The Evening Mail. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1876. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 143, 5 October 1876, Page 2

The Evening Mail.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1876. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

"V/nftt«afß-«!>iari.»n'!a rfrrp of inlt fairing npon a tti.».rrht tna>j pc»dßi;tt that which makes thousands think."

For ttie second time this week the services of his Worship the Resident Magistrate w«>rc not repaired at the Police Court, there being on this, an well a* yesterday morning, a blank charge-sheet.

Owing to the raced at Maerewhentta the t-wn wore to-day .".'peculiarly holiday aspect, moat of the principal houses being closed, and business at a stand-still.

Through the Telegraph Department, \rc have been informed that a telegraph office has now been opened at the Kumara llush, in the Province of Westland. Onr readers will remember that a short time ago we published from the Wellington Argm an account of a brutal assault committed by Maori named Tc Puni, on another named Watene, The A rgu* informs us that when Te Puni was removed from the dock at the Resident Magistrate's Court, after having been committed for trial, Watene, the man whom he (Te Puni) so brutally assaulted, expressed a wish to see the prisoner. This was granted, and the first thing Watene did was to shake hands and rub nosej with Te Puni. after which the former said : ** Is it not your fault that this has happened, but your evil heart, which has brought you to this ; you should have taken the good advice given yon, and then this would not have been done." This was magnanimous conduct on the part of the native, who had been so neatly butchered, and was still suffering acutely from the ill treatment he had received.

A few wesks sines Wiltshire, the "ped.," commenced the self-imposed task of walking 1,000 miles in as many hours. In noticing his performance, a Wellington exchange sa ya _—•• Wiltshire seems to be thoroughly "baked." It i* with great difficulty he can now be kept awake, especially between the hours of two and four in the morning. This morning he had to be kept awake by an attendant during his walks. He has become very pate and emaciated, and he himself states that he is losing a pound of flesh every day. He is atill resolute, and begins to gain courage as the prospect of an early termination of his task approaches. By noon of Saturday week, he will, if his strength does not fail htr.t, have competed his l,oof»th nuh\ » task which lias few parallels; but what benelit he v.-ill have gaiucd is known only to himself.'* lb is rumored in Sydney that the naval authorities there have been instructed by the Home *.'ov»_ mine tit not to plr.ee the war vessels on the Australian station beyond the reaeh of telegraphic communication. At the opening of the Queensland Exhibition last month a great feat of telegraphy waj performsd, the Governors speech, 700 words in length, vfa-% wired to Sydney from Brisbane in 13*? minutes.

A discovery was made at the Hobson"s Cay railway statiion. on Wednesday evening, 30th ult., about nine o'clock, which would seem to indicate (says the Ar-ju*) that a shocking crime lieen perpetrated. Constable Planner}-, who is stationed at the terminus, when making his usual rounds, discovered in one of the waterelosets a parcel containing the dead bodies of two female infanta. The bodies were roughly wrapped up in some articles of women's underclothing, and placed in a pillowcase, containing a quantity of chloride of lime. The constable removed the bodies to the morgue. A cursory examination showed that the children were apparently about a week old, and were twins. They seemed to have received some injur}* on the back of their skulls ; but there were no external marks of violence. The constable, while on duty, observed nothing which would throw any light on this extraordinary occurrence. The detectives believe they have obtained a clue to the paternity of the infants. The clothes in which the bodies of the children w-cre enwrapped writ, it is anticipated, lead to the detection of the parties implicated. The "itigfait Worshipful" Mayor of Melbourne evidently desires to see no other

