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Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 4, Issue 344, 4 November 1879, Page 2

Death within the past.few days has taken from us one of our oldest and most respected inhabitants. Mr Iloriry Green Watkins, who has been ailing for the past ' six months from some subtle'and insidious disease, passed a way , ' to, his rest .on the morning of Saturday, the . Ist inst. The transition from life to death was so imperceptible that'the deceased gentleman's friends had difficulty in noting , the exact moment of change. Mr Watkins came out to New Zealand after his respected . father, Dr Watkins, who still survives him at the ripe old ago of nearly ninety, over twentyfivo years ago. At first he landed' in Wellington, but 'almost • immediately left for Akaioa, whose varying fortunes he has watched with an anxious ej'O ever since. With the exception of' a short residence on the' Thames gold'iields'lie has constantly resided amongst his friends in Akaroa. ,The deceased gentleman took a warm interest in all matters pertaining- to the local government o£ the district, and was one of those who took 'an : active interest ! in; having Akar.oa procljiiined a Borough. He was one of its first coanci loi , .likl iU < on 1 Hnoi "vtt i vii in , "Ui <~ S( a •> G'loh, Mhr-mlit.-'louly ioilon •v jc i>ll4 t jl *1U J •' In li 1• mi nll v -. tin) kid to the ao i m •> Kail \ '/'l'm „ "Mi \Vll\l j x . .. ' I nnd ( '> ' \ ll'ui v ,! v dot , !) , t , lla tcm 11' vi t 1. v s ill bo oiiui Mil c' n l 1 1 1 u< lot undei(.licit lie 1 m I}' to buicJit the town had Hade 1 is none, and >vhich he loved mjnvcil "Ur V/atki'W, v, ho was^diligent ni*bu*ii4C3s ilonsf wiili his attention to hia public d ities, hi 3 juiced away at the comparatively c.uly a£,p o£ 51 years. lie lca%es behind him a widow and i largo ia>nilj Lγ pv mi gto (t uheie beyond voices there h kci , c Inm the piecions of a )d 1 amc aid > leputatio thot nugiit woitlnly toiler ci 1 The funeial tak"s place thu aft''noon a- 4the Church of I C tv tci>, i id \.i 1 be by the Au\oi and Council, v 1 other public l>L(i]cs. ,

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As vv 6\imple oi tie i.ict iiiat it j-, nuCt& K ijv to go fi ' i I'omc to rie\Vo, we cit tho fnllcn i' g fio a Siturdiy , Pie, —"Tlie picbdit M.no., Mi \\ > c - ei'e, end al'-o tie i i d aro c % to tiic i tlupi - 1, e x i,cu.d - da*' r> at tup comng 31 i}or! con \Vo are unaware.io. whatjsource t!ic. paragraph owes its inspiration, but. we give it for what it is worth.

' ' The Neto Zealand Punch.. (says the Wellington Post) has at length afforded a i laugh, but not the exact way its conductors intended. The joke which the paper has at length given rise to occurred yesterday it^Hw..Resident Magistfftto. r s Court —whore* ■Mr, Walljib," the nominal proprietor, 4 'ap- ( ppircfl as} defendant in an action to recover [£v 5 fbc five week's salary, the' '.plaint i ft" 'befiii^ihq , late snb-rditorj Mr Taylor. -The defence was , that the amount claimed * was excessive. In ihe course of the crossexamination of the pHntiff, Mr Staffoid, for the defendant, attempted to prove that Mi?Taylors, contributlbn| Ea4 h.ol &efen up to the mark, and the ■ learned counsel producd all the numbers of Punch issued under the ptaintifTs sub-editorship and we believe "was prepared to read the whole , lot, had not His Worship, by his look of alarm, "slopped the proposal befm-e it was shaped in words. Instead, therefore, of clearing the Court in this way, Mr Stafford mid he would take an article at haphazard, and ho accordingly selected ono--which ho said looked anything but brilliant, and commenced to read it, as a specimen of Mr Taylor's idea of wit. lie had not read many lines before an expression of horror was seen to prevade Mr Wai Ha' features. ■ 1.& shifted uneasily in his Boat,, and after. trying in vain to catch the lawyer's eye lie stood ijp'j and, after a preliminary hem, said: he.was afraid Mr iStaiTord had made a mistake. That was not Mr Taylor's article ; it was one of his own ! The amusement of the persons in Court at the unfortunate blunder can be well imagined. Another laugh came" in when it was urged by the defendant, as a reason for the non-payment of the full claim, that more than half the contents of the paper consisted of ' clippings.' As only about one-twentieth of these fire acknowledged, this is rather a startling admission." As .Punch is in the habit of speaking of the Post as the Dally Ananias, it is quite possible that the preceding report is a little biassed.

Another fatal fire has taken place in Dunedin. The premises bnrned were sttuated in Great King street, and were occupied by aMr O'Brien, dairyman. It ] appears that about half-past eight on Thursday evening, Mr' aud Mrs O'Brien went out, leaving two children in bed in the I house. On the mothers return in about five minutes, she found the house, in flames, and conld not get in. The bodies of the children were afterwards recovered. They appear to have been sailwated, as they were not much burned. A kerosene lamp, which was left burning on Ihe table, appear to have been tho 'cause of the disaster.- At the inquest the jury returned a verdict of "Accidental Death." An entertainment, which afforded considerable amusement, was given at the Akaroa Oddfellows' Hall, on Saturday evening. Tho dramatis personte were Mr and Mrs Fritz, poodle dog, an Italian greyhound, and, last, but far from least, Prince the learned pig. The latter animal has, we believe, had the honor of an engagement in Cooper aud Bailey's circus. Mr and Mrs Fritz go through some Jittle s scenes, with considerable animation, f introducingvarious character songs very appropriately. The dogy are pretty and intelligent little-animals,-and we arc. informed..that the Italian greyhound ih the only specimen f of that breed which has ever been j'l'lly trained. I kit tho inlcrebl of '.thobc, piemen!; culminated-in._Hi(' ,feii:s of. ike, pig. Oni' of the most in lasting oI^UK&e 1 is his, playing a game of euclire^aiuTwin- , ning it, with one of the sjuiiewp.'./riie" Company perform this evom'ng at Ihe iloiid of ,lho Bay, and on Wednesday at Pigeon Day. ' i ~ ' Wo have Iα- reiniiid onlj reader*) and members of (ho "Mutual 'Improvement Society, that .a .mooting wiljrbe -bald evening when the discussion on flic Land question will be ulcph. All intejlignat ■ cHi/eiii shoifld have an opinion on \wb,nt is really the burning question of the hour, the Land laws, and we hopo-lo t>eo-a- .full meeting and <m interesting debate. l A'mo"eting of {lie Head of tho Bay Knee (,''-iimitno was h-'hl last evum.g, .tt the b.jnii,r-"t llotol. Mr Ti. oliadholt occupied t'io ihair. A Ivitli r \v.n lead fiom Mi J. BoL'choi , , declining to act on'the committee on account of business engagements; also, from tho late secretary re balancesheet of last meeting. It was arranged to have two days' races and rural sports, to take place on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 26 and 27. A programme for the horse racing was drawn up, and a committee was appointed to draw up a programme and superintend the rural sports. Various details were arranged, and the meeting adjourned till November 24, when . the dates of" nomination and acceptance will be fixed and duly notified.