LOCAL AND GENERAL

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume II, Issue 276, 21 March 1889, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Maori footballers defeated Bochdal Hornets, on Tuesday, by throe goals and try to nil. After lasting a little over two days the Maori assault ease was concluded yesterday, when Mr Booth dismissed the information. The shareholders of the South Pacific Petroleum Company are requested to meet at the Masonic Hotel at 4 o’clock this afternoon, to consider most important business. The Gisborne Oadets will attend divine service at the Holy Trinity Church on Sunday morning next. The Ormond School Band will come to town and;|play the local corps to church, Church of England country services:—Ormond 11, Makauri 1.45, Makaraka 3, Te Arai 8, Patutahi 7.

The contractor for the artesian well has succeeded in driving the pipes the full depth of the bore, over a hundred feet, but a hitch occurred which, we understand, necessitates the lifting and redriving for a short distance of the pipes. The work ie now attracting much attention and a number of visitors go up to Roebuck road each day to view the progress, It is a little more expeditious than some methods of boring for oil. A meeting of the Whataupoko Road Board was held on Tuesday afternoon, when there were present: Messrs Coleman (in the chair), Porter, Joyce, and Clayton. Mr O’Ryan submitted a report on the works required on Mangapapa, and the Clerk was ordered to prepare a list of the properties in that district, showing the increased rate which would have to be paid if these works were carried out. The estimate provides for three bridges and metalling half a mile of road, at a cost of £348. A meeting of ratepayers will be held on Tuesday next, at 7.30 p.m., to consider this estimate. The following accounts were ordered to be paid : —S. Doleman, £7O; A. J. O'Neil, £75 ; M. Jennings, £4 16s ; printing and advertising, £7 9s ; G. Humphreys, £1 10s.

Mr Fleming has sent a cablegram to Mr Pieese, the local agent of the South Pacific Petroleum Company, stating he will be pleased if delegates are sent over from New Zealand. That is just as we expected—they will go over there, be well treated, and told that they have got to look to their own end if they want to find out where to lay the blame. If they look both ways they ought not to make much mistake. It would be like playing blind-man’s-buff with a corner of one’s eye peering under the pocket-handkerchief—one might not be able to see all the parties, but there ought to be no difficulty in finding some one on whom to place one’s finger. The Aorangi has left Hobart for New Zealand. That again reminds us of the departure of ‘ the first batch of immigrants.’ Can anyone give ue information as to the number, quality, respective sizes, ages, etc., of those who are to arrive ?

The telegraph agents are getting quite lax again. The other day we were told it was reported that Mrs Langtry was not well, but there has not since been a single bulletin as to the beautiful Lily's health—we are even in entire ignorance as to how often her pulse beats to the minute. Why this most extraordinary negligence 1 By the way, Santley the ringer is going to open in Australia with “Elijah,” but notwithstanding the importance of this information we are not going over to hear him. He must be pretty hard up when all the colonial newspapers give him so much cheap advertising, without a murmur. With all respect to the ageuts we should think it would be a more interesting piece of Infor, mation it we heard that Santley was going to open his entertainments by standing on his head and singing through his nose,

A gentleman whose scientific turn of mint surpasses his discretion caused a litth sensation at the last meeting of the Borcugl Council. He pulled down the. gaselier it the front office to examine it, when he anc the Councillors and others were astoniehec by the lights suddenly going out. The first impulse of the wise Clerk was to grope through the darkness and lock the safe, while the gas of both Council and Council lore could not for the time be revived. Tbs Clerk explained that the spirits of the meter had been affected with too much or too little water—tho latter most likely; it frequently acted in the same irascible way, and a little patience would soon set it right. A little patience did set it right, and the gas went on as steadily as usual; in the meantime the scientific one fled under the cover of darkness, and his whereabouts have not since been discovered. It is supposed that he became alarmed at the waste of gas and, fearing an explosion, enquired into the matter, with the result as stated. The following is the list of civil canes to be heard at the sitting of tho Supreme Court, to be held at Gisborne next week Allan McDonald v. Bank of New South Wales, claim damages £60,000; Mere Hardy v. Bank of New Zealand, claim £l2OO and interest, to declare deed void; E.P. Joyce v. W. Maude, claim £4OO, illegal entry and sale; New Zealand Native Land Settlement Co. v. Bennett and Kahutis, prohibition, etc.; J. Mclntosh v, B. Craill and another, damages £200; New Zealand Native Land Settlement Co. v. A. F. Bommervillc and another, dissolution of partnership, etc. ; N.Z.N.L. Settlement Co, v. A. F. Bommerville, claim £345 ; N.Z.N.L. Settlement Co. v. Allan McDonald, debt £B7B 12s ; Thomas C. Williamson and others v. Mera Hara, £l5O and interest ; J. Trimmer, V, M. J. Gannon, £l2O ; T. W. Porter v. Wi Nuhaka, £lll 10s and interest; T. W. Porter v. Petera Honotapu, £286 5s and interest; W. Ratcliffe v. Bank of New Zealand, £220 and interest; Miriams Okei v. T. W. Porter, £570 ; Stewart and Stewart v. W. Graham, damages £250 ; Amirla Hanatahi and another v. Paora Kaluga and others, possession of sheep; B. Detlosta v. As Graham, specific perfoxmaaee»

The late Governor of New Zealand, Sir W. Jervois, left Wellington for Australia, by the Wairarapa, on Tuesday afternoon. He was accompanied by Miss Jervois. In common with other railway companies, the Lancashire and Yorkshire authorities have, for years, granted season tickets to corn factors and colliery owners at reduced rate. On and after the first of January this privilege will be extended to all classes of traders, subject to the trader passing a certain amount of traffic over the Lancashire and Yorkshire line.

