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Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3044, 29 March 1881, Page 2

The reward offered by the Acclimatisation Society, namely, one shilling per pair of hawks' feet, has caused the destruction of no less than 2,600 Sergeant Mahon has received in the last ten months that number of pairs of hawks' feet, and during this month 171 pairs from the Longlands estate alone. Hawks appear to have been numerous on that station, for during the past nine months 712 pair of feet have been sent in for payment of the reward. We hear that no hawks are to be seen on the plains, which is good news for pheasants, rabbits, and hares.

In the case of Hawker v. Eddie, heard at the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, the claim was for £20 5s Bd, and not £42, as stated in our report yesterday. The case was adjourned until Monday next for the production of another bill of particulars. In a cross action of Eddie v. Hawker, in which the plaintiff claimed £40 12s, His Worship delayed judgment until Monday next. There was another case having reference to the same action, Searle v. Eddie, in which judgment was given for plaintiff for 14s, plaintiff to pay costs of defendant's solicitor. The case Clendenning v. McElison was adjourned until Thursday next.

The new offices for the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency are now very nearly completed; the hoarding in front of the premises having been removed, a handsome building has been disclosed. There necessarily remains much to be done in the way of clearing up, and the exterior side walls have to be coated with cement. The interior may bo said to be finished, with the exception of some staining and graining to doors and staircaso. The architecture of the building is composite, and, though not classical, makes a striking' frontage to the street. On the ground floor is the public office of the Agency, measuring 34 feet by 17 feet with a height of 15 feet, fitted with solid polished cedar counters and desks, and entered from the street by handsome halfglass doors within a cedar lined portico. Leading from this are the manager's office, strong room, and stationery cupboard. There is also a commodious lavatory at tho back. On the south end of the front to Hastings-street there is a private entrance leading to a passage and staircase, the latter conducting to four commodious rooms upstairs, that have been let is offices to Messrs C'ornford and Dewes, solicitors. The building it> brick, plastered with cement, tho rooms being tempered pale blue. Tho fireplaces are fitted with registered grates and marble mantle-piecos. The architects are Messrs J. Mahoney and Son, of Auckland, the contractor being Mr Augus McKay, who has completed his work in a most finished manner, and to the thorough satisfaction of Mr F. J. Matthews, the inspector of works. The plastering work was assigned to Mr T. Foley, of Wellington. The building, while it reflects credit upon all concerned in its erection, adds greatly to the a ppearance of the street, and throws into the shade the adjoining Bank of New Zealand. The contract price of these offioea was ,£2419,

The barque Langsfcone, the second wool ship from this port last season, left Napier on November 18, and reached London on March 23, making the length/ voyage of 128 days.

Mr W. Routledge effered for sale to-day, in the old Council Chamber, on behalf of the Corporation, fifty-three subdivisions of the eight reclaimed sections fronting Munro, Raffles, Edwardes, aud two newstreets. There were no buyers, and the sections now remain open for sale by private tender.

We hear that more than half the Scotch members have signed tbe memorial to Mr Gladstone proposing the appointment of a Minister of Scotch Affairs. Sir W. Harcourt is very much in favour of the proposal, and though a strong opposition will be offered to it by the members of the Scotch Bar, it is very generally believed that it will be adopted. If a Minister for Scotch Affairs were established, the position would probably be offered to Mr Baxter, whose abilitios, high position among the Scotch members, and long experience, eminently fit him for the position.

Milan has a curiosity in a clock which is made entirely of bread. The maker is a Peruvian, and has devoted three years of his time to the construction of this curiosity. He was very poor, and being without means to purchase the necessary metal, deprived himself regularly of his daily bread, which he devoted to the construction of this curiosity, eating the crust and saving the soft part for doing his work, He made use of certain salts to sodify his material, and when the various pieces were dry, they were perfectly hard and insoluable to water. The clock is of respectable size, and goes well. The case which is also of hardened bread, displays great talent in design and execution.

An English naturalist, while preserving antsand spiders in bottles of alcohol, met with a touching exhibition that caused him to forego further experiments. He wished to preserve a large female spider and twentyfour of her young ones that he had captured. He put the mother into a bottle of alcohol, and saw that after a few moments she folded her legs upon her body, and was at rest. He then put into the bottle the young ones, who, of course, manifested acute pain. What was his surprise to see the mother arouse herself from her lethargy, dart around and gather her young ones to her bosom, fold her legs over them, again relapse into insensibility, until at fast death came to her relief, and the limbs, no longer controlled by this maternal instinct, released their grasp.

