Wanganui Herald. (PUBLISHED DAILY). MONDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1883.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XVII, Issue 5238, 17 December 1883, Page 2

Wanganui Herald. (PUBLISHED DAILY). MONDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1883.

The returns on the Wanganui section of railway for the four-weekly period ending the 10th November show a very material falling off on the corresponding period of the previous year, the total takings reaching the sum of £3559 against £4022. The decline is about equally distributed between passengers and goods. The falling off on the New Plymouth section is equally marked, the amount being £1052 against £1309. The Auckland section gives £6668 againßt £6377. The Wellington section shows £3843 against £3710. The Napier section shows a slight falling off, £2850 against £2777. The great South lines are stationary. These results are not very encouraging, as they mark the depression almost everywhere existing. In Wanganui they are very deplorable. In other parts of the colony public works are going on, but the authorities seem to think we have got as much as we are entitled to. It is a remarkable fact that the only colonising body on the coast, if we except the Waimate, Plains, that has opened up back country is the Wanganui Harbor Board. The Yogel policy has shown the nakedness of the land. If there is not population on the land the country cannot go ahead. And what is more pressing, if there is not population it is very doubtful whether the colony cannot continue to pay its interest without taxation which will prove ruinous.

The people of New Plymouth are beginning to discover that the present Government have been long enough in office, if we may judge from the hostile criticism of the Taranaki Herald. It is better late than never, but the material for doubting whether the Government policy wascalculatedto advance the interests of the colony has existed for some considerable time. The Waitara Press and Colonel Trimble, M.H.R., are of a contrary opinion, and both are very certain that above all other places New Plymouth has most reason to be satisfied with, the powers that be. If this is correct, it may appear ungrateful in the community not showing gratitude for the favors conferred upon it. But political gratitude is best expressed in " a lively expectation of favors to come,' and as the loan business is nearly exhausted, we are not surprised at the ' cooling off ' which has lately been going on. We have not the slightest objection to the trenchant criticism our contemporary the Herald is indulging at the expense of the Atkinson Ministry. Besides the pleasure afforded in finding our opinions supported in an unexpected quarter, it is quite refreshing to see our Taranaki friends becoming lively and interesting. The Herald thinks that the reason Waitara and Colonial Trimble are satisfied may be found in the advance of £6000 from the Trust Funds of the Waitara harbor.

During the past week, £254- 7s 4d was collected at the Wanganui branch of H.M. Customs. This consisted of £205 18s 2d for Customs duties, and £48 9s 2d for beer stamp duty. A Southern paper says that the Minister of Education has decided that plain cooking is to be taught to girls in the public schools, and that it wH be a compulsory subject of instruction. The Irish Magistrate, whose name Earl Spencer removed from the commission of the peace for County Monaghau, was Earl Rossmore, who took part in organising an Orange meeting at Rosslea on October 16. A novel request was, according to the Taranaki Herald, made lately by Robert Barnes, of Devon Street, carpenter, who applied to the Resident Magistrate, in open Court, that a prohibition order under the Licensing Act might be granted, prohibiting anyone fiom suppling himself with intoxicating liquors for twelve months. The order was of course granted. The crops in the Waverley district are looking very well just now, and, in fact, all the way up the coast, though the farmers generally express the opinion that if there is not some fine weather shortly, they will be too heavy and spoil, The wheat is very forward, and Messrs' Howie Bros., of Sfcrathmore, have one of the finest crops we have seen this season. ' Mr John Handley, of Okeho, also, has some fine paddocks, and there are a number of other for ward crops. A Melbourne owner, who • visited his recently acquired station possession — his first purchase of the kind — seized every occasion to display his knowledge of bush oraft. He had a town friend with him, says " and held forth learnedly, and his manager was sufficiently adroit not to correct or contradict him. It was hard to bear sometimes. As, for instance, when he pointed out the brand of one of the horses ; the hair had &..'own well over the seared part, and, sticking out, showed the station brand very plainly. " That," said he, " is how I intend to have all my horses branded in future — quite distinct without burning off the hair. There is a man employed on the steamer Waitara who has earned amongst the Natives the name of "Taipo." He wears a set of false teeth, and it is to their agency he owes this somewhat novel but decidedly unpleasant appellation. The advent of the steamer at the quarries being the principal event of the day, the Natives gather in large numbers at the landing place, and when their room is preferable to their company, the man whose dentist has done so much for him comes to the rescue. His mode of procedure is simple and original, but very effective. He quietly makes up to a crowd of Natives, and when in their midst, by a movement of the mouth, he allows the teeth to fall out, exhibiting to the astonished spectators his toothless gums. The expression of their faces is a study, and as soon as they collect their sense 3, they scamper off with cries of "Taipo," and as they retreat their terror is not lessened b f observing the teeth being thrown after them. Unfortunately, the trick having been played on several occasions, it has lost its awe inspiring effects, and some other dodge will have to be invented to keep the Natives from being a nuisance.

