Town and Country.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 624, 1 February 1884, Page 17

Town and Country.

Pons’ comet has been very plainly visible during the week, though little more than the nucleus was discernible without the aid of a telescope. Its direction is nearly due west.

The Government steamer Hinemoa took her departure yesterday afternoon week for thaßluff direct, her mission being to convey Lady and Miss Jervois to that port, where bis Excellency the Governor will embark. The Hinemoa will thence proceed with the vice-regal party to the West Coast Sounds. A meeting of the Wellington Gardeners 7 Mutual Improvement Society was held last night week, when the usual monthly papers of cultural directions were read. A very fine spike of lillium auratum, a collection of fine gladioli, and a plant, the new fuschia, “ Miss Lucy Finnis,” were exhibited by Mr J. C. Cooper. Mr Durnett exhibited a large collection of pansies, carnations, antirrhinums, &c. The president, Mr D. N. Wilkinson, junr., occupied the chair.

At last week’s meeting of the Harbor Board, the Chairman (Mr Pearce) casually stated that the increase of trade in the port had been very rapid of late, as would easily be seen from the fact that the last twelve months showed an excess of 100,000 tons over the preceding period. A better proof could scarcely be asked for. While speaking on another subject, a member of the board remarked that the importance of the direct steam service was »f such a nature that' even now they were only just beginning to have a small idea of it.

The annual meeting of shareholders in the Equitable Building and Investment Society Company of Wellington will be held on the sth February next, when the following report of the directors will be submitted :—“ The balance at credit of profit and loss, after paying an interim dividend of 4 per cent, per annum—requiring £IO3O 18s—amounts to £1786 Is 6<3, which is available for distribution. The directors propose to pay a further dividend of 6 per cent, per annum, which will need £1557, and to carry forward the balance of £229 Is 6d. Messrs Miller and McTavieh retire from the directorship by effluxion of time, but are qualified and offer themselves for re-election.”

The manner in which ths* Queen’s Wharf was blocked last week appears to have caused the Harbor Board to realize that farther wharfage accommodation is urgently needed. Goods have been stored on both sides till only a narrow thoroughfare was left, and as every berth was occupied, there was a constant stream of vehicles, pedestrians having to make their way as beat they could. During the present month the Board will have an awkward problem to solve, for three Home steamers are likely to be in port at the same time, and berths must be provided for them, as they cannot be expected to lie in the stream, as the Loch Cree has done, for eight or ten clays. The three steamers referred to are the Ruapehu, Doric, and Bombay.

Respecting the damage to Wainui waterworks, there are two sides to the question of responsibility. One side has been already put. As to the other side, we wish to avoid any appearance of prejudicing the contractor’s position. He has his legal rights, as well a 3 the Council ; and in estimating the contractor’s position, it should be borne in mind that the Council, at their ordinary meeting yesterday week, received the engineer’s final certificate that the contract work had been duly completed, and on this certificate they paid Mr Baylise the balance due, except £IOO which was kept iu hand to 'cover contingencies of maintenance during two months. They also imposed certain fines for time exceeded, but these are a separate matter. The contractor’s position then was, that he had been fully paid for the whole work, except £IOO kept back for maintenance. What was the next step? The Council put _a man in charge of the waterworks as a finished contract—at least, the* contractor says it was finished—and the Council’s servant proceeded to fill the reservoir and charge the pipes. The water from the new reservoir did actually reach the city on Sunday, and mingled with the old supply. On Surdiy at midnight the rainstorm began, and ou Tuesday afternoon the reservoir broke. Councillors auy the contractor will have to make the damage good. The contractor contends that the finished work had been taken off his hands and paid for—except £IOO retained to cover possible damage.

Mr Brvce has returned to Wellington overland, so that now all the members of the Ministry are in town.

On Friday, according to the Lyttelton Times, a defendant at the .Resident Magistrate’s Court, Timaru, who evidently had no leaven of reverence in his composition, in answering a charge of “ leaving his vehicle unattended,” remarked that, had he known he was bound to leave somebody in charge of bi 3 cart while making his ordinary business calls, he would have “got the constable to hold bis horse ! ” The Bench smiled, the public grinned, and the members-of the force gasped for breath at the profane suggestion, but* the speaker looked quite satisfied with himself.

