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Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4489, 30 January 1886, Page 2

Mrs Benfield has accepted the position ©f matron of the hospital. The Native Laud Court was adjourned this morning till Monday to allow the judges time to look up a question as to dealing with the land according to Maori customs. Mr 0. B. Hubble has been arrested for not complying with the order of the Court for the maintenance of his wife. He is now in gaol, but hopes are entertained that a settlement satisfactory to both parties will be come to. It is formally notified in the Gazette that the Government has paid money and enteied into negotiations to acquire two chains of the Kaiti foreshore from the river mouth to Papawhariki. It is not at all improbable that Judge Gill may come here in place of one of the present Judges. If so, look out for a treat and some fun. Judge Mair ha 3 adjourned the Hastings Court for a few weeks as the natives want to get in thtir crops. Nominations for the aunual election of a Licensing Commitcee for the Borough must be made not later than noou ou Monday week. Nominationa for Patutahi must be made on February 5. The election is on the 13th. The engineer of the Rosina had a narrow escape from drowning thia morning. He was standing on a plank near the 6ide of the vessel when it overturned, sending him into the river and falling on top of him, striking him on the chest. Beyond a good ducking he was none the worse for his mishap. By the energetic efforts of Miss Charles and Mrs Watts suflßcient funds have been raised to get a harmonium for Church services at Te Arai, and an excellent little instrument has been bought. It will also be used in connection with the school. At the meeting of the Trade Congress at Auckland Mr J ames Grant was elected president, Mr Murcane (Port Chalmers) and Mr H. R. Jury vice-presidents, and Mr H. W. Faruall secretary. There was only a small attendance of Southern delegates, which is ascribed to the commercial depression in, the South. The third and final list of stations of the Ministers has been read before the Wesleyan Conference, The Rev. G, J. Spenoe, of Gisborne, has been appointed to Oamaru, and will be succeeded here by the Rev. Mr Old* meadow, who comes from the New South Wales Conference in exchange for the Rev. R. Bavin. The change will not take place till April next. It is claimed by experts that the preseut hot season will probably bring back the peach to a state of fruitfulness. From many parts of the country corner information that the peach trees are makiug new wood, and altogether present a promising appearance. There are also indications that melons will be plentiful. — Napier Telegraph. There is stated to have been a curious development in connection with a local . estate which was taken out of bankruptcy and where a composition was accepted. The action of a banker is taken exception to by the other creditors, and a meeting is to be held, when they will probably express tlieir sentiments rather freely. A very striking feature in the last quarterly returns of exports is the enormous falling off in exports from Dunedin. Iv the December quarter of 1884, these had a value of £416,604. But the Dunedin exports for the quarter just expired were only £189,432, a decrease ot 60 per cent. Aucklaud had an increase of over 50 per cent. New Zealand, among other rarities, can boast of a second Tom Thumb. He is only 30 inches in height and 201bs in weight, although his figure is well proportioned. His age is between 14 and 15. He is about to be exhibited in Wellington. Ihe boy was born at Green Island, near Dunedin. A meeting of the Te Arai School Committee was held at the School on Wednesday evening. Preseat : Messrs E/ans, (Chairman) T. U'Ren, F. J. Garriugton, Watts, and Karapa. Applications for the teaohership (master or mistress) were opened, there beiug six. After full consideration it was decided to aeeept Mr Thompson, of Norsewood, who had excellent testimonials. The site for the new school (Mr Skeet, contractor) was agreed on and building will be started forthwith. There is a novelty in Gisborne — a new patent gas lamp introduced by Mr D. Dawson. This lamp haviug been tested by F. H. Hartley's well known photometer is considered one of the best lights known, and far surpassing any of the improved argand or ordinary types of gas burners. The consumption of this small lamp is only 6 cubic feet per hour and the vertical illuminating power is equal to 75 candles. It is applicable to houses, offices, hotels, shops and factories. Having fitted one of these lamps up in the shop it will be lighted up for public inspection this evening. Mrs Ward, mother of Mr E. ff. Ward, solicitor, had a narrow escape from drowning last night. She was stepping from the cutter Iris on to the Snark for the purpose of seeing some of her relatives off by the steamer, when she missed her footing and fell between the boats into the water. The alarm was at once given, but as the night was very dark some little time was lost in getting Mrs Ward out of the water. When she was lifted out she was very much exhausted and had to be taken home in a cab. Bathers on the beach are cautioned to be aware — of porpoises. The porpoises assume quite a familiar bearing, aud swim around as if desirous of studying the human form divine and becoming expert anatomists. They do not bite, but those who do not know a porpoise from a shark are sometimes a little perturbed in spirit when the huge fish are in propinquity to them. The other morning a 10ft (!) porpoise swam between a father and son, who were only a few feet apart, and the fish might have been touched by the son's hand. He had his baok turned to the porpoise, however, and when ne heard his father yell to him to beware of the shark the monster had gone by (and was gently swimming away towards other bathers), and both then congratulated themselves on a hairbreadth escape. The porpoise is a genial, sociable fish, aud people need not be frightened of him, as he has not acquired a taste for hum*\n flesh. The shark, on the other hand, enjoys a human body, but folks here have had such a long experience of sharks, legal and otherwise, that any caution to them to beware of the ravenous creatures would be superfluous.

