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Timaru Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 1465, 2 June 1879, Page 2

Burkb's Pas 3 School CojuriTTßE. - A | meeting of the above Committee was held at Burkes Puss on May 30th. Present — Meißrs Spalding (Chairman), McDowell, Burgess, Stock, and Marchant. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. A letter was read from the Secretary to the South Canterbury Board of Education, stating that Messrs D. L. In wood and 0. W. Xancred had tendered their resignations as members of the Board, and asking the Committee to nominate not more than two persons to succeed them. Proposed by Mr Burgess, seconded by Mr McDowell, and carried — ' That Mr Frederic William Merchant be nominated by the Committee for election to one of the vacant seats." A vote of thanks to the Chairman terminated the proceedings. Disobbsibsce op Orders. — The Captain of the barque Clan Campbell came on last Saturday morning to the police station, and reported that one of hU ship's crew had become refractory, and that ho wished to give him m charge. Two of the men were at once despatched to bring the man ashore, and at about 8.30 a.m. embarked -with the captain m one of the Biirf boats. The boat, m being launched, stuck m the shingle, and a heavy wave coming on, it get swamped, completely drenching the police and captain from head to foot. The boat was then hauled back and another attempt to launch it mado, with a similar result, tlio officers of the peace receiving a thorough drenching. The boat waa again pulled back, but the police would not make the third attempt until they had fortified themselves with a substantial breakfast, after which they succeeded m going aboard the barque safely, and m returning with their prisoner, whose name is William Powell. He will be charged this morning at the Resident Magistrate's Court, with disobedience of orders. St. Maby's Chueoh, Gbealdikb. — A vestry meeting was held m St. Mary's Church, G-eraldine, on Thursday, the 25th May, 1879, for the purpose of electing Parocliial Nominators and transacting Church business. Members present: Eev. James Preston (m the chair), Messrs C. G. Tripp, W. U. Slack, W. Shiers (Churchwardens), Pierpoint, J. Kelland, B. H. Barker, and the Hon. J. B. A. Acland. It was proposed by Mr Sliiers, seconded by the Hon. J. B. A. Acland, and carried — " That the following gentlemen be elected for the office of Parochial Nominators : Messrs C. G-. Tripp, W. U. Slack, William Postlethwaite, and Dr. Fish." Mr Tripp proposed, and it was seconded by Mr W. U. Slack, and carried— " That Mr Q. Hammond's name be added to the Chief Treasurer's list of Stipend Collectors, to act m conjunction with Mr F. Flatman and Mr C. Tancred m the Woodbury District." The Chairman read the minutes of the meeting m connection with the Benevolent Aid Fund. After considering the matter fully, it waa unanimously resolved — " That the acting Benevolent Aid Committee should consist of the Eev. James Preston, the Churchwardens and Dr Fish, and that a report of their proceedings should be regularly furnished to the "Vestry at their monthly meetings " Mr Tripp proposed and Mr Pierpoint seconded— "That the offertories collected m the churches be placed m the bank, to the credit of the Vestry, at the end of every month." Carried. Mr Tripp proposed and Mr Slack seconded — " That the district Stipend Collectors meet m St. Mary's Church, Geraldinc, on the first Monday m every quarter, at two o'clock m the afternoon, commencing on the 7th July, 1879 j and that the Vestry meet at 2 p.m. on the first Monday of every month m the year, for tlio transaction of general business." Cai-ried. There being no more business to transact, the vestry meeting came to a close. Broadcast Seed-Soweb. — We notice that a public trial of Messrs A. and J. Dobbie's improved broadcast seed-sower is advertised to take place on Mr Bennett's farm, Patiti Point, on Monday next, at 2 p.m., and it will doubtless bo witnessed by a large number of farmers and others interested. From all we can hear and learn, the machino is a most valuable one, and unmistakeably superior to nine-tenths of the sowers now m use. An Adelaide paper referring to a trial of it, which took place m that colony, says : — " Last Thursday a large gathering of farmers took place at Crystal Brook, on the farm of Mr W. J. Yenning, to witness the public trial of Messrs A. and J. Dobbie's patent, broadcast seed-sower, m whu-h they have recently effected several very important improvements. The improvement consists m doing away with the necessity of a leather belt, by the introduction of a pair of bevel cogwheels, which prevents the possibility of slipping, to which the leather belt was liable. The effect of the alteration is to reduce the size of the machine to about one-third of its former size, thus making it more compact and much stronger without m the least reducing its cupacity to scatter the seed evenly the full fifty feet m width. Just as the trial was about to take place, Mr Brown, one of the neighboring farmers, suddenly made his appearance on the ground with one of Hawke's sowers, his object being to challenge the Dobbie sower. Mr A. W. Dobbic, who was present to conduct the trial, being quite agreeable to the sudden turn things had taken, allowed Mr Yenning, who had one of the old pattern Dobbie sowers, to bring it out and sow against Mr Brown. The company now elected the following gentlemen to act as judges m connection with the trial !— Geo. Pearce, J.P., J. Kelly, J.P., and Mr Thomas, all prominent farmers from various parts of the district. All being, m readiness, at a given signal from the judges, both sowers started simultaneously, the farmers present leisurely following to examine the work perfermed by each machine, the qualities or otherwise of which were very freely discussed. On the round being completed, the judges carefully measured the ground sown by each sower, and otherwise critically examined the sowing, and after a few minutes deliberation, announced the following verdict: — 'We unanimously agree to nward the decision m favor of the Dobbie sower, for tho following reasons ; viz., First, the Dobbie sower has covered a width of nine-nine feet, m the one round, whereas tho Ha wko sower only covered eighty-one feet. Second, the seed is very much more evenly distributed by the Dobbie sower than by the Hawke. The result of their decision was received with remarks of satisfaction by those present. The new improved pattern sower was now brought out, and made to sow a round, after which tho company gathered round the machine to examine the improvements, with which they expressed themselves extremely pleased, as it would now leave plenty of room m the cart for carrying the necessary supply of grain, besides making it less liable to breakage." Butperhaps a still more satisfactory proof of the capabilities of the Dobbie sower is to be found m the following high eulogium passed upon it by Mr D. Borne, of Papakaio, who is known as a thoroughly practical farmer, and. one not likely to misjudge an agricultural implement : — " To Hassell, Son and Co., Oamaru. — Sirs, —In reply to your questions m re Dobbie's Patent Sower, I beg to say that by only using one horse I sow wheat 45ft ; barley, 40ft to 45ft ; oats, 36ft to 40ft ; but if the horse is driven a little faster it will sow wider. When I first started the sower I sowed 60 acres m 6 hours. The sowing is very regular, much better than nine-tenths of what I see sown by hand. I found no difficulty at all m working the machine. I think that every farmer should have a sower, as it does away with the hardest work on tho farm ; m fact, as some of my neighbors remarked when they saw me sitting m the dray with my coat on, sowing ten acres an hour, toe&said it was farming made easy. — Yours, &3y D. : Bobbie. Papakaio, May 26th, 1879.'!- We might quote numerous other testimonials m favor of the machine m question, but think we have stated enough to sufficiently awaken' the curiosity and interest of farmers m this district, as to cause them to attend the trial at Patiti Point. We shall then have something more to say about it. Theatrbßotaii. — The second performance of the Royal Illusionists passed off hist Saturday night, m the Theatre Royal, as successfully as the first one. The lower parts of the house were crowded, and there was a very fair attendance m the dress circle. The performance, for the most part, was a repetition of the one of the previous evening, but some very clever new mcks were introduced, and executed by Chevalier Thorn m a manner that left no question as to his ability. His exposure of some spiritualistic feats was also successful. In one case he tied himself up m the cabinet m a manner that appeared impossible, and m soph short time that he astonished everybody. He then put on and took off a coat, while his handi remained apparently tied by ahem-

pi-n rope to the chuir. Spiritualists, lie said, deluded people by making them believe that such things could onlv be done by spiritualistic agencies, but he snowed that this wa» not a fact, by slipping his hands with some difficulty out of the ropes in which they were secured in a manner that apparently rendered it impossible for him to do so. In another spiritualistic trick Mr Darvin was put into a bag ; the bag was tied with n string, and the knot sealed. He was then placed in the cabinet, and in n few seconds ho had come out of the bag, without undoing the rope or breakincthe seiil. Tliis trick was not explained. Yesterday afternoon Chevalier Thorn gave a private seance to representatives of the f ress. The table used was similar to the one on which Dr. Slade used to perform, and the seance consisted of slate-writing, table-rapping, and table-raising. Tho . table was a light one, about three feet square, and it was subjected to a seTere examination before and after the performance, but nothing which could assist the medium could be detected. Only four men could sit around it at a time, and shortly after we were seated with our hands joined across the table, we distinctly heard raps underneath. The next feat was the slate-writing, one which has rendered tho name of Dr Slade famous. A slate was given to each of the three of us, to place underneath our end of the table, Chevalier I horn contenting himself by putting his hand on one of the slates. Immediately a little noise, such as would be made by drawing a pencil on a slate, was heard, and in an extremely short time the slates were pulled up, and on the shite on which Chevalier Thorn had his hand were written the following words in a very legible hand : — " Spiritualism if properly investigated will be found to be nothing more than humbugism, and God will bless those who will expose it properly. — Kate." In the next feat the table was raised by a sudden jerk about three inches off the ground, the hands of all present being on the top of it the while. These manifestations created considerable surprise, notwithstanding that Chevalier Thorn assured us that all had been done by human agency. Two of our number insisted that they could explain how everything was done, but tho third was completely bewildered and had not an opinion to offer. The table was again examined, but it had undergone no change, there was nothing mechanical observable, and we had to leave not a whit the wiser of how such strange things were performed. In vain we entreated Chevalier Thorn to explain how he produced these manifestations, but he was quite obdurate, and only promised us to explain them in presence of the audience on the stage this evening. The explanation will doubtless prove interesting, and we confess we look forward to it with considerable interest, as also to the exhibition of some of the world-renowned Katie-King mysteries. The company will appear for the last time this evening. Satisfactory fob his Wife. — A Parisian who huu just had a family vault constructed, takes his wife to the cemetery, and she recoils with horror, on beholding cut in'the stone : "To the memory of my Beloved "Wife — Eternal Regrets." "But I am not "dead?" she cries. " I know it, darling, but I wished to ' please you by showing you what my affection would lead me to say when you did die." IMMIGRATION INTO THE STATES. — Official returns of immigration into the United States during the year 1878, give the total number of 153,207, of which 94,651 were male. Thore was an increase of 22,701 immigrants over those of 1877. The principal countries supplying tho immigrants were as follows : — England, 19,581 ; Ireland, 17,113; Scotland, 3700 j Germany, 31,958 ; Austria, 4881 i Sweden, 6176.; Norway, 5216; Denmark, 2688 j Switzerland, 2051 ; France, 4668 ; Italy, 5163 ; Bussia, 4216 ; China, 8168 ; Quebec and Ontario, 24,533 ; Scotia, 3282 ; New Brunswick, 1458. A Thbicb-happy Fathbb. — The Dunedin Herald of Friday says : — The most ancient of the ancient gentlemen who hold the responsible offico of care-takers of the Government buildings, could not yesterday complain that his cup of blessings was not filled to overflowing. Some time less than two years ago his good lady presented him with twins, and yesterday morning, if he did not wake to find himself famous, lie did at least to realise that he was the " happy " father of triplets. We believe that a subscription is about to be started in the buildings in order to provide a special imprest supply for a contingency, the full consequences of which were not anticipated ; and we trust that when diffidence will allow the ancient veteran to revisit the scene of his duties that somo one, say Mr. Maitland, will be able to present him on behalf of the offices, with a> m mohtb which will bo some aid to other mementoes. A Pleasant Subpbibe. — A case of restitutionjby a burglar is reported from England. About four years ago the premises of Mr Gibbons, a corn-dealer near Alton, were broken into, and a cash-box containing £155 was stolen, but no trace of the thief was discovered. Hot long ago Mr Gibbons received a package from Australia, which was found to contain the long-missing cash-box. In it was a letter stating that the writer had committed the robbery under the pressure of misfortune. With the aid of the money he had made his way to Australia, whore by good use of the surplus and by honest industry he had made for himself a competency. The box contained the original amount stolen, with interest at the rate of 15 per cent, and the writer, who gave no name or address, asked to be forgiven, and requested that the receipt of the package might be acknowledged in the Melbourne Argut. Drawing thb Linb ot Precedence. — A most amusing decision, says t.e Fiji Times, was given in tho Police Court one Wednesday lately, which will effectually set at rest a very vexed question of social precedence. The matter was not one set down on tho charge-sheet in tho usual course of business,' but cropped up and was decideden parenlheiis. It is a common custom, when any high official or especially prominent member of the community appears in Court to give evidence, to allow him to stand on the floor of the Court, instead of entering the witness-box. No definite rule, however, has hitherto obtained as to the classes to whom this especial courtesy is to be extended. During the hearing of the case Kegina v. (Sundry, a witness had been permitted to stand on the floor of the Court. Afterwards, on calling Mr Mathew Wilson, the following amusing colloquy occurred : — Mr Coloman — " Will your Worship permit Mr Wilson to give his evidence on the floor of the Court." (His Worship, hesitatingly) — " Well, you see, Mr Solomon, we must draw the line somewhere in this particular." (Mr 8.) — " But, your Worship, Mr Wilson is a member of the Town Board." (His W.)-" Well, I think we'll draw it at members of the Town Board. Go into the box, please, Mr Wilson." The War in South America. — The following accounts of the forces of the belligerents in the war now going on in South America is given in a letter from La Paz in the Colgne Gazette: — Peru, with a superficial area greater than that of Germany and Austria-Hungary taken together, and a population of 2,700,000 has four ironclads (a frigate, a ram, and two monitors) six wooden ships, three training ships, five river steamers, and an army of 3000 men only on a peace footing, but with the cadres of eight battalions of infantry, three regiments of cavalry, and two brigades of artillery, besides 1000 gendarmes, and 1200 watchmen (vigilantes). Chili (with a population of 2,117,000) has two good ironclad corvettes and four wooden war steamers, besides some other ships which are unserviceable for war purposes. The armament of the Chilian navy consists of fourty-four guns, and and the personnel of 973 men. The Chilian army comprises 1500 infantry, 1200 cavalry, and 410 artillery, besides 6000 national guards. Bolivia has no navy, and her army consists of 2000 men ; but it could easily bfrincreasedby the system of recruiting prevalent in the country, under which young and strong men are torn from their families to serve in the army. The population of Bolivia is 2,325,000. As Awkward Mistake.— A very curious instance of the evils of chloroform (says an English paper) has been adduced within the last few days. The son of a well-known man in the social and political world became afflicted with an affection of one eye, and although the optic nerva appeared to be in fairly good condition, the sight went so rapidly that an oculist of great distinction advised that, in order that the other eye might be saved, the bad one should be taken out. Placed under the influence of chloroform, the

patient submitted to nn operation, only to find when he woke up that the surgeon had taken out the wrong eye. Good Grounds for a Ditorcb. — A man named Durkin married the widow of Gunzer, who was murdered at Wllliamsburg, N.Y., a few months ago, and after living with her three weeks has Bued for n divorce, on the ground that the ghost of the murdered Gunzer every night stalkg up and down the chamber with one-half of his head chopped off. (•HISJESE IN THE STBAIT3 SETTLEMENTS. — ! he Singapore correspondent of the Brisbane Courier writes : — " The Government of the Straits maintains and handsomely pays one department of the public service which, howeTer ornamental it may be, is certainly not remarkably useful— the Chinese Protectorate, the report of which for 1878 has just been published. The worthy head of the department begins by congratulating himself and the community generally on the good work that has been done. This naturally raises our expectations and excites our curiosity. "We devour with avidity— to use a time-honored expression — his not over voluminous pages, only to be cruelly disappointed. We find that all that has been accomplished is the checking and keeping within control the Chinese secret societies m Singapore. This is no doubt very gratifying to our next door neighbors ; but wo have to 'pay the piper' as well as thoy, and that is about our share of the good things the department provides. The Chinese secret societies m Pcnang and Province Wellesley are constantly giving trouble, and there is one — the Ho Seng — that has full control of the Ferak coast, and the Dindings, by whoso influence and conspiracy the murder of tho late Captain Lloyd was planned and carried out. Wrthermore, the report plainly proves that the Chinese Emigration and Immigration Ordinances are cumbersome and unmanageable, do more good to other countries than to the Straits, and that the traditional coach-and-four can very easily be driven through them. Taken as a whole, the Chinese Protectorate is rather an expensive plaything, and, were it abolished to-morrow, no one would particularly grieve, except, perhaps, the protectors and assistant-protec-tors, who would, no doubt, mourn the loss of their snug salaries. Nothing like haying 'plenty to get and littlo to do. 1 " The Proposed Melboubnb Exhibition. — In an article on the 'proposed Melbourne Exhibition, the Argut says : — " The estimates of expenditure adopted by the exhibition buildings committee at its last meeting, and brought under the notice of the commissioners on Tuesday, will, we imagine, somewhat astonish the public. Of course, no one expected that such an undertaking would be carried out for anything like the £100,000, or thereabouts, at first epoken of, but those who were sanguine did hope that about double the sum would see us well through tho business. However, it is evident that we were all reckoning without our hosts. The contract for the main building, including the substitution of brick for wood m the dome, amounts to over £75,000, and this, with the inevitable extras, including the cost of the new palisading round the gardens, laying out and planting the grounds, &o, will assuredly bo increased to £100,000. The further estimate submitted by the committee amounts to £130,552, and may safely be put down at £150,000. This makes a quarter of a million to begin with. The working expenses will necessarily be very heavy, but as a considerable portion will be provided by the charge for admission, we do not include anything foi them. If tho Prince of Wales should honor the exhibition with a visit we imagine that the official expense of his reception and entertainment will considerably increase the bill."