There was a clean sheet , at the Police Court again this morning, A daylight Government paracte of the City Rifles, with the Garrison Band, is called for this evening at 6 o'clock. The Lyceum yesterday morning was successfully inaugurated, 22 children being present. In the evening Mrs Moore delivered before the Freethought Association a most eloquent lecture on " Woman's Influence." The lectui-er traced the influence through all the family relationship, and showed the importance of a thorough education of an intellectual character. It would be impossible in a brief notice to do justice to so eloquent a lecture. It will probably we published in pamphlet form. There was a large attendance. A rather sin o ilar case (says the Taranaki Herald) was brought in for medical treatment from Hawera to the Hospital. The son of Mr Read, of Hawera, storekeeper, about two years old, was playing with some wheat, a g/ain of which entered the ear and caused great pain. Medical aid was obtained at Hawera, but all efforts to extract the grain were unavailing. The child was brought into town two days ago, and taken to the Hospital, where Dr o 'Carrol performed a rather delicate operation, and was successful in extracting the grain of wheat, which had swollen to six or eight times its original size and had caused excruciating pain. A recent convert of the Salvation Army, reputed to be one of the oldest gaol birds in Melbourne, has been at Maryborough during the past week endeavoring to reform the fallen denizens of the Chinese Camp. The visitor sold the ' War Cry ' from door to door, and held long conversations on religious subjects with those who would listen to him. As ono result of these conferences, Mr Stamp, the Mayor, was called upon a day or two ago by one of the female residents of the camp, who, with many tears, stated that she desired to reform. From her story it appeared that she was the daughter of a leading citizen of Eallarat. She was supposed by her family to he dead, but had been living in houses of ill-fame under an assumed name. Mr Stamp, at her request, placed himself in communication with her father at Ballarat, who telegraphed that he would joyfully receive her: She was sent home under the escort of a lady whom the Mayor prevailed upon to act as cJiaperone, and was received with open arms by her relatives: — ' Age ' telegram. A Cork telegram reports : From the statement of Captain Olivari in reference to the terrible affray at sea, it appears that on the morning of the 7th he was on deck at four o'clock and relieved the mate's watch. He then returned to his berth, and in a short time he heard a noise in the mate's room, Looking out to see what was the matter he observed Antonio approaching his berth. He gave an alarm, and Antonio rushed ujian him with a razor. The captain Lad only time to throw out his legs and defend himself as best he could, receiving several wounds in the extremities. The captain seized the razor, which was pulled through his hand, causing severe injuries. The mate had in the meantime recovered his strength sufficiently to come to the assistance of the captain. He fired his revolver at the assailant, but the bullet", missing him, wounded the captain in both legs. The mate, then placing the revolver up to the breast of /ntonio, exclaimed, " Die, you dog !" and fired. The charge pierced his body, and he fell dead. "A practical chemist " writes as follows to the Times : — Sir, — I crave a few lines of your valuable space in order to put materfatnilias on their guard against a serious danger to health. My wife purchased some Turkey red twill, which is so largely used for lining dressing gowns and making children's frocks, and consulted me as to the cause of its having become perfectly wet, though placed in a dry cupboard. On subjecting it to chemical analysis, I found it to be heavily loadedwith the chlorides of calcium and magnesium, salts noted for the eargerness with which they absorb water from the atmosphere, thus ensuring a damp state of the clothing except in the very driest weather. The adulteration (the subject of which is beside the present question) may be detected by the saline taste of ttye twill, and may be removed by soaking it ii a large quantity of cold water for an hour or two. This does not shrink the twill, and ■ may prevent an attack of rheumatic fever. The game of billiards was invented about the middle of the sixteenth century by a London pawnbroker named William Kew. In wet weather this pawnbroker was in the habit of taking down three balls and with the yard measure pushing them, billiardfashion, from the counter into the stalls ; in time the idea of a board with side-pockets suggested itself. A black letter manuscript says : " Master William Kew did make one board whereby a game is played with three balls ; and all the young men were greatly recreatsd thereat, chiefly the clergymen from St Pawles ; hence of one ye strokes was named a ' cannon,' having been by one of ye said clergymen invented. The game is now known by the name of 'bill -yard,' because William or Bill Kew did first play a yardmeasure. The stick is called a ' kew 'or 'kue.'" It is easy to compiehend how " bill-yard " has been modernized into " billiard ;" and the transformation of " kew," or "kue," into " cue," is equally apparent. The Parliament of Tasmania lately did a funny thing in connection with the passage of a new licensing bill. The 14th clause of the bill, we are told, is framed to prevent interested persons being elected as members of the licensing bench, and it provides that a malster, a brewer, a distiller, an importer of liquor for sale, and a dealer in liquor, or any person directly or indirectly interested beneficially