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New Zealand Herald, Volume XI, Issue 4044, 28 October 1874, Page 2

The Synod sat yesterday, and transacted a great deal of business. There was a very important debate upon the promotion of religious education in district schools. Tho resolutions will be found in our report of the proceedings. The Synod will sit to-day at four o'clock. There is yet some business of importance before it, such as the Report of the Committee upon the Diocesan Pension Fund, and a motion by Or. Kinder, relating to the mode of electing the Standing Com-_ inittec. It is necessary that ten members of each order, clergy and laity, should be present to form a quorum. The Synod will prorogue this evening.

It is remarkable that no water appears to be procurable in the neighbourhood of St. Paul's school. The consequence is that during the play hours the children swarm into the Hallway Tcnninns Hotel to beg drinks of water. A "bucket of water kept in the school might prevent the annoyance to the hotelkeeper, besides which a public-house is hardly a tit place for children of tender years to resort to. There is a stand-pipe at the corner of Short-street, opposite the school, but 110 water is procurable from it at any time. 111 other districts we hear that similar complaints arc made by householders, who are troubled continuously by school children calling for drinks of water. It is little less than cruel to deprive children of such a necessary in warm weather, which h;is now set in. The expense would be trifling, and if the Boards are not in a sufficiently flourishing condition to supply the attendants at their schools with water, we liavc no doubt parents would be willing to subscribe a sufficient sum to obviate the evil—for an evil it is, aud a very serious one.

The time of execution of the condemned man, Charles Dyer, has been fixed at eight o'clock on Friday morning. The intelligence of his approaching doom was conveyed to Dyer by the Sheriff on Monday afternoon, but lie exhibited no signs of emotion, and was apparently indifferent as to his fate, having evidently anticipated the worst. The Rev. Mr. Cornford lias been unremitting in his attentions and ministrations to the culjjiit during the brief remainder of his existence, and Dyer has expressed his gratitude for the kindness shewn. Ho has been visited onee by his family since his condemnation, and the painful scene was described as having been distressing in the extreme. The family have now returned to Pakiri, and it is unlikely there will be a repetition of the affecting spectacle. Dyer has as yet made no confession or admission of his guilt. Concrete as a material for use in the construction of buildings is beginning to be adopted in the Otago province. We lately chronicled that a large number of buildings were to be erected in different parts of that Province of this material, and now there ia another to add to the number in the ahape of a large hotel.

The following editorial remarks appear in the Melbourne Leader in reference to the murder of Joseph Husler, a recent resident of this province :—" Nothing so shocking has been reported for some time a3 the Richmond murder. A family named Husler, having some claim to respectability, the husband a man of education, the wife a woman of refinement, living quietly in a small house, and apparently upon affectionate terms with each other, became suddenly transformed into an appalling horror. The woman is found by her young son lying on the bed-room floor stabbed to death, the man across his bed gasping for life from the effects of poison, and it is soon established beyond doubt that the husband is the murderer and attempted suicide. Although it has been attempted to surround the shocking deed with an air of mystery, the story is all too palpable to bear disguise. Upon the mantelpiece of the room where the deed was consummated stood a brandy bottle, and there is evidence that Husler has of late been frequently intoxicated. 'When examined subsequently at the gaol, he was found to be suffering from delirium tremens, and in his delirium he admitted that he was the murderer of his wife, and seemed to believe that he had also murdered his two boys. Whatever hypothesis may be set up as regards the commission of the crime, it is certain that drink is responsible for it. If even it be set up that the murder was committed by a third person, it is evident from the state in which Husler was found, that he was in no condition to render his wife assistance in her need. We put the case thus charitably as regards the wretched man, Husler, because a jury has yet to formally pronounce upon his guilt or innocence, apart from the confession made by him in his delirium. If, however, the more sombre view be taken, and Husler be regarded as the murderer of his wife, it must be admitted that the motive for so dreadful a crime is nowhere apparent. Itisin its fiendish ingenuityjust such an act as a drink-maddened man would commit, and if it should be proved that the wife thus met her death at the hands of her husband, another horrible piece of testimony will be afforded by the brutalizing effect of strong liquors upon men who in possession of sound mental faculties would shrink from inflicting the smallest pain upon those they loved. To add to the darkness of the story, the body of the unfortunate woman is said to have been exposed to the jury in a stale which :s simply an outrage upon civilised nature.

