THE Otago Daily Times. "Inveniam viam aut faciam." DUNEDIN, FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 1865.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22777, 13 January 1936, Page 4

THE Otago Daily Times. "Inveniam viam aut faciam." DUNEDIN, FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 1865.

SEVENTY-ONE YEARS AGO.

The Commissioners announce that the Exhibition will be open from 12 o'clock till six p.m. to-day, the admission charge being five shillings. An Order in Council appears in the "General Government Gazette" increasing the rate of interest on moneys to be hereafter raised • under the Loan Act, ,1863, to 6 per cent.

The important proclamation, fixing a penny rate on all newspapers posted in the colony, to come in force on the Ist of February, appears in the "General Government Gazette." . . .

We take the following account of the spread of the new superstition amongst the Maoris from the "New Zealander ": — "The letter from our Thames correspondent notifies the spread of the Pai Mariri superstition, and conveys some interesting particulars of that mischievous delusion. It appears that some hundreds of the fanatics lately visited the Thames district, With the purpose of gaining proselytes to their new creed; and in this they were only too successful. 'All the natives,' says our correspondent, ' in this part of the district, with the exception of Ngatimaru, went up to Okawhukuru to see the Hou Pai Mariri, and I am sorry to say have most of them very foolishly joined this imposture, which is nothing less than electro-biology or mesmerism. This they do by putting up a flag-staff, and then they all bow down, spreading out their arms. After going through all this nonsense they arrange all who wish to join this creed in a row, and the Pai Mariris commence operations by forming a row of the believers on the opposite side. They then begin waving their arms up and down like a regular professor, jabbering at the same time a regular babel of gibberish, which quite bewilders the would-be proselyte. After a little time some of the weak-minded succumb to the power of these professors; and then commences the most hideous sound or gibberish, which in some cases lasted from four to five days. This, the Pai Mariris say, is to loosen the tongue, so that they may shortly acquire some foreign language. The Pai Mariris say they can stop the rain when they like, and as for the troops they do not care a fig for them as they are ball proof. They intend to build no more pahs, but fight it out in the clear. They allow a plurality of wives; their Sabbath is on Saturday; when they pray, they pray to God, but not to Christ. Their watch-word is Hou Pai Mariri. ..."

A correspondent of the " Daily Southern Cross" gives the following amusing particulars concerning the new superstition of the Maoris: —"When questioned as to the grounds of their belief in the new god, the natives naively enough assert that the Pakehas have their protecting gods and angels—and more particularly they had their telegraph gods, with whom they were in constant communication. To prove this assertion they (the natives) had frequently listened at the telegraph posts, and had heard conversations contiuuously going on. Amongst the voices of persons speaking with the telegraph gods they had recognised that of General Cameron and others with whom they were acquainted. The Europeans proving thus that they depended so much upon the telegraph, it was only reasonable that the Maoris should have their own gods upon whom they could depend. So much for Maori intelligence in the 19th century. Another god has now sprung up, and is denominated Rura —taking the place and trident of good old Neptune. This personage is said to be endowed with immense strength, and will in future destroy any vessels belonging to the Pakehas which may enter the ports along the West Coast. The modus operandi of all this is simple enough; as Rura catches the vessels by the keel and turns them over, thus drowning all the crew and passengers, and destroying the cargo. His home is on the briny deep, and he is ever ready for his prey; so that it is expected to fare ill in future with any Pakeha craft entering the harbors of (he West Coast with hostile intent."

OPENING OF THE NEW ZEALAND EXHIBITION. The first New Zealand Exhibition was successfully opened yesterday. His Excellency the Governor failed to arrive to perform the ceremony, as the representative of Her Majesty, and the duty was delegated to the Superintendent of the Province, John Hyde Harris, Esq.; there was no public demonstration, in the nature of a procession; the attendance wag considerably less than it probably would have been had the Governor of the Colony, accompanied by the naval and military commandants, been present in the Building, and so lent something of official pomp to the proceedings; but, despite the absence of all pageant, and the sense of a disappointment at the seeming breach of a long-standing promise on the part of the representative of Her Majesty in this Colony, the merits of the confessedly very incomplete Exhibition produced a general and deep feeling of gratification. On all hands were to be heard expressions of pleasure and surprise—declarations that the display was much better than could have been anticipated—and congratulations that so much could have been accomplished by a first effort in so young a colony. . . .