as owner or part owner of a public-house, shall not be eligible. Not contented with this, however, the learned legislators of the " tight little island " while discussing the bill added an amendment to it rendering ineligible for election to the licensing bench Good Templars, and " a member of any society pledged to the suppression of the traffic in intoxicating liquors." In regard, however, to this queer inhibition the Hobart paper remarks that " the legislature has no right to deprive a man of his rights as a citizen, or to limit the scope of his duties as a public man, because of the opinions he may hold, though it has an undoubted right to enact securities against a public duty being corruptly or badly done for the sake of private gain." It is just possible, therefore, that the preposterous amendment may be rescinded before the bill finally reaches the statute-book. The Odessa correspondent of the Daily Telegraph sends the following: — "A trial which has just concluded has excited|"a good deal of interest in the south of Russia. From the statements made in Court it appears that the prisoner, Prince Eristoff, a young man, 23 years of age, had fallen violently in love with his cousin, the wife of the military commandant at Batoum. The commandant forbade Prince Eristoff his house, and, finding that the young man intended to disobey his orders, posted a force of soldiers in his grounds. Prince Eristoff, accompanied by his servant, entered the garden and was received by ashower of balls. The servant fell dead, and his master, escaping as by a miracle, was arrested and charged with burglary and theft. Thanks to the exertions of his advocate, the Prince was acquitted." An exchange has the following: — : 'A Chinaman criticising Christian civilisation, in fluent and forcible English, was one of the remarkable incidents of a recent meetiug of the Melbourne Presbytery. Mr Cheock Hong Cheong appeared as a commissioner from the Fitzroy congregation in support of a call. Mr Cheong has been walking about (says the Argus) with his eyes open, and the result of his observations is that he has arrived at the conclusion that Fitzroy presents a vast field for missiona y enterpiise. Several venerable members of the court arched their eyebrows at this unlooked-for announcement from the shrewd Celestial, but their astonishment was intensified when Mr Cheong proceeded to express his conviction that there were more heathens in Fitzroy than on any island on the New Hebrides. The young ministers smiled significantly, but the • fathers of the church ' looked grave, for the conversion of the New Hebrides is one of their pet projects. The inferential suggestion that the missionaries sent to the New Hebrides would be more usefully employed within a mile or Wo of Collins Street was evidently not relished by the ' fathers and brethren,' and the plain-spoken Celestial sat down in silence."

A meeting of the promoters of the Royal ,Arcfa Chapter of Masons to' be formed in this town will be held at the institute to-moirow everting at 8 o'clock to sign the petition appointing officers, etc. Tho distribution of prizes in connection with the Boys High School is arranged to take place at 11 o'clock on Friday next ; of the girls at noon ; and the infants school at 2 p.m. on the same date. The Peilding Star remarks : — The history of the colony under ths Atkinson regime has been one of financing — successful enough in its way — but on principles commercially unsound. Three years more of such' Government will leave the colony hopelessly bankrupt. We have much pleasure in stating that the proceeds from the exhibition of needlework of the Girl's High School have reached the handsome amount of £50, which will be further augmented by certain returns to come in, to between £55 or £60. A valuable dog, used for pig-hunting by some bushfaller3 in the Manawatu district, ran in between the wheels of the engine as it crossed the Quay this morning to take up the south train. The dog, which was worth a good sum to its owners, was dragged along some distance on the line, and presented a sickening sight to passengers on the platform. In the absence of the Rev. T. L. Tudor, who was at Feilding, preaching the funeral sermon on the late Mr A. Dawson, the Rev. Mr Harvey conduced the services at Christ Church morning and evening yesterday." It was announced that the usual Friday evening service this week would not be held, but one would take place at 7.30 on Wednesday evening instead, when the Rev. Mr Twogood, of Marton, will preach. The anmual general summoned meeting of the local lodge of Forester's is called for Wednesday evening next, when it is hoped there will be a very full muster of members. The proceedings are very important, and include, amongst other matters, the election of officers, nominations for which were received at the last lodge meeting. The nominations are very numerous, and as an exciting election is expected, it is hoped members will turn up in force. With a view to economy and g. -eater efficiency, Mr Duthie has given notice that, at the next ordinary meeting of the Harbor Board, he will move a resolution to the effect that it is desirable all clerical and other office duties should be combined under one head ; that the services of a collector should be dispensed with ; that the control and management of the wharf should be vested in one wharfinger ; and that the duties of harbormaster should be amalgamated with those of chief pilot. — Post. Mr Jensen of the Ship Hotel, sustained a serious loss this morning by an accident to a horse which he valued at a considerable sum. The animal was tethered to the fence adjoining the railway opposite Murray's foundry, and the engine for