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Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 8408, 6 January 1899, Page 2

The Chamber of Commerce meet this evening at 7 30. Tenders for Turf Club privileges will be received up till noon to-morrow. The s.s. Kia Ora on her voyage from Napier called this morning off the Niihaka beach to land Mr Allan McLean, of Te Arai, who intends settling in that locality and opening a general store there. The complimentary concert tendered to Mr E. H. Rangiuia by hia pupils was repeated in Macfarlane's Hall last evening to a limited audience. The programme as published, with one or two exceptions, was successfully carried oiit, and each item was received with due appreciation. Several new performers were brought forward, who no doubt will be heard on future occasions. Mr Rangiuia played the several accompaniments during the evening in such a manner as to very materially assist his pupils in the successful rendering of their different items. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company submitted to auction to-day, on behalf of Mr James White, section 1, block X., and section 19, block XI., Motu survey district, containing 1000 acres, held under lease in perpetuity (rental £23 per annum), with stock. There was a small attendance, and the bidding not approaching the owner's idea of value, the property was passed in. The interests of Alexander Blair in section 1, block 4, Waiugaromia, and section 3, block 1, Uawa, containing (539 acres were also passed. Mr M. Lewis, of Auckland, who recently appeared at an amateur entertainment in Gicborne and greatly pleased the audience with his whistling solos arid humorous songs, has won the silver medal in these classes at the Auckland Exhibition, the winner of the gold medal being an entertainer brought from Sydney by tho Exhibition Committee. His sister, Miaa Sybil Lewis, has also won honors, for says the Star : "On Saturday evening Miss Sybil Lewis (silver medallist in the violin competition), who played her solo splendidly, received such hearty applause as to necessitate her returning to bow her thanks no less than three times, and as a deadlock was threatened unless this lady played again, she appeared, violin in hand, and secured the further hearty approval of all present." The young people referred to ani nephew and uiece of Mr Henry Leu is, of Gisoorne. !

The great telescope for the Paris Exhibition of lflOO is said to be makinggood progress, and it is expected that a magnifying power of 10,000 will be used on occasions, hut 6000 will be the normal. The aperture will be 1J metres, or nearly J9|in, the focal length being nearly 197 ft- . of sawdust, a Maine paper tells of a man in that State who is going to produce a new building board, which is to be composed of sawdust, clay, and a vegetable glue. The inventor claims that \ boards made of these ingredients, according to his process, will last for ever, and will cost only a penny apiece. The Uriwera Natives have asked the Governor to go into their country, and he has promised that he will go later on. He will probably ride through from Rotorua by way of Galatea. Let ua hope, for his Excellency's salte (writes a correspondent), that the Uriwera orators on this occasion will be brieter than they have been on some other occasions. When the Feilding school was burning on Sunday evening, one little fellow was seen throwing stones at the bell, " Ah you beggar," he said, "'Vlou won't ring again for a while." Another lad roared out, " Hooray, we will have holidays for a hundred years." But a parent was not so joyful. He sadly sighed, " I will have to buy seven new slates."— Star. Mr Chamberlain, writing to a Northampton correspondent who suggested a scheme for the provision of old-age pensions, states that £5,000,000 a year would be only about one-fifth of the sum which would be required to give 5s per week to all above sixty-five yeara of age, and that the working classes would not. accept a scheme involving compulsory payments on their part. At the last meeting of the Clinical Society of London, Mr A. Lane showed the case of a man, nged nineteen years, who lost the shaft of the ulna in 1896. He was admitted into Guy's Hospital in September 189S, when the radiograph showed that there extended from either extremity of the ulna a fine spicule of bone. An" incision was made along the length of the ulna, and these spicules were exposed and freed from the soft parts in which they were embedded. A femur of a very large rabbit was then wired securely to the ends of the ulna, the spicules being included in the loops of wire. The result was most satisfactory. — The Lancet. Excellent progress has been made at the New Plymouth harbor in dredging a channel almost in a direct line with the wharf, and the departure of steamers is now greatly facilitated. Captain Hood hopes that if fine weather continues he will, in about ten days, have depth of water sufficient to allow the Takapuna and Rotoiti to pass in and out at all states of the tide. The bank to the eastward of the channel also shows signs of gradual dissipation, apparently working its way to the beach in the direction of the town. The Christchurch Press reports an incident which illustrates the voracity of eels, and the great damage they must inflict on trout in our streams. Two anglers were fishing a creek near Geraldine when one of them hooked a good-sized trout, which bolted down stream. After playing the fish for a minute or so, the angler, feeling an increased strain on the line, called out to