An accident of rather a peculiar, but nevertheless serious, nature happened at Otaki a day or two ago. Rockets were being fired from the balcony of an hotel, when by some mischance one shot down into the street, and exploded. Three persons were seriously in jured, and two slightly, while several others had a very narrow escape.

The ketch Zillah sailed for Auckland on Tuesday morning, taking—2so sacks barley, Graham, Pitt and Bennett; 13 sacks barley, 4 casks tallow, Orr ; 103 sacks barley, order; 2 tons bones, | ton honey, 2 bales skins, Hatton and Score.

Mr Robert Dennis, proprietor of the Court and Society Review, sued Mr J. Henniker Heaton, M.P. for Canterbury, for £5OO. The claim was for writing speeches, articles in the National Review, letters to the Times, and to the Postmaster-General, from 1885 to 1888, for the defendant. The plaintiff also claimed for writing the statement made by Mr Heaton before the Colonial Conference on postal matters. The action has been settled out of Court, the defendant prying £4OO and £2OO costs.

Balfour has broken his leg I But it is not the Irishmen’s oppressor—it is an animal that ran at the Waipawa races. One Irishman is reported to have said when the accident took place, that they could not expect a horse that ran under such a name to come to any better end. An anti-Home Rule paper puts it very sarcastically—‘•Justice to Ireland in a small degree. Whoop, la ” I The people of the United States use annually about seven postal-cards for every man, woman, and child ; that is to say, their total consumption for a year reaches 400,000,000, which is considerably more than are employed by all the rest of the world,

Mr O. W. Oldreive lately suceeded in walking on the waters of ths Hudson river from Albany to New York, a distance of 150 miles, for a wager of £lOO. His average progress was about 24 miles a day. He always met with the tide. The shoes he wore are made of cedar, lined with brass. They are five feet long and a foot wide. Each is airtight, with a space in the centre for the foot. On the bottom are three fins, so arranged that when the shoe moves forward they are pressed up against the bottom, and when the shoe is at rest they hang downwards, like paddle-wheel buckets,

What are the times coming to P At its last meeting the Borough Council received among other tenders one at a ehilliny each for burying horses and cattle I Proportionately a telegraph messenger would make far higher wages than that ; but we suspect the tenderers had an eye to business when they made the offer, having an idea that there would not be more than one or two horees or cattle to bury during a twelve month, for they asked exactly the same amount for burying sheep or pigs. Another person tendered at 7s 6d for burying horses or cattle, while he only asked Is 6i for sheep, etc. The nightsoil contract was let at just half the price of what it was formerly, a fact which householders will appreciate, and the reduction is no doubt in a great measure attributable to the lengthened term of service.

Englishmen have not a political interest on the continent of Europe which is worth to them the life of one Somersetshire or Northumbrian grenadier. I would let the Eastern question settle itself. The way to India is pretty well secured now ; and the way to India was one of the great pretexts for policy such as that which led to the Crimean war. I have a strong conviction myself that England’s Eastern Question is the question of what she is to do with the poor and the wretched in the East End of London and the regions of other great cities which are in a like condition with our East End.—Justin M'Carthy. A well known firm of wholesale spirit dealers in Edinburgh recently received the following order from a publican in a thriving manufacturing town not a hundred miles from the Scottish capital: “ Gentlemen, if you feel inclined, you can forward o c cask of whisky on Monday without fail. The last one you sent performed many intricate func tions. It cheered many hearts, and shed many a tear; emptied many pockets, and filled many a purse. Yes, it elevated many minds, and then clothed them with despair. The manufacturer of such a compound ought to have a monument.” The writer had evidently been acting under the inspiration of sundry “nips” of the famous blend when he penned his order. In his case literary fluency and whisky “ Gang thegither.”

