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Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 2984, 18 January 1881, Page 2

To-morrow will be observed as a whole holiday to enable public attendance at the Hawke's Bay Racing Club's annual meeting at Clive. The first,race on the programme is the Maiden Plate, which will be run at 12.30 p.m. Persons driving from Napier should leave town at about 11 o'clock. The half-past ten o'olock train, for those who go by that way, will be found to give ample time to stroll from Farndon to the race-course; and the 12.20 train, if it is started punctually, and conveyances are at the station to meet it, will just enable passengerH to have a ohance of seeing the finish of the first event.

The only bueiness befora the Eesident Magistrate's Court this morning was of a case of drunkenness, viz., Annie Searles, who was fined 5s and costs, or in default 48 hours imprisonment. Captain Preece, R.M., YWn on (he bench.

The railway time-table for the race-days is published in another column, '

The adjourned meeting of the Napier Distrios School Committee takes place this evening.

By advertisement a meeting of the members of Court Captain Cook, A.0.F., is convened for this evening.

We learn that F. Sutton, Esq., M.H.E., has become an honorary member of the Spit Voluntear Fire Brigade.

The Napier Artillery Volunteers ■will parade this evening in front of Messrs Kennedy and Qillman's stores at 7 p.m.

The monthly meeting of the Hawke's Bay Education Board, which should have been held to-day, lapsed for want of a quorum.

The first practice match of the twentytwo selected to play against the Australians will take plaoe at Hastings on Saturday next.

There will be an exhibition of lime-light dissolving views at St. John's Sunday school-room on Thursday evening next The lecture will be delivered by Mr W. E. W. Morrison, 8.A..

In consequence of Wednesday and Thursday baying been proclaimed public holidays, the ordinary meeting of the Municipal Conncil will take place on Friday evening next, instead of to-morrow evening.

A notice appears in another column signed by the Mayor, stating that, at the request of several burgesses of the Borough of Napier, Wednesday next is proclaimed a whole holiday, and Thursday a halfholiday, commencing at noon.

Members of the Spit Fire Brigade meet this evening at their engine-station to discuss matters relative to business to be transacted by the Association in Wellington on Monday next. It is specially requested that every member should attend.

The following are the names of the eleven who will " do battle " for the Napier Club in the cricket match Napier v.Port Ahuriri, to be played at Hastings to-morrow: — Messrs Edwards, .Gilbert, H.-Uartin, J. Ivlartin, Atherton, Watkins, Carnell, Gilpin, Mullany, White, and Simpson.

Mr Stephen Pell's list of subscriptions in aid of Mrs Caldwell amounts to about £160, and the amounts acknowledged through the press will bring it up to nearly £180. Considering the short titne that has elapsed since the accident the amount oolleoted is creditable to the energy of the oollector and the liberality of the district, but a larger sum will be required to be of value to the widow and orphans.

The drainage (?) contract No. 3, that extends along the White road, is, we under* stand, completed, but yet it appears to us that before the work can be left in the finished style in which the Dickens-street contract was passed fully a hundred pounds require to be expended. The footpath along the western side of the White road is certainly on a different level to that on the eastern side, while ugly lumps of rocks, and hollows and humps, disfigure the roadway.

We learn from Wellington that the Government intend to make further reductions and amalgamations in the Civil Servioe of the colony. Mr Batkin, AssistamVController General, and Mr Seed, Secretary to the Customs, -will make a tour of inspection throughout the whole colony in order to ascertain in what departments and places desirable amalgamations can most conveniently be effected with a view to reduction of expense without impairing the practical efficiency of the service.

At the Public Works Committee meeting last evening, the following recommendations were'adopted:—(l.) That the suggestions of the Municipal Engineer on the subject of the Chaucer-road encroachments be adopted. (2.) That lanterns and belts be purchased for the Fire Police ; cost not to exceed £6. (3.) That as the Council has afhrmed the desirability of confining the appointment of engineer to local applicants, the committee recommend that applications be advertised for in the local papers for 10 days from date; salary, £300 per annum.

Numerous and loud are the complaints that are being made of the infamous nuisance that exists in the number of dead bodies of drowned dogs that are festering in the channel of the inner harbor lagoon. The martyrs to the Dog Registration Act, to which we refer, have met their deaths by being thrown from the bridge leading from Hyderabad road to the new Taradale road. The rotting , carcases anchored by string , and stone, swing with the tide, and are revolting to eye and smell. Complaints have been made to the Borough Inspector of Nuisances, but as the locality is just outside the limit of that officer's jurisdiction he is unable to do anything in the matter. The Clerk of the County Council is of opinion that it does not come within his duty, so the only remaining local authority is the Harbor Board. Surely between these three governing bodies the public might expect that some immediate action might be taken in the interests of the health of the inhabitants of the borough and surrounding districts. The whole cost to cut the bodies adrift at ebbing tide would not be much more than ten shillings.

