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Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3259, 12 December 1881, Page 2

The criminal sessions of the Supreme Court commenced this morning, of which, by-the-way, there had been no public notification. Afc the Resident Magistrate's Court this morning, before H. Eyre Kenny, Esq., R.M., Thomas Lee Warner waa committed for trial on a charge of forgery. Mr C. Williams, travelling agent for the New Zealand Government Life Insurance Department, is at present in Napier, and proposes shortly to visit the country districts. We understand that Mr W. L. Rees has been retained to defend Rendle in the several chargds brought against him connected with the recent post office frauds afc Napier. Messrs Leonard and Co.'s sale of timber, held afc Napier this day, was well-attended. Some sixty-five lots, comprising 50,000 feet of mixed timber, were disposed of within one hour at prices satisfactory to the vendor. We notice that Mr William Grant, late of Waipukurau, has been appointed an officiating minister of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand under the Marriage Act. Mr Grant is now in charge of the Hutfc district, Wellington. The teetotallers have not been successful afc the elections, Sir W. Fox, Messrs Speight, Wallis, Saunders, Andrews, Lundon, and Wakefield, all failing to be returned to the new Parliament. The only tofcul abstainers who have been re-elected are Messrs Fulton and Barron. Further returns have been received of the East Coast Maori electoral district election, and there is now only one more return to come in, that will not affect the result. The returns to hand are as follow: — Flenare Tomoana, 897 ; Rodgers, 783 ; Wi Peri, 621; Ngala, 493. Before the Grand Jury is discharged with the thanks of the Queen and their country, we trust the foreman will present to His Honor the Judge a presentment showing the public cost and public inconvenience attached to the trial afc Napier of criminal and civil cases that have their origin in the Poverty Bay district. We regret to learn that our respected Town Clerk, Captain Bower, had an attack of sunstroke yesterday. He was in his garden in the morning, and suddenly complained of giddiness, sickness, and pain at the back of the head. He went to bed, and though reported to be better to-day was too unwell to attend to his official business at the Corporation offices. Police gaols have been established at Arrowtown, Ashburton, Clyde, Gisborne, Grahamstown, Greymouth, ilokianga, Kaikoura, Lawrence, Mercury Bay, Mongonui, Naseby, Oamaru, Opotiki, Patea, Picton, Porangahau, Raglan, Reefton, Russell, Tairua, Tauranga, Waimato, Waipawa, Wairoa, Warkworth, Weßtport, Bnd Woodville. The public prisons afc Clyde, Gisborne, Naseby, Oamaru, Tauranga, and Westport have been closed. In looking over the list of members of the new Parliament, we make out that the Government have secured 49 supporters, the Opposition 38, and doubtful 4. At the same time very many of the members, while approving the native and financial policy of tho Ministry, have stated that, in the event of a stronger Administration being formed by a combination of parties, they will support ifc. In tho meantime there looks to be no opposition except that which can be held together by Sir George Grey. Mrs ff. A. Oliver met with a very painful accident this morning when driving into town to attend as a witness in the case of Regina v. Rendle. When on the Puketapu cutting through some cause the buggy capsized. Mrs Oliver was thrown to the ground, receiving a severe out across

