LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume 6, Issue 593, 7 January 1879, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

During 1878, the Collector of Customs paid to the credit of the Cook County Treasury £7_S, and to the Borough Council £424. These sums were for license fees, fines, &c, all of which were heartily welcomed. Tenders are called m this day's issue of the Herald for teachers' residences at Matawhero and Ormond, as also for the enlargement of the Gisborne School building. Nominations will be received up to noon to-morrow, for candidates for the vacant seat m the Borough Council, by the election of Councillor Porter as Mayor. The only candidate, so far as we have heard, is Mr. Daniel Page, of the Masonic Hotel, a citizen possessing considerable business intelligence, and a full share of good sense and common understanding. Among the many book and sheet almanacs we have received during the last few days, there is one printed and published by Messrs. Dinwiddie, Morrison and Co., proprietors of the Hawke's Bay Herald. It comprises nearly 200 pages of carefully arranged matter, which should make it valuable for reference by all classes of persons, whether m the Hawke's Bay Province or living outside of it. It is tho cheapest shillingsworbh of information we have seen for some time. The Lyttleton Times of Saturday last says: — "The committee appointed by the ! Woodend farmers to take steps to abate the I sparrow nuisance, held their last meeting on i Monday evening. 15,000 eggs and 1600 young birds were brought by the boys of the district, for which they received £11 17s 6d. One or two influential farmers of the district refuse to allo^s birds to be molested on their farms, but for which the sparrows would be very scarce m the district." Referring to Mr. Sheehan's remarks to the prophet Te Whiti that he had " spoken like a pettish child," " Peripatetic " m the Sydney Mail remarks : — "This may be re garded as a nineteenth-century equivalent for 'go up, thou bald head ! ' and the Native Minister for New Zealand would do well to keep a sharp look-out for shebears. " The Post says that the extended hours m the Customs, introduced at the suggestion of Messrs. Swanson and Macfarlane, have not proved au advantage, but that after the salutary lesson that has been taught, the Government will shortly return to the former system. Labour appears to be as scarce m the Southern districts of the colony as it is m Auckland :— Some of the station-owners are, wo ( Oamaru ) Mail understand, experiencing great difficulty m obtaining wool washers. In one instance a station-owner offered 35s a-week and found for seven and a-half hours a-day, with ls an hour for extra time, the additional inducement being offered that they should receive their full wages m the event of the weather being wet and the men unable to work ; but even these liberal terms failed to obtain the necessary hands. The Kelly gang is still at large, and the police appear to" be quite at fault. In the letter written by Edward Kelly to Mr. D. Cameron, M. L. A., he pretends to be very sorry for having shot Kennedy and Scanlan, but expressed no regret for the murder of Lanigan. Towards the end of the letter he makes a number of horrible threats, the principal of which are against the Railway Department, and declares he will carry them out- if justice is not done to his relatives and friends, who, he alleges, have been greviously wronged by several members of the police force. Precautions have been taken on the railway. It is proposed to erect a monument m memory of the three murdered constables.