The Poverty Bay Herald AND East Coast News Letter. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. Wednesday, October 29, 1879.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 936, 29 October 1879, Page 2

The Poverty Bay Herald AND East Coast News Letter. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. Wednesday, October 29, 1879.

Mr. H. E. Webb forwarded a letter to our office late this afternoon, conveying a most Bcurrilous and untruthful attack upon Mr. E. ff. Ward, junr., which, under any circumstances, we could only have admitted as an advertisement. Mr. Webb's answer was that he had sent it only m order that it might be refused, but as an advertisement it wa? not refused. Being entirely a personal matter we rejected, it as we should any other communication of a similar nature. Accord' ing to journalistic rules an advertisement can only be replied to by an advertise- > ment. Mr. Webb must bear m mind that his estate is now tho property of^ his creditors, and we have no doubt that having their own interests m view, they will take measures to prevent libellous matter appearing m a journal, the Standard property being now under liquidation. We beg to remind our readers of the soiree which takes place at Makaraka on Thursday — to-morrow evening. We understand the good folks at Matawhero are doing everything to make the affair a grand success. There will be tea and music (vocal and instrumental), addresses, recitations, &c We have no doubt many from Gisborne will find it convenient to be present, especially as it will be a beautiful moonlight night.* ' The Wairoa County Council has now employment over fifty men engaged m the formation of roads. The County ratepayers are taxed to a shilling iß"a pound, thereby enabling them to obtain the maximum Government subsidy. '

