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Waipawa Mail, Volume 2, Issue 133, 20 December 1879, Page 2

The Rev. G. M. D’Arcy Irvine will preach at St. Mary’s, Waipukurau, at 11 a.m., and at Onga Onga at 3 p.m., Sunday. 21st inst.

Divine service will be conducted by Mr W. F. Wilson at the Methodist Church, Waipawa, to-morrow evening, at 7 p.m.

The pavilion on the County Cricket Club’s ground at Waipukurau, is rapidly nearing completion, and should be finished in time for the Christmas matches.

Roderick H. McLellan, charged with wife murder, has been found not guilty. He has been re-arrested, charged with forgery. Auction Sale.—Messrs Coward and Co. will sell by public auction to-day, at Kaikora, the whole of the furniture of the Kaikora Hotel. The sale commences at 10.30 a.m, A luncheon will be provided.

Tiie following tenders were received for the booths at the Waipawa Athletic Club’s sports : —R. T. Brighouse, £23 128 8d (accepted); G. Abrahams, £lO ; W. Adair, £l3.

Considerable difficulty has been experienced by the Match Committee of the County Cricket Club in selecting elevens to play in the forthcoming matches, because those who have been written to have, in many instances, neglected to send a reply. We trust those who have not yet answered the secretary’s letter will do so at once.

The rain which has fallen during the past fortnight has caused uneasiness to farmers. Already we hear rust has commenced to appear in the wheat crop, and large quantities of hay have been considerably damaged. A spell of warm dry weather is now very anxiously looked for. By telegram from Invercargill, we see “ that the weather there continues hot, and the country is parched for want of rain.” We could very well spare a little of our rain to them.

The sole object of Mr Eundon’s being in Parliament seems to be to worry the Government into noticing the claims of his district. Roads, bridges, wharves, grants of land, and of money, does Mr Lundon, with characteristic modesty, ask for. The other day he managed to get the ear of the House, and poured out his requests in a most unblushing manner. The Minister of Public Works at length informed the honorable member for the Bay of Islands that he (Mr Oliver) had no reply to give him.

The half-yearly meeting of the Court Ruahine, No. 6496, A.0.F., was held in the Town Hall, Waipukurau, on Monday, 15th December. The following officers were elected for the ensuing half-year: Bro. S. Baddeley, C.R.; Bro. G. Wellings, S.C.R.; Bro. H. Hartley, Secretary.; Bro. P. H. Jolley, Treasurer.; Bro. D. Ryan, S.W.; Bro. W. Cook, J.W.; Bro. R. C. Alkin, 5.8.; Bro. Hollaway, J.B. Dr. Reed was unanimously appointed Court Surgeon. Several new members were initiated, and two more proposed, and we are pleased to state that this newly-formed court is rapidly progressing, both in the number of its members and in funds. It was resolved by the meeting that the court nights be held every fourth Saturday, instead of Monday, for the convenience of country members. A vote of thanks was accorded to the retiring officers, and the meeting was closed in the usual form. Mr. Tawhai has rebuked Dr. Wallis on his ideas of Sunday. The doctor thinks that the Sabbath only commences at sunrise on Sunday morning. The Maoris, Mr Tawhai said, had been taught to respect the Sabbath from its very commencement at twelve o’clock, midnight, on Saturday, and they were not now getting a very good example from the action of the pakehas. The hon. gentleman proceeded to show how easy it was for some pakehas to accommodate their consciences to circumstances. The remarks of the hon. gentleman elicited loud laughter and approval. Speaktng in the Council on Saturday, says the New Zealand Times, Dr Pollen and several others alluded to the custom of sending up, in the last few hours of the session, a large number of Bills from the Lower House, which had generally received very cursory consideration there, and which were attempted to be hurried through the Council, and

criticism averted, on the plea that members were anxious to get home, and that the Bills were very small ones. Dr Pollen asserted that no one could be more desirous of returning to his home than himself, but that consideration should not prevent him from doing what he held to be his duty. Councillors were not paid to be there to pass a host of Bills with which, and their probable effects, they had not made themselves well acquainted, and for himself he would consent to the passage of no Bill which he had not been given time to read and consider. He denounced what had the previous day been called the Gatling-gun style of law-making, and emphatically declared that he would oppose any measure on its merits, irrespective of the press of time argument. The lion, gentleman specified the Wanganui Endowed School Bill as an example of the purport of his remarks, and said he should oppose it at every stage. That measure, however, died without Dr. Pollen’s intervention.

