NEWS OF THE DAY.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5576, 23 September 1889, Page 3

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Napier rowing season opens on October 12th. The Mokfiu (Wait.ira) leases have been finally fixed up. The Auckland yacht Jessie Logan has bacn purchased by a Wellington syndicate. The statement of tho funds of the Auckland City Rowing Club show a credit balance of LlO2 12s 4d. The proprietors of the Newmarket Club have been sentenced to three months' imprisonment. — London cable. The lambing of the Hampshire Down! flock at the Oroua Downs Estate, Mana w.itu, has totalled 120 per cent. Mr C. Chinnery, a Christchurch flaxmil proprietor, lost over LSOO worth of fla.\ fibre from his drying grounds during tin recent gale. The death is announced in Taranaki of Mr Robert Greenwood, who arrived in New Plymouth in 1849, and .also of Mr Allan Douglas. A choir of 500 Sunday school children will hold a concert at the Dunedin Exhibition. Bracken will write a special anthem for the occasion. The waiter who fell from an upstairs window of the Club Hotel at Wellington was named Edward Stuckey, a Gisborne 1 id. He is now progressing favorably. A comet litis been discovered at Auckland at an elevation of a few degrees above the northern horizon. It is thought to be the comet seen at New York on July 6. As there is now a large body of men working at the Mercury Bay goldlields, a, company is being formed for the fixing up of a qiiiVttz-crushing apparatus on the ground. " Amongst the passengers to Sydney from Auckland by the Tarawera was a fish and oyster dealer, named Welby, who goes to England to take possession of a legacy bequeathed to him. Lincoln (humorist) and Lohr (manager) are on the war path again, the former having recovered from his illness. At a farewell at Wellington over 300 people were refused admission. The period of the year is approaching for the annual election of the Mayors of the boroughs of New Zealand, and in most of the towns the question is being asked, " Who is to be the new Mayor ?" The Tarawera took from Auckland about 500 tons of breadstuff's and grain to Sydney. Thirty-three head of Hereford cattlo purchased for breeding purposes were also shipped by the same vessel. Two hundred cases of apples from California by tho Mariposa were found to be infected by the codlin moth. The Auckland Customs authorities therefore prohibited their landing, and the cases were taken on to Sydney. Captain Harvey, of Wellington, has purchased a steamer, named Queen of the South, at Sydney. The boat is of 198 tons, and 40 horse-power, and will be employed on the N.Z. coasting trade with her head-quarters at Wellington. The Oairloch remains in the same position on the north side of the Waitara river, about 80 feet from the channel. Attempts were made to haul her off, but she would not move. She is not in a dangerous position, and is expected to float' when the spring tides make. A new form of charity has been established in Melbourne. It is called " The Sunday Dinner Fund, and its object is to provide a substantial meal on Sundays to all poor persons who apply for it, irrespective of race or creed. The promoters af the fund find that they have to supply a large number of dinners, and appeals for subscriptions appcarin the newspapers. At a meeting of the Devonport, Auckland, Borough Council it was shown that the costs of the recent action in the Supreme Court, in which the Council sued a ratepayer for alleged encroachment of property upon the roadway, and in which judgment was given for the defendant, were £250, and that this brought the Council's overdraft up to £1000. An Invercargill shopkeeper thus shows up the credit system :— Supposing a shopkeeper starts business with 100 monthly customers, he gets the following results, viz. , fifty-five pay up very satisfactorily ; 25 pay sifter being politely asked six or seven times ; ten pay after being dunned and threatened with all the pains and penalties of the law ; ten never pmj. Who pays for them? The Otago Daily Times says :— The late Hon. W. Robinson's Cheviot Hills estate consists of 84,248 acres, and is valued for property tax purposes at L 300,000. The homestead and other buildings, which it now boasts, are some of the finest of their kind in the colony. A large quantity of the land has been broken up and sown in English grass, and an idea may be gathered of the value of a year's produce when it is stated that last year 2079 bales of wool were shipped from the estate. The Gulcher Company have invited the Masterton Borough Council to light their streets, &c, by electricity. It is pointed out that Wellington now enjoys 515 electric lamps of 20 candle power, at an annual cost of L 1750, as compared with 230 gas lamps, of 12 candle [lower, at a cost of LISOO formerly. It is also submitted that the plant that will supply light at night can be utilised for the supply of motive power for machinery in the prosecution of all kinds of local industries by day. The N.Z. Times tells the following