The Daily Times. The Oldest Manawatu Jounal: Established 1875. SATURDAY, DEC. 8, 1883.

Manawatu Times, Volume IX, Issue 1128, 8 December 1883, Page 2

The Daily Times. The Oldest Manawatu Jounal: Established 1875. SATURDAY, DEC. 8, 1883.

Tenders are invited for timber con. j tract for Auckland passenger station. j Tenders are invited by the Wellington \ and Manawatu Railway Company for the construction of No 13 contract. ' Onr Marton contemporary understands that the plaintiff m the case, " Taylor v Hammond," recently heard at the District Court, Palmerston-north. intends to appeal to tbe Supreme Court, on tbe ground of misdirection by the judge, and that the necessary steps have been, taken to that effect. Tbe appeal will be heard at the next Banco sittings m Wellington. One of the unsuccessful applicants for the Anckland assigneeship m bankruptcy had his claim supported by nine Northern members of the Legis ature, most of the foreign consuls resident m Auckland, seventeen solicitors, a host of mercantile men, and several suburban mayors. By a majority of six to five the Wellington City Council has resolved to exclude tbe press from the meetings of Public Works Committee, on tte ground that the presence of reporters caused discussions to be prolouged to unreasonable length, and the Committee had practically become a debating society. The N.Z. Times reports tbat the repairs to the Wainuiomata dam are progressing apace, and should the weather continue fine, the contractor expects to have the dam completed m three weeks' time. Independent of the breakage caused to the concrete wall, there is yet a large amount of work to be done m pitching the by-wall. Altogether there are about twtuty ; men employed <>n the works. The arrival at Plymouth on 13tb October of the British King, stcamsbio, m less than 41 days from Port Lyttelton, N.Z. (says the European Mail), marks a distinct stage m the progress of ocean navigation. Never previously ha-* the Toy age been so rapidly accomplished, and when it it remembered tbat only a feW years ago three months wa*? considered a quick tun between England and New Zealand, the accomplishment of this voyage half round the world m less than half that time-*— less, indeed, , than six weeks— is a marvellous advaaot. „

" Toll it not iv Gath," writes the Melbourne correspondent of the ' Southland i News,' " but the Fair sex here are no j longer satisfied with wageriog the time- [ honored gloves; they now go. m tor. downright betting. , The gentlemen of the party are asked to * lay a pound or two ' for the dames- they chaperon. If they seect the winner, the gains of course are taken by the ladies ; if unfor. tunate, they pay the penalty of their want of judgement by being allowed to ' settle ' with the bookmakers. One of the best known among the fraternity was heard .to say after. the. Derby, that he had won over £l,oooof * Indies ' money ' >«iug to xbe defeat of Archie.*' At Napier last week, a domestic servant,* -named • Fellowus sued -Mr Hamilton, a surgeon, for alleged maN practices m settiirg »a broken leg, aasl a verdict for -5175 and costs was returned. Jif .China is armiDg, New Zealand is contributing a number of arms which will make the heathen soldiers of the Flowery Land look as formidable as the celebrated Bedouin who protected tbe Innocents of Mark Twain during a portion of their journey through Palestine. TheTe have been shipped, ex barquentine May for Hongkong about 500 muzzle-loading long and medium Enfield rifles, for which, it is presumed, Ihe New Zealand Government has no further use Some of these are m a fair state of preservation, but with regard to others, we should be indited to toss up to decide which end we should put to our shoulder before we firrd it off. Tbe Chinese troops will no doubt have every confidence m the efficiency of these weapons, which robst ih every case prove less dangerous , to. themselves, than the old muskets which are still m use m some of the districts. — N. Z. Times. Honesty may be, and doubtless is, the best policy, but at the same time it is equally true that that excellent quality more often than not is its own revraxd. The other day a railway porter at Stockton found two endorsed cheques worth ,Lsf. He took some Rouble m discovering tbe owner, and J. having restored his property to him, was liberally rewarded with a glass of beer.— ♦Trtyh.' ■■'■•'* How Promoters Prey on the People," is the title of a book recently published m London. Its figures are amazing and far exceeding the boundless wealth of Monte Cristo, During the last twenty-one years 19,833 joint stock companies were regis* ered iv fcnerland, with a total nominal capital ot L 2,365,306,000. mong the instances ot foolish speculation it is mentioned that while thy« paid-up capital of all the British gas companies listed on the Stock Exchange does not exceed L 30,000,000, there have bien ninety -one companies registered during the last few y<arn, with nominal capitals ot L26;000,000, to deal with tne electric light. A story is told of a Bother ham i run- founder, who, after amassing a firtune.of over L 30.000, lost it all m limited companies and was left tc fight bis way through the Bankruptcy Court, with a liability for L54.G00 more m calls banging around his neck. A new theory about tbe origin of man | has been put forth by a Professor Gheiku. | To the great satisfaction of a writer m j the ' New York Times,' who hasnever | felt quite comfortable at the reflection th*t hid ancestors were chattering monkeys, Professor Gherke has proved, at least to bis own satisfaction, that the aboriginal Americans and tbe people of the north of Europe are descended from irolar bears. Towards the end of the glacial period these bears floated south on icebergs, could not return, and . were obliged to make the best of their new residences. They gradually shed thei" Alpine coats, adopted a lighter and more suitab c fur, ana, desiring to keep at least one pair of feet dry, took to walking on their hind legs, ti-J, m the course of a few thousands or millions of years, the forelegs became arms, and tbe bears men. Professo.* Gherke argues from structural pecn-'arities ; bat the • New York Times ' adopts the theory because of the close resemblance which it finds between the habits of bears who have not, m outward guise, become men, and men who bave retained the habits of bears. The bear is, for instance, inordinately fond of whisky, and this taste has heen noted m many men. "The tendency of men te squeeze object); — such as the female of his species— is inherited from bis ursine ancestor " ; and, the habit of growling when displeased is obvious m its origip. A bear standing on its hind legs m moments of excitement, and frantically waving its fore paws, is said to bear a marvellously close resemblance to an Irish American addressing a pub tic meeting, and pointing out to the audience with vigorous gesticulation the immediate necessity of subscribing cents and dollars for patriotic purposes. The Chronicle notes that a Wanga. nui auctioneer was to-day to offer a quantity of goods seized by the Collect* tor of Customs from tbe Stoney Creek distillery of Jessop and Peck notoriety. Mr A. F. Halcombe, manager of the celebrated Patetere Estate, who has been absent from his home tor upwar !a oi twelve months, came into Wanganui by train yesterday afternoon en route from Auckland and New Ply* mouth. Mr Halcombe leaves for Feild ing this morning. — Chronicle. First grave digger, — " Have you heard why tbo English dude is not wanted ia America ?" First citizen—" No why ?" F. 6. D.— " Because the Yankee dood'll do/ Exeunt omnes. A German friend of the editor of tbe Newport (Ky.) Journal advised him when he got married : " Lif m von room ondil you so many schildren got you must two rooms haf— it vas petter to §rawl oop as schurap und fall down." " My case is just here," said a citizen to a lawyer. " The plaintiff will swear that I hit him. I will swear I did not. Now what c^n you lawyers make out o< that if we go to trial ?" " A hundred dollars easy," was tbe reply. "How old would you think my daughter was?" asked a mother of a lady friend it one of our summer resorts; " would you think she was 18,'' "Oh, yes," was the candid reply, " I should think she was 18— about ten years ago !" I hey never speak as they pass by now.