Yesterday week a deputation from the Mauawata County Council, consisting of Mr Linton, of Palmerston North, and Mr McArthur, of Feilding, waited on the Premier and the Minister for Public Works, to urge the need of placing a sura of money on the Estimates next session for part of the railway line through the Manawatu Gorge from Woodville to the Foxtou-Taranaki line. The portion which they specially desired to get completed was that part along the Flat as far as the river. This line, when finished, will be the connecting link between the East and West coasts of tho North Island. Both Ministers, after listening to the representations made, expressed themselves favorably impressed by the arguments used and facts brought before them, and promised to give the subject their serious consideration. The deputation then thanked them and withdrew.

An old Kangitikeian, at present residing in the Ha wera district, writes to the Advocate as follows :—A shore time since, being on a visit to New Plymouth, I met Mr Carkeek and had a chat with him about the proposed Mokau route for the trank railway. I obtained the following information from him, which will doubtless-be interesting to many of your readers : A good deal of the country consists of cliffs 700 ft high, mixed up with a lot of streams at the bottom of the ravines, with cliffs running up from them two hundred and three hundred feet. To make a railway would require a succession of tunnels through the hills, and bridges and viaducts across the creeks. The ranges are covered with black birch, a wood, as you know, almost useless. He only saw seven totara trees all the time he wa3 out. This is a contrast to Mr Rochefort’s splendid block of twenty thousand acres. His idea is that the railway must go by the central route, the other being impracticable. It was because he held the opinions, and conld not alter ths country which the Almighty had made, that the people of Taranaki said he ought to be discharged. Now, Mr Carkeek is one of the best surveyors in the colony, and quite equal to Mr .Rochefort for this particular purpose. So far as the land contiguous to the proposed line is concerned, he values it at—what do you thiok ?—one shilling for a million acres'! It took him ten days with picked men to go fifteen miles. There is no doubt that the Taranaki and Auckland people are* going to move heaven and earth to get the Mokau route adopted, and the advocates of the central line will have to take advantage of everything in its favor. This is how burglaries are got up in London :—A series of burglaries having been investigated, it has been found that in each case one of the servants in the house at the time had received “ a character ” from what purported to be “ her last place.’’ This “place” was always the same—it was the house of a lady and gentleman who apparently li'vfed in good style at the West End, and whose names were in the Post Office Directory. The establishment was maintained solely for the purpose of planting an accomplice in likely houses. This accomplice—sometimes a sham footman, sometimes a sham housemaid—discovered the secrets of the establishment, found out the places where the plate and jewellery were kept, studied the habits of the family, and then gave notice and left. It was by this means the burglars were enabled to suit the best time for a raid, and go' straight to the spot where their booty was kept. In some cases the accomplice was actually a member of the household at the time of the robbery, and made all the necessary arrangements —3uch as leaving the windows unfastened, giving a signal, and keeping the other servants out of the way. The vxhole plot is saicl to have been carried out with remarkable skill and ingenuity, and further details are anxiously •awaited.

By the courtesy of Mr McDougall, secretary of the Gear Meat Freezing and Preserving Company, and Mr Richardson, first engineer in charge of the Jubilee, an opportunity was afforded last Friday of inspecl ing the interesting work carried on on board that vessel. The Jubilee, as may be remembered, is\the hulk of a barque which the Gear Company bought and dismantled for the purpose of fitting her with refrigerators. She has. a Haslam compound surface-condensing engine on board, capable of supplying 47,000 cubic feet of cold air pet* hour, which is supplied with steam from a boiler situated in a sheet-iron house on deck. This boiler was constructed by Messrs Robertson and Co., of the Phoenix Foundry, Wellington, and consumes at present four tons of Brunner coal a-day, although later on they hope to be able to do with less. There are three freezing chambers capable of containing 250, 280, and 360 carcas.es respectively, supplied with air cooled •’.own to the temperature of 60deg below zero, and each carcase is sufficiently frozen to be placed in the storeroom, after being twenty-six hoars in these chambers. The two storerooms, which are situated in the hold, are each capable of containing 5000 carcases. The sides, decks, and batches have all been carefully made airtight, and insulated with 8 to 15 inches of charcoal, placed between the treble lining in order to keep out the slightest draught of warm air. There is a comfortable though small cabin in .the poop which has been left unchanged, while the fore-hold is used for storing coal. At present there are about 1600 *careases on board, which, together with several thousand still to be frozen, are to be shipped Home by the a.s. Bombay, now at Port Chalmers. ‘ The wharf which the Gear Company are constructing near their establishment at Petone is rapidly approaching completion, and then they will be able to load the Jubilee at their work.?, freeze the carcases, and tow her alongside a direct steamer at the same time, and thus save the cost of carrying the sheep from Petoae by rail as at present.

