LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1869, 10 February 1892, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Our Tapanui correspondent's letter will appear in our Saturday's issue. DURING 1890 there were 673 bankruptcies in New Zealand, Canterbury beading the list with 143. The Amalgamated Waipori Deep Lead Co. obtained 390z 2dwts of gold for fifteen days' running last week. DURING last year the wool exported from ! Melbourne was valued at £5,778,775, being an increase of nearly £1,500,000 on the previous year. The wheat export was valued at £805,423. j The local paper says that the Clinton district will greatly miss Mr A. M. Barnett, who has been appointed to the charge of the Wuitahnna Gully school, as he has been a supporter of nearly every good work or effort I put forth for the welfare of his fellowmen while resident at Wairuna. The ordinary general meeting of the shareholders of the Amalgamated Waipori Deep Lead Goldmining Company was held on the sth inst. at the office of the company, Dunedin, when eleven shareholders, representing 5524 shares, were present. The report and balance sheet were read and adopted. Two directors were elected, and Mr Callender was re-elected as auditor. The settlers of Tuapeka Mouth will, no doubt, be glad to hear that their request for the issue of postal notes at the local post-office has been granted by the Postmaster-General through the instrumentality of Mr H. S. Valentine, M.H.B. Mr Valentine, we understand, has received a communication from the Postmaster-General informing him that postal notes will be sent to Tuapeka Mouth for issue to suit the convenience of the settlers. RETURNS published in the " Gazette " show that the total estimated population of the colony (inclusive of Maoris) on the 31st December, 1891, was 675,775, made up of 358,913 males and 316,862 females. The increase from the sth April (the date on which the census was taken) to the 31st December was 7,399. The excess of births over deaths for that period was 9,045, but from this had to be taken 1,646, representing the excess of departures over arrivals. Mr Oatway, the manager of the Buckeye Harvester Company, has been advised by cablegram that the Buckeye machine had been awarded the gold medal at the Tasmanian Exhibition. It will be remembered that at the Melbourne Exhibition the company took first award and special mention, and received the same honour at the Dunedin Exhibition. These awards following upon each other must be taken as evidence of the excellence of the well-known reapei and binder. Experiments conducted last year by the Victorian Agricultural Department with a view to discovering a specific for rust in wheat were not conclusive, and they will be continued on a more extended scale this year. The data already obtained have furnished the department with several valuable hints as to the direction in which future experiments should trend. Arrangements will be made to hold a wheat Conference in Melbourne this year, similar to the one held in Sydney in 1891, at which delegates from New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland, and Victoria will be present. The farewell banquet tendered to his Excellency the Goveruor at Dunedin on Saturday evening was a great success. Over two hundred gentlemen sat down to tin tables, among them being the city and suburban members, as well as all the leading professional and commercial men. The Ministry were represented by the Hon. Mr Ward, Postmaster-General. The toast of the evening was entrusted to Mr E. B. Cargill. The Governor's speech, which, in the main was a review of his experiences, social political and otherwise, was characterised by marked ability, much happiness of expression, and gave evidence of keen observation during his sojourn in the colony. At a meeting of representatives of roller flour millers, held at Timaru a few days ago, it was resolved that the price of flour be reduced by £1 per ton. The present price will, therefore, be about £12 for flour in sacks. This step was rendered necessary (says the Oamaru "Mail" in consequence of the accumulation of stocks in some of the mills, brought about probably by the increase of price. The price here will now be a pound or two more than the price in Australia. Why, however, flour should be more costly in New Zealand than it is in Australia is a matter that those not in the secrets of the milling business will find it hard t3 understand. It cannot be that wheat is dearer here, because it is not ; nor are wages higher,ao far as we can ascertain. Some wag, evidently wishing to annoy the editor of the " Prohibitionist," left an empty bottle on his verandah, and he thus draws attention to the circumstance : — " We beg to acknowledge the empty black jack left at our private residence on Thursday night. If the beer with which it had been so recently filled, and which we presume the leaver had just imbibed, was not of a better quality than the smell left in the bottle indicated, we are glad the consumer did not leave himself at our door as well as the black jack. We infinitely prefer the empty jack to the full man. It is a long time since, from personal experience, we knew anything about beer ; but that beer must have been very bad, and we feel sorry, very sorry for the consumer." At the Christchurch B.M. Court last week, a Sydenham brewer was charged with ill-treat-ing thirty-one sheep by driving a horse and trap into a flock of about three hundred which was being driven along the road. It was proved that though a passage was cleared on one side of the road the defendant deliberately drove his horse and trap at a sharp trot through the sheep ; subsequently he again came up to the sheep and again repeated his previous conduct, laming and otherwise injuring forty or fifty of them. The magistrate told tbe defendant, who pleaded that his business did not always allow him to be sober, that a more disgraceful and cruel business had not come under his notice for a long time. Drunkenness was no excuse for such conduct, and he would be , fined the maximum penalty of £20 and costs. As already announced, an opportunity will be afforded the public of witnessing an exhibition of Eddison's phonograph at the Town Hall on this and to-morrow evenings. This, as everybody knows, is the most marvellous invention of the age, and the opportunity of seeing it go through its wonderful performances and of becoming acquainted with its mechanism and history is one that should not be missed. Great as have been the inventions of the present age, there is nothing yet that has been evolved from the brain of genius that ' commands greater interest or that possesses so many fascinating and mysterious features as the phonograph. There are no doubt inventions of greater national worth, inventions of more practical and universal value, but none that provide such abundant material for speculation and thought or auch food for surprise. In endeavouring to secure the services of Constable West as truant inspector, the Waitahuna School Committee have shown that they have a correct appreqjafcion of the duties they have taken upon themselves to discharge. This should, properly speaking, be the first and most important duty of a committee. Our system of education is supposed to be compulsory, and the fault of non-attendanc3 on the part of children of school age rests with the committees, to whom the Legislature lias given the, power of enforcing attendance except under circumstances that will admit of reasonable explanation. There are many persons so perverse, so regardless of their duties to their children, so unmindful of their future welfare and so stolidly indifferent to the benefits of education, as to be incapable of being moved by influences less potent than that provided by the provisions of the Education Act, which committees for some reason or other are so slow to use. It is, of course, problematical whether the police will act in the way indicated by the committee ; but it is certain that something should be done to remedy parental neglect in this nutter.

