Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 1899.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 8409, 7 January 1899, Page 2

Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 1899.

Tlie Caledonian Society have decider! to hold their next sports on the Gisborne Park on February 2nd. Cyclists are reminded that entries for the road race on the 14th inst., close at Miller's this evening at 0 p.m. Mr and Mrs H. N. Watson, of Papatu, returned to Gisborne this morning, after a most enjoyable trip to the Old Country. The sale of Mr J. E. Espies line Lincoln rams has been fixed for Thursday, 19th instant, at Newstead. Mr G. R. Wyllie is the auctioneer. The Roman Catholics are about to erect a convent on the Kaiti, near the late MrS. Stevenson's property. Tenders for the erection of the building are called. Mr C. Neild has been elected by the Fire Brigade to be their delegate at the conference of Fire Brigades to be held at Queenstown on February 22nd. The Surveyor-General, Mr L. Percy Smith, is expected to visit this district shortly, for the purpose of inspecting a proposed site for a township at Kawakawa. Mrs McKain, a very old resident of Frasertown, is slowly passing away. Three of her daughters, Mrs Aialabie and Mrs Law, both of Gisborne, and Mrs Smith, of Wellington, are witli her. A meeting of the I'ouawa Road Board was held this morning, Messrs McLaurin (Chairman), Holden, and A. Wethered being present. Purely routine business was transacted. The Union Company have received advice that arrangements have been made for a few extra berths for the Sounds excursion by the Waikare, which leaves Port Chalmers on January 16th. In another column will be found the programme of the popular annual meeting of the Tolsgo Bay Jockey Club on St. Patrick's Day. The programme of races to be held at Mangatu on January 20 is also advertised. Heavy shocks of earthquake were felt at Waikaremoana last week, and every morning the waler of the lake was discolored yellow for a considerable distance round the edge, and thousands of young trout were thrown up on the beach, Mr M.McLeodwasappointed Inspector of Nuisances for the Whataupoko Road Board at a meeting of the Board held yesterday, the salary being the munificent sum of £6 per annum. There were seven applicants for the position, who offered to undertake the duties at from £5 to £20 a year. After twenty years in the public service und twenty-four years absence from Otago, Mr Campbell Thomson, Stock Inspector, hns been granted leave of absence, and leaves to-morrow for a holiday trip to the southern province. His office will be attended to in his absence by Mr Darton, of the Lands Department. At St. Andrew's Church to-morrow morning the subject of the Ray. Mr Patterson's sermon will be, "What being with Christ does for a man," and in the evening the subject of lecture will be, " Is it possible to dwell in the suburbs of Sodom and not besmeared with its slime?" Young men are. specially invited. Owing to the scant promises of competition for the best decorated vehicle, the committee of the garden fete have decided to offer only one prize in this class, namely, that of a horse kept shod for six months. Competition is invited for the beat decorated perambulator or go-cart, for which three prizes will be given. This should bring a large number of entries, as there are three chances of a prize. At the meeting of the Chamber of Commerce last evening, Mr Ambridge asked if the Chamber wished to give any expression of opinion as to the weekly half-holiday. When the holiday was fixed last year there was a threat thrown out that upon the next occasion the day would be changed. The meeting was unanimously of opinion that Thursday should remain the (lay for the half-holiday, and passed a resolution to that effect. One gentleman remarked that he supposed people looked for the half-holiday now, and another said most certainly they did. The present week had seemed a long one with no break in the middle of it. The lease of the Victoria Domain to the Athletic Sports Committee has been signed by the Governor-in-Council, and a stipulation has been added to one of the clauses of it that the fees of admittance to the grounds shall at all times he fair and reasonable —whatever that may mean. At the meeting of the Chamber of Commerce last evening a member asked for some explanation as to this lease, and was it true that the public were to be excluded at all times from the grounds? The Mayor said he understood certainly not, but would cause enquiries to be made. The grounds had been let for a term of 21 years, so as to give the Sports Committee the right .of charging admittance to the domain on certain occasions, and it was expressly stipulated that the whole of the proceeds should be applied to the improvement of the grounds. That was the only way, he thought, in which the Domain could be improved, for if it was entirely given up to the public, like the recreation reserve near the footbridge, with the right to charge on only ten days in the year, they would never get sufficient funds to improve the property.