The Queen’s Wharf presented an unusually deserted appearance on Monday evening as compared with the activity which ha 3 prevailed there for the last few weeks. . The largest steamer in port was the Koranui.

A man named Frederick Arnold was arrested Monday evening on the charge of assaulting Frederick Jones, in Grey-street, and inflicting grievous bodily injuries. The police also arrested on Monday an old offender named John Windsor for robbery from the person ; and a person named Pierrot on the charge of wife desertion.

The funeral of tire late Mr W. J. Hall, which took place last Saturday afternoon, was attended by a large number of the old identities, all of whom had known and respected him for many years. The deceased’s sons, with one exception (some of whom had travelled hundreds of miles either by coach or steamer), were present. The funeral service was impressively conducted by the Rev. W. Baumber. The Native Minister received a telegram on Monday from Alexandra, stating that Sydney Taiwhanga has persuaded Rewi to withdraw from hi 3 undertaking to bring the Ngatimaniapoto land into the Native Land Court, and to allow surveys and roads to bo made through his country. He admits that he is acting treacherously in this recantation, but says he is influenced by an article which appeared in the New Zealand Herald, stating that when the title is determined in the Native Lands Court, the lands will soon be sold or leased to Europeans. This double dealing on the part of Rewi is annoying, because it will partly unsettle decisions arrived at after some weeks of negotiation. There are reasons, however, for thinking it likely that Rewi will again revert to his former position, and espepecially as he is at the present time in the receipt of a pension from the Government under the grant provided for certain Maoris under the Constitution Act, and he may not care to risk it by bad behavior. But if he should persist in holding out against the rest of the chiefs who have assented, it will not so very much matter. He is only a small landowner, holding by an uncertain title, is not of high birth, according to Maori estimate, and, being quite an old man of impaired faculties, is of little use to his people for either war or diplomacy. His influence, therefore, is far less than it was. The surveys will go on just the same, whether he objects or not. Sir Samuel Wilson’s purchase of the Oemaston estates, remarks “Atlas” in the World, is quite a Monte-Christo-like proceeding. He has not only bought the property, but also the whole of the contents of the house, which were to have been dispersed this month by a sale which would have lasted eight days. The cellar of wine has long enjoyed a high reputation in Derbyshire, and the enormous house was furnished by its late owner in the most costly manner, and contains a very fine collection of rare prints and old china. Oamaston lies on the main road from Derby to Ashboum, just ten miles from the county town. The house, which is one of the finest in the Midland counties, is in the Elizabethan stvle, and was built about 1850 by the late Mr Osmaston, who is said to have spent on it and on the gardens over £300,000. Among the exceptional features of Osmaston Manor are a ventilating tower 65 feet high, and a smoke tower in the garden 150 feet high, to which all the smoke of the house is conveyed by a tunnel which passes through the cellars. The grounds are very beautiful. The property has been sold under the Settled Estates Act, and the vendors have been fortunate in finding a purchaser ; for the house was out of all proportion to the value of the property, and «ould not be kept up in adequate style on less than at least twice the rental of the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire estates put together.” Sunset glows ( havß become phenomenal in these southern latitudes. Those of this week were seen with a clear roseate luminosity which must have charmed all observers, and induced a renewed interest in the scientific controversy as to the cause and the coincidence of these after-glows. No theory has found wider favor, so far as we have observed in Australian and English journals of high rank, than that which was expressed many weeks ago by Dr. Hector when drawing the attention of the Philosophical Society to the earliest manifestations of unusual glows after sunset in our usually clear atmosphere. They had not been seen here before the great eruption in the Straits of Sunda, and they became noticeable concurrently with the first detailed reports of that enormous disturbance. Dr. Hector construed these events as being consequential, the roseate glow resulting from a vast quantity of fine volcanic dust projected to unusual heights in the air, and floating in minute particles widely disseminated. This opinion was expressed before any scientific reports came from Australia or Europe, though such reports now agree generally in suggesting the same explanation. At the meeting of the Harbor Board yesterday week the action of the board in employing Mr Napier Bell to prepare plans for harbor improvements was very severely criticised. Mr Coffey was the first to touch upon the subject during a very irregular discussion, by pointing out that boring operations had actually been proceeding on private property for some time past, the spot selected being within the boundary of that portion of the Te Aro foreshore which had been granted to the corporation, and which might be reclaimed at any time. He had never seen anything more senseless in his life. The Secretary explained that it was understood that the spot referred to was likely to be selected as a dock site. There were special provisions in the Harbors Act which would enable them to take the laud for such a purpose. An ironical laugh from the Mayor was the only response to this. At a subsequent stage of the proceedings, Captain Williams took exception to the large expenditure incurred in preparing the scheme. He was just as well able as any engineer to say how wharfage accommodation could be best provided for, and so was any other of the board. The sooner they heard the last of it the better. Mr Coffey endorsed everything that was said, and again alluded to the boring operations, which he assure.d them simply meant throwing money away, because all the boring that was required had been done years ago by the Provincial Government, and the results were on record, and could easily be obtained. It was not very likely that the bottom had changed since then. The matter was then allowed to drop.