Four civil cases, set down for hearing at the R.M. Court, Lawrence, on Monday, were settled out of court. A Chinaman named Chum Kow, charged with lunacy, was committed to the Seacliff Asylum. The presiding justices were Messrs E. Pilling and J. Thompson.

The Resident Magistrate of Auckland has decided that '• tin bread ''does not come under the denomination of "French bread," and has fined a baker 40s for not having his " tin bread " full weight. This has beon brought about by the Act of last session, and bakers therefore will stop making "tin bread."

NOTHING, says a Victorian paper, tells the tale of depression so quickly as th>* movements of the people at holiday time. The railways took les3 money by one fifth this Christmas than they did last, and although in one instance the number of passengers increased yet there was a general falling off in numbers as well as in receipts. On the Bay the falling off is even worse. One steamer which two years ago had two thousand people on board on Boxing Day sailed with eight hundred. The other had about half as many. Up to tbe present date they have not between them carried as many people as either of them took last year. At one famous seaside hotel which requires twenty two servants to keep it in order, there are now twenty guests. There were only six three weeks ago.

Frankly (says the "Canterbury Times") we cannot approve of the demand of the Wellington Trades and Labour Council to be consulted by the Government in the nomination of Labour candidates to tbe Upper House. No doubt the demand was made without duo reflection upon the constitutional aspect of the question. No one has any right to be consulted by the Government which holds, unfettered by a single restriction, the power of nomination. All Governments are no doubt approached by their friends with advice, as to who they shall appoint to the Upper House. But between a zealous and officious adviser, or importunate friend, or shameless self-seeker and a body of men holding a right there is a vast difference ; so vast that no one can permit the second to take the place of the first.

An accident, fortunately and it might be almost said miraculously, unattended with serious consequences, occurred on Saturday afternoon to" a three-horse vehicle belonging to Mr A. H. Tamblyn, but which was at the time in charge of Mr H. Rainham. When approaching the last turn on the main road within half-a-mile of the Raes Junction Hotel, the leader took fright at a wheelbarrow on the roadside, and in swerving caused the trap, which was laden with merchandise, to go over the side of the gully. Before reaching the bottom of the sidling, the trap overturned a few times ; but, strangely enough, neither the loading nor the vehicle sustained more than trifling damage in the somewhat rough and lively descent. Stranger still the horses escaped almost without a scratch, though the driver, less fortunate, received a very severe shaking. Willing hands soon put things to rights again,and the driver was able to proceed on his journey, arriving in Roxburgh the same evening. The ordeal was both a trying and an unexpected one for the driver ; and it must be said that his escape from death or, at least, from serious injury, can be accounted as little less than providential. Judgment in the Christchurch election petition was given on Saturday. It commenced by stating that the judges were satisfied, both on principle and authority, that Mr George could not claim the seat. The whole object of the election laws was to give constituencies a full and fair opportunity of choosing the candidate, and the natural result of a mistake in the returning officer's notice fixing the day for sending in the nomination papers was to mislead intending candidates, and Mr Sandford and Mr Smith were misled by it. If the returning officer had declared Mr George elected it would have been impossible to hold it as good, as the constituency, by the blunder of the returning officer in the performance of his statutory duty, would have been deprived of the right of choice. In a case like the present one, where the majority of the electors have elected the candidate they preferred, the Court should hesitate to set aside that election, unless it was absolutely compelled by law to do so. If a person chooses to make use of what is little more than a technical legal ground to endeavour to force himself on a< constituency as its representative, and fails, he ought to pay the cost of the proceeding, and an order would be made accordingly.

