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Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3257, 9 December 1881, Page 2

We received to-day from the RogistrarGeneral's office the volume of statistics of the colony for 1880. The statistical returns have been moßt carefully compiled, and the volume contains a mass of information of tho utmost value.

r_rn Tn__e«ffiaK_B-M-^-w<iffMßsg^i^ Cary's Juvenile Troupe revisit Napier at Christmas time, and open with the ' Pirates of Penzance' on Boxing night. We could not have a better holiday entertainment than that which can be given by Cary's youngsters. Tho want of another polling place at Napier was much felt to-day. Under the Act the process of voting is made very slow by what the Returning Officer has to do, and if all the electors had gone to the poll to-day time would not have allowed them to record their votes. About thirty Napier residents went this morning to record their votes at Tongoio for the East Coast district, and the special train to Kaikora took a large number of passengers, who, doubtless, would take the opportunity of Mr Lyndon's land sale of combining business with politics at that place. Assisted immigration under the " nomination " system is to be resumed on a limited scale by the Government, but to be confined at present to nominees of near relatives in the colony, or of persons who have succeeded in the colony and wish to have passages provided for acquaintances specially qualified for colonial life. The polling to-day in town gave the streets a more lively appearance than has been seen for some time. The utnrost good humor prevailed, and much amusement was caused by the election skits that were put out by the supporters of the candidates. It is of course impossible to say tor certain in what way the poll will result, but our opinion is that Mr Buchanan will have an easy victory. Mr McDougall last night challenged the Good Templars to produce any letter of his in which he professed to favor temperance legislation, but wished the fact kept quiet j lest he should lose the votes of publicans. The challenge was taken up, and his own words, as published in a contemporary, are certainly fairly susceptible of that interpretation. The probability is that, by the course he has taken.Qhe has lost the support both of the temperance party and of the " vested interest " he was anxious to win over. The Returning Officer, G. A. Preeoe, Esq., for the East Coast Maori electoral district has received returns from thirty polling places, leaving twenty to come in. The deputy returningofficerat Ruatahuna deserves every credit for the despatch he showed in sending in his returns from that distant place, the messenger only occupying fifteen hours from there to Wairoa, a journey that usually occupies three days hard travelling. The returns are as follow : —Tomoana, 786 ; Kodgers, 655 ; Wi Peri, 542 ; Ngata, 153. Candidate- have a "great down" on newspapers that oppose them. Even Mr M'Dougall, who ought to be tolerably casehardened, thinks he has not been treated fairly during this election contest. We do not mind a bit what he has said concerning ourselves; we have rather enjoyed his little Jokes at our expense, because they show that our opposition had the desired effect. JWe will do him the credit, however, of not having gone quite as far as Mr R. Turnbull, the Timaru candidate, who, being opposed by the Timaru Herald, said of that journal that " a more vile organ never existed. It got its bread by evil speaking, and its drink by lying and slandering." Last night the three candidates addressed the electors, Mr McDjugall at the Protes tant hall, and Messrs Buchanan and McSweeney at the Theatre. The burden of Mr MoDougall's speech was an answer to the various charges brought against him by his political opponents, and a statement to the effect that'he had not been treated fairly. Mr Ruchanan reiterated his pledge to do all that he could for the advancement of Napier, and obtain a share of the new public loan for the construction of a harbor. Mr McSweeney declared himself a protectionist. All tho candidates were well received, and were frequently applauded throughout their addresses. Mr H. Monteith presided at Mr MoDougall's meeting, and Mr G. H. Swan occupied the chair for Messrs Buchanan and McSweeney. Fifty-three of the pupils in the district school have sent in answers to the Scripture prize exercise given by the Auckland Scripture Gift Association. Their papers were well written throughout, and some of them models of penmanship, two being elegantly illuminated. A special prize, we hope, will be given for the latter. They have been forwarded to Auckland for merit marks, and on the receipt of the list of successful competitors the prizes will be distributed by the representative committee here. We are requested to inform those children who, having been laid up with measles, were unable to compete, that an additional week is allowed to them, and if their papers are sent in to the Rev. Mr Spear, care of Mr J. Wilson Craig, on or before the 16th instant, they will be received. The exercise to write out is the sixty-fourth Psalm correctly and neatly, and to repeat it at home without mistake to their parents, whose signature must be appended to eaoh paper testifying to this. The secretary to the Bible in Schools Association would feel obliged if the parents whose children attend the district school would kindly return the circular rilled up, addressed to them by the Bible in Schools Association in the stamped envelope enclosed for that purpose. Similar circulars will be sent to the parents of children attending the infant school and the second division of the district school as soon as their names are received from the school authorities. Concerning the canvass of parents in the Napier district school, 133 parents, representing 313 scholars attending the above schools, have already sent replies to the circular addressed to them on the subject of Bible reading in the public school by the Bible in Schools Association ; 95 parents, representing 236 scholars, are favorable to the proposed measure, and 26 parents, representing 76 scholars, are against it. There are four informal replies representing eleven children, and a few were returned unsigned, iiighty parents have yet to reply. It is not expected the canvass will be completed before Christmas. We learn from Christchurch that Mr A. M. Ollivier, the well-known cricketer broke a blood vessel on Monday, and is in a precarious state. Mr Ollivier was unfortunate enough to do the same thing a few years ago. Ho was engaged in office work at the time of the accident, and undergoing no unusual exertion, so far as we have heard. The new con.ic opera, " Patience," by Gilbert and Sullivan, has been produced in Sydney, and is said to have been a great succes. Wo (Post) understand that Mr Cary has been negotiating with the Australian agent of the authors for the purchase of the exclusive right of its production in New Zealand, but up to the present time no arrangement has been made. We (Otago Daily Times) learn that at an early date the Government intend introducing a combined " postage and revenue" stamp somewhat similar to that used by the Imperial authorities, and which will do duty alike for postal and revenue purposes. The vr.lue of the combined revenue and postal stamp will range from '< Id to Is. Frequenters of the theatre during tho dramatic season (says a southern paper) may have noticed that Miss Pomeroy constantly wore a peculiar bracelet fastened by a golden padlock. This was clasped on her arm just as she left tho chores of America, by a very dear friend, who kept the key till she should return safe and sound. A pretty action, but rather awkward if Miss Pomeroy should have to play a part for which jewels were unsuitable. We (Manawatu Standard) have great pleasure in announcing that news has been received from Mr Bartholomew, who has been on a visit to Australia with a view to push the timber trade, that his efforts to establish a market for white pine have been crowned with success. This should mean an additional revenuo to Manawatu wellnigh equivalent to fifty thousand pounds a year, or say a thousand a week, for a commodity that now is only an encumbranco and has to be removed at a considerable cost.

