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Waipawa Mail, Volume I, Issue 22, 27 November 1878, Page 2

Petty Sessions.—A Court of Petty Sessions will be held in Waipawa to-mor-row (Thursday).

Auction.—Mr Coward will sell at his rooms to-day a consignment of oleographs and chromos, and a quantity of electroplated goods, &c.

Fellmongery.—We are informed that Mr Corrigan has leased the Kaikora fellmongery from the trustees of the late Mr Neil Campbell.

County Council.—The new County Council will meet for the first time to-day for the purpose of electing a chairman. That is the only business which will be brought before the meeting.

Cattle on the Railway Line.—Considerable annoyance was caused to the driver of the engine on the journey from Kopua on Monday last, in consequence of the carelessness of owners in allowing their horses and cattle to wander on the line. In one case the driver had tn hrinar tne engine to a standstill in order to clear the rails of animals. Shortly before that he had to reduce steam for a couple of miles to allow some horses to escape that were trying their mettle in a race with the railway engine.

Nearly Drowned.—A well-known resident of Waipawa had a narrow escape from drowning in the Tuki Tuki River on Saturday last. He had been visiting some friends in the country, and was returning home on horseback. He was accompanied by two horsemen, who after crossing the Tuki Tuki were some distance ahead. To their consternation the horse of their companion galloped up riderless. No time was lost in retracing their way to the river, where they found their friend in the middle of the stream, with a strong current running, caused by the rain of: the previous night. To dash in and rescue

him from a watery grave was the work of a moment. Beyond a thorough wetting and considerable fright, the unlucky traveller sustained no injury. There is little doubt that he would now be numbered with the things that were had it not been for the prompt action of his companions.

Forcible Entry.—Tire Napier Telegraph of last evening contains the following :—“ This morning an incident occurred at Te Aute, of which no doubt more will be heard of anon. It is well known that the Hon. H. R. Russell was supposed to hold a lien or mortgage over the sheep of the late chief Te Hapuku. The clip from these sheep for this season was stored in a 6lied, and not only locked up, but the doors were absolutely nailed up. This morning, we are informed, Watcne, the late chief’s eldest son, went to Mr Kennedy (Mr Russell’s overseer) and made a demand for the wool, stating that there was no mortgage in existence. Mr Kennedy declined to give up possession, whereupon Wateue, with the assistance of some of his men, broke open the store, and took the wool to the railway station, from whence it was brought into town by train.”

Wheeled In.—A wheelbarrow was brought into requisition in Waipawa on Saturday evening to convey a drunken female to the lock-up. Constable Murphy observed the woman lying in a helpless state on the road, and after in vain persuading her to “ move on,” he was compelled to borrow a wheelbarrow. Into it the woman was bundled, and then the “ fun ” commenced. A crowd collected and several objected to Mr Murphy rnonopolisiug all the honor of wheeling the barrow. There were volunteers in plenty. One of the first to get between the spokes was a photographer, and he was followed by a printer. To the credit of photography and typography, the barrow under their guidance never deviated from a bee line, and was kept as steady as a railway train. They were succeeded by a Milesian tailor, who in his hurry overturned the conveyance, spilling the occupant on the road. No harm occurred from the capsize, and the woman was again safely placed in the barrow. The constable took charge of both, and the unfortunate inebriate was eventually lodged in the lock-up, there to sleep off the effects of the alcohol she had imbibed. She was sober enough when she appeared before the Bench on Monday morning on the double charge of drunk and incapable and vagrancy. Mary Williams pleaded hard to be let off, and as she promised to leave Waipawa immediately she was discharged with a caution.

