The Akaroa Mail. TUESDAY, JULY 26.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume VI, Issue 525, 26 July 1881, Page 2

The Akaroa Mail. TUESDAY, JULY 26.

Up to the present time (.says a Dunedin payer) about 4'jOO copies of the revised edition of the New Testament have been isposed of by eight firms in Dunedin.

The late heavy rains have effected contvderable dtin>age in Le Bon's B iy. One bridge on the main road has been completely carried away and several oihers have been uioro or less damaged. The rosuls are in many places impassable, owing to landslips.

A man ehlored the New Plymouth police station the otliei day and sold iheaoi'geanj <hat ho had a mission to kill him, and he was going to do it. The sergeant acquiesced, but requested permission to go and bid his wife good-bye. Fennishion being given he left the room and the madman was secured.

A coi respondent of the Brisbane Courier lOcoiiuuends lurpeiuine us a sovereign remedy for lockjaw and cramp. In the one fuse it is poured into the wound, in the oilier it is applied on ilamiel to the throat and diest, a few drops being taken in Bngar in severe cases Accoudinq to a decision gvi'aa ci tiie brewers will bo able Iv evade payment of tiie bec-r duly ad libitum. The following ia the iclegra|.ih>c report of iiie result of the ease :—The charge tnadd by the Collector of Cunioins against Ehrenfried. the Siewer, nouicly, peuniUing lo be used, i'ii'.s iind' .fraudiitent Bi&nspo, wtiss disiii'.-iii.'ri. [he Mn fc ;;:-i raca iiiiiug thy.l uoii;* sf{'.:jv|-:.! (wi. , •; not weing falao ?.w{ f-':M!i;i;lcnt tf!.:»:ni>ii builw the Bcor D::-v Act.

•J. Fields, odif or of tho Atlantic Monthly from 1862 to 1870, died suddenly of heart disease. At the R.M. Court on Friday the only business was a charge preferred by Mr J. Aylmer, as Registrar of births against Minnie Neitaon for neglecting to register the birth of her child. A fine of one shilling and costs was imposed. Messrs Garwood and Tosawill were the presiding justices. South Australia is Getting an example to the other Colonies in the matlsr of presorting existing foreets and promoting planting. On one reserve alone, there are 140,000 young trees, the cost of planting, roaring, and caring for each of which has not averaged more than 2d. A National Board has been established for the pui-pose, which has defrayed the greater part of its expenditure by the sale of matured t'unber and young troga from ita own nurseries. Tho Beard distributes young trees to Councils and other local governing bodies, for planting , in their districts. Something like tliis is urgently needed iv New Zealand,

Mr Bkeitmeyek is dead, and all the old people who wore his companions in ilio introduction of European civilisation into i\e\v Zcahaid will regret his lone. It is strange when we think of it that some foity yoara r.go the bught green fields which wo every day admire, and which wore only barren wastes, were the production of pioneers whoso very names are almost lost. Let us endoavor to bring them to memory. Of the earliest settlers there remain only a few. Our debt of gratitude will be unpaid, but at least we can jfctympathizo wiih those who remain after tha loss of one of those who with them helped to make a future kingdom. Mr Breitmeyer came to New Zealand in the year 1<340, in the Comte de Paris. What an extraordinary thing that was! It was the revealing oi a nation. It was by the merest chance that New Zealand was a British dependency. France had mado efforts to enlarge her po&sessions, and it was possible—nay, oven probable— that the Britain of the Southern Seas would be under French rule. As it is, by the the smallest chance we are English. Three days before the people from the Comte de Paris could settle, the English flag was flying from the heads and peaks of the bay, and thus we became an English Colony. Mr Breitmeyer was a Bavarian by nationality. When he died he \va3 77 years Oj£ age, antl tio leaves tielaincL laitii only oix of his original shipmates. May they live long and die happy. We shall give their names as each of the men will require, and demand a life-long tribute of praise from their deseendante— Messrs Waeckerle, Bernard, Bouriaud, Li bean t Malmancho, and Lolievro.

Oun readers will nothsve forgotten the frightful disdosiirea made regarding the management of the Welling,'on lunatic asylum. The—man we suppose we must call him, in elurgo of the asylum (WbUelaw by name) was proved to havo fjub. jected unfortuualo helpless patients to what the commissioners called prolonged toiture. On ono charge of. brutality to a patient, ho was put on his trial eriimnaliv, Through some prior neglect of an official tho graver portion of tho charge broke down, but after two trials he was convicted of a common assault, and sentenced to pay a fine of £50 or be imprisoned for a month. It will hardly be believed, but it is neverthelesa true that soiue of tho Wellington residents are positively getting up a testimonial to be presented to Whitelaw. A testimonial for illlreating helpless patients bereft ot reason 1 Yet so it is. Of course the greatest, Ecoundrel deserves pit}', and if he requires it, charitable assistance, but by parading this affair as a " testimonial," the subscribers to it are announcing literate! yes as sympathisers with cowardice and ruflianistn of the worst type. Here is what !he Times correspondent has to sayou theraatter: tiiice Miiiience was prtssed on Whiid aw a tubtcription of a semi-public character has been raised to pay his fino, or to present him with an expression of sympathy on his release. It amounts already, it is aaidj to about £70, and it is understood thai Whitelaw will do his sentence, and on his release accept the testimonial* Amongst a large section of the community a veiy strong feeling exists on the subject which seems to be intensified since the Pout line noticed the matter as though it were quite a proper thing for Wellington to express sympathy with persona in Whilelaw's position. It says:—"One gentleman alone gave ilVv. the other tmb-