The Waikato settlers have every right to complain in no measured terms of the shabby treatment they have received at the hands of those who have had the direction of Mr. Hollo way's movements, says the II aikato Timc-i. He has been rushed into the district, and rushed out of it again ; lie arrived on Thursday night, and left a little after daylight on Monday morning. He lost none of the time at his disposal, in fact, did not reach Ngaruawahia till nearly eleven o'clock on Sunday night. He had time to cursorily glance at the inhabited portion of the district only, to use liis own language— " The best has been reserved till the last." He was taken to the north of Auckland, where the worst specimens of land in the whole province are situated, and of which he could not fail to report unfavorably. The Waikato, Poverty Bay, and the other settlements on the East Coast, all of which would have well repaid a visit, have never been added to his programme. The proceedings of the Government in this matter has given room for the assertion that they care not what comes of the North if they can only foster the South, the division of the jolony which, if the celebrated resolutions are acted upon, will legislate for and dictate to the rest of the colony. Auckland hcs been very shabbily treated, but we trust that the natural good sense of Mr. .Holloway will enable him to see clearly "lirough the shallow trick. It is to be !'loped that our member will, if for this occasion only, break a lance in defence of the district ho represents and in winch he resides.

Mr. Holloway was present at a meeting of settlers in the Hamilton district on Friday last, when he was made acquainted with the views of the residents upon the subject of liis visit. In the course of the meeting Captain Steel is reported in the ll'.iiitito T<;ne< to have said that "There wero some 24 immigrants brought to the Waikato, and of this number only four were agricultural labourers. The rest had no idea of a day's work. He wished to impress upon Mr. Holloway that there would be no difficulty about wages if they only got the right men. He did not believe that ~2h per cent, of the immigrants hitherto brought out were agricultural labourers. He could not at the present time get live ploughmen in the district without causing those already engaged to leave their employ. So far as it had at present gone, the immigration scheme had proved a failure. They got a quantity of city gam in* who generally designated themselves "navvies." If the right sort came they would soon find employment." The 6'jvi/ River Argus (Westland) says :— " Butcher's mcai is still a very scarce commodity in Greymouth—in fact it is not to be had for any money. On Wednesday several of the butchers had to close their shops as they had nothing to sell. At the last cattle sale, at the Arahura, on Tuesday,, the sum of £103 was paid for three bullocks/' As a sequel to this, we may add that the butchers of Greymoutli have published a manifesto of prices, which certainly must frighten householders in that town. This is so terrible in its figures, that we quote it entire :—For cash, at shop only : Boast beef, lOd ; corned and boiling beef, 9d ; leg, loin, and shoulder of mutton, lOd ; fore quarter do., 9d ; chops, steaks, and sausages, rump steak, Is ; tripe, Is; suet, lOd ; veal and pork, 13. Private families : Beef and mutton, lOd; veal and pork, Is ; chops, steaks, and sausages, Is. Hotels : Beef and mutton, 9d % veal and pork, Is ; chops, steaks, and sausages, lOd. The death of Captain McLecrie, the Commissioner of Police in New South Wales, calls back one's recollections to the deed of derring-do which was the foundation of hi 3 fortunes (says "Atticus" in the Leader J. Mr. McLeerie received a commission as a reward for his gallantry in arresting one of the men who, in the early part of her reign, attempted the Queen's life, and was gazetted to a regiment serving in New Zealand. There lie distinguished himself greatly, was gradually promoted to tho rank of captain, and upon his retirement from the army obtained the command of the constabulary in the sister colony.

