COUNTRY NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XX, Issue 6822, 28 September 1883, Page 3

COUNTRY NEWS.

ARATAPU. At : the Improvement Class on Friday last, Mr. J. 11. Brown gave a short prepared speech .■■■on..." The Evils of Bad Companionship;" This gentleman ; is a new member of ths'Vclass, but . his/ , speech ..secured very, favourable comment.. The rest of the evening was. devoted to-impromptu speaking with criticisms thereon, Mr. Webb spoke on " Heroism';V'Mr:-.Ha!I on "Flattery;" and Mr. Reidy!; on ■ " Court J hip."The latter gentleriian. professed'; to be ignorant of the pioper . method .of wooing, "and - evinced a desire to learn. ; He, called upon those who had had experience, iu the matc<-r to instruct him'. , ■ (On. in .theyearly morning the Aurora .Australia...was very, distinctly, seen in this district,mid in. the two evenings follow-ing-it \vas also' ; visible, but not in such ■magnificence? " .V The fire.Brigade were out on Saturday for practice: ' A new.shed has,been built for the large engine, 'and ■■■• the builder or architect made the /doorway too narrow., At the word,, the traces wer'ehooked on the'engine, and a -rush-forward.iaade.: 'So.-.great..'.was.the,rush tbat'the.'door.'and.som^;'other.'.'boards.! were carried' away-by: coming in Contract! with a part of the engine, and Mr. Topp's .right hand, as f .a.:buffer; ; was jairim- d, and'.cut in three' or. four.placesJ A few days rest'will however.complete his recovery. A little; later, 1 Mr. Morath received a severe blow oh the chest from a projecting piece of timber, as the engine rushed past the stacks. He is much,bruised, but is otherwise himself again.

'Our ".school is:..closed this week for the' Michaelmas Ifolidavs.

Prohibitory- Orders appear to be farces in this-district; - The police ought-to-:6ee* that this is uot the case. ■■ ■- ■ :

Our skaters, have for d-.-lb , ng''^ , n e Jbeen, anxious to find a floor whereon.they might be allowed to perform, and occasionally .recli'ne. Tlicy have engaged ...ihf- old school- ; room, which now that it. has been enlarged,-will-,answer their purpose fairly well.—[Uwn Correspondent; September 25 ] MAUKU. A l.Krrc;-:E was delivered m the hall on Monday, September. 17; by the Rev. T. W. Dunn ~on. *M'emperatioe, --; who treated, the matter inrhisnvell-known style.-:-- ■"■■■■ - .■■■ On .'Friday; September 21, a leciure was given by Mr. A. 11. lieaman, son of. the late !.X>r. Keamaiiv on-'.'.Accidental Insurance," lie being travelling.tor.- the New.-Zealand Accident Insurance Company. Jie is quite a young man; buthe v (ielivered his lecture in a very good .manner; aud; of course, , did his. best ; t.n show -all . the, advantages he bad to offer- from bis company. :.He/■■ did,-.not. do much business; but has;- likely; sown- seeds that may take root, :and produce fruit to be gathered at a future visit.- He is on: a -tripior nll the Waiului settlements, • ■:

Works have now commenced again on,the road-to Pukekohe by-formation and draiuiug ready for putting on the, metal,-of A'hich there has bet.-n-a large supply broken during the winter,- ;and wen which -there are great complaints by the contractors at the . treat-, mcnt they have received;from the Government in not bein" paid'for . work : long done. They were informed that-they would be paid for stone broken at the quarry. ,It has come hard on a good imny who have,been at work all winter, and so far have had no.pay. It is much to be hoped by next winter this line of road from Waifiku:to.Pukekohe.will be-in a very changed state, for it lias- been a sea .of mud all this winter, aud -dangerous to man or beast; Talk about-the dangers at Bird; grove, Epsom Koad, I wish we had such a road; VV.e.would, consider it very safe -compared to what we have had to go- through:■ Mild rain is much wanted here, as well as other placs s. Having; had such- continuous frosts, all vegetation has received : a great check, and most of the crops- put into 'the ground are at a standstill.—[o\vu Correspondent, September 2-I.] ;