his companion, who came to the rescue with the landing-net. Entering the water lie succeeded in netting the trout, and also an eel, which had seized the unfortunate fish and hung on. The trout was seized just above the ventral fin, and was badly torn about. He weighed just over 1 Jib, and the eel only 2Jlb. That a trout of such a size should be attacked shows what great harm eels must do to this fish, Most of the cheese made in the South Island this season (says the Lyttelton Times) has been sold to Australian buyers, very little being shipped to England. The prices obtained have been very satisfactory, but those who are anxious for the permanent welfare of the diiry industry are apprehensive that the absence of many well-known and esteemed brands of New Zealand cheese in London may drive buyers to other supplies, from which it will be difficult to draw them back to the N.Z. produce when it is again sent Horne — as it inevitably will be, sooner or later. A very surprising feature of the dairy produce trade is that although large quantities of Victorian butter are in store in Melbourne waiting shipment, considerable quantitips are being sent over from New Zealand. It would be interesting to follow up these consignments. It is curious to hear that in Hungary somebody has dramatised the story of Captain Dreyfus, and as the sympathies of the Hungarians are with Dreyfus, the reception of the piece has been an enormous success. But it is amnsing to find that the impersonator of the colonel with the ridiculous name — Dv Paty de Clam — acted his part with so convincing a realism that his histrionic skill nearly cost him his life. His position was akin to that of some of the courageous gentlemen who consent to act as referee at football matches. The Hungarian language lends itself almost too well to invective, and he had to put up with the storm of abusive epithets thrown at him by the audience, but when these were supplemented by every solid mark of disapprobation that they could lay hands on, one feels that he had reason for requiring police protection. Those who get a little behind the scenes in Wellington (writes a correspondent) know that our present Governor is a stickler for duty. Some Governors have been content simply to sign their names to State documents, but Lord Ranfurly generally wants to know and understand what he is signing. This is as it should be, and if report from official circles is correct, he is rarely wrong and never out of place in bis inquiries. This trait of the Governor's character is most apparent in his desire to learn everything that can be learned abont the colony, and to see as much of the people as possible. In these days of imperialism and empire-building the good that he is doing in this respect cannot very well be estimated ; but there is no doubt that the good seed he is now sowing will bear fruit in the near future, and that the "crimson thread of kinship" will be strengthened thereby. Lord Ranfurly speaking to an interviewer on his travels in New Zealand, said our forest scenery especially, ho thought, was very fine, and he was. charmed with some of the inland coach journeys he had taken. This brought up the question of the needless destruction of New Zealand forests, — a poiut on which Lord Ranfurly expressed himself strongly. He had, lie said, spoken about it more than once. It was absolute nonsense to say that the timber could not be utilised for some purpose, and that it should be indiscriminately burnt off. There were large tracts of country from which it was not worth while clearing the timber, the land being too poor and hilly. It seemed a terrible pity to denude such country of the forest. A great deal more, His Excellency thought, might be done in the direction of bringing our scenery more prominently under the notice of tourists. His Excellency also dwelt on the great need for an up-to-date guide book for the whole colony, giving general information, and also the train, steamer, and coach time-tables and fares. Tourists who came here always imagined that three weeks was ample time in which to see the colony. Very few allowed themselves more than a month, whereas they might very easily spend three months, and yet leave unvisited much that should be seen. For instance, he said, very few tourists even went up to the great kauri forests, and there were many places along the line of the Southern Alps and South ■ Westland, which, from all accounts, seemed to be a terra incognita to the 1 ordinary tourist. Neither did the tourist, ; as a rule, go through Central Otago. To His Excellency that had proved one of his I most interesting trips, chiefly because he had not seen anything of the gold mining i industry, and one could see it there in every shape and form. As to the Mount Cook trip, Lord Ranfurly remarked that the scenery there was very grand, but the r objection to the trip, so far as he was ', concerned, was that the Hermitage was 60 miles from a telegraph station ; and unless , things were very quiet he did not like to t be more than a day or two out of communi- , cation with the world. In regard to hotel accommodation, Lord Ranfurly had nothing to complain of. Taking the hotels all 1 round, he had found them very comfortable. True, the accommodation in the wilds was sometimes primitive ; but so far ' he had always found it thoroughly clean, 1 and he added, "If you could get a boiled '■ egg or a well-cooked chop, what more need > you want';" Indeed, in some of the smaller ; towns he had been surprised at the excel- '■ lence of the hotel accommodation. 1