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Manawatu Herald, Volume II, Issue 27, 25 November 1879, Page 2

Licensing Court. — By advertisement in another column it will .be seen that the Licensus Court has been adjourned to Wednesday, December 3. Awahuiu. Hotel. — We understand the authorities have reoeived a very large petition in favor of granting a license for the Awahuri Hotel, which, it will be remera bered, was refused at last lioenaing meeting on the instigation of Tapa Te Whata and other natives living in the vicinity. We doubt if the Bench will grant the application. Neam,y bun Over.— On Friday last, as the midday train was running down Mainstreet to the Rtation, a little stfrl about five years old, deliberately walked across the rails, in front of the advancing engine. Some people who were standing in the street quite expected that the child would be run over, and a number of Maoris who were sitting down, sprang to their feet, making loud exclamations of horror. It appeared nothing less than a miracle that i he child was not killed. It is ofren remarked the great danger that pedestrians run from the the train passing along the Main-street, and wa fear that some day we I will have to chronicle a sad accident resulting from this cause. The sooner the deviation is made the better, for this reason above. At the same time we may point out that any person who crosses a railway line within half a milo of an advancing train is liable to a heavy penalty. We have repeatedly noticed, especially at night, per sons rushing across the rails on to the platform when the engine wan only 'JO or 30 yards away. A single false step would, in all probability mean a fearful death. Such fojlhurdiuess id to be greatly deprecated. Sir Geokgb Grey. — Notwithstanding the venerable appearance of Sir George Grey — now bent with age — and the many years he has spent in the service of the country, poraoris visiting Parliament cannot but be struck with the small esteem in which he is apparently held. On the night the financial statement was delivered, he made a speech, in which ho asserted that his Government was ousted by the efforts of the Bank of New Zealand, the Legislative Council, and the large landowners, ct hoe. genus omne. The speech, as an oratorical display, was quite equal to the average of Sir George (xrey's publio addresses, but instead of impressing the House, it raised only ridicule and contempt. As each climax was reached, and charge after charge was hurled at his opponents,the House resounded with bursts of ironical laughter. The reason of this is apparent. Sir George has, by everlasting reiteration, worn his charges threadbare, and, being unable to cry with him over imaginary woes, the House laughs at the pictures his fanov conjures up Whatever service be may have done to the country in bringing about the politic >1 awakening of 1876, when the Liberal party was created, it seems tolerably oertain his work in that direot ion is finished, and hi* occupation gone. Deposed by his party, and laughed at by his opponents in the House, be should accopt the vox populi >is the vox Dei, and spend his remaining days in happy retirement and peaceful meditation at Kawau. The Timber Doty.— Messrs W. & GTurnbull &Co., of Wellington, have beeu hit rather hardly by the reimposition of the timber duty. A vessel is now duo at Wellington fiom Boston with a oargo of timbex consigned to them,^ the duty on which will amount to £600. That Piako Swamp.— Sir George Grey rarely makes a speeoh without bringing in the Piako swamp. In his speech on the financial proposals of the Government he remarked that he had recently been engaged in searching history for exa nples of large blobks of land being handed over to private persons by the Crown. He had read of lurge estates being given by kings to their mistresses and favorites, but the largest he oouM find was only 40,000 acres. Yet in New Zealand they h & seen a Government which had given to its supporters 86,000 acres— the Waikato-Piako Swamp. This, of course, was a hit at the Whitaker family, and the young member of that house who now sits for Waikato rose to his feet. He is a lively-looking young man, most certainly the son of his father. Turning to Sir George Grey, with all the sheekiness he could command, he Raid, "The hon. member is wrong. The exact area of the Piako swamp is 88,500 acres." The old knight looked at him for a moment, and then said, with fierce emphasis, "88,500 acres ! 88,500 acres ! Well, Sir, all I can say is, that the men who obtained that land, and those who will inherit it, are traitors to the country !" Landslip. — A landslip of about 2000 tons took place on the Wellington Railway on Friday last. It is said to be the largest slip that has yet occurred on the line. Though traffic was suspended for a few days. It will probably be returned to-day.

A Maori Oustom.-A good joke recently occurred at asittins of the Native Lands Court nt the Hutt. Major Hinphy was on the Bench, and the Court was hel.l to determine the right of ownership to a valuable pieci of Maori land at that place. One old follow leasjd his claim on an ancient Maori custom — he had killed a slave on the land in my years before. The old man had owned the first axe held by a Maori in the district and tho slave had stolon it. On discovering the theft, he had promptly cut off lliu thief's hoad with the axo. This, he considered, established his claim to the land. Tho other claimants disputed thi 4 ,undsaid,even if itluulocourred, the slave was "only a Bay of lalander." Tho julge, desirous of giving the old Maori friir piny, asked him to point out where the slave's body was buried. The rival claimants immediately said he was not buried. The judge asked, "Then what became of him ?* The Maoris replied, '• We ate him up." The old man got tli3 land. Flying Fish. — On Friday evening last, as a crew were out for a pull in the batswing Queen Mab, a fine flounder, weighing between 2 and 3 pounds, jumped oucof the water, dropping on to the back of the bowoarsman, and falling into the I: oat. The " flying ftsh " struck the oarsman a smart blow between the shoulders, Hud considerably upset his usual humorous disposition for a few seconds. We understand that such events are not altogether uncommon . Some little time ago, a party of fishermen were at the heads, and had run out of provisions. They were returning from looking to the nets, whon a Jeawhai sprang into the boat. It was received with the utmost satisfaction by those on board, and speedily converted into an eatable form. River Navigation*. — We have received a complaint from Mr T. fiowe in reference to the arrival of the schooner Jane Anderson last Thursday. Mr Bo we avers that he received no notice of the vessel's intentions to go higher than the wire until the schooner 'vaa within 100 yards of the ferry, when he (Bowe) was at that time in the middle of the river, crossing a passanger. He called out to those on the vessel to drop the anchor, as th'j wire could not be low ered in time for her to pass. This request was refused, and the schooner was kept on her course. Mr Bowo, seeing the danger, made all haste to get to the lowering gear, which he was able to. let go just as tho vessel reached the *vire. Mr Howe considers that he should either reoeive notice when a vessel is going up the river, or else a distinguishing flag should be run up to the masthead of any vessel about to pass the ferry. He also asserts that an acoident, which might have stopped the working of tho ferry for several days, was barely aver ted on Thursday. Wecertainly agree with Mr Bowe's suggestion. At the particular time of a vessel's arrival the ferryman may be performing some duty which would render it simply impossible to lower the wire in a few minutes. At present, tho man at the ferry do<j3 not know whether a vessel is coming up the river until she is past the wharf, and if a good breeze is blowing, a very short time elapses before she is at the ferry. If the ferryman were on tne west side of the river with the punt, he could not lower the rope in time. The Harbor authorities should see to some such aran^einent as the above being arrived at in the matter. LinEfj. — The air is thick with libel. The proprietors of the Wellington Chronicle were a few days ago served with a writ at tbo instance of Mr A. F. Halcombe, the alleged libel being contained in the election artiole " vivisecting " the latter gentleman. We also hear that Mr Henry Anderson has, through his solicitors, served a writ upon Mr J I*. Kirkbride. of the Rangifcikei Ad vocate, re the article upou Mr Anderson's past career. Both cases will come on for hearing at Wellington in January. . We understand \\v Anderson has not yet received a writ on account of the alleged libel upon Mr A. M'Minn, editor of our Marton contemporary. In addition to the above "stars" of tin first magnitude, it is ru moured in Wellington that Mr James Whisker intends to have a " go " at our Feilding contemporary for its recent criticisms upon his speech at Wellington on the small farm question. We are also ourselves in daily dread of a "writ" from a dear friend of ours, who was deeply " cut " by our unkindnessin reporting the evidence of a witness in a civil case, who said he " might have " a mortgage upon some land the property of a local politican ! Titß Thhid Train.— Our Marton contemporary of a recent date says : — " If the third train to Foxton beoomes an accomplished fact, the present engine-shed at Halcombe will require to be considerably enlarged. For many reasons, especially as it will disarrange the present time-table, and seriously interfere with its convenience, we trust this new service will not be sanctioned. No sufficient proofs have ever been adduced that it is really necessary, or even likely to be benelici il." The especial object of the paragraph quoted, we cannot discover. Doubtless upon matters connected with the Borough of Marton and the Bulls Local Board our contemporary is an excellent authority, but we fail to find in this a ground of interference in matters relating to this part of the Coaßt. The as sumption of the paragraph is most amusing. At present there are three trains per day from Wanganui to Paltnerston. Both our Palmerston contemporary and ourselves have repeatedly proved the absurdity, injustioe, and inconvenience of the present timetable ; and have asked that this third train might run from Palmerston to Foxton. The truth of our remarks has been ad mitted by the Commissioner of Railways, and the third train promised ; it is there fore ridiculous for a paper published and circulated 54 miles away to air its opiuions i upon the subject in the manner referred to. Local Industby. — In tho published reports of the >ydney Exhibition, we noticed that some flax fishing lines, made by Mr Bevan, of Waikawa, were spoken of in terms of high commendation. Snow Water. — On Friday last a heavy fresh was runniug down the Manawatu River, caused by the warm rains of Thursday, which had melted the snow on the Tararua flange. The river rose rapidly, and the current was very much stronger than usual. The passengers on the Storm- i bird noticed that the water was discolored for at least two miles from the mouth of the river, and notwithstanding the fact that the steamer orossed the bar on the flood tide, the heavy current against her caused the run up to the wharf to be protracted con siderably beyond the usual time. As she neared the township, every pound of steam available was turned on, owing to the strong current and eddy sweeping around the bend below the Rev. Mr Duncan's house. At one moment, it seemed almost certain the water would prove stronger than the steam, and Captain Doile gave the order " Stand by your anchor," as the steamer appeared likely to go ashore. The helm, however, was pulled " hard over," and the vessel put her bows to the current once more, and made the wharf Advance, Manawatu. —It affords us extreme gratification to notice the determination evinced by local stookownera to place Manawatu in the front rank of New Zealand grazing districts for the quality and pedigree of its stock. The proprietors of the Oroua Down* Station are

about to make a handsome addition to their stock of Shorthorns, having purchased the. bull which took the first prize in the 3-year old ela« at the Canterbury Agricultural Show, which is, as our readers are doubtless aware, par excellence the show of the Colony. The name of the animal is Firbf, and he ia thus referred to by th% Lyttelton Times in i*s report of the show:— "Ffrby is a grand square-built animal of great depth ; his lines are almos* perfect, and he has a beautiful skin, ilis head ia very attractive, his eyes are brilliant and well set, and he was the moat tractable bull on the ground." Of the same animal, the other Canterbury journal, the Press.writes : — " There wero six three year old bulls,and great interest was felt in the result of the contest, as in this class were entered two animals from the herd of Mr Robert M'Dougall, Arundel, Victoria— namely, Firby and Don C irlos. The first-named was after a close run against Leo placed in the premier position. Firby, roan, is by Major Booth, and comes from a great family of show winners; he showed a wealth of quality from end to end, a splendid head, piime shoulder, well hooped ribs, broad long loins, large area in back, plump anil fine fore legs, and hind le<?s open. His color is in his favor, and his style is gay and easy.' ' The fact that Firby beat Leo (last year's Canterbury champion) may be taken as a good indication of his quality, whilst the journal from which we have last quoted, mentions that "it is a great gratification to be able to place on record the fact that the show in the cattle section was the best erer held in New Zealand." In ad lition to the three-year-old, Mr Campbell has purcbasad from the same breeder (Mr M'Dougall, of ' Arundel, Victoria) a yearling bull named Leander. The Press thus refers to him • — *' Mr M'Dougall's Leander came in for a share of attention, being from the Champion Roseberry stock, and showing an excellent flank and ribs." A third animal purchased by Mr Campbell is named Prince William. His color is red and white, and he was calved in October, 187?, having been bred by Mr J. R. Hill, of Springfield, Canterbury. H>h sire' was Lord DarliugLon the Second who was bred by Colonel G-unter (from whoso herd he was imported in 1876), and is now owned by Mr Fantham, of Waikato : ia by the Eighteenth Duke of Oxford, whose sister was sold by public auction for £2,100 to Sir Wilfred Lawson. The dam of Prince William ia Prinopss Royal, ani comes of equally good blood as is found on the side of the bull. Looking over her pedigree we notice such well-known names as Jessamine, Royal Butterfly, &o. The three animals mentioned will form a magnificent addition to the blood stock of Manawutu. Ie is sub ject for congratulation that in the Foxton district the owners of the Oroua Downs, Bainesse, and .Vfoutoa and Carnarvon Estates are proved to be gentlemen leadiug the van in the improvement of the stock. The animals referred to above are now en route, and will arrive in the district in the course of a few days. Taking Time by th*; Forelock. — Several merchants in Wellington did very well by anticipating the new tariff. For instance, we hear that Mr W. H. Levin paid £290 in duty on tobacco alone the day before the Financial Statement was made : ou the same article Messrs Johnston & Co. paid £2'JO ; whilst Messrs Tnrnbull & Co.'a " lit^ 6 hill " is said to have reached £500. The amount of money saved by the withdrawals would be considerable, as the merchants would of course charge their customers the increased price. A great many were " sold " over the tea and sugar duties. It was rogarded as certain that these would be reimposed by the ■ overnraent, and on the day the Statement was made, a general clearing 1 of the bonded stores took place. Bu', as only five months of the financi.il year remain, and as nt least three months' supplies had been cleared throughout the colony, the Government determined not to reimpose the duties There was, as may be judged, considerable sensation in the House, and some chagrin amongst the mercantile representatives, when Major Atkinson announoed that the duties would not be reimposed this year, but it would probably be necessary to do so next year. Sir George Grrsy also, it is said, was disappointed. Anticipating the reimposition of these duties, which he re gards as especially oppressive to the working man, he had prepared a loug speech upon the subject, but when the occasion came, his pyrotechnics could not be discharged, and he therefore had to content himself with his stock speech upon the Bank of New Zealand, the Legislative Council, and the Waikato-PiaKo Swamp. Stuanqeus in The House. — It is a fact not generally known that Rewi Maniapoto, formerly Prime Minister to the Maori King, and of whom we heard so much during the time the Grey Gevernment held office, has au emissary in constant attendance at Parliament. This individual (we forgot his name) is attended by a half-iaste interpret er, who explains to him all that goes on Rewi's emissary is a tall, heavy-built, sternlooking native, with a massive head, and an enormous development of the perceptive faculties, as the phrenologists say. His heavy, overhanging brow and deep-set eyes betoken a degree of intelligence, cunning, and piercing insight seldom seen in the native race. That he is one of the " able men of Rewi's party can be seen at a glance — able alike in the counsels of peace and in the exploits of war. For there is something in the expression of his face which indicates that Rewi's emissary would in war be a man too proud to ask for quarter, and too cruel and relentless to give it. As may be expected, the forme and ceremonies of our Parliament are wearisome to him, and after a few weeks of it he " wired " to Rewi, asking permission to return. This request, however, was not granted, and he daily wends hi* way to watch the Pakehm legislate, scramble for office, and perform tke hundred-and»one other actions which characterise some 84 enlightened representatives of the people. Where The Money Goes.— ln the Lower House on Friday evening, Mr Turnbull stated that the salaries of officials receiving more than £200 amounted to over £40(1,000. He also referred to the different channels of expenditure, and said that last year eduoa tion alone cost £217,000, £100,000 of which was taken out of the loan Mr Hutchison said he did not consider that any of the officials were over-paid, but as a matter of fact there were far too many of them, and the whole country was too much officialridden. He had lately looked over a few returns, and he found they had a Government official to every 190 of the population, man, woman, and child. Protection. — At a meeting of the Wellington Local Industries Association on Friday last, Mr Kitchen (candle manufacturer), chairman of the Association, spoke at some length, and in the course of his remarks com batted the statement made at the Chamber of Commerce by IV .Newman, Mr Nathan and others, that all the association wanted was to put money into the pockets of a few manufacturers. He said that if Mr Nathan Rent Home for £10,000 worth of candles the whole of that £10,000 would be going out of the colouy, and a proportion only of the profits would go to pay wages in the grocery department of Mr Nathan's warehouse, whild if be iMr Kitchen) manufactured £10,000 worth of oamlles it would keep the money in (he colony, and give em-

yloynient in his factory to forty people, representing some twenty, families, for six weeks. Referring to his works, he said the praotical effect of the Financial Statement had been to close them. He had b< eu employing some forty hands, but they were now all under notice of dismissal. He thought that as Government had increased the ad valorem duties some 50 per cent, they should give him the same advance, and if this was done he would start again, and manufacture stearine here, and before long he would increase his plant. Mr Lottdon's Sale. — The great sale of drapery, ironmongery, groceries, &c , at Mr Loudou's stoi", continued on Friday and Saturday. The interest appeared to have in no way abated, the spacious shop being thronged on both days with a number of settlers anxious to obtain some of the real bargains for which the sale had become noted. Under the persuasive eloquence of Mr Thynne, almost every lot was disposed of, many articles bringing their full value, whilst others went at a sacrifice. The salt) will be continued to-day, ' and will doubtless be equally well attended. Accident to The Tpi. — A Press Agency telegram, dated Wellington, Sunday, says : — The as. Tui left this morning about one o'clock. The weather was very ditty, and she got ashore on the outer rook in Chaffer's passage at the Heads. She then lauded her passengers, with the assistance of the pilot boat. Some of the passengers walked, and othe'fl were brought in by the Hinemoa, which went out as soon as the accident was heard of. The Tui was insured for £4000 in the National, the bulk of which was reinsured in other offices. At high water the Tui got off, nnd is now on the Patent Slip, New Wham 1 Rates —We are pleased to notice that the amended rates for the Foxton wharf are gazetted, and will come into operation on December 1. We will refer to them in next issue. Native Lands Court. — This Court wi'l ,open at Palmerston this morning. After concluding the business at that place, the Court will re-open at Foxton— probably about the end of the week-Dbsti-try. — Mr Orosse, surgeon dentist, of Wellington, announces that he will revisit Foxton on December 9 and 10,