The Wairarapa Daily. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 1879.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 118, 26 March 1879, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 1879.

We notice with some satisfaction that the Volunteer movement seems to be spreading in the Wairarapa, and we believe it would be a safe thing to prophecy that before three months are over a Corps will be formed at Masterton, The unqualified success of the Corps established at Greytown lias naturally put other townships a little on their mettle, and Masterton for one is beginning to recognise that in this particular enterprise she has fallen behind the times. Then, too, the great success of the recent rifle meeting at Nelson indicates that the Volunteer spirit is not by any means dying out through the Colony at large, and if we are to do as others do, we must again enrol ourselves and shoulder arms, We believe that a meeting to form a Corps will shortly be convened at Masterton, and we also feel assured that when such a meeting is called it will be well attended, and that with fair luck a body one hundred strong may be expected to be formed. We feel certain that Captain Macara and the Greytown Volunteers under his command will gladly see other companies springing up in the district, more especially as, whiles only one exists, the Government will not give the district a resident Drill Instructor, —and if the district is to go in for volunteering again we would like to see the thing done thoroughly, each township furnishing its quota, and the Whareama, say, turning out a Cavalry Troop, which might come down into the Valley 011 grand parade days. Rifle practice is a manly amusement, and should be encouraged. It is only the man with the steady hand and the steady eye that is proficient at it. The youth who destroys 'his nerves with dissipation is useless with the rifle. A crack shot is nineteen times out of twenty a temperate sober man and a rifle has kept many a young man out of mischief. The Volunteer costume, also, is an honorable decoration, and in the eyes of the ladies, who are bound to be considered, a most becoming adornment. We are rather inclined to believe that the tunic of a good Rifle CW/whasagood effect on the bosom which it covers, and that every wearer of it more or less feels that he is bound to sustain the honor of his cloth. We like, too, the social character of the movement. Men will at times seek the society of their fellow-men, and surely a parade ground is a more manly place of gathering than the ' bar' of a publichouse, where lewd shoutings and ribald songs are sometimes the characteristic ofthesocial reunion. Itis agood thing for Colonials, too, to learn to obey orders, a thing which we fear is very much against their grain; to bo taught to hold

their heads up, and to get into the knack of walking straight. A year or two's volunteering will hurt no young man. The probabilities are that it will improve him both morally and physically, and make him for the rest of his life a better settler. We have said nothing about our noble defenders shooting rebellious Maovis or bayoneting invading Russians, because we do not believe thai they mil ever, in the ordinary course of events, have to take part in actual warfare. Should, however, extraordinary circumstances render a call to arms necessary, the advantages of Volunteer drill would be inestimable.

In our present issue will be found the full programme of the fenui Races. The sports committee of the Greytown Foresters held a meeting on Monday last and after paying all expenses together with £3O in prizes haw .forwarded £25 to the Mayor of Wellington in aid of the Kaitangata relief fund. The Greytown Cricketers have decided to hold a soiree on Easter Monday, under the patronage of the ladies of Greytown Cricketers are expected to appear in cricketing costume. We liopo there will be a good attendance. The Timaru Horald does not believe in Mr Luckie, late of the Post, and now eusconsed in the well-padded chair of the Annuities department. It says" He will probably be sent about his business when Parliament meets, and in the meantime may be worth his salary as a frightful example to all the loafing fraternity." An event that is probably unprecedented, says the Dunedin Age, namely, a birth in a railway carriage, occurred yesterday. The interesting occurrence took place in the express from Christchurch to Dunedin between Scaclitf and this city. The mother was accompanied by her husband, and under the circumstanoes they were allowed a carriage to themselves. According to latest accounts the family are doing well.

We (Truth) have heard of a curious case of successful impudence that took place some time ago. A well-dressed man entered the Bank of England, threw down a penny, and asked for a cheque. When it was handed to him, he filled it up to " self" for LIOO, signed it, and receiving the money, withdrew. As he had no account at the Bank of England, that institution lost LIOO by the transaction, whilst Government gained one penny.

Wo notice that Messrs lonis & Fergusson have altered tlie hour for their monthly stock sales from 2 to 12 ©'clock, stock to be yarded at 11. The alteration is no doubt a grat improvement as it will enable buyers to remove their stock the same day whereas by selling at 2 o'clock, before delivery is given it "is nearly dark and renders it impossible to drive out of the township, where, if paddocks are procurable, they are in many cases very insecure, and lastly necessitates taking stock away on Sunday morning, not to speak of the delay occasioned, j A brutal assault says the Times was committed yesterday on board the barque Loch Fergus, by one of the apprentices, on the cook of the vessel. It appears that the cook and the apprentice were in the galley at a little, before 11 o'clock, when an altercation took place in connection with throwing a piece of meat overboard. Both men lost their temper and came to blows. The cook chased the apprentice out of the galley, and the latter ran forward Just as the cook was closing on him he picked up a capstan bar and struck the cook on the head, felling him to the deck. He lay like a dead man, and his shipmates made a rough stretcher and conveyed him to the hospital where lie still lies in a very precarious state. The poor fellow has never spoken since the assault, and it is doubtful whether lie will recover. The apprentice, whose name is John T, Jones, was arrested shortly after the affair and placed in the lock-up.

