HAWKE'S BAY TIMES. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. MONDAY, AUGUST 14, 1871.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 18, Issue 1094, 14 August 1871, Page 2

HAWKE'S BAY TIMES. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. MONDAY, AUGUST 14, 1871.

As may be seen by our advertising great preparations are being made in this town to celebrate the centenary of Sir Walter Scott in a befitting manner. To morrow will be generally observed as a holiday, and. in the afternoon athletic sports [substantial prizes being offered to the winners] will take place in Give Square. In the evening an entertainment is to be given in the Oddfellows' Hall, consisting chiefly of songs and readings from the works of the great author. We hope that the weather may prove favorable, and that the celebration may be in (every way a successful one. In order that our staff may enjoy the holiday, there will be no issue of the ffawke's Bay Times to-morrow. In the Besident Magistrate's Court this morning, James Maclarlane was charged by Mr N. Jacobs with stealing from his shop a meerschaum pipe, yalue jbl. It appeared that the accused, who had been drinking, had bought a pipe at the shop, and that it was possible he had taken the one in question ]ay miscake.tr- Charge withdrawn by

permission of the Court. James Scott was charged by Mr J. Vining with breaking into the Maori Club building. It transpired that the prisoner (who was brought before the Court on a charge of vagrancy a few days since) was entering the building to sleep there. Committed to prison for 48 hours. We observe that the Presbytery of Wellington have unanimously adopted a petition to the Assembly in favor of a Permissive Bill. Diving bells are, it is said, to be used in future in dredgiug operations in the Otago rivers. The acclimatisation of that useful bird, the Australian magpie, at least seems to be iu a fair way of successful accomplishment by the plan of liberating a number together, in localities where they have been previously confined in large aviaries,

and have been accustomed to be fed at regular hours and at a certain call. When liberated the birds are found to return nightly to their old quarters, like a brood of fowls. The credit of utilising this simple and effectual means of localising the birds on a large scale is due to Mr J. Gakden, of Christchurch, who is said to speak in high terms of the grubdestroying qualities of his magpies. The first number of a new monthly, entitled the " Oddfellow," has been published in Launceston. According to statistics given in an Adelaide paper of May 27, New Zealand has imported this season from South Australia as follows : —Flour, 27-") tons, valued at £2,350; wheat, 53,096 bushels, valued at £12,761 ; total value, £15,111. The above figures relate to a period up to April 15th. As an evidence of the severity of the weather in the Otago province, we read in the Oamaru Times that the Otakaike and Marewhenua rivers were completely frozen over, the frost on the former being so thick that it was crossed by persons on horseback. There are people who think their newspaper should be the reflex of their own sentiments, and make no allowance for the endless variety of tastes and views. To please all readers would be impossible, and he is a fool that tries it; but there are those that expect such exclusive satisfaction in return for the light of their countenance. To those that thus

" patronise" their newspaper we commend the following terse address to subscribers from a spirited but indignant journalist: We don't belong to our patrons, Our paper is wholly our owu, Whoever »nay like it can take it, Who don't can leave it alone. A Foxton correspondent of the Wanganui Chronicle writes :—The tramroacl between Palmerston and Foxton will be finished before next summer, which will enable us to do an extensive timber trade. Totara, matai, and red pine can be supplied for years in large quantities. The advantage of steam communication will also, I trust, encourage a trade between this port and Wanganui, which would greatly benefit both places. Ido not consider the entrance to this river equal to the Wanganui. It is not so easy of ingress and egress, nor is there so much water on the bar, and consequently it is not safe for such large vessels to enter a 3 those that visit Wanganui from the other colonies. For this reason we cannot expect to rival Wanganui in her particular trade, but may be able to work with her and receive mutual benefit. Under the heading " Advance Marlborough/' the Express, July 29. says:— " Here is another leaf to our laurels. We learn that the Chairman of the Wel» lington Flax Association has written to cne of our flax manufacturers, Mr Goulter, to the following effect: That the Association having noticed the high prices obtained for the Marlborough flax, and its good quality, they are desirous of being informed of the mode of preparation, and the sort of flax used by our manufacturers. We are not aware what reply hag been made to this request, but from our own observation we are able to say that the mode used are the ordinary machines by Price of Auckland, and Anderson of Christchurch, used with care, perseverance, and industry; and the llax used is of any and every kind to be found in the locality." It is at the approach of dinner time that we feel most sensibly "the emptiness of things below."

Mr Hall intends to introduce salmon ova into New South Wales from California, by the return trip of the City of Adelaide. Some excitement has been caused in Westport by a report brought by some cattle dealers to the effect that valuable gold discoveries had been made in the river Mangles, tributary of the Buller. No less than sixteen ounces of coarse gold was said to have been obtained from a single dishful of dirt taken from the river bed. A railway, forty miles in length, is being constructed in Hamaqualand, Cape Colony, at an average cost of J 51250 pur milt". Convict labor is partly employed. We clip the following from the Wellington Independent, 26th July ;—From all parts of the colony we have very lengthy accounts of the severity of the weather, and its destructiveness to crops, dwelling houses, and all descriptions of property. Although we in Wellington have not experienced its full effects, still we are not altogether without very convincing proof that the severity of the gales has not been equalled even in this "windy" part of the world for many years past, as an evidence of which we may note the blowing down of a double chimney stack of a house on the Tinakori road one day last week, the bricks coming down with such force as to make a passage right through into the room below. The result can be better imagined thnn described, the interior of the room having the appearance, as described to us, of being literally smothered in soot. In Otago the crops in high lying districts have been destroyed by the lying of the snow, and in Canterbury farmers have suffered from the floods, which have not been so severe since the celebrated flood of 1864, when part of Christchurch itself was under water. As helping to give au idea of what the force of these st rms really was, we give the following account written by a person in Chri3tchurch of the storm of July 19 : —As my experiences of last night's most peculiar storm are I find confirmed by others, I beg, through your columns, to lay them before the public. The day, it will be remembered, was peculiarly warm, and towards evening the wind got up, and heavy clouds we<.'e hanging about the horizon, from which emanated a series of very vivid flashes of lightning. Between ten and eleven o'clock, I heard distinctly a

