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Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 2979, 12 January 1881, Page 2

A meeting was called last evening at the Masonic Hotel of those .interested in the promotion of an Athletic Club, but owing to the paucity of the attendance, it was deemed advisable to postpone the meeting to a future date.

The Napier School Committee met last evening, and decided upon adjourning till Tuesday evening next so thai the accounts may be audited, and a report and balancesheet drawn up to lay before the annual meeting on Monday week.

We remind the ratepayers of the South Ward that the polling place for to-morrow's eleotion is in one of Mr Bryson's shops adjoining the Caledonian Hotel. The polling will be from 8 o'clock in the morning till 6 o'clock in the evening.

We desire to inform " local poets " that the so-called poetry in another oolumn having reference to the borough election contest between Messrs Wall and Ashton has been charged for at the rate of ten shillings a line. We have room for a few more verses at the same price.

We notice amongst the late arrivals from the South, an old resident in Napier, Mr Moloney, who is now a schoolmaster at Waikowaiti. The Government Gazette, in reporting , upon the school under his charge, speaks of it in the highest terms. Mr Moloney has made use of his Christmas holida} s in paying a visit to his ©Id friends in Napier.

The foreman of the boot factory in Anckland has bfien fined 40a and costs £3 7s, and bound over to keep the peace for two months, for chastising an apprentice for misconduct. The evidence showed that the owner of the factory had delegated authority to the foreman to chastise the apprentices, but the Magistrate held that he had no power to delegate such authority.

A party of gentlemen left Napier last week on a trip to the Ruahine ranges. On arrival there it came on to rain, and they found themselves without provisions. A friendly hut was espied without an occupant, and in this they encamped. Their food for the day consisted of green apples gathered from a.. tree at the rear of the hut. What digestions they must have.

Mr R. W. Cary announces in another column the appearance of Professor and Madame Haselmayer at tbe Theatre Royal on Monday next. The Australian papers say that his success throughout that colony was unparalleled. In Vienna, he perfected some new apparatus and developed other no less extraordinary inventions, and, with these, after astounding people elsewhere, he comes amongst us.

At the R.M. Court, Waipawa, on Tuesday, before A..St. Clair Inglis, J.P., Robert William Donald was charged on the information of Constable Laurenson, of Kopua, with breaking into the house of John Westlake, of Makotoko, and stealing therefrom one pocket-book, one waistcoat, and one towel, of the value of twenty shillings. The evidence of Westlake and the Constable was taken, and the prisoner was committed to take his trial at the next sitting of the Supreme Court at Napier.

In the Resident Magistrate's Court this morninsr, before Captain Preece, R.M., Charles Tipping was brought up on remand for medical examination for lunacy. Dr Hitchings, who was in attendance, stated that the man was as well now as ever he would ba, and it was useless to detain, him any longer ; he was fit to be at large, and his friends had promised to look after him. John Chandler, convicted of drunkennes, was fined 5s and costs, or 48 hours imprisonment. The Court then rose.

The members of the Union Kowing Club held a meeting at the Provincial Hotel last evening, and it was decided that the ordinary match committee, Messrs Stuart, Sweetapple, Northe, and Gifford, should also act as a regatta committee. After some discussion it was carried, upon the motion of Mr Northe, " that it was desirable the regatta should beheld at the Western Spit." The secretary was instructed to give the delegates a letter of instruction as to the line of action they should adopt on behalf of the club, viz., to endeavor to have the regatta altered, and to provide for a sailing race in the programme. Some other routine business was transacted, and the meeting terminated.

Mr IP. L. Smyth, an ultra-Berryite temporarily elevated to the Bench, does not appear to be conducting the business of his Courts in a manner calculated to increase the respect of the public for the administration of justice. At Ballarat (reports the Argus) Judge Smyth, after hearing a case, directed the jury to find a verdict tor tbe defendant. The jury did not, and told him they could not, from their own convictions and with regard to their oaths, do as directed. Mr Smyth said he should have to send them back again. The foreman said it would be useless ; the jury could not give the verdict asked for. Mr Smyth said he should send them back three timea, and if they did not give the verdict he asked for he should commit them for contempt of Court for six hours. Mr Finlayeon told Mr Symth that he could not do that. He replied that he could lock them up for sixty years if he pleased. Mr Finlayson (plaintiff's lawyer) then got the acting Judge and the jury out of the difficulty by saying he would accept a nonsuit, which was given. This attempt to intimidate the jury was the subject of muob. oorament in legal circles.

The Hon. W. Bolleston will Pfftime temporary charge of the Native and Efefeuce departments.