the knee-cap. Mr Speedy was on the road, and lifting Mrs Oliver into his own buggy brought her into town to the Supreme Court House, but her injuries rendered it possible for. her to evidence before the Grand Jury. In order to prevent waste, consumers of hierh pressure water are compelled to have a 200-gallort tank fitted with, ball-cocl. attached to their premises, The water that is supplied by high pressure, however, is so abominably dirty, and so full of animalculee, that it cannot be used after ifc has been in the tank a few hours. The consequence is that the consumer is bound to let the nasty " mixture " flow away, and so much greater waste ensues than would be the case if people were allowed to help themselves as their wafits might require. The Patea returns reached Hastings last higHfc, ahd were known in Napier this morning. Troughout Saturday and Sunday the friends of both candidates were anxious to learn whether the Patea votes would place Captain Russell at the head of the poll, or enable Mr Sutton to hold his j lead. It was just possible for Captain , Russell to pull up the 44 he was behind, and the result shows how close a thing it was, the returns being Russell 38, Sutton 4. Mr Sutton is therefore elected by a majority of 10. Some little alarm was created at Petane last night by a pyrotechnic display on the hills in Napier, which, in the distance, was at first mistaken for a conflagration. From the harbor the rows of Chinese lanterns, blue lights, &c., had a fine effect, and as Captain Wooster, of the ship Waikato, accepted the display as a compliment to himself, he responded by sending up a few rockets. In place of the above compliment, however, we learn that it was an illumination in connection with a festival at the Catholic Church in honor of the Blessed Virgin. The names of the gentlemen who were engaged in getting up a sweep at the last race meeting of the Wellington Racing Club have been forwarded by Mr Superintendent Shearman to the Crown Law Officers, and it is believed that, with the evidence therewith transmitted, a recommendation to prosecute the gentlemen referred to has also been tendered. The New Zealand Times adds that there can be no possible excuse for allowing the matter to drop. Common fair play to the public imperatively demands an investigation in the proper place, to say nothing of the necessity of putting the Gaining and Lotteries Ast upon its trial. We do not intend to let the question be shelved. Justice must be done. An epidemic of an unknown nature has broken out at Kangaroo Ground, New South Wales, and within a few days a large number of women and children died from it, including five in one family. A correspondent of the Ar_rus says:—"A strange peculiarity of the disease is that its victims seem conscious of its fatal influence and give way without an effort. Two adults, who were first attacked, predicted the date of their death almost exactly. The duration of the illness is grenerally from two to four days. Its frightful virulerlce may be imagined when it is stated that Mrs James Taylor and her two children lay dead in the house at the same time. The symptoms are a large swelling of the glands of the neck, accompanied with a violent fever. The local doctor pronounces the disease to he highly contagious." The supposed volcano afc West Wanganui proves, as was surmised, to be a coal seam on fire. Dr. Hector has received a letter on the subject from Mr J. Roes, of Collingwood, of which the following is an extract: —" On my return here, I found one of the men from the Golden Ridge claim, who had brousht in the news of the volcanic eruption afc Wanganui, and I have ascertained from him that tbe precise locality is at Malone's Creek, about a mile south of the Golden Ridge claim, which you may perhaps know is at Slatey Creek, at the foot of bald hill. One of the coal seams at Malone's had become ignited some four or fWe years since, and the hill has afc last slipped, and left the chasms open which were mentioned in the report. The smoke is still issuing from these, and I am told that some logs of wood thrown in were rapidly burnt." The breaking up of Parihaka appears to be looked upon in a very favorable light by some of the natives. The Hawera Star furnishes the following in illustration:—" The feast given to returned Parihaka natives at Taiporoehenui concluded on Wednesday with a great haka, in which over 100 men and women took part. The following list of purchases made for the feast by Patohi and resident natives will give an idea of the expenditure incurred on account of these entertainments:—lß head of young cattle, 1000 loaves of bread, 7 hhda beer, 50 gals spirits, 10 hags sugar, 5 boxes tea, 20 pigs, al.-o, about £25 worth of tobacco and matches The total cost would probably reach £250, to raise which a number of tenants of the natives in the neighborhood of Hawera have been dunned to give 1 orders' on account of rent coming due. Yeßterday these voracious visitors proceeded to Mokoia; thence they go to Patea feasting everywhere." The Government has taken very practical steps for giving the production of sorghum or sugar grass a proper trial. Not only have parcels of seed been forwarded to different parts of the colony, but a quantity has also been sown by Mr Bramley, at the Botanic Gardens, Wellington. A patch of ground in the southern portion of the domain has also been prepared, and about an acre in all will be planted. Two varieties have been sown—one being the white early amber, and the second that known as Honduras. Should the difficulty which has been experienced in converting the molasses from sorghum into sugar have been overcome, as is claimed, there is every prospect of a highly profitable industry being developed in the colony. Recent numbers of the American Agriculturist thro%v a considerable degree of doubt upon the subject, and it is also mentioned that the United States Government has been requested to place a vote for a considerable amount upon the Estimates for the purpose of encouraging further experiments.

A Waverley shareholder in the Meat Freezing 1 Company has addressed the following letter to the Wanganui Chronicle : — " It is rumored that the Wellington Meat Freezing Company does not intend to do any shipping this season; why this thusness ? Can they not run in a vessel to Wellington ? As I see the New Zealand Shipping Company is to have a vessel fitted up ready for New Zealand ports in March, why not secure it ? Ihere is no place they can load one quicker than on this coast. J hey are making calls ou the shareholders ; why not let them have some benefit by it ? " Perhaps the hint will rouse the somewhat apathetic directors.

The following from the Otago Times gives some idea of the contrast between railway management in Canterbury and Otago and in Auckland. While on the Waikato line the speed is kept at a little over 15 miles an hour, including stoppages, and on the Kaipara line under 15 miles. At the commencement of the present month the express train between Dunedin and Christchurch was to be accelerated by an hour and a quarter. The only places (says tbe Time*) at which the train will stop between Dunedin and Oamaru will be Port Chalmers, Waikauaiti.'and Palmernton. The smaller stations will be so timed as to enable passengers to catch the express afc Palmerston or Oarairu.

