Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XX, Issue 6821, 6 November 1893, Page 2

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING.

GISBORNE, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 0, 1893. PATRIOTS AND PICKINGS. In five or six weeks from now the great > political struggle will be over. Whatever the prospect may be, the electors have no ' cause to complain of paucity of candidates, amongst whom there are many men of the right stamp. If the best be chosen in all r instances, New Zealand will be possessed • of ft Legislature equal to the Parliaments ! of the early days of responsible government. But there is no hope that the best men will be selected in all instances ; still let us trust that the electors generally will act with a proper sense of the great f responsibility that they are being called ■pon to discharge, and that they will trust no man in public life whom they would not trust in private affairs. That is the r first golden rule to be observed in the exercise of the franchise. Corrupt lawmakers are a thousand times a worse evil to the State that bad laws. Such is the - expereince of 'ill history, and it is an ex- » porience of which democracies should take 3 deep warning. No wrong-doing should 1 bo excused because the perpetrator is of the " right color." If a healthy tone pervaded politics, tho wrong-door should be treated by his own party as their greatest enemy, as a man who has brought • his own sido into disgrace. The Liberal party have in such vital niat- ' ters displayed not only a disregard of the ' interests of the country but of their own ' interests. The Cadman episode is fresh in the minds of the public ; neither have [ decent people forgotten the transactions of a certain John Lundon, who, whilst ftstensibly acting as Government agent in the purchase of Native land, received one price from the Government and paid the Maoris another. Mr Cadman was Native • Minister at the time, and it was from him that Lundon received authority to negotiate with the aboriginal owners. Just now our contemporaries are remindr ing people of another land scandal. A Mr John Stevens, an auctioneer and land agent in the Rangitikei district, had acted as land purchaser for the Stout- Vogel Government. In the course of a few months he earned L3OOO in commission, though he was able to attend to his ' private business all tho time. Mr Stevens is the Government candidate for > the Rangitikei district, and it was in his interest that the Premier spoke at i Marton the other day. Mr Stevens' services may have been worth the monoy, i but they could nodoubt have been obtained I at a much cheaper rate. The affair bore i a most ugly look. What must ba the feeling of the unemployed who were seat i to bushfelling work, at which they could i only earn half-a-crown a day, when they contrast thoir pittance with the fortunes secured by the Stevens, the Cadmans, and the Lundona in another sphere of Government work. This favored individual is not a person of any great influence either amongst the European or , Native popuiation of the district. In fact, at the last general election, his relatives declared they would not vote for him, and kept their promise at the ballot box. But Mr Stevens is of the " right color," and the money- making incident of a few years ago is rather in his favor. Truly Liberal Governments are most liberal with the people's money. But one cannot help reflecting on the kind of administration which makes it possible for ari ordinary land agent to pocket L3OOO of Government money for a few months' work. However, it is not hard to satisfy the conscience of Demos when the "color" is all right. Mr Stevens was a very lucky person indeed. By-t he-bye, Mr Stevens is opposed by another candidate in the Liberal interest, Mr Joseph Ivess, who formerly sat in the House for a Canterbury constituency, and who ran Mr Ormond close for Napier in 1887. It is feared that Mr Ivess's candidature will split the vote of the " Liberal " party, and thus lead to the return of Mr Lethbridge, the Opposition candidate. Mr Ivess is indignant at the Ministry declaring for Mr Stevens— whom he designates a " turncoat "—in preference to an old and tried Liberal like himself, and refuses to retire at the dictation of Mr Seddon. Mr Ivess states that a " gentleman of position," who was acting in the interests of Mr Stevens' candidature, offered him L 250 to withdraw from the contest. The offer was scornfully rejected, and Mr Ivess has made known the name of the person who approached him on the subject, so we may expect to see some very soiled political linen washed in public.

A fisherman named John Pearsen was charged before Mr Booth, R.M.," at the Police Court this morning with exposing for sale ten flounders, under the regulation size ' of nine inches. Constable Norman gave j evidence that he saw the fish drawn by the '■ net from the Turanganui river. He measured ■ them and they were from seven to eight i inches. The fish were offered for Bale, some ' of which were bought. He took a number ' which were under size. — David Johnston, < Collector of Customs, said that he had on ' several occasions cautioned accused against < catching small fish, and had given him a t copy of the regulations.— He was fined £1 ■ 7b Wits, ' '

