Untitled

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3829, 24 October 1883, Page 2

Rural section No. 7S, Woodville district, containing close upon forty acres of land, has been reserved for a recreation ground by the Minister for Lands. In the four weeks ending September loth last the Napier railway earned £2003, being an advance of .-£7O on the corresponding four-weekly period of 18S2. The usual weekly practice of tho Musical Society will take place in the district school at S o'clock punctually this evening Avhen Handel's Messiah will be commenced. Mr T. J. Ryan announces in another column that he intends to hold regular weekly sales at Hastings. The first of his sales will bo held on Wednesday, November 7. The Artillery Volunteers paraded at the gun shed at 6 a.m. to-day, and, limbering up the Armstrong guns, proceeded 4o Browning street, whore, for over an hour, thoy were exercised in gun drill by Capt." - Garner and Lieut. Ross. There were about thirty men present. In the Resident Magistrate's Court this morning, before Captain Preece, R,M., John Ballock, a very old man, was charged with drunkenness. Sergeant Burtcnshaw said tho prisoner was a quiet, inoffensive person, and ho would not press for any punishment. Dismissed with a caution. It is officially gazetted that tho sittings of the Supreme Court for the trial of criminal and civil cases, and of causes under tho Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act, will bo held at the Court House, Napier, to commence at half-past 10 a.m. on Monday, tlic 26th November, instead of Monday, the 10th December. The appointment of purveyor to His Excellency the Governor lias been conferred on Mr D. B. Watt, confectioner, &c, Hastings-street, who it will be remembered, catered for the vice-regal party on the occasion of the visit of Sir William Jervois to Napier in May last. This is, we believe, the first favor of the kind extended to any tradesman by the present Governor since his appointment to New Zealand. Last evening the parents of W. 11. Meek, one of the young men who lost their lives through Saturday's boating aecident,>urived overland from Wellington for tho purpose of making arrangements to havo the body of their son removed to his former place of residence. It is probable that tho body will be conveyed by tlic Southern Cross, leaving here on Friday. Meanwhile Mr G. 11. Swan has kindly placed his dwelling at tho_ disposal of Mr and Mrs Meek during their stay in Napier. The regular fortnightly meeting of tho Napier District School Committee was held last evening. Present: Messrs T. Laws (chairman), M. D. Spriggs, 11. AVilliams, J. S. Large, and W. A. Shuuly. Leave of absence for a fortnight was granted to Mr Wake, third master, to enable him to attend tho University examination at Wellington. A letter was read from Mr Porcival Bear applying for the position of second master. After some discussion it wa.s agreed to invito applications for tho appointment in the usual way, advertisements to be inserted in the local papers, also in the principal papers of Auckland, Wellington, Christchureh, aud Dunedin. The remaining business was of a routino I character.

