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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 18, Issue 1135, 2 October 1871, Page 2

The Wellington Daily Advertiser says :—The usual sessional agitation about protection seems to have commenced in Canterbury, as we hear that the farmers of Prebbleton consider themselves so much, injured by some action on the part of the Victorian Government that they have felt it their duty to petition the Assembly to impose a protective duty on grain. When this petition comes before the House, it will no doubt, be backed by Mr Reeves, Mr Hall, and the other members of the Canterbury protective school. Last year the Colonial Treasurer seemed to have been a half unwilling convert to this school, and despite the well known and openly avowed free trade opinions of some members of the Government, a protective duty on grain formed a part of the Ministerial financial proposals. This

part of the programme the House, lio-v. j ever, very promptly and properly j excised from tfye policy which it other- j wise improved on, and we fancy that; Mr Yogel was by no means sorry at this being done. He never seeme<| thoroughly in earnest in- the matter, and, after the experience gained by hiij late visit to Europe and America, it very improbable that he will ever again commit himself' to a similar proposal. If the Canterbury members are calculating on a renewal of the proposals of last session and the support of the Government in their insane attempt to revive a policy whjch has been exploded in other countries, which is working a great deal of harm in Victoria, and which is especially unsuifed to the circumstances of our own colony, they will, we confidently hope, be disappointed. If the Canterbury wheat growers want to stop the importation of foreign grain, let them grow enough, to supply the rest of the colony at a reasonable rate. If they cannot do thfo we strongly object to Jhc rest of the colony being taxed to subsidise them to, do what others can do without subsidy. From the Alta California of the 19th, July we clip the following :—The following person was examined by the Commissioners of Lunacy and committed to the Lunatic Asylum : Louis Gunnald, of Prussia, aged 27. He came from Auckland, N.Z., and has been but three days in the State. He has been very much dissatisfied with California since his arrival, and wants to swioi back to Auckland, or row back in a, skiff. At the Intercolonial Conference now sitting in Melbourne, New South Wales is represented by the Premier, Sir Jas. Martin; the Hon. Mr Lord, Treasurer. South Australia is represented by the Chief Secretary and Treasurer of that colony, together with the Hop. W. Morgan, who represents more particiiT larly the Upper House of South Australia. Queensland is likely to be re 7 presented by the Hon. Mr Palmer, and Tasmania by the Premier, and the Mi Dunn. The following is from the Southern Cross of the 26th Sept. :—The jurymen summoned to. giye their attendance at the District Court yesterday inoining. consisted of twelve gentlemen, the whole of whoin, answered to the name of Brown. One Brown was remitted from attendance, as it; was a day held sacred by the followers of his religious faith. Anothei Brown claimed exemption upon the ground that he was deaf; His Honor asked him why he did not object at the tiine his name was put on the roll 1 Mr Brown said he was not so deaf at that time as he was now. His Honor said that it was quite remarkable—indeed really &n extraordinary circumstance —that a number of persons became afflicted with deafness, when they found themselves called on to serve as jurymen. Of the Browns there were four Johns, which caused some little difficulty, because each John was uncertain whether he was the particular John wanted. Then, again, tliere were Browns who added the " e *' final to their names, and there were Browns who did not, but the pronunciation of the patronymic being the same, some little further difficulty was created. The twelve Browns, it was ascertained by a more particular inspection of the jury list, followed twelve different callings, no two being engaged in the same occupation; and it was by their distinctive trades or professions, in connection with their baptismal names, that the four Browns wanted were at last obtained, and the remaining eight Browns were excused from further attendance. The Southern Cross of 26th ult, says :—An inquest was Jield yesterday at Cabbage-tree Swamp, before f. M. Philson, Esq, coroner, on the body pf a young woman, named Jane Hall,' aged 28 years. From the evidence it Appeared that the deceased resided with her parents yt Cabbage-tree Swamp, and that for the last ten years she haq been subject to epileptic fits, frequently haying no less than five in one day. For the last seven months she has been confined to her room. On Friday after: noon last, about four o'clock, she was last seen alive, looking out of the window of her own room, On Saturday morning she was found by hef

.mother lying on the floor, face downwards, and partly undressed. Dr Nicholson was ip. attendance yesterday to make a post-mortem examination, but it was not considered necessary, as there was no doubt that the cause of deceased's death was one of these fits. The jury returned a verdict to the effect that she had died from " suffocation through an epileptic .fit." The Wellington Independent, 29th .September, says :-—On Saturday last, a youth named John ,of the Grove, Queen Charlotte Sound, was drowned in a creek near his residence. From the evidence taken at the inquest;, %vhich was held before Dr Williams, coroner, on Monday, it appears that the youth, who was of unsound mind and subject to frequent fits, left home on Saturday morning at about ,7 o'clock, and was seen no more until about halfpast 8, when the body was found by two lads lying on its face in the creek and in about twelve inches of water. Assistance was obtained, but, although the body was warm, all efforts to restore animation were unavailing. It is supposed that deceased had a fit whilst the creek. The Agricultural Societies of Victoria have cost the Government ,£4,000. That, at least, is the amount of the grant voted by Parliament. A Par liamentary document affords the following particulars relative to the measure in which the several societies share in .this windfall : —The number of these bodies is thirty-two, several revivals having taken place, and next year the number will probably be larger, as societies are still in progress of resuscitation, notably one in the Ararat district which has no place in the abovenamed return. Tt should be observed that the grant has been distributed pro rata, according to the amount of money presumed to have been usefully expended by each society during the previous year. The return shows that on this plan only five societies have been entitled \o recive over £3OO a piece. Ballarat is far ahead of all the rest—it lias been .able to claim .£523 ; Geelong is a bad second, its share being only £328; to this follows Kyneton with £320, Siueaton with £3OB, and Ben.digo with £302. Then comes another .wide interval, the Western district sheading a list of three with £152, .Glendaruel being next with £132, the Victoria (Heidelberg) with £l2O, and r and Glenlyon £ll9. Of the remaining 23, 17 have received above £SO each, and 6 sums ranging from £33 10s to £43 2s 6d. The Australasian observes : —"lt is difficult to concehe what useful purposes can be served by societies whose operations are on so extremely limited a scale, It is high time that steps were taken to amalgamate some of these smaller societies, and thus render them what they now are not —efficient schools of instruction Strange as it may appear, the larger societies have been the first to perceive the importance of shows being extensive; it is from them., and not from the minor societies, that proposals to amalgamate have come." A woman named Adelina Evans, aged 45 years, has been gored to death by a cow, at Shakspeare Bay, near Hcton. Her husband, on returning home in the afternoon, found her lying dead before the door of his house, with her clothes much torn, and the intestines protruding from a large wound. An inquest was held, when the jury returned a verdict in accordance with the evidence laid before them., and re .commended that the cow, which was a very savage one, should be destroyed. Deceased and her husband were formerly settlers in tlie Takaka Valley, and had only recently removed to the Hcton district