seconded by Mr Cotton, and carried, "That the Holiday Association be asked to declare a halfholiday on the date named. Some discussion then took place on the general arrangements to be adopted. It was pointed out that many ot the representatives present could, not pledge the bodies represented, as they had not met to discuss the question. The meeting was consequently adjourned till Friday evening next, at S o'clock, in order that in the meanwhile the various Friendly Societies may meet and decide whether they, can' take part in tho proposed procession. According to a statement officially made by the Mayor of Adelaide, the rates in the capital of South Australia have fallen from £40,000 to £20,000 per annum owing to the depreciation in the value of property there, " This indicates a decline of 50 per cent.

A terrible disaster occurred recently on the Chicago-Milwaukee railway. Afreight train ran on to a siding to permit_ an express' to pass: The brakesman failed to shift the switch, and the express ran into the freight train, completely wrecking the cars. Tlie debris caught Tire, burning 13 persons tt> death. The scene is described as most shocking.

The Economist points out that Russia cannot pay her way. without continued borrowing. The;' regime of Sir Julius Yogel appears to be dangerously ' near bringing about the same state of things for New Zealand, as our revenue continues to decrease. The returns for the last month compared with the corresponding period of last year, show a big decrease, and the deficiency -for the past nine months is no loss than £104,584 as compared with the corresponding period in 1885.

A country parson, writing to the Essex Chronicle, gives the following extract from the balance-sheet of his '.' benefice." Dr.— Gross income, £396. Cr.— Poor rates, £48 9s 8d; land tax, £30 7s 6d; house duty, £1 6s 3d ; highway rate, £6 ; income tax, £11 6s (id ; tenths, &c, £1 4s 6d ; total deductions, £108 12s sd. The writer asks— '"ls 1 anyone in any, other profession taxed like this in proportion ?" This very much bears out what we said last week as to the amount which an incumbent. is mulcted being nearly six shillings, in the pound. — Church Review. The first portion of the collection 'of autographs of the late Lewis J. Cist was Bold dv auctionin New York last month. Mr Cist was upwards of fifty years in forming his collection, which numbered 11,000 examples. The gem of the collection was a set of autographs, of. the signers of the American Declaration of Independence, which were reserved at an upset price of £450. Singularly enough, the finest set in existence is in the possession of Her Majesty. Comprised in tho collection were autographs of most of the world's celebrities of medireval and modern times. "Is there any reason," writes a correspondent of the Pall Mall Gazette, " why latter day Tories should not speak the Queen's English ? AYe laughed at Major Saunderson's bull about Bulgaria— ' Sir, she was man enough to resist Russia.' But what about Mr Chaplin's speech on Tuesday, in which he described Bradford as being ' rather radical in the extreme I' (See Times report.) . The climax, however, is reached by Lord Randolph Churchill in his speech yesterday ! ' The voice of England, which sounded so clearly at the last general election, would , not be lost sight of,' (St. James' Gazette report.)" Lord Randolph does not, we believe, love Lord Cross ; but'our correspondent's letter recalls that nobleman's famous observation about " hearing someone smile." . • ■ • . One of the severest hailstorms on record

is reported by the Rome correspondent of the titcmtlarcl to have occurred at Ascona, in Italy. The hailstones which fell during twenty minutes were perfectly spheroidal in form, gradually increasing in size from that of ; a hazel nnt to that of a' large orange. Telephone wires were destroyed to a great extent; much glass was broken, the damage to the roof of tho railway station alone amounting to 6000fr, Several persons were badly wounded at Assisi the same night, in a cyclone which lasted seven or eight minutes. The campanile of the Convent of St. Andrea was blown down. Many buildings were unroofed, orange gardens and vineyards were devastated, and a cypress tree 150 years old, in- the garden of the ancient Convent of San Francesco, was torn up by the roots. A writer in the Bcvua Scientijfquc affirms that from a comparison of animal and steam power, the former is the cheaper power in France, whatever may be tlie case in other countries. In the conversion of chemical to mechanical energy, 90 per cent, is lost in the machine, against 68 in the animal. M. Sanson, the writer above referred to, finds that the steam horse power, contrary to what is generally believed, is often materially oxceeded by the horse. The cost of traction on the Mont-Parnasse-Bastille line of railway he found to be for each car, daily, 67 francs, while the same work done by horse cost only 47. francs'. M. Sanson believes that for moderate powers the conversion ol chemical into mechanical energy is ' more economically effected through animals than through steam

engines.

A moonlighting outrage, possessing features of special atrocity, was perpetrated on October 4 at a place called Glonutenanfinane, near King "SVilliamstown,

Kerry. The victims were two young ladies, named Kate and Bridget Jones, daughters of a respectable farmer, Daniel Jones, lbetter known locally as .Captain Jones. At half-past seven that morning a party of Moolighters forced open, the door of .Mr Jones's 'dwelling, and demanded a gun of the young ladies who came to the door, apparently attracted by the. noise. They spiritedly refused the demand' of the assassins, and were immediately shot without warning! They are both dangerously wounded. Kate, tho elder, was shot above the right eye, and lies in a dying state, whilst Bridget, the younger, though less seriously hurt, received a bullet wound in the arm, which causes grave doubts as to her Tot covery. The King Willianistown polico arrived on the spot about, an hour after the thieves had left, but none' of the murdering baud^havo baeu arrested. ' A terrible mining disaster is reported from lilionish Prussia. In the Consolidation Mine, near Sclialk, in the district of Dortmund, an explosion occurred at nn hour when there were 420 miners in the pit. According to one of the men who was rescued, a stream of gas was suddenly noticed to be issuing from a fissure, and immediately afterwards came in contact with a lamp, whereupon a dark-blue Dame instantly seemed to fill the mine. This was followed directly afterwards by a terrible pressure of the air. The attempt 'to rescue the miners began about noon, and did not conclude till 11 o'clock at night. Forty -five men were brought to the pit's bank dead. Another man was so injured that ho died on the way to the hospital, where 16 men, all suffering from dreadful injuries, were lying. One or two of them have become ins.aiic. Half those killed in tho mine perished through the explosion, the others by suffocation. Most of the dead leave behind them large families in a state of destitution. The explosion quite destroyed the galleries of tho mine for a length of more than 3000 ft. A ghastly pantomime, recalling to mind Poo's narrative of the galvanising of a mummy, has been enacting at the Paris Practical School of Surgery, wliero the bodies of Frcy and Viviere, who were executed, were placed at tho disposal of tho surgeons to experiment on. A number of experiments were made, iimong them the following :— To re-establish the circulation in the severed heads, the veins -wore injected wilh' blood taken from a living animal. The sldp of i!.e f.ics, previously livid; liccumo charged with color, the Jii'& recovered their 'natural red, tho cheeks filled out, irregular niovowontß agitated the p skin, and the faces resinned the appearance of life. Electric currents were passed through the facial nerves, and the contractions of the face were noted. There were; hpwover, no results in tho slightest ilogreo indicative of any restoration to life w consciousness.

The nerves shortly ceased;: to betray any, sensibility,, and it. was- evident" that all perception and sensation was at au end. 1

The London correspondent of the Dublin Evening. Mail is responsible for the following -.—Many people will learn with great regret that the Key. Stopford Brooke,- the popular and gifted minister of Bedford Chapel, has lost his reason; and is undergoing cpn : finement. ' He lias' been _ doing too much mission, work all his life,"- but more especially of late, and this will, account for ,his health having at. last given way. It would be impossible to enumerate the many kindly acts performed by this . good-hearted clergyman, in the carrying out of which ho lias been greatly assisted by his ' two daughters. One generous custom- of MiBrooke lias ' been to give teas to the many sandwich-men- of London, when his daughters hayc i amused them for hours by playing and singing to them. Mr Brooke himself is a magnificent reader and elocutionist, and a strong advocate of .temperance. His kindly, voice and pleasing manner will be sadly missed by thousands of the poorsr classes in London and the suburbs.

The London correspondent of the Auckland Herald writes:— "The Sydney Chamber. of Commerce have communi-

cated to the London Chamber a protest on behalf of themselves and the Adelaide Chamber, against the anomaly of allowing farthing bids in the case of River Plato wools, while halfpenny bids are insisted

upon in the case of Australian wools. This protest lias been passed on from the London Chamber tto the London Wool Committee. The latter appear to be rather annoyed at' the action of the Colonial Chambers in communicating with the London Chamber of Commerce instead of- with themselves. They say that the London Chamber lias nothing whatever to do with the wool trade, and

that any protest of this nature should .have. been communicated to them. In any case,: however, it seems that the question raised by the Australian Chambers is not likely to be entertained, because the Australian wool trade is 'too huge in its dimensions to be dealt with on such a slow basis as' that of farthing bids. Moreover; the Wool Committee declare, that thepractice of half-penny bids doesnot affect Australia to the same degree, as the Cape, whose wools are nearly all of a low class, and therefore bid for at low prices and small rises." Two shocking domestic tragedies are reported in the Victorian papers. At South ■ Melbourne recently a yomig hiother cut the throat of her two-year-old child, and then killed herself. It appears

that her husband,, William Wiggins, 22 ■years of age, followed the occupation of an itinerant knife and scissors grinder. He and his wife, who was 25 years of age, had not been long in the colony. They had come from Northampton, where they" were married privately, Mrs Wiggins' relatives being people of wealth 'there. Since they arrived they had suffered continually poverty, and, though of sober habits, had- been living from hand to mouth. . They were both> fond of each other, but latterly the wife had betrayed signs of lunacy, and was sent to the Kew Lunatic Asylum in September last, but afterwards allowed out on probation, but her terrible surroundings preyed, on- her mind. The poverty of this luckless couple is shown by the statement of the police sergeant who visited their domicile. . To use his words, "They had no' chair, no table, no stool ; they had nothing except a wad of straw to lie upon." . The second tragedy occurred at Taralga, near Goulbourn. A farmer' named Spicer left his home for. a few hours. . When he re- - turned he found his child, which was six months old, dead on' the bed, and his wife in another, room hanging by the ■neck, also dead. It is supposed that the woman took her child's life and then her own.. /' , : ' t An ingenious method- of roll-stuffing-which has been practised in the Thames county has lately caused .'considerable indignation on the pare of the bonu fideratepayers iv the district. It' happens, that a gentleman who takes a prominent, part in county affairs owns a large block of township land in which there are numerous vacant sections. In order, then, to. swell the number of persons entitled to vote at the county elections, these unoccupied allotments are nominally let to inhabitants of the neighboring borough, dr of other parts of tho country, at 3s por annum. The lessees then apply to' the' County Council that their names may be placed on the valuation roll for the riding, ajul about two years ago 9S voters were thus created in a block on the eve of an election. An attempt was made in the Magistrate's Court to resist the insertion of the names, but it was unsuccessful. Two or three weeks ago it seemed likely that the number of electors in the riding was again to be augmented in this extraordinary ■ way. One resident' in the riding, anxions to ensure, fair play, there-, fore went to the property-owner and agreed to take up all the'i vacant allotments* in theblcbk, numbering about 100, at 3s each, stipulating,', however, that they should all be placed on tho roll in' the name of one person, and that the. rates should be left unpaid until after next election, so that even this one bogus vote should not be recorded. But on proceed-, ing ( to the office of the land agent it was found that every section had already been let, so that the arrangement was frustrated. A lively meeting of the ratepayers of the riding lias since been held, and a vigilance committee appointed, to " use its utmost endeavors to secure the electoral rights of bona fide residents." The landlord attended the meeting and defended his right to sell or lease' his laud. as. he chose, stating . openly that he had "both the power and. the audacity to do so. The committee intend to wait' on the County' Council and request that body to refuse all applications from persons who seek to be pieced on the roll by 'virtue of their being the holders of receipts in respect of vacant allotments, thus compelling the applicants to establish their rights in the Magistrate's Court. ...

It is requested that accounts against tho lalo C. IT. Wobor bo sont in at onco to Mr Arnold C. AVcber.

Mrs Montague, Faulknor'a buildings', Hast-,ingß-street, wants to buy ladies' ana gontlomen's loft-off clothing. * Tho ilndor of a' small, brown, iron trunk, containing ammunition, &c.,lost after removal from tho Hehald ofllco on tho day of tho rcuont firo, ia requested to rolurn it to tho Hbralv ofllco.

Mr W. 11. Millor insorts n list of rams which he line beon instructed to sell at the approaching ram fair at Hastings on tho 26th instant. Liulios willing to tnko up systematic; visiting •work nro invited by tho Women's Christian Tomperanco Union to moot at 1 o'clock on Thursday nftoroon at St. Paul's solvoolvoom. A mooting of tho genoral committee of the Working Men's Club horticultural show and promenado' concert will bo hoid to-morrow evening. ' ■ Messrs Oar-tor and Co. advortise prices for print saloon costumes. Several now advertisements of vacant sitna-. tions uro insortcd in tho " wanted " column on tho front page. ■ • ."•••'

Ono mallei 1 of gonornl interest to Uioso who rcquiro useful and orniuhcnlal urlioles— visit tho exhibition nfc onco. Tho exhibits avo QfforcCl til iiaioulgwly low prices. .Kto wuj

Cl'os&inVlto ihspoofloii, as tho' oxhibitlbn'willj bq qlo'scd at an parly, date. ,-}• \\. */'■,'-!: ■■ :;.' ; : .' ti* '] ";•■'•' ; , ' sALES/&6v-iHis pky.v' ' ' Land, Mr.Edward Lyndon, at hisrp6ms,'Z.' v: . 'Meeting- ot flnuneo committee ■ of. Naplor. JsTaval Artillery, 8.- .-. -•- *•'. - >-,-/•;<:' „ , - , Nominations close fo'r.Napior Handicap ana Burko Memorial • Stakes, to bo' run 'at '■ tho Hawke's Bay Jockey Club's autumn meeting, Critorion Hotol, 9. • -„ ,: •

John'MiVay Jias the largest,; best, and cheapest stocK of ScTodlery in tno colony.— [Advt.]- ■* •' ' 25?