The original Georgia Minstrels will give the first of their series of entertainments iv the Masonic Hall this evening, m one of their choicest programmes. The fame which this company has attained, and sustained m their special line, while performing throughout all the principal cities and towns of Australia and New Zealand, will be sufficient to induce the public to extend to them their liberal patronage. There can be no doubt that the comicalities and eccentriceties of the members of this company are unrivalled and the musical portion of the entertainment is sufficiently guaranteed under the able conductorship of Mr. F. W. Cullimore. The drawing for prizes m the Catholic Art Union was held last night m the Masonic Hall under the supervision of the Rev. S. Chastagnon, and m the presence of a large number of subscribers. The drawing throughout, which necessarily occupied a considerable time, was conducted m an efficient manner, thanks to the assistance of Messrs. Maberly, Orr, Quigley and Jennings, whose services we have been requested to gratefully acknowledge. The names of the winners and numbers of their tickets will be fouud m our advertising columns. We have to acknowledge the receipt from the Government printer of a large batch of Parliamentary papers and reports, including the Report of the Royal Commission appointed to enquire into and report upon the operation of the University of New Zealand, and its relations to the Secondary Schools of the Colony. This last is a ponderous tome, and is full of valuable information respecting educational matters throughout the Colony. We take the following from the Napier Daily Telegraph : — "By private telegram we learn that Mr F. Sutton, M-H.R. for Napier, waited upon the Minister of Public Works to-day, m reference to the construction of the Napier- Wairoa-Gisborne railway. The result of the interview was that instructions will at once be given for a preliminary survey of the line. Mr Foy, who is at present surveying the Kiduapper'Wallingford line, will probably be employed to survey the Napier-Oisborne route." The same paper, m another issue, al^o has the following : — " We are glad to inform our readers that is the intention of the Ha.wke's Bay representatives to endeavor to get a sum of money placed on the estimates for the construction of the Napier-Gisborne railway. The vote, if possible, will be included iv that for the Auckland province, more than half the distance of the line being beyond the confines of the Hawke's Bay district. A Itisus natural, m the shape of a foal with a calf's head and feet, was (says the Hamilton Spectator) born on a farm near Byaduk last week. With the exception of the head and feet, all other portions of the body resembled those of a horse. Its mother was a fine mare. Mr. Christie who supplied the information, says he never saw anything like it, nor do we suppose anybody else ever did, and had it not been stillborn, it would have been worth huudreds of pounds to a show man. Mr. Whitaker has given notice that he will,move that, m the opinion of the House, the time has arrived when a substantial change shall be made m the incidence of taxation m the colony of New Zealand, and that measures be introduced luring the present session to effect this. The clergyman of a certain church down South desired to call the attention of his congregation to the fact that it being the last Sunday m the month he would administer the rite of baptism to children. Previous to his having entered the pulpit, he had received from one of the church officers, who by the way, was quite deaf, a notice to the effect that aa the ohildren would be present that evening, and he had the new Sunday school books ready for distribution, he would have them there to sell to all who desired them. After the sermon, the clergyman began the notice of baptismal service thus : " All of those having children, and desiring to have them baptised, will bring them this afternoon." At this point the deaf official, hearing the mention of children, supposed it was something m reference to his books, and rising, said : " All of those having none, and desiring them, will be supplied by me for the sum of one shilling." When a man becomes afflicted with the awful complaint of writing personal puffs of himself or a village newspaper, under a thin guise of news, he is not cured by a coldness on the part of the editor. The inveterate self flatterer simply carries " the news " to the paper over the way, and lays the flattering unction to his soul that the world is blind. It is such things as these that keep a newspaper man away from church. He stays at home and ponders on the thinness of the stuff of which humanity is sometimes constructed, — American paper." An extraordinary case of trance has just been brought to light at Hereford. A girl named Sarah Ann Dobbing, eleven years of age, who has lived since she was very young witli her great-aunt, Mrs. Derry, was for some days past considered to be dying, and was laid out for dead. Arrangements were made for the funeral, and shortly before its appointed time a Miss Cooke and a Mrs. Bethell came to look at the supposed corpse, and to the amazement and almost horror of both the covering of the body was observed to be moving. The child was then found alive, and medical assistance was at once procured. About three weeks before her supposed death the girl's condition underwent a marked change, and for some time she had not beeu able to take anything but a little water passed between her teeth with a teaspoon. Dr. Whitfield and Dr. Smith, who were called m after her revival, had a yolk of a new-laid ej{g beaten up and introduced by means of a syphon. This had an immediate effect on the heart and brain, but it was not long before the stomach returned it. On Friday morning the patient was m an absolutely unconscious state, the mouth wide open, the tongue its full length, the eyes fully open, the eyeballs turned up aud rigidly fixed, tlie right hand raised, and the whole frame m a state of hysterical agitation. The patient has been sensibly affected by the alterations of day and night, sleep coming to her aid as the days have closed, and only leaving her as morning arrived. An experienced nurse, who has been much with the child during the month, had charge of ber when she was assumed to have been dead, and arI ranged the laying out. Contrasting the education system of New South Wales with that of New Zealand, the Sydney Morning Herald says that "New Zealand has got rid of the difficulties which have frightened our legislators for years, and has already far outstripped us m the extent of her educational provisions. She has 100 children at school when we have only 76 every day of the school year, and to reach her standard we must add at once 20,000 to our average attendance. . . . . lt is tune for the State, if only for its own salvation, to put an end to this scramble for public money, and while securing for every child the means of instruction, leave the contending sects to settle their quarrels out of school hours and out of school days."

The following tough story is from a Bath paper : — A housewife was bothered by the propensity shown by the cat with her two kittens of getting beneath her feet. She asked her husband m the presence of the feliness to drowu the kittens. After dinner the kittens were not to be found. Two days later the cat brought a mouse into the kitchen and laid it at her mistress' feet. "Now, puss," said the lady, "if you'll take that mouse out of the way and will keep your kittens from under my feet, you may bring them back to the house." Puas trudged away with the mouse, went to a hole uuder the barn, and soon came towards the house, the two kittens behind her. "I perceive that Cr. Boon is among the list of defaulting ratepayers," remarked one of the councillors at a recent meeting of the Oamaru West Harbour Council, "Oh, is he?" replied the Mayor, "theu summon him first, to make a start." This suggestion met with the approval of the Council, from the simple fact that the defaulter was a councillor, and should have set a better example.