Wanganui Chronicle. AND PATEA AND RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER. "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." TUESDAY, *ra AUGUST 1874.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XVII, Issue 2502, 4 August 1874, Page 2

Wanganui Chronicle. AND PATEA AND RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER. "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." TUESDAY, *ra AUGUST 1874.

Bullion. — By the s.s. ' Otago the Bank of New Zealand at Wellington received from the Melbourne mint £20,000 in sovereigns and £10,000 in half-sovereigns. No 2 Line. — A resident on this line while taking out a load of timber on a bullock dray on Friday last managed to get into a nasty hole, and it was not until he had unloaded nearly aU of the timber that he suceeded in getting out. Thb Comet. — The comet which was lately seen from Wanganui and other parts of the Colony seems to be a stranger to our local astronomers. It may possibly turn out to be the new comet whose discovery is thus reported in the .' Scientific Americrn ' of May 2—" The discovery of a new comet is announced by the Academy of Science, Vienna, in 21 hours 28 minutes, right ascension, S., 6deg. 56 mm. declension. It is stated to be nearly globular, about 2 mm. in diameter, with, a decided condensation towards the centre. Its brightness is above the average, but in other respects it does not differ notobly from objects of its class. Its position at 4 a.m. on 14th April 1874, observed, at Vienna, was: Right asl cen sion, 21 hours 16min. 31sec ; south declination, odeg 15min. Its motion is towards the north and east." The cornel, however, which is still visible from Wanganui, has a westerly course.

Telegraphic— The line between Foxton and Wellington was down yesterday, and 'telegraphic communication with the South was therefore stopped. Rev J. Elmslie — This gentleman has received an offer to take charge of a newly built church at Remuera, Auckland ; but it is uncertain whether it will be accepted as it is possible that arrangements may be made for Mr Elmslie retaining his present charge. Educational. — The charms of physical science do not seem to be appreciated by the Wellington public. Mr Kirk was recently appointed Lecturer on Natural History to the Wellington College, and a course of lectures on Zoology by him was duly announced, but not a single application was made to the secretary for tickets, and the idea was abandoned in consequence. John Bbown.— The body of this unfortunate man was found by the search party shortly before dusk on Sunday evening in a bend of the river not far from the spot where it is supposed he had fallen in. The body conveyed to Kennedy's hotel where' an inquest was held yesterday afternoon before Mr C. H. Borlase, Coroner. The jury returned a verdict that the deceased met his death by drowning. The funeral will leave Kennedy's hotel at 12 o'clock, and Blair's Steam Packet Hotel at half past 2 o'clock to-day. Mb Holloway.— Mr Holloway, the representative of the National Agricultural Labourers' Union, of England, is now in Wanganui, having reached town in company with Mr Stewart, C.E., on Sunday. Yesterday, despite the pouring rain, Mr Holloway went up the river to inspect the country, in company with Mr W. Hales, District Engineer, who will show Mr Holloway this part of the coast, on behalf of the Government, instead of Major Edwards. To-day Mr Hales will take his visitor along No 2 line, and on Wednesday they proceed to Patea. The Result op Huge Landed Estates. — In reply to a recent advertisement in the ' Melbourne Argus ' for a clerk, salary £2 a week, 120 applications were received. This is the result of the overcrowding of cities, caused by individuals being allowed to monopolise large areas of country for their exclusive benefit. 120 men are eager applicants for a paltry situation worth 40s a week, while other men in the same colony own tens of thousands of acres of land which they cannot profitably cultivate, aud which, if cut up into moderate sized holdings, would support these needy applicants and their families in comfort. Maori Census. — The Maori census lately taken shows the native population of the North Island to be 23,639 males and 19,769 females; total, 43,408. South Island, males, 1,407; females, 1,191. Grand total — males, 25,056 ; females, 20,900. making 48,016 of both sexes. There are 4,413 Maories in the Province of Wellington, distributed thus: — Wangauui: males, 556 ; females, 454. Upper Wanganui River ; males, 1,117 ; females, 888. Rangitikei : males, 812 ; females, 272. Otaki and Porirua : males, 360 ; females, 293. WeUington : males, 90 ; females, 71. The native population of the whole Colony will be seen to be considerably larger than it was supposed to be before the census was taken. " Illustrated New Zealand Herald.'' — There has been a marked improvement in this periodical lately, and many of the engravings in it would do no discredit to the ' Illustrated London News.' The July number, issued at the close of the month, contains, amongst other engravings, one of Judge's Creek, in the Wairau Gorge, three of the wreck of the ' British Admiral,' a charming view of the Diamantina Springs, Australian Alps, and a fancy sketch entitled "The Parlor Maid in a Dilemma." Besides the number and excellence of the engravings, the periodical also gives a summary of colonial news, which will be of interest to the readers at home, for whom it is designed. The. publishers of the 'New Zealand Herald ' are Messrs Wheeler and Co., of Dunedin. The Waitotara Road. —This road is becoming worse and worse, and complaints are to be heard every day regarding its present state. One day last week a large tree fell across the road near the Okehu bridge, and the coachman in trying to drive underneath it, had the top of the coach smashed. On Saturday morning Mr Hall proceeded from town by the coach, and with the assistance of Mr McKenzie, the coach driver, succeeded in cutting away the obstacle after the coach had been detained for about an hour. This is not the first time that the coach has been detained by a similar occurrence on this road, and it is to be hoped that the Wanganui- Waitotara Board, whose duty it is to keep the road in repair, will be'more punctual in attending to these matters.. Mode or Electing the Mayor. — We have on two or three occasions lately drawn attention to the fact that the resolution in favour of altering the mode of electing the Mayor passed by the Borough Council some time ago might liave been given legal effect to by inserting a clause in the Wellington Bill, and thus expense and trouble would have been saved. Prom enquiries, we learn that a short time ago, when the Wellington Bill had been introduced into the House of Representatives, Mr Bryce, M.H.R., telegraphed to the Mayor of Wanganui asking if the Borough Council had not passed a resolution on this subject ; to which Mr Pharazyn replied that the Council was almost unanimously of opinion that the mode of electing the Mayor should be changed to popular suffrage. It was, therefore, competent for Mr Bryce to have moved an amendment to the Wellington Bill when in committee, and it is to be hoped he did so. The Oroua Bridge Obstruction. — The result of the interview between the Manawatu chiefs and the Native Minister was that the natives have during the last few days permitted travellers to cross the Oroua bridge. The Maoris in the neighbourhood are, however, in an unsettled state, and threaten to block the road again. We fear the Government is not acting wisely in this matter. There is too much temporising ; and a reluctance to grapple with the real difficulty which may give rise to all kinds of mischief. But it is evident the Maoris cannot be permitted to stop the traffic on the highways ; on the other hand, there is a widespread feeling that they are entitled to the Crown grants which they claim. The General Assembly is the proper body to look to in this matter, but in its present demoralised state, and under the autocratic form of Government adopted with regard to native affairs, it is almost hopeless to expect the Assembly to take the matter in hand until circumstances force it to do so.

