Local and General Intelligence

Tuapeka Times, Volume 26, Issue 157, 26 January 1889, Page 2

Local and General Intelligence

One of the Home sporting papers says the Maoris have improved 5C3 per cent, in their play since they first arrived in England.

The Tasmanian Government proposes an income tax of 4d in the £ on salaries and incomes from personal exertion, and of 9d in the £ on incomes from capital.

There were nine patients in the Tuapeka Hospital last evening— seven male and two female. Two patients were admitted during the week and three discharged.

It is proposed to reduce the compulsory school age in Victorian state schools to 13 years, and to increase the days of compulsory attendance from 30 to 40 in each quarter.

The latest advices state that the English wheat market is weak, the Continental depressed, and the American inactive. Avstralian frozen mutton is in less demand, prime New Zealand bringing 4d per lb.

The approximate valuation for the city of Dunedin for 1889-90 amounts to £253,860. In 1885-6, when the depreciation of property began, it was £309,216, thus showing a decrease for the four years of £55,356, or airthe rate of 18 per cent.

The attention of our readers is directed to the Tuapeka County Jockey Club's concert programme, which appears in our advertising columns this morning. The names of the performers are a sufficient guarantee that the bill of fare will be an excellent one.

It is reported that a Wellington firm of merchants recently made a nice little "pot over a flax venture. A member of the firm journeyed to Manawatu, purchased 80 tons of flax, and sold the consignment in the Empire City at an advance of no less than £4 per ton, thus netting the respectable sum of £330 over the transaction.

To show to what an extent the tin fever bm taken hold of the people of Southland, it might be mentioned that upwards of £1000 has been taken at the Invercargill Land Office for land grants, licenses, &c, in connection with the recent discoveries. According to the London correspondent of the Dunedin " Evening Star," each of the directors of the Midland Railway Company receives a salary of £750 per annum, and the chairman £1000. Who wouldn't be a director with such a handsome retaining fee ? We understand that Mr Crawford Anderson, the member for the Bruce electorate, has already taken a repugnance to politics, and has no intention of again offering himself for re-election. Bruce has been- singularly unfortunate in its representatives for some years past. The American Senate has passed the New Tariff by 33 to 30, and increased the duties on wool. The Bill removes half the sugar duties and grants heavy bounties on locallymade sugar. It is considered certain the House of Representatives will reject the tariif. At the recent junior scholarships examination of the New Zealand University, the names of Miss Jane M'Nab and Master W. H. Adams, ex-pupils of the Lawrence District High School, appear among the list of candi* dates deemed to have passed with credit, although unsuccessful in gaining scholarships. Another industrial venture. An oyster and fish company, with a capital of £25,000 f has been formed at Invercargill. The company have purchased ten vessels, with all the requisite gear, and intend commencing opera* tions at once. With our splendid coast line teeming with fish, there can be little doubt that the enterprise of the Invercargill people will meet with a liberal reward. Mr J. G« Ward, M.H.R., is the managing director. The Tuapeka County Council's road grader, now working for a few weeks in Clutha County, appears to be giving great satisfaction. According to the " Courier," it is considered "the grandest implement that ever went to the district." In eleven day's work a considerable length of road has been formed without a hitch, and the settlers are delighted at the work done. The horses are supplied by the land owners in the vicinity of the work. We learn that a case of diphtheria has made its appearance in a family residing about a mile north of the town of Roxburgh. Under the skilful treatment of Dr Jeffery, however, the patient has already recovered, and up to the present no new cases have made their appearance. As the most effectual means of dealing with this malady consists in treating it at an early stage, the people of Roxburgh are fortunate in having an experienced medical man at hand. The Taieri "Advocate" supplies proof of what may be done by the bonus system in diminishing the small bird nuisance. In one week alone the Taieri County Council pur* chased heads and eggs that represented no less than eleven thousand and forty birds.The figures are as follow : -255J doz. heads, and 664J doz. eggs, the total cost to the county being £11 18s 6d, an exceedingly small sum, we should say, considering the great amount of good accomplished. Agricultural settlers are not alone the only sufferers from the grasping policy of the Midland Railway company. The miners are precluded from taking up a residence area unless a house has been erected upon it for a very long time. The company has now securely locked up every acre of unoccupied land in three entire districts, while hundreds of families are unable, unless at a prohibitive price, to get a patch of land to live upon. What do the admirers of Sir Robert Stout think of that? An excursion train will run from Dunedin to Lawrence on the first day of the Tuapeka County Jockey Club's race-meeting, the fares being— lst class, 8s 6d ; 2nd, 6s 6d. The train which usually leaves here for Milton at 2.50 p.m. will not leave till 5 p.m. on Wednesday next, and passengers for stations north of Milton will be brought through to their destination by the return excursion train. Saturday return tickets to Lawrence will also be issued at Dunedin, Clinton, and inter* mediate stations on 29th, 30th, and 31st instant, and will be available for return up to and including 2nd proximo. The indications of better times for New Zealand are every day becoming stronger. In this connection there is nothing so reliable as an increase in the price of property. In Oamaru recently, Mr Menlove, a large land proprietor, sold 2,003 acres of land to a Victorian capitalist at a price that might be called fabulous compared with prices ruling a few months back. The great natural advantages of this colony are in the end bound to tell, and Victorians or others who have capital to spend and want sound investments will not fail to find their w.ay here. NOTHING has lately been heard of the mining class in connection with our local Athenaeum and Mining Institute. Notwithstanding the fact that a large and valuable collection of testing appliances, with all the necessary chemicals, are in the building, and quite at the disposal of the miners of the district, yet not a single serious attempt has been made to take advantage of the opportunity thus offered. Under such circumstances the whole subject might very appropriately form the subject of an exhaustive discussion, at the next annual meeting of subscribers. The question is an important one, and, besides, it involves a large expenditure of money. The repugnance of the importers to the appointment of Mr Shannon, as Customs expert, has very soon explained itself. Mr Shannon quietly travelled down to Auckland a few days ago, and intercepted the landing of a consignment of German-made pianos, the port of shipment ostensibly being London. To defraud the Customs here, the instruments were sent from Germany to London, and from thence transhipped to this colony. They were also considerably undervalued in the invoice. This was a simple way of defrauding the Customs out of a large sum of money; and no doubt the plan had been previously tried. And yet the importers objected to the appointment, as an infringement on their rights. The pianos, which are valued at £1000, are to be sold by auction. The annual session of the Wesleyan Conference of New Zealand was opened in Dune, din on Wednesday evening. A large number ' of ministers from different parts of the colony are in attendance, among them being the Rev. Wm, Morley, who has just recently returned from a trip to England. The retiring President (the Rev. W. J. Williams) delivered an interesting address, in which he sketched the progress and prosperity of the denomination in the colony. He stated that last year the number of members on the roll was 7062, and that the increase since had been 59, with 507 on trial. There are 18,250 Sunday scholars, and 47,999 attendants at public worship. The Rev. W. J. Watkin (Wanganui) was elected President for the ensuing year, and the Rev. H. Bull secretary. In the first draft of the station appointments, the Rev. J. Smith is again setdowntor Lawrence*