An Order in Council hasbecn made under the S;ile of Poisons Act by- -which "it shall not be lawful for any person to sell or dispose of strychnine or arsenic in any quantities unless such person shall, previous to making the entry required by tho provisions of tho twelfth section of the said Act, obtain from the intending purchaser of such strychnine or arsenic a statutory declaration setting forth the particulars horeinftor mentioned. Immediately upon completion of the purchase, the seller of such, poison shall forward such statutory declaration to tho Registrar of tho district appointed under the said Act. Every such declaration shall state precisely (1) the Christian name and surname of the intending purchaser at full length, together with his or her occupation and address; (2) tlic exact quantity and name of the poison required; and (3) the express purpose or purposes for which such poison is alone intended to bo used, and the places or localities where the same is to bo used or deposited respectively." Tho search yesterday afternoon and today for the body of young Rearden has proved, as we feared, unsuccessful, and all hopes of tho unfortunate lad's remains being recovered arc as good as given up. All last evening the Union Company's launch Boojum, piloted by Mr Johnson, was navigated backwards and forwards between the Watchman island and tho quarantine station, grappling appliances being used, and charges of dynamite exploded with the view of causing the body to float by the concussions agitating the water. Mr Rearden, sen., remained on tlic launch tho whole night, and this morning at 4 o'clock steam was again got up, and the search renewed until nearly noon, when tho Boojum returned to the Spit,j. in the first instance, however, dragging tho beach towards Petane. On the return journey tho Boojum stuck on a mud bank, but with the assistance of tho captain and some of the crew of the barque Langstone she was soon got off again, and was berthed, alongside the breastwork at 1.40 p.m. Mr Rearden desires us to convey his most sincere thanks to Mr A. D. Fraser, Captains Tonkin and Setter, Scagcant Burtcnshaw, Fisherman Smith, Constables Havey and Siddells, and all who so kindly assisted in the attempt to recover his Ron's body. It would, of course, bo impossible for us to mention them all separately, but the abovo, we believe, took a principal part in the soarch. Sir George Grey some time ago wrote to tho Land Nationalisation Society in England, acknowledging the receipt of a letter from that body, and stating than ho " hoped somo advances would be made in tho direction of land nationalisation in New Zealand during the then, present session of tho Colonial Parliament." The Christchureh Press has an article referring to this, and tracing the history of Sir George's dealings with land in this colony. It concludes thus :—"Sir George Grey's wholo connection with the land question, from beginning to end, has been one long crusade—and but too successful a crusade—against the principles of land nationalisation as propounded by the Society who claim him a clistiuI guished supporter of their viows." I At tho Court of General Sessions in Melbourne, his Honor Judge Quinlan desiring to check larrikinism, imposed severe sentences up to as much as H years' im- \ prisonment on a gang of juvenile burglars who have been breaking into churches and other places.

In the caso at Wnoloomooloo, in which a woman died after bad treatment by a gang of larrikins, the Coroner's jury returned a verdict of wilful murder against James Connors, Edward 'Williams, and George Kimberlcy, adding that the evidence wa.s not sufficient to include Alfred and Joseph Williams on the finding, but the cireuinRtanccs pointed to grave suspicion against them. The three men were then committed for trial at tho next criminal sittings of tlie Supreme Court. Alfred and Joseph Williams were set at liberty.

Several consultations between the authorities and experts on the subject of the frequent' collisions at sea have just taken place (says the Home News). It is very probable that an excellent suggestion made a few flays ago will form the basis of somo legislation on the subject next session. Tho plan recommended was that the vessel proved to bo in fault should not bo able recover damages from the underwriters for the losses she sustained in the collision, and if this were acted upon it is very probably that owners would be much stricter with "their captains. It is .'-aid that one-halt'of tho collisions at sea are owing to racing between vessels.

There is a rumor that, in consequence of the abuse of tho privilege of putting questions to Ministers, the Speaker of the House of Commons will next session be armed with further powers, wj as to put the extinguisher on improper or irrelevant questions. Many members at present strongly object to the powers already entrusted to tho Speaker, which they consider too despotic and comprehensive, aud any addition thereto thoy would .strenuously resist. To take a step in" tho line suggested would, they argue, be a blow to the independence and freedom of members, and of the House of Commons, and as such might not unreasonably be accounted a victory scored by the Parnellite faction.

Married women must be careful iv future how they contract debts on their own account, as they will be liable to arrest if they do not pay up at the appointed time. They have, in fact, a legal status which wa.s formerly denied them by tho common law. Hence tho court holds that as the reasons on which their exemption from arrest was formerly based no longer exist, the exemption itself cannot be successfully claimed on Iheir behalf. So completely is the independence of married women secured by legislation in Great Britain that a learned judge recently stated that a woman could put her husband in prison if ho made off wil.h an umbrella whioh sho could prove was bought with her separate money. Women certainly appear to have got their "rights" at last.

