Country News.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 243, 15 July 1876, Page 21

Country News.

Diphtheria is stated to be prevalent at Marton. The Canterbury Press quite approves of Sir Julius Vogel's land proposals, as it is not proposed to pillage Canterbury. From the North Otago Times we learn that the lambing season has commenced very early in Oamaru, as on Tuesday, the 20th inst., two ewes had dropped a fine lamb each., on the farm of Mr. E. W. Roxby. "Suffering at home from the joint attacks of influenza and rheumatism, the editor of this journal ( Wairarapa Standard) was not ableto make any comments on the late Financial Statement, nor to prevent the attempt which was unsuccessfully made to put the contents, without any process of condensation, of a quart measure into a pint pot." The editor, apparently recovered, then devotes himself to a review of the Statement, which he does rather unfavorably. The Canterbury Press has the following : Eighteen months ago the two sons of a settler in the Sound were playing with some marbles on the deck of a cutter which was anchored in the bay, on the shores of which they resided, when, as might be expected, they very soon lost some overboard. Amongst them was one particularly marked, and which has been recovered in a somewhat peculiar and unexpected manner. Whilst fishing a few days ago a rock cod was caught, which on being dressed for culinary purposes, was found to contain the identical and much prized " alley taw," to the delight and amusement of the juveniles. The New Zealand Herald of July 5 says : "Our readers would observe in our paper, a few days ago, a statement that a ' fine steam yacht' had been launched at the Clyde for the Marquis of Normanby, to be called the Stella. The paragraph was taken from the Home correspondent of the Otago Daily Times, but there must be an error in saying that the yacht is for the Marquis of Normanby. The writer expatiated upon the fact that the present Governor of New Zealand was about to cast into the shade Sir James Fergusson with his sailing yacht. This steam yacht must be the much-talked-of Ministerial yacht. Merely to maintain a steam yacht like the Stella would run away with the whole of the Marquis of Normanby's salary. As the vessel has been launched, we presume we shall have her out in a few months." The Masterton correspondent of the Wairarapa Standard reports that the Masterton ploughing match on Thursday was in every way a success, the weather being fine and the attendance numerous. The following were the winners of the respective prizes. (Reid and Morris worked admirably, and deserved especial mention) :—Wheel plough, seven entries — W. Morris, 1 ; F. Exell, 2 ; A. Taylor 3. Swing plough—John Morris, 1 ; Reid, 2. Double furrow—Winter, 1 ; Percy, 2. Mr. fixell is ploughman to Mr. Lowes, Mr. Reid to Mr. Cockburn, and Mr. Winter to Mr. D. Donald. Mr. C. Cundy acted _ as judge, and his decisions gave general satisfaction. The ploughing as a whole was better than that done at "Tauherenikau last year, but there is still room for improvement. In the evening about eighty gentlemen sat down to a capital dinner at the Club Hotel, at which Mr. Lowes occupied the chair and Mr. Wardell the vicechair. The usual loyal and local toasts were duly honored, and the whole affair passed off in a very pleasant and enjoyable manner. Wellington correspondent of the Marlborough Times gives the following pen-and-ink sketch of the member for Auckland City East: —As many know, from intercourse with him in Melbourne, on the West Coast, and in Auckland, he is a comparatively young man, comparatively gifted with "gab," and by no means comparatively modest. He is not a "dare devil," but he is distinctively a "fear nothing" where fools rush in and angels fear to tread. In the House the style of his exits and his entrances betoken outwardly the inward character of the man. American in his attire, with velvet-collared surtout of ample skirt, and prominent waist-bands of stiffly-starched linen, he marches, rather than walks, into the House, with that pronounced step which is sometimes seen on the stage. In speaking, he commands sufficient attention by his clear but Yankeefied enunciation, or, when that fails, by the loudness of his voice, and the " fustian " of his thoughts. Beneath him — far beneath him he sees the Ministry wallowing in corruption ; within himself a Hercules ; and above him, the colony, the colonies, Europe, the world, and all the gods looking on at the spectacle in which he on the one hand, and the Ministry on the other, are sctive participators. The Masterton correspondent of the Standard tells the following, which shows that the Wairarapa is not without "smart" men: — "On Monday there was great excitement in Masterton in consequence of its becoming known that two gentlemen had wagered on a grey mare and a bay pony, for a trotting match from the Waingawa bridge into Masterton. One gentleman —a leading squatter —had a grey mare, the other, a well-known knight of the hammer, was to have a certain bay. Unfortunately the bay had gone away for a few days, but the auctioneer was smart, and borrowed another bay something like the one wagered on. The squatter, who knows a thing or two in horseflesh, could not tell, the difference between the bay produced and the one that ought to have trotted, although both were well-known to him. He prepared for the contest with great care, and his get-up was complete, spurs re-polished, gaiters brushed up, boots blacked, hair and whiskers combed, and everything in perfect order. After mounting he called impatiently upon the auctioneer, and then proceeded to j give his mare a sweating, because he said she j