We regret to learn, that the p.s. Golden Crown is to be taken permanently oft' the Auckland and Thames trade at the end of this week (says tho Thames Advertiser). She has been sold by the A. S. P. Company to a Sydney firm, a representative of which came to Auckland by the Hero to take charge of her. He came to the Thames with Captain Farquhar and Mr. Lodder yesterday, but notwithstanding the inducement thus offered she was not able to make the trip in ordinary time, in consequence of the inferior quality of the coal. "We understand the A. S. I'. Company have already taken steps to secure a suitable steamer to take the Golden Crown's place on the trade, which they expect in the course of a fortnight. The Eden election for a representative in the Provincial Council, which took place yesterday, as announced, resulted in the defeat of Mr. W. L. liecs. The following was the result of the polling : — Maj*. Kefis. Newmarket .. .. .. .. 119 "2 "Wbau 31 10 150 S2 Majority for Mr. May .. ..OS A West Coast contemporary complains that the high price of meat has been the means of largely reducing the number of dogs there, for instead of being handed over to the dogs, as heretofore, liver is now disposed of at per lb., at a rate at which it will not pay to feed mongrels. It will bo evident then (says a writer) that in an indirect degree the price of meat must become a matter of anxiety to the Provincial Treasurer, a thousand or two mongrels that are now being happily got rid of representing so many half-sovereigns of provincial revenue.

The genial widow is Melbourne. She pervades therlr, - ttr ? the theatre, and has the W Town Hall; the block and f'hr. : 'w" : at tiio would lose half their attraction', presence. 2\ow that th* oat, ' , hftr or at any rate reduced to mo*- £■'?? '• proportions, the bereaved one "i"- ; a the best-dressed woman in a ry, m , y so becoming is the attire that i'l ,"1 people do say there is occasion^-Tvlf undue eagerness to assume it iV- • ' quartz-miner Lately fell ill, and'v-r y weeks his lite was despaired of H* naturally strong constitution onaV-d v "V pull through, and he is now little the worse for the attack. One of t'r things which he had to do after srs"5 rs " was to pay a rather heavy miUiaer - * Vip o ' lus dear wife. The principal itema complete mourning outfit—! .V" crapo,_ ill fact everything comrf-.:,. "T' rob of the disconsolate relict. i-'-'j. cut up a little rough at grit, but - minded him that he always'liked t .j well-dressed, and dressmaker.- i n were so dilatory that if she the order beforehand, there was i_., when her weeds would have b Under any circumstances, there" vv.-. r clothes, and as life was. at the "J. tain, it was ahravs hand-.- to the house. " " lcm In What a fortunate escape the fl , lk _ , Otago had 111 not Laving confirmed t!v ■)«. tion of Bishop Jenner, is becoming more ir I more apparent every day, as, in spite of t),, half-hearted disclaimers*.;-: advanced ism made during his celebrated eanr«4£" tour of the province, he seems j" thrown all scruples to the win is. ac ,i out in liis true colours. In a ree«i- = e rm delivered at the opening scrvic«"o:"a c<"w church at home, and which ha< commented on by the various rUiri-'.uj dieals, he is stated to have uttsred tke'i'.l lowing pregnant sentences :—.J..-su 5 either present or absent on the sacrament oi the altar. If He was present, what w>-.rshin could be too splendid to do Him ii,,nr, ur '- He was absent, what worship was' iustiri" able ? ' I think, after that, that eva those who espoused his cause most warm!v. principally, 1 believe, from the feeling' that he had not been altogether well treated in the matter will now say that they are well .fait <.f" liim' as, had he been settled in our midst, there is little doubt that he would have speedily s-t all the Anglican Church bj- the ears.