"right worshipful" rival near his throne. At the meeting of the Collingwood City Council, held lately, the Acting Town Clerk of Melbourne addressed the Town Clerk of Collingwood as follows :—" Allow me to call your attention to an error in your letter, which I am sure has only to be pointed out to be remedied. You designate his Worship the Mayor of Collingwood as the 'Eight Worshipful.' This title belongs exclusively to the Mayor and Corporation of Melbourne, and was confer 1 ed upon them by Her Most Gracious Majesty in the year 1852.'' The Mayor of Collingwood, in reference to this communication, said that though personally he did not care how he was designated, yet he was determined to maintain intact the dignity of the of nee conferred on him. Counsel's opinion, which had been taken on the subject when the district wa3 elevated into a city, fully justified him in assuming the title of " Right Worshipful." The opinion stated the " Mayor continues to hold the designation, but in pub'tc he should be addressed an the ' llight Worshipful'—a courtesy that by custom has grown into a right of Mayorj of Cities." " What is going to happen," asks the Wellington Argus, because Sir George Grey and Mr. Itces absolutely went into different lobbies in the division on Mr. Murray's motion for certain information about the sale of Wellington reserves. Mr. Dignan also voted wilh Mr. Ilea against Sir George Grey. In the evening, again, Mr. Kees and Sir George Grey actually agreed with the Government in opposing the repeal of the New Zealand Forests Act.

You can't beat Wanganui much at mon- | strositica. The other dry it was a five-legged i calf, and then a four-eared pig. Now we i hear of the climax in the lusus nalurce line, j which is a lamb, having eight legs, four ears, ! one eye, and two tails. A contemporary on | this remarks that they are always doing j something funny at Wanganui. Civilisation is certainly prdgressiug up Maaterton way. According to the News Ltiter some of the folks there amuse themselves on Saturday nights by "merry mills" and fistic encounters. Sometimes a man gets another down and bites a piece out of his breast, and occasionally a Maori maiden, wishing to fight to the best advantage, divests herself of her garments before she "wires in." As a Yankee backwoodsman said, it must be lively in Masterton on Saturday night. One of the Centralist fuglemen appears to have got into the hands of the Philistines > according to the Guardian of yesterday's date, which says -.—" M'Laren, the notorious, had the tables reversed on him at the City Court yesterday. Instead of prosecuting, he. was prosecuted for an assault. There were three charges against him, viz., committing a breach of the peace, unlawful assault, and damaging a sixpenny pannikin in the police cell. The evidence bhowed that M'Laren had been making a midnight declaration of his Abolitionist principles in the Octagon, and insulted a gentleman on his way homewards. He fell into the hands of the police, who walked him off to the lock, up. All night long he kept the residents of the station awake by playing the Centralist mnster-call with his cold-water pannikin on the door of his cell. He apologised for his conduct to the tinware, but abused the arresting constables, and denied the assault. The Bench, considering his face was scratched and his forehead wa3 ornamented with a phrenological contusion, allowed him to escape with a fine of ss. and 4s. Gd. costs. On leaving the deck M'Laren promised he would be careful to keep better hours in future."

It is not often Maori wives prove such fruitful vines to their husbands, as was the case '.lining the recent meeting at Maungatautari. Whilst the meeting was proceeding (says the Waiknlo Time?), a. Maori woman gave birth to two girls and a boy. The former was very diminutive, and did not live. The boy is alive, and mother and child ••are doing well." Two young gentlemen—Messrs. Percy Delay and A. Von der Poorten—left Echuca for Albury by the Murray River in an open boat, and accomplished the journey—3l2 milo3—in four weeks, tngging against the current all the way. During the first week (the Border Post says), they made 40 miles ; the second week, 60 miles ; the third, 100 miles; and the fourth, they managed, so to speak, to travel 112 miles. They commenced as novice 3, and now they are under the impre sion that they will be able to hold their own against any two boatmen on the Murray. It may be observed that they only worked between sunrise and sunset, and that they baited at several stations on the route where they were hospitably entertained. The boat is 20ft by 4ft. Gin., in which they slept every night under canvas. These gentlemen are, to use a Colonial phrase, " new churns." They reached Victoria eight months ago, and have travelled nearly the whole of the Colony for pleasure and observation. They expressed themselves highly pleased.with the scenery along the Murray, and the attention paid them by certain gentlemen in Albury. The only disappointment they met with was in not seeing any of our snakes; however, before leaving the Colonies, we have no doubt their curiosity will be satisfied.