Mr G. G. Stpad has presented the Auckland Racing Club with a 100 guinea cup. Blow-flies are proving an extraordinary nuisance on some stations in North Wairarapa, lambs especially being very badly blown. A lar^e and important gathering of Northern Natives is to be held in the Bay of Islands district m March, to discuss the Native land legislation of tho Government. Tho Pollard Opera Company have been playing to large houses in Auckland. The " Gay Parisienne" ran for ten nights, and the company are now producing "Djin Djiri." The survey of the Frimley estate, Hastings, recently purchased by the Government has been completed. About 40 sections will shortly be thrown open for selection. A boy named John Oldficld died at Cudgegong (N.S.W.) the other day, after 20 minutes' illness. At the coroner's inquiry Dr Wilson ascribed (he death to poisoning through eating unripe cherries. The Queen's statue to be erected in Auckland is being landed by the Waikato from London. It weighs 9J tons. The committee intend to ask the Governor to unveil it on his visit to Auckland in Marchnext. Masterton has its social sensations. Says one Wairarapa paper— "An elopement from Masterton took place last night." Another paper announces that "a rather sensational divorce case is reported to be on the tapis in Masterton." A company has been incorporated in New Jersey to abolish the razor. Instead of shaving a man the barber will daub over his face a lather that will remove the bristles. The company lias a capital of 200,000d015. with which to start business. — New York World. The Cliristchurch Homing Pigeon Society flew off a race from Napier the other day. Eleven birds competed, representing five lofts. The winner flew the distance of 370 miles (air line) in2ohrs3Smin, thus accomplishing the longestdistance race (certified) ever flown in New Zealand, The Taranaki province has been to all past Governments a " Little Benjamin," a spoiled child, that got everything it asked, simply because it asked for plenty. We should copy Taranaki and not be so modest in our demands on the Colonial Treasury, says the Wairoa paper. The annual meeting of the New Zealand branch of the British Medical Association was opened at Auckland this week. The inaugural address of the President (Dr Scott) was devoted to sanitation and public health. He strongly urged the necessity of creating a Department of Public Health, as being of vital importance to the commnnity. An addition to the trawling fleet of Napier, in the shape of the steamer Dolo, has arrived there, after a thirteen days' passage from Sydney. At one time she was used as a gentleman's yacht, and is able to steam 10 knots. Captain Neilson, who brought her over, does not intend to use the beam trawl, but he has in its place an improved otter trawl, which he expects will answer better. Stratford is installing the electric light at a cheaper rate than it is supplied to London. Now that the patents on a great number of the lights have expired, the cost has come down fully 50 per cent. No doubt (says the Guardian) Wairoa will one day enjoy the electric light, as the motive power supplied by Te Reinga Falls would not be very costly. Why not Gisborne also ? The Manawatu Times says :— As showing the extent to which the dairying industry has attained in tiiis district during recent years it may he mentioned that the weekly output of butter from the N.Z. Dairy Union's Factory totals fully 12 tons per week, and has done so for some time past. Four weekly shipments are made to Wellington. Last month fully £4500 was paid away to suppliers for milk alone. Wages, of course, are additional. While in South Canterbury the Premier (says the Lyttelton Times) happened on a striking object lesson of the necessity of the new Local Government Bill being passed into law. At Temuka there are two Town Boards within one hundred yards of each other, separated by a strip of Road Board territory. To use tho Premier's words, the relations of these local bodies were " a continual matter of conciliation and arbitration." The Hawke's Bay Education Board met yesterday morning as a committee of the whole t/i consider the question of turning the Hastings street school into a training establishment for pupil teachers. After a lengthy discussion on ways and means, it was decided to recommend the Board to proceed to put the proposal into execution, the present teachers at the school to be advised to send in applications for