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Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 9095, 13 March 1901, Page 2

The Fire Brigade meets this evening for practice. The ballot for the Ngatapa and Nuhaka land takes place at the Lands Office to-morrow- at 11 a.m. : Eight competitors arrived by fheMoura this morning to take part in to-morrow's sports. Mr 0. A. St. George Hickson, Secre- J tary for Stamps, arrived from South this morning on a short visit to Gisborne. Mr H. Hill, Inspector of Schools, will meet the School Committee on his return from Motu to discuss the Technical Education proposals. ; Mr Leo Carri sent us the following telegram from Napier last evening : "Owing to extra less«ps, it was impossible to , catch the boat. Will arrive and start on Saturday." Mr H. Hill, Inspector of Schools, arrived by the Moura. this morning, and will, proceed this week to inspect the Motu School, and to select a site for a school..at Whakarau. . Mr Reginald H. Brett, the representative of an influential English syndicate which has the matter of petroleum development in New Zealand under view,, arrived from the South this morning. The Poverty Bay Rowing dub Committee will probably "meet next week to discuss the proposal that inter-club matches for a banner should be arranged. Th& opinion of" members is eminently favorable. In the conditions- of the Kaiti Cup, it is demanded that the small bores . shall conqede the large three points. To this the East Coast mounted men. do not feel inclined to agree, and it is probable that they will insist on starting level.' His Lordship the Bishop of Waiapu will conduct divine service at Tolago Bay on Sunday afternoon next, at 2.30 (with Holy Communion). Service will be conducted by the Bishop at Tokomaru Bay on Wednesday evening next, at 7.30. : Before proceeding to formulate the district's demands for public works construction, the Chamber of Commerce will ascertain the exact position of all works being attended to by the Lands Department. Mr Matthews has undertaken to obtain this information.. The Chamber will purchase one of the latest maps, and on this the work as it proceeds will be recorded. Mir A.- F. Matthews last night, at the Chamber of Commerce, mentioned that there was a large block of Native land, comprising some 20,000 acres, just beyond the Motu river, upon which there was a lot of magnificent timber. Owing to the absence of tracks, so far little had been possible in the way of exploration. - A large assemblage of Natives waa held at the i Eaitipah yesterdayTwhW a tangi was Held over the remains of Repeka Teke, who died on Monday. Deceased had not: been ailing very longj but the usual course .of diet and medicine pres* cribed by a certain class of Native medical practitioners was administered, accompanied by. the cold bath so much believed in by them for overcoming fever. Repeka succumbed to. her attack on Mon> day. The funeral takes place to-day. As showing how the Maoris are able to look after themseleves in the matter" of providoring,-it is related that at a station in this district the Maori shearers en- ! gaged a butcher who was to. keep them in wild pork and to buy sheep occasionally, to vary the diet, receiving therefor remuneration at the rate of 50s a week. At the end of .six weeks' shearing the hapless butcher found himself 30s in debt, having to buy such a number of sheep to satisfy the cravings of his hungry customers. Mr Alexander McKay, F.G.S.y arrived from South by the Moura this morning, amTwill spend several days in the district. It is «understood that Mr McKay will make certain investigations with regard' to the geological strata of certain parts of this district, and that the data he collects will be forwarded to Professor^Boverton Redwood, the eminent authority on petroleum, to enable that gentleman to decide upon a locality most- suitable for the commencement: of boring operations •in connection with the thorougn test of local, oil deposits that is proposed to be made/, : .>-..."■ - • A meeting of the Gisborne Rowing Club Committee was held last evening to consider a question suggested by Mr Siddells of competitions to be instituted between the two Clubs for a banner, I same to be competed for from' year to year. It is suggested that the first contest should take place at Easter, but the difficulty so far urged in. -.the: way of its adoption lies in the fact that pretty well all the available evenly-matched teams are engaged at that time in the rep. fixtures. The matter was favorably discussed at some lejtgth, and adjourned to next Monday. . ~ ~ We learu fromxthe New Zealand Loon and Mercantile Agency Company, Limited, that the heavy downpour of rain made it impossible for the sheep at Messrs. Reid and Bartram's, Pouawa, to be drafted) and, as will H seen from our advertising columns, the sale has been postponed to Thursday, 21st inst.y at the Matawhero Yards. . The Company were sorry to disappoint buyers who attended, but trust to have their support on the day mentioned. In 'spite of the bad weather,- those who attended the sale expressed themselves well pleased with the quality and condition of the stock.

