LATEST TELEGRAPHIC

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 368, 20 January 1880, Page 2

LATEST TELEGRAPHIC

[fromWr own correspondent] ' ; WELLINGTON. Monday. The annual city valuation is completed,. The total valuation for general rate is L251,G89;. valuation for water .rate, L 214,689. The Wellington waterworks loan, at six per cent, has been successfully floated by the Bank of New Zealand. The entire loan has been placed at an average of LlO3 15s 8d per cent. The libel case of Pearson v Kirkbride will be heard at the Supreme Court tomorrow before a Special Jury; it is expected to occupy two days. A fire broke out at nine o'clock this morning at Levy's grocery store, Cubastreet, but was extinguished before much damage was done, The fire was caused by sparks from a portable grate, used in the back yard for washing. A meeting of the creditors of W. J. Roberts was held to-day. The debtor's statement showed a deficiency of L3OOO. The Wanganui Handicap is received by the racing men at present in Wellington with great disgust. They say Lance is bad .enough, but these are not only bad but eccentric. At the inquest on the body of the man shot at the Kaiwarra Butts a verdict of " accidental death" was returned. The jury expressed an opinion that a better system of marking should be adopted. LONDON. January 16. Intelligence having been received at Jellalabad of the perilous condition of the forts of Daka and Landi Khana, MajorGeneral Bright marched to the relief of the beleaguered garrisons, which were strongly pressed by a large body of Kohislani under Mahommed Khan. Major Bright w?.s met by the enemy in force; sharp engagements ensued, when the Afghans were lapulsed. wiih heavy loss. Communication between Jellalabad and Landi Khana lias been completely restored.

The Cologne Gazette, in an article on the European situation, expresses an opinion ihat the relations between Russia p.nd Germany have now reached a very critical and dangerous position, adding that unless very gre. t cure is exercised it is considerably probable ihat war will ensue. PRESBYTERIAN ANNIVERSARY. Yesterday afternoon there was a large attendance at the Presbyterian Church tea meeting. The tables were presided over by Mesdames McKee, Lang, McCardle, Robert McGregor, Jas. McGregor, Russell, and the Misses Feist, Wilton, and Woodroofe.

At the public meeting which followed, there was an unusually large attendance, every seat in the building being filled.

The Rev J. McKee filled the chair, and after opening the meeting in the customary manner, spoke as follows Christian Friends.—ln the good providence of God we are brought to the close of another yearof our existence as a church, and now about to enter upon the sixth yearof my ministry among you. I feel deeply grateful to Almighty God for the harmony which has existed between us in the past, and hope that it may long continue. On my own part I must confess to a growing attachment to you, and from your many tokens of kindneis and sympathy to me I have good reason to believe that this feeling is reciprocated, And although we have not the same r mount of religious vitality amongst us we could desire, yet I am not without evidence that my labors are not unprofitable to you.

The year now closed has been one of commercial depression throughout the colony, and financially we, in common with all, more or less, have suffered, I do not'think, however, that on any previous yea;- we have had so good attendances at the services. This is encouraging, yet we must confess there are some departments of Christian work ambng ui which require improvement, This improvement should begin in the heart, If our religion be genuine it will spring from a changed heart; for this religion alone will stand the test when tried. Now, if ours be such it will show itself in the home, in the world, and in the church. In the home tlie daily wfilk will exemplify it, and family worship will be regularly conducted. I sincerely wish that this duty were attended io at least once a day. The benefit which would accrue from it would be vary great. . It would give a different tone to many families, and create a harmony which in some caseß may not exist. In the world we would livo as those who are but strangers and sojourn-, era here seeking a better country, even an heavenly. The duties of our various avocations would be better discharged; we would be better citizens, better men,' In the church we would faithfully attend to all the ordinances of God's house. Our attendance at Divine Worship would be regular; the Sabbath would be observed. This, I am sorry, in too many instances, is not the case. There are not a few parents in the Wairarapa who too frequently make it a day for visiting, feasting, and'finishing up their week's work, forgetting that God had said, 'Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," When parents do not observe the Sabbath it' i« not to be wondered at that young men and women will do the same, making it a day for worldly pleasure, The evil results of breaking the Sabbath are very great. I will only allude to one of them, namely, the influence it has upon; th# I Sabbath School. One of the great difficulties Sunday School teachers hay« to solve is, how to keep the young whom they hare taught in the Sunday School in the work of the church. In not a few cases the teachers' good influence is more j than counteracted by the parents' evil example. Let me earnestly urge upon you, parents and friends, to.do what you can to help the ohurch'and Sunday School in this important matter. May, our .'ample iiotjlead any. astray,\.l. cmri'ot I close without alluding to one great intre

