LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXIII, Issue 9571, 14 December 1881, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Railway Station. — The new railway station on Taupo Quay will be used on and after Monday next. I.O.G.T.— We are informed that it is contemplated by the Wanganui Lodge No. 49, to hold a Good Templar Picnic on the 2nd of January. Kakaramea Sale. — Mr F. R. Jackson will offer, at his yards, Kakaramea, on Saturday next, the 17th instant, over 200 head cattle, at 1 o'clock. Borough Council. — The annual meeting of the Borough Council, at which the Mayor for the ensuing year will be installed, will be held on Wednesday, the 21st inst., at 12 o'clock noon.| Wanganui Harbour Board. — A number of sections of the Harbour Board Endowment Block will be offered for sale on 'the 20th, 21st, and 24th of January, 18S2. Twenty-five of them will be offered on deferred payment, and forty for cash. •Sporting. — Friends of "Rhoddy" Mclvor, the well-known steeplechase rider, will regret to learn that he received a nasty fall riding Gazelle in the Steeplechase at the V,R.C. Meeting. He is however, recovering rapidly, and will soon be fit to get into the pigskin again. Fatal Accident. — A little aged girl nineteen months, daughter of Mr John Taylor, of Niblett-street, got hold of some lucifer matches which were left within her reach an^ sucked them. She was attended by Dr Earle, but all that could be done proved unavailing, and the child died yesterday morning. Auction Sale. — Mr A. Barns will ofier for sale to-day, at Mrs Wigzell's premises, Guyton-street, the whole of her furniture, without any reserve ; and to-morrow, at the Mission House, Putiki, under instructions from the Rev. T. S. Grace, furniture and household effects, including a handsome trichord pianoforte in walnut, also a first-class silver cornet. Alarm of Fire. — An alarm of fire was rung out by the Rutland Hill bell just before one o'clock yesterday afternoon. It fortunately turned out to be only a chimney, which had accidentally taken fire in Mr John Hurley's confectionery establishment in the Avenue. The Fire Brigade and Fire Police turned out, but happily their services were not needed to extinguish the fire. The Wanganui Election. — The big " boil over " (says the Patea Evening News) was the Wanganui contest, and the defeat of Mr Ballance by Mr Watt, a candidate who only made himself known at the hustings. The narrow majority of four indicates the subtleness of public opinion at the finish, and we cannot but attribute Mr Ballance's defeat to the ill-advised action of his supporters in connection with Mr Bryce at Mr Watt's meeting. A. and P. Association. — A meeting of the committee of the A. and P. Association will be held at 2 p.m. today, at the secretary's offices, for the purpose of considering the advisability of enlarging the functions of the association by combining 1 its present objects with those of a farmers' club. We have been shown the new silver medals, 85 in number, which have been manufactured by Messrs Kohn Bros., to the order of the association. They are very handsome articles, and reflect great credit on the makers. The New Parliament. — The New Zealand Times sums up the probabilities as follows : — Taking into account the professed opinions of members reelected, and the leanings— so far as can be gleaned from the speeches of new members — the present Ministry will have a majority of supporters as compared with pronounced opponents, and a probable preponderance among those who claim to be " independent." It will be seen that the Ministerialists number 45 ; Oppositionists, 36 ; and Independent or Doubtful, 14. Sir William Fox. —"A Working Man," writes to the Advocate as follows : — " During the polling on Friday last I heard the question asked frequently — ' What has Sir William Fox done for the working men in Rangitikei ?' To this I reply that Sir William has spent on his estate at Westoe, nearly all of which has gone into the pockets of the working men ; lie has, in fact, spent on the land all the money he has made from it. I would like to be shown any other laud-owner in Rangitikei who has done so much for the working men as Sir William, or who has such practical claims on their support. The Rangitikei Election. — The Advocate saj\s that the result of the poll for the Rangitikei electorate has been a great surprise to the supporters of Sir William Fox in the district of Bulls. It is said that no fewer than five voters could have been brought to the pollingbooth to record their votes in his favour, but that they neglected to vote, through inconvenience to themselves or some other reason, thinking that Sir William's return was a safe thing. They are now ready to indulge in that extraordinary feat of " eating their own heads off," and are cursing their negligence. The friends of Mr Stevens are, on the contrary, overjoyed. A Satisfied Elector. — At the official declaration of the poll yesterday three cheers were given for the successful candidate, Mr W. H. Watt, Topia, the well-known native chief, was observed making his way at the top of his speed towards the hustings, but his utmost endeavours failed to enable him to arrive there in time to join in the congratulations. He was not, however, to be robbed of the opportunity of exercising his lungs. When he arrived in front of the courthouse he appeared disappointed that he had not been present during Mr Watt's speech. However, he waved his hat in the air and shouted his three hurrahs with as much energy and enthusiasm as anyone. Te Whiti. — In addition to the more serious grounds of congratulation at the arrest of the Maori prophet, Te Whiti, and his safe custody under lock and key (says the Australasian), there is strong reason for satisfaction that those long, perplexing, misty, and mystic Parihaka speeches have come to an end. Those wonderful discourses were gradually but certainly reducing the intellect of the colony to despair, and to the brink of lunacy. That nobody could understand them is shown by the circumstance that one highly competent authority would pronounce that a speech " had a highly pacific tendency," wnile another pundit equally learned in Maori lore would pronounce that its "warlike tone was unmistakable." The result of all this was that the intellect of the colony was engaged in puzzling over the last of those bewildering harangues, finding no end. in wandering mazes lost, till the inexhaustible prophet was ready with a new and equally confounding one. This unhappy state of things might, so far as Te Whiti is concerned, have gone on for ever, his capacity of producing those oratorical webs being apparently unlimited, but on the part of the colony it became necessary to put a stop to it. On that side madness evidently lay, and if there had had been no other justification for the armed suppression of the Parihaka doings, those speeches and the dreary fascination they exercised over investigating minds, afforded ample.