LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXIV, Issue 144, 7 July 1888, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

' Al'C'HONEees.— Licenseshayebeen issued to Messrs Green, Griffiths, and Macalxster, Gas Accounts. — The Borough Council intend forthwith to sue for recovery of accounts over one month m arrear. Fike. — There was a big fire at Auckland this morning. Insurances £6850. Public Wobks Statement. — It is' just within the bounds of probability that the Public Works Statement may be delivered on Friday next. Foheign Missions. — The annual sermons and special collection m aid of jForeign missions will be held m the Wesleyan Church to-morrow, and a public meeting will be held m the Church on Tuesday evening, commencing at 7.30 p.m. Pa>fciculars appear man advertisement. . Art UNioN-r^The first prizes m the Catholic Art Union go to the holders of of the following tickets; Ist prize 7093 (carriage and pair or £100, less commission 10 per cent); 2nd prize 1112 (oil painting of Archbishop Bedwood) ; 3rd, 5197 (ditto of Cardinal Moran). Concebt. — A concert m aid of the funds of the Hibtrnian Band will be giyen on Wednesday evening m the Catholic schoolroom. A splendid programme has been prepared and cur experience of entertainments got up under Catholic auspices leads < us to anticipate a great treat. The pro- < gramme will be published on Monday. Omaka Bbiuge. — The Borough Council last evening, m committee, considered ; competitive plans 'and specifications fop i the rebuilding of the bridge, a work of ' urgency. The plan bearing the legend i quuiii citique was unanimously selected as '. the succesßf ul one. On the accompanying ; I envelope being apgned the successful 1 competitor was found £0 fee Mr J. ' Salatnay. The work will take some sjx : months' to carry out ,is the bridge is jn an ] alarmingly unsafe condition it is to be '. hoped the work will be put m. hand f oilh- ] With. 1

LITEEABT AND DEBATING SOCIETY. — At a meeting of the Society last night, the question was discussed, "Is it desirable the sexes should be taught together m our public. schools?" was discussed, and the meeting declared (one dissenting) m the affirmative. "Is it desirable that the franchise be extended to women?" will form the subject of next Friday evening's debate. Herring Season.— Our Picton correspondent writes, " I notice that, one of your contemporaries is glad to learn that the fishing has been revived, but denies the success of the same." After interviewing several fishermen I find it has been a good success but the market at .present is ; dull. After taking a trip through Mr Perano's establishment it will prove that there is a still more # ilourißhing market expected; Thk Bink. — A polo match Alabama v. Blenheim, was held m the Eink last evening, before a large audience. The result was victory for the Alabamas by seven goals to four. Messrs F. W. Dodson and ; Tovey umpired, and Messrs Gentry and D. M. Bobs were time-keeper and referee respectively. A return match will be .played on Monday evening. An advertisement gives the fixtures for nex"t week.' Onamalotu.— Mr Harker, Wesleyan Missionary, of Havelock, presided at the Band of Hope meeting on the 30th inst., when a long and varied programme was gone through. The singing of Mrs Newman and. Miss A. Waddy, and the reading by Mr Barton, were well repeived. At the close of the meeting, Mr C. White announced that a subscription had been taken up m the valley, to make a present of some kind to Mr H. B. Dobson, the teacher for the school of the past three and a half years, for his kindness m many ways, apart from his school duties ; and to show the respect he is held m by the residents as a neighbour.— On Sunday^ morning, Mr Harker preached an excellent sermon on " Blessed are the dead that die m theLord." Beferenco wasmadeto the death of Mr Joseph Walton, and a brief accountof his life was read by Mr Harker. The late Mr Walton was highly respected by all around, and much sympathy is felt for his brother m this painful separation. • The Tabiff.— The Customs Duties Bill passed its final stage m . the House on Thursday night, f The following ie the division list on the motion for the third reading.:— Ayes. 45— Atkinson, Ballance, Blake, Buxton, Cadmau, Dodson ; Feldwick, Fergus, Graham, Guinness, HallHislop, Hobb, Hutchison, Jackson, Jones, Joyce, Kelly, Kerr, Lance, Lawry,' Levestam,. McGregox', Mitchelson, Moat, Monk, Moss, O'Callagharij Parata, Perceval, G. F. Eichardson, Sedden, W. J. Steward, W. D, Stewart, E. Thompson, T. Thompson. Turnbull, Valentine, Walker, ' Ward, Noes, 22 — Allen, Anderson, Barron. Beetham,, Biuce," Buchanan, Duncau, Griminond; Hamlin, Izard, M. J. S. Mackenzie, Merchant, J. McKenzie, Mills, Newman, Boss, Bussell, Smith, Stuart-' Menteath, Taiwhanga, Wilson, Withy. Hansahd. — The Premier, m moving the adjournments of the House bu Thursday night, said it was generally felt that Han-' sard reports »were not. accurate this session. He had only corrected one of his speeches, but some of the others he would not have known for his own.