TO THE EDITOR.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 9393, 21 March 1898, Page 3

TO THE EDITOR.

Sin,— The article in this morning's paper will lead the public to snppose that I had seen the staff of your contemporary and given them some particulars about the supposed Maori death at Koriniti. I have not seen any of their representatives, and some of the statements made in that paper are not true. In the first place, the uld Maori chief was not sitting up, and from what I saw of him I do not think he will ever do so again. I never ventured the opinion to anyone that he would get better with medical aid. lam not qualified to judge of that, but if I have any opinion about the matter it is very much different to that. The Maoris did not propose to bring the body down to Wanganui, bat to have buried it at Koriniti. 1 never got £20 on account, and I never gave or promised to give the Maoris who took me up the river £10. Th 9 arrangements were made witktheir own people. , Please publish the above so that the natives may see that I have not spread false reports " about the matter.— l am, etc., W. Calman. Wanganui," March 21. In view of the above, it may not prove Uninteresting to our readers if we refer to ' a similar incident that occurred in Wanganui many years ago. The late Rev Richard Taylor, of Putikij was sent for to bury an old chief named Matene at Koriniti. The missionary made all haste toHhe up-river .""settlement, and on his arrival he was surprised to find the old chief pitting up -in his coffin. When Mr Taylor had recovered from his" surprise,' he demanded an explanation from Matene.' The latter re- '" plied that h"e had made up his mind he was to die a few days previously, and he had inßtrticted his tribe to send for the missionary to come up and bury him. After the messenger had left the old chief sail he had changed his mind, and he was not going to dio yet awhile. So strong was the belief of the tribe in Matene's' power to die when he chose that at his request they made the coffin and lifted him into it. It is evident it must have been a bad fit. as the corpus determined he .would not die just then, and carried 'out his intention, for he lived for some time after that.