THE VISIT OF THE PREMIER.

Opunake Times, Volume II, Issue 85, 26 April 1895, Page 2

THE VISIT OF THE PREMIER.

There is great excitement amongst a section of tite Maoris at Parihaka over the expected arrival of the Premier at the settlement. It is, however, quite a puzzle to the natives to make out what the object of his visit is. They say there is no matter of difference between (he Parihaka celebrities—Te Whiti and Tohu —and the Government which needs adjustment, and consequently do not know why such a fuss is being made over the expected visit. Tohu wishes it to be clearly understood that he has not in any way tendered arv invitatiou, although if the Premier should come he of course would offer hospitality, Te Whetu, who is the master of ceremonies, though not i f much standing, is hard at work arranging hakas and other orgies for tha occasion should the Premier come.

Messrs Nolau, Tonka & Co notify entries for their )punake stock sale nest Tuesdi.y. The rmeting of householders at Pungarehu to e.'.ect a school committee lapsed on Monday. We understand that a bazaar is being organised in aid of the funds of the Anglican Church, to be held in November.

' Very extensive repairs to the Main South Road nre being effected between Oaonni and Pungareh i, which will put the road in a very passable state for the coming winter. At the inquest on. David Snodgrass, found drowned in the Auckland harbor, an open verdict was returned. He left a hotel at 2 o'clock in ohe morning to go and see a relative. Alfred William Griffiths, flaxmill owner at Romahap'i.Dunedin, was accidently killed on Monday afternoon. One of the pulleys of the main shaft flew to pieces, and Griffiths was struck on the head, reoeiving fatal injuries. A meeting of the members of the Catholie Church is to be held to-morrow evening in the church, when the balance-sheet in con* nection with the late social will be presented. A committee is alio to be formed to tike steps to procure seats for the church. Several cases brought against shipowners in Auckland for breaches of the Shop Assistant Act were dismissed on technical grounds, as the Gazette notice notifying the day to be observed was not in accordance with the Act.

A young woman has been cured at the Auckland hospital of diphtheria by the use of anti-toxin, the new remedy. On her admission to the hospital the patient's life was despaired of. Anti-toxin is not a poor man's remedy, as it costs £1 a dose.

An Wanganui, on Wednesday, David Sheehan, aged 72 years, was killed by a fall of gravel at the pit in Russelvale, near St John's Hill. A boy named Byers, 13 years of age, suffered a compound fracture of the right leg through falling from a baker's cart. —Herald; The Fui.garehu Racing Club are contemplating holding a farewell meeting before the new regulations restricting the number of licenses come into force. This has always been a very pleasant gathering and should they decide on another meeting are sure to be well patronised. Further particulars of the death of the young man Stewart show that he went outside with his mother to shoot a hawk, but did not fire at it on account of the hawk being too high. The gun exploded accidently, blowing away the whole face. The unfortunate man fell down dead beside his mother. How the gun exploded cannot be accounted for.— News.

An unfortunate and expensive mistake occurred at Petone the other night (says the Post). A truck of stud sheep from the Manawatu, consigned to a breeder at the Hutt, got mixed up with a consignment of several truoks of fat sheep for the Gear Company, and the high-breed mimals were »11 duly converted into mutton before the error was discovered.

A meeting of the milk suppliers of the New Zealand Farmers' Dairy Union was held at Feathereton. Indignation was expressed nt the aclion of the directors in withholding the advances upon the last month's milk accounts. Some suppliers stated that if their cheques were not delivered forthwith they intended taking proceedings for their recovery.

The Wellington correspondent of the N. Z. Herald writes:— lt is the belief of most wellinformed people here, that during the coming session of'Farliament, the basis of some sort of compromise will be determined. A man of very high re -utationhere, as a financial agent, tells me, th-'t it would be better for the colony to lose all that it has already parted with than to incur the risk of another shilling. Since my last letter was sent the New Zealand bowlers have played three additional matches, making six matches in all and the result has been a fair division of honors . i.e., the New Zealanders won three matches add lost three. That, I think, is fairly satisfactory, codsidering that we had to play on tew greens, under new rules, and against picked men —the best bowlers in the colony. — News Special. At Stratford there were twenty candidates for the School Committee election. One lot of candidates were run by the Egmont Settler, and the other lot by the Egmont Post. The Settler candidates romped home easy winner. 3, viz., Messrs Eeid, Allsworth, Irvine, Kernedy, - King, Coutts, Mackay, James, and Kivell. At Eltham there wero fifteen candidates—Messrs Stanners, Hall, Buckeridge, Turner, Jenkins, Foote, and Enabling. * A few day 3 ago a couple of weasels were disporting t'aemselves on the green in front of Mr Twomey's residence having a game with a cat. The whole party seemed to be on the best of terms, judging by the frolics indulged in by them. At and around Pungarehu these pests are becoming very plentiful, being frequently seen on the road and in settlers' gardens. A number of settlers have been heavy losers of young poultry tnd ducks which they attribute to their depredations. The Frankley-road factory suppliers have decided to dispose of the whole of next season's output of butter to an English firm at the rate of 8d per lb. The firm offered 8 Jd, or 8d with all profits after £d profit had gone to the firm. The butter sent from this factory has realised splendid prices in the London markets, otherwise such an excellent price as that mentioned would not have been forthcoming. The plans of the Maketawa Dairy Factory have been sent to one of the Government dairy experts for revisal, and after the;' have been approved of and returned the ereettion of the building will beat once proceeded with.—lnglewood Record. Judge Backhouse in a recent breach of promise case in Sydney, summing up, told the jury that the young woman deserved consideration because of the fact that two years of her life had been wasted. The two years spoken of were the years the couple had spent in courtship, and the prosaio judge thought the lady might have devoted the time to catching some other if this one had not fooled sway her time. Plaintiff got a verdict; damages, £2OO. This should make the young men of Sydney eareful. If they know they are likely to be charged by the hour they will not occupy a young lady's time needlessly, and the saving in gas alone should be enormous. A very pitiable case was brought under the notice of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board on Monday by Mr C. E. Major. It was that of a family living near Hawera. The father had recently been committed to the asylum, and shortly afterwards two of the daughters were laid up with typhoid fever. The only breadwinner left was an elder daughter, who was at service, but who was compelled to relinguish her occupation in order to help her mother in her household duties. The girls affected with the typhoid had no sooner recovered than the elder sister was taken bad and died. And now one of sons is in a precarious condition—The result of want of proper sustenance. Mr Major stated that the family would not make an applicaton to the board and he asked for directions in the matter. The board gave him power to act.

Captain Russell, in his speech at Dunedin, said -.—Had the people realised how heavily tax?d we were in New Zealand, and that much of ouv misfortune was attributable to the fact that we were the most heavily taxed colony in Australasia, perhaps the most heavily taxed country in the world ? On nil imports whicl came into Mew Zealand the average duty t nounted to 25 per cent. Victoria, which w .s always held up to the public as an exarnpl. of all that was bad in fiscal arrangements, was taxed to the tune of 13£ per cent, only half of what we were taxed in New Zealand; New South Wales was only taxed 12;| per cent; and South Australia only 8| per cent. Therefore persons were liable to leave this oolony to go to others where they could buj so much cheaper than in this colony, and that was another reason why we were suffering so much in New Zealand.