Maori Offenders.—At the Magistrate’s Court, Waipawa, on Saturday, a native, known as “ Sam,” was fined £5, or one month’s imprisonment, for attempting to rescue a compatriot whilst under the charge of the police. Tawi, another native, and the original cause of Sam’s misfortune, was fined 10s for being drunk and disorderly. The fine was paid in both cases. The Napier Electorate.—Mr Sutton gave an “account of his stewardship” to the electors of Napier on Monday. According to the local papers, he was well received, although ail attempt was made to get up a counter demonstration. Owing to the disorderly state of the [meeting at the close, no vote of confidence or otherwise could be put from the chair. United Methodist Free Church, Waipawa.—lt will be seen by advertisement in another column that the anniversary in connexion with the above place of worship will be held during the early part of next month. On Sunday, December Bth, the Rev. Mr Lockwood, of Napier, will preach both morning and evening. On the following Tuesday a tea meeting will be held, when addresses will be delivered b} ministers and friends. The addresses will be interspersed with vocal music. A Bolt.—On Monday morning,* as the train to Kopua was crossing the bridge just before entering Waipukurau, a teamster was observed driving a couple oi horses in a dray. The noise of the trail: startled the leading horse, and a bolt toofe place. After proceeding about 150 yards the horse in the shafts stumbled and fell and the jerk sent the driver ftying severa' yards in front of the horses. He turned several somersaults in his aerial flight The man was evidently stunned, for he lay for about a minute in the paddoci motionless. By this time the leading horse had broken from his fastenings, anc scampered at top speed across the field and was soon lost to view. We are glac to hear that the only injuries the drivei sustained were a few bruises not of £ serious nature. Circus.—Messrs Hayes and Benhamo’i equestrian troupe gave their first performance in Waipawa last evening, and there was an excellent attendance. The circuf is undoubtedly one of the best which has yet visited the country districts. There were the unusual number of four clowne i in the ring last night, and they succeeded in keeping the audience in a continuous state of merriment. The horses are exceedingly well trained, and the feats oi horsemanship performed by Messrs Hayes ' and Benhamo were wonderful. The Duvalli Brothers’ performance on the horizontal bar were really excellent. The lady with the iron jaw astonished the audience by her feats of strength. There will be an afternoon performance at .two o’clock, when children will be “admitted at one shilling to all parts of the “ house.” As the stay of the .circus is limited to the two performances to-day there will no doubt be a crowded attendance. Town and Country Jockey Club. —A meeting of the members of the above club was held at Hickey’s Kaikora Hotel last Saturday evening. There were aboul a dozen members of the club present Mr Alfred Dillon was appointed chairman and he explained the object of the meeting. Mr Sinclair war unanimously appointed secretary and treasurer. Sqmc discussion took place on the finances of the club. From the books it appeared that there was a credit, balance of £3-1 odd, but as the money was not likely to be forthcoming, the chairman pointed out that it would only bo a waste of time to discuss the past finances. It would be better to start afresh. This view of the matter was generally concurred in. and the meeting proceeded tc discuss the probable income for the present year. From calculations entered into, it appeared that the club would be in a position to afford a good day’s sport. Mr Hickey stated that he would take no active part in the club in future, things having been so grossly mismanaged last year. It was pointed out that this was owing to the carelessness of the late secretary, who had now severed his connexion, with the club. Mr Baker, as one of the shareholders in the grand stand, remarked that it was necessary that the race meeting should take place under the auspices of the Town and Country Jockey Club, else the shareholders would forfeit their right to the grandstand, and it would revert to the lessees of the late Mr Neil Campbell’s estate. Mr Hickey said he was prepared to provi-ie a good day’s racing, whilst at the same lime he would allow all the proceeds accruing from the grand stand to go into the pockets of the shareholders. Mr Baker said if the club became defunct, there would be no guarantee for the shareholders. Besides there was an antipathy to public-house races. The club was not in debt, and there was no reason why it should be wound up. Mr J. Price, Mr Mundell, and several others 6poke in favor of continuing the club. The meeting then proceeded to draw up a programme, and this was found to be no easy matter. Mr Mackenzie and Mr Price differed considerably as to the particulars of the programme. However, matters were very nearly arranged, when it was proposed that the stakes for the Town and Country Jockey Club Handicap should be increased from 40 sovs. to 50 sovs. This again brought under discussion the finances of the club. Mr Mundell offered to guarantee any deficiency. Mr Price pointed out that the added money would make the handicap worth 50 sovs. At this stage of the proceedings, the chairman intimated that the meeting had already been discussing matters three hours. ' It was then past eleven o’clock, and as there was no probability of their agreeing on all points that evening he would vacate the chair. The meeting then terminated. Afterwards a number of the members of the_ club met, and we learn that the majority decided on the programme which will be found in another column. It will be seen that the Jockey Club Handicap has been fixed at 50 sovs.

From the Patea Mail we clip the following item : —Unquestionably the land here will bear inspection, and its productiveness, whether for sheep or cattle farming, or grain growing, having been placed beyond doubt, it can scarcely be wondered that Patea should begin to attract outsiders. We understand that Sir Dillon Bell is so taken up with the appearance of the country, that he has bought out one of the Whenuakura settlers (Mr Arthur Gower), and thus secured a leasehold of nearly 1000 acres for one of his sons, who will, in due course, settle down amongst u®.

Blinded by Lightening.—The Arrow Observer, an Otago paper, says that during a thunderstorm the other day a young woman in the service of Mrs G. M. Ross, Queenstown, was carrying a tin dish along the street, when it was struck by the electric fluid, and the flash then passed to her eyes, rendering her blind.