A correspondent has drawn our attention to the fact that the Misses M'lntyre (2) and Cameron, the latter lady being a passenger from Alexandra, rendered valuable and kindly assistance to the injured passengers by the late unfortunate coach accident. Miss Cameron, who was so fortunate as to escape injury, lost no time in turning her attention to her less fortunate fellow-travellers, and did everything that the tender instincts of a woman could suggest to soothe the sufferings of the injured, and make them as comfortable as the circumstances of their unexpected situation permitted. No less prompt with her services was Miss M'lntyre, who closed the local school the momet she got news that the accident had occurred, and at once gave herself up to the task of attending to the injured and suffering passengers. This of course, ia only what might bo expected under circumstances that appeal so strongly to our natures; yet it is but proper that such kindness, prompt and spontaneous as it was, should be noted and spoken of with the appreciation and encouragement it deserves. It should also be mentioned that the settlers in the vicinity of the accident exhibited the greatest kindness and sympathy towards the injured passengers, placing their houses at their disposal, and in every way exerting themselves to alleviate their sufferings and contribute to their comfort.

The Salvation Army Juvenile Musical Troupe drew large audiences on Saturday and Sunday evenings at the Congregational Church building, Lawrence, which is now being used as the local Army barracks. But large as the audience was, it would have been still more numerous on Sunday evening were it not for the exceptionally tempestuous nature of tbe weather. The singing of the juvenile band of vocalists was a surprise as well as a pleasure to those present, and in everything they attempted they acquitted themselves roost creditably. In the selection, "Jesus is mine " as well as in "Saviour hear me," thoy sang very sweetly, and in very correct time, their youthful voices blending very nicely together. They also sang " Don't you hear," a very pretty hymn, with much sweetness, and immensely amused the audience by the expert* ness with which they played the accompaniment on an instrument that goea under the euphonious appellation of the kazoo. A quartette by the little minstrels in their best style was also much appreciated, and on the whole they succeeded in making a very favourable impression on the audience. The individual performers of this youthful company are the possessors of very good voices, some of them, indeed, of more than average sweetness and compass, and the manner in wbioh they use them shows that they have received a capital training and in time those young soldiers may become very valuable auxiliaries of the Army Mr T. W. Glover, the prohibitionist leel turer, gave an open air address in Ross Place on Saturday night. A good many people gathered round to hear him describe the evils of the liquor traffic, both from a national and an individual standpoint. Mr Glover is a fluent and practiced speaker, and has at his finger ends all the weak points, so to speak, in the armour of what he paints as the monster evil of the world. After describing in the language of an enthusiast the thousand miseries which drink inflicts on its victims and on their homes and families, Mr Glover produces statistics to show the national waste and loss sustained in the manufacture and sale of drink. Statistics as a rule, are not the kind of arguments that are suitable to bring conviction to the minds of a scratch street audience, who are scarcely in the humour for concentrated thought or f or the assimilation of dry facts. Yet Mr Glover so handled his figures as to impart as much interest as possible to them, and it must be said thgy were attentively listened toby those who were present. Mr Glover also delivered an address on " Prohibition a in the Wesleyan Ghurchon Monday evening to a fair audience, and produced some very telling arguments in favour of what many advo«ates of temperance are inclined to regard as an extreme and nnwise as well aa an impracticable coarse, and one that is likely to retard rather than advance the cause they advocate. However, Mr Glover ia a prohibitionist, and he pot only advanced very strong arguments in support of his theories but apparently succeeded in carryiDg his audience «loog with him.

It is regarded as probable that the days of the Henley toll are fast drawing to a close, and that it will be soon legislated out of existence by the Taieri County Council. The chairman of the Council asw e^ as most of the members are known to be strongly opposed to the continuance of the toll, *nd their objections to it are strengthened by the hostile attitude of the public towards it. The waggoners have never been able to make submission to the obnoxious imposition, and it is most likely that, had the Chairman been present at the last meeting of the Council, the last would have been heard of it. Toll-bars, even in the days when the people were, most likely to submit to such anomalies, were always regarded with repulsion, and elicited at the best but a sullen submission, though it is possible that in the whole history of tolls nothing so outrageously unreasonable or unjust could be found to equal the Henley institution. The subject takes one back instinctively to the Rebecca riots in Wales in 1843, caused by the arbitrary manner in which the turnpikes and tolls were managed. The strange distortion of a Scripture text gave origin to the name : " And they blessed Bebekah, and said unto her, Let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them." Incendiarism and murder accompanied the riots, showing how hateful these interferences with individual liberty have always been.