Bishop Redwpod returned from his West Coast tour (North Island) on Saturday last.

Dr. Bennett met the Porirua district settlers at Johnsonville on Friday night last, and accepted the proposals offered by the residents in that district to attend their families.

The Bishop of Wellington, who proceeded to Napier to attend the Church Missionary Board meeting, which was commenced at that that place on Monday, will be absent from the metropolis for about ten days. ,

The Druids’ Fete Committee have decided to hold their annual fete at McNab’s Gardens on Easter Monday, when it is to be hoped the elements will be more propitious than was experienced on Anniversary Day. We are informed that the General Assembly of the Northern Presbyterian Church meet in this city during the third week in February, when a proposal to unite the Northern and Southern Churches will be considered.

The nognnations for candidates to fill the annual vacancies caused by the retirement of two candidates in the Harbor Board, will take place next Monday ; and, should there be any opposition, the poll will take place on the following Monday.

A man named Frederick Jones was thrown to the ground and had his leg broken near the ankle in a scuffle in Grey street, at 1C o’clock on Saturday night. He was taken to the Star Hotel and attended by Dr Diver, who sent him to the Hospital in a cab. The Manawatu Herald says :—A couple of frostfish were picked up on the Otaki beach by Mr McKay, telegraph lineman, on Friday last. This may be taken as another indication of the topsy-turvy character of this season, as it is well-known that frostfish are found only in the depths of winter.

Not a little excitement was caused in Fea-therston-street on Saturday' morning last, when officers of the National Insurance Company opened a case of their tastefully got up new almanacs. Numbers of passers-by stopped and aßked for copies, and their request was at once kindly entertained by the servants of the company.

It is related that not long ago John Bright attended an auction sale of high-priced short-’ horn cattle in England, and in response to an inquiry said, “ No, I. have not come to buy, but te see the fool wfio will pay £2OOO for a bull.” “ There he is," said Lady Skelmersdale promptly, pointing to her husband. The reply made by the People’s Tribune i 3 not a matter of record.

The work of stretching the wires on the new telegraph poles on the Reclaimed Land is now nearly- completed, and the fine new pieces of timber, with their cluster of wires at the top, contrast favorably with the unsightly old poles almost covered with wires from top to bottom now being taken up along Lambtonquay.

A firm of Covent Garden seedsmen are advertising in English papers a new variety of oats, of which they state that the straw averages six feet in height, and is so strong that it. carries the heavy heads without yielding. A common result is 3000 grains from one seed, many plants having eight or ten vigorous straws, many single heads containing 300 grains. Roots, stalks, leaves and grain, grow to an extraordinary size. The stock of the new grain is limited, and the price asked for seed is 8s per pound—£l6 per bushel ! It appears .from recent statistics that little more than 50 per cent, of the population of Chicago was born in the United States. No less than 94,000 of the present inhabitants of that city have poured in from the various States of the German Empire. The Bohemians number 12,000 ; the Canadians, 15,000 ; Danes, 3100 ; French, nearly, 2000 ; Irish, nearly 50,000 ; Hollanders, nearly 3300 ; Italians, 1400 ; Norwegians, 5700 : Swedes, 16000 ; Poles, 5700; and Swiss, 2000; with a sprinkling of Russians, Hungarians, Spaniards, Portuguese, and men of almost every other race and nationality -under the sun. A correspondent writing to the Timaru Herald calls attention to the cruel among fishermen, both amateur and professional, of allowing the fish they catch to die instead of killing them by bleeding. If it were known that a butcher turned his sheep into mutton or his oxen into beef by the process of smothering, his meat would be unfit for consumption, and he would be prosecuted for cruelty to animals, and yet this is precisely the manner in which fishermen universally treat fish. To bleed fish is a very simple and easy matter. It is only necessary to cut or break the gills, which can be readily done with the thumb and finger while extracting the hook. There is no doubt the chief reason why fish so soon decompose is because the blood is nearly always left to congeal in their veins. By attention to this apparently trivial matter cruelty is avoided, the-flavor of the fish is improved, and it will keep fresh and sweet very much longer than if left to die a lingering and painful death with the blood congealing in its veins. An unfortunate difference has arisen in respect of an arbitration for determining the terms on which the partnership in a legal firm shall be dissolved, and resort is being had to the Supreme Court, Mr Chapman mentioned on Monday, before Mr Justice Richmond, that it would be necessary to fix a day for hearing the case of Brandon v. Shaw, as the parties had failed to settle amicably. The case would be tried before bis Honor without a jury. His Honor said he would certainly decline, from what he knew of this case, to hear it without a jury, if the new rules gave him power to order a jury. He was altogether against trials of this character being taken before a judge. Such actions as libels, slanders, malioious prosecutions, and breaches of promise of marriage should be taken before a jury, because a jury was the best means of inducing public confidence in the administration of justice, and also of preserving judges from a load of odium which they would be utterly unable to bear in any free country. The public could compiain of a jury, and the complaint would soon be lost or forgotten, because a jury sank away a 3 a body, whereas judges remained to bear the stigma of any unpopular decision. If the nresent action were fixed to be tried before a jury, the trial could not be taken till after the long vacation, as a jury could not now be summoned for the present sittings. If ttra application .had to be made next day, as intimated, he could consider it.