Town Sections.—A great fuss was made recently (says the Timaru Herald) about a quarter-acre section, with trifling improvements, in Cathedral square, Christchurch, being 6old for £IO,OOO. We are informed on the best authority that first £BOOO and then £IO,OOO has been offered for a quarter-acre in Timaru, but that the owner stands out for £15,000, and is likely to get it. It is impossible to say what the value of land is in a town or neighborhood progressing as Timaru is just now.

Monetary.—The "VVairarapa Standard says : —lt is being kept quite dark by New Zealand merchants, and the colonial Press, that there is just now a considerable tightness in the monetary chest, and somehow or rather everybody appears to be in possession of the secret, which of course in such a case is no secret at all. The effects of this tightness are being felt in Masterton and Featherston, where a good deal of speculation has been indulged in on borrowed capital. The attempt to hide the fact is like that of the silly bird which fancies that by putting its head under its witig it will escape the eye of the huntsman. It is silly for other reasons, and one of these is, that the scare can only be temporary. Mineral Discovery.—The New Zealand Times says : —An important discovery of graphite or blacklead has just been .made in the back country of the Wellington provincial district. The Colonial Laboratory has received specimens from boulders found in a creek, and they prove to be the purest and most compact samples yet discovered in the colonies, and quite equal to the best quality of graphite which has made Borrowdale, in the old country, so famous. As an article of commerce the graphite is of great value, but its value is considerably enhanced by the fact that its presence indicates the existence of coal of the older formations in close proximity. For varioas reasons it is not deemed advisable to be more precise as to the locality of the deposit.

Prostects of War.—The * Southland Times .says that the Adjutant of Her Majesty’s 82nd regiment, writing from Limerick to a friend in Invercargill, by last mail, says:—“The recent mobilization of troops in the expectation of war with Russia, has taken all our time and is still doing so—the great press of duty all through the summer, I am sorry to say, prevented me from writing before. Matters are not settled yet : it is my opinion that we shall be in the thick of it before long.”

A Political Armageddon.—The Auckland Star says it is confidently expected in well-informed political circles that the Ministerial policy of next session will be of a character for boldness wholly unprecedented in the history of the colony. Sir G. Grey has, it is said, become convinced that a great constitutional struggle is pending between the two branches of the Legislature, and has resolved that the battle ground shall be of his own choosing, and that the fight shall take place at his own time.

i Hedge Trimmer. The Sydney Mail 5 says : —The latest novelty in agricultural - machinery is Hornsby’s hedge trimmer. : In its general principles of construction : and action, it somewhat resembles a mowi ing machine, but in detail it differs widely, s The horse walks along the side of the : hedge, and the machine cuts both sides, j so that the trimming of the hedges on a farm or estate will not take up much time. » The implement was shown at work near the show yard of the Royal Agricultural , Society at Bristol, and did some capital ■ hedge trimming at a very rapid rate. The various capabilities of the implement, the powers of the man who is handling it to lift the whole cutting apparatus, to alter : the position of the cutter, to cut the top or either side of the fence at will, it is said, are very surprising. “Hoist with his own Petard.”—The following is from the Timaru Herald : “ A certain farmer in this district, who prides himself on being a ‘ nipper,’ had occasion some time ago to dispose of his surplus stock, amongst which was a three-year-old draught gelding. This particular animal, when put up to auction, did not meet with approval, being stated by experts to be gone in the legs. After the sale, however, the farmer got hold of a ‘ new chum’ carter, and prevailed upon him to buy the horse for £4O. The friends of the purchaser told him lie had been regularly ‘ done’ in the transaction, and after six months’ trial he found the animal was really all but useless, and resolved to get rid of it. Once more it appeared in the sale yards, and was duly eulogised by the ‘ knight of the hammer.-’ Its original owner, the farmer, "happened to attend the sale with a view of buying some horses, and this one came under his eye. He failed to recognise it, and finally became its purchaser at £75. On going to the auctioneer’s office afterwards to settle up, he casually inquired by whom the animal was bred, and then for the first time learnt the truth. The look of disgust which settled on his countenance can better be imagined than described, and it will doubtless be some considerable time before he will again buy a horse before he knows its pedigree.” Landed Property in the British Isles.—The following particulars respecting landed estates in Great Britain are somewhat surprising :—Five men own one-fourth of Scotland. One duke owns 96,000 acres in Derbyshire, besides vast estates in other parts of England and Ireland. Another, with estates all over the United Kingdom, has 40,000 acres in Sussex and 300,000 acres in Scotland. This nobleman’s park is 15 miles in circumference. Another duke has estates which the high road divides for 23 miles. A marquis there is who can ride 100 miles upon his own land. There is a duke who owns almost an entire county stretching from sea to sea. An earl draws £200,000 1 yearly from his estates in Lancashire. A duke regularly invests £BO,OOO a year in buying up land adjoining his already enormous estates. A marquis enjoys a million a year from land. The income from land derived by one ducal family Is - £600,000, which is increasing every year 1 by the falling in of leases. One hundred ' and fifty persons own half of England, 75 persons own half of Scotland, 35 own 2 half of Irelend, and ali the lands of Eng- ( land, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland are owned by less than 60,000 persons.