was too freah and he could not keep her at a trot; about a mile from the Waingawa he dismounted, and carefully led the mare to the starting-post, and after about ten minutes leading around he remounted, and the race commenced. The grey was behind at the start, and further still at the finish; but the wealthy squatter stumped up, quite innocent of the hoax practised."

V'A light trap, with five passengers, arrived m Mastertob. on Tuesday night, having been driven from Napier by way of Woodville and the Forty-Mile Bush. The party left in the afternoon of Friday, arriving at Te Aute, 28 miles from Napier, by train, from whence they proceeded as above. The News is indebted to Mr. G. Rymer, of Napier, the driver of the trap, for the following particulars of the through road and its present condition: —From Te Aute to Waipukarau, a distance of fifteen miles, it is a good well-made road, perfectly level, and otherwise in excellent condition. The next eighteen-mile stage is scarcely so good. It is unmade, but perfectly level, and although a little soft just now, in dry weather it will be first-class. _ The succeeding thirty-five miles to Woodville is metalled, and otherwise in a state of repair sufficient to stand ordinary bad weather. _ The Manawatu crossing, four miles on this side of Woodville, is perfectly safe, and although there are several other river crossings in the neighborhood, none of them can be called bad. From the Manawatu crossing to Jacobs en's, twenty-one miles, the road is soft at places, but it is level and otherwise fit for traffic. Between Jacobsen's and Harvey's, although made and metalled at the worst parts, at others it is rather soft. Still in dry weather the road will be perfectly good. Altogether, our information leads us to believe that, with a very little attention, the through road between this and Napier would be made a good available route all the year round. The land through which it passes is described as being of very superior quality, adapted for agricultural settlement of a high class. 3||The Rev.' Lorenzo Moore, who was in Wellington some time since, and frequently officiated in the English churches here, is now stationed at Port Chalmers. He delivered a lecture in Dunedin recently, in which he gave some account of his rather remarkable life. He said that just fifty years had elapsed since he first set foot in India, not as a chaplain or missionary, but as cornet in a Native Cavalry regiment. His remarks would refer more to India as it was half a century ago, than to India as it is at the present day. For upwards of an hour the rev. gentleman then entertained his hearers with an interesting narration of men and manners, referring to the moral condition of the Indian army at that period, the policy of the East India Company with respect to the Christian religion, the character and peculiarities of the men with whom he had come in contact, the means that had led to his conversion, the difficulties he encountered in carrying on Christian work amongst his companions. One incident will give an idea of the whole. While his regiment was at Meerut he was acting adjutant, and on one occasion two missionaries paid them a visit, one of them being the late Dr. Wilson, of Bombay. They spoke to the men (all natives) and distributed some Christian books. Upon the commanding officer learning what had been done, he ordered the adjutant to collect all the tracts and have them burned, and in addition to threaten the missionaries if they did not at once leave the place. This he did through his apprehension that such proceedings would cause a mutiny among the men. A native soldier, who became converted to Christianity in another regiment, was, after a court of inquiry had been held, struck off the roll. In after years it was at Meerut that the dreadful Indian Mutiny broke out, and the fearful and Anti-Christrian policy pursued by a professedly Christian Government was to a large extent the cause of it. Incidentally he narrated the circumstances which led him to give up military life, and, after graduating at Cambridge, enter the ministry.