tale to the end : — A young lady on horseback had ii narrow escape yesterday morning at Pitone. She was crossing the railway line near the Marine Retreat Hotel about the time that a train was running into the station. The (Engineer shouted to her, but either she did not hear him, or woman like, had made up her mind to cross that line, and cross it she would in spite of a thousand engineers. She did cross fit last but tho engine and the horse's tail came into very close contact. Fortunately neither was hurt. Dunedin papers publish a list of pictures coming out in the Rimutaka for the Dunedin Exhibition. One evening paper gives the titlo of subject of each picture and the insured value, and adds a note that some of the pictures will be for sale. The other evening paper gives also the name of the owner ot each, from which it can be gathered that of the 40 pictures shipped, 18 are for sale, and that of these 14 are artists' ' specs. ' Mr Edwin Long wants 2000 guineas for his ' Pharaoh's Daughter.' 'Pharaoh's Daughter' won't find a purchaser in New Zealand. The Christchurch Press publishes the following extraordinary yarn from its Akaroa correspondent. A skeleton of an animal two chains in length beats not only any record, but anything ever conceived as possible by naturalists : — " While some me n were fencing on Mr M'Hale's property, at Roupa Bay, between Okain's and Little Akaloa they came across some bones which have up to the present not been identified. Part of the skeleton was unearthed, and the spinal column and ribs exposed to view. The skeleton measures two chains in length, or about 130 feet. The diameter of the cavity of the spinal canal is 17 inches. The find has occasioned some interest, and is said to be well authenticated." London eats a lot of meat outside the New Zealand frozen article. A recent number of the City Press says : — At the Corporation Cattle Market at Deptford since the year 1872, when it was opened, no less than 10,511,000 annuals have beeu slaughtered, and the carcases distributed nil over the country. The markel , which covers an area of thirty acres, possesses sixty-six slaughter-houses, there being altogether twelve lairages, which hold 5000 head of cattle and 22,000 sheep. The market cost the corporation in the first instance £255,000. In connection with the several corporation markets it is on their work the authorities have expended no Jess, a sum than £3,210,028.

The price of Star antimony in Loudon is now L<>s per ton. The new adjective to describe persons damaged in serial accidents.-— Parashot. The return of land grants made in Western Australia shows that one man owns and controls nearly 4,00 J, 000 acres. Seven tine kauri spars from the bush at the Sandspit, Thames, were sent to Dunedin by the Rotomahana, to the order of the T.S.S. Company. At Melbourne 2250 Broken Hill share* sold in one line for L' 112,500. The prici is equal to LSOO each prior to the sub- ( division of shares. Going into bondage again ! The emancipated female slaves of Brazil hnve taken to wearing corsets, by which they prove to the world their deliverance from bondage. A sum of L 17,340 was paid to tho Victorian Government as probate duty on the estate of the bite Mr John Wilson, of Woodlands, whose estate was valued at L 346,807. Another sum of L12,6<),9 was paid in the estate of the late Charles Campbell, M.L.C. In Victoria there are 28,000 employed in the public service, of whom one-half are engaged on the railways. The averago salary is Ll3O per annum, but excluding "casuals" the salaries average L 145. The average salary for all civil servants, exclusive of those employed in the railways, is Llsl. A serious encounter occurred in the Gascoigne district, Western Australia, between two policemen and some bush Natives. While bringing in a party of 20 prisoners the patrol was attacked by a horde of bush natives, and the prisoners joined them in the attack. One policeman was greatly maltreated, while his comrade in dispersing the bush Natives was fdso injured. The man had to fire upon the prisoners in self-defence before the assault could be repelled. The native inhabitants of the Chatham Islands — Mori oris, as they are called— have for some time past shown refreshing contempt for the law, emulating the example of other followers of Te Whiti. Whenever they are summoned to appear before the Magistrate to answer for their little peccadilloes — amongst which nonpayment of dog tax and trespass with dogs amongsii the runholclers' flocks are the most common — they simply ignore the magisterial writ and fail to attend. The following* remarks are from the Oamaru Mail : — There is one great lesson that the people seem to have taken to heart, that is, that it is dangerous to purchase land at speculative values. They have learned too that the actual value of land is its value for cultivation and that to give more out of pure ambition to be one's own landlord is to court misery. It is better for a man to hang about the streets of our towns, or travel the country roads, picking