The Manawatu Times. SATURDAY, APRIL 28, 1877.

Manawatu Times, Volume II, Issue 55, 28 April 1877, Page 2

The Manawatu Times. SATURDAY, APRIL 28, 1877.

We remind our readers that the English mail closes at Palmerstou, on Monday evening, at 8.50 p.m. A report was current yesterday to .the' effect that the Eev Henry Bcvis. late of this township, is now an inmate of the Nelson Lunatic Asylum. Tenders are invited by the G-overnment m our present issue for the supply of various railways with coal from the Ist July to 31st December, 1877. Specifications maybe seen at offices of Railway Managers. The Manager of the Manawatu Building and Investment Society, announces by advertisement that the first annual general meeting of the Society will be held m the Public Hall, this day (Saturday) at 2 p.m. The business to be transacted consists m receiving the annual report and balance sheet, the election of directors and auditors, and general. A painful accident occurred on Tuesday last to a man named Joseph Kriffan, ■who was engaged on road work some miles beyond Feilding. By the awkward falling of a tree several of the unfortunate man's rib's were broken, his collar bone was dislocated, and severe internal injury sustained. Kriffan was removed to Palmerston, where his wife and family reside, soon after the accident, and we understand is now progressing favorably under the care of Dr Akers of this township. He arrived m the Colony about 13 mouths ago by the ship Terpischore. The following information as to tenders, &c, for school buildings m the district has been placed at our disposal by J. T. Dal•rymple, Esq. : — Palinerston — alterations to old echoolhouse, fencing allotment, painting, &c— W. W. Nicholsen, £99 12s, accepted. Two other tenders were received for this work, but were pronounced informal. Sfoney Creek— Carl Jergensen, £136 17s, accepted ; C. Eosinsky, £185 j Nicholsen, £169; Anst.ee, £216; Waugh and Akins, £300— declined. Eangitikei Line— Daniel and Sutton, £149, accepted, conditionally oil section being granted for site of school ; Nicholsen, £169 ; Bergensen, £169 ; Anstee,

£21 ' I; Ro-:-n*l<v, :Cl o2— declined. Plan nr.d spcoifipfilions for the Awnhuri school are m course of preparation, and tenders will be invited for the work us soon as these arrive from Wellington. E. H. Wright, Esq., of Folding, hns been appointed In?]xeior of school woi'k m the district. The Secretary of the Manawatu Highways Board has kindly furnished us with the following estimate of the value of rateable property m the Manawatu Highways Districts : — The total amount, as shown m the valuation rolls, is £33,123. 6s, divided amongst, the several Wards as under— No. 1 Ward, Sandon, £9,531 ss ; No. 2, Carnarvon, £9,446; No. 3, Foxton, £3,411 9s ; No. 4, Karere, £2,670 10s ; No. 5, Palmerston, £3,231 ss; No. 6, Upper Palmerston, £2,318 17s ; No. 7, Otaki, £2,514. Should the Board decide upon striking a Is rate, the revenue derivable from each Ward would be— No. 1, £476 11s sd; No. 2, £472 6s ; No. 3, £170 11s 5d ; No. 4, £133 10s 6d ; No. 5, £161 11s 2d ; No. 6, £115 18s 9d ; No. 7, £125 14s ; making a total of £1,656 3s 3d. By courtesy of the Secretary we ai'e also placed m possession of the following approximate return from the Manawatu Highways Board to the Registrar-General, for the year ending 30th June, 1876 :— Total acreage, 1,125,000 ; population, 5,500 ; number of dwellings, 900 ; ratepayers, 964 ; total estimated value of rateable property at Id m the £, £444,960. Receipts— Bank balance on June 30, 1875, £83 8s sd ; Government grants m aid, £1,386 14s 9d ; rates collected, £1,868 4s 6d ; subscriptions from settlers towards works, £73 7s 6d ; deposits on contracts, £92 ; making a total of £3,503 15s 2d. Disbursements — On public works, £3,151 0s 4d ; general expenses, £259 13s 2d ; returned deposits, £31 ; balance m Bank on 30th June, 1876, £62 Is 8d ; making a total of £3,503 15s 2d. The fact that the Wanganui river is finding its way to the sea by a new channel would not at first sight appear to have any connection with the raising of the price of wheat m that district. Yet, it has. The Wanganui Harbour Board are trj'ing to dam up that channel with wheat bags filled with sand, and have bought up all the bags m the district. Hence the settlers can't find bags m which to bring theirgrainto market. Scarcity and a rise m price have followed. — " Argus." A vast multitude at Cohen's corner, says the Wellington " Argus " of the 25th inst., a block of cabs m the street, and a great deal of frantic shouting, led to the impression, about 12 o'clock to-day, that some dreadful catastrophe had happened m the city's heart. Hurriedly driving' through the gathering of vehicles and forcing the crowd aside, a policeman darted straight through the crowd, and found that a girl had been chastised by her father for being away from home and had gone into a fit of hysteria. She was removed to the lock-up, and declared upon recovery that her name was Clara Jones. Now, really, say the " Post," this is too bad. Here is another newspaper editor been m a fistic encounter and got the worst of it. The " Nelson Evening Mail "of 16th of April says : — " A fracas occurred m Hardy-street on Saturday night betwwn R R. Rives and Mr H. Moor, the editor of the " Nelson Daily Times," the latter receiving severe punishment during the encounter. The cause of the row was certain remarks which occurred m a letter signed " Autolycus " m the " Times " of that day, wherein pointed reference was made to other individuals than the principal object of the attack." The moral of all this is that newspaper men should be fair avid just, however severe m what they write, and above all that they should become proficients m " the manly art of self-defence." When a blustering bully comes hectoring about a newspaper office and refuses to listen to reason, it is always well to be able to appeal to the lex talionis. A few days ago Mr Capper, taxidermist, of Lambton-quay, received from Blenheim a very large black swan and a cygnet. The swan must have measured at least four feet I from tip to tip of the wings, and the pinion j feathers were of very large size. At our request Mr Capper gave us a few of the quills, and after drying them m an oven we made them into pens, and can now speak m the highest terms of their quality. They are infinitely better than tne quill pens usually procurable m a -stationer's shop, being more pleasant to write with, and far more lasting. The one with which we write this paragraph has been m constant use for four days, and has never needed mending. It is now as good as when it came out of the penmaker. The quills of the black swans should have some value for pen purposes. — " Argus." Scientific. — According to a Home paper, gun-cotton is about to be utilised for signalling purposes by the Trinity House. On a point at the north-west of Heligoland, 165 feet above the level of high-water, a fog signal has been established. When the weather is foggy an explosion of gun-cotton will take place every fifteen minutes, making a report similar to that of a gun, If this experiment answex's, gun cotton, will no doubt be henceforth extensively used for coast warnings ; and, considering the number of naval diasters winch have lately o<curred owing to errors m reckoning or some other unaccountable cause, it is almost time that sonic attempt should be made on a new system to warn navigators against the dangers incurred by " hugging the coast " m foggy weather. At the University Library of Heidelberg, says an English paper, a volume has been discovered containing the ecmplete numbers of a German newspaper of tne year 1609. It is the oldest newspaper of that country, so far as is at present known, and constitutes one of the greatest typographical rarities. Its title is " Relation of all prominent and noteworthy events which may happen, m this year 1609, , m Upper and Nether Germany ; also m France, Italy, Scotland, England, Spain, Hungary, Poland, Transylvania, Wallachia, Moldavia, Turkey, &c, all which will be printed by me most faithfully, even as I do get and obtain it."

