The Gisborne Standard AND COOK COUNTY GAZETTE. Published Every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday Morning. Thursday, January 2, 1890. THE OLD YEAR.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume III, Issue 398, 2 January 1890, Page 2

The Gisborne Standard AND COOK COUNTY GAZETTE. Published Every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday Morning.

Thursday, January 2, 1890. THE OLD YEAR.

Be just and fear not; Let al] the ends thon airn’at at be thy country's, Thy God’s, and truth’s.

At the.conclusion of each year it is customary to make a commentary on the events that have transpired during its course, and whether in matters concerning the people as a whole or in our private relations, the custom is one that may be of great advantage. It is usual at the beginning of a year to form resolutions of a high character, and the termination of a year is a fitting period to make a retrospect, and judge of our successes and our shortcomings. A public journal Has only to concern itself with matters of interest to the people as a body. The year has been one of great moment in the world’s history. The great struggle between labor and capital was no doubt the leading feature, and the victory of labor was an event pregnant with great import to the future. The leading part which the Australian colonies were enabled to take in the decision of the battle gave the-n a prominence which in future difficulties will always ensure regard for whatever action the colonies'may take. Unhappily, littledisappointments have occurred in connection with the dispensation of the funds, but it was hardly to be expected that there would not be some vexations in the hurried

wav in which things were arranged. The triumph of labor was a great achie -ement, and will in itself mark the year- 1889 as one that will have a prominent place in historical chronicles. The first half of the year gave a fearful record of horrors. The Czar’s life was attempted on New Year’s Day, and' in the first week of January there, was an epidemic of suicides all over the world. Then came newsof a revolution in Hayti, of guerilla invasion of Spain, of an earthquake in Costa Rica, of the massacre of mis sionaries in East Africa, and of 200 people frozen to death in Russia. An epidemic-set in of collisions on the-sea. There were five collisions in the English Channel in a month, with a loss of oyer a hundred and twenty lives. The steamer Priam was lost off the coast of

Spain, and many lives were lost; the Hohenstaufen was disabled, the steamer Cotopaxi was sunk in the straits of Magellan, the barque Enchantres's was wrecked, another boat went to pieces on the coast of the West Indies, a French torpedo boat foundered, the emigrant ship Denmark was lost on the Atlantic, the Sir Walter Raleigh went down with a fatality of five lives, and last, but not least, there fell upon us the news of the awful hurricane at S»moa, and the loss of five men-of-war of the German and United States navies. This is a part of the awful record of disaster by water brought to a horrible climax by the floods in America, through which 15,000 people lost their lives, and 40.000,000 dollars worth of property was destroyed. Then was received word of the sinking, through collision with the ship lolanthe, of the ship Cape Verde. Fire played a dreadful part. In Quebec 500 houses were destroyed, in Northamptonshire a great fire occurred, at which many lives were lost; New York had a conflagration at which 3.000,000 dollars worth of property was swallowed up; Smithfield in lhe United States was visited by a scourge of flame, and London was severely visited; and the dreadful fire in China takes its place on the list. But there remains the record of earthquakes in Central America, the eruption of lava from Vesuvius, a terrible ’ colliery explosion at Halford, Connecticut, at which there was a sacrifice of fifty lives, while at Manchester thirty miners were destroyed through the same cause, and much loss of life occurred through the subsidence of a coalmine at Newcastle. At Armagh, Ireland, 150 children lost their lives through a railway- collision! War,’pestilence, and famine also played Aheir -part. -Yellow fever in Rip de Janeiro carried off 125 lives daily for a time; and in China such a famine was devastating the population as was never known before in the history of the country. There has been war in Abyssinia, in Sikkim, in Samoa, in Hayti, in Borneo, and in Armenia, and war clouds were still looming over the Great Powers. But Outside of war itself, there have been social upheavals, anarchy' in Spain, socialist troubles in Germany and Austria, while in Russia, there have been four demoniac attempts made upon the life of the Czar. The King of Servia set aside his right of royalty and fled the troubles 4>f a troub lous country, and the King of Abyssinia was killed in battle. But chief among such events there stands out in horrible distinctiveness the suicide of Rudolph of Austria, the heir to the Crown of Austria and Hungary. An . American journal states that in the first four months of the year there were 700 suicides in the United States, and even throughout the colonies the disease, qr whatever it may be, which impels men to destroy themselves has been raging in a more virulent form than usual..

