FIFTY YEARS AGO

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 71, 25 March 1933, Page 11

FIFTY YEARS AGO

ITEMS FEOM " THE POST "

CAPTURED BY NATIVES

"A curious disturbance in the north is reported by today's telegrams, I,' says "The Post" of this date fifty .years ago. "It will be pemenibered that we mentioned a few days ago that Mr, Bryce had obtained from. Bewi Wahanui, and other leading chiefs their written consent to the passage of the Auckland-Wellington railway exploration aurvey through the lands over which their mana extends. ' Also, that tney had asked for two or three days' delay to enable them to warn, their people not to offei any obstruction or resistance to the, progress of the surveyors. This seemed as satisfactory as could possibly- be desired, and everybody supposed that all would go on well and quietly. But it is the unexpected that/always happens. The effect of Ine ; peremptory warning from Wahanui- and the other chiefs that no opposition W as to be offered to the # ™ay^ vey was t0 suggest some of _Te.; Whiti's . ex-followers, who are residents in the Waikato country, the idea,'of performing a little coup d'etat on/their own account. So one of their number named Mahuki determined to assume the prophetic mantle, which clearly must have been cast off by Te Whiti before he could have become so degenerate as to shock and disgust his followers; by using a ■ smelling-bottle, eating butter with his bread, > and adopting other pestilent pakeha customs unspeakably revolting to those simple children of "the soil. Accordingly, -when the Government surveyors, Messrs. Hursthouse and Newsham, escorted by Wetero and a party of Natives, reached a place called Tewira, they found themselves confronted by the inspired •llahuki, who made the interesting announcement that God had come to him (hat day to protect the laud, and that the Lord had delivered irito their hands the hated Hursthouse, who was personally obnoxious to them, owing to tie active part he had taken in the l'arihaka affair. The surveyors and their escort, after a rough and tumble, were ;■ thereupon made prisoners. Wahanui, however, appears to have bean greatly agitated by this defiance of -his authority,, being keenly apprehensive- of the consequences. Ho seems accordingly to have taken the bull by me horns by collecting a party of sufficient-strength to-rescue the captives and' secure a passage for their .survey, by force if necessary, while wo are;told that if he finds he cannot command, adequate power to do this, then he will demonstrate his own good faith by. calling upon the Government to aid him. It is abundantly plain that this affair is -a very unfortunate one as regards, the Kingite. pretensions, and the sequel will be watched for with keen interest."-. - ■ •■..-.'■

DIRECT STEAM SEEVICE.

'The arrival of the first steamship of the new line of direct steamers, so courageously initiated by. the. New Zealand Shipping Company, is an event o£ no.small importance in our colonial history. The establishment of this improved and accelerated- means of communication with the Mother Country has long been looked forward to by the people of this colony as a potent means of assisting the settlement of our lands and the development of our resources, and the furtherance of our material., prosperity in several ways. So important was it deemed by Parliament Jast session that the Govern-ment-were empowered to offer a subsidy of £20,000 per annum, with various collateral inducements, in order to socuro a permanent service of the character now started by one of our most enterprising and successful colonial institutions,, the New Zealand Shipping Company, without any subsidy at all. The arrival of their pioneer ship (the British King) must necessarily be a red-letter day in our annals, and for the sake alike of the spirited promoters of this undertaking as well as in the interests of the public, we heartily hope that the experiment will prove b> substantial and unqualified success. It must, of course, not be forgotten, that.the British King was not built specially for this service, but was hastily chartered ia order'that the new'line might commence with the New Year or thereabouts. , If . then any unfavourable first impression is produced by her not having the extensive and elaborate passenger accommodation to which the Union Steam Ship Company have accustomed us in our coastal and intercolonial service, this fact should be borne in mind. She was never intended for a swift saloonpassenger trade, but for carrying large quantities of cargo. That the ship herself is a noble specimen of naval architecture a single glance will show; It is a little unfortunate that this initial.trip has been, protracted by ex-, ceptionally. adverse weather, but that is a contingency' to which every ship" is always.liable,, and the. British King seems to have done remarkably" well considering the adverse conditions with which she had to contend. Her steaming time was 47f days, but her v officers are confident that she can do the trip in 44 days." ' .

MAORr IMAGE SEIZED.

"A- seizure was made at Ohinemutu yesterday under a, search warrant of the. celebrated stone image Matua, a tonga, said, to have been brought by. the Maoris in a-war canoe to Maketu from Hauraki, and afterwards brought by Tuho'rangi to the island of Mokoia gnd buried there. Sir George Grey is said to have been the only European to have seen the image, which weighs more than a"ton,~until recently. There is great excitement among the Maoris, as they look upon the proceedings as a. gross outrage Against their most sacred relies. As the news of the outrage spreads among the different hapus the excitement is likely to increase." ,

VANDAIiS.AT WORK.

"Somo parties of vandals have been destroying one of the geysers on the banks of the "Waikato Eiver at Taupo, and this season even the terrace's at Kotomahana have witnessed the mischievous effects wrought by the destroyer of the grand and beautiful works of nature. People interested, both Native and European, in> keeping the geyserg intact and preserving the other -wonders of the thermal district think that it is high time that an example was made of some of these vandals, so as to deter others from doing likewise. Taupo has lately been crowded with visitors from :.H parts or the globe, and this district is likely 'to achieve before long a world-wide reputation."

HEAVY SCORING.

"One gentleman -who appeared before the Bench on the day after the elections in Hawkes Bay on a charge of drunkenness, pleaded Not Guilty. He said that he had only walked down to the newspaper office to see the result of thti cricket, and was expressing surprise at the heavy scoring—Smith 778, Bell- 5§6, and Salter 492, when the policeman .arrested hinv For the five shillings that be added to the exchequerhe was given free an explanation that what he mistook for cricket scores were really election returns, and that the only run was his own —into the police station/: ■ ■■ !■

■ Ensign'Lennart Bernadotte, a grandson of the King of Sweden, recently applied for employment' as announcer at the Studios of the Swedish Broadcasting Company. ■ He afterwards withdrewhis.application. - ■