into whichjnbta 1 in. this toflrn,j li^rd^laying'i:l_do ■tioiV» a y; ; thai'iii the playing aigatnelotjbilliards thire lw any sinjn'jtself. But this Ido say, the surroundings find,them in hotsls'anil are neither, desirable nor good, &!Dk moral ,■ is deeply tainted with the smell of intemperance. The great tendency of the place is to draw young men iway from their ioraii, ind to create in them a spirit Of restleasneot and gambling;': ;: Th« pernicious remits of billiard playing hare blighted the prospeetl of many a young man,- hare blasted the hopes fondly cherished by many a proud': father, land have wrung many a salt'tear from the 'wellnigh- broken-heart of a fond mother. Let me advise you, young man, to Iceop away from such and this you can do best by finding some useful work to do. Give your services to the church rather to the world; to God, rather than to the devil. There is plenty of work for you in the Bible class, the Sunday School, or.the church. Such work will bring you happiness here and hereafter. Mr Feist then moved the adoption of the following report and balance sheet, REPORT OP IHJ IUSTJIITON PRESBYTERIAX OHUROI COMMnm Your Committee in reporting to the congregation the annual statement' and balance sheet, would gratefully acknowledge the assittance which has been'given to the church from various parts of the district during the past year. The pleasure of your Committee would have been increased were we able to show an even balance. It will be seen from the accompanying statement that we .still require about £4B. No doubt this deficiency has arisen from two causes; Ist. That we took over a small debtor balance from lrst year, and, 2nd, the universal depression which has been experienced since'we last made our report. There are still some subscriptions for last year to come in which will reduce the amount. We trust that having made this announcement to the congregation an'effort will be made to pay off this amount. In a large district such as the one over which our minister presides, it ought not to be a very difficult task to raise the stipend he receives. In addition to the ordinary revenue of the Church, there has been expended about £4O for painting church, fencing, | and other improvements. The amount received for Sabbath-offer-ings during the year has been somewhat larger than that received :'.n 1878, and we believe would have been still more, but for the number of Sabbaths that a good many of the congregation could not attend chu-;ch on account of the inclement weather. BALANCE SHEIT. Emeu's—- £ s. d, Mastorton 56 5 6 Taueru and Whareama ... 80 0 ,paki ... 12 0 0 Upper Plain 28 6 6 Carterton ... 9 0 0 Lower Manaia ... ... ,8 0 0 Tiipurupuru ...' ...,• 16 0 0 Saboath offerings 116 16 1 Painting church, fencing &c., 46 14 6 Balance 4719 1 £350 .3 8 EXTENDITURE, Rev McKee 250 0 0 Foreign Missions 3 0 0 Insurance ... 3 O 6 Rates... 3 510 Sundries 816 9 Balance 1878 19 6 7 Painting Church, fencing, &c, 4714 6 Shepherd, lighting, &c. ... 15 0 0 £3oo 3 8 SABBATH SCHOOL. During the past year forty children have been admitted, and twenty-six have left the school, and we have now 136 names on the roll. The . average attendance has been 65 every morning and afternoon. the large number of wet Sundays has tended to make our average small; our highest attendance was 92. The number of teachers is thirteen and the average attendance nine, We have not been able to add to our library this year, but there are still a large number of books unread, and they are still taken regularly by all the elder scholars. A reward acccording to merit has been presented to each child, the cost of which has been nearly defrayed by subscriptions from the parents, and the teachers desire to return their sincere thanks to those who so liberally helped them. BALANfII SHEET OF PRISBYTJRIAN SUNDAY SCHOOL.'

Or. £ i. d. Balanoe from 1878 3 17 0 Picnic, New Year's Day ... 22 15 6 Monthly collections 613 6 Sales-hymn books, magazines, &c 4 110 Subscriptions 5 17 0 £43 9 3 Dr. £ »• d. Printing library catalogues ... 1 5 0 Hymn books, cards, &c. ...2 6 0 Prizes 413 6 Magazines 7 7 2' Expenses, picnic ' 22 9 6 Balance ..534 £43 4 9 Mr D. McGregor, in seconding the adoption of the report, explained that the financial result was due partly to their having increased the stipend paid to their minister, and partly to the prevailing depression. They might congratulate themselves that it was no worse. Mr McXee had kindly offered to bear his share of the burden by accepting a diminished stipend, but the Committee did not think it desirable to accept such an offer, and he trusted that the congregation would agree with the course adopted by it and come forward to its relief. With a church and manse free from debt there should be no difficulty in overtaking the small deficiency. . The best feeling existed between the clergyman and the committee and between the committee and the congregation, and this, he thought, looked well for the future of the church. It wa3 characteristic of the Presbyterians that though they might be stigmatised as stingy, they were never wanting when a claim was made for maintaining religious ordinances,