From a return published showing approximately the quantity of New Zealand grown timber cut at the various saw-mills of the colony during the year 1878, and the half-year ending June 31, 1879, it appears that there were 128,500,000 feet cut during 1878, and 64,650,000 feet in the first half of the current year. It appears, therefore, that despite the commercial depression and the slackness of the building trade, and despite the remission of duty on foreigngrown timber, the amount of New Zealand timber supplied lias increased rather than diminished within the last six months.

We find this floating, and know not the source from whence it comes. “To kill ticks on sheep, throw into the barnyard a few small thrifty, second growth fir trees. The sheep wiil eat the leaves and small twigs greedily, and often strip off all the bark. The ticks will all leave the sheep in a few days, the strong odour from the oil of the fir driving them away. Tlie difficulty in sheep-breeding sections is to find the second-growth firs for the sheep to browse upon.

Longevity. —There is at present living in the Skye bothy, old Widow Macpherson, who entered upon her 105th year last 'Jhristmas. She was born there in the same year that Dr. Samuel Johnson and Boswell visited Skye. During the 105 years of Widow Macpherson’s life sbo has lived in a turf lmt, the smoke from the peat fire on the hearth finding its way out by every crevice, and making a lustre, as it vanished, to the rafters which support the thatched roof. She Iras survived six Lords of the Isles, the present being the seventh Lord Macdonald, who has held this title since she was born. She has never been oul of the island, and does not understand one word of English, but converses freely in Gaelic. She has been blind for ten years, but her hearing and memory are both good.—Glasgow Herald. The Ballarat Star is informed it is the intention of Mr Joseph Dlarke (brother to the Hon. W. J. Clarke) to throw open for agricultural purposes a part of his estate in New Zealand. The land is of the best quality, capable of yielding from 50 to 60 bushels of grain per acre. It would appear that Mr Clarke is desirous of fo'lowing in the footsteps of his popular brother, and, liko him, give the best portion of his estates to the rearing of men and women, instead of cattle and sheep.

We (Wairoa Free Press) were aware that colonial freights were e: - orbitantly high indeed, but we hardly expected to find that it takes eighteen times as much to carry n parcel 400 miles as it does to take it 16,000 miles, yet such must be the case. A gentleman living here, received the other day a parcel from England, per San Francisco mail, the total cost from England to Auckland being the small sum of eightpence, but from Auckland to Wairoa, the charge was twelve shillings 1 Comment is needless.

We learn upon good authority (says the Morning Herald) that £BOO,OOO forwarded to Canterbury for investment be will withdrawn should the Property Tax be imposed. A gentleman now in Dunedin, with £50,000 to place, is hesitating to invest £36,000 in an estate, until he sees how matters will turn out. £IOO,OOO sent from Melbourne for investment here will be returned to the place from whence it came, should the Property Tax Bill become law. This is not a very encouraging state of affairs. The watch which the Prince Imperial wore when he was killed, and which is now in the hands of the Zulus, was worn by thefirst Napoleon through most of his campaigns, and afterwards to the end of his life. It kept very indifferent time, but the great Emperor would never wear any other than this, which he purchased at Marseilles when he was but a poor lieutenant of artillery. Napoleon lIJ. wore this watch from the day he was named Prince President until the day of his death at Chiselhurst, and it is picturesquely related that in 1870, was about to put himself aIM his troops, the watch 1 was superstitious, ami served to depress him for ilrfflH his death his widow gave her son.