scriptions, so far, conbisliriA" of gnlnena ami half guineas. It is thought by several sympathisers that the money thus collecled would benefit tho intomlctl recipient ii; presented at tho expiration of hia term of imprisonment I'ar more than if givon to the Crown ; especially in tho face of the ffiet thi\t as *.ll sentences iuinos-.;d dining the circnit eittin'-rc ja«t ondcci : , atiiv from {ho of , oxi July 4. If, rlaorofo.-s Whitolv.v pielem U< i'l'.lr.! Usu tv:ui 'jf iini'-nnociixcnt : ;,ho »>,iii oi.piro about thi-e-s vcek 1 i:3:.:0-3." I thick d ivjy)o'Aly of 'be r,cJ;i- \ jiiun'Lv "sv.'l! f^e ? Iru'labiea to nowsiso^' ,, - ! a ( a. Ii they fltatod tliuf. | they do v<ot ak>prove oi the nio-;.-;; : .ou'., ! jsnd that it has iho ot i";<;r,(ir;U | tympsthy. i\'-> xa :«s.';u TO pn- j vaiw friends v'/iULCiAw. biit, iiVroiw. j it; vo;t at tiio vecivoiivftnt j ve"r<\icnU;:.> ixs i'> cny -v public |

Tub English mail via San Francisco arrived at Auckland yesterday. Elsowhero will be found a telegraphic summary of the news brought by it, furnished by our correspondent. Mb Stanskll, the ruotcorogieal observer at Christchurch, furnishes the following information as to the rain fall during the past five days :—July 17th, 0.04 ; 18ih, 0.10 ; 19th, 6.15 ; 20th, 0.50 ; 21st, 0,74, As wiU bo seen, tho greatest amount of rain fell on the 20th and 21st inst. Wβ learn that the trial of Henderson, Wright nnd Wallace at Melbourne in the " Ferret " case is concluded. The defendants were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud, and guilty with extenuating circumstances on the other indictment.'** there being want of evidence as to the ownership. The sentences passed on the prisoners will be found in our telegraphic column. Thus end a one of tho latest " romances of the sea." The mail from Christchurch due in Akaroa on Saturday evening did not arrives till 10 p.m. on Sunday evening. <la Mr J. McFarlane left Christchurch about one o'clock on Saturday, it is evident that iliirh'-tbrco hour", wae occupied in its transmission. ThoJ fact of the lake being exceptionally high ie, wo believe, assigned as tho reason of this extraordinary delay. At one placo it was quite impossible to get along without a boat, and it appeara tlmt for eooie time no boat vros procurable! The mails via Pigeon Bay have beea running to time,

A correspondent writes us concerning a grievance under which ho says he labors. Tho communication is itself of too persoriai and private a nature to warrant ito . insertion in our columus, but broadly speaking, the complaint is of employers of labor who keep storey, and according to our correspondent, these stores swallow up all the earnings of the men, and there is nothing left for outsiders who have given them " tick." The only remedy we can suggest is increased caution in giving credit. Men cannot work without tho necessaries of life, and if their credit is not good enough to enable them to obtain these, it is probable tbat their employers will have to come to the rescue, and guarantee the purveyor. The position of the Government istrnly pitiable. Mr Ormond's motion is worded in such a manner that if members voted according to their expressed convictions, it must ba carried by a large majority. The Government organs own this in the mofct straightforward manner. Tho Press Wellington correspond on t wires the following : — <! Now that members have had leisure to look round them and consider their position, they find that there are many who deem it quite consistent to oppose Mr Onnond's amendment without supporting the Government proposals, arid they are disposed to adopt tliisi course." in oilier \vord;.i, there are many who disapprove of tho policy of the Governinont,'on an important question, but they think it belter not !o record {heir dibapprovai, because they do not want to aeo Ministers ejected. But when the Government Cilia come forward, if they ever do eorac, these men will '' sit" upon them ruthlessly. What a tern re upon whicc to hold office! their political lives arc to bo spared, but they arc to be rendered poworless for mischief. Their pet measures are to bo turned inside out or thrown out altogether at the will of a majority of the House, which, nevertheless, for its ov/u purposes j> permits them to retain thoir sealn. And for tins treatment the lion John Hull expresses himself "grateful." Well some people are thankful for very small mercies.