The latter part, of the year has fortunately not been so prolific of horrors, but the experience h»? been a bad one. The explosion of the cartridge factory at Antwerp, by which hundreds of people lost their lives, and thousands of pounds worth of property was destroyed, stands out in grim prominence, There was a terrible disaster at Quebec, through the subsidence of a portion of the Dufferin terrace, and there were severe earthquakes in Japan and elsewhere, the subsidence of a mine in Prussia, the Glebe colliery disaster (Australia), and many other calamiti s on lapd and sea, including the wreck of the steamer Afghan. Thera was a revolution in Brazil, and trouble still exists between England and Portugal. In matters having a more immediate bearing on social life, the case of Mrs Maybrick, who was convicted of having poisoned llusband. h pne that wilt long he remembered, as will also the Kaiwarra murder case, in Wpllington. Neither of the adjudged criminals have yet had sentence executed upon them. The marvellous experiences of „thc

famous Mr Stanley wiff lie in no way decreased in popidtir eSrtmajio.u by jhe .fact that there is good reason to believe thatiMr Stanley and Emin Bey are for ■the time being safe from the worst’ of the perils through which they have undergone. The death of Searle, the champion sculler of the world, has naturally caused a feeling of deep regret in rhe sporting world, and given proof of the high position which such professionals hold in the minds of a large proportion of the people in comparison with the small amount of appreciation that is sometimes shown for the work of men who have done some real service for humanity.

The greatest Exhibition the world has ever Seen has recently been celebrated in Paris, and the Exhibition now being held in New Zealand has been given a high rank, though our own opinion is that the colony could have got on better without such shows, at any rate fqr a few years to come. Still it is a matter for congratulation that once the undertaken was decided upon, local feeling was immediately suppressed and a’l parts of the colony heartily co-operated to ensure the success of the scheme.

Coming to local matters, it is undeniable that the district as a whole is steaddy progressing, though the town business has been very dull. The establishment of the frozen meat industry is a great step in advance, and the great event of a large ocean-going steamer being despatched to Gisborne to take a load of frozen meat to England passed off without special notice of any kind. Had the advent of such a steamer been prognosticated a few years previously the idea would have been laughed into ridicule. But this month a second big vessel is expected in the buy to take Home another valuable cargo, while our woolships are taking greatly increased quantities of the golden fleece. The season has so far been one of the best the district has been favored with for years. Two dairy factories continue in active operation, converting a greater quantity of milk into produce than has ever been previously done in the district. The factories are a gr -at boon to dairy farmers, as the freezing works are to these engaged in sheepfarming. The factories were only maintained on the industry being entered into, at considerable risk of joss to themselves, by a few individuals imbued with a spirit i of enterprise and encouraged by an earnest desire for the advancement of the district Unfortunately, to the ordinary risks there has been added the difficulty of obtaining means of shipment for the produce manufactured—a difficulty the seriousness of which it is not possible to estimate at the present.! There has during the year been a praiseworthy endeavor to organise a system of cooperation among thoee who are conducting farm operations on a moderate scale, and it is hoped that success may attend the efforts of those who have interested themselves in such a worthy movement.

Among the notable local incidents of the year have been theTe Kooti trouble, an earthquake of unprecedented (severity in Gisborne, and an election contest. The first trouble finally terminated a long-standing cause of alarm, the second event we can now afford to smile at, and the third event was remarkable for the good feeling which characterised it throughout, though it was fought so vigorously. We had during the year an almost per feet immunity from disasters' of any kind. Fires have been of very rare occurrence, and our Brigade has, as usual, maintained its high position in . regard to efficiency. In scholastic matters the district has been very successful, and if our High School has good success in the matriculation examinations tWe district will have much reason to be proud of its youthful population. The oil. industry has given, rise to another extraordinary phase, which fully emphasises advice long given by us, that the hopes of the district must not' be alloWed to rest on (the chance of a flow of oil being Obtained. The present circumstances may at any rate lead to a change in the system of managing things, a change which has long been necessary. Tne breakwater continues to advance .and has already accommodated many of the smaller boats belonging to the Union Company. We all hope that it may be of great utility to the distridt, and during the present year there will be an opportunity to thoroughly test it. The district as a whole has certainly no reason to deplore the past year, and many good reasons could be given why we should be pleased that things have turned put so well.

THE NEW YEAR Opens with fair promise of future prosperity. There is certainly nothing about which we need be over elated, but there are reliable indications of a steady advance which will enable losfground to be regained and result in a sounder state of things all round.