the vacancies now existing in other schools, and applications to be called for the position of headmaster and mistress of the new training school. Mr Rockefeller, the multi-millionaire, president of the Standard Oil Company, has won a lawsuit, on which he spent 100,000d015., against the Tax Commissioners in Tarrytown, near New York, where he has a palatial summer home. He was assessed at 2,500,000d015. on his estate, and the decision now given reduces the assessment to 340,000d0fe. The case attracted considerable attention because of Mr Rockefeller's threat that he would sell the entire estate at a sacrifice unless the taxes were reduced. He said the town wns bleeding him because it needed money. A German chemist, J. Norden, of Aldenhoven, has succeeded in hardening alcohol until it becomes a solid mass. This will ensure a very much greater popularity for the employment ef alcohol. It is put up in small cylindrical pieces, packed in patent tin boxes, that can bo used for cooking, lighting, heating, and the various uses of everyday life. The solidified alcohol burns without a wick, can be blown out after use, and harden again within a minute. The danger of explosion is ahsolutely done away with, and the neat little tin package, with its stick of alcohol, is always ready for use in the kitchen or bedroom, on the toilet table or under the milk-pot, on the road or in the field, as a night lamp, or going upstairs a night. A Wairoa visitor to the Nuhaka district reports to the Guardian that there has broken out close to Mr R. Black's house a small fumarole, about an inch in diameter, which discharges a kind of blue sand or mud, accompanied by gas. The latter, on a match being applied to it, burned freely, and a billy of water placed over it only took ten minutes to boil. The bore runs into the earth diagonally for a short distance, and then goes straight down. At first there were three holes, but Mr Black blocked up two of them, and he has now at his back door the most inexpensive fire any bachelor ever built. We should not wonder if geysers would soon be added to the attractions of Nuhaka. The strangest thing of all is that the temperature at the baths has not been affected in the slightest degree by the recent earthquakes. American pugilism received a knock-out blow the other day when proof wns forthcoming that the result of the fight between Corbett and Sharkey was prearranged. The 10,000 people who were duped into paying to witness a sham fight are indignant at the action of Corbett's pecond, McVey, in stepping into the ring and stopping the match, which is generally denounced. The entire affair is regarded as a despicable case of swindling, and is so characterised by every reputable newspaper and most sporting authorities. Corbett's theatrical attempt to thraßh McVey deceived no one, and the whole affair is pointed to as a degradation of sport. The Journal congratulates the public on the revelation of the character of those who are behind prize fights, and denounces the instigators of the fraud as blackguards and thieves. 5 Colonel Estill, the new Commandant of the Salvation Army in New Zealand, has marked his advent by a new departure in tho oganisation of what are known as Bauds of Love, for the "junior soldiers." The Band of Love is modelled very much on the same lines as the Band of Hope, only that it claims to possess a somewhat more extensive platform. Any child over the age of five can enrol, and will be required to take a pledge of— (1) Abstinence from intoxicating liquors, (2) from smoking, (3) from swearing, (4) from stealing, (5) from gambling, (6) cultivation of habits of love to all, (7) kindness to dumb animals, (8) truthfulness, (9) morning and evening prayer. Weekly meetings are to be held, at which it will be sought to impress these points upon the members, and in other ways cater to the social, iutellectual, and spiritual needs of themselves and all who can be brought under the influence of the meetings. Plenty of bright, cheerful singing will always be given a foremost place. In England, where the Band appears to have already firmly established itself, educational classes are being formed, and all kinds of practical instruction imparted, such as sewing, ] knitting, macranie work, painting, music, drawing, shorthand, book-keeping, fretwork, mat-makina, and the 'like. The ; New Zealand organisations will follow j \ upon these lines as far aa circumstances I , will allow. j