Solitary confinement is being successfully experimented with invarious partsin Europe. For this purpose cells of sheet iron are being constructed, and are somewhat in the nature of cages. the door and overhead there is a network of heavy wire. A number of these cells are placed side by nde in one large_room of a prison. The inmates can see nothing ot each other, and no conversation is permitted. Youthful prisoners are especially suhjectod to this mode of confinement at night and during other non-working hours, the object being to prevent the demoralising influences resulting [from imprisonment in common. This plan is pursued at present in Belgium, Italy, and Ireland, and is to be introduced in Hungary.

The Liverpool Journal of Commerce says: —" As an illustration of the great activity displayed in the shipbuilding trade of dreat Britaifi, may mentioh th&t there are now in course of construction nearly one million tons of shipping, which; we undeti stand, is almost unprecedented." A company for the production of. preserved milk has Beeh siicdegsfiiliy formeo* Messrs Joseph Besisto, Cosmo Newbery, C. R. Blackett, and other leading chemists, tested the samples, declaring them to be equal to the best imported brands. Ifc was stated that the article could be produced, at a very cheap rate, much below the imported aiticle, and that the whole of the Australian colonies could readily take up the industry, M. Pasteur, who has been patiently continuing his experiments in sheep and cattle vaccinatiohj has flow anhouiiced tHe com* plete success of the work, which he has been carrying on on a large scale at a farm near Melun, France; aud he believes that he has obtained a process by means of which sheep and cattle can be made wholly secure against some of the most dangerous and destructive class of maladies to which they are subject. The result of the examination of three samples of Melbourne tea by Messrs New* bery and Dunn has been placed at the disposal of the Age. Sample A contained about |- old black rotten and exhausted leaves, J stalks (dry and hard), J good brown leafy congou, f strong black leaf tea, scented unfermented tea—l« Sample B contained about J old black rotten atid exhausted leaves, | stalks (dry and hard), J good common leafy congou, J strong black leaf tea, J scented unfermented tea— 1. Sample C contained about §• old black rotten and exhausted leaves, §■ good common leafy congou, _- fair black tea, J scented unfermented tea. The Sydney Bulletin, in its critique on the new opera " Patience," performed it the Theatre Royal, Sydney, says of Riccardi:— " To Signor Riccardi, who is new to Sydney, but a great favourite in New Zealand, was allotted the role of Colonel Calverley, and it must be admitted on all sides that he created a most favourable impression. His enunciation of the difficult patter song, in the first act, was beautifully clear, and all his other numbers were given with equal success. His song, ' When I first pufc this uniform on,' may be especially selected for commendation ; and his acting throughout was remarkable for an amount of verve and elan which are seldom met with in the performance of an actor in a difficult part which he plays for the first time before a critical audience in a strange city." Poultry stealing seems to be very common in Dunedin jusfc now. A constable named Dupree was told off the other night to keep an eye on a hen roost from which a number of fowls had been lost, but unfortunately, says the Morning Herald, the gentleman in blue was somewhat of an epicure, and could not resist the temptation placed before him. During the night he amused himself by wringing the heads of four fowls and three ducks, and transmitting them to his own domicile, where no doubt he intended to have an exceptional feast. This having with promptness and satisfaction been executed, it is stated that this trustworthy officer of the law slunk off, but unfortunately for himself, he left behind him a trail of blood, which eventually led to his detection. He has since been committed for trial. The old tower of the Church of St. Helen, afc the village of West Real, near Spilsby Lincolnshire, fell with a crash recently, and is now a mass of ruin. The rector, the Rev. J. S. Ladds, was in the edifice shortly before, and was alarmed by portions of stonework falling, and ominous sounds proceeding from the tower. Quitting the edifice, others were warned of the approaching danger, and not long after the tower showed widened clefts or breaches in its walls, visibly shook, tottered, and fell en masse, but fortunately without hurt to any one. Nearly the whole of the tower fell to the south in the churchyard, and clear of the edifice. The tower was built principally of sandstone, and was one of the most ancient in the neighborhood. It possessed a peal of five bells, and these 'ie among the debris. The church of West Keal is quite a landmark over the fens, being situated on an eminence overlooking them, and the tower, was a conspicuous object for miles around. 'J he heap of ruins shows the tower to have fallen through natural decay. Reputation is not, at besfc, easily attainable, and when secured is generally the result of legitimate claims. The theory that reputations are achieved without justificatory grounds is a fallacious one. There must be some merit to win applause. The popularity of Udolpho Wolfe's ScniEDAir Aeoucatic Schnapps is conclusive evidence of its intrinsic worth, and the universality of its use proves its superiority and efficacy. For years it has held a foremost place in the markets of the world.— [Advt.]