A very good story reaches us, writes the New- Zealand Times, from the Thames concerning that vagrant curer of souls. Father Hennebery, whose vanity it is well-known is only exceeded by the gross vulgarity he uses. The heart of the missionary yearned for a good haul from one of his congregations, and in order to stimulate latent liberality, lie entrusted to eight men, whom he considered reliable, one golden sovereign each, which they were to deposit judiciously in the collection plate. At the end of the harvesting business, Father H., who had previously " warned" his congregation against tlio use of sixpences and such small fry, was to hold up the plate and ostentatiously pass his lingers through the coin, pour enmrwjer la aulm. Unfortunately, however, the seed was cast upon the very stony ground indeed, for the collection was nothing but silver. The friends of religion and of him, had deceived him, and appropriated the 8 soys, which, with such laudable intentions, he had ineffectually disbursed. The missionary looked very dark, and when decanting on Eternal Punishment, made it remarkably hot for all concerned. I

The Indian Test of Honesty.-An old trader who has established himself at what happened to a very favorable locality among the Northern Indians, tells a good story of his first trials with his red customers Other traders had located in that same place before, but had not remained long, The Indians, who evidently wanted goods, and had money and furs, flocked about the store of the trader, and cerefully oxamined his goods, but offered to buy nothing. Finally the chief, with with a large number of his tribe, visited liirn.—" How do, John 1" said the chief, "show me goods. Aha, I take the blanket for me, and that calico for squaw; three otto skins for blanket, and one for calico. Ought pay by'lll by-to-morrow." He received his goods and left. On the next day day, lie returned witli a lar f 'e part of his band, his blanket well stuffed with skins of various kinds, "Now, John, I pay." And with this ho drew an otto skin from his blanket, and laid it 011 the counter. Then he drew a second, a third and fourth. A moments hesitation, as though calculating, and lie drew out a fitli skin—a very rich and rare one-and passed it over. "That's right John," The trader instantly pushed back the last skin, with; " You owe me but four. I want only my just due." The chief refused to take it, and they passed it several times back and forth, eacli one asserting that it belonged to the other. At length the dusky chieftain appeared tobe satisfied. He gave the, trader a scrutinizing look, and then stepped to the door and gave a yell, and cried to his followers, " Come come, and trade witli the pale face John. He no cheat Indian ; his heart big." Then turning back to the trade, he said, " Suppose you take last skin, I tell my people 110 trade with you, We drive you off like a dog, as we drive off others; but now you Indians friend, and we be yours," Before dark the trader was .waist deep in furs, arid loaded down with cash. He found that honesty and commercial value with the Indians.

The English mail closes at Masterton on Friday next. A general meeting of members of the Masterton Brass Band is convened for this ovening, A meeting is about to be held at Masterton for the purpose of raising a Volunteer Rifle Corps. Mr J. M. Girdlestone will sell by auction on Saturday, at noon, tho salvage goods &c., in connection with the late fire. The Building Regulations Committee met last night at the Council Chambers, and drafted a set of regulations for consideration by the whole Council. The Chronicle says it is an appalling fact that wo have now 1000 J.P.'s. in the colony, We hardly look upon it in that light, knowing a good many of them to bo quite respect-able members of society. M. Casolberg & Co., after their fire at Greytown, had a salvage stock of L4OOO worth of salvage goods to dispose of. In spite of bad times they have succeeded in ■ placing L3OOO of them in Masterton, Greytown, and Featherston, and the remaining LIOOO worth is to be offered this week in the Town Hall, Carterton. A well attended meeting of the M.U. Order of Oddfellows, was held at the Empire Hotel last evening. Several new members were initiated* and proposals made, Bro. Jago was appointed N.G.; Bro. Watts, V.G.; Bro. James Brown, Trustee; Bro. Corbett, Warden; and Bro. G. Coker, Secretary, A point of law of some importance to auctioneers was (says the Christchurch Press) involved in a caso decided on Tuesday, in the Resident Magistrate's Court. In the case of Clark against Marks, the principle was affirmed that auctioneers are not entitled to charge commission on property withdrawn from sale, 1 ' Atticua," in the Melbourne Leader of the Ist inst., says The bachelors of Australia find favor in the eyes of the daughters of her Governors. Viscount Canterbury and Sir Hercules Robinson have found son. in-laws at the antipodes, aud the marriage of Sir George F. Bowen's eldest daughter with the son of a Melbourne squatter is on the lapis. The engagement was sanctioned the evening before the lady took her departure for Mauritius, whither, no doubt, she will soon bo followed by her suitor,"