The Auckland Star alluding to rumors of foul play at the late race meeting, says : — " Bookmakers and their horses are obtaining the supremacy in the New Zealand racing world. Their rule is becoming quite absolute. The national pastime—once followed for the sake of sport—is fast degenerating into a low scramble for public money. Bookmaking assumes an undesirable phase when the ' talent' own or have control over the best horses. How much more is the disgust felt at the disquieting reports which have floated so often on the public ear— that certain bookmakers, horseowners, and handicappers have identical interests, the end and aim of which has been to fleece the general public. If a rule were laid down that horses should start or no bet, there would be little chance for confiding investors. The racing atmosphere is very tainted, and a moral thunderstorm is required to clear the air. At how many meetings has money been taken on horses that were either crippled or were known to be non-starters by those who took the money P And, if so, is not this downright robbery ? In order to discourage jobbery and corruption most stringent rules should be laid down for the protection of the outside public."

The value of land in the City of London is forcibly illustrated by the account of the futile efforts of the members of Lloyd's to obtain a site for the new buildings which that corporation propose to erect. Finding their present accommodation insufficient, the Underwriters instructed a Special Committee of their number to ascertain on what terms 33,000 superficial feet of land in the north-west corner of the present site of Leadenhall Market, comprising the angle of Gh'acechurch street and Leadenhall street might be purchased. Their report is more cheerful reading to those who own land in London than to the less fortunate people who are compelled by the. exigencies of business to buy it. Lloyd's Committee, in pursuancD of their commission, addressed themselves to the City Lands Committee, who are the official trustees of the property in question and thereupon ensued a lively controversy between the Underwriters and the Common Counoilmen, each party wishing the other to " make a price." . In the end the Committee of Lloyd's offered £200,000 for the freehold of 33,000 feet. This being declined they raised their bid to £247,000—a sum equivalent to £7 10s per square foot. But even this offer was declined, the City Lands Committee at the same time informing the Committee of Lloyd's that they valued the ground in question at " about £350,000," and had, moreover, determined to acsept a proposal from the present tenants to take it on a building Jease. Under these circumstances the negotiations ended, and the Underwriters are still in search for a site within a reasonable distance of the Bank of England, which can be bought for something less than 10 guineas the square foot. '

Both Sir Garnet Wolseley and General Roberts are pronounced total abstinence men.

Count Taaffe, the present leader of the Austrian Ministry, is by descent an Irishman.

Lord Beaconsfield suffers from increasing violence in his gout. His secretary, the new peer, Lord Hawton, still remains with him, and it is supposed he -will be his heir.

The vices of vanity and thirst are (says a philosopher) natural to the journalistic temperament. Singly they are harmless. But combined they are dangerous, as they then take the form of the journalist thinking that every glass of sherry on the dining table must necessarily be a votivo offering to his own peculiar genius.

During his Invercargill season some of Herr Bandmann's company happened to fall foul of the local evening paper. Mr Bandmann at one of the performances, in replying to the attack, said that as one who had been so successful in every corner of the world, he was prepared to wager £100 that the company be had then supporting him was a better one than had ever before appeared in New Zealand.

. There was a singlar novelty displayed last month in the great fruit fair, (St. i-iouis, Missouri. It was an apple column, 40ft high, and in diameter, in imitation of an Egyptian obelisk. Twenty-five barrels, or 8000 apples, were used in its construction ; and they came very appropriately from Egypt, in Southern Illinois. Some idea of the extent of the apple culture may be found from the fact that five thousand plates of apples were sent for exhibition.

The calm and philosophical indifference with which a Maori taces death has no better illustration than a remark which fell from Tuhi, the Opunake murderer. The night preceding his execution, as he wag impatiently and restlessly pacing his cell, as though anxious for the moment which should disclose to him the " great secret," the attendant warder earnesly advised him to take a little rest. "No matter," replied the doomed convict, " I'll have plenty of that to-morrow."

With reference to the State trials in Ireland, says an English paper, " It is a fact that all the Members of Parliament placed upon their trial are bachelors save one, and and he is some sort of a poet." Now what is the meaning of this P Is some sort of a poet a distinct being from a bachelor ? Or is some some sort of a baohelor a distinct being from a poet P Or where does the distinction lie P We are all some sort of poets, and mostly some sort of bachelors, in this office, and we are interested in having the matter explained.

The Sydney Daily Telegraph, in announcing the arrival in Sydney of Mr Smythe, sa y ß :« Mr Smythe tells us that in his being obliged, for private reasons, to decline accompanying Mr Proctor to India and the far East, that gentleman at once telegraphed to the Amerioan Literary Bureau that he would arrive in New York early in February, and that organisation, in three days, wired back that they had concluded lecturing engagements for him in Canada and the Southern States of America, which Mr Proctor will visit for the first time."

