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Wanganui Herald, Volume VIII, Issue 2664, 27 December 1875, Page 2

Mr James ErT met the electors in the Marlon Ha^l on "Friday evening, but as he had beenwork'ng very hard during the day in trying to extinguish the fire which unfortunately broke out at Bulls, he felt himself unable to do justice to the occasion, and asked the audience to excuse him. He proposed to meet them again on Tuesday evening, to which time the meeting was adjourned. Christmas eve having brought a greab many of the settlers in from the country, the audience was good, and some disappointment was felt at the result, although it was generally believed that the excuse was one wl'cli ought to be generously received. Mr Ballance met the electors of Upper KamuTitd on ( Thursday evening, at the. school-house. There was a respectable at'jendauce, George Death,Esc_., in the Chair.. The candidate placed his \ iews before the meeting in clear and unmistakable terms, • and replied to .misrepresentations which had been freely calculated -by his opponents. He repeated that he was neither in favor of. a change in the incidence of taxation, or of; fresh taxation. He thought the increase of poulation and the development of the resor - ces of the country which would take place under the Public Works Act would render further taxation unnecessary. Iv case that the natural increase of revenue from'ordinary sources should not bef ound siifncieiit,!ie would prefer tax on great estates, or land monopolies to an income tax, which had beeu denounced by Mr Gladstone, because of its inquisi" torial nature, and the frauds which it encouraged. He considered that the small freehold was the basis of the futr.".*e prosperity of the Colony, aud was opposed to7any further taxation on this class. With respect to the question of denominational education, he thought he had been explicit. Denominational education be considered impossible in the colony, and unsound in, theory. Therefore, f:om both theoretical and practical considerations he. could not support it. A very warm and hearty vote of thanks, was unanimously passed to.Mr.-Ballance,aud the meetiug terini-natl;U7\Titli-_-votG -of. tlipuks to the chpirman.. •• The misadventures of two young men who had gone down the river with a picnic party on Christmas Day caused not a little amusement among their friends. The party went 'down the river in a boat, and having arrived at a place favorable for landing, ran close in shore. One of the young men jumped up-to unship the mast, and brought it out with so much vigor that he lost his balance ancl fell overboard, backwards, into about fifteen feet of water. After some struggling to gain the surface-he managed.to get ashore,-where-he stood dripping, to the delight of the party. One of them got hold of the mast to show howit was done, balancing about in tlie same fashion as number oue, when he ventured a little too far ancl went over too. The roars of laughter that followed need not be.:de^ scribed. Both victims joined in heartily: They returned to town for a change of clothing, and then rejoiued their merry ■ party. The Bay of .Plenty Time's says entire separation of the two Islands is absurd and Impossible,

I Christmas Day was observed in orthodox manner in Wangamu. All places of bush-ess were closed, and the churches were open both moriung and evening and fairly attended. A great many enjoyed the day by riding or driving out of town, and gaining health by inhaling the pure fresh a - of the couniry. .- The Tongariro started clown the river with a large number of excursionists, crossed the bar, and cruised about out,-, side for some time, and also devo'7::d a short time to fishing. But the members of the finny tribe were serrcc, and there were not a g eat many captured.'' She retiu.-ird to the wharf in l::nc,for.di raer, and a very pleasant morning was spent:*- spite of many of the pi ear -c seekers being overcome by the malady dv met; At half past two the Egmont started on her trip to Upokongaro. She was crowded from stem to stern, and there could not have been less than 200 on board. The afternoon was beautifully fine,'-end a cool pleasant breeze was blowiug on the river. The steamer went as far as Kennrdy's, aucl here the excursionists landed and roamed through the garden which was thrown open to them, or wandered through the wood, or laid down under some leafy shade and enjoyed au afternoon siesta. After; spending about three hours on shore the w!v3tle sounded for the return, and after some time the pleasure seekers were a*ll, got on board, and the steamer starred on Tier 'return to I tov.-_i. The wharf was reached a 1 little after seven o'clock, and a-very -enjoyable afterI noon was spent by those who were lucky enough to secr-e places. There was aniriberleft behind when the steamer started who | were among the proverbially " too late." The Statistical. Register of New South | Wales for 1874 has recently issued from the press. The population of New South Wales, it appears, is close on GOO,OOO, and the in-crease-during the year is a little over 4 per cent, fvora births, aud ; arrivals over the sea. j The number of immigrants who arrived from the United Kingdom was only 1,685, of whom GOS came at their own expense—fignrsg which, seem ridiculously small compared with our own immigration statistics. Mort'ng's Star Combination Troupe ap7 pearedin the Freemason's Hall in' St. Hill street on Friday night*. The haT was very far-ly fill ed, hbtwithstandingltlie attractions elsewhere'which kept many away.' s Lotte was as wonderii""' as ever':'n her per iormp. ices, and called' forth repeated applause. Mr Roma went through his extraorci'nary feats with great agi'ity. Airs Morting sang some very charming songs, and Mr Morting kept the risible faculties of the , audience" on the stretch with his humorous songs. An afterpiece, withiakname which slioivd commend itself to spelling beesV created great fun; and sent the audience home in good humour. This evening the troupe performs again in the same hall, ancl from the performance we expect the place will be crowded. Among the decorations in the town wHch attracted a great deal of . notice, was the: festoon of flags which was stretched from the Post office tower to the Rutland Hotel, and having in the centre "A Merry Christmas" worked in colours, and surrounded with a border of evergreens. After dark a large Chinese lantern was suspended beneath it. A; little -after six o'clock the Volunteer Rifle Band marched to the Post office, under the--- bandmaster, Mr King, and played unf! aftei eight o'clock a choice selection of music. A ls-ge crowd assembled aud thoroughly enjoyed the treat afforded them. "Quid Nunc " thinks tlie: following paragraph which he takes from the ; Australasian applies to our present political condition : — There . is ' something grimly comic in the statement which appears this week amongst our telegraphic items, that the evidence taken regarding* the late disastrous collision between two ironclads proved that the "look-out man" of one of them was purblind. Just attend for a moment to .the incredible folly of the position. These two great ships ' were, with others of the squadron, cruising about in a dense fog. Their saf sty depended largely on the efficiency of the look-out, aud yet, although on the Vanguard they probably had some 400 or 500 men on board to select from, they chose oiie who, whatever ndight be his other physical, mental, and moral qualifications for the post, was deficient iv. the indispensable one of sight. One i_ tempted to ask by what extraordinary principle of selection such a choice is made. Doubtless there is seme highly satis'actory official answer, some invariable stupid task fell upon that man at that moment, and which could not he departed from, however the safety of the ship might be jeopardised. It Is easy to understand a 1! this. And indeed, curious as the position at first sight appes-s, it is nothing to the folly which we see exlvbited every day in political ]"'fe' There also we have to select some look-out men who have much to do with steering the state ship, and it is not necessrry to say much on the choice we make to show that it exhibits absurd''ties quite equal to that of the Vanguard. Let anybody run through the I*st of our members of Parliament, our assemblage of the wisest, aud ask himself if in the great majority of cases they are better qualified for their position than that unhappy purblind look-out man. For such work', the guidance of the political destinies of the community,' we want the best, and loftiest, aud brightest minds we can find, and we get a collection amid wh'oh one who is only purbliud.and not wholly bhnd and incapable, is at once taken as a natural leader. The lesson is that before we laugh, or after we have finished laughing, at: the choice of this poor look-out man, we should for a moment reflect whether we have not excelled this absurdity by reducing it to a system under