The Sydney Bulletin says that_ Archbishop Vaughan is " a demon " with the gloves, and that by way of exercise he matutinally dons the mittens with his coachman.

An action is to be Ir;ed inDunedin shortly to determine the right of sellers of furniture, under the deferred-payment system, to enter on premises and remove therefrom furniture on which part payment has been made.

The danger of "bathing immediately after partaking of a full meal was exemplified by the drowning of Mr A. G-. Payne, aged 31, of Rockbank station, Victoria. When swimming, together with another man, he suddenly took cramp and sank.

The monument to the memory of Miss Dobie, which has arrived at Opunake, is made of pure white marble, and stands eight feet high. It consists of a square pedestal, bearing a perpendicular cross, with an encircling crown of thorns.

The Wonganui Chronicle states that during the course of last week the Maoris brought down the river about £330 worth of wool, which they sold in town. They took back with them some prize rams, thus showing a commendable desire to improve the breed of their flocks.

The following are the Latin and Greek subjects for the April and October examination, in connection with the Civil Service : —Latin: Virgil's Books VI. and X.; Gesar's Dβ Bello Gallico, Books V. and VI. Greek: Xenophon's Anabasis, Books IV. and V. Candidates who take up Latin will have to pass in both prose and verse authors.

This is the way an English sporting paper chronicle! the death of the leader of Kelly garg :— "The <3e ith is announced, on November 11, at Melbourne, of Edward Kelly, Esq., bushranger and cut-throat, from suffocation, caused by a cord having got too tightly round his neck. In the colonies he was known as the widowmaker."

During the voyage from London to Sydney, the captain of the chip Brilliant put a man in irons for insubordination, whereupon Eome of his measmates refused, to work unless he were released. As the vessel was endangered, the captain had to comply with the demand, but on reaching Sydney he handed the men over to the police; and they were sentenced to 13 weeks' imprisonment each.

In inviting a jury to acquit a prisoner at the Dunedin Supreme Court lately, counsel for the defence laid stress on the fact that the offence was committed on New Year's morn, when the prisoner might reasonably have been expected to be drunk. His Honor concurred that allowance might be made for the time of the year, but said that the line must be drawn somewhere, and the line must be drawn at larceny.

A somewhat amusing incident recently occurred during the cavalry drill at Hamilton at the jumping exercise. A well-known member of the corps, when putting his horse at the hurdles, was sent forward a cropper through the animal coming to a sudden stop, and fell fairly on his head, and the spike on the top of the helmet, sinking into the turf, actually held him for the space of two or three seconds in this inverted position, when he fairly fell over as on a pivot.

Dr. Hector has received from the Sydney Exhibition Commissioners 7 silver and 14 bronze medals, together, with 45 diplomas, for distribution in New Zealand, in addition to those which have been previously forwarded. The total awards" to this colony comprise 283 medals and 380 certificates. Included among those just to hand is a diploma awarded to New Zealand for preeminence in the growing of barley and oats of the best quality. South Australia secured the diploma for wheat, and New South Wales that for maize.

A singular circumstance is narrated in connection with the history of the English balloon Eclipse, which ascended from the Crystal Palace a short time Rince, in the iuternational balloon competition. Some twelve months ago, Captain Colville, of the Grenadier Guards, and his bride made an ascent in this balloon from the Crystal Palace on their wedding day, they being the sole occupants of the car, and in cloudland they spent a portion of their honeymoon, effecting a safe landing at Waterbeach, between Cambridge and Ely.

It is eaid that during the coming winter wonderful satins are to be worn in New York. A celebrated dry goods establishment in that city is already displaying , a satin costing £12 per yard, which is thus described:—"lmagine a ground of the softest, creamiest satin, covered with clusters of huge flowers, embroidered in pearls; here and there, where the leaves turn, or the flower hides the petal, there is a transient shimmer of gold, just a shading, as it were, of fine gold embroidery. Every inch of the ornamentation is done by hand, and the effect is exquisite." The material of a modern dress made from this satin costs £300.

Mr Bradlaugh has received the following reply to his appeal to the Premier on behalf of the imprisoned Maoris, of whom, however, a number have been realeased since Mr Bradlaugh's first application to Lord Kimberley:—"Dear Sir—l am directed by Mr Gladstone to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the Ist inst., respecting the imprisonment of certain natives in New Zealaud.and to inform you, in reply, that the matter is one entirely within the control of the Colonial Government, but that the Government has been directed to send a full report, with a view of its being laid before Parliament.—l am, Sir, your obedient servant, J. A. Godley.—C. Bradlaugh, Esq., M.P."