An exchange states that the notorious Angelique Therasse, the heroine of the stolen dolman and of several animated Parliamentary debates, i 3 now resident at Hawera, where she is reported to be well and thriving.

The Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society (Limited), has received a valuable addition to the strength of its Dunedin Board, the Hod. George McLean having joined the directorate. The society is now fully prepared to transact business throughout the colony, and under Mr Lyall’s experienced management its operations should not be less successful in New Zealand than in the other coloniee, where the Colonial Mutual Society has long been noted for its well organized energy and enterprise. Mr E. J. Spence (Dalgety and Co.) has been elected chairman of the Dunedin Board.

The trains to-day (race day) will doubtless be filled to overflowing, as in addition to visitors to the Lower Hutt, our temperance friends have decided to hold a picnic on that day at Belmont, which,, judging from the programme published elsewhere, will be a most enjoyable festival. A procession of the various temperance bodies will leave the Rechabite Hall, Manners-street, at 9 o’clock, and will march to the railway station, headed by Gray’s Private Band. Arrived on the ground at Belmont, sports of every description will be indulged in, including a cricket match between the Rechabites- and the Good Templars. On returning to town in the evening, the picnicers will adjourn to the Wesleyan Church, where a temperance festival will be held.

While some lads were engaged rabbit-hunt-ing on Mount Pisa Range at the beginning of this week (says the Cromwell Argus) they came across a human skull and some bones, with remnants of clothing beside them. The discovery was reported to the police, and instructions issued for the burial of the bones on the spot where found. The remains are, says the Cromwell paper, probably those of a man named Henderson, an old Cardrona- resident, who, some four years ago, was an inmate of the Cromwell Hospital. He left the institution suddefily one day, declaring his intention of proceeding to Cardrona, and since then has not been heard of, although search was made at the time. As the remains were found near what is known as McKeller’s track to the Cardrona, the assumption that they are those of Henderson is strengthened. The Canterbury Press of last Saturday says : A. very severe and destructive storm passed over the town and a portion of the district of Ashburton on Thursday afternoon. Heavy peals of thunder were accompanied by vivid flashes of lightning, followed by a most violent storm of wind, rain, and hail. In the Ashburton Forks district the hail storm raged with such severity as to almost completely destroy a large area of wheat and oat .crop, cutting the corn clean to the ground, and completsly shivering the stalks. Messrs Sargent, Frisby, -■ Corbett, and others will be heavy losers. At Green - street the glass in several windows in Mr Corsbie’s house was smashed to pieces.. Considerable damage was also done to the crops at Winchmore. At Dromore the storm was also severe, and at times it was a matter of impossibility to beat against it on horseback. The damage done to the crops appears to have been confined to the Ashburton Forks district, Winchmore,. and further towards the hills. The weather is again fine, and, should it continue, harvest operations will be pretty general, so far as oats are concerned, towards the end of the week. Some of the farmers in the Seafield district have already commenced, though the cropsjare somewhaton thegreenside. A railway accident on a small scale happened on the RimutakaTuesday evening in day-. light. The train from the Wairarapa had reached the summit of the incline, and while half-a-dozen goods waggons in front were being hooked on to the train for ’the descent, the wagjgons- begau moving down hill, and soon gained a furious pace. The engine and passenger carriages started down after them at a pacebegulated by the gripper engine, the passengers hot being aware of the mishap or the risk. the train reached the bottom in safety,, and in the dip before rising again to Kaitoke, the runaway trucks were overtaken, the engine being stopped without collision. Then the passengers realised what had happened, for they saw trucks smashed and scattered in all directions, as if the velocity of the downward rush had thrown them off the rails and knocked them to pieces. One truck was tipped end up, and partly on the rails, blocking the course ; three or four others were smashed to pieces, and one had plunged down the gully. A