The friends of Arabi are said to be only waiting their time to bring him back as a possible political ruler in Egypt. They are already arranging to keep him constantly beforo tho English pul.ilie as a patriot wronged. Next month a deputation from tho Arabists will go to Ceylon to interview tho man for whom they have so unaccountable a worship, and to fell anew the story of his pure-minded and disinterested zeal for tho good of the poor fellaheen, whom ho so completely neglected while he was mutinying to get a larger army bettor paid. Upon'thc'first news that the English troops are withdrawn from Egypt—they will propose that Arabi shall return to help Towfik to rule justly ; and they will argue that it is not fair to have an autocrat at tho head of affairs while depriving the people of their popular leader, so that all the killing and the spent money will end in—as you were.

Tho Church of Rome (tho Home News states) has obtained what she lias long been ou the look-out for, a commanding site in the AVestminister district on which to erect a rival to tho Abbey. She has secured the fiito if she can only make suitable approaches. That dreary female prison iv the Tothillfields, behind Victoria-street, is to be closed, aud the site sold by the Government to tbe county authorities for £08,000, and the latter havo disposed of it to Cardinal Manning, Lord Beaumont, and others interested for £115,000. It was much wanted by tho millitary authorities as a central depot for troops : but tho Church of Rome has been first in the field, and has scoured it for her purposes. A. correspondent, writes indignantly to complain of this ; but ho will find out if he is going to make a bid for anything in the market that it is first come first served.

Three marble statues of heroic size intended for the interior decoratiou of new Government offices at Sydney, New South Wales, have just been finished by Siuor Giovanni Foiitano, and for a short lime thoy remain in his studio at Chelsea. Two aro portraits, respectively of the Queen and of tho Prince of AVales ; the third is a draped allegorical figure of the Colony, pleasing iv conception, and of a certain ideal beauty, crowned with a chaplct iv which flowers peculiar to the country are entwined and bearing a cornucopia of tho fruits that abound in the southern hemisphere. Sources of the wealth of tho Colony are represented by a sheop couched to the left of the figure, and on the other side, butiicifherobtrusively, indications of her mineral riches. In the portraits of Her Majesty and of the Prince of AVales our countrymen beyond seas will havo presentments of the Sovereign and of the heir apparent, which, by their verisimilitude may well satisfy them. The statue of the Queen, crowned, wearing ermine and velvet robes of state, with sceptre in the right hand, a scroll in tho slightly extended loft, is posed with much stately grace ; while, for the care and exactness with which tho miuu'iic of the field marshal's uniform worn by His Royal Highness are portrayed, the future antiquary of the antipodes will be much beholden to the sculptor.—Home News. The London Times, in the course of a lucid and powerful urticlo ou the general aspect of affairs in Continental _ Europe, deprecates tho military scares which have of lato been numerous, and which are likely to be itiultiplietl its the recess advances. There arc always, it argues, financiers interested in the promotion of some of these alarms. As n matter of fact, great nations do not go to war about trifles, and though tho occasion of hostilities may be sudden, tho causes will usually bo found to be both deep-seated and palpable. Thus tho war between Franco and Germany was predicted by M. Thiers as far back as tlie time of Sadowa. Tho war between Russia and Turkey in 1877 was the result of the events in the Crimea twenty years earlier. "At tho present time, however," says the Times, "though Europe is uneasy, as is almost inevitable after the disturbance of 1577, and until tho settlement of IS7B has hud timo i to consolidate, there arc no such active causes of rupture at work." There may be somo satisfaction in this lino of thought. On the other hund, even upon tho principle adopted by the Times, the present condition of things cannot bo regarded with equanimity. The jealousy between Austria and Russia, the inveterate feeling which displays itself periodically between Germany and France, belong each of them to the order of forces that aro apt to prove the forerunners of grave international strife.