Whilst busying themselves about births in Sydney, the Adelaide- people are occupied at the other end (says "Juries" in the AuMrtdcifian). They are determined to put down the grim mockery of costlv minerals. The agitators for reform have adopted the capital plan of publishing a few a.?tn->" invoices from undertakers. In one appe.-r, these items (the whole account bemf £114):— To best hearse and coach, eight horses, and atteadins funeral at Port KUiot £33 3 > To carriage for Bishop to I'ort Elliot and back, two liorses 3 0 0 To best cofnn, two cedar, one lead .. .. 20 0 i> To three drivers, at 30s. tacli 4 10 0 To eiglit silk hatbands, one crape .. ..5 7 To two best scarfs and bands for Bishop and -Mr. * .. 2ls o To 14- pair best kid gloves .. .. .. 317 0 To travelling expenses. 13 persons (including Bishop), and 10 horses 2o 5 0 To undertaker's fees ~0 G 0 It was perhaps natural that a funeral, with a Bishop in it, should be au expensive luxury. An important judgment has been delivered by .Judge Polilmau as to the right of a bank to debit the account of an insolvent with the amount of a dishonoured aeeeptatice. The trustee ol the insolvent estate oi M orris and M'Murray, wholesale grocers, made au application to the Court for an order directing the Union Bank to pay him Is Sd' which was the amount in the bank to the credit of the insolvents they tailed. The application had V r-_-:-;cd"by the bank on the ground th:.t had "idy in their Ivinds to the credit of insolvents. Certain facts were admitted by 1..-th -ides at the hearing, from which it appeared that before Morris and M 'Murray failed they accepted a bill of Bury, Leech and Co.", f.-r £1.>2 Is Sd. The bank discounted the bill, placing it to the account of Bury, L-.e.-h i::d Co., and when the insolvents failed they 'the banic) claimed that the}" were entitle.! to deduct the amount of the bill from the sum to the credit of the insolvents. J lis ti. nor ww decided that they were so entitled, and gave judgment in favour of the bank. Our Waikato contemporary records the drowning " of a promising young sergeant in tlie Kngineer Volunteer Militia." on Sr.:i<hy last, but fails to give any information as :•> the name of the unfortunate young telliov. Our contemporary says : "We u:id-rstai.d that the young man's parents reside in Aii-:.. land. He was about twenty-four years »f age, and formerly a trumpeter in the Military Train.'' Tile deceased, with two other men named Foley and Kershaw, were out for a pleasure trip in a canoe, on Lake Kimihin, near the coal mine, which becoming swamped was capsized. Xone of the party could swim, and the two men above named managed to save themselves by hinging on the bottom of the canoe for three hours.

The marriage tie seems to sit as lightly 111 some parts of Australia as in America. Iu a country paper which some obliging correspondent his forwarded to me I lind two very strange announcements. A lady gives notice that if her husband does not claim or write to her within three weeks she intends to get married again; and a gentleman mak' ! ail announcement, couched in very nearly the same words, that he proposes to lead a lady to the altar, the only difference being that the word wife appears instead of ht: band. Can these two lonely ones, each deserted by its proper mate, desire to console the other? ask " Atticus ' in the Melbourne Leader. One of the most painful announcements that I think I have read tor some considerable time (writes a Christchureh correspondent) appeal's this morning, wherein a very highly respected clergyman of the Church of England cautions tradesmen that whereas a case of monomania occurs in !rs family, he will not be responsible in future for the deljcs incurred in his name without his personal authority. Mr. Sydney Gibbons, speaking before the Microscopical Society of Victoria, the other day. with respect to tapeworms, said that there could be no doubt that much disease occurred as a consequeneeof the very common pract ice of dogs licking the faces and hands of children and being kissed by them.

Meetings of the following gold ininiuj companies will be held to-day : —Otago, Insurance Buildings, 2 p.m. ; Point llussel!,. Mr. R. Sommerville's office, Shortlaiul-street; '2 p.m. : Imperial Crown, Mi-. Tothillsotfe, Shortland-street, 3 p.m. .Shareholders in Mr. H. X. Abbott s sweepstake Xo. "2, in the Melbourne Cup, arc requested to pay their subscriptions before the 31st instant. The drawing will take place on the sth proximo. Xotice is given by the District LandRegistrar that application has been inside the executors of Mr. illiam Morriii, deceased, to register a certain estate as pi"prietors. . , Xotice is given that several parcel's oMaiw wi'l be brought under the provisions of the Land Transfer Act, IS7O. The announcements referred to appear elsewhere. Xotices are given that orders have been issued by the District Judge to wine, up tue following gold mining companies : -AI- - Xations, Long Drive, and Junction. A testimonial will be presented to M'and Mrs. I. Gwynne this evening at :ho Junction Hotel, Xev,-market, prior to tneir leaving for the Waikato. Tenders are required <or the construction and erection of goods sheds at seven tions cn the Auckland aud Mercer rai way. . .. The balance of newly-created shares in tile Sons of Freedom Gold Mining Company are offered to the public. Mr. F. A. White notifies that ho has been appointed agent for the Pacific Fire and Marine Insurance Company. Tenders are required for the construction, erection, and finishing of 50 goods waggOßS for the Auckland and Mercer railway.