- He thought it iwould be better, perhaps, ; ;;to -abolish Hansard. (Hear, hear.) The next best thing would be to preventmembers cor-, recting their ■ speeches,, and the result would be that there would soon be a.desire to abolish' it. He wished it to be understood that he did not hold himself responsible for anything m Hansard. Thk Diggiings. — Mr Newth has just returned from the Mahakipawa diggings, and he certainly looks none the worse for his life m the wilds. • Iv the course of conversation with him, we learned that m his opinion the Havelock-Kaituna route is the bestj; that out of the tal-race of the prospectors, Turner's party have got about 2 ounces, and Pope's party, (to date) 3 ounces 18dwts. The gold is coarse and water- worn but light. Mr Newth thinks the prospects are fair, of a moderate yield, but he anticipates that no more than wages will be got out of the ground. The place now} boasts a store where all the actual necessaries of life can be bought at reasonable prices. The ground appears to be of glacier formation, and the bottom too smooth to give hopes of any veryrich deposit.— Our Picton correspondent sends us " the latest news from Mahakipawa Goldiield." There are, he says, between 170 and 200 men now at work. They are still coming and going, bo it is difficult to get the accurate number. Every miner now on the ground seems satisfied that after some hard and laborious work has been experienced,* the field will prove a payable one, but there is no use men going there unless . they make np • their minds for rough work and travelling. Some of the men have gofrf rom six dwts to two ounces m- one day, and they are m hopes of doubling that sum after reaching the bottom. The G.O.M. —Mr Gladstone made another great hit last week. Somehow the G.O.M. is m immense form this session, though he never seemed further from office than he ,d° es n ow. • But his own confidence m the future begets confidence m other people. To quote an ardent follower : "It is Gladstone's fine, cocksure, winnning-hands-down spirit which makes The Times' leader-writers Ayrithe iv their boots and curse through miles of clumsy Johnsonese the impertinent old man who will not die when it suits them. For Mr Gladstone, who could about equal the combined ages of Mr Chamberlain and Lord Hartington, has twenty times their enthusiasm, a .hundred times their force, and a thousand times their belief m the righteousness of the cause." He knows he is going to win, just as they know they are going to lose. And it is this grand selfconfidence that impresses, and rightly impresses, the country. We look to our leaders for the note of decision which clears the moral atmosphere, helps us to plain, issues, and generally relieves the strain of the present situation.— London correspondent. Live Stock. — New Zealand stands second, m the total number of it£ live stock m the Australasian group. The total numbers of the live stock of the different colonies' are :-— New South Wales 41 millions, New Zealand 18, Queensland 14, Victoria 12 J, South Australia 7£, and Tasmania and Western Australia about 2 each. The total number of live stock m the. Australasian ■group is $7 millions. In horses New South Wales is first, .Victoria ..second, Queensland third, and New Zealand fourth. In Sheep New South Wales is first, New Zealand second, Victoria thjrd, and Queensland fourth. In pigs New Zealand is first, Vic.toria second, New South Wales third, and South Australia,fourth. During the last seven years, the number of stock m New Zealand has increased over 5 millions, the increase being well' spread over all four classes. A Giuii's Essay.— lf any boy thinks he &W write as happy an essay about girls as . the girl V/hp penned the following has writen about 'boys, he will perhaps let the Children of the Column hear from him : " Boys are men that have not got as big as their papas, and girls are young wonien that will be young ladies by and by. Man was made before woman. When God looked at Adam, He said to Himself, i-Wtlj, I think I can do better if I try again," and the»f h«i made Eve. God liked Eve so much better than Adam that there have been more wonien than men ever since. Boys are a trouble. They are wearing on everything but soap. If I had my way, half the boys m the world would bjs little girls, and the rest would be dolls. My P a l?S' ? s s0 mcc *^ a * * * nm ' c ie must have beeu a ljttle girj when he was a little boy."— Leeds ftfwcwy.

