AUCKLAND NEWS NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2250, 15 April 1897, Page 9

AUCKLAND NEWS NOTES.

(FaoM Our Own Correspondent.) Auckland, April 8.

A NEW BICYCLE. | A new bicycle is now attracting considerable ( attention in Auckland. Mr Edward Trindall ] has not only dispensed with the chain, but has \ substituted a far superior and simpler gear. A trial of the machine took place on the Mangere , road, the result being that E. Reynolds did a mile in 2min 24sec in spite of the fact that the bioyc'e, having bsen built of heavy materials, weighß 331b. A raciug machine on a similar pattern would bB some 101b or 12lb lighter. Reynolds says that when he becomes accustomed to the different method of propulsion he will do the distance in far less time on this same bicycle, notwithstanding it=i weight. TREATMENT OF DIPSOMANIACS. At a meeting of the Auckland Ministers' Association Dr Wolfeadeu, from Melbourne, was introduced to the meeting, and gave a most interesting account of his work in connection with his special means of treatment of the drink craving by bichloride qf gold. At the close ot the address several questions were asked by minisf era present. A resolution was carried thankiug Dr Wolfenden for his addreis, and pledging the met ting to co-operate in arranging & publtc'meefcing, where he will more fully explain his mode o£ treatment. AN OVO MAORI CUSTOM. The issuing ot summonses against several Maoris at Ka kohe, Bay of I&lande, for a breach of the Cemeteries Act by carrying out an ancient Maori "'.custom must surely (s*Jta the Herald's be an unauthorised act of 8onv; officious conitable. From the earliest times the Maoris have practised their peculiar burial rites. No race exceeds thorn in respect for the remains of the dead. Iv this respect they ate far more ' scrupulous than any European people. Whpu a Native of any consequence died, the body ■was put in a sitting pos-ture, t^e hiir was dressed with albatross feathers, and the f«co was smeared with oil and red ochre. The" body wa3 then wrapped in a mat and placed } on a stage or temporarily interred After some time, generally about a year or 18 month?, the remains were taken up, the bones scraped clean, and deposited in the recess of some cave. This was called the " hahunga." The custom is falling into disuse, as many Natives are now buried in .European cemeteries in Eardpean fa9hior, but where it is' still carried 6u there is surely no need to interfere with it. The clause in the Cemeteries Act, under which the Ifortion is bow taken, was passed to prevent, desperation and needless interference with th« remains of the dead, but with the Maoris, there was nothing approaching to desecration in the ceremonial of the " ha'hunga " It was one of the most solemu duties of a Maori to the bodies of his relatives who hpd gone before to the world of spirits. i