During the last few months, says the " Otago Guardian," scarcely any perceptible change has taken plnce m the condition of Miss. Ross, better known as the " Taieri fasting girl," who ha? now been confined to her bed for over eight years. She is unable to take any more nourishment, than she was at the time when her extraordinary case attracted so much attention. Physically she is so weak that it is almost impossible to move her from one room to another, but her mind is unimpaired, and she instantly recognises those who have visited her before, no matter, how distant the date. She can converse intelligently, but. her voice is very weak, and her breathing quick and painful. From the " Argus " of the 25th inst., we learn that his Honor the Chief Justice held a short sitting m bankruptcy yesterday, when the final certificate of discharge was granted to Henry Rush, of Palmerston. Mr Brandon applied for leave under section 29, sub-section 4, to present a petition praying foi' the abjudication of a debtor against whom ail execution for £50 had issued. His Honor Baid such an application should be made to the Registrar and not to the Court, as the debtor's credit would he materially injured even if the application were refused. The petition was withdrawn. A Mr and Mrs. Rattray, of Auckland, recently celebrated their " golden wedding," by holding a reunion of friends there. For the benefit of those who may be unacquainted with the meaning of the term "golden wedding," as so few married couples, alas, live to celebrate it, we may state that it is the celebration by a couple of tlie 50th anniversary of their wedding. The observance of the 25th anniversary is termed a silver wedding. The custom is a German one, and is not quite as familiar to us, but, like Christmas trees and other fine German domestic customs, it is gradually becoming better known, and consequently more appreciated, and m many casesadopted. — -" Post." Dr Henry Pigeon writes to the " London Lancet" as follows: — "The marvellous success which has attended my treatment of scarlet fever by. sulphur induces me to let my medical brethren know of my plan, so. that they may be able to apply the same remedy without delay. All the cases m which I used it were very well marked, and the epidermis on the arms m each case came away like the skin of a snake. The following was the exact treatment followed m each case : Thoroughly anoint the patient twice daily with sulphur, and give it m a little jam three times a day. Sufficient sulphur was burned twice daily (on coals on a shovel), to fill the rooms with the fume, and, of course, was thoroughly inhaled by x the patient. Under this mode of treatment each case improved immediately and none were over eight days m making a complete recovery, and I firmly believe m each it was prevented from spreading by the treatment adopted. One case was m a large school. Having had a large experience m scai-let fever last year and this, I feel some confidence m my own judgment, and I am of opinion that the very mildest cases I ever saw do not do half so well as bad cases do by the sulphur treatment, and as far as I can judge, sulphur is a near a specific for scarlet fever as possible." Another step m the Government retrenchment and economy policy has been taken, It appears that much valuable time has been lost m survey offices throughout the Colony, m consequence of officers' time being taken up by the general public m making enquiries for their own private information and profit. An order lias been issued from the SurveyorGeneral's Office, Wellington, and forwarded to Carlyle through the Chief Surveyor of Taranaki Provincial District (T. Humphries, Esq.), authorising the collection of fees for the inspection of the records for private purposes — for each search, Is ; for information as to measurements supplied by any officer of the department, Is ; for leave to take copies of any plan (each copy) Is. Persons making application for land are exempt from charges. These regulations will prevent many frivolous enquiries being made and so save valuable time. — " Patea Mail." Under the Stamp Fee Act, 1875, the Governor m Council has made, amongst others, the following regulation : — On and after the Ist day of July, 1877, all duties, fees, fines, and penalties ' payable to any Registrar of Deeds or District Land Registrar within the colony of New Zealand by virtue of his office, shall be paid by stamps m manner hereinafter provided. The value of insured property m London is placed at £540,000,000.