THE Marlborough Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12, 1887.

Marlborough Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2057, 12 January 1887, Page 2

THE Marlborough Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12, 1887.

R.M, Court. —The adjourned charges of disturbing a concert at Marlboroughtown will come on for hearing in the R.M, Court to-day, Picton Borough Council. —The ordinary monthly meeting of the Borough Council will take place to-night at the usual time and place. Borough Council— Th. s Borough Council met in committee last night to consider the Gasworks question but owing to the absence of several o.f the Councillors it was decided to adjourn until next Tuesday night. Business Changes. Mr Hustwick has, we understand, disposal of his business to Mr Honry Lawson Jackson, and the latter has entered into partnership with Mr Elson. Mr Jackson will arrive from England within two or three months, and in the meantime the business will be carried on as usual in the premises now occupied by Messrs Elson and Hustwick. Forthcoming Entertainments- —We understand that an early date will he I fixed for a concert in aid of the Choir < Fund of Sc Mary’s Roman Catholic 1 Church. It is intended also to give i another performance of “ Trial by Jury” t by the members and friends ol the Choral i Society in aid of the fund 3 of rho Wairau i Cricket Club. May we expro.-s the hope t that the last-named performance may re- a suit in the resuscitation of a most useful i and efficient Society r : £

Pflorus Road Board, —Our Havelock correspondent wires under yesterday’s date A meeting of the rate-pavers was held in Mahakipawa yesterday, and after fully dismissing matters, it was proposed by Mr John Duncan and seconded by Mr G;egg, “.That this meeting cordially supports the borrowing proposals submitted to them by the Pelorus Road Board, more especially with regard to the forming a dray road between the Kaituna and Maha* kapawa.”. Carried unanimous’y. The Rabbit Pest. ’ — Rabbits hive ruined many owners in all the Colonies,fu which they have gained a footing, while the amount spent in fighting the pest and loss through iheir destroy ing pas.ure and crops is enormous. The Messrs Robertsons of Cola-, near Gee’ong, Victoria, spent £45,000 in clearing their run and putting a s‘one wall 3ft in the ground round it, Sumviino Of. — “ Gentleman- of the jury,” said an eminent Judge as he finished his summing up, “ it is perhaps unnecessary forme tu beg that you will consider this case with the greatest iinpar-tia-ity ; but kindly heir in min 1 that the prisoner wan at the scene of the crime,and his counsel was dining with mo at the time that the crime was committed. “ Ouida ” on Wojt” • ’■ Ouida” the novelist, writing upu>. ..oniaa suffrage, says :—The Ar.il) who weeps whan a female child is born to him is perhaps,more correct in his measurement of the sex than the American, who is prepared to make her the spoiled and wayward sovereign of his household. Stringent RegulmoNs.— At the inspection parade of the Blenheim Rifles held last i ight, Captain Rogers pointed out that the new regulations hal been in force since the commencement of the year, and all volunteers absent from parade without reasonable excuse were subject to a fine of one shilling, which must be paid within a week, after which time the Captain of the corps was compelled to hand over the names of defaulters to the CLrk of the Court, and the matter was then out of his hand. Volunteers who are unable to attend parade should be careful to forward a written excuse. Tiie Biter Bit. At a Waitara cbuich, on Sunday week, a larrikin put a conversation lozenge in the plate while a eol'oetion was being taken. The churchwarden denounced the perpetrator of this gi-033 insult before the whole congregation, and the general verdict was that tho exposure was wo'l merited. Reforming Her.