The Rev. H. Marriott, speaking at a recent indignation meeting at West Bromwicb, after condemning the decision in Mr Pelham Dale's case as " idiotic, lunatical, and foolish," and the lawyers and judges as " a regular set of fools," said : —" That abominable Public Worship Regulation Bill had come out of hell, and he could prove it. Those Low Church people wanted to teach the public that they (the clergy) were not priests—that they had no power to give absolution after confession of sins, and that the real presence was not in the sacrament, and this teaching that bill was intended to support. It was therefore plain that it was the devil's work to destroy the prayer-book.

In the Dictrict Court at Christchurch on Wednesday an unstamped document having been tendered, Mr Spaekman, plaintiff's counsel, guaranteed the payment of the fine, whereupon (remarks the Lyttelton Times) Judge Ward observed that ha had known some lawyers whose word would not be taken for £5. Mr Joynt hoped His Honor would name them, or the reporters would be having something to say about serious imputations upon legal gentleman in ChristchuTch. Mr Spackman said he had not got £5 in his pocket, and he did not suppose his learned friend had. Thereupon Mr Joynt rose biiskly, exclaiming, " I'll make you a bet I have," and sinking back into his seat, he concluded, " I beg your Honor's pardon." We clip the following from the Catholic Times of November :—" The agitation in Ireland at the present moment is the object of serious thought and attention at the Vatican. The Holy Father wishes- the episcopacy and clergy to understand that religion must be kept out of the civil strife which is going on in that country, and that the clergy must neglect no means, by preaching and example, to bring peace to troubled surface ; now that the crisis seems hotter than ever, the Holy Father has renewed and repeated these injunctions, and a prelate is to be purposely sent over to Dublin to pacify the agitated state of things as much as possible, and to concert with the Archbishop of that city upon the most effectual means to be taken in order fully to correspond with the expressed wishes of his Holiness."

The prospectus is iesued of the Great Eastern Fresh Meat Company (Limited), which has been formed to export large quantities of dead meat in the Great liastern steamship, and subsequently in other large vessels, from the United States seaboard and elsewhere. It is estimated that the Great Eastern can carry on each voyage

10,000 to 15,000 carcases of beef all hung and cooled by the dry-air refrigerating system, and weighing from 3,000 to 4,000 tons. The cattle will ha slaughtered on. board the vessel before sailing. The capital of the company is fixed at £300,000, in 29,990 ordinary shares of £10 each, and 100 founders' shares of £1. At present only one-half of this capital is. to be issued.

It has recently Leen discovered (says the North PDastern Ensign) that several atrocious acts of cruelty have been perpetrated upon sheep belonging to the Kiflawarra station. On the flocks being mustered for shearing many of the animals were found to have a piece of string tied round mouth and nose, which prevented eating and drinking, and were condemned to a lingering death. On a search over the run several animals were found dead with their mouths tied. If .such horrible cruelty, as it is expected, be the pi an adopted by the neighboring selectors to prevent the sheep trespassing on their grass or crops, it shows badly for their huma« nity or intelligence, and we heartily trust the perpetrators of such villany may be discovered and reap their proper reward.

Perhaps the most shocking balloon accident ever recorded was that which happened at Ooubervoie, near Paris, the other day. A young man named Navarre ascended in a balloon, to which was attached a trapeze in lieu of a car. He was advised to have himself tied on, but declared that being an acrobat, he could perfoim without danger, and holding the trapeze by one hand, he 6aluted the crowd on starting. On reaching, however, about 300 ft he seized the bar with both hands, "and appeared motionless, his head leaning on one shoulder. The balloon continued to rise, Navarre not showing the slightest movement, until, at the height of about 1800 ft, he lost hold and fell. His body was fearfully mangled by striking the ground, but it is supposed that he was already dead before touching it. A hole about 2ft in depth was made by the falling body, which rebounded to a distance of 5 yards.

ThejEstates Gazette reprints the following extract from " Cuiiosities of the Searoh Room " :—" I give and bequeath the annual sura of £10, to be paid in perpetuity out of my estate, to the following purpose :—lt is my will and pleasure that this Bum shall be epent in the purchase of a certain quantity of the liquor vulgarly called whisky, and it shall be publicly given out that a certain number of persons, Irish only, not to exceed twenty, who may choose to assemble in the cemetery in which I shall be interred on the anniversary of my death, shall have the same distributed to them. Further, it is my desire that each shall receive it by half a pint at a time till the whole is consumed, each being provided with a stout oaken stick, and that they shall drink it all on the spot. Knowing what I know of the Irish character my conviction is, that with these materials given, they will not fail to destroy each other, and when in the course of time the race comes to be exterminated, this neighbor, hood, at least, may, perhaps, be colonised by civilised and respectable Englishmen, (Will dated March 17, 1791.)