Mr Pvobert McGregor added a few words of congratulation, to the, congregation on. the excellent position of the church, ,

Mr McCardle expressed an opinion that within a very short time they would be able to wipe off the small debt which was owing, and called attention t6 obvious indicatiom of the progress of the church. Mr Holdawtiy spoke, of the depression which had existed through the past year; and which hajd laid bare so many sore places. He claimed, however, that it was a portion of - the divine ordination, and that commircial, moral, and nligioiu in*

stitutions would , be benefited and puri-' fied by the ordeal.., ; f ; ; ; The 2ev Mr Patersonf to the progress of the cliuroh: year by; year, and expressed his satisfaction with' the reports which had'been read that evening. He was not surprised'that at a time like the present one there should be a small deficiency, He advised them to wipfi the debt off at once, a* if allowed to remain it might become cumulative :'He called attention to the necessity of building a hew church aa soon as times improved a little. The Chairman in putting the resolution to the meeting, referred to their,.prayer meetings, which,had been fairly attended.: Their psalmody, too, nad.been much improved. The resolution having been unanimously adopted, and the choir: having sang a hymn, the Chairman called on the rer lecturer, who, he explained, had, in to a wish expressed by many, abandoned the subject on which he had intended to address them in order to give them his lecture'on "'Home Life." The Rev J. W.' Pateisoh then delivered a lecture, which is well known in the provincial district, but , which is .always regarded as a favorite, and is cordially welcomed. In it the lecturer's special power for presenting humor and pathos, for combining beauty of thought and vigor of expression have abundant scope, and though the address had been heard by many present years ago, it had lost none of its interest to them, and was an unequivocal success.

At the conclusion of the lecture a cordial vote of thanks was accorded to Mr Paterson, on the motion of Mr Feist, seconded ky the Rev Mr Dellow. A vote of thanks to the Ladies, for presiding at the tea-table was moved by Mr D. McGregor, and supported by Mr Alexander. Another vote of thanks to the Choir and Miss tVoodroofe, for her services at the harmonium was carried on the motion of Mr McCardle, seconded by Mr Hell. A pleasant evening was then terminated with theDoxology. DIVORCE CASE IN HIGH LIFE. ' « Sir Robert Phillimore, the. second Judge in the Divorce Court, tried recently a petition presented by the wife for the dissolution of her marriage on the ground of the misconduct of her husband the Hon Robert Wellington StapletohCotton, eldest son and heir of Lord Combere, 1 The Hon Mrs Cotton said—l was married at St Mark's Church, Eryanstonsquare, on the 2nd of Jnne, 1866, to the Hon Robert Wellington Stapleton-Cot-ton, and had a large fortune, I had pinmoney of £4,000 per annum, £30,000 being settled on the respondent. About 1870 we became acquainted with Mr and Mrs Poole, residing at Marbury Hall, Cheshire. We afterwards visited them. I saw that my husband paid a great deal of attention to Mrs Poole, and remonstrated with him; but could no satisfaction from him as to his conduct, In 18761 was at Park Hall. On Friday, the Ist April of last year, there were some races which I and the respondent and Mr and Mrs Poole attended. On the following morning, Saturday the 22nd, Mr Cotton left Park Hs!l without saying where he was going. I went away for a few days, and on my return I received the following letter from my husband " I have behaved to you as badly as a man can well do. By the time you "will receive this, I shall be far away with another woman. You may blame me, but you must own we were not suited to each other. Forget me if you csn, and think of me as if I never belonged to you. It will bo no use in trying to induce us to go back, as nothing will ever make us retract from the step we have taken, If you can be kind to my brother and sister with regard to the allowance they have had from me, I implore you to do so." He has never written to me, nor returned since that time. I have had my pin-money, and the respondent has received the remainder of my income of £30,000 a year. Major Dickson, M.P., said he was acquainted with the respondent, but not with the petitioner. He knew Mrs Poole, who was sister to the present Sir George Chetwynd, Bart, He heard.of the elopement, and had endeavored on several occasions to iuduce Mrs Poole to return home. The respondent and Mrs Poole were now living at West Mousley as m?n and wife. He had had an interview with Mr Cotton at that place in April, wheu he asiured h ; m he would never deseri Mrs Poole. Sir R. Phillmore made a decree nisi with costs. Dr Tristam s?id that on a future occasion he would mate an application with regard to the marriage settlements in the case.