WAIUKU. On Saturday last, the Itev. W. Morley, of Cliristchurch;- delivered, a-lecture on "Dr. ijuthrie" in the Temperance and Public Hall at 7 o'clock, Mr. (J. 'V.-' Barribill in the chair.' i here was a fair attendance, ai.dat the close of the lecture the ruv. > gentleman explained briefly the particulars oi.th!! mission on which ho is travelling—viz.,j the loan fund" of ttie Wesleyan. Church. At the close of', the l-.cturer's ' remarks; .Mr.. John - Wallace projioeed, and Mr, Sv Hedge seconded, .a-vote of thanks co the ltcturcr... A similar vote to tbe ■chairm'm liroughv the~n:eecii'g..to.a .close;'..-. ■ ■■ On Sunday morniug last, at the Rev. Mr. :Morley ..conducted a religious ser-. vice in the resbyteriau Church; There was: a large coiigrcQif.tion, the .church, being completely lull An eloquent, discourse ;was. : ■ l.atent-d to with mi.ked a'teutrun'.—[Own CVrr.esnOD(i<-RC, September.2l. j. -. . -The weather lorj the '.pa-st .fortnight, has hceu very dry and frosty, r.'onseijuently the aud. 6thoii crops are growing very little: Ka n is very much heeded.

. Ti'.e contractors have commenced■. the Waiuku bridge, and' the-,d:rect road-totho. to-the '.village'- is stopped.,.. For-some time horses and veiiicKs w.ll have to.go round by the !«!d -road, " past Campbell's Hotel , that used to -.bo.:—[uv.-n Correspondent, Septem-. btr 22 1 BOMBAY. On Tues-layy . September.- 11th. the , opening meeting of "the Heason of : the Bombay Band Of: Hope was held: .in the Wesleyan Chapel. Thei.eveuiug. being .fine,, there was ?a, very 'go'od •"•attendance.- ... la the. absence of the Kevs. Mes.-rs: Salter and Swallfield, Mr, \V. Lindsay presided: The proceedings were prefaced by .song aud prayer. ; After a very short address, from the Chairman, the following programme' was gone through : — Recitation* by: Martha. Buttimiire; recitation by Ellen Ali.son.;; song,;" Learu to' Say No," from Hovle's Collection ; recitation, Rhoda Swetman ; recitation, Miss Mcßride; song, "Of All the Aids (Hoyle's); recitation, lizzie ■ Cornthwaite ; recitation, Isabella Swetman; song, " See ibe Drunkard ' (lioyle't-) ; another recitation by Martha Buttimore; a short add:ess by Mr. D. B.

~~ - ■; ' •' '^g'BWnMPteewff- ! A^° n Vn ■' WMd . e rißg: .Thro ng h. iha City. The Chairman, m a few well chcasa remarks urged all those to come forward that had not already signed the pledge, and sign that night. The recitations were vtrv : well rendered, and the singing very heariy We anticipate another treat soon, bv the hast Pukekohe .choir giving us the service <>i song ''John Tregenowth: Bis, Mark." The meeting closed by singing " God Bless our \ oothful Band " and benediction. On the evening of the 19th inst; the Rev. Mr. Morley, of Christchurch," delivered a very interesting lecture on "Dr. Guthrie, which was listened to with marked attention throughout. The attendance was: not so large as lecture deserved, chiefly owing to its not being well known what the lecture was on. A collection was made at the close of the lecture, to supplement the funds being raised for a sustentation innd. On the night of .the 20th inst., Mr Beaman, agent for the New Zealand Accident Insurance Company, was to have delivered a lecture 011 insuring against accidents of all kinds, but it was a failure, no one being there to listen to him. It does*not do to come into a country place one night and say you will deliver a lecture the next. However, I believe it is the intention of Mr. Beaman to visit Bombay again in about six weeks, and if he chooses a moonlight night,. and gives a week's notice, he might get an audience to listen to him, and probably some risks.

All crops that are through the ground are looking very promising. Cropping is the order of the day. Orchards are looking splendidly, more particularly those that are well cared fur. Peaches and early plums are in full blocm, and very full. Our friend Vince'a peach orchard is a perfect picture. By-the-by, I am fold that Mr. Vinco holds the secret how to cure the peach blight. Heshould make the secret public, and bo ii public benefactor for once, and let qs have the recipe in next ifsne of the Weekly News.