Thb following, among other candidates, have passed the matriculation examination of New Zealand University : -Misses Hilgendorf and L. Richards, Masters T. Herd and WM'Kinlay. Thb oat crops in the Teviot district are ripening very fast under the warm weather of the last few weeks ; and, from present appearances, they will give a very good yield to the acre. The reaping machines are at work all over the district, and are cutting down splendid orops. Around the Moa Flat quarter, where the land is of a superior quality, as many as 70 bushels of oats to the acre are expected ; so that on the whole the agricultural outlook in the district is very encouraging. THE Walton School Committee, Fairfield, '<*/£ lecommended Mr R. Neill, at present in charge ojc thj© Blue Spur school, to the post of headmaster in their school. Mr Neill is well known in this district,- he having held his present position for several yeara past. At Blue Spur he has been identified with almost every social movement that has been promoted since his appointment there. He has taken great interest in the Band of Hope and the Sabbath school, having been the leading spirit of the former and superintendent of the latter. The Blue Spur Bible-class, conducted by Mr Neill,has made quite an exceptional name for itself through the gumber of prizes gained by its members at the Presbyterian Synod's annual competitions. Thb weather for the past few weeks has been making amends for the long stretch of stormy weather with which we were favoured at an earlier period. The other exbreme, how. ever, is now being reached, and there is already a universal sighing after rain. The ground is beginning to look parched, the grass is showing traces of the continuous heat, and, no doubt, the turnip crops would be improved by a good shower or two. But probably the greatest, calamity of all is the domestic inconvenience which the dry weather has caused. The tanks all around, have exhausted their supply, and amongst sturdy houtew Ives strong . protests are being uttered against the unbecoming conduct of the weather clerk. It is to be hoped they will reach him, and that the matter may be attended to. The exposure of the sweating system in Dunedin by the " Daily Times " is causing a profound sensation. It seems hard at first to believe the existence of such misery so close at hand, but the particulars are authentic, and there is evidently no exaggeration. The worst feature of the business seems to be that the profits go to the manufacturer. The work is first sub-let from the warehouse at a price that leaves no margin for profit. It is then given to the workers at starvation prices, so that the whole sin is on the heads of the manufacturers. It is a merciless system, and mere money getting is at the bottom of it. This, however, is a matter that legislation, unfortunately, cannot touch, and is, therefore, likely [ to exist for ever; unlecs, indeed, human nature changes veiy much from what it is at present, which, is hardly possible. At the Land Board meeting on Wednesday, ' Walter Williamson's application for deferred J payment village settlement sections 13, 14, ' and 15, block vni., Benger, was approved.— ] Ebenezer Jackcon's application was also ap- ] proved to complete purchase of deferred ] payment sections 26 and 27, block iv., Waita- : huna East.— The clerk of the Balmoral Road Board forwarded plans of roads on which the i sum of £33 13s lOd becoming due to them from deferred payment land, etc., was to be expended; also, forwarded for approval of Board a list showing the roads on which moneys coming to them from time to time hereafter were to be expended.— Road lines approved. The clerk of the Mount Stuart Road Board sent plans of roads on which they proposed to expend £19 12s 6d accruing from deferred payment lands and small grazing runs.— Road lines approved. Between the Americans, the British, and the Germans and the - natives themselves* Samoa is just now a veiy warm corner of the eaiih's surface. The stxoggle between the three great powers just named is for possession. Germany, in pursuit of her recentlyadopted colonising policy, was the first to strike ; and the other two powers, seeing they were late in moving, are now professing great sympathy with the natives, and doing everything possible to hamper and embarrass the Germans'. This accounts for the long-winded cables from Samoa about the "Teutonic Atrocities" and so on. They are simply carrying out Bismarck's unyielding policy regardless of what others may, think. As regards the new-born sj-npathy for the " untutored savage," we kaow how to appraise that. With nations as with individuals, it is the survival of the fittest ; and the Germans are simply fulfilling a law that has been enacted often before by the two rival powers. The congregation of an up-country church, not far from here, had a rather unusual, experience on a recent Sunday morning. Just as the parson was giving the usual preliminaiy coughs, and otherwise regulating his voice for the delivery of the text, he was surprised by the entry of a swarm of excited bees through a window close to his head. A thou1 sand or two of the intruders at once made his acquaintance without the bother of any formal introduction, while another million or so made an indiscriminate attack upon the congregation. The scene in the sacred edifice was a wild one for a minute or two. The first man through the door, fighting hard to dislodge the bees from his face and hands, was the parson, followed pell-mell by the congregation. Once outside the bees were easily got rid of, but the service was not again resumed. The stampede was more the result of fright than any injury suffered, though many faces bore visible evidence of the attack, and curses, not loud but deep, were heard on lips that had recently moved in whispered prayer. Business in the Supreme Court, Christchurch, over which Judge Ward had been presiding, was brought to a standstill on Wednesday. What this means to the members of the legal profession, and more especially to their clients, can only be understood by those who have had occasion to appeal to that high and expensive tribunal. Judge Ward's explanation of this singular circumstance is that he had received intimation from the Government to finish any cases upon which he was engaged, and, having done so, he declined to proceed further until instructed to do so. The explanation is quite reasonable,, and completely exonerates the judge from any blame in the matter. Had the Government in this instance been a private firm the members of the legal profession and their clients would recover compensation in an action for damages. This is a more serious matter to those directly concerned than the general public are aware of. In the great tribunals of England judges are probably promoted and changed every day in the year; and yet has anyone -ever heard of the judicial business of a great district being suspended and litigants put to expense an< inconvenience? Whereas in this colony of ours, with a mere handful of judges, the Government is not able to make a new ■ appointment or a change once in twentyyears without bringing the whole legal machinery of a province to a standstill, and causing the judge on the bench, in sheer disgust and shame, to explain his position to the public.

