Wellington Items.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6654, 20 September 1889, Page 4

Wellington Items.

. — I »-■■ -• — [l"BOH OUR BPKCIAL COBBBSPOKDBNT.] ! WELLINGTON, Sbpt. 19. TAWH2AO. The Ministerial journal sayß this morning that Tairhiao will not be interfered •with bo long as he does not break the law, from which i conclude that the surmise, of which I adriaed you yesterday, that the notice to Hi* Majesty was sent before the failure of the Native Meetings Bill, is correct. ! THB COLONIAIi SICBZTABYSHIP. There is a rumour to-day, rather faint, that Captain Russell is likely to be appointed Colonial Secretary. People are, indeed, asking whether he has accepted the position. The opinion in circles favourable to the Government is that the appointment would be a very good move and a very Btrong move for the Government. It would be distinctly palatable to the Ministerial party, and the country would rejoice at ihe upsetting of a certain little applei cats in the fair city of Oamaru. As yet \ there is nothing more, I believe, in the ] rumour than the wish of Ministerial Bup- ; porters being rather to the thought ; but i there may be more iri it to-morrow. THB BrrSH-FALIJ2JG BSAfION has, I hear, well set in about Hawera and the interior district generally 3 bat I cannot find enough reliable information to induce me to report that there is any demand, as it is alleged ( there is, for any appreciable quantity of labour from other districts. „ DAIBT PBOTJUCIf. ■ There is some excitement in that part-<jf the world about a report to the eifefcfc that a ring of southern speculators has secured all the available cool cargo space for dairy produce for the coming eeg&bn. The Hawera farmers are very much eiercised in their minds about this, and the feeling in the distrist is that the Shipping Companies ought to be " pitched into" for allowing such a thing. It is probable that more will be heard of this in a few days. THE EGMONT FABMEBS* TTNIOK 9 lately registered, is spoken of ;as an organisation likely to play an important part in the above and other matters. Asthis appears to be a popular thing in the district, I send you the f olldwing dpsoription of it, which appears in today 'a Evening Press: — "Thiß institution may now be recognised as a going conqern. It is essentially what it declares itself to be, a union, of farmers for the purpose of conserving and protecting the interests of its membe/i. At a recent meeting of shareholder/!, some of the leading settlers, who are also the prime movers, declared that their fchief object was to place the produce of thtor farms in the hands of the consumers at the greatest profit to themselves, and tor this end the Union would urgently need t/> sweep aside everything of a parasitical character that stood in the way. It is expfjeted, in short, that this new organisation, as at present constituted will Becure far its members large and important advantages in whatever direction it proposes to operate. Applications will now 'be immediately invited for the post of. Manager and Secretary, the duties atyjaching to which I have previously enumerated. As one instance of the method, upon which it ia proposed to work, I understand that one of the first duties of the Secretary will be to solicit contract quotat/.ons under classification for the lire and' marine business of the Union, and in liko manner, as far as possible, to submit eVery department to competition." THE ACCIDENT AT ' THE CLTJB HOTEL to-day, is remarkable for the circumstance that the unf or# unate victim escaped, after a fall of som/3 forty feet from an upper window on to the hard pavement, without breaking /my boneß. General regret is expressed in the establishment, as the young follow was thought well off. by everybody in it. ' The unhappy part of" the story is that he' came by hia! mishap in consequence of disobeying instructions, which were not to get on the window-sill to clean the outside of the upper windows, but to do the worJ; with a hose provided for the purpose. PBACTIC/iL STMPATHY. The public has come forward so well for the relief of the families of those lost in the accident to tlae pilot boat, of which you were informed some weeks ago, that the cash collected now stands at £600, which has been fairly divided. By the way, it was freely said attbe v time that the boat was capawed owing to the breaking of the grummet of the steer oar. The boat gave a sheer, and the grummet breaking, the steer o/k was useless; and between the action of the tow-rope and the stress of the heavy s^a, over went the boat. That was the popular theory, founded on the fact that the grummet was broken. Hundreds saw that as the boat lay in the boat harbour after the accident* Upon the broken grummet they bnilfc their ■ theory, and loud were the hard CDmments upon the faf.hion of covering up ropes with canvas to hide the process of wear and the course of decay. I have ascertained, however, thaAi the grummet broke during the capsize ; that, in fact, it was the strain of the enpaize which broke the grummet, not the breaking of the grummet which caused the capsize. UNJUST CRITICISM. Another matter I may mention, which requires; to be noticed iv justice to the rescuers of the survivors. When the steamer got alongside of the swamped boat, all h<;r occupants got hold of the ropes thrown to them, but only two of the five reacted the deck of the Bteamer; the •■ other 9, falling back into the sea, were drowned. There was much criticism in ' consequence. " Why/ people asked, "did the crew of the Bteamer not go down into ; the/boat to help those poor benumbed people ' up to safety?" The reply was thattherewaß .no crew, everybody but the steward, I ca.ptain, and steersman being away in the I boat, scouring the dark waters in search of I the overturned boat. To this it was objected, " Then why not have sent down bowlines into the boat ?" But in the hurry and the darkness there was only time to •throw the ropes. The boat went from under the unfortunate men at the first contact with the steamer. The steamer suddenly comes up with the boat, over go the ropes as fast as they can be thrown, ; away goes the boat; leaving the men ' clinging; three out of the five, unable to ! hold on, fall into the sea. That is what j happened. No blame, of course, rests on ; the steamer's people, whs did the best j that good seamen could do under the circumstances.