The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, FEBRUARY 23, 1901.

Gisborne Times, Volume V, Issue 47, 25 February 1901, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, FEBRUARY 23, 1901.

Yesterday Gisborne again showed her interest in the affairs of the Empire, by sending away another detachment of grand young fellows for service in South Africa. 0 They are of course subject to final selection in Wellington, but so far there have been no Gisborne “rejects,” nor are likely to be in the future, when so many good men are offering. Though it is not pleasing that so many of our young men should be required for active service, it is gratifying that there should be such .a ready response to the country’s call. Our cablegrams this morning show that the war is by no means ended yet, and the cost of it’is stupendous. The London correspondent •of the Otago Daily Times takes a gloomy view of the position of affairs. “ All sensible people,” the writer positively declares, “have long seen through and- repudiated that silly talk about ‘ mere, guerilla ’ warfare, and now ignore it. The war is as serious a war as ever it was, and is going on as much in grim earnest as it was a year ago. Lord Kitchener is in the most urgent need of large reinforcements, and has cabled over and over again for at least 40,000 men, mostly mounted. But ho cannot get them ! It is recognised now that New Zealand’s aid is not the mere token of goodwill and loyalty shat it was at first deemed to be by those ill-informed simpletons who imagined that we should simply have a military parade in South Africa, and encounter no resistance of real importance, but as a genuine and timely and most valuable help to the • Mother country at a very critical juncture. New Zealand and her people deserve that this should be recognised to then- credit, and the recognition has come. A leading London paper, which ordinarily supports the Government strongly, and which is anti-Boer in an intense degree, says :— 1 The nation has suddenly awakened to the fact that the'situation in South Africa is extremely critical; that our troops are in all directions hot advancing but falling back; and that a call for reinforcements cannot bo met because there are no reinforcements to send. At this., moment, - it sees inches being thrown up ’foi- the defence Of Cape Town, which are presumably, to be manned by the Cape Town Guard, who are armed, not with Lee-Enfields, but with obsolete Martinis. - Should these raw levies thus armed be cut up by the Boers, someone will have been guilty of something verging upon murder. Yet the same thing happened at Honing Spruit, and no one was hold responsible.” Fortunately, this pessimistic correspondent has outdone himself in his gloomy forebodings ; but there is no denying that in the past that correspondent has been fairly accurate when a groat many other writers were merely rambling, and it is interesting to know what there is to be said on the gloomy side of the subject. -

The annual meeting of the Harbor Board for the election of Chairman takes place to-morrow,

As much as £ls worth of fruit has been taken off one peach tree at Frimley Orchard, Hastings, this year. The petition in regard to the Harbor Board election is to be dealt with tomorrow before Mr Barton, S.M. The Te Arai Road Board has accepted the tender of Mr J. Haydes at £196 for formation work on the Tokonui road.

Those liable to rates in the harbor district are warned that, the 10 per cent, penalty will be imposed on rates overdue on March Ist. .

The annual meeting of the Gisborne auxiliary of the British and Foreign Bible Society is to. be held at 4 this afternoon in the gardens of the Bev. H. Williams. Bouvy, the French cook, who was extradited to New Caledonia and found to be the wrong man, is suing the Comte de Corte for. .£SOOO. Mr T, M. Wilford has the case in hand.

The Governor has been obliged to abandon' his intended tour to the Urewera Country this summer. He. will start this week for Taupe, via Rangitikei, and may possibly, go on to Auckland. A young man named Peach met with a painful accident at Haiti on Saturday. He fell off the scaffold of a building upon which he was engaged working, and was considerably cut and bruised about the face and body.. Asocial gathering of the .Natives’ Association is to beheld to-night. During the evening there will be a' competition. for a prize presented by Mr W. Webb (VicePresident) for the one who contributes the item judged to be best. Over-twenty entriei'have been received for the competition.

The first batch of 20 prisoners from the Auckland prison, with their officers, have left for Waiotapu, to commence the forest tree-planting in that portion of the thermal springs district.

A heavy north-east gale prevailed in Auckland on Friday, and greatly interfered with shipping, and caused the departure of the Omapere for coastal ports and Gisborne to be put off until Saturday morning. The Clansman, from Russell, had a very rough passage along the coast, being frequently down to the rail. A young man named Parker, who came from the Hawke’s Bay district, .is supposed, to have been drowned in the Manawatu River, his clothes and a towel being found on the . bank of the . river. Correspondence found among the missing man’s effects indicated that he was in treaty for the purchase of a property, and . that he was about to be-married.

At the bowling green on Saturday S. Cbleinan, Buttle, Willock, and Sirnson (sliip) befvt- Bailey, Trice, McGowan, and Bright (skip) by 18 to -15, and Massey, Quigley,’ Pqnsford, - and • Bathani ‘ (?kip) beat Witty, Lewis,’ Bidebq.tt.9l3, and Ferris (skip) by 23 to 15, Afternoon tea was provided by Mrs Quigley, who was assisted by Mesdames Sirnson and Ellerrn and Miss Quigley. There were a large number of visitors present.

•On Friday afternoon the body of a man was found floating in the Auckland harbor. There were "no marks of violence on the body, and no evidence'of foul play. Tho body appeared to have been in the water for over a week. There were only threepence in coppers in his pockets, and nothing to identify him in the shape of papers. It is supposed that he is a- man from the -s.s. Pakelia, which came into port shortly before the troopship Britannic. .1

Some interesting cable news with regard to De Wet and Botha will be found on the first page of this morning’s Times, and general telegraphic and local news on page four. Mr Charles Clark, of the British Empire Hotel, has an advertisement in another column requesting that all accounts due by him should be rendered before March Ist.

The “ Dagger ” brand of tinned mullet, an advertisement for which appears in this issue, can be obtained from Mr James McKee, Gladstone Road. Mr J. Kronfeld, of Auckland, has the sole agency for the Auckland district.

The attention of our town and country readers-is directed to an advertisement in this issue with regard to the Geisha tearooms, in Lowe-street. Misses Cuff having secured the premises recently occupied by Mr Noble Campbell, have gone to considerable trouble in fitting up the same, and no efforts have been spared by them to make the tea-rooms as attractive as possible. “ The Geisha ” is open from 10.30 to 6 p.m. daily, and on Saturdays until 10.30 p.m., and luncheon can be obtained daily at a moderate sharge. The rooms should be ■ well patronised by town and country residents.