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Waikato Argus, Volume V, Issue 344, 22 September 1898, Page 2

On our fourth page are printed several letters During the passage of the Wakatipu from Wellington to Sydney, Herbert Samuel Harris, a passenger from Christchurch to London, died. A Press cablegram received last night states :—To-day was the hottest September day that has ever been experienced iu Sydney. The thermometer was 89 in the shade. The poll for the election of five Commissioners for the Kihikihi Town District, taken on Saturday last, resulted in the return of Messrs Corboy, Elmsly, Dinueeu, Thomson and Tristram. Owing to the illness of Mr Wheeler, layreader at St. Stephen's, Tamahere, the time of service at that church on Sunday next has had to be altered. The time will be 3 p.m. instead of 7 p. m. We remind our readers of the. lecture to be given in the Volunteer Hall, Hamilton, this evening by Mr D. D. Hyde, the Government poultry expert. No doubt there will be a large attendance of settlers to hear what Mr Hyde has to say upon this neglected branch of the farming industry. Property in Cambridge is changing hands somewhat freely, and there are many enquiries for farms in that district. Yesterday Mr T. Hartly sold the six-acre paddock opposite the Anglican Church, in which the horse parade was held, at a satisfactory figure, which, we may say, exceeded £st) per acre. The following tenders were received for erecting a I'2-ronmed house at Cambridge, for Mr A. Wallace:—The Hamilton builders headed the list, viz., Piper and Sheeran, £lf)0 10s; Collins and Betley, £129 17s; Thos. Evans, £124 103 ; then came Mackie and Frith, To Aroha, £122 ; W. J. Austin, Ngaruawahia, £ll3 4s Sd ; 11. Giles, Cambridge, £llO 15a ; Sutton and Sons, Te Aroha (accepted), £lO5. It is hardly necessary to call attention to the side of furniture to be held on Saturday, by Mr John Knox, on behalf of Mr James Hume, at the Bank of New Zealand, Hamilton, the list as published in another column, contains articles of every day utility, all .of the very best description, and also a choice collection of ornamental and artistic wares. Luncheon will be provided at 11.30 a.m., so as to allow of the eade being started promptly at noon. As will be seen by advertisement in this issue, the members of the 4th Waikato Militia and the Waikato Mounted Rifles are requested to attend the funeral of the late Capt. Steele tomorrow afternoon. The deceased was the captain of the 4th Company cf the former, and held the commission of hon. captain in the latter, from the members of which the firing party will be chosen. In connection with the service at the grave, we remind those who are taking horses to the funeral that there wil' be three volleys of blank eirtridges fired, so that special attention will need to be paid to horses.

We have been requested (o notify that in consequence of the sudden death of Captain Steele, the dance announced by the Misses Carey and Broom, in Tamahere, is postponed until Wednesday, i'Sth hist. I have had the opportunity of seeing a great deal of the Russian army of Central Asia, and the more 1 have seen of it the less pleased I have been at the prospect ot our Indian army having to encounter it. I have never feared the issue because I am sure that at the l*bt we shall puU ourselves together, and with a mighty cflora repel the Russiaus. But the cost, the labor mid the strain will probably be terrible, and the nearer they* approach to us the. more, difficult will become the task. I ouco held the Russians in supreme contempt, and, like many Englishmen, believed tint we could make short work o them or of any other foe But the conviction lias since slowly and steadily been impressed on my mini that the Russian wmy is, for lighting purpose, in every respect equal to ours, and in some respects would have an immense advantage over us in the field. The men are tf one race, are stronger, and more hardy, and healthier than ours ; there are no native followers ; they require less transport and supplies, and fewer luxuries, have an inexhaustible reserve, are nearer home, etc. I have visited Transcaspia on eight separate occasion*, have seen the Russian soldier ou and after parade, and have travelled with him for weeks together in trains and in steamers. It is, indeed, chit.fly on board ship that I Have amused myself by studying him. And I have arrived at the conclusion that he is the most docile, good-tempered (till you scratch him), pig-headed creature oil earth, as hard as nails, and generally of superb physique. He is stupid and ignorant, perhaps, but he has apprehension etiou»h to shoo 1 ; straight, and to nuclei stand when he is told to advance or not to quit a post alive, and lie nevers disputes an order or complains. And that, 1 take it, is sufficient for a fighting machine. He has had no school board education, and is therefore content with his lot, and no lawyer.—lndian correspondent to a Home paper