The practice of buying and selling wives continues in some parts of England. In a recent assault case heard at Barnsley (Yorkshire) one witness swore to having bought his wife for ninepence. Another witness, a woman, swore that her husband had sold her to another man for balf-a-crown. To corroborate her testimony, she handed to the Bench a lengthy document signed by three witnesses on a penny receipt stamp, which stated that Charles Clarke, her husband, agreed to sell her to Peter Scott, of Sheffield, for 2s 6d, from the first day of February, 1878, from which time until death he would not annoy her.

The Kumara Times tells the following story most extraordinary XXX-acci-dent occurred recently, by which a well known resident of this town nearly found a beery grave. It appears that a " cooper " (who has naturally an aptitude for barrels) was seated on the head cf a " Korter-cask " hogshead whioh was standing full m Mr Kugg's yard, when, without any previous warning, the barrel exploded, the head being blown to pieces, and the unfortunate cooper receiving more of the contents than was good for any roan, even at this festive season of the year. The cause of the accident is ascribed to the fact that allowance was nnt made for the unusual strength of the " Christinas brew."

A writer in Chamber's Journal gives an incident connected with the calamitous failure of the City of Glasgow Bank, illustrating the remarkable vagaries of fortune. A young man had been left a legacy of £1,000, and having no immediate use for the money he paid it into the bank. In a few days he saw an advertisement about a business for sale, and entering into negotiations with the proprietors, ended by making the purchase. Singularly enough, the amount required was exactly what he had in the bank; so closing- his account, he paid for the deeds and entered into possession. Tbe outgoing tenant, having no immediate use for the money, invested it in shares in the City of Glasgow Bank. The next day the failure of the bank was announced.

As an instance of how the value of house property in Wellington has depreciated during the past two years, we may mention that the general rates were estimated to yield £12,000 for the year 1880-81. But, for the ensuing year, the New Zealand Times and the Mayor do not anticipate that more than £10,000 will be forthcoming. This estimate is considered extravagant by the Post, which says that " town property has depreciated in value from 30 to 50 per cent. Its eelliner value is less than half the rate ruling in 1878 . . . Taking, however, the ordinary estimate of depreciation in the value of property, a revenue of more than £6000 cannot be counted on from the general rate, even allowing for the recovery of arrears."

Those who are in the habit of visiting the Queen's Wharf (says the Post) may have from time to time noticed that Melbourne bound steamers have frequently conveyed from this port large quantities of green flax, and it has been a matter of conjecture among the curious aa to what use the flax is put to. It has been hinted—and the suggestion is not at all an improbable one—that the flax is manufactured in Victoria into rope, and sold here and elsewhere as " Manilla"—a class of rope which readily fetches £40 per ton. However this may be, it is certain that a large trade in the exportation of flax from Wellington is being quietly carried on. It is known that some owners of flax swamps in the vicinity of Wellington receive from £2 to £210s per ton for flax as it grows, and the purchasers at this figure cut and deliver it at their own cost.

The Bay of Plenty Times of the 11th of January cays : —" Mr Sheehan reached here last week and spent a couple of days whilst the Lady Jocelyn was landing her passengers. From the moment that his arrival became known the Commercial Hotel was besieged with natives waiting to interview him. Tha minds of the natives are in a very disturbed and unsettled state, and though we were not privileged to listen to these interviews, still we were placed in a position to ascertain that there is a general discontent existing throughout Taupo, Waikato, and this district, and. that a general statement of grievances is being made out and will be laid before His Excellency, should the Governor shortly visit the inland districts. Mr Sheehan has also undertaken, professionally, the cases of a number of natives who allege grievances, which will probably be brought before the oivil sittings of the Supreme Court."

All London is talking of the last wonder which has come to it—two morsels of humanity of the veritable Lilliputian type, •which are now on show in Piccadilly. One weighs less than five pounds, and the other barely nine, and both are about a couple of feet high. The smallest, a lady, is a native of Mexico, and talks Spanish or English indifferently well} the other, the gentte-

man, hails from New York. It is difficult to imagine anything funnier than the appearance of these mites, walking up and down their tiny stage, like animated dolls. Lucia, the lad/, is about eighteen years of age, full of life and spirits. The least thing sends her oft' into a fit of merrylaughter, and she is always ready to flirt and coquette with the spectators. Hor face is distinctly Mexican in features; she has a very long and rather peaky nose, with a retreating chin and full lips. Her complexion is decidedly tawny; the little Yankee, although two years younger, is of graver aspect, as becomes his sex, but he is ready to exchange jests with the public, and can hold his own well. Not the least amusing part of the show is the dejection of Mr Commodore Nutt, the well-known Lilliputian, wlio is utt3rly out-dwarfed, if we may coin the word, by these almost infinitesimal pigmies. His air is one of dejection, as though, in dwarfing, the line ought to be drawn at three feet and a-lialf —his own height. These curious speoimens of ethnological absurdity are making the tour of the world, and may be expected at the Antipodes m due course.