Billiards. — A billiard match had been arranged between C liar lie Curtis and ail amateur to be played at the Rutland Hotel last night, for £5 a side. It did not, however, come off, owing to the intervention of the police, Sergt. Reid having informed Mr Chevannes that he would be prosecuted if the game were permitted. We presume the i police sergeant was acting under instructions, and it is possible the prohibition was legal, although we express no opinion on that point; but legal or not, it seems to us a most unwarrantable interference wifch private amusement. These games, ifc is well known, constantly take place both at home and in the Colony ; in fact, the great billiard matches which create so much public interest are nearly always played for heavy stakes, nor has it ever been shown that they do harm to public morality. The conduct of the police, in this instance, is simply of a piece with that absurd interference with personal liberty which has latterly disgraced our public house legislation. Of course we do not blame the police, who are mere agents ; we blame the authors of this petty tyranny. The Weather. — This is a trite topic, but the weather has been so unpleasant during thu last day or two that It must perforce be mentioned. A tremendous gale blew on Saturday night, culminating about two o'clock on Sunday morning. During the whole of Sunday abundance of rain fell, aud yesterday it rained harder than it has done in Wanganui for some time, with the natural result of flooding the creeks and watercourses, and raising the river to an unusual height. l'he roads are, of course, in some places, almost impassable, but we have not heard of any material damage being done by the wind or rain. The s.s, ' Storm Bird,' bound to New Plymouth, returned to port yesterday, morning, having been driven back by stress of weather. Captain Doile reports that when about five miles north of Patea, he met three or four heavy waves rolling in to the land, which he imputed to a volcanic disturbance — a not uidikely cause. The numerous shocks of earthquake which have been felt lately show that matters inside this terrestrial globe are not going on at aii smoothly.