Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1872.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 19, Issue 1242, 7 February 1872, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1872.

A man named Hazelden, arrested in "Wellington on a charge of forgery in this province, arrived by the Rangatira to-day.

A light drizzling rain has been falling at intervals since last evening. Indications of a continuance are not wanting. A number of immigrants—principally females— per ship Celseno., from London to Wellington, arrived here this morning per s.s. Rangatira. His Excellency the Governor and family returned to Wellington from then Marlborough trip, by the Luna, on Monday morning, Ist February. The hon. Mr Fox left "Wellington for a tour through the West Coast Goldfields, on the 2nd ins!., in the Luna. In a leading article in its issue of Friday last, the Wellington Independent takes it for granted that a "new Constitution" will be introduced next session of the Assembly; first, because the Ministry have announced that that is their intention;. second, because it would ta&e the wind out of the sails of the Opposition ; and, third, because a passion for constitution making and mending, when once indulged in, would appear to be irresistible. A living scorpion has been captured §{ gheernm

The Evening Post, in a recent leader, makes the following observations : "The indiscriminate bestowal of ap pointments by a Ministry argues either great weakness or gi eat strength. Wh en an English Ministry retires from office it rewards its partisans by a distribution more or less profuse of peerages and baronetcies. When a New Zealand Ministry scatters its gifts broadcast, in ihe lavish manner that the present Government has, we expect its speedy dis. solution. We are far from saying that other Ministries have been immaculate —as a fact, they have not, for New Zealand has long been a bye-word and a mark for the finger of scorn on account of the gross nepotism and favoritism practised by its successive administrations. But the present Ministry have out-Herod ed Herod. From Gisborne and Edwin, Vogel and Fox, down to M'Lean, with Colonel Russell and Messrs. Worgan, Loc!:e, and Grindell, we have have had one continual stream of Ministerial parasites or con nections foisted upon a people already taxed beyond endurance. As for the political log-rollers who have secured comfortable sinecures their name Is legion. The next Ministry that comes into power will have the congenial duty of dismissing, two-thirds of these political horse-leeches/'

In an article upon the death of Hori, one of Todd's murderers,, the Melbourne Daily Telegraph makes the following remarks : —"A vivid idea of the condition of the interior of New Zealand is obtained when it is remembered that Mr Todd was a high-class Government officer, and that his murderers are well known, and are living quietly and undisturbed in their villages, and that the New Zealand Ministers have depre cated the very idea of interference. The Queen's writ does not run yet in the King's country. Practically, the Kingtribes have achieved their- object, for their territory is an independent state." The Wellington Independent, Feb. 3 ? sa y ß : —The Rev. William Stewart, Presbyterian Minister, with his family, arrived yesterday in the■ Celaano. Mr Stewart is from Edinburgh, and has come out to the colony to fulfil the duties of minister to the Presbyterian portion of the inhabitants of the Rangitikei district. The rev. gentleman received a heariy welcome on the arrival of the ship in the harbor, and afterwards spent the principal portion of the day in vi-siiing the leading members of the city congregation, accompanied by the Rev Mr Paterson. These frequent additions to to the Ministry speak eloquently of the energetic action of the Synod, and more particularly of the zeal of those immediately concerned in upholding the religious status of people so far removed from the centres of population During the voyage Mr Srewart was much esteemed, and at its conclusion the following testimonial was presented to him :—" To the Rev. William Stewart. We, the undersigned passengers on board the ship Celseno do hereby testify our high esteem and most heartfelt thanks to you for your extreme kindness to ns all, and for the great benefit we have derived from your ministrations and from our association with you as a fellow-passenger. We sincerely wish you, in the strange land which you are about to adopt as your home, health, happiness, and prosperity in fulfilling the duties which you have undertaken for our Saviour." The testimonial was signed by every person on board the ship without exception. The Taranaki Herald, Jan. 27, says : —Reports have been brought into New Plymouth from Mokau to the effect that the Upper Waikato and JSTgatimaniapoto tribes are much incensed by the execution of Kereopa. They ask, *' What greater sin has he committed than us that he should be hung 1 Tie work he did was the work of the whole, people." We infer that the guilty leaders of various outrages are in fear, and to cover their crimes wish to induce the natives who participated in the rebellion to revenge the killing of Kereopa. The natives are very logical —more so than we are in our treatment of them. If the whole of the natives who are as deserving of death as Kereopa are to suffer, the hangman will be kept busy.

There are 1700 diamonds in the British ciown.

A strange phenomenon was observed at rTehjon the other day just before dai*k. A dense mist was at the time enveloping the summit of the Maungatapu when si.ddenly there was seen a thin spiral column, connecting it with a heavy cloud above, the result of which was that the mist speedily broke, all the moisture having apparently been sucked up into the cloud above. The Otago Daily Times says :—The projected visit of bis Honor the Superintendent and the Kesident Minister of Public Works for the Middle Island to the localities which have been set apart by the Assembly as special settlement*, is a circumstance of no inconsiderable importance to the province and the colony at the present time. It is pro posed to settle a population, upon two. blocks of land—loo,ooo acres each in extent—one in Stewart's Island and the other in. the vicinity of Catlin's River and YvTaikawa.

We learn from the Wellington Independent that, the General Government Lave decided on erecting a mausoleum over the spot where the remains of the venerable To Puni are interred. The workmanship is quite in keeping with the design, and the combination has produced a work of the very highest order. The stone employed is from the Oamaru quarries. At the base- the monument is 4 feet 9 inches square, and is carried up a height of 9 feet, a moulded cap surmounting- the whole. The middle portion of the elevation is panelled on the four side*, on two of which are cut the inscription, in Maori and English, which is as follows : " To the memory of Honiana Te Puni, a chief of Ngatiawa, who died on the sth of December, 1870, this monument is erected by the New Zealand Government in consideration of the unbroken friendship between him and the Pakeha." The work was executed by Mr Membray from the design of Mr Clayton, the Colonial Architect. We (Taranaki Herald, January 27), have been informed that the Civil Coramisssioner has at last been authorised by the Government to offer terms to Titokowaiu. We cannot state definite ly the exact nature of the instructions. One condition is that his people are to give up their arms, and forfeit their kind, but they will be allowed a block to settle on. These conditions Tito onghl to be glad to accept; they are lenient, bat we know of no middle course between this and commencing a disastrous war. Peace is intelligible and so is fighting, but a semi-state of existence—neither peace nor war—is as unintelligible as it is unsatisfactory to the settler. When the terms were made known to Tito he did not reply, but wished to have a meeting of Maoris and Europeans to talk matters over. To this the Civil Commissioner would not assent, stating that it was for the Government to decide matters of this nature, and not meetings of natives and Europeans. From another source we hear that Tito observed, subsequently, that he would give up old and young men, but not his guns. The cau<e of some vessels foundering has at times been a matter of conjecture, but a singular circumstance which occurred during the passage of the Planter from Newcastle serves to illustrate how a vessel may be lot in an apparently most unaccountable manner. The account is taken from the South Australian Advertiser :—" After the barque had been a few days at sea it was found she had sprung a leak, and seeing no very heavy weather had occurred, it was very strange that as hour after hour passed it was necessary to have recourse to the pumps. On the third day one of the seaman in the forecastle distinctly heard the water trickling in a rill from some position near his berth. The carpenter at once w r ent to work, and succeeded in so far removing the ceiling or inner skin of the vessel, as to disco\er that a rat's hole was the cause of the leak. The rat had