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Waipawa Mail, Volume I, Issue 19, 16 November 1878, Page 2

J.ockey Club.—A meeting of the Town and Country Jockey Club will be held at Baker’s Empire Hotel on Monday evening next, at seven .o’clock. County Improvements. Tenders are called by the County Engineer, Mr E. H. Bold, for the formation of 105 chains of the Waipawa-Tamumu road, and for busli clearing one chain wide along one mile of the road at Porangahau. Patangata Riding.—By the official declaration of the poll which will be found in another column, it will be seen that Mr Dillon has been returned for Patangata Riding by a majority of 21. The total number of votes polled was 117.

Rua Taniwiia Riding.— The polling for this riding resulted as follows :—Herrick, 102 ; Ross, 57. It will thus be seen that Lieutenant-Colonel Herrick has been returned by a majority of 45. Th e Rat an dth e H en.— A number of people witnessed a novel fight in Waverley-st., Waipawa, on Thursday. A rat emerged from his hole in broad daylight, and attempted to purloin one of a brood of chickens, but the watchful mother pounced upon the despoiler, and after a conflict of three minutes there was a dead rat lying on the road. It is needless to say that the sympathies of the bystanders were with the hen.

Sale of Stock.— Mr W. L. Coward will sell at his yards, Waipawa, on Wednesdajnext one hundred head of mixed cattle, two pedigree bulls, a number of well-bred horses, both broken and unbroken ; and a number of cattle and horses belonging to the estate of the late Mr Neil Campbell. Mr Coward will sell this day (Saturday) at two o’clock, ten acres of rye grass at Kaikora, and a quantity of miscellaneous goods. Waipawa County Council. —The following is a complete list of the representatives of the several ridings in the Waipawa County Council:— Patangata ... Alfred Dillon Norse wood ... A. Levy Ruatanivvha ... Lieut.-Col. Herrick Waipukurau ... Hon. H. R. Russell Woodville ... J. So wry Tamumu ... Sydney Johnston Waipawa ... W. Rathbone Eperaima ... J. Mackersey Fire at Makaretu.— A fire occurred on the Makaretu block on Sunday last. It originated in an accumulation of timber on the Government road which men had been engaged in clearing. The fire quickly spread, notwithstanding vigorous efforts to stay its progress, over the whole of Mr Webster’s section, burning down the whare and destroying the work of the past four years. Mr Webster, senr., in endeavoring to subdue the fire literally got the clothes burned off his back. There was only time to save a small portion of the furniture. All the fencing on the section was swept away, and the tools and implements were destroyed. Accident.— We regret to learn- that Mr John Mackenzie, Tamumu, had his leg broken yesterday. Ur Mackenzie had been attending a meeting of the Tamumu Road Board,’after which he was proceeding home with Mr Nairn and Mr McHardy, when Mr Mackenzie’s horse tumbled and fell on the rider. Immediately after the accident, Mr James Price started for Waipawa to obtain medical assistance, and airived here in thirty minutes, having changed horses on the way. The ground was got over in remarkably quick time, the distance being nine miles over a bad road. Dr Todd left to attend Mr Mackenzie within a few minutes after Mr Price’s arrival*

Acknowledgment, —The lady who interested herself in obtaining subscriptions and clothing for the relief of the family at Norsewood, who a few days ago, it will be remembered, lost almost everything they possessed by the burning down of their dwelling has received a letter from Mrs Groom, acknowledging the receipt of £B, being the amount of the subscriptions, and a quantity of clothing. Mr Groom also desired to thank all those who charitably assisted himself and family in their hour of need. Divine Services. —Divine services will will beheld on Sunday next as follows : Church of England, by the Rev. J. C. Eccles, at St. Peter’s Waipawa, at 11 a.m., at the school-room, Kaikora, at 3 p.m., and at the church, Te Aute, at 7 p.m. ; by the Rev. A. Shepherd, at Havelock at 11 a.m., and at Maraekakaho at 3 p.m. The Rev. J. Parkin will preach at Hampden at 11 a.m., and Waipawa at 7 p.m. Mass will be celebrated by the Rev. E. Reignier at 11 a.m.

Waikato Coal Mines. —We understand, says our Waikato contemporary, that Mrs Ralph, of Taupiri, has been offered, and refused, the sum of the property upon which the coal mine is situated, and from which she is drawing a revenue of one shilling per ton royalty on every ton of coal won.

