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Wairarapa Standard, Volume 6, Issue 508, 30 November 1876, Page 2

The Stonestead Brass Band has kindly consented to play at the Pastoral Show this day. The members of the Greytown Cricket Club are requested to meet at the Institute on Saturday evening next at 8 p.m. A meeting of the Carterton Taratahi Highway Board, held on Tuesday last, appointed Mr £. B. Jones valuator to the Board under the new Valuation Act.

There is a hen in Greytown very deficient in judgment as regards size. One day last week she laid an egg small.as that ofa pigeon and on the following day she produced one as big as that.pf a goose. This sort of thing is considered qminpns in . Greytown and in our next vie wnT endeavor to show the bearing it has on the financial and fiscal policy of the present government. It will be seen by an announcement in our advertising columns that Mr B. A. Wakelin is about to establish a steam sash and door factory at Greytown, for which ve should think there must be a very good opening, seeing that for a long time past large quantities of doors and sashes have actually been imported into this district from Auckland and Wellington. In many counties in Victoria the system is adopted of holding the Council meeting alter, nately in the various towns of the county, so as to give all parts of a shire an opportunity of meeting their representatives. The system (says the “ Dunstan Times”) if earned out in New Zealand would, we think, work well, and would prevent that feeling of discontent and jealousy that is sure to arise if any one town has; so to speak, the monopoly of all the meetings and business of the county. A very pleasing experiment has been recently started at Sydney with great promise of success. A suitable basket is placed under proper charge at the terminus of the railway, and residents in the suburbs are requested to bring into town with them bouquets of flowers from their gardens, and to deposit them in it. The basket is then at a stated time conveyed to the infirmary, and the flowers are rearranged in vases iu the different wards, where they gladden the eyes and cheer the spirits, of the patients. The idea, says the Lyttelton Times, is an admirable one, and from all accounts it seems likely to be carried out with a hearty good will that is creditable to all concerned.

“ Atticus ” thus writes in the Melbourne Leader: —The following story was told to me by a friend of the clergyman to whom it refers A clergyman’s daughter, a little miss of ten, wasreading a newspaper case, in which a woman complained that a man refused to make her an honest woman. “ How could he make her an honest woman, papa?” she inquired. “By marrying her, my dear,” said the father, taking away the newspaper. That evening some parishioners were taking tea at the parsonage, and the conversation—as is not unusual at tea tables—turned on matrimony. The little girl, to air the knowledge she had acquired in the morning, turned to her mother, and asked aloud, “ Mamma, how long ago is it since papa made yon an honest woman ?“ She has not since been allowed to sit when there are visitors in the evening. At the Greytown Bink, appeared one even' ing latterly, averyMolock on rollers, who struck terror into the hearts of timid skaters. Molock had a miraculous equipoise, shooting on his rollers from one end of the Hall to the other like an express train, and doubling back again before an ordinary individual could wink. Where two or three ware gathered together, there was the destroyer in the midst of them. There would be a swaying of arms and legs, a flopping on the floor, but Molock would be away! away 1 in the far corner of the Hall, bursting with a bang against a cornice or a human being as the case might be, and acquiring fresh momentum from the concussion, career madly round the building, to the great delight of spectators, 'and to the wrath of linkers, who couldneither catch, stop, or trip him.

On Monday lasta well attended meeting took place at Featherston, in connection with the Horticultural Show about to be held in that township. The question of judges was first considered and the following appointments were made: —Flowers, Dr Hosking, H. H. Jackson, and W. Spearink. Fruits, and Vegetables, W. G. Beard, W. Booth, Sen, and S. Vennell. Miscellaneous, H. H. Jackson, J. Donald and T. Shirley. The decorations were intrusted to Mr 0. Beetham, assisted by Messrs C. Gundy, A. R. Wallis, Dr Wallace, Spearink, and M. Cleland. Mr Faber will superintend a refreshment table and the Italian Brass Band will give their services during the day without charge. It has been agreed that all places of business shall close at Featherston on the show day at 12 o’clock noon. In another column is published particulars of the ball which is to follow the show. The energy and enterprise displayed by our Featherston friends in all the arrangements connected with the show is a sure guarantee of its success.

We are requested to state that the sum of £6 10s 6d, the balance from sports held in O’Connor’s paddock, three years ago this summer, of which Mr Barnard was Treasurer, was duly lodged into, the Cemetry account, at the Baijk of New Zealand, here. As there have been other : sums subscribed, or promised to this fund from time to time, during the last ten years, we would suggest that such subscriptions \should also be lodged to the credit of the above account at the Bank. We understand that both the Cemetry and Park Trustees, are prepared to enter with energy on the duties which they have undertaken, so soon as the reserves have been duly conveyed to them, and we can only now express the hope that' they will be able to carry out their intentions at as ah early a date as possible. The following is taken from an account of “ Life at the Crozets ”by Mrs Wordworth’s son. It will be recollected that she was the only female survivor from the wreck of the Strathmore:—About a dozen of the men built a shanty higher up than ours, and a sailor called “ Black Jack, ” ruled it—and a capital ruler he made, too. When my mother came on shore first, she was wet through, and nearly starved with cold; but she soon got a rig out of a semi-masculine description One of the sailors took the shirt o 3 his back and gave it to her ; she put on a pair of trousers and man’s drawers, a pair of stockings and an overcoat, and various odds and ends, all the oontributations of the sailors; a handkerchief, completed her appointments, together with a flannel petticoat, picked up, which afterwards did good service as a door in our litt|e shanty that we afterwards lived in for some months. The coarse, rank flesh which wag our.continual food soon disagreed with her, (md she got venr ill with a sort of lowieverand a dreadful bowel, complaint, which soon reduced her to a perfect skeleton and made her so weak that I had to turn her in the night when achaOge of position was needed. Although aw mniw was very subject to rheumatism, yet while on the island, «l»sod to wet and cold, ahoorw was tyoublea with it, >