Tho German Government, indirectly certainly, but not tho loss effectively, has consented to give countenance to tho first German colony established beyond tho seas. Openly, however, tho work has been undertaken by a private firm of Bremen, which has purchased a strip of territorry in South Africa with a seaboard of twelve miles. A small schooner has been despatched to keep up regular communication between Angra Pequena, as the littlo colony is called, and the Cape of Good Hope, and a small party of agriculturists and others have started to open up tho territory. This is the right way to commence operations, and contrasts very favourably with the French principle just now so actively developed in Madagascar and Tonquin. No international difficulties aro raised by the Geinan method, and, what is more to the purpose, tho colony itself, when starting from such beginnings and entirely self-contained, is more certain to prosper. But the Germans are natural colonists, like ourselves. Thoy adapt themselves readily to a now country, and do not hesitate to make it their home. The way they havo established themselves and spread over the United States is a proof of this. Moreover, they havo a largo redundant population in the Fatherland, and numbers aro only too glad to get aboard to avoid the conscription.

Mr Mundclla has got the House of Commons to pay medical men for the cost of their own certificates. Hero is his resolution:—" That it is expedient to authorise tho payment, out of money to be provided by Parliament, of the cost of the certificate of tho death of any registered medical practitioner, which may become payable under the provisions of any Act of the })resont session for consolidating and amending tho lawrelatingtomedioal practitioners." The doctors will now be tho only class in the country who will be paid for dying.

A few friends of the late Mr George Hudson, " tho railway king, ' are proposing to erect a monument to him m his native village of Huwsham, England. It is stated that Lord Charles Beresford wa-i offered a C.B. for his share in the Egyptian campaign, and that he respectfully requested to be excused from its acceptance. It is curious ho v.- impossible foreign journalists seem to find it to understand outtitles and appellations. The best papers vary plain '-Mr Gladstone " from tune to time with "Sir Gladstone" or "Lord Gladstone." and a writer in the A'ccw dcx ikax Mondcs lias lately taken to speaking of "Sir John Morley." Notwithstanding Hio opposition to the scheme, Captain Eads' railway to cany shins bodily across the Isthmus ot iehuantenn: has been begun. Captain Lads _Uas se.'-ured ample grants from the Mora can Government to permit the prosecution of the work, and -round was broken at the Atlantic terminus of the railway, in tne latter 1111H of May, some 150 mil.* south-east ulori"- the Mi-xiciin coast from A era Cruz, iilmost. (lirer-tlv south of Galveston ar.d a little south-wUt of New Orleans. Mr Joun Fov.-l.Tand other authorities m England havespoken favorably of the scheme, should it be suc-cssful ship railways will bfcmno more frequent, and geographical difficulties will disappear. The tendency to accumulate vast tracts of land in sinu-fe hands, which tonus so dangerous a feature in the economic development of the United States, is (says the I all Mull Gazette'-. " tolerably lamihar fact. But Kn-lishnien do not generally recognise how lai'V'-elv these accumulations are m the possession id' their own countrymen. -Some remarkable statistics ou this point are quoted in the Times. Lord Diinmore, it appears, owns H)0,i)00 acres. Lord Dunraven (iti,ooi), the Duke of Sutherland 100,000—not so very much for him But on other side of the" Atlantic lbo I'eers are quite thrown into the shade by the Commoners. Thus, Colonel Murphy owns 1,100,000 acres, Mes,rs Phillips, Marshall, and Co 1,3(10,000 and Mr Diston tbe almost inuvdiblo amount of 12,000,000. _ Such figures are enough to set anybody thinking.

A story is being told now the socials have returned'from Moscow of one of them who made such elaborate arrangements for postin- a preliminary letter that be wrote it very closely so as to avoid attracting afteulioh by its'beinga bulky jmvel, divided it into two portions, and posted both indifferent paits :>f Mom--iff lo different addresses in London, neither of them of course being the addresses of the paper in whose columns the contribution was to appear. But even this elaborate precaution failed, for when both portions of the letter arrived, as they did in due course, it was evident that both envelopes had been opened, for only the first two pages in one case, and the last two pages in the other were found. The middle of the article was thus expunged, and of course the whole thing was useless. This is one instance which can be given of the perfection of tho system of spying which goes on in Russia.

It has been years since the world first heard of Wo lee's Sciinaits, and to-day its virtues are as fresh and its fame as unclouded as when it first Hashed into public notice.—[Advt,]