The Maoris and the Music Halls.— Writing of the death of Mr Chesson, the kind-hearted Secretary of the Aborigines Protection Society, the London correspondent of the Dunedin Star says:— l met him constantly at the National Liberal Club, where he was very popular. There was, however, a slight coolness between Mr Chesson and myself, which dated from the time that he palmed off Sydney Taiwhanga on London society as a Maori chief of the highest rank. I enlightened Mr Chesson as to Sydney's status and antecedents, and he was not merely ungrateful, but obstinate m adhering to his original belief. The cat eventually came out of the bag at a Colpnial ■ Institute meeting, at which poor Chesson was horribly chaffed. His blunder recoiled on him a couple of years later, when Tawhaio and the real chiefs came over, as "society" would have none of them, . They never went to any of the really smart houses Taiwhanga visited; ie fact, although the truth was sedulously concealed, T&whaio and^po. were failures as. . " lions." I remember poor Chesson ■was terribly distressed at Tawhaio's immoral fondness for the Alhambra and Empire Music Halls. He would call for the Maoris to take them to Exeter Hall or an evangelical prayer meeting, and find the party driving pff m a four-wheeled cab to the Alhambra. • Very funny, too, was it to see poor Chesson. trying to induce Tawhaio to discriminate between champagne and ginger ale. The King invariably pretended he mistook the former for the latter. He declined, however, to .have the beverage changed. Chesson's faith m the old sinner's bona fides was boundless. Charge against an African Pkince.- 1 - Charles Alexander Edwards, a nergo, said to be a man of means, and a son of one of . the native kings on the Biver Bonny, was charged, before the Southport. Magistrates with assaulting a married woman named Croasdale, a lodging-house keeper. She alleged that he had been courting one of her young lady lodgers, and that she discovered him to be married. He had as-' .saiilted her m the street. , The defendant had taken out a cross-summons, alleging that plaintiff insulted a lady friend who was with him, and struck him with an umbrella. The Bench bound over both to keep the peace. This was the third time the Bonny .Prince had been before the Court within a fortnight. A Girl's Courage. — A plucky action is reported from Karere.. A few days ago (says the Palmersfcon Times) Mrs H: McEwan was driving .some cows through a paddock, when one of the^ animals charged her. Mrs M'Ewail was carrying her baby and leading a little boy by the hand, and the cow endeavored to gore the latter. Mr M'E'wan put down the baby to enable her the better to defend her boy, when: the cow turned its attention to the baby. In this predicament Mrs M'Ewan called for assistance, when her daughter Agnes (aged about fourteen years) arrived on the scene armed with a pitchfork, with which she pinned the nose of the infuriated auimal, and held it till the others had reached a place of safety. The imminence of the danger may be judged from the fact that a considerable portion of the little boy's clothing was torn by the cow's horns, though, thanks to the courage of the girl, no serious injuries resulted. John Bull. — Mr Max O'Eell has bee^ giving a lecture at the Union. League Club, Chicago, of which Englishmen will do well to read an extract or two. This is what the gentleman thinks of us : — " The' French," said Mr O'Kell, "fight for glory.; the' Germans for a living • the Russians to divert public attention. But John Bull fights for the good of mankind. And how shall I describe him?. I will say that he is a combination of the lion, the mule, and the octopus." And then this sprightly person amused the Americans m the following way : — <r I attribute John Bull's success to his tenacity, his impudence, and the toughness of his skin. If," said he, "we show him the sights of Paris, he will seize an opportunity when our back is turned to hoist his flags upon our monuments or cathedrals. He believes that all other nations exist for his profit. He thinks 'that the mission of Frenchmen is to dig his canals, of Greeks to furnish currants for his plum pudding, of Americans 'to send heiresses to redeem his nobiliary titles from the pawnshop." A Rabid Duke.— The Duke of Westmin" ster seems a quiet, inoffensive gentleman, altogether without the' inordinate pride and self •importance his actions appear to indicate. His Grace's last hetise (I really don't know what else to call it) has excited considerable amusement m Gladstonian circle.s. The Duke was once a profound admirer of the G.O.M.'s, but when the latter took up with Parnell and the Irish party he not merely metaphorically, but practically, shut the door of Grosvenor House m Mr and Mrs Gladstone's faces. It was, however, surely going too far to cut little Bobby Spencer (as Mr Robert Spencer is ' called) for dining with the Eighty Club when they banquetted Parnell. Mr Spencer, it seems, had been bidden to dinner at Grosvenor House on a certain date. After the Eighty Club reunion, however, he received a note from the Duke cancelling the invitation. " God alone knew," quoth his Grace, " what pain it gave him to take this step ; but, believing as he did, .that Parnell was an assassin of the vilest type, and a coward to boot, he could not break bread with anyone who associated with him." A Politician With a Conscience. — The New York ' Voice,' a Prohibition journal, has published an eulogy delivered by Miss Willard on the occasion of the death of John B. Finoh, m which she characterises the late, temperance orator as " not only a~ natural politician ; but he was that rare and masterly creation — a politician with a conscience." In his last public speech, only an hour before he dropped dead m the Eastern DepGt, Boston, Mr Finch uttered these noble truths : " The rights of freemen make the duties of freemen. A man's ballot is his opinion of public measures and public men. It is not only his right, but his duty, to t investigate. Public opinion is collected m the ballot box one day m the year. An election is simply a trial of issues, and it is a man's duty to vote." He closed his last speech with these words, addressed to young men : •' Boys, we cant give you oliices ; but if you want a chance to fight for mothers, home, and conscience, and against the grog-shop and monopolies, come with us, as we will carry the banner of Prohibition until m the White House sits a man whobelieves m the principles of the Prohibition party." And after that he spoke no more. ■ ' | Did rr WeljL. — There is a. story going about so good that it ought to be made public, and so improbable that it must be true. A very eminent London surgeon — one of the lights of the profession — the other day observed a gentleman fall m the street. He wentfto his aid, and found he had broken his leg. It was only a simple fracture, but the man was badly hurt. The surgeon used his umbrella as a splint, ■ aud wijih his own and borrowed hanaker- ', chiefs bandaged the limb tightly, put the ' patient m a cab, and drove to the nearest hospital. There they were received by a ', young surgeon or his locum tenais. ' "You've bandaged this very well," said i the hospital surgeon. " You flatter mo." , said the greatgun. " Not at all," sa : d the \ other. '" I suppose you've been attending an ambulance class. They say a little learning is a dangerous tiling, but ttie little you've learnt you've put to good account. I can't give you your umbrella now, but if you leave your address it shall be sent home." I had best give you my card," said the emineut surgeon. And he 414 go, 3

All he Could Get. — A barrister has been summoned before the Benchers of his Inn charged with the serious professional offence of accepting a fee of half a guinea when his brief was marked with a guinea. The offender was severely reprimanded, and informed that he had departed from " the best traditions of the Bar." He respectfully urged that he had imagined that he was following " the best traditions of the Bar," inasmuch as he had taken all he could get. So struck were the Benchers, either with the force of this observation, or the forensic ability displayed by the culprit m his own defence, that they let him off without further remark. — Home News. Irish Savings' Banks. — The'' statistics , of deposits m Irish savings banks, given , m the Eegistrar-General's recent report, ' prove the truth of my statement that, speaking generally, Irish poverty is a myth. Ever since 1891 the deposits have been increasing continuously, the total increase amounting to* nearly a million and a quarter sterling. The precise figures were on .December 31, 1881, L 3,765,000, and on December 31, 1887, £4,975,000. The money m these banks represents small savings, and comes almost entirely from the agricultural population, which, be it observed, has diminished during the period. The startling statement may, therefore, be made with confidence that the tenant farmers of Ireland, as a class, are considerably richer than they were six years ago, and. it may be asserted with equal confidence, that the same could not be said of any other class of .»the community m the United Kingdom.— London World. Sick but Loquacious. — An American exchange, the Christian Advocate, tells a good story of, a sick but loquacious preacher :— He offered a brief prayer, and arose to express his regret that he could not proceed. He said it was a great disappointment to liim. He had hoped that morning to be able to speak to them upon the following beautiful passage of scripture (announcing the text), but owing to ill-health he should not be able to do so, and. would merely state the line of thought which he intended to communicate. After speaking for a while on that, he said — " In the evening, had I dared to venture out, I should have hoped to follow these reflections with a few remarks upon another subject" (announcing the text). After a while a bell rung. He stopped, placed his hand on his head, and said to one of the deacons, " What is that bell ringing for?" Said he—" That is the one o'clock bell, and you have spoken about two hours m telling us what you would have said to us m the morning and m the evening if you Jbad been well enough to speak." A Week's Swallow. — The following, among other perishables, constitute seven days' provisions for the Atlantic liner Umbria :— 9O sheep, 10001 b lamb, 45001 b mutton, 12001 b beef, 25001 b ham, 10001 b bacon, 560 fowls, one ton of fish, 12 tons potatoes, 12 tons ice, 1200 eggs, and 20001 b of butter. For the out and home trip are earned among other things, 20,000 oranges and 20,000 lemons ; 11001 b cheese, 12001 b coffee, 5001 b tea, 58001 b sugar, 1400 quarts of .condensed milk, 1008 jars of jam. The liquor list is of vast dimensions, and is wound up by 20,000 gallons of water. The saloon outfit of a popular Cunard steamer on the New York station consists of 50,000 pieces of linen, glass, earthenware, cutlery and p]ate. The soiled linen on a full steamer sent to the laundry at the end of one trip, numbers 20,000 pieqes, each of which must be returned to the steamer ready for use within two days. Hungry, Irritable Worshippers. — A humorous episode occurred at one of the leading churches m Ballarat the other Sunday morning. The preacher had I become so interested iv his sermon that he did not notice time was on the wing. At last, after what, the congregation'mistook'for a brilliant peroration, lowered his tone half a note, and continued " And now " The congregation rose m a body, anticipating the usual benediction; but they were deceived; for the pastor announced that he was not yet through his sermon, and requested them to be seated until he had done. The hungry and irritable worshippers, of course, had to submit, but there was some, bad temper amongst them until the end of the service, which the preacher extended until 1.30 o'clock.