which clearness of vision is a serious disquah-1 fication, and only purblind .or worse than purblind guides are selected. ' Regarding the conservation of New Zealand forests the World of October 20, hs.T the following :—" Sir Julius Vogel. the Prime Minister of New Zealand, has definitely arranged to have a Forest Department after the model of that in ludia, and with the view to- its initiation and organisation has obtained the services of Caption Camp"bell Walker, at present at the head of the Forest Department,:n 'the Madras Presidency, This officer is well known by b's able reports published on the forests of' England and the Continent : for these he obtained the gold, medal of the Eoyal Highland and Agricultural Society, and it was a perusal of the in that first put the idea of a Forest Department into Sir Jvj'ius's head. The Indian Government has agreed to lend Captain Walker, as it were, on a year's probationary leave. There are to be two assistant inspectors uider him,'and. great things are anticipated from the proper development of the vast primevrl forests of the islands." ! The Scientific American, a high authority, gives tho following usefi:.. hints .—"lf mosquitoes, or other blood-suckers infest our sleeping rooms at right, we uncork a little of the oil of penny-royal, and these animals leave in great haste, nor will they retrrn so. long as the ; air in the roomds loaded with I the fumes 'of that aromatic herb. If rats enter the cellar, a little powdered potash thrown into their holes or mixed with meal and scattered in their runways never fails to i: ive them away. Cayenne pepper will keep the buttery and store-room free -"rom ants, audcbckioaokes. If a mouse makes r,;i entrance into any part of your dwelliugs, saturate a rag vith cayenne; iv solution, and stuff it into the hole,' which. can be repa'-ed with either wood or mortar. No rat or mouse vd.ll eat that rag for the paiposeof oper'ng cprnnnv: 'cation* V itli a depot of suppi'e^." J To-iv'ght the Wanganui Amateur.;; v.Vi. appear': the Oddfellows' Erdl to an enierta' r *nent swh'ch. has long been "an-' nounced. They have; been; most attentive in practising the"r -parts, and even the. eveni *gs of the:ho-idays were devoted to re-^ hearsals.:7 We .may. ■:expect- toi- see: a good: performance. The n object for which- the' performance is to be 1 given is well - known. We neecl'indulge in: no predictions about the attendance, for a large committee undertook tbe sale of tickets ; which has resulted to the:r. satisfaction. If auy of them who came late fail to find a seat they 'will have to content themselves with the knowledge of the fact that the Committee will be' sorry.: The early hours of Christmas morning were, devoted ;to the usualcarbls, which some ot" those who aire fond of th:s ancient custom still delight to adhere to. They went to a number of houses and rendered their selections in "a" beautiful manner. Everything passed off in a most agreeable, style, till towards the last ai man felt somewhat annoyed at haying a. lantern held too close to his face by one. of the performers. There was a little scene, and at one time two of .1^ were scuffling on the ground, but it passed, off : with -an explanation, and- the carollers went on as if no.th'ng'had occurred. Yesterday (Sunday) wh-'e exercising a horse along the River Bank, near Mr Imlay's, Mr John Day got thrown off, receiving a severe shaking. The assistance of Dr Marshal was obta'n-. 3, and Mv Day was attend 1 to. JTo bones were broken, a severe shaking beiug apparently all the injury, sustained. A very -serious'; accident happeru i on lau'-sday last at palmerston t t'o a"stoker I attacked to one of the rai'way eng'nes, but j whose name we were unable to leavn. One of theengines was just moving when the unfortunate man attempted to jump on it, and in doing' so fell on the rail and partly uuder theeng'ne. The flange of; the wheel caught the flesh of the thigh and cut it from the bone, and.StFc'ted'a,'ightfulgash down to the ca'f of the leg. JDr. Akers was sent for anddiessed the- wound, and did all that could be clone for the unfortunate suTerer.