1 am pleased to have to report the very successful hatching of the tront ova received from the Acclimatisation Society by Messrs. Yince, Strong, Perry, and Piggott. They erected a nice little house iu wtiich to place the ova. About 97A ptr cent, have been successfully hatched, and the young fish are fine and lively. They are commencing to feed them twice a day, and in about sis weeks it ia their intension to remove them into a -pond, which they arc going to construct at the head of a small stream on Mr. Strong's property, which runs iuto the big creek. They will leave them in the pond lor about six months, when the young fish will be well able to take care of theuiselvcs. 1 hope their efforts to stock the big creek with this delicious fish, will be crowned with success.—[Own Correspondent, September 24.] PARUA BAY. A well-attended public meeting was held in the hall on Wednesday, the 19th instant, forthe purpose of forming the Harmonic Society. Mr. Ross occupied the chair. It was resolved to form a Harmonic Society, and those present joined as members. Mr. J. Mallabond was clected aa conductor, and Mr. Whitham as secretary.: The next meeting will be held on Wednesday next, when mettbers will pay their subscriptions. 'All lovers of music are invited to join.—|Ovra Correspondent, September 22,] -; . OMAHa. -The cemetery has been substantially and neatly feDeed with posts and wire, The graves also are mostly fmced round, which shows that care and respect for tho dead which is very proper. An accident occurred to Mr. Joseph Greenwood through a horse taking fright. The rope got entangled round Mr. Greenwood's leg. and dragged him on the ground for some distance, which put his elbow out of joint and bruised him considerably. Mr. McMurdo gut the elbow right, and he is now getting better as fast U3 can be expected. The land round the school has been, ploughed and sown with grass seed, and a contract is let fur fencing it. The committee suggested that the fenct: should be j.osts and rails with paliDgs, but the Board ordered the ..fence to be posts and two rails, with bank: and ditch, and planted with quicks. It is a great pity the suggestion of the committee was not complied with, as the fence now being made (so for as the ditch and bank i 3 concerned) will be useless, and for planting it with quicks, they might as well burn them. It stems strange that the Board will not be guided by the advice of the committee, who, living near the place, must know what kind of a fence is most suitable for their particular locality far better than the Board can possibly know.

' ■Another addition of books has been made to the Public Library. There are now 25 subscribers, which is more than double the number there was a few years ago, We are having fine weather, aud farmingoperations are in full swinp, but a little rain would do good.—[Own Correspondent, Sep-, •tember IS.J . HOKIANGA. It is with much regret that the local school committee have been compelled to accept the resignation of Mrs. Anderson, the highly respected tracher of the Hokianga district school. ; Her ability to impart instruction is of a high order, to much so is this noticeable when her pupils have advanced to the higher standards of elementary education; her character and conduct likewise are exemplary in whatever she undertakes to do. The committee, on her severing connection with .the .school, intend to present her' with a testimonial expressive of tneir. opinion with regard to her abilities and general usefulness during her term of office here. Mr Anderson, the teacher of the Kohukohu school, ha 3 been" recommended to succeed her.

The doctor is announced to deli vera lecture at the • Kohukohu, on Friday, October 5, on '"The Fallacies of Materialism,"a resume o£ winch I will forward. The' weather is every day becoming warmer, and the effect it ia producing upon the gardens and urchards is surprising. A poor unfortunate individual arrived here a fiw days ago from Whangaroa, being in a ■ weakly condition. His journey was a protracted one, which caused him to spend' several nightsin the hush without shelter, consequently the malady from which he wassuffering was greatly augmented. He endeavoured to ship on board the Kentish Lass, and did actually work one day ou board. He was, however, not considered to be in a fit state fop a voyage, and was consiquently put ashore. Ue complained of poverty and ill-health, and. medical advice was sent for. He suceumbed,; however, to the disease (pneumo pleuritra) oix Monday last, —[Own Correspondent, September 19.] MANGONUI. We have had very unsettled weather,.for. some time, ancl farming operations are behind., The cold winds and rain have, retarded the growth of vegetables. Since the tidal wave, the clerk of the weather has been running riot. The barque Grasmere sailed for Melbourne with 275,496 ft. squared kauri timber oa ■ Wednesday morning. We were glad to see her get away, 'the barque Notero is loading sawn timber at the Auckland Timber-C'oni-pany's wharf. The first pile of the new wharf arrived •to-day, per s. s. Fingal from the North. It is to be hoped that the new wharf will be up before the old one tumbles down.

' The runaway barmaid, who got mairiedon Monday morning and eloped oa the following Sunday, is now living with her jjay Lothario in the bush.

■ The a.s. lona arrived this week in chargo. of our old friend, Captain Stephenson, and . . we understand she is to continue on this trade while the Glenelg goes to Tauranga. This is a mistake. Could the company not arrange. to, seed the Glenelg here once a fortnight as formerly, or do they think the lona is good enough lor the North? If the Waitaki would take a run up here occasionally it might have a beneficial effect. —[Own Correspondent, September 19.]: