The Timaru Herald. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14,1884.

Timaru Herald, Volume XL, Issue 2931, 14 February 1884, Page 2

The Timaru Herald. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1884.

The Native Minister and the Minister of Land 3 have left Wellington for Auckland vid Kawhia, ou businens connected with the Thermal Springs leuseß at Hoiorua. This seems quite a commonplace announcement now, hat the very fact that it doea seem so, is bigjbly significant. It marks m a peculiar mannor tbe favorable change tbat bas recently come over tbe native question. Only two or tbree jeav3 ago Kawhia was i'aj)« to Eiii'opennu. It was tbe port of the King Countrj', and though Europeans occasionally visited it on a venture or through stress of weather, it waa deemed to be a lucky escape if they got awaj' Bafely. The King natives looked upon tht place as their own, and set an especial value on the possession of it. When Mr IJryce resolved upon occupying il for the Government, it was thought s very risky experiment, and there wer< many wbo warned bim not to attempi t it. He knew very well what he wns doing, however. Kawhia m now ai open port, the township has beei snrvLiyed, and the sections 'sold afc £ bigb price, a body of constabulary an i stationed there, and the work oi settle ineni is merely n matter of time Kawhia i« one of tbe best successes o: Mr Bryce's eminently successful ad \ ministration. , Jus'D wben we began io hope that th. . weather bad settled down, and tbat thi summer had come at last, there ocourrec i the most sudden and the most wintp t turn that we have had all the year. Th< [ tremendous rain of Monday night wa m itself a surprise, but at first it seemec nothing more than one of those hea\n ! semi-tropical showers tbat sometime I follow a succession of hot days Tovmrds morning, however, a complet , change wok place, and tbe tetnperatur i went dovn with extraordinary rapidity f People who had gone to bed with thei windows open, longing for cool air, wer awaiened by the cold. On looking ou J towards tbe Weat m the morning, the; . found before them [a winter liMidscape » instead of the summer landscape thej had seen tbe sun set upon the evenin; ' before. The mountains had i-obec | themselves as with a penitential sheet • and even the front hilta were white ball ■ dov/n their sides. A light northerlj breeze, instead of conveying the usua sensation of tepid water, came shari , and brisk off the snow, like a elaj m the face. It was tlie sort ol morning thafc we commonly expect about the. middle of May, but that is altogether out of its reckoning m February. It suggests a possibility tbe bare thought of which makes uf shiver. Can it be fche beginning oi winter ? Have we really missed i summer, and slipped through autumr '. without knowing it? All kind fates forbid ! There is tbis to be 3aid bj way of consolation and encourstgementtc the farmers and to tboue numerous otbei classes whoseprosperity depends entirely on that of the fanners. If the weathei changes rapidly from hot to cold, il aleo changes back again not less un expectedly. Wo have had an immensf quantity of rain this season ; but yet it has been so distributed as to dc a minimum of harm. Each fall hat besn immediately followed by brighl sunshine and drying wind, so thai prospects wbich looked utterly des perate one day, looked positively cheer in.rj the next. Ifc is essentially a gleamj aeiison ; and farmers should make up tb?ir mind to treat i.t as such. Thej should make the very utmost of everj honr of fine weather, and trout nothing at all to luck ; nnd ahove all fcliey shoulc not think of trying to get their crops ir on the oheap. Tbat is the very worsl economy m a season like this. With good management and steady sticking to it, there is an excellent oliance stil! of an uncommonly line harvest being saved.

Dbcwkennkhu.— Two men woro taken into custody last evening for boing drunk m public streets. A FiifKY MoNSTKB.~What was probably a olackfish wos obsorved close inside the outer end of the Brcakwator yesterday morning, Fcir some considerable time it lcopt closo to the worl;, U3 if feeding oa barniwlna or woods growing near tho bottom. It wim from 15ft to 20ft long. Tihajht Haeiiob Boaiid.— The ordinary mooting of the Timaru Harbor Board for the month, and also the adjourned annual nweting, will bo held to-day. At tho latter the statement of accounts of lout year will be prssonted ; at thc former, among othor business, tenders for a steel lighter will bo ojoneel. Tub Bbeakwathb.— The contractors nt 8 o'clock yeatorday morning began Die work of fitting m anotlior full-sized monolith of about IS foot, and they expected to flnwh ifc Into last, nijht. Sufficient foundation blocks aro down to permit of a third monolith m tho now contract bemg put on m tho courso if this ivcok, TJie blocks so far have settled very well and firmly. A Dklicatk Question io Asbwbb. — " L.A. will fool grctdly obliged (0 tbo Editor of tho Timarti SerM if ho will inform her m tho newspaper whether a husband can. loyally poiupel his wife to liro iinywlntre he pleases except m hor own fconioi'' Suoh ig a, copiinuttication wo recoivod ytiutorday. I( oicr cortespondenfc will toll us vjiai; she con. siilers her owu home/ wo uiighjtaiiswtr the question., ; ; iii . : .' i!..S uih <$■■ ' i

Noticb to LoTlli Citizens. — Mr J. 1 Scoringo announces that he will bo prepared J to take ladies and f.entlemcn off to H.M.S. / Espieglo thif afternoon. Tbe class of boot . Mr Sooringe owns iv so well known thot it : needs ao description. .. Gekaldinb Cocns'Y Covncii..'— A meet- I ing of the G-eralclinc County Council has been I summoned for to-daj. Among tho matters i to bo brought forward is a communication i from Uie Minister of Public Works, relative i to tho Council's application for an advance of i £290(1 odd, under tho Boads and Bridges Construction Act, for tho extension of the Opihi Bridge. Wo 'understand that the ap 'plication has been granted, subject to the conditions attaching to such advances. KB3IDENT MAOIS;TUiTJS'S Court, Waijiatk. — At this Court, yesterday, beforo J. Manchester, Ksq., J.P., a man named Gtoorg.j Paiker wns brougbt up charged with being a i lunatic from tho effsets of drink. Sergeant Baimiay said accused wn3 arrested (ho previous clay, Buffering from delirium tremens. He was m a helpless state and seemed to liavo lost his memory. Witno?3 could not learn where accused had been drinking. In reply to the Benoh, accused said ho could not recollect where he had been on any particular day. In a general way ho said he had beer. i iv "Oamarn and nt Mr Douglas's. As accused appeared to bo unAt to bo at large, ho wr.s ordered to bo conveyed to thc Timaru Gaol for seven days for curative treatment and care, and to bo' brought beforo the Justices at Timiru on the 20th inst. Pjhmitivb Methodist Ciicncn. — Tho i anniversary soiree m connection with the Primitivo Methodist Chuvch wns held m tlie Oddfellows' Hall, liarnard street, on Tuesdaj' evening, and though not too numerously attended, wns or. the whole decidedly successful. Mesdames Sharp, Undrell, Toney-cliff-3, and the Misses Wallis, Whittaker, Leggott, and Yeatinan presided at tho tablia, on which were spread an abundance of good things. The tea aver, those m attendacoe repaired to the chvrch, where addresses wore delivered by tho pastor, tho Key. Mr Sha) - ]), and the Kov. Mr Clark. Tho usual reports were also read by tho Secretary and Treasurer. The anniversary 18S4 proved as successful as B,ny one, all who attended heartily onjoy- ■ ing themselves. I I!o&tin<j. — The following is tho result of tho drawing for craws which take part m tie Timaru Boating Cub's scratch rucesonSntcu*- ' day : — Por tue double seedling races — Hawkins r and McNab, Roberts and Campbell, Cameron * and Gardiner, Black nnd Cramond, Harlock 5 and Maingny, and Wood and Allen. For the four-oared mccs — Black, J. Cameron, Me.ingay and Craaiond ; Boberts, Macphur- ' son, Gardiner and Sbury ; Hawkins, HayJ lock, W. Wood and Cook ; F. Cameron, 1 Shirtcliffc, Allen and Campbell. Nearly \ all the men have boen going m for hard , practice during tho week, and one or two of the crows are bjginning to show more thin B nverago form. It has not been definitely! '• decided ut what hour the races ore to start. c Most probably tliey -will bo lield m tbo af tor--1 ncoti, and as there is rather a long programme ' to co through an early start ought to be made. This will bo the third scratch race " meeting the Club has held this season, which a speuks well for the energy of tho memben-. c Visit or H.lk'i.S. Espiegvle. — In view of t tho expected ai-rivol of H.M.S. Espiilgle a tc-day, steps have beon taken to give the vessel a fitting reception. She loft Lyttolton at; nine o'clock yesterday morning, and is c looked for here at daylight. Captain Wobfter a nvill be m readings with tho Titan at dnwn of c clay to go out aid moet her, and esicort her i. inside the Breakwater. It is proposed that j about 10 o'clocl: thc members of the "« Harbor Board, The Mayor and Coun- * cillors of the Borough, shall proceed oc 1- board and fornmllv welcome Captain Bridge and his officers, d'hev will then be invited to a public baiquet at the Ship Hotel .it 2 , c p.m., tickets for whicli, price 10s 6d, muy bo obtained from His Worship the Mayor, from , Mr W. Moody, and from Mr Moss Jonas, " belore 11 n.m. It is nofc known how long y the Espiegle wi I remain iv port, but efforts c irill be made to have her thrown open to tho IS public this afternoon. Doiuxd Disnie AT Waim&te. — The famous ntlilete accepted an invitation cf the y Waimate Caledonian Society, and paid a visit is to Waimate on Tuesday. A large number of B. persons wero piesont m the Oddfellows' Hall ■ c on the occasion the hall being well filled. A concert was got up for the occasion, and a very attractive programme successfully T* carried out under the direction of Mr Hillary, ir who occupied the chair. Several feat} 08 •c strength wero given by Mr Dinnio. The ( (; spparent ease with which ho ho.ndlod 56ib weights and heavy bars, showed a ' strength of muscle far above anything of B > the kind ever S3en at Waimate. Mr James y Bickua and a man named Donovan engaged g in friendly trials at wrestling. Donovan suc(j ceeded iii putting Dinnio down ono fall, but , m the other !ieots Dinnio threw both mon ' with apparent ease. At the conoort uongs * woro contributed by Miss Fogarty and Miss y Kelly, of Timarii ; and Miss Swan ond Mr il Neilson, of Wiimuto ; a song and rocitation p hy Mr O. Strachan ; dancing by Mr Mcßae ** nnd sons, of Ashburton, nnd Mossrs H&ij; and P Potter, of Timaru. Mr Munro, of Hampden, * enlivened tho evening by his excel lent perfc fonnauco on tie Highland pipes. Altogether t the members of thc Society, and others prea sent enjoyed a very pleasant entertainment. r TunrETiAxc:* Blue Bibbon. — Tlie fort- ' nightly meeting of tho Waimate Branch of „ the Blue Bibbon Temperance Mission wns 1 heid on Tucsdajv evening. Mr Golclumith, a President, occupied the chair, and opened the n. meeting with a Bhort address. The Boy. J. s McKco mado an imprcssivo speech. The Bey. C. Griffin nlso spoko of tho advantages y of totil abstinence, and gavo a reading; Sir 0 Hutton spoko m hie usual earnest manner of r tho evil results of, and the terrible waste of y means and timo caused by drinking „ customs. Humorous readings woro given . by Mr Ellis of Ohristohurch, and Mr Oleino of Waimato. Ssvoraltemporanconieladioiwere L " sung hy tho ireeting, and m response to the c Chairman, Bevoral members of the Solvation ; Army joined m singing ono of their hymns. Thero was a good attendanco, about 160 persons being presont. Tho speaking was very good, aad tho addresses well received t ancl applauded by the meeting. Ten porsons fc signed tho pledge, and temperance tracts, wore i. distributed ot thc close of tho meoting. , m Porsons disposod to assist at noxt meeting woro rceiueatud to give their names to tho V Secvetary, M:; Q. Jl. Graham, m time for ? arrangement of programme WjtAT it ElnouiD Bb.— Professor Block, V ia tho course ef his evidenco m a recent WW adulteration cane, said : — " Brandy, nccordd ing to the text tools, is distilled from wino Q from tho grnpe-, and free from any othor £ »übsbra<:e. I And m my exporioniw thnt , fully two-thirdii of tho spirit callod brandy and tlie article ef commerce is but an ? imitation, mnelp m England from whijly." •* A too Skoiex Monet Box. — A Southern 3 paper says thoro is a vory ingenious contriviinco m use on tho New Zealand railws.vs for : tho purpose of iiocuring tho safety of cash, 3 oheques, &0., requiring to be transmitted i irom out stations to tho main one. Ou^wordly it is a mero box, attachod to tho if inside of the guard's van, with an r.perture L . liko that ofthe post-office. Internally it Jias „ ii provision of spikei, arranged on the principle > of shark's tco",h, i.e., it admits freely— it lots i nothing go back. At tho lower purt. of tho ; box m a door, of which only tho chief stationmaster has h. koy. The arrangomotit has i worked oxceedixigly woil, but a hitnh ocf cured about a fortnight ago, when, a hug oon- | taining somo £70 m ohoques, etc., wariuissad. . That it hod been put into tho travelling strong i hox was prov 3d, That it was not there, whon fche stationmaste.r looked for it was almost certain. Nor had tho lock beon tampered with ; tho only supposition, therefoie, was 1 fchat Bomo one had oither oUained ' possession of or made a duplicate) , Joy. Detective ingonuity was cm tho ' , ulort, but notliino to throw light on tho mysfxsry troruipirea. At length it occui'red to | uomeone to oxumino tho spikocl shuot or j gullet, down ivliioh tho cash bags would ordinarily slide. Thdro hung tho missing bng intnot. Ifc hud by somo means couchti m ono . of tho spikes, anci remained susponued, It is . needlesß to lay that the find was n great relief to all oonuornod, not so much porhapti for tho Having qf their pockets, upon! whioh thore would prflsumably havo boon a liivy, m (or the satisfaction of knowing thei. thoro could bo no jjhj.utatiou of d'ahonttsty nmoog thorn. - '! : ■ ■ BrcouKT^i iwltn A BitcityßMtOw,— ; The Brisbsnj 1 Jfally Ohitrver glv«* <|»c fol-

lowing account of an affray with a black- j s J'ellow n;ar tho Cloncurry, which was tele- ( graphed by Mr !E. Henry, the gentleman. ( concerned. Ho saya : —" On the morning of j ] 15l:h .fanuary, at the Argylla copper i < mines, 00 miles from Clonci'.rry, a mob of . blacks wc-r.i with me, some of whom had been helping me to clear the track between Cloncurry and Argylla. I was m tlm act of bring- ' ing up a horso when a blackfallow drove a , heavy spear into my back, and immediately ' closed with me. I was unarmed and owing ' to bein:; partially paralysed from the 1 wound, und faint vrith loss of blood, I had a 1 desperjita struggle to free myself. When I got free tho black decamped. The rest of tho mob wero standing near, but would not ] assist the one who assaulted rae, though he j yelled to them to do so. For four days and \ nights I luv m the same camp, helpless, the , blacks watching over mo aud doing all they could forme. Now, I think oil just persons will agroe witii me, considering tho treatment I received from the others, that it were better my would-be murderer should go freo than that any innocent black should bo sacriGcod by attempting vengeance on tho guilty one. I have therofore font no requisition to the nntive police. Ihave since managed to reach Cloncurry, bringing a.s many blacks as chosii to coino, to reward them for tlieir loyalty to me. The only reason I can assign for tho attack on me is tliat I had stopped the man's rations becauso he would not work. I had served eoveral others tho same, and havo always acted m like manner towards them, feeding only those who work for me. The BjssTitrcTivE Hubmcane at Bowen. —A telegram received from Bowon on February 3rd states : —Tho storm began en Wednc-scUy morning, whon houses as well us trees began to fall. The Primary School, a brick building, and numerous other buildings m the town and country wero blown down. Half of the roof of the new Supremo Court was blown off. The pilot shed was thrown down, and the pilot boats and the cutterwero lost. At Poole Island tho meat freezing works were destroyed. A utoam launch and the pants also are all gone to the bottom. Tho machinery m thc works was greatly damaged. Tho supposed loss amounts to between £5000 and £10,00(1. Tho steamer Fiado' broke her cable and drifted on tothe beach, and it is doubtful whether sho will get off at next spring tides. Fortunately no lives wero lost. Every houso m the town is move or less damaged. Many families who are rendered homeless took refuge m the English church and public bnildinjii. Tho general loss is very great. There is, it is supposed, a wreck at, Gloucester Island, but there are no boats here to go out to mako any search or render any help. It is not known where the schooner Pearl is, but it is feared that she too is lost. The weather now is calm, and fortunately tho rain which succeeded the storm ceased 60on afterwards, or thu less woidd have been fearful. It is stated that had the Duke of Buckingham (s.) left Tawusville 12 hours earlier she would have boon lost. All the buoys m the harbor have disappeared. Thc steamer passed a great quantity of wreckage after leaving Boiven. Tho storm extended with destructive offect over a wide urea. At Kavenswood also there was n severe hurricane on Wednesday, attended with heavy rain, which caused greait , destruction. The Roman Catholic chapel was , levelled to the ground, nnd the priest's house wns partially blown away. The Anglican i parsonage was also unroofed, and many private . dwellings shared the same fntc,somo beini; en- ; tirely blown down. Keporti from the outlying . places describe this storm as very destructive. Allthe creeks within a considerableradiuswero , rapidly Hooded. Tho storm had an oxtensive front. At Clare the old telegraph station i was blown down, the wind stripping all the , wires off the new building also. The Bnrde- [ kin bridge has beon much endangered, and > hoary damage hos been done to tho railway. , T'ae. Government have forwarded a number of tents, a boat and other articles. Tho r polco magistrate has received instructions to . adopt, every means m his power towards | alleviating tho public distress. It is said that , abeut ono hundred porsons m Bowen have been left entirely destitute, s , ; ? j L : , j . [ ' ■ 1 , , I j i , , \