Royal Favor.—lt ia said that QaedL Victoria the other day inadvertently explained her partiality' for her present Prime Minister by remarking :—“ When Mr Gladstone was my Prime Minister, he was always tolling me his opinion and til* opinion of the country. Lord Beaconsfield asks for the opinion of his sovereign." An Unlucky Day.—The Nelson Colonist remembers that the Parliament began to ait on an “ unlucky day,” Friday, and » half inclined to attribute the barrenness of the session to that cause. It says :—“After consuming fourteen weeks in idle talk, the members of the General Assembly are sent back to their homes. Any person follows: —lt is really astonishing how foolish some people are in the matter of voting by ballot. At the election for the Gisborne Riding, the elector was required to strike out the names of the candidates lie did not wish to vote for. Well, it is a positive fact that one man rode in ten miles to strike out the names of the lot, as he said, “ There wasn’t one of ’em worth ” (adjective). Now this independent elector might just as well have remained at home and carried out his determination, instead of riding 20 miles to record an informal vote. Miraculous Escape.—One of the Great Western trains on the way to Aylesbury recently ran into a siding, the points of which had been carelessly left open, and came into collision with a number of stationary trucks. The engine toppled over and fell down a slight emabnkment into a field, where it lay on its side, with the foremost carriage, which was fortunately empty. The driver was wedged between the engine and the earth, and had to be dug out, but beyond being shaken and bruised, lie was unhurt, and was taken to his home, where he is progressing favorably towards recovery. Several passengers by the train complained of being hurt, but no serious injuries were, it is believed, inflicted. The Claimant.—The Claimant, whose health has been suffering from his close confinement at the Portsea Convict Prison and liis unceasing application to his machine, is now employed upon light at the extension works in connexion Portsmouth Dockyard. At first he was made useful in brickmaking, but the extreme publicity of the work attracted more visitors than were convenient, and he lias since been told off to a somewhat remote part of the yard, near the Inflexible dock, where he is employed in preparing the stacks of offal timber for the periodical dockyard sales. He handles a saw with considerable dexterity. He is much thinner than at the time of the trial, and the convict garb has well-nigh deprived him of all individuality. The Slave I rape.—The annual report of Rear-Admiral Corbett, the Com-mander-in-Chief of the East Coast, relating- to the slave trade on that station has just been issued. During the year ended May 28, 1878, the number of vessels condemned on the East Coast of Africa was 15, having a gross tonnage of 1719 ; the number of slaves liberated waa 60 ; and the number of fugitive slaves to whom protection was afforded was six. In the previous year 26 vessels were condemned, having a gross tonnage of 2760 ; the number of slaves liberated was 438, and protection waa given to nine fugitive slaves. These figuies show a manifest diminution in the slave trade on the East Coast of Africa.

A Sussex Romance.—About the middle of May, in tiie year memorable for the Chartist demonstrations, the brother of Mr Field, superintendent of the Hastings cemetery, went to sea, and some ten years afterwards was reported drowned. Twenty years after a verbal statement was made to his relations that he was in South America and doing well. It was not credited till one day last week the sailor returned, and stated how he had been thrice shipwrecked, and fought in the Federal war on the Southern side ; also that he had become a wealthy Carolina cotton grower, and had come to Europe to see the Paris Exhibition, and find out some of his friends, if alive, in England.

From an article on railway reform in the Saturday Review we clip the following: We have asked many things of the raiD way companies- We have begged for the abolition of the ticket trap. We have besought liberty of alighting. We have remonstrated against overcrowding and uncontinuous footboards, and the pillory pattern in carriages, and many other things which would have cost them nothing, and would have made us comfortable indeed. And they offer us, at great trouble and much expense no doubt to themselves, a glass of cold water. What beatitude do they seek to inherit.