A LARGE meeting of farmers was held at Gore the other day, when the everlasting bag question came up for discussion. Owing to the inability of the chairman to control the meeting, and keep the speakers within proper bounds, the discussion became desultory, and drifted off into a wrangle about co-operative societies. While on this topio, a farmer I present settled the matter by saying that the 1 worst thing about co-operative societies was that they got blackguards to manage them— some unhung rogues. That was the cause of failure. The weather growlers in New Zealand might take a hint from the following extract from a private letter from Melbourne in the " North Otago Times," and in future refrain from strong language when speaking of the climate :--" You tell me of the heat you have had in New Zealand lately— HOdeg. in the sun ; but here it has beenls4deg. often, and I feel I am melting away like a pound of butter. Talk of rain ! It rains here sometimes more in five minutes than I have known your heaviest j rain in one hour. I have not far to walk from my lodgings to my work, yet I often get we* to the skin. ... I am cautious what I take here, as typhoid is very prevalent. For weeks I have only tasted milk once, though I used to be so fond of it, and I miss many dainties I tu>ed to have in New Zealand." A bill is now before the English House of Commons, many of the provisions of which are badly needed as amendments to our bankruptcy law. It is intended that -no bankrupt should get his discharge until it is proved either that the estate has yielded or is likely to yield 10s in the pound of the liabilities ; or that the bankruptcy has not aricen from reckless trading, or from the culpable t conduci of the bankrupt. On the passing of our Bankruptcy Act in 1883, it was attempted unsuccessfully to include the " ten shillings '' in it. As things are tending at present, it is sure to be introduced and incorporated at an early date. The moral sense of the colony in matters of bankruptcy is as dead as Queen .Anne. It is only by increasing the risks that dishonesty in these matters can be fairly combated. ! We are not sure whether the following I reminiscence may not strike a responsive chord in the breasts of any of our readers who are venerable enough to have known Bendigo in its festive youth. The sy3tem of imprisonment in force there was decidedly rough; but, for security, it contrasts favourably with that adopted by Captain Hume, with all the resources of civilisation at his disposal. •* In Bendigo, when the diggings first broke out, there benrj no lock-up, the police used to chain up • dvunks ' to a large log in the centre of the towaship. One night there was an unusually large number of Bacchanalians 'timbered,' and next morning fiey, with the log and all, had disappeared. It transpired that by their united strength they had shouldered the log and marched with it to the bar of the nearest pub., where they were all found as drunk as N.S.W. M.P.'s" The Cha'vman of the Coventry Board o£ Guardians stated a shoi J time since that he had never seen a teetotaller come to the workhouse for relief, and he had made inquiries at fifteen other workhouses and found a similar state of things. This statement may appear extreme, but, in the great majority of coces, it wU 1 . be found that drunkenness and destitution wa^s hand-in-glove through the world together. The?e is no necessity even to jou .*ney t j Coventry for e\ldence of this kind. The last repoii on the working of the charitable aid system furnished by Dr M'Gregor, teems with illustrations of the blighting evils of intemperance even in this youn<? State. Not only destitution, but insanity in the majority of instances, are show a beyond contention to >c the offspring of drunkenness iv th's colony. Dunedin has added another to the many flourishing industries that have sprung into existence in that city within the past year or two. This latest example of entsipribe is a starch factoiy, and, though the beginning is a humble one, there is a prospect that it will expand and prove a source of profit to its promoters. The proprietors are working men, with very limited capital but plenty of pluck, and a firm faith in the'r own efforts. They have themselves fitted up the greater part of the machinery used in the manufacture, and are able to turn out a really well-prepared article. Besides the manufacture of starch, the firm also make writing inks of different colours. We wish the venture success, believing industrial enterprise, combined with agricultural prosperity, to be the trae source of national wealth. In this district the spirit of enteipvLe seems to be dead. As everybody Laows, all the Government departments in tfs and other colonies are cursed with red tapeism. That which suffer 8 most is the railway depai^ment, but there seems to be a probability that the new idea of managing that branch by expel '<; and wellp"J.d commissioners will bring about a radical reform. Apropos of this the following story is told by a contributor to the Sydney "Mail":— The Commissioner, asking to see the papers relating to a certain new line of railway, after a long delay, they came boine by a pair of heavily-laden clerks. "What d'ye call all these ?" asked the chief. "These are the reports you asked to see sir," was the reply. " Make a precis of the lot," ordered the Commissioner, " and let me have it in an hour." " But it will take a day at the least,'' dem\3 ved the astonished head of the depaiiment. "It must be done in an hour,'' answered the Commissioner calmly, as he turned away. And done it was. The barque Thurso, which arrived in Sydney harbour on the 15th inst. from Lyttelton, had a narrow escape from foundering on the voyage. After battling against a series of westerly gales, the barque fell into a head sea, and whilst plunging heavily one of the headlights in the lower forecastle was stove in. The water quickly began to flood into the vessel, and in a very short time the fore compartment was flooded. After twelve hours' hard work the water was reduced below the level of the coalhole deck to 3ft 6in, and the pumps having been sounded, 3ft of water was discovered in the well. The vessel then continued her voyage, and all went well until the sth inst. Two days afterwards a leak was discovered, when 6in of water was found in the well. The cause of the increase was traced to the collision bulk-head, which had been leaking at the top near the deck. A quantity of water made its way to the cargo (wheat) stored forward, and the damage wUI most likely be considerable. The prospectus of the Roxburgh Amalgamated Mining and Sluicing Co. (Limited) will be found in our advertising columns. The capital of the company is to be £30,000 in 60jC3J shares of 10s each. The date of Mr H. B. "Tucker's .sale, advertised for the 30th instant, has been altered to Tuesday, 29th instant, the Tuapeka races falling on the former date. The Railway Department announces that the train usually leaving Lawrence at 2.50 pfm, will not leave till 5 p,m, on Wednesday next. All debts due to Mr H. B. Tucker must be paid on or before the Ist February ; and all debts due by him will be paid on presentation. The Otago High Schools will re-open on Tuesday, 13th February.