Mr Boylan dr*wa Attention to «dv«rtiie* m«Qt hwded "Notice." The Holloway Dramatic Company oommenoo their season in the Theatro Royal this evening with the nautical drama, "My Jack." The Union Steamship Company state that 20 of the horses shipped from New Zealand for Calcutta by the Maori, were lost on the voyage. \ The Jewish colony at Jerusalem established by Sir Moses Montefiore ia growing. It is said to be doing well and paying expenses. New houses are in process of erection. Tho Wanganui Meat Freezing Company has been compelled to increase its capital by the issue of new shares to the extent of £2000, making a total of £35,000. Their total debt ia something like £10,000, although there are assets derivable from Homo shipments to go towards its payment. At Soham, in the F«n country, which was formerly regarded as the most unhealthy district of p]ngland, a man has just entered upon his 103 rd year. Ho reads without glassas, and is able to take exercise. At, Boston Spa a woman has attained her 104 th y<?ar. The rowing season will be opened tomorrow. As is the custom, there will be a procession of boats accompanied by tha launch Snark, with a large number of ladies and the City Band on board. After the procession, it is the intention of the Rowing Clubs to hold aquatic sports in front of their sheds. Shearers' wages in Australia are not so very bad, when two men on one station, by large tallies, made £3 4s 6d to £3 7s 6d respectively in eight hours with hand shears too. It has been pointed out that men who make such tallies as 321 and 327 cannot do their work propei'ly, and that the prizes offered for big tallies are injurious to the quality of the work. The New Zealand Land Association (Limited) has received the following London commercial cablegram, dated Nov. 4th: — Frozen Meats : Mutton market firm. Lamb market unchanged. Quotations unchanged since last telegram. Tollow : Market has a downward tendency. Fine mutton tallow is worth 29s per cwt. Fine beef is worth 27s 3d per cwt. Gardeners (says the Waipawa Mail) will learn with some surprise and regret that the " shell-back " snail exists in the bush clearings around Feilding in such numbers as to be altogether beyond the hope of eradication. In the paddocks near Kiwitea bridge they cliug to every stump like barnacles on wharf piles. Considering the comparatively short time since thier introduction, their numbers show a miracla of reproduction. Some young larrikins in this town require a severe birching. Yesterday they visited the harbor works on the Kaiti, and turning the taps of a large 5000 gallon tank, allowed that quantity of fine fresh rain water, which was required to supply the barque Helen Denny on her voyage to England, to flow to waste. The Harbor Board's machinery has also been tampered with. It is to be hoped that the vandals will be caught and properly punished. An amusing story is told by a Home paper of the Rev Dr Macgregor, of St Cuthbert's, Edinburgh. Entering one of the Scottish pulpits, " the wee minister," as he is popularly called, found that, owing to his short stature, he could not see over the edge. However, he proved himself equal to the occasion. Standing on tip-toe, he gave out the Psalm beginning " Lord, from the depths to Thee I cry," and then sat down to consider the case. But consideration gave no relief ; he had to stand on tip-toe all through the sermon. The breeding of lion-tigers has been undertaken by the Royal Zoological Society of Ireland, whose rearing of lion cubs is said to have been quite remarkable. Within the last few years this society has supplied to kindred institutions one hundred Irish lions. They now promise to supply the expected demand for hybrids, and thus a curious new industry will become the means of developing an un-looked-for addition to the resources of the country. A considerable amount of biological 1 interest is attached to the experiment. The Invercargill cyclists had an exciting experience a week or two ago. A number of them were riding out the North-road, when a horseman galloped right among them, giving as a reason for such conduct that he would put a stop to bicycles running about the road, as he paid rates and the cyclists did not. Serious consequences were narrowly averted, the wheelmen having to t^ke to the sides of the road, where one of their number just escaped falling into a deep ditch. The result of the horseman's antics was a Court case, where it was shown that he was the worse for liquor. The Resident Magistrate said that cyclists had as much right to the road as horsemen, and fined the offender £3, thus making the ride a dear one. An officer of the United States Navy in Europe writes in a private letter to the editor of the Army and Navy Journal (New York) : — " No doubt you have been posted regarding the movements of the British and French fleets last mouth. I have seen the two, and the general opinion among our naval officers is that the French have better organisation and concentration than the English. Their ships for fighting purposes are better than the British, and their torpedo boats away ahead of anything. We saw the squadron of the North at work at Cherbourg. The movements of the torpedo boats were perfect. The British system of getting their men together from the coastguard is very fine. I saw a ship come into Queenstown with but a skeleton crew ; 300 coastguardsmen arrived next evening (within 12 hours), were taken off at once, and every man knew his duties on board ship. The ship was coaled and off to sea within 24 hours. I tell you these French are ready for war, and having but few ships abroad they have their whole fleet to work with." Mr H. R. Harwood, the well-known Australian actor, at the age of 63, has, through force of circumstances, been compelled to once more don the sock and buskin. He has found the savings of a lifetime suddenly swept away, and a heavy liability substituted for a comfortable income. He spoke thus to an Argus man : — " Ruined," said Mr Harwood, bringing down a capable fist with a crash that makes the table shake. " Ruined. There you have it in a nutshell. Ruined by bad bank management, like many another poor devil. That's the result of saving hard and working hard for nearly half a century. Oh, I was always reckoned as one of the knowing ones. I never frittered my money away. I stuck to it, I saved it, I invested it in good, sound securities And what for? To have it taken away from me in my old age, to be turned out of house and home, to be sent adrift saddled with a bigger liability I than I ever had in all my life, to begin the world again. Here's the position shortly : I had a comfortable income. That's gone, and instead of it I'm liable for about the same amount in calls annually. Nice position, isn't it 1" The Norwegian barque Elsa Anderson (according to the Galveston, Texas, correspondent of the Philadelphia Times) arrived with a strange derelict in tow. This was an English-hull brig, which had, judging by the rig, &c, been buried in the ocean fur more than 50 years. When off the Faroe Islands on Feb. 17 there was an upheaval of the oooan, which nearly swamped the Elsa, and soon afterwards, a mile away, was seen a strange, uncanny craft. The Elsa Anderson approached, and ultimately took her in tow. The vessel, which had' been brought to the surface by the submarine disturbance, was covered with a myriad of sea-shells, and resembled one of those miniature veasela over-laid with shellwork, so often seen at sea-side places. The ancient brig was boarded, when the hold and under-decks were found to contain very little water. In the captain's berth were several ironbound chests, the contents of which had been reduced to a pulp — except a leather bag, which required an axe to open it. In this receptacle wero discovered a large number of golden guineas, bearing date 1809, and worth upwards of £1000. There were also several watches, and a stomaoher of pearls, blackened and rendered valueless by the action of the water. Three skeletons were also discovered, one being that of a woman, who in life had been nearly 7ft high. About the neok of one .of the men was a gold ohajn, attached to which were a silver crucifix and a rosary. The wreck has attracted the greatest interept,