Defences of New Zealand.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 5671, 18 January 1890, Page 3

Defences of New Zealand.

Major-Genkral Edwards h;is found a capable critic in the writer of a letter over the signature " Advauce New Zealand," which appears in the' Post, and which is said to be written by an officer who has held high military command in this colony. The letter i 3 full of detail, but the central idea .it contains may be understood from the following extract : — "Seeing that we resemble the mother country so much in our insular position and extent of coast line, would it not bo wiser to imitate her defence tactics by making an attempt to establish a maritime power afloat to guard our coasts from the approach of an enemy instead of raising a small military force which, as the Major-General pointed out in his report, is so distributed over the island that until better railway communication takes place it would be almost a matter of impossibility to combine the local forces in order to resist the enemy. ' Until these railways are 'i\\ existence, I presume we must pray that no enemy will cast a longing eye upon. this beautiful land. During the time we have been waiting for the perfection of some defence scheme, the descent of any enemy upon an unprotected part of our coast might, with last year's state of affairs in Europe, have been a matt or of any day's occurrence." The writer is emphatic that New Zealand, like her great progenitor, will fight her decisive battles, defensive or offensive, upon the sea.

The Napier Telegraph has interviewed a well-known drover, who states that portions of the Waikato are swarming with rabbits.. The Telegraph says: — "From that desolate, unoccupied centre by various routes they will send forth their starving liordes ; to seek for better pasture, multiplying their numbers as they proceed southwards .and eastwards. The country through which they will linger, breed, and render ' waste being rarely disturbed by foot of man will form their nurseries, from whence they will gradually but surely; descend upon the rich grazing grounds of the East Coast. That is the prospect before us. They will not be upon us this year or thd next, but it will come ".as surely as night follows day, unless the Government take energetic steps to stop it," :

