WAIPAWA.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3163, 18 August 1881, Page 2

WAIPAWA.

(from our own corbespondent)

August 17.

Some excitement was caused here today at about 2 p.m. by a sharp shock of earthquake, lasting several seconds, but I have not heard of any damage being done. The frequency of "shocks" of late leaves the impression that a more than average one will roll along some day and swallow us all up as a punishment for our (or my) wickedness. My prayer is—may I not be here at that time. . , ■ ■ 1 am informed that the several charges brought by Mr J. M. Fraser, headmaster of the district school, against Mr Johnson, will be decided before a J.P. on Wednespay next. It is expected that some startling disclosures will be made by both parties. An accident occurred at Te Aute on Saturday last whereby Mr Thornton, of the college, fractured his collarbone. • It appears that Mr Thornton and several friends were out riding, when his horse took fright, and got quite beyond his control, eventually running into a wire fence and throwing him heavily, causing the fracture, and ahq giving him a severe shaking. I hear that Mr ton is making progress towards recovery as satisfactorily as can be expected from the nature of the injury. '..'..' The Waipawa Road Board Wardens have at length shown good sense in the matter of the Waverley-street cutting. The original depth, I believe, was to have been about 22 feet, but as the sides of the cutting were almost perpendicular, it Was simply impossible in wet weather to go on with tbe work, owing to the banka continually slipping. Now, however, the original specification has been departed"from, and the road only excavated to a depth of twelve feet. From appearances at present, when the road is

finished and opened for traffic, it will not be the " white elephant" many person-i tried to make it out to be ; and will be a much handier road for country people who have business at the railway station than the One at present in use. Our footbollers, after their resent defeatby Napier, intend, by all accounts, to go in strongly for practice, so as to' turn the tables on the town team at the return match. That they would be beaten by Napier was fully expected, but a much closer game, as far as scores were concerned, was anticipated by their upCountry admirer. Some of the county player? recived sundry contusions and bruises, principally in the region of that tender place, the shin, which were evidently painful at the time, but they appear now to have quite recovered from them. I came across an old copy of the Australian Medical Journal the other day a paragraph in which strongly condemns football, in consequence of the danger to limb, and points out that " owing to the youth of these colonies being fed on meat, without farinace6us diet, the bones are very brittle, which is not the case with English youths, consequently they cannot play football with such immunity. The absence of bone-forming material in our foods is a great deterioration of the race, as is evidenced by the bad teeth of our youth." After advice from such good authority as this, I would strongly impress on the minds of my Napier footballing friends the desirability of laying in a large stock of farinaceous food at the earliest opportunity, so as to create a development of bone (and muscle) to pull them through the coming Gisborne match with perfect safety. The choir of St. Peter's Church has been increased lately by the addition of a number of boys ; and great credit is due Miss Porter, the organist, for the time, and trouble she spends on their training. On Sundays it is a pleasant treat to listen to their sweet, and melodious voices singing praises to the Lord ; besides which, the regular attendance at the church cannot but have a good effect on the boys.