M. Molmari, writing in the Debats, haa put the Irish question in a light which has at least some novelty to recommend it. After describing the instinct of the Norman race as an instinct of acquiring (de gagner), he proceeds thus:—"Admitting that the Irish had possessed the enterprise as well as the desire of acquisition of the Normans, they would most certainly without scruple have conquered England. The land in England would then have been in the hands of the O'Donoghues, the O'Briens, the O'Connors, and the O'Flahertys; the Parliament of the United Kingdom would have eat in Dublin, the debatee would have been carried on in the ancient Irish language; the Protestants of all churches and of all sects would have been foroed into conversion to the true faith, under penalty of being disabled from practising aa advocates, professors, doctors, or above all, as sportsmen. . . . But the Irish have

not conquered England ; it is the English who have conquered Ireland. And this is the original cause of the miseries and disorders of that unfortunate country." There have been times, however (remarks an English paper), when casual speotatora of the proceedings in the House of Commons might have supposed this state of things reversed.

A crime of a diabolical nature has been committed near the village of Mont Compatri, in Italy. Four guardian come pestri in the service of some proprietors in that locality, and whose duties among the vineyards may be likened to those of gamekeepers in England, observed on going their rounds together that some bunches of grapes had been broken off. Their suspicions falling on some peasants travelling to find work who had pitched a tent in the vicinity, they went up to it, seized four of them, bound them to trees, and after beating them brutally, constituted themselves into a kind of court-martiil to consider what they should do to a fifth, whom they reserved for more exemplary treatment. They concluded to shoot him then and there. Lots were drawn to decide which should do it. One shot was fired at the man and missed him, and then, despite his piteous cries for mercy, a revolver was planted at his breast, and he was laid dead on the spot. The ruffian who played part of the executioner is already in the hands of the police. The others, who are all well known, will no doubt soon be taken. It is only a few months ago that a small landowner for a similar offence tied a woman to the tail of his horse, and, after dashing her along the road for some distance, left her lying a pitiable object on the wayside.

A case which has jtist occurred in' Bohemia is almost a repetition of the cases which have recently occurred in England. Among the jury in a case to be tried at Tabor was the " well-known philosopher Alphons Skastny, of Padarow." When it came to be Skastny's turn to be sworn he declared that he belonged to no religious denomination. The President of the Court answered, " Yes, but you believe in a God. We are willing to accept your simple promise." The philosopher replied that the President assumed too much, for he was, in fact, an atheist. Hereupon the defendant's counsel took occasion to state that the promise, if allowed mast be given in legal form, and the bench of Judges withdrew for a short time to discuss the point. On their return the President briefly announced: " Since Herr Alphons Skastny has publicly declared that he believes in no God,he may, as an honest man, give his promise by raising his hand." The State official who was present objected to this that every witness must be sworn in accordance with the actual words of the law, or not at all. The defendant's counsel also put in a claim to the same effect. The puzzled judges consulted together once more, and announced their final decision as follows:—"Since Herr Skastny has declared that he believes in no Gad, the Court is not qualified to accept hia evidence, and he will therefore be dismissed and his place taken by a substitute." Herr Skastny accordingly withdrew, but, before doing so, gave in his written protest against the Judges' decision.

" Some men are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." Is it in the latter of these categories (says the writer of " Passing Notes." in the Otago Witness) that we are to place Te Whiti, or in the second, or the first, or in all three together ? Certainly he is having greatness thrust upon him, when a solemn Embassy ia sent from hie Excellency the Governor, ■which, if it doesn't go for much in English, is no doubt wonderfully eloquent in its Mp.ori dress. I hope the old savage is duly sensible of the honor which has been thus conferred upon him all unasked, but I have my doubts, and they are founded on the mysterious response to this missive, which, so far as it hua leaked

Out, I have read and studied with profound interest. The sole metaphor which the Governor allowed himself was " the light is still lingering on the mountain top," which no doubt means something, and 5f we could only tell what it means we should admire it: only we have not the faintest inkling of •what the " mountain" i*, what the "light" represents, where it comes from, or why it lingers. But there is something chaste and beautiful about this metaphor I have no doubt. What does the man whom tho Governor and Ministers delight honor to reply ? Simply this —

Only this and nothing more

—and the touching pathos of the language is only equalled by its simplicity: " The potato is cooked, and nhall the cooked potato discusb its troubles with the fire that cooked it P" Is not that a sweet thing in metaphors? H0.7 much more forcible ia euch a simile than the tame platitude about light lingering (without any assignable cause) on mountain tops.