Torturing Rats. —Charles Tafner, of a city restuarant, was charged at the Wellington Resident Magistrate’s Court recently, with cruelty to a number of rats by placing them over the stove fire and roasting their insides out. His Worship said that this was a charge brought owing to comments in the public Press. He would like to be able to punish a man for torturing any animal, but there was no provision for such animals as rats. The information had been laid for publicity’s sake, and would have to be dismissed.

An instance is given by the N.Z. Herald of the cost sometimes entailed in importing small parcels from London to New Zealand otherwise than through a systematic agency. A short time ago the bandmaster of the Hibernian Band sent an order to a London firm for music to the amount of £1 18s. This was duly forwarded in a small parcel about the size of a yearly volume of the Leisure Hour or Sunday at Home. Instead, however, of being* sent direct to New Zealand, it was sent first to Melbourne, thence to the Bluff, and thence on to Auckland. The charges for transit amounted to £2 odd, or considerable more than the original cost of the music. Had he entrusted the order to one of our principal booksellers, the music would have been delivered in due course at a very small advance upon the published price. _ Most people have to learn by experience. Apparently the Manawatu County Council is in a bad way. A candidate for election to it, in addressing the ratepayers recently, observed :—“ W"e are in a Maelstrom of corruption, and before we can hope to effect any good we must purge the political atmosphere of the putridity by which we are enveloped.” Ihe gentleman who made the above strong assertion was recently obliged to resign his seat in the County Council through having tampered with a public document.

Wonderful Endurance. —The following pitiful story is quoted by the Lyttelton Times : —“A most distressing case was ‘reported to the police of Timaru recently. A man named John Mananga, a Frenchman, engaged in fishing near the Washdyke, was thrown from his horse and had his leg broken. The accident occurred eigiit miles from his tent, and as no assistance was offered, the poor fellow started to crawl to his tent. It took him two days and nights to get along the beach to the tent, and the exertion wore the flesh off the knee of the broken leg. He had no food in his tent, but kept himself alive by eating Maori hens, which his dog caught and brought to him. He was discovered by two boys, whom he informed of Iris sad position. The bovs reported the matter to Mr Charteris, who at once informed the police. Sergeant Haldane got Dr Mclntyre to go out at once, and the man was found in a frightfully emaciated state. He was brought in to the hospital, where the leg was set with some difficulty. Mananga is expected to recover with a few weeks’ careful nursing.

Road Surveys.-— The following circular has been addressed to the chief surveyors throughout the colony:—“General Survey Office, Wellington, October, 1878. Sir—l have the honor to request that, in addition to the instructions that roads are to be selected and laid out so as to be practicable and serviceable, you will cause main through roads to be surveyed so that the gradient shall not be steeper than 1 in 15, and occupation roads not steeper than 1 to 10 when formed. Where the surveyor finds it impossible, owing to the nature of the country, to carry out these instructions, he will report to you what gradient he has been able to obtain. I have also to request that the surveyor will consult the County Council or their engineer as to the best sites for bridges over rivers, and as to the best lines for main roads. Should the surveyor differ in opinion from the county engineer, he will either lay out or reserve what he considers best, or that which the country engineer thinks most suitable, or report the circumstances to you for advice.—l have, &c., James McKerrow, Assistant Surveyor-General.”

A Curious Case of Breach of Proa P ro °f that the Chinese are imitating in some respects the habits and customs of the “ barbarians,” and are approaching a high state of civilisation, the Mount Ida Chronicle gives the following : —“ A Mongolian storekeeper in a mining town not a hundred miles from Nasebv, became enamoured of a fair and attractive 1 barbarian,’ of the age of ‘ sweet seventeen,’ at whose feet many presents were oft bestowed. The marriage was arranged to take place about Christmas time, and matters so far appear to have run smoothly and would probably have done so but for the accident of a young, if not handsome swain, from the * Land o’caskes ’ appearing on the scene, who wooed and won the * winsome lassie ! ’ The recipient of the many and valuable gifts turned her back upon the Flowerylander, and gave her heart and hand, in the orthodox fashion, to the son of Scotia. The result is that the disappointed ‘ heathen,’ in order to soothe his wounded feelings, has placed the matter in the hands of a ‘ limb of the law,’ who will sue for breach of promise of marriage, with heavy damages —the first case of the kind, we believe that has happened in history,”