the north train coming down, the horse got frightened and tried to break away. It commenced to jump about in a frantic mnner, with the result that it got -one leg over the rope, and in its struggles broke the limb, which rapidly swelled [up. Mr Jensen, on finding that nothing could be done for the poor beast, was reluctantly compelled to shoot it: It will be seen from the entries elsewhere that the Wanganui Rifles have been singularly successful in their entries for the various running events at their sports on Boxing Day, the entrance money from which I will be pretty considerable. Among the competitors, it will be noticed, the name of Mr John Walker appears, who is truly a f veteran ped, he having been a champion in his younger days. The various events appear to be exciting considerable interest, and, given good weather, a capital day's sport should be provided. Every arrangement is being made for a successful turn out in connection with the Christmas tree of the Infants' School on Frii day afternoon next. The proceedings will | commence at 2 o'clock, and the ball will be opened by the children (with the exception of the two lower classes), giving a number of vocal"selections, etc. After half-an-hour or so spent in this manner, the tree with the gifts for the little ones will be robbed of its fruit, which will be distributed amongst the youngsters. Mrs Hoey requests parents not to interfere with the children or their prizes till the affair is brought to a close. Those parents and friends who intended sending gifts for the Christmas tree, but have not yet done so, are requested to forward them as early as possible. We understand that application has been made to Major Stapp for the use of the Drill Hall for the occasion, as was the case in former years. He has not yet replied, but we have no doubt there will be no difficulty in granting the request. Nothing can be a better proof of the advancement of the lodge of any friendly society and the interest of its members in the internal affairs thsrn a good competition Or the various offices of the c jsutive. Th 'ocal lodge of Foresters are singularly successful in this respect, and the continual additions to their numbers is a sure indication of the popularity of the lodge and its healthy financial condition. For the election of officers to be held ou Wednesday evening the nominations which were received at the last ordinary lodge night, are very numerous, and an interesting contest is expected. Of course only one member (except the P.C.K.'s) is eligible for the chief office, but for the sue-chief Ranger's seat there are six nominations j for the senior and jxxnior woodwards, two each ; for the senior Beadle, two, and junior, three. There are also three candidates for initiation on Wednesday evening. A most enjoyable concert in aid of the school library fund of the Waverley school was held in the Town Hall there on Friday evening last, and proved a gi'eat success, the place being full, notwithstanding the inclement weather, and everything passed off capitally. The entertainment was given under the superintendence of Mr Ellis, who was assisted by Messrs Bridge, Calnan, and others, and several of the school children. Songs, readings, recitations, etc. were given, some of them being of a high order, notably the recitations "Mary Queen of Scots " and the " Bingen on the Rhine," by two of the children. The accompaniments were given by Miss Allsworth in her usual finished style, and throughout the affair proved most enjoyable. At the conclusion a dance was held, which was kept up till about 2 o'clock, there being a good attendance also at this part of the proceedings, a number of the children beiug present. The satisfactory sum of £15 was netted by the entertainment. Three cricket matches with local clubs were played on Saturday last. The Railway Club, who went to Fordell with a break and five-in-hand, played a team from that place, and were beaten by 30 runs, the scores being : Railway, Ist inninprs, 63 ; second, 54. Fordell, Ist innings, 56 ; second, 91. For the Railway, Turnerfand Bone were the only players who made any scores, Turner putting together 36 and 17, and Bone Bin the Ist innings. For the local eleven, which by the way was a strong one, consisting of players from a considerable distance, King and Morse were the principal scorers. A most enjoyable^ time-w-as—HpenluJ;lie_visitl)rs being treated to a capital lunch, anoTevfcry— thing passed off most harmoniously. A good match resulted between the Collegiate School Eleven and the Derbyshire team, the latter winning by 13 runs. The scores were, Derbyshire, 25 and 86 ; and the School, 42 and 57. For the visitors, Mills (14), H. R. Fitzherbert (10), A. R. Fitzherbert (11), A. Bills (12), and N. Fitzherbert (13) did the most of the scoring ; and for the boys, Marshall, a3 usual, came to the front, with 9 and 24, Ward 10, Lucena 9 (not out.) The match between the Lillywhites and the Union Club was not concluded, the result being a draw in favor of the Lillywhites: The Unions made 30 and 62 ; and the Lillywhites, 40. For the former in their first innings, Roddy, with 11 was the only one to obtain double figures, and in the second, Jones made 24 and Boyce, 12. The highest scorer for the Lillywhites was Saywell, with 9. We are sorry to see our poetic friend fo the Corner Boot Shop under a cloud ; those bills of sale are sharp instruments, and like the Sword of Domocles, suspended over the devoted head only by a hair. We have missed our friend's poetic effusions for some time ; no wonder ; when the wings are clipped the bird can soar no longer. We would recommend our readers to try a pair from the L orner Shop. Save money and dispel the cloud. — Advtl-