low rumbling sound, evidently having its origin underground. It appeared to travel from the sou: h-west towards the direction of town, and before reaching the actual locality in which I was placed, veered off in the direction of the Port Hills, and I could hear it dying away in the distance. About this time the lightning became more vivid, and was succeeded by heavy peals of thunder, together with rain. The rumbling sound came agaiu and again, and the last time appeared to come completely beneath me, and all the window frames in the house shook audibly—perhaps shuddered will express my meaning better—but the course of this sound I could trace as before, and it again appeared to turn and die away in the direction of the Heathcote valley. The rattling of the windows lasted for about eleven seconds. Some time after this I experienced a decided shock of earthquake, lasting about three seconds, and I only regret omitting to note the exact ti;ue. I believe, however, it was about 1 p.m. I can add that watches and ether articles hanging about the wall were set in motion. My inability to afford more minute information can be explained by the fact that I was very busily engaged during the whole time that these disturbances occured, and therefore could not give the phenomena my undivided attention. A singular feat is recorded in a Victorian paper as having been performed a

few days by an active bush man. He was engaged to a girl who lived at a township a few miles from the station upon which he resided. One day he received a message that the priest was there, and that it' the knot were not tied that day, it might have to be postponed for an indefinite period. He was busy mustering, and could not be spared for long, so he mounted his steed, and galloped thirty miles, got married, got the mail, had his horse shod, and was back again in a little more than five hours. He certainly could not be said to have wasted any time, either upon the journey or his bride,

On Saturday, July 15, news was brought to Akaroa of the discovery of a skeleton, ? on the French Farm valley. The re* mains were found by Mr George Brough of Wainui, who was out cattle-hunting with some of his brothers. They were making a short cut home, and in doing so had to climb a precipitous place. Ou reaching 1 about half way up the George Brough caught sight of a skull in a crevice of the rock ; lie turned to one side, examined, and collected that and other bones together. He then went over to Akaroa, and gave notice to the police, On Sunday morning, Sergeant Ramsey and Constable Flannagan, accomanied by Messrs R. Towusend, 0. W, Bridge, and

John Pearce, proceeded to the French Farm, where they were j jiued by fiie Brough brothers and others, who guided: them to the spot where they had found, the remains. The place is described as. being the bluff face of a lateral spur, nearly perpendicular for about two hundred feet. Half way up this bluff, in a crevice of the cliff, the bones were found. There is one side lead to the crevice, a lead requiring a cool head to tread with safety. The party remained about two hours hunting for any property that might give a clue upon which any opinion might be founded to lead- to the identity of the remains. Fourteen years ago this month and within a ftw days of this day, Mr Joseph Dicken, oneof the Canterbury pilgrims and a settler in Akaroa, was lost in the bush at the back of his property in French Farm, and though many of the inhabitants of Akaroa. hunted and explored the bush for days, and weeks near and around the spot, no, trace was ever discovered of the missinogentleman and all hopes were given up. This discovery, with the many circumstance attached to it, point to the probability that the remains are those of that unfortunate gentleman. The bones have been examined by two medical men, and we understand that their opinion is that they belong to a European male, tolerably advanced in years, and with hair of a very light-brown color. The coffin containing the remains of Auber, the great composer, which lay in the vault of the Church of the Holy Trinity, at Paris, awaiting the rite of burial, was among the number broken open and flung into the street by the Communists. The remains of the com-. poser are lost, the coffin being broken, and its contents merged with the other debris, in an uudistinguishabie mass. The. post mortem fate of Auber, to be tumbled into a common ditch along with the horrible contents of a charnel house, by a dirty mob, is strangely in contrast with the experience of his life. A man of the most luxurious tastes, he allowed nothing to interfere with the complete sensuous enjoyment which his income of .£30,000 a year enabled him to secure in Paris. Like Rossini, when his position and fortune were assured, he used both to make his path one of roses. He sedu> lously shut out every sight and sound likely to prove disagreeable, surrounded hims df with all that is beautiful in art, lived delicately and fared sumptuously. His stable had the finest horses, and his table the choicest wines; his amours were innumerable ; and a strong constitution carefully preserved, with wonderful good health even to the last of his advanced years, enabled him to live the life of a voluptuary without the physical retribubution which attends less selfish and less poised individuals. He was thoroughly philosophical in the pursuit of and no resident of the French capital realised more from its unlimited sensual resources than the great composer. Oue can imagine with what great horror he would have contemplated such a disposal of his remains—he, a man who never attended a funeral, and who carefully avoided such gloomy processions ou the streets, as likely to interfere with the supreme comfort of mind and body which, he had determined for himself,

" The importance of apples as a food,'* says Liebig, " has not hitherto been sufficiently estimated or understood. Besides contributing a large proportion of sugar, mucilage, and other nutritive compounds in the form of food, they contain such a. fine combination of vegetable acids, extractive substances and aromatic princi* ciples as to act powerfully in the capacity of refrigerants, tonics and antiseptics jj and when freely used at the season of ripeness, by rural laborers and others, they greatly maintain and strengthen tha power of productive labor."