The law library at Auoklaad Supreme Court is valued at £7000. A correspondent informs us that there has been heavy raiu inland, aud that the Waipoua river has risen 4ft 6in. The Karl and Countess of Dalhousie, well known members of the Scottish nobility, are visitiug the Hot Lakes. This is the way " Puff" sums up the crisis i:i England : "The Irish party is very useful to help to smash things up, but no good at putting them together again." In order to teat tiio " keeping " quality of tiiimd Taranaki butter, a settler has sent off a tin addressed to himself as follows :— " F. P. Corkill, New Plymouth; via San Francisco, Hong Kong, Madras, Batavia, Loudon, etc." The following weights have been declared by Mr E. Devery, handicapper, for the Murewai Jockey Club races to be run on Monday, 15th February -.—Hurdles—Steeldust, list; Gipsy, lOst Gibs ; Kangaroo. lOst Olb;-; Sussex, 9*t lOlbs ; Charon, 9st 71bs ; Berbeth, 9it 4U>s : Rangitikei, 9at. Handicap— Kangaroo, Bst 121bs ; Gipsey, Bst 61bs ; Steeldust, 7st 121b3 ; Connundrum, 6st lOlbs ; Tui, 6st 4lbs. A German traveller in Africa, who witnessed a cannibal feast of the Pauhins tribe, says the young womeu who participated were the mo3t ravenous and gluttonous. They at 3 incredible quantities of flesh, and at the close of the feast carried off all the bones that had not. beer, picked clean. Hunger was not the motive, for they feed every day ou antelope and white bear. They prefer the flesh of a white person to that of a negro. Mr G. Maberly, school teacher at Tauranga, and late of Gisborne, is in trouble with his school committee. The committee, for some reasons, wrote to the Board requesting the teacher's removal. At a meeting of the Board it was considered that the Committee were wrong, but as no good could come of a teacher's efforts where the committee's feelings were hostile to him it was decided to Hnd Mr Maberly another school. It appears the district is against the committee and with the teacher, and petitions are being largely signed protesting against hia removal. At Wellington in the Blenheim libel case Sinclair v. Hornby, plaintiff got |d damages without costs. The Napier Evening News has to publish an apology to Mr Grubb in both the Herald and Telegraph. The Post says : Wheu the Napier litigants in the late libel cases come to balance accounts, we fancy that it will be found that the lawyers are the only gainers. The Evening News and its editor have between them received £245 by way of damages, and the Evening News has had to pay Mr Grubb £200 and its owu costs. It would have been better for all parties except the lawyers had 80 much dirty linen been washed at home, A new drug found by Doctor Buckiand is creating much comment in the medical world, lt is called avenesa, and is produced from Scotch oats. For nearly half a century chemists have been attempting to extract and isolate this peculiar alkaloid, but to Dr Buckiand, who has achieved quite a reputation as a neurologist and insanity expert in New England, belongs the credit of success. It ia claimed that its curative action is remarkable in brain and nerve disorders, and its use is being generally adopted by the medical profession for nervousness, paralysis, sleeplessness, sciatica, neuralgia, and like disorders with great success. It is said to be perfectly harmless, yet a most powerful nerve tonic. During the buah fires on the Waimate Plains one settler was surrounded by fire and got down the well aa the ouly escape. When there he could see the flames running along the ground like s stream of fire, and occasionally they would lick down the well and threaten him even there. The windlass caught. First the rope fell down, and it was at ouce apparent that a new danger was threatened wheu the supports of the windlass should give way and the heavy piece of timber which formed the drum ahould fall in upou him. The burning length of log at laat fell down, and it was only by squeezing close to the side of tbe well that he escaped being struck by it. It was, of course, alight when it fell, but the water soon extinguished what would otherwise probably have proved to be the means of Bmothering him. "It was a very neat put up job," he remarked, " but somehow I saw through it at once. He had been worrying me for an advertisement for his publication and would not take no for an answer till I got rather emphatic. It was only after half an hour's argument and when I began to ute forcible language and hint at the value of my time that he took his leave with a very dissatisfied air. Next day his wife and a female friend came in, and his wife selected a pretty good order of boots. When they were being done up, and the paying point waa drawing near, the husband passed the door— glanced in — looked surprised — and entered. He called his wife aside and said to her in a stage whisper that aa I did not advertise with him she was to buy nothing of me, aud then left with the bearing of being a very smart fellow. Tho lady returned to the counter and expressed her regret that her husband had forbidden her to deal at my shop, because etc., etc. I politely bowed her out, and at once scut to stop what little business I had been doing with the husband. It was rather a neat thing, but still not neat enough. What would this world do without science — especially in dull and droughty times like these ? And saying droughty tgminds me. Would you join in a modest quencher of the pangs of thirst — participate in the flowing bowl, so to speak ? They've got ice at the corner and the aridity of the atmosphere has an exhausting effect on the tissues. Come on !