,^,KICTrX-TT'^-^-"-"a_______B_________^^ Never within the memory of the oldest inhabitant (says the Palmerston and Waikouaiti Times) has the country in the Waikouaiti and Shag Valley district presented such a withered and dried-up appearance. The crops in high-lying situations will not be worth reaping, and as to the grass, there is simply an entire absence of what there should be at this time of year. The prospects for the agricultural and pastoral interests are erloorny in the extreme. The cry is, and has been for months past, " Rain! rain! rain !" but as yet the muchneeded downfall has not visited the district. We (Clutha Leader) have been shown a plant grown in Mr Thomas Mackenzie's garden in Balclutha which is almost unknown in these lower and milder parts. It is known as the white mountain lily of New Zealand, its habitat being from 5000 feet up to 7000. The specimen in question was brought by Mr Mackenzie on hia return from Martin's Bay, and found in the alpine region of Lake Wilson, an altitude of about 5000 feet. The plant is now in flower, looking exceedingly healthy, no doubt assisted by our present exceptionally cold spring. A desperate correspondent signing him* self ' J. Oker,' after seven months' sojourn in the hush, sends the Wanganui Herald the following .—•" Sir—Will you kindly inform me whether I am oorreot in'my surmise as to the etymology of the word ' dynamite' now in extensive use for Czar and other purposes. An inventor having discovered a new explosive compound, after experimenting with it upon many substances, placed some in a cheese, exploded the charge, aud when he looked round to examine the effect, exclaimed with mingled surprise and mortification,' By Jove there's not enough left to dine a mite I' Hence its name." Some days ago (says the Timaru Herald) a farmer in the neighborhood turned a flock of some three hundred sheep into a clover paddock, in which there was a large quantity of sorrel. Fifteen hours after the sheep had been placed in the field, the owner visited the flock, and found to his vexation and astonishment no less than forty of the number lying dead, and some fourscore or so of the others in extremis. By diut of bleeding, seventy of the latter were saved. Eating of the sorrel is supposed to haye been the cause of death. But we should doubt it, as we never heard of sorrel being deadly poison to sheep, and suspect the clover as being the cause of the mischief, knowing of cases where sheep being turned into a rich clover paid the death penalty, being "hoved" by overeating the rich succulent food. By the brigantine Omaha from the Chatham Island, says the Christohurch Press, there arrived a Maori chief, a particular friend and admirer of Te Wniti, laden with presents for the Parihaka prophet. Amongst the Bavory things this rangatira had with him were twenty-three casks of preserved albatrosses, a delicacy much prized by the Natives. The cost of capturing, preparing,and packing that quantity of birds is said to have been £200, a sum which the chief generously paid over, hoping to have the pleasure of surprising his prophetic friend at Parihaka with substantial evidence of his allegiance and reverence. Upon the vessel's arrival at port our reporter informed the passengers of the arrest of the arch agitator, and his due lodgment in prison with Tohu and the others. The chief, however, utterly repudiated any belief in the story, remarking that even if such was the fact and that Te Whiti was killed he would return to life again quite easily. Upon a newspaper being shown to him with the particulars headed " Trial of Te Whiti," he laughingly observed that it was merely put in the papers to ensure a readier sale for rhem. It is not often that a Chinese girl is the respondent in a suit for divorce brought by a European, yet something very much akin to this is reported from Sydney. A man named Green, a station storekeeper, sued for a divorce from his wife a few days ago under very curious circumstances. She was the daughter of a Chinese cook and European mother, and a liaison sprung up between her and the apellant, with the usual result. Before the child was born the Chinese father called on Green, and coolly told him that he meant to kill him if he did not then and there marry his daughter. Green appears to have been terrified, if hot into compliance, at any rate into silence. He did not, however,'send for a minister himself; but next evening, when in response to a message he visited the cook's hut, he found a Presbyterian clergyman ready to perform the nuptial ceremony. A quiet suggestion by the father of the consequence of a refusal silenced any untoward manifestations of unwillingness on Green's part, and the Chinese half-caste became his wife. The judge who heard the case refused to dissolve the marriage, as he considered Green had brought his marital difficulties upon himself. This case will be cited as another instance of Chinese ingenuity and readiness of resource under circumstances of difficulty. He is as mu§h a benefactor of the race, who seeks, by persistent energy and patient toil, to conceive a means of allaying suffering, as he, who by his charities, wins the name of philanthropist. The discoverer of LTdoi/pho Wolfe's Schiedam Abohatio Schnapps is your true Samaritan, for he strengthens the weak, stimulates the sluggish, quickens the apathetic, and to the effete system gives new tone and vitality.-— [Advt.]