A gentleman, with an evidently statistical turn of mind, recently calculated that London consumes 450,000 tons of bread annually, and at 7d per quartern, all round, this gives a daily cost of £21,875, or £7,320,000 in the year. Of this immense sum, we are told by the bread reformers, more than one-fifth is absolutely wasted. Out of a quarter of wheat, weighing on tbe average some 480 pounds, only about 380 pounds of flour is produced; while the remainder, which contains, according to analysts and experts, the more nutritious portions of the wheat, is used chiefly to fodder cattle. When economists tell us that such extravagant waste is being daily perpetrated among us, we must indeed assent to the dicta of the " League " that the subject of bread reform deserves Berious attention.

There comes a terrible wolf-story from the Neapolitan district. The inhabitants of Corbara, a small village in the Apennines, had for some time been harassed by a huge wolf which came down into the village, and had repeatedly attacked people on the mountain. The daughter of a Sindaco was attacked by it on the high road, but escaped with some wounds ; while on the same day it attacked a boy minding sheep on the hills. The boy's father went to the rescue, when the wolf threw him down and wounded him severely. Then it dashed at flock of goats and killed some of them, and then attacked the herd, who, having a gun, wounded the beast, and after a severe struggle, in which he was badly bitten, killed it. The three injured persons were taken to the hospital at Naples. But the worst of the story is that of those bitten, one hassince died of hydrophobia, and it is said twelve persons in all are suffering from premonitory hydrophobic symptoms. The wolf is reported to have been of a size and colour quite unknown to the inhabitantp of the district, where wolves are by no means uncommon.

The following calculation may he of interest as showing the magnitude of the forces of nature :—An inch of rain falling on an acre of land if collected would weigh I over 100 tons. There are 640 acres in a square mile, to that an inch of rain on a square mile would, if collected, weigh over 64,000 tons. The area of England, Wales, and Scotland is 89,643 square miles. Assuming the whole of this surface to be covered with snow to the depth of one foot, and that a foot of snow is equal to one inch of rain, the amazing result follow 3 that there musb have been discharged from the heavens in the form of snow a weight of water of 5,737,152,000 tons! —over five thousand millions of tons. Of course the whole of this enormous mass has been previously lifted into the clouds in the shape of vapour by the " arch-chemic sun," and will be so again—again to fall, once more to rise, and so on through the rolling ages. It is impossible to convey accurate ideas by mere figures, hut as an illustration assume the shipping of the whole world to be capable of carrying 20,000,000 of tons, and that it was requisite to convey the whole weight to the other side of the globe, it follows that the vessels would have to perform 286 voyages before it could be carried across. Forty years ago a young man named Thomas Griggs was " engaged" to Elizabeth Goodyear, but a debilitating illness overtook the bride elect, which so completely prosterated her that she took to her bed and kept it for eight-and-thirty years! During this long period of time, assisted by the guardians, and by a small fund at her disposal, she maintained herself by needle and fancy work. In the meanwhile, Thomas Griggs waited patiently for his Elizabeth, but in 1805, despairing of this, he led another young woman to Elizabeth's bedside, and received from her full permission to marry this fresh acquaintance. Thomas forthwith married, but after five years of wedded life he became and remained a widower until this, year, when Elizabeth Goodyear, restored to health, walked into the parish church at Multon, Lincolnshire, and was duly married to her old sweetheart. It appears that a few months back she became conscious of a slight return of strength, that from feeble efforts to leave her bed and struggle across the room she gained power to pass her door, that the old subject of matrimony •was revived by Thomas Griggs, that Elizabeth was willing, that banns _ were published, and that she is now the wife of her early and only " love."

The Simonsen Company to-night at the Theatre Royal in " Faust." Mr Gillies' exhibition is open until 10 p.m. Meeting of the Licensed Victuallers Association to-night at 7.30. Mr Lyndon will sell to-morrow at 1 ukauu, hay, cows, pigs, horses, &c, at 11 a.m. _ Tenders for road metalling at Hastings close to-morrow. . „,__.,, A bazaar will be held in St. John s school-room on the 6th, 7th, and Bth of April. Mr J. B. Hollis has pure dorking cocks for sale. Tenders are invited for filling in sections near the Napier railway station. Mr H. R. Gunn has building timber of all sizes to arrive. Messrs Blythe and Co., have opened up a new lot of felt hats.

Tenders are invited for the purchase of the swamp sections belonging to the Corporation up to noon on the 18th April. A number of new advertisements will be found in our " Wanted" column,