Ashers Fancy Bazaar will open at Carter- J ton at the Marquis of Normanby Hotel, on| Friday and Saturday, grand clearance by shilling art union, and Masterton for one day only on Monday next at the Empire Hotel. We publish in our open column a letter from “ a subscriber to the Hospital” tendering certain advice to the Committee on the question of appointing a custodian. Probably tiie committee are sufficiently intelligent to make the necessary selection without guidance, but, no doubt the letter in question will have such consideration as it may deserve. The Australasian in referring to a lecture delivered by Mr M‘lvor saysAs instancing the necessity for an agricultural college and experimental farm, at which the rising generation of farmers could acquire a sound knowledge of the science and practice of their future calling, Mr M‘lvor observed, “ The grub has driven barley from the fields of Victoria, and ‘ Tasmanian,’ rust is playing havoc with our grain crop.” Had the lecturer added, “whilst locusts devoured every green thing,” his audience would have at once recognised the connection between these visitations and the absence of the proposed college. Australia is not the only country in which thousand and thousands of cattle and sheep die annually from diseases which are in a great measure preventable. It bos bean a standing complaint at the British agricultural press that veterinarians have been able to devise no scientific methods of coping with the numerous diseases which have affected live stock for many years past. “ They have discovered no other cure than the poll-axe. “Again,” observes Mr M'lvor, how many stations are overstocked through the ignorance of their owners. And how many rained in seasons of drought through no efforts being.made to make the excessive-water of one month serve lor the excessive dryness of another?”

The Inspector of schools is now in the Wairarapa, holding his annual examinations. The school standards elicit much interest especially the two highest, for passing in which, oertioificates are given by the Board of Education. On Tuesday and Wednesday Mr Lee, attended the Greytown School, when there were present 127 out of 140 on the roll. The alphabet class was examined collectively, and the scholars individually, of the other classes, from the Primer op to tilth Boyal Header. The weak and strong points of the school were commented upon by Mr Lee who declared the school to be quite as good in results as last year with a little im* provement in several points,'noticeably in the percentage of passes of the first standard and in standard 4. There were, however, some unsatisfactory scholars namely those who had been irregular in attendance. In the highest and really difficult standard—standard 4 Helen Fuller passed well with 148 marks and George Terry passed with 123. In standards the passes were very moderate. The names of those who passed were Frederick Barratt, 137, Mary Bovey, 134, Henry Hawke, 182, James Baillie, 130, Flora Maxton, 124, Alexander Bamsay, 120. The two best who passed standards were Frederick Wilkie, 165, and Alice Hawke, 165. In standard 1 two scholars did splendidly Martha Morris, (perfect) 200 and Frank Humphries, 195. Mary Gallagher, in a lower class than the above did excellently, obtaining 155 marks. Mr Lee examines the Carterton school to-day. As the school has shown itself quite satisfactory the scholars will have the holiday, given by the Inspector. In referring to the opinions expressed by Mr Ormond at Napier on the county aye tern the Argus observeslf these opinions are shared in by the colleagues he is about to join, and it would be unfair to suppose any difference of opinion on such an important matter, the County system is not likely to prove much of a success, we imagine, and the Government will not be inclined to any extraordinary exertion to make it one. Mr Ormond evidentally does not believe in County Government. He told his friends at the dinner that he did not. The Hawke’s Bay Herald reports him as follows; —“ Mr Ormond then gave an explanation of the County system, which was to work with and supplement the system of self-government by Boad Boards. It was he that had introduced in the Bill that feature which gave the Councils the option of either undertaking the functions conferred by the Act, or to remain merely distributing bodies. He thought it would be found that in many places the latter would be the most convenient and economical course, and he was glad to find that in several of the Counties in the South that would be the decision. Here, for instance, where they had three Counties, there would be need for three chairmen, each with a staff, and all of whom would have to be paid. That would not be so economical as the Provincial Government, and he really believed that the wisest course would he for the Councils to elect to be only distributing bodies. Mr Ormond then pointed out the advantages of local self-government, illustrating his remarks by referring to what had been done in Napier since it had become a municipality. Much of the success of institutions of the kind depended, he said, upon the people taking the trouble to manage their local public affairs, and the sooner they were educated in that hiabit the better it would be for New Zealand.” We do not think this declaration of opinion, if it is to be accepted as one of Ministerial policy, will bo generally received with much favor. If the Government have not faith in the system invented by themselves, who will have faith in it, and by whom is it to worked out*