! Mr W. A. Barton, S.M., left for Tolago and Awanui at 11 a.m. to-day. Bain was reported this -morning from Cambridge, Taupo, Napier, and Wanganui meteorological stations. Messrs. Wyllie and Mason will hold their usual stock sale at Woerenga-a-hika to-morrow. ! About £400 has been subscribed and ! promised locally towards the project 1 of boring for coal on the Nelson mud-flats. There is an extensive cause-list for tomorrow's civil sitting of the S.M. Court, there being 36 cases set down for hearing. A good number are cases for the recovery of rates. The last day for receiving objections to the Borough assessments is Friday. At present only two objections have been received. The Assessment Court sits on March 27th, at 11 a.m. The Napier Hospital Board has decided to procure an estimate of cost and design of an ambulance cor for infectious diseases and cases of accidents, the particulars to be laid before members at the Board's next meeting. The many friends -in this district of Mr and Mrs G. L. Sunderland, of Hawkes Bay, will sympathise with them in the loss of their eldest daughter, Cora, who died at their residence, Mangapapa, on Monday last, after a protracted illness. On Friday at Matawhero Yards Messrs Williams ' and Kettle and the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company hold their usual stock sales. According to present entries, 7500 sheep and 200 head of cattle will be yarded. By an arrangement just completed, Mr W. A. Barton, 5..M., will in future conduct the sittings of the S.M. Court at Wairoa. His Warship has now probably, the largest district of any in the colony, and the most difficult to travel over. : ' ■ There is some talk of establishing a Parliamentary Debating Club in Gisbqrne this winter. Such an organisation would doubtless afford members excellent training in public speaking, while the discussion of the list of subjects" embraced in its programme must prove highly interesting, and- not a little instructive. - ' I'"/'''.'-'' ■"'■■'.."•. : A leading sawmiller in Auckland, who was in Napier the other .day, • declared that the the present rate of cutting kauri will be practically exhausted in lt> years. And a Hawke's Bay miller says that the same thing will happen in the Seventy-inile Bush, within available distance of the present railway. — H.B. Herald. . A correspondent^ writing to the Cape Argus, asks whether the Queen Consort could not be crowned with a new crown, -the gift of the colonies. South Africa could send of her ': diamonds, Burmah of her rubies, Australia of her gold, while Ceylon and many other colonies could supply other gems, and precious stones. As to design, he suggests that it might be possible to embody the maple leaf- of our oldest dominion, Canada. A-Pretoria correspondent writes : In the Middleburg district consternation reigns owing 1 to the behavior of the Boers,- who are rapidly developing into mere thieves and murderers. Last week a Bier rode up to. a sentry in the dark, and on being challenged gave the reply, "Friend." Immediately he shot the sentry and rode off. It is said that a Boer rode up to a sentry in the dark, manner. . Mr Charles Woods, boatbuilder, is just putting the finishing touches on a fine boat that he has built for the Grace Harwar, and which he expects to deliver next week. The boat is constructed on very graceful lines, being carried to sharp points at bow and stern, and evidently designed for speed._ She should both carry well and pull and sail well, and we have no doubt that the master of the Grace Harwar will be proud of the Gisborne production., The dimensions of the boat are 25ft in* lengthy sft sin in the beam, and 2ft 4in deep. She is constructed of the best kauri, ash, and hardwood timbers, with the oil steamed into the grain, and the design is altogether Mr Wood's own," being after the model of two 'ship's boats he built in Auckland many years ago. Air Woods intends to go in more extensively for boat-building, and. is importing a lot of special timber for the purpose. Whilst we have so. capable a boat-builder here it is a pity that orders should be sent out of the place. _ ■ Referring to Air Prouse's report on the Motu timber, the M.B. Herald says : "We can confirm, from personal knowledge, his statements as to the size and quality of the timber. And it is not only in the Motu, but all over the colony, that a, similar state of things exists. This destruction of national wealth, forced upon settlers under penalty of forfeiture of their holdings, is with unconscious sarcasm called 'improvements.' And. yet we are within measurable distance of the time when all our easily accessible forests will -be cut down. Already p/ices for all kinds of timber have gone up. We do think that if, instead of gadding about the country in every direction, Ministers would attend to their duties and seriously consider the business of the country, and -how \o develop it on safe lines, some means might be devised for the better utilisation of our forest wealth. One direction in which . this , may be done, is indicated by our Gisborne friends, who are energetically, advocating a railway to the Motu. The distance is not very great, nor are the grades difficult, and. the timber there would pay for a. railway several times over. In -Hawke's Bay we might have utilised tens of thousands of acres of forest had a light railway been run from .: Danneyirke to the coast. It is now all burned, or nearly so. In the Puketiritiri district: we are burning a large forest, the timber of which is declared by experts to be.superior in quality to any. found in the Seventy-mile Bush. It might not pay to run a railway there now. But surely the forest might be preserved until the time when it could be profitably utilised arrives. Such wholesale destruction of the finest crop the land will ever bear savors of national insanity." - "The function :of a leader is to lead, and in this quality Captain Russell has proved himself deficient," says the Christchurch Press, in an article on the political situation.- ; : It J complains - r that ne has not the firmness to make his influence felt, nor the ; grasp of mind necessary to seize the^ strong points in his favor. Almost every speech he made used to commence with a dignified, courtly, protest against some - piece of. treachery on the part of Mr Seddon, but \he tumbled head foremost, as usual, into the very next trap that was laid for him. If deportment could storm a political fortress, or : defeat a' "slinjr 1 pql£ tioian, Captain Russell would have, been irresistible. He reminds us of the characber in . melodrama who is, or used to be, known as "the walking gentleman. " A-~,"walking gentleman" has never yet been entrusted with 'leading business" on any stage in this world. Our contemporary concludes with the following ady.ice to the Opposition : "It remains to be. seen what creditable course can how be taken by those who are/ opposed to the Government, as distinguished- from mere. Government malcontents. Seeing that they have neither the- numerical strength nor are furnished with leadership of a quality indispensable to success, the best thing they can do is to address themselves earnestly and laboriously to the task of informing the constituencies as to the true -state of the affairs of the country, of analysing the .finances, and reviewing the administrative shortcomings ; r of the.. Government. When in Parliament they should talk very much less and work very much more. In such circumstances, their task, although a painful one, ;- will be appreciated by the public, and the criticism which they" will then be able to give must sooner or later make a valuable impression. Lastly, we must urge upon them to profit by the bitter lessons of experience, and to avoid in future allowing small considerations and petty prejudices to interfere with the real . interests of the country."