Tiirannki County overdraft : L 2002. New Plymouth Harbor Board's slaking fund, L18 f 759. Schooner Kenilworth, arrived at Auckland, to be offered for sale. Child at Kiawa (Vie.) died from paralysis, the effects of a ghost; joke. Two months' dry weather made a difference of LIO.OOO in Wesfcport gold receipts for Christmas. * Woodville paper says not a man out of work in the district. Dunedin tramways lost L 919 during the year. " \\ ' New Plymouth exports for year included 1545 tons butter, 1218 tons flax, 12,000 head of cattle and sheep. j Wellington Council have purchased j cemetery site of 27 acres at Island Bay for L 55 per acre. It is reported in Wellington that a new company is being formed in England to compete for the eoasta] steam carrying trade of New Zealand, and that there i-s a vessel now being built for the trade. Sydney has been invaded by myriads of fleas, and things in that city arc being made particularly lively by these agile domestic pets. German papers call General Boulanger "General Ex," citing that he is an exGeneral, ex- Minister. ex-Deputy, ex-party chief, ex-future Director, and is now living in exile. Mr Goodall, C.E., late harbor engineer at Napier, has commenced practice in Auckland. Auckland City Council are making a levy of a -Jd in the £ under the Libraries Act, 1869: The settlers at the Kormadecs are thriving well and are hopeful of good things. Of 000 dogs collected on Auckland streets in 1888, 200 were unclaimed and drowned. At Mareretu, Auckland, Mrs Earneste was killed by a tiee which she was assistng her husband in felling. There are a great quantity of turnips about Hawera. After a bush lire the settlers sowed turnip seed and have a prolltic crop. On New Year's Eve, a rocket fired from one of the ships in Lyttelton lauded >n the roof of Mr Uhilinan's (11. M. Cus.ouis) residence. The tirework p.issed :hrough the roof into a bedroom, and but for the prompt action of the inmates would have set a light to the house. It is said that Major-General Edwards has furnished another report on the dofences of the colony to Government, giving more details. Mr J. T. Brassey is leaving Napier for Auckland, and when last Sunday he took round the plate in the cathedral for the last time the organist played the Dead March. Beware of circulars from tho " Sydney Jockey Turf Club " anent a consultation. There is no such club, and this consultation is not a straight ailair. Obituary : Captain Thomas, well-known auctioneer of Wellington, aged 75 ; Rev. Thos. Fisher, Weslcyan minister, of Christen urch. A Southern paper, in describing the burning of a dwelling mentions the rescue 4 by way of a window of the servant girl fifteen feet in height." The valuation of the city of Wellington is just completed for the general purposes for the year 1890-91. It amounts to I L 312,982, and for the water rate to L 257,254. An additional 60ft monolith is being commenced at the Napier breakwater. The estate of late J. R. Daw son, Dunedin, has been put into bankruptcy, the deficiency being L 1765. The two local roller mills, the Northern and the Auckland, have been amalgamated and placed under one management. The Bay of Plenty harvest is a splendid one, the yield being 35 to 40 bushels of oats, and 20 to 25 bushels of wheat to the acre. Last Friday week there was a very heavy gale down South. At Tima.ru tho iiauroto dared not go near the breakwater, and at Lyttelton the ship Falkland Hill dragged her anchor some distance. Through ineffective drainage and from an offensive open drain a severe outbreak of sickness lias occurred in G'reyiuouth. Tlie ketch Comet, which arrived at .Napier last Monday from Oamaru, was greatly knocked about by heavy seas. Nelson Wesleyann have an organ to arrive which costs LSOO, .md irs by Bishop and Sous, London. It has 18 stops, 708 pipes, two manuals, etc. I A dog made a sad mistake in Queen j Street, Auckland, the other day, savagely j attacking a lion's head sculptured in tront > of the Bunk of New South Wales. ! A boy got L2OOO for the loss of a leg in i the Armagh railway accident. In Wellington they do things in proper style. A paragraph in the Picks reads ' thus: — "The Mayoress, Mrs Charles J. Johnston, requests us to suite that she will be ' at homo ' to-morrow afternoon.'' : Rotorua is full of tourists, and plenty of money is being scattered about, (hie tourist threw Lo worth of coin into a hot water pool to see the young ones divu for it. At a meeting at Kurow some strong language was used in regard to the intention of the Minister of Lands to cut up for settlement at present only 10,000 out of tho 32,000 in the Station Peak run, when . the whole is demanded for settlement. A Sydney paper says : — A tradesman here bought a quantity of New Zealand butter at 8d per Ib, and failing to dispose of it in the ordinary way of business, he removed the brands and took the butter out intothe suburbs, where he represented it as having come from the coast, and sold it for Is 3dperlb. 1 The Taruwcra arrived back at Port j Chalmers this morning from her Sounds [ excursion, which has occupied ten days. The second excursion leaves on Monday and the third on January 29th. The berth lists for both are tilling up rapidly, and already 90 passengers are booked for each trip. A new-chum settler at Kumeroa, Hawke's Bay, baled hi.s wool the other day as merino crossbred. Of course there is no such thing in tho district. His neighbors have had great fun. over tho ignorance of the young sheep-farmer. Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia have joined tho parcels post system, and transmission begins on February 1. The other colonies arc not yet propared to come in. The rate from New Zealand to tho tir.st three will bo a minimum of Is 2d for 21b or under, and 7d for every additional pound up to 111 b ; to Western Australia 2nd extra will be charged. While falling bush tho other day on his section on Napier road Mr Meacham discovered a human skull. The skull was that of a white-man, and had evidently been there for years. Some poor wre'eh must have lost his way in the early days, and breathed his last amid the forest, friendless and alone. — Examiner.