up the few crumbs that he can than to burthen himself with land bought at such a price that he cannot make more than the interest on the purchase money by working it. A return just published of the literary pensions granted annually by Parliament reveals some rather interesting facts. One learns, for instance, that Lord Tennyson .and Sir Richard Owen (Professor Owen) have drawn L2OO a year since 1845, and that two old Ladies (lineal descendants of Daniel Do Foe)getL7s pur annum .apiece. Mrs Oliphant receives LIOO : George Macdonald, LIOO ; Robert Buchanan, LIOO ; Mrs Charles Kingsley, L2OO ; Russell Wallace,L2oo ; Dr Murray (of dictionary fame) L2OO ; and Lady Helps, L2OO. The largest pension granted is likewise the oddest, viz. , L3OO to the daughter of the adojded daughter of the great Lord Nelson. Buchanan's LIOO ( considering that he makes thousands a year out of his plays) also seems to call for some explanation. Progress is being made with the Australian Auxiliary Squadron (says the London correspondent of the Sydney Mail), and the first vessel for that fleet — the gunboat Whiting — w.is launched at Elswick a day or two ago. This ship is 230 ft long, 27ft broad, 14£ ft in depth, and has a draught of B^ft, a displacement of 740 tons, an iudicated horsepower of 4500 and an estimated speed of 20 knots. She is to be fitted up with two 36-pounder rapid tiring guns, four 3-pounders, three torpedo guns, and a number of small arms. The vessel was christened by Miss Noble. The other ships of the Australian squaddon being built at Elswick are the cruisers Pelorus, Australia, Pandora, ;md Persian, and the gunboat Wizard, twin ship to the Whiting. The cruisers are of 2600 tons displacement, and will have an estimated speed of 20 knots an hour. The Melbourne Argus, writing on the labour strike, says : To explain the exact position of the companies it is necessary to set forth the capital which they have invested and the returns which they actually received last year, The ordinary stock of the East and West India Dock Company represents L 2,485,000 ; that of the London and St. Katherine's Company L 5,756,697, 756,697 ; and that of theMilwall Dock L599,7C0. The total value of the ordinary stock is L 8,741,397., 741, 397. On this the distribution for one year was L 78,566, or less than 1 per cent. To these figures must be added the debentures and preferred stock, which amount in value in the case of the three companies to L 9,210,713. The grand total, paid up in different ways is no less than L 17,952,110. And on this amount the return for distribution is altogether L 347,070, or less than 2 per cent., the greater part of which is swallowed up by the preferred shares. The Wellington Times of Friday says : To-morrow at 8.37 p.m., Greenwich mean time, the sun enters Libra. Commenting upon this movement in the astronomical world, Zadkiel, in his almanac for 1889, says: — "At Wellington the congress of planets in the tenth house is evil for the Government, Avho will have many difficulties to contend with. Fortunately Jupiter is in the second house, and this promises an increased revenue and prosperity for the New Zealanders. There will be some sharp shocks of earthquake about the period of this ingress. ' In this prediction Zadkiel is not very far out. The Government have had some difficulties to contend with, as recent events have «liiwn, The prosperity spoken of may be seen in the increase in the railway revenue, to which we referred yesterday, and the earthquake shocks were certainly present in various places on Thursday night. We are not prepared to say how or by what means Zadkiel obtains his predictions, but in this one he certainly scores a point. The honest Chinaman who recently picked up a purse containing a sum of money in the streets of Masterton, and handed it over to the police, has had some rather queer experiences. For six months he cooked for a contractor and made good money. Then he became cook at a popular hold, but found that the Chinese cheap labor could not compete with European female labor. In other words he was receiving 25s a week and he had to make way for fi female cook at 20s per week. The other day a labor agent sent him to a large station about 30 miles away. "Won't have you!" said the owner. "You try mo. Then no likee me I go," pleaded John, who speaks very good English. "Oh, no, cannot have you. You must le«ive." John had his expenses paid of course, but he is now sadly deploring the fact though a good cook, honest and willing to work, he happens to bo a Chinaman.— This is rough on the Asiatic. A rather laughable experience occurred yesterday to a young gentleman wellkuown in this city. Having acquired n taste for amateur photography, he, about noon, strolled down to the wharf for the purpose of visiting the s.s. Whampoa, which was lying alongside, and amusing himself for Imlf-an-hour in taking instantaneous views with with a small buttonhole camera of portions of the vessel and her Asiatic crew. After exhausting his •'plates,'" lie came ashuiv, with the