— Down in Dunedin a woman named Bridget Kayo has been released from gaol for the 129th time. Her sentences havo been the penalties for almost every class of crime, and it would bo interesting to know how much she lias cost the Stato in the evidently hopeless attempt to make her feel the error of her ways. Concert, —A concert is to be held tonight in Ewm-t’s Hall in aid of the \Veslevon Church. A number of well-known local favorites will appear, and as there is also a sprinkling of outside talent the concert should be a successful one. Agency. —Mr Francis J. Fox, Assistant General Secretary of the Colonial Mutua Life Assurance Society, is now in Blenheim and has appointed Mr Thomas Wat son as travelling representative. Members nf the Society are requested to assist Mr Watson and tho resident agents, Messrs Sinclair and Macalister, in extending the-business by making known the advantages of the new improved Tontine system introduced by the ColoniilMutula. A notification to policy-ltoldere appears elsewhere. He Didn’t Understand. Sporting terms are a little difficult to understand by those who take only a passing interest in such matters ; but the term “ Maiden race” ha. 3 been so loug used to designato a contest for beginners that pretty well all might have been expected to understand it. However, a young lady was, in all good faith, entered by her father for the Maiden race at Hawera on Saturday. Explanations subsequently ensued, and the entrance money was returned. A Fearful Weapon. —The Yankees are becoming notorious for the inventions of infernal machines. Their latest achievement, which hails from Boston, is, however, for use in open warfare, and is desiguated the “ War-Turtle.” It is a steel-clad machine, and is propelled by an engine of irresistible power enclosed in its body. It creeps slowly but surely along i he ground, and can even ascend a steep iiill. In addition to discharging fiOOtf bu'lets a minute, it is able to throw with accuracy 20 dynamite bombs in thejsaine spice of time. Only two men are res quired to d rect the movements of the machine and they are fully protected. The ‘‘ War-Turtle,” as yet, has not been publicly tested, and perhaps never will. Draught Horses. —According to a recent issue of the Live Stock Journal, it would appear that there is great scarcity of draught horses in New Zealand. Since the commencement of large importations to Sydney some four years ago, no fewer than 10,000 have been sent thither fr m Lyttelton alone. Even this large number doe 3 not fully represent the loss of the colony, for many farmers who, in consequence of the prices of grain, gave up cropping also gave up breeding horses and tlir-ir brood mares went the way of their worki ig teams—to Sydney. The Sydney buyers, in fact, took the pick of the stock, both as regards age and quality If tiiis is the case, the breeding of horses should not be a bid speculation. Inquests in N.Z -A table of the inquests held duiing 1885 in New Zealand shows that there were 330 accidental death* during tile year. Six persons were victims of homicide ; there w.-rc 51 suicides, in the eases of three of which verdicts of felo de se were found; 21 were found dead; and in seven cases the jury ascribed| death to the Visitation of God. In only five cases was death attributable directly to intemperance. Fame ! —The London Telegraph required a column of its space for a description oE the funeral of the jockey Archer, but could only find 100 m for seventeen lines for Mr Mathew Arnold's farewell, The Pall Mall Budget thinks thac “ the journal with the greatest circulation” desired to supply an illustration of what Mr Arnold meant when he said . the previous night, “ I find plenty ot deleterious and detestable influences at work ; they are not the influences of 1 teachers. they are the influences of journalism.” A Pathetic Suicide.— The oppressor’s 1 wrong .the proud man’s nont imely, t; ltJ insolence of office, and the paigs of despised love, are amongst the reasons alleged by Hamlet as justifying a man in 1 committing suicide, if he has the pluck to ' take his'chances on “the other side.” f The pangs of hunger and the dread o? ( penal servitude are in modern times even 1 more frequent motives to felo de se, It 1 has been reserved for a Manchester man £ to invent a new reason for self-slaughter, 1 and to take strychnine because hfs wife ‘ bad never given him anything on his t oirthday ! “• Had it only been a penny ' Jigar,” he wrote pathetically, “ I would 1 lave prized it.” He doesjoot say that he t vr.u'd have smoked it, and this nice ■ lelection of terms argues a certain method i i his madness. He will doubtless be '■ eceived with distinction in the “ Purga- I ory of Suicides” as one who ht s invented s . novel motive for shaking the yoke of n oauspicious stara from its world-weary 1 lesh, 3