quantity of merchandis and timber lay scattered around the scene, and the passengers had a vivid picture of railway wreckage under conditions favorable to human life. Before the train could pass the spot, the line had to be cleared of the upturned trucks and wreckage. After about forty minutes labor, the guard was able to signal all clear, and the train came on to Wellington. This little story seems to carry a moral. Spiritualism was expounded on Sunday byMr L. Stead, a visitor, in a lecture delivered at the Freethought Hall to a numerous audience, which was linmistakably mixed. The lecturer read a written statement of his personal experiences in spirit circles formed at domestic firesides, and he gave lengthy quotations from writings by American spiritualists. It was a kind of lecture which left unexplained exactly what listeners wanted to know ; and it was evident that Mr Stead was not a capable expounder of an ecc.ult science. The chair was occupied by a prominent local sceptic, who afterwards reviewed the lecture in a manner which may be called scarifying. This provoked protests from three members of the audience, who bolieved in the genuineness of spirit manifestations, and defended spirituaiism as a science which could not he understood without patient study, a science which had its genuine manifestations and its devout believers, and which would survive all the abuse that impostors unfortunately brought ou it. This short breezy discussion being over, a “ circle ” was formed round a table, about fourteen persons of both sexes sitting with palms spread and fingers touching. After sitting and waiting twenty minutes, Mr Stead declared that, tho table shook, and tilted slightly at one end. This seemed to rather frighten an elderly lady at that end, who thought there was something uncanny about it, and vacated her seat. Then Mr Stead joined the broken circle, but no other, manifestations followed, and the seance came to an end for want of patience, or sympathy, or both. *

In the Supreme Court last Friday, the remarkable case of Harris v. Greatrex was concluded! Other civil cases were also fixed to be taken- on the following dates, as nearly. as practicable :—To-day, Regina v. Martin ; Monday, Forbes v. Wakeliu ; Tuesday, Keep v. Travers, also McGrath v. Wellington Corporation ; Wednesday, Freeman and another v. Regina ; Thursday, Seager v. Robinson.

Recently a commercial traveller went to the branch of the Bank of England in Castlestreet, Liverpool, and. asked for change for £l5O in notes. The teller, in complying with his request, made an error in the notes, and handed him four notes for £IOO each, instead of four £lO notes. The traveller promptly left the Bank with the unexpected windfall, and is supposed to have gone on a holiday trip to the Isle of Man, where the police have followed with a warrant.

A farmer in the Wairarapa, who arrived in town last Friday, informs us that-the SW gale which prevailed during the early part of the week was the severest he has experienced during a residence of twenty-eight years in the district. In illustration of its extraordinary force he mentions that exposed country covered with fcoi toi has entirely changed in color, the light green of the plant having changed to dark brown. He also adds that standing crops in every portion of the district have suffered very severely.

The Dunedin correspondent of the Press Association considerately supplies us with news to the effect that Cbas. White, a delinquent accountant in bankruptcy, had been arrested in Wellington yesterday week, but discharged, adding that he left during the afternoon by a sailing vessel for Sydney. As the arrest and discharge occurred at our own door, and was duly recorded by us next morning, we do not quite see the object aimed at in sending the message, unless it be to say. that White left the same day for Sydney in a sailing vessel, which happened to be incorrect, as no sailing vessel left port on Thursday.

The first trial auction sale of Romney Marsh rams in this district took place last. Friday, when Messrs T. Kennedy MacdoDald and Co. submitted at Goathurst Farm 47. pure-bred, rams from the celebrated stud flock of Mr John Reid, of Elderslie. There was a crowded attendance «f farmers and others from the Wairarapa and Porirua districts, but the bid-ding.-was. by no means so spirited as wasexpected. The sheep were sold in pens of five each, and the highest prices ranged from £lO ■ 10s to £4 each. A yearly continuance of' these ram sales on fixed dates in each year,, and of picked sheep, would, we have little doubt, well repay Mr Reid for the experiment..

