Untitled

Inangahua Times, Volume VII, Issue 1091, 24 May 1882, Page 2

Mr T. S. Weston, M.H.R. left Christchurch for Wellington yesterday. We have received the copy of a letter from the Colonial Treasurer to him on the subject of the establishment of a Stamp Office which we are sorry to be compelled to hold over. Burton's Circus opened on Monday evening on ground, behind Wiliiams 1 hotel and the tent was fully filled, indeed it is very seldom that so good a house has been seen in Reefton. The performance was a really excellent one, the clown business being particularly good and the artist who did the xsonjtortionist being described as able to dp everything but turn himself inside gut.,; 4th e most pfj|£ect satisfaction was evinceKrßy those who attended, and many will be glad to hear that the stay of the Company has been extended over one more day, to-day a matinee at which children will be admitted at reduced prices will being given. The entertainment was repeated last night when an over-flowing attendance was present, all being sent away highly satisfied. It will be again produced to-night. Attention is directed to the advertisement in another column. We would call the attention of contractors and others to the advertisement appearing in another column, calling for tenders for the erection of a bridge over the Inangahua at the Junction. They are to be in by the 17th of June, and particulars are appended to the announcement. Mr Hanwell Williams desires us to state that business engagements in Greymouth prevented his longer stay in Reefton recently. He will re- visit the district early in the spring. To-day, being the 63rd Anniversary of the birth of her Majesty, Queen Victoria, will be observed as a holiday by all public offices, banks, &c, but we are sorry to find that no sports or pastimes of any kind are got up here. She only entertainment of any description is that afforded by the Circus, but this is a host in itself and the delight at least of the jnveniles, who are promised special privileges, as will be seen by advertisement. Possibly at the last moment something will arise to pass off the day with fitting eclat. The Australian Cricketers in their English campaign have done well. In their first match against the Oxford University they won with ease by five wickets, and latest accounts tell us that they have since defeated the Sussex County in one innings and a lot to spare. There is no doubt that they are the best team that have ever visile i the old country, and we much doubt whether either the Gentleman or the Players of England will be able to lower their colors. The great race of the world, the contest for the blue riband of the turf, the Derby race at Epsom will be run to-day. England, American, and France, all have their representatives engaged, and the result will be watched with the most intense interest by sporting men of all countries. Bruce is the favorite, but Gerald, an American colt, is well supported, and our friends hailing under the stars and stripes have great hopes of their candidate. For more than a week past the disappearance of James Paul, a well-known miner, recently employed in the Golden Treasure claim, Murray, has occasioned considerable anxiety to his friends. The last that was seen of him was on Saturday week last, when Archibald Muir wished him good-night and he proceeded to his hut at Black's Point. He (Paul) also asked the baker to leave brsad for him on Monday morning, which was done, but the hut being empty caused no apprehen-

sion, as it was naturally supposed he was away at work. Day after day has passed, however, and his disappearance is now alj together unaccountable. He was a single man, highly respected, was not in embarrassed circumstances, and had no reason for going away. He was in steady employment, and was a man that deservedly had many friends. The supposition is that by some unfortunate accident, whilst on his Avay home, he fell over into the river, and, there being a heavy fresh on at the time, the body was carried away a considsiderable distance. On Sunday and for several days a search party of between thirty and forty persons has been organised, and not only the river but every other portion of the locality has been thoroughly explored for the missing man. A boat also has been on the river and every little point carefully examined, but; without success, and the mystery of Paul's disappearance is, as yet, unexplained. There is, unhappily, too great reason to reason to believe that his end has been a tragic one, and that, when the story of his death is told, it will be found that his fate will add to the long list of casualties that has already saddened the records of the Coast. Constable Bamford searched the river to the Junction yesterday, but no trace of Paul coul§j§be tfound. The presumpflfem of his. death is il^j^oWe^r, that the authorities have taken possession of his hut and its contents. There is the most sincere regret for his loss. Within the last half century more than 2,000,000 men have perished in the wars of Christian countries, which wars have cost at least £3,000,000,000. At the present time there are 12,000,000 men in Europe trained to arms, and existing war armaments have costatleast£s 000,000,000 extra to these nations, who, between 1848 and 1879, added by wars and warlike preparations the sum of £2,624,000,000 to their national debt. According to the Taranaki Herald, Mr Justice Gillies made the following remarks in sentencing the prisoner Hiroki :— . Wiremu Hiroki, you have been found guilty by the jury of the crime of the wilful murder of John M'Lean. The evidence of your having committed the murder is based very largely upon* your own statements. The European law, as well as the Maori law, is that he who commits murder must suffer the penalty of death. You have escaped from the law for a long time, but I wish to impress not merely on you, but upon all your countrymen, that the memory of the law is long that its arm is strong, and will punish guilt wherever it is proved. You appear to have motives — merely for the killing of some pigs— but you ought to have remembered that a man's life is worth that of many pigs. lam merely the mouthpiece of the law. It is not my sentence upon you ; it is the sentence of the law upon you. — [His Honor here assumed the black cap.] — That sentence is, that you be taken from hence to the common gaol and that there in the due course of law you be hanged by the neck until you are dead : and may God have mercy on your soul. His Honor was affected, and the last clause of the sentence was scarcely audible. The prisoner betrayed scarcely any feeling during the delivery of the sentence, which was interpreted to him by Mr Stockman. The handcuffs were then placed upon him, and after the court had been cleared he was taken out of the dock and marched up to gaol under escort. A gossiping contributor to the Taranaki Herald remarks :— ' That was a lively lot of jurymen who were sworn to try Hiroki. They evidently believed in the old saying that " all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," or they would never have kicked up such a shine as they did when they were locked up. I passed the Masonic Hotel at a rather late hour that evening, and hearing a tremendous noise in the large room fronting Broughamstreet, I asked a bobby "What's up?" Said he: "It's that blessed jury !" I learn that the jurymen had some cause for their noiseiness, as there had been but four blankets given out for the convenience of twelve men, and a general scramble had taken place for. these articles, which was kept up till a late hour." Sergeant Mahon, of x apier, has been dismissed from the police force on the ground that his letter to Sergeant Kidd, previously telegraphed throughout the 1 colony, was a breach of the Constabulary i Regulations. , A heavy loss on the past year's operations has been sustained by the Guthrie & Larnach Company, the deficit being stated at £24,949. The loss is attributed to the , burning of the Paranaha mills, and the i closing of two branches. At Oamaru on Friday, that part of the . harbor near the landing steps (says the , Oamaru Times) was alive with sprats . crowded in masses, packed almost literally like sardines in a bos. These had been t driven from the water by barracouta and , other large fish which might be seen hovering at the outskirts of the shoal. , The mass of fish was particularly dense just at the luncheon hour, fortunately for , the men engaged on the breakwater and reclamation contracts, and a general descent was made on the water. A charge or two of dynamite brought the fish in myriads to the surface, and anything that would hold fish was instantly brought into requisition. Buckets, barrels, boxes, sieves, sacks, kits, bags hankerchiefs, hats, trowsers' pockets, billies, pots, pans, and receptables of every seizable kind were used in the impromptu fishery. Three or four boats were soon more than ankle deep in fish, while the less fortunate "longshore" anglers had nevertheless no difficulty in capturing hundreds. The sprats, or whatever there were are capital eating. ' You did wrong to shoot that man's dog. You might have pushed him off -with the butt of your gun,' said the Galveston recorder to a man who was charged with shooting a neighbor's flog. < I would have done that,' replied the prisoner, " if the clog had come at me tail first, but he came at me with his biting end.'