blockade the coast. CORRESPONDENCE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 7130, 12 November 1894, Page 3

blockade the coast. CORRESPONDENCE.

A HUMILIATING EXPERIENCE. [To the Editor of the Herald.] SiB f — l venture to write to you in the hope that I may save others from the unpleasant experience of myself and friends on the Prince of Wales' Birthday. Having decided to spend our holiday on your pretty Waimata river, we proceeded up to " The Hole in the Wall." We landed, and found a nice shady spot to have dinner, etc. ; but the owner of the property came down upon ua, and told us to clear off, and that he would not allow anybody to land on his estate. I asked him how we could in any way injure his property. He replied that others had injured his ferns, etc., and therefore he would not allow anybody to land. Now, sir, I admit that he was within his rights in ordering people off his property, but when I tell you that the place where we landed was covered with silt and debris from the last flood, witn* no ferns or anything that we could destroy to be seen, it is hard to imagine that anybody could be so selfish and unneighborly. We were not the only parties so treated, but numbers were turned off by this irascible "Cockatoo." Contrast this with other places, say Auck- i land, where there are the beautiful islands of Kawau, Motutapu, etc., to which steamers run on holidays crowded with people bent on spending a happy day. The owners of these beautiful places are fortunately of a kinder nature than our Waimata *' Cockatoo," and are glad to see a number of happy faces round them. And note the difference in the properties. On the banks of the Waimata nothing but silt and flood debris— at the others beautiful gardens, etc., where much damage could be done by anybody of a destructive disposition. Probably our Waimata neighbor is above public opinion. Let ua hope so, for at present it is not complimentary. Under the present Land Act, provision is made for a reserve of one chain aloDg the banks of all rivers and streams of over half-a-chain wide. It is a pity that the surveys in the neighborhood of Gisborne were made before this Act came into operation, and that no provision was made to reserve the river banks. Had this been done, the public could have eDJoyed themselves on your pretty river, and landed where they pleased, without the chance of being humiliated by being driven off like rogues and vagabonds. — I am, &c. , Aquatic.

War is a costly game, as no doubt both China and Japan have discovered long before this. The modern method of mutual destruction is a very expensive one. When we come to think of Lo,ooo expended to destroy a single human life among thousands of others, and reflect on the power of such a sum to brighten lives instead of destroying them, the colossal folly of war becomes startling. The Germans, in the war of 1870, expended, according to L'Avenir Militaire, 187,000 nine-pounder shells, and 137,500 from the twelve- pounders ; the infantry consumed 20,000,000 cartridges, and the cavalry half-a-raiJlion. There are no figures accurate enough to show the effect of this. Placing the total who were killed or died of their wounds on the French side as 40,000, and, assuming 25 per cent, were killed by artillery, we get one man killed for every 683 cartridges, and, roughly, 30 shells for each fatal hit, or about 3cwt. of ammunition per man. The additional cost of the war to the nation may be put eafely at 200 millions, though it was probably more. Thus, each Frenchman killed cost L 5,000, and each German cost the French nearly three times that sum. — Auckland Herald. Prince Alisoff, a Nihilist living at Lugano, in Italy, boasts that the death of the Czar was due to the machinations of the Nihilists, who gradually poisoned him by means of small doses of phosphorus administered in his food. He also boasts that the whole dynasty is doomed. The Hawke's Bay Herald says : — Here is an example of what the Maoris may expect under the uew Native Lands Act. Two or three years ago the owners of the Mangaporika block, 29,000 acres, between Gisborne and Wairoa, were offered by a European 15a an'acre for the land. They refused, considering it worth more — and we are informed that though hilly it is excellent country. The Government managed to buy a small share, "proclaimed " the block, and are now "ffennfr the owners 2s an acre. Under the ■•'-•/■■; it would not have been even necesicquire one share. LA re Miss Flavall started off on her perilous journey on the rope from the Wairarapa to the shore, she turned to Miss Paul, her fellow Salvationist, and quoting from the Bible said • — " When thou pasaest through the waters I will be with thee." Miss Fla veil's death was caused by the inability of the half-dozen who held the rope to keep it taut as they sought foothold on the jagged rocks with their bare feet. The rops slacked out, dipping deep in the centre, ana the poor girl was dashed into a hollow 'in the rocki, against which her head struck, whereupon she threw up her hands and disappeared.