At a meeting in Edinburgh, Dr Rainy said ho had been struck by the press in the colonies, and, speaking of it generally, he would say that the colonists had a very able press, and that among their newspapers wore journals of ti very high degree of efficiency. The Lawrence Times has been told of a .settler in Tuapeka, district whose wool clip last season only fetched Bkl per lb ; whereas this year he received 12d per lb for exactly the same quality wool, redlining thereby an increase on this year's clip of fully LIOO. From this one illustration it may bo guessed what an enormous difference such a rise in the price of our staple exports must, make in the national wealth of the colony, and what a blessing it must be for thousands of struggling settlers after the protracted period of low prices and general depression they have passed through.

iVlr ii. A. Buicner, 1;- . man iger of the •luetalnma Mail, is instituting a libel action .igainst the proprietors of the Wairarapa D. ,'y, c!ai. ring LiOC.Q damages, for a series of aliened defamatory libels published in that journal, one of which, the plaintiff states', led to his (dismissal from tho situation he then occupied. The following entries have been received for the Exhibition band contest : — Christ church Garrison, Stanmore, Sydenham, Addington Workshops, Burnhani Industrial School, Auckland City (Imps), Taranaki Rifles, Napier Garrison, Wellington Garrison, Queenstown, Invercar<>ill Garrison, Invercargill City, Oamaru Naval Artillery, Port Chalmers, Caversham, Dunedin Engineers, Dunedin Garrison, Dunedin Ordnance, Kaikorai, St. Joseph's Band (Launceston, Tasmania). Four hundred performers will take part. The following awa ds have been made at the Exhibition: — Betrs in bulk, Speight 1, Brigejs 2, Dunedin Brewery ii, Ehrenfreid (Auckland) recommended : malt bitter ale, McGavin 1, Speight 2, Wilson and Co. ,3; medium ale, Speiaht 1, McGavin 2, M. Joel 3 ; strong ale, McGavin 1, Wilson and Co. 2, Farmer 3, Joel commended ; stout in bulk, Speight 1, Surmnn (Invercargill) 2 ; bottled ale A, Joel 1, Speight 2 ; battled ale B, McGavin 1, Strachan 2, Manning (Christchurch) 3 ; bottled stout, McGavin 1 Strachan 2. The first horse race that was ever held in New Zealand took place on To Aroflat at Wellington. There was only one horse, the first that was landed in the future capital of tho colony, but tho presence of a horse suggested a race. A course was laid out, and hurdles put up, and six men to start at different points so as to take up the running, entered against the horse ; stakes L3O. The hor.se lost through refusing the last jump, and the men divided the stakes — Lo each. The Wellington Hospital Board threaten the Union Company with legal proceedings for the cost of treatment in the Hospital of Company's employees. If the claim should come into Court, it will possess a good deal of interest for the legal profession, for it bristles with " nicy poiw's. " The question is how far the (Joiup.uiy incur any liability to which any ol her employer of l.ibor is not subject. Mr Pai'ke, sentenced io imprisonment for libel of Lord Euston, was sub-editor of the Star, besides being editor of the North London Express. He has been the bade bone of the Star, his excellent judgment in press matters beinirnotorious. During the Whiiechapel murder scares the -Sbir w;ts tho o o evening paper in London ne% or led -^ ray. The sub-editor seemed intuitively to grasp which statements to accept ;:nd which to reject. Vv'u-n voiitication whs possible he always insisted on it, oven though the Star mitrlit l>e anticipated an edition. Tin's policy laid the foun lation of the paper's immense circulation. Consequently, when the alleged libel came from Mr Parke it was given all the more credence. Iloilovay'n Pills and Oivtmt.nt. — The great climatic variations which soldiers 'md sailors experience rend or them liable to a variety of diseases, the development of which is favored by exposure and hardships — often, it is lobe feared, by their own carelessness as well. Ffolloway's remedies afford a safe and easy menus of cure for those constitutional and local maladies which arc so frequently engendered by residence in unhealthy climates and by incautious living. The Ointment is a wonderful healing application, as it cleanses the surface of foul sores and ulcers, soothes tho throbbing and pain in cases of inflammation, and checks the progress of skin diseases. The Pills purify the blood, cleanse tho liver, and remove all noxious matter from the system. Country services Church of England on Sunday next — Ormond 3 p.m. — Advt. Presbyterian Church Services on Sunday — Waimata 11, Matawhero 2.30, St. Andrew's 11 and 7. — Ad.