We have received from- the Secretary forGrown Lands a copy of the new Grown Lands Guide, published by the authority oft the Minister of Lands. It contains the most elaborate information for intending se.ttlprs respecting the lands available for occupation* by all the various methods prescribed- underour land laws, whether under the deferredpayment, agricultural lease, perpetual lease,, or homestead systems. It appears that “the total area of New Zealand is upwards off 64,000,00 acres. Of this, 14)090,000 have been sold or disposed of in education and otherpublic reserves ; 16,000,000 belong to the aborigines, or to the Europeans who have purchased from them ; and 34,000,000' acres off Crown lands still remain for disposal. Of thelatter, 15,000,000 are open grass or fern country, 10,000,000 forest, and 9,000,000 oft barren mountain tops, lakes, and worthless, country.

Mr J. M. Mather, of Manchester, in a little-, work entitled “ Life and Teachings of John Ruskin.” publishes the following letter, dated ! November 23, 1881:—“I.have never published a pamphlet on nurseries—first because I never write about anything except what I know more of than most other people ; secondly, because I think nothing much matters in a nursery —except the mother, the nurse, and’ the air. So far a 3 I have notion or guess in the matter myself beyond the perfection of those three necessary elements, Lshould: say the rougher and plainer everything the better—no'lace to cradle cap, hardest possible bed, and simplest possible.food according to age, and floor and walls of the cleanliest. All education to beauty is, first, in the beauty of gentle human faces round a child ;. secondly, in the fields—fields meaning grass, water, beasts, flowers and sky. Without these no ma.i can be educated humanly. He may be made a calculating machine, a walking dictionary, a painter of dead bodies, a twangler or scratcher on keys or oat-gut, a discoverer of new forms of worms in mud ; but a properly so-called human being—never. Pictures are, 1‘ believe, of, no use whatever by themselves. If the child has other things right, round it and given to it —its garden, its cat, and its windc-w to the sky and stars—in time pictures of flowers and beasts, and things in heaven and heavenly earth may be useful to it. But see first that its realities are heavenly.”

The Australasian says : —Some of ourjlocal politicians who swear by Mr Henry Georgeon the land questions will be rather disposed, we fancy, to take umbrage at him, on account of his views with respect to protection. In an article on “Overproduction,” which appears in the North American Review, he ridicules that bugbear of the partisans of scarcity and monopoly, and then goe3 on to expose what he calls “the fallacies of protection.” He tells his readers that reduced protection, low wages, and diminished profits are the natural results of those restrictions which unwise legislation imposes upon freedom o? exchange ; and he reminds them also that “ taxes upon the exchange of commodities are as much taxe3 upon the production ’of commodities as taxes directly levied upon, production,” and that this is a system of taxation which “ creates monopollies.” In conclusion, he admonishes his countrymen that the only thing needed to restore the industrial organism of the United States to a sound and healthy condition, is freedom. “Idle labour, wasting capital, the glut of markets, the co-existence of poverty and of unused wealth, are the results of restrictions which prevent the free circulation of productive forces.” Of course,, there is nothing new in this, nothing that has not been said before by the greatest authorities on economic science in all parts of the world, but coming from a writer who is. regarded by numbers of persona as a political oracle, it will probably carry conviction to tho minds of some who y be otherwise inaccessible to argument.

Mr John Duthie offers himself for reflection at the ensuing Harbor Board election

The ventilators on the roof of the Harbor Board’s new -wool-shed having been found to leak during very stormy weather, they are now being closed with weather-boarding. The unfortunate naan Michael Connolly, who was apprehended in the Tinabori-road some days since on suspicion of lunacy, has been sent to the Lunatic Asylum on the certificate of Drs. Johnston and Cahill.

The -following have joined the Telephone Exchange.:—Messrs Chapman and -FitzGerald, Brandon-street; Mr Hransfield, Panamastreet ; Mr HaughtoD, Johnston-street ; and the Lunacy Department, Government Buildings.

At the request of the City Council, 'Mr Blackett visited the Wainuiomata damtx Tuesday, and inspected the remains of that structure. Mr Blackett found no point of interest that has not already been noticed and published. He will, however, present a report on the subject in two or three days.

