The Taranaki Herald. PUBLISHED DAILY. THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 1879.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 3026, 16 January 1879, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. PUBLISHED DAILY. THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 1879.

" The House of Representatives is deteriorating," is a cry that of late years has become quite a stereotyped phrase amongst a large number of persons, but it is a great mistake, for the speeches aud conduct of tho members of the House at the present day will l>ear favorable comparison with legislators of twenty to twenly-five years ago. We have no such scenes in the House now as occurred in 1854, when Mr. Sewell in his excitement struck Mr. Mackay with his umbrella; or of a member being secured by his wooden leg when trying to escape from the House to avoid being counted in ' a division. 'Bill)' l'lowe" may drop bis "h'"s, but if he dow, there were members iv those da>s who did tho same; and one member in particular was noticeable for bis perorutiou?, iv which the words " upou the 'ole aud in the 'ole " were

frequently u«ed. Wo do not suppose a Minister would come down to the House at the present day aud excuse himself for being late in his place owing to his bavins? been delayed through "putting on a clean shirt," and yet thnt was the origin of the " Clean Shirt Ministry." The Opposition were as riotoua tea years aud tweuty years ago as ever the) were under the leadership of Sir George Grey; and if they had no Mr. lines .in farliamout then, Mr. Fox was there, and proved himself quite as able and willing as ever the member for City East was, to taiu . against time and to try the patience of the House.- We are glad to ccc that some of the members are determined not to allow the Assembly to He under tho slander that is beiug circulated, and Mr. Bryce, the member foi Waagauui was quite right iv suyiug thut '-looking at tho rauk aud iile of th«j House, they had members iv it ut the present day who possessed more knowledge of Colo lial requirements and moie public spirit than the rauk and lile of tuu years ago." Ho might hay said twenty years, ago, ami he would not have beeu far out. Iv the early days of the General Assembly, the members who used to meet ia Auckland wore essentially selfish. The representatives of the Provinces of Auckland, Wellington", Nclsoo, TarannUi, Canterbury, and Otago— the " six i Colonies of New Zealand," as Mr. Fox called them — seemed to meet purely for the purpose of seeing which could get the larger share ot the spoil for their own district, liy the abo litioa of Provinces, and the connection of one part of the island with the other by rail.va>s, llii;?, to some extent, has ceased to exist, for although a member may not actually neglect his district, yet possessing more knowledge ot tho requirements of the Colony he does not allow local mutters to engross so much of his attention as the members of twenty years ago, were particularly addicted to doing.

The Taiaroa left the Manukau with 'Frisco mails at noon to-day, and will reach New Plymouth at daylight to-morrow morning. lutundiug passengers for the South are requested to bo on the beach by seven o'clock.

The annual firiug for district prizes will take place next Wednesday. Tho amount alloted to Taranaki is £11 — not a rich conquest, certainly, but, we believe, the ardour of the competitors vill keop them up to the poiut of good firing.

The" Tarauaki Cricket Team will arrive frooi Auctclau'l by the steamer- to- morrow moruiug, wheu they will be welcomed ou shore by a number of the members of the various clubs, and in the cveniug svill bo entertaiucd at a dinner, at which the Ma>oi will preside. During the day a match will be played ou the racecourse, in which the eleven that have been to Auckland will take part.

Mr. Parris has been appointed by the Government a Commissioner to euquire into tho all«gationß made by I'aranieua, Tamahaki, and Haiiata te tiapu, of Waoganui, in a petition addressed b}' them to the House of Representatives duiin^ the . u e3sion of 1877, in reference to two sections of laud in the Okutuku District, uo"w numbered as sections 395 and 399. Mr. Parris will leave for Wanganui at once, as the Commission will commence sitting on Monday next.

Mr. Charles HulKe, who is at present on a visit to New PJj'montb, recnived a telegram from the School Inspector at VVanganui, today, stating that Joseph Flowers, one of MrHulke's punils, had taken the Wellington Colh'giate Scholarship, with 178 marks, the highest number.

A eettler at Tarurutang',' named W. T. Riggall, wji9 burnt out oq Friday last by a bush fire which he had kindled himself. A iog hut and outbuilding of slab and thatch were destroyed, neither of them being insured, air. Riggall estimatej his loesat over £30.

We have to acknowledge the receipt of a catalogue of vocal and instrumental music from Messrs. Allan & Co. (late Wi!lde>, of Melbourne. The compilation has evidently been carefully effected, as each separate composition, we learn, was picked out-uodcr Mr Allan's review. There is a preface and an index, whilst the songs and instrumental pieces have been classified and alphabetically arranged/ which cannot but prove to be of immense value to professional musicians as well as amateurs.

Mr. Gilmour has recently had fitted up in his shop one of those novel scientific appliances known as Saxby's Electric Uelle, which, when they become better known, will almost eutirely aupersede the old form of house bell. Tho wires act bimply as conductors, and are not required to move; all cranks nud spriags anrj pulleys tire dispensed with. They may b» eutirely concealed from sight, so that walls au.l cilings are not disfigurea by any unsightly fixing. Used as a profeclion from thieves, the electric bells are of graat value. By a simple contrivance the wire is connected with all the windows and doors in a house, so that they cannot bu opened without causing th« bells to ring loudly and continuously. Our attention has been cnlled to a portion of the evidence taken by the CotmnitU'e of the Harbour Board, which requires a littie amplification. Mr. Kelly is reported to have said, with refertnee to the report that Mr. Irvine was a drunkard — "Tha only time he had heard such a thing was from Mr. Gledhill." It should have been to the effect that the only time he had heard such a report was when Mr. Gledhili enquired of him whether the report was true, aud he had replied that he knew nothing of it, and had not heard such a report.