Bush Fires.—The destructive west i fires which so frequently occur iu America i are in some cases attributed to pine resin exuding from the tree, which is often of 1 lens shape, and before it thoroughly har- ' deus i 3 frequently of crystalline cleirness. ■ It is surmised that while in that condition 1 a resin lens may' focus the sun’s rays upon 5 some light twig or resinous point and so 1 start a blaz > that quickly consumes a J forest, Hr Paid.—A Fielding gentleman (ac--2 co r diog to the Star) had a curious ex--1 .perieiice tha other evening. While sit--2 ting down to tea alone, a respectable look--1 ing young mao knocked at tha door an I 1 asked assistance for to reach his friends in - Wanganui. After giving evidence that , his case was one of genuine dis'ress. he 1 was invited to partake of somt ten l idpeaking intelligently and with evi-ln- oe of having been educated he tol 1 a tale of , misfortune and suffering sdiich was \oaih- ] in j and romantic, though s‘am[>ed with 4 sincerity, during which lie told his host he suffered intermittently fr.m violent lunacy, and that an attack had ben } coming on for sonu d.iys. The tragic j effect was not detracted from by the wild waving of .a carving knife with which lie hid been helping himself to some ham, His,fare was paid to Wanganui. Tiie G.O.M. and tiie Burn, —The l Germinia gives, an illustration of Mr Gladstone’s great activity in his more 3 youthful days, an anecdote cf his encoun* I ter wi'.li a bull, on a narrow road in 1 Switzerland. “It is there," says ou contemporary, “ tliat Mr Gladstone an his fellow-travellers met, iu turning inx a short passage on the way, ail uueof J pected obstacle in the shape of a troop cows, headed by an enormous bull, which [ blocked up tbs road entirely. Instead of turning aside on the approach of the \ vehicle, the bull held his ground in the j centre of the road, and nothing could make him move. In vain the shepherds I tried gently to turn him back ; in vain ’ the coachman snook his whip, and struck j him with it. The bull never stirred, and the only effect produced was to frighten j the horses, which became restive and kicked in the 1-aces, The situation became most dangerous, the ladies cried out for help, and a'l were ready to jump II out by the coach door, when M. Glada stone advanced aloae with a shawl on his e arm, and going up to the bull, threw it on his horns, blinding him completely. 3 Taken by surprise, the animal remained l > motionless ;he allowed ropes to be used ' to bind his horns and legs; it then became easy to lead him away. The whole n troop of cows followed him. The road ii was free, and the excursion moved on !, safely.” v General Boulanger. —General Bon 1 langer is|beeomingJ a prominent person iu s French if not in European polities, that :s it will interest many people to hear that r he is half an Englishman by descent, and also a native of that country, llis mother - was a Miss Griffiths,and lie wis born at i- Brighton and spent his earliest years n there—as he himself says his first recollec.3 'ions are of the time he played -stir le i- Cham Pier- General Boulanger is in the prime of life,being barely 45, a smart solt dier-like figure, straight and well-set with a clever powerful face and not a . grey hair in his head. His photograph is in every shop-window in „ France ; and it is possible that he does not dislike the dissemination of his portrait and personality through France. Whether ambiLious desigos are rightly or wrongly B attributed to him, it is certaiu that lie 3 loses no opportunity of iugratiating himself with the army. General Boulanger’s s military record i 3 a distinguished one. He diu good service in the subordinate y ranks during the Franco-Austro campaign j in Italy 1856, and he behaved with great t gadantry anil judgment in the Franeotl German war,when he was twice danger--0 ously u minded. The story of his r-dosing j to accept parole when taken prisoner and j of his escape is sufficiently Weil known. The Deo d’ Amnaie episode is also too p well known, and has done much to injure the General in the eyes of (hose who j thought most highly of him. But lie is undoubtedly a coming man. 3 Something to Poxdgk Over.—Tiic--3 New Zealand permanent expenditure ins . increased in twenty-five years fro n . L 91,000 to L‘2,100,000 per annum. The i North Otago Times attributes this in a t great measure to the recklessness and int considerateness of our members in small 3 things, especially in their travelling expenses. So far as the figures go, they > show that during the last three sessions / the traveling allowances for the Counci , amounted to £4IS 12s sd, and for the > House to Li,289 IDs 3d. This last total i is made up of most curious items —items . which it is discreditable to charge to the public expense. It is not only the pas sago 3 of the.members that are paid by the country, but their travelling expenses, coach fare, cab hire, and extra freight for their bags and baggage. But the most discreditable thing in connection with these allowances is the payment of the expenses of members’ wives. The Great Eastern in Peril.—On reaching Holyhead the other night the steamer Great Eastern had a narrow escape from destruction. When she reached the harbor it was blowing a gale from N.N.W. The order was given to let go the anchor, but there was a jam somewhere, and tire vessel was rapidly drifting on the dangerous shore. Great con-ternation prevailed on board and signals were made for help. The sea was very high and the breakers dashed furiously on ‘lie rockbound const. Just as it seemed impossible to save the vessel the anchors were let go, and fortunately field. Tugs also arrived from the shore and stood by until the big ship was taken into the harbor and safely moored. As it blew heavily all night (hero was considerable uneasiness on board as to whether the anchors wou'd hold, which they fortunately did. It is stated that the vessel was only a cable’s length off the rocks when the anchors caught tho ground. Tiie Blackguard J.P.—The details of a very strange, and happily rare, case of misconduct on the part of a .Justice of tho Peace are suppliod to the New Zealand Herald by its Wellington correspondent. The particulars appear to have been locally ■ known for some time, but have not until now appeared in print. The leading feature of the charge against the Justice in question, who is stated to < be carrying on the business of a chemist, are that he had used his position as a ' magistrate and 1 ' -wvsonal influence for the purpose f g.-.- ..qm n . ft was alleged that a widow, the recipient of ! public charity, had incurred his resentment bocause she would not yield to his wishes. To injure her this Justice caused fictitious lettors to be sent to the Benevolent Society, charging the woman with admitting men to her house at all hours of ;he night. One of the letters purported to be signed by a woman named Morgan, an l the other by a man named Thomp- ] son. The widow was refused assistance for a time, but the statement that this 3 Magistrate had made improper proposals ( - to her caused inquiry to be made, from which it was discovered that the woman v Morgan and the man Thompson wcie fictitious persons, and had no existence, 9 These circumstances coming under the notice of the Minister for Justice (Mi d ole) during his recent visit to Auckland, 1 h ■ sent for the Magistrate referred to and £ subjected him to a very searching exami- -i cation, tiie result of which was (says the i Herald’s correspondent) “to satisfy Mr J ole that he wa3 not a proper person to

be clothed with the Commission of the , Peace. ’’ Accordingly the case was brought before the Executive Council, who decided to recommend the removal of the name of the misdemoanihg Magistrate from the roll of Justices. MEMORANDA. Colonial Mutual Assurance Society—Notice to members Lost—A black and white sheep greyhound Quarterly licensing meetings, Blenheim and i Spring Cre’ok, are advertised. * The finder of a parcel of drapery will be rewarded .