The troubles of an editor .are manifold enough in Europe, but they do not include such a strait as that of an Indian journalist, who recently apologised for the late appearance of his paper, the Cochin Argus, as due “ to our establishment having left the office in a body to witness the execution which' took place to-day.” According to a Nelson paper “ Major ” Pollard, of the Salvation Army, arrived by the {Rotorua last week from the South. He was preceded last week by “ Captain ” Whitchurch and a.full-private named Laurenson, and it is, we believe, intended to open a campaign in this town without delay.

We notice that the South British Insurance Company has again issued its seasonable and-most useful blotting and daily memoranda pad. These pads were in universal request last year, and were, on all hands, voted the very best of the many commercial New Year’s gifts which had been presented to a discriminating public.

We have received from the Nelson Education Board the annual report of their Inspector of Schools, from which it appears that the number of schools -in the district was 73, and the number of scholars on the roll at the end of December last .4543, being an increase of 451 during the year. The number present at the last examination was 3774’.

At a general meeting of the Thorndon SwimmiDg Club, held at the Post Office Hotel on Tuesday, Mr J. Brandon was unanimously elected secretary in place of Mr Luckie, resigned. The meeting was then adjourned until Thursday, the 31st instant, to enable the -committee to draw up a programme of sports to be-held at an early date. At the weekly meeting of the Benevolent Committee on Tuesday the following gentlemen were present :—Mr Holdsworth (chairman), -and Messrs Daaks, B. Smith, J. E. Smith, Kevs West and J. T. Hinton, and the secretary, Mr A. Gr. Johnson. The latter reported that the father of the three boys on the hands of the committee had returned from Cliristchurob, had obtained work, and had written a letter thanking the committee for the kindness shown to his sons. Patrick McCafferty, an old soldier, had been sent to the Hospital. A man residing in Blenheim, whose wife had •"been sent over to him, wrote enclosing £l. Messrs. Jamieson Brothers’ contract for rations at 2Jd per head was accepted. An Ashburton paper furnishes the following : Here is an anomaly which not exist. A merchant of this town requiring to send a parcel, weighing about three ounces, to Dunedin, -took same to the railway station, and before booking it. to it 3 intended destination iu■quired the cost of conveyance. He was somewhat surprised on learning that the charge would be 8s lid. Not being satisfied with the exorbitant tariff, he took the packet to the ■Post Office, and iu answer to his question, the postmaster informed him that the cost per {Royal .mail would be Bd. It is needless to say that the gentleman in question took advantage of the cheapest rate, and sent his parcel per post. The adjourned meeting -of the Wellington Woollen Manufacturing Company, for the purpose of electing the board of directors for the ensuing year, was held Tuesday afternoon at the Chamber of Commerce rooms. As showing the amount of interest taken in the matter, it may be mentioned that nearly every shareholder voted. Following are the names of the successful candidates :—Sir William Fitzherbert, Messrs Robert Cleland, D. Buick, J. McKelvie, J- Dransfield, T. K. Macdonald, and James Smith. The number of votes polled by six of the successful candidates was over 1000 iu eaeh case, and by the seventh, about 600. Mr James Smith received the greatest number of votes. Mr J. B. Har--court was in the chair, and Messrs McCardle and Brown were the scrutineers.

The picnic held on Tuesday in McNab’s Gardens in connection with the conference was a decided success. The day was one of the finest we have been favored with this summer, and the sunshine and warmth seemed to prepare all for the most thorough enjoyment. The special train, which left the station at 10.30, was well filled, and succeeding trains, added to the number of those who, amid flowers and friends, were bent on pleasure. Perhaps the game which created tlie'greafcest amount of interest was a cricket match between eleven ministers and an equal number of laymen, the latter eventually proving the winners by nine rune. At 4.30 the ringing of a bell announced that tea was ready,' and ample justice was done to the good things provided. After tea those ■present assembled on the lawn, and after the singing of a hymn, the Rev. R. Bavin called upon some of the visitors to give short addresses. All who sp6ke referred to the kindness and hospitality of the Wellington people. Their visit throughout had been a very enjoyable one, and their enjoyment had been added toby the pleasures of that day. Mention was also made of the kindness and liberality of the Hufct ladies in providing such a bountiful tea. After the singing of the Doxology a stajt was made for the train, and at 7.30 the company reached Wellington agaiu, somewhat tired, but thankful for glorious weather and a day of thorom rh enjoyment. , Don’t Die in the House. —“Rough on Rats ” clears out rats, mice, beetles, roaches, bed-bugs, flies, ants, insects, moles, jack-rab-bits, gophers. 7ld. Moses, Moss and Co., Sydney,Ge nerarAgents, 1