A novel mode of advertising was recentljadopted by a theatrical company in Baltimore. It eerved supcenas on a large number of people, summoning them to appear as witnesses in a case of the State* against two burglars at a certain house in a certain street. The documents seemed perfectly genuine till the receivers found that the given address was that of the theatre, where the case referred to was set forth in a sensational drama. Something very much the same was done in Gisborne not many months ago. “ I drank, ” said P. P. Barnum, the great showman, “ more or less intoxicating liquors from 1837 to 1847. The last four of these years I was in England ; and there the habit and my appetite for liquor grew so strong from month to month that I discovered that

if continued it would certainly work my ruin. With a tremendous effort and a most determined resolution I broke the habit off, and resolved never to practice it again, I have religiously kept that resolution for more than forty years. Had I not done so, I should have been in my grave a quarter of a century ago ; for my health had already begun to be effected by alcohol,”

The H.B, Herald puts the matter very plainly in regard to the Dunedin •■lmposition.’’ It says I —“ Is it true that the bulk of the taxation comes from the workers, and

that all disbursements by the Government really mean spending the workers’ money? It eo, how can the grant of £lO.OOO to the Dunedin Exhibition be justified 1 It is only a private speculation. If the Government profess to believe that the Exhibition is a colonial affair, why was not the matter submitted to Parliament ? And why was not a central site for it chosen ? The money is a pure gift to a clique of Dunedin merchants and property owners, who think that an exhibition will make local trade brisk and cause local houses to be let. Why people in Hawke’s Bay should be compelled to contribute towards the wasteful expenditure of money in Dunedin is difficult to understand.” That is the proper way to look at the thing—when tho honest toiler next goes to buy a pound of tea or sugar he should remember that a fraction of its cost has to go towards a gift of £lO,OOO which tbe Government intend to make to a few Dunedin merchants, publicans, and property owners ! We wonder if the working men of this and other districts clubbed together to run a show for the gatemoney and perquisites, whether the Government would come forward with £lO,OOO to give the thing an air of propriety—and help II the workingmen’s pockets. The ordinary run of people are supposed to pay their debts before they indulge in the extravagance of making gifts to other people, but it does not appear to be so with Government. The fact that they have the handling offithe money seems to be sufficient grounds for the right to expend it for doubtful purposes. By the swamping of an outrigger boat a Invercargill John Cranley, one of a crew of four, is believed to have been drowned. At a meeting of natives in the Taupo district an attempt is being made to undermine the influence of Te Kooti and his religion. A meeting of the Turanganui Football Club was held on Tuesday evening, when the following officers were elected—A. Thompson Captain, 0. Morgan Secretary, end L. Maude, I F, Sheriff, 3, Crawford, A. Steele, and A, Wltiy were appointed a oeiatfllttee-, j I

According to a Gisborne paper “the pound yard is to be shifted to Carnarvon street.”

Mr Quigley requires tenders for building a dwelling house on the Whataupoko. The Clansman is daily expected to arrive from Newcastle with a cargo of coa’. Tenders are called for, by Mr A. Graham, for driving 2000 wethers to the Hawke’s Bay Freezing Works.

By a recent colliery explosion in South France fifteen lives were lost.

A Wellington telegram states that a lodging house keeper named Fitzpatrick has been sentenced to 14 days' imprisonment for obtaining goods on false pretences. The native charged with criminally assaulting a little girl, was on Tuesday last, committed to take his trial at the next sitting of the Supreme Court. Bail was allowed accused in £2OO, and two sureties in the same amount.

A meeting of the senior oadets was held last evening, when it was resolved to commence rifle practice next Saturday morning at 6 o’clock. The senior division is awaiting replies from clothing firms preparatory to obtaining a serviceable uniform. There has been a better attendance at the Tent during the past few evenings. The meetings have been interesting and the weather all that could be desired. Last night the subject contrasted the true Christan with the mere professor. Severe criticiemns were passed on the hypocrisy so often clothed as Christianity. The Seven Trumpets or Finishing the Mystery of God will be the subject this evening. This deals with the political history of the Roman Empire and the three war trumpets which close the present dispensation.

A fatal accident, attended with circumstances of a most sorrowful nature, occurred yesterday morning. Percy Harris, son of Mr Harris, of Whataupoko, went out with Mrs Hansen, of Makauri, to drive some cattle. He was riding a quiet horse, but the lad becomin g displaced in his seat the horse took fright; the rider became entangled in a rope which was tied round the home’s neck, and hewas dragged a distance of about 400 yards, ever rough ground. Mrs Hansen’s little girl, who was going to school at the time, stopped the horse, but when Mrs Hansen caught up to the lad, the poor little fellow was dead. There was no bridle or saddle on the horse. The boy was about fifteen years, but small for his age. An inquest will be held this afternoon.

On the account for £2 for hire of City Rink for the Te Kooti meeting coming up at tbe Borough Council, attention was drawn to the fact that Mr Townley (the owner of the Rink) was a member of the Council, and therefore the account was held over, It appears that •• The Local Bodies Contractor's Act, 1885," renders any member who knowingly receives payment of any account from the Council liable to a penalty of £lO, while those members who vote for tbe payment are 'table to be mulcted in £2O each. ‘‘The Municipal Corporations Act, 1886,” disqualifies a member if he receives a payment of more than £5 at once or £lO in the year, but this does not affect the account in question, which seems to be covered by the first mentioned Act. The circumstances altogether in connection with the amount are curious. Mr Townley presented the amount as a subscription to the Vigilance Committee; the account had been sent in by his clerk, in the belief that there was no obstacle to its payment, and he then intended to hand the amount over,