NEWS AND NOTES.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume X, Issue 1843, 1 February 1888, Page 2

NEWS AND NOTES.

Mr. John McGratb, of Porirua, is dead. The deceased leaves considerable property, some of which is in Manaia.

Ministers give a flat contradiction to the statement of the Wellington Post that a discussion in the Cabinet one day last week was so warm that the meeting was adjourned to allow them time to cool down.

Mr. Isaac Wilson has now disposed of the whole of his Ngaire land with the exception of one section, and has leased 850 acres, being sections 3, 4, 5, G, and 7, block xiii., Kaupokonui, to Mr. Arthur W. Wood, of Okoia, near Wanganui.

From an advertisement it will be seen that the annual congregational meeting of the Presbyterian Church will be held tomorrow evening in the church. Besides the business to be done, various speakers will give addresses on subjects in connection with church work.

Astley continues to make progress towards recovery. The charge on which he was arrested is one of receiving money under false pretences. It appears tbat he went to two or three young fellows in Wanganui last week, telling them he wanted to make a match with Cronin lor .£ls a side. He was successful in raising several pounds, and then took train for New Plymouth. As those he had duped were on the alert, however, the police were communicated with, and he was stopped at Hawera.

There are Beveral reasons for butter becoming strong, says Hoard's Dairyman. Among them are : — Using pails and pans that are not thoroughly cleaned from stale milk ; setting the stale milk in badly ventilated cellars or milk-houses ; keeping the milk too long, until it gets very sour ; keeping the cream too long; churning too slowly, or in an unclean chnrn ; not taking all the buttermilk out of the butter ; keeping the butter in a warm, badly aired, or mouldy place : these all cause the butter to become strong, which is the effect of decomposition in it. The food or water of the cow will also cause the trouble.

Old Augustus Loftus says under examination tbat he bad to file his shovel through entertaining the Governors and other notabilities daring the Sydney Exbibition ! I should think it would rather take the gaiety out of these viee -regal bospitalitieb in future for the distinguished guests to feel that their noble host may go broke presently and plead their swilling and guttling as the cause of bis bankruptcy 1 The best plan would be to have a regular tariff of charges, and each Governor or other swell to pay his shot weekly ! Or else to return to early colonial habits and customs t Steak and onions out of the frying pan on a leather jacket, and a billy of Orange Pekoe always simmering over the firestick ! — " Puff " in Wellington Press.

Burgeseesj who have not paid their rates, will observe that to-morrow will be the last day of grace, and that summonses will be issued without further notice. A meeting of the Church of England people in this district is to be held to-morrow evening. The Dioceaan Secretrry, Bey. Mr. Faucourt, will be present, and it is very much desired that all church people, who can find it convenient, Bhall be present. The proffered honor of knighthood has been accepted by the Premier, although not, we believe, (says the N.Z. Times) without some hesitation, as Sir Harry Atkinson has never been a seeker of empty titles, and would probably have been quite content to remain known in New Zealand by tho designation which in his case has been such an honorable one, "The Major." However, a public man and a Prime Minister is not always free ! to consult his own inclinations. The general satisfaction with which the knighthood of the Premier be will regarded will be to some extent marred (says the i Wellington Preee) by disappointment that the 6ame distinction has not been con- j ferred on Mr. Bryce. The reason why that gentleman's eminent public services have been ignored, is perfectly well known and is exceedingly discreditable to the Imperial Government. He was shamefully maligned by the worst Governor New ( Zealand ever had. He vindicated his fair fame in the most conspicuous manner possible, in an English Court of Justice, at the risk of all be possessed. It is a scandal that there Bhould still be a black mark against him at the Colonial Office ; and until that injustice is remedied, any appointments to the Order of Saint Michael and Sait George m this colony must necessarily be attended by some irritation and disfavor. The Canterbury Times of January 27 has the following : — " We learn from Dunedin that Mr. W. S. Armitage has determined to ship his well known hunter All Fours to England by the Fifeshire. All Fours was bred by Mr. J. S. Caverhill, in the Amuri, and is by the trotting stallion Prickwillow, out of Peeress, the dam of Boyalty and Tongariro. For several years he carried the huntsman of the Ashburton hounds, and established a reputation throughout South Canterbui'y as an extraordinary fencer. He afterwards went to Dunedin and then to Timaru. and for Borne years has carried Mr. Armitage to hounds, not without a fall, but without a mratake of his own making, and should he arrive safe and well in England he will be a creditable representative of colonial hunters." There is an error in this. All Fours is out of Lady Grey. The Wellington Preas fears that the colony will lose considerably owing to the bungle in the Loan Act. " The North Island Trunk Bailway Loan and the small loan authorised by tbe Public Bevenues Act are to be raised in March. They must be raised before the end of April to meet payments coming due. Upon what understanding, then, are they to be raised ? That is a question which will considerably affect their price. According to the distinct wording of the Act of last session, they will be the last loans to be raised by the colony in England for three years ; and, though that provision is in direct conflict with other parts of the Act, the money market will assuredly accept it as a valid pledge, unless explicitly warned to the contrary. The AgentGeneral will doubtless take care, as far as he can, that there is no misunderstanding on that point. ..... No matter what precautions are taken, however, there may always be some investors who will declare that they bought New Zealand bonds on the faith of the wording j of an Act of Parliament which precluded further borrowing for three years, and ! that that faith has been betrayed by the raising of another loan within a few months. In short, although the consequences of the blunder may not be disastrous, they can hardly fail to be more or less injurious. . . . There certainly ought to be some competent Parliamentary functionary, who does not sit up ail night, charged with the duty of examining every bill and every amendment of every bill, in order to ensure tbat the lawß shall be neither nonsensical nor disastrous, — except by intention. We must always expect to have nonsensical and disastrous laws, because the majority, or those who rule the majority, wish to have such laws passed. But it is rather too bad to have laws which are intended by the majority to be rational and beneficial made nonsensical or disastrous through the stupidity or carelessness of somebody, or nobody, outßide. We believe both these blunders are directly attributable to a gross job in the appointment of Beader to the House of Bepresentatives, which was perpetrated at the beginning of last session and against which we urgently protested at the time. We remind speculators of the sale of privileges in connection with the Egmont Race Meeting, a two days' meeting this year. Sale at Nolan, Tonks and Cos., sale yards to-morrow. " Rough on Rats." — Clears out rats, mice, roaches, flies, ants, bed-bugs, beetles,, insects, skunks, jack-rabbits, sparrows, gophers. At chemists and druggists. 1 " Buchu-Pajba.." — Quick, complete cure, all annoying Kidney, Bladder, and Urinary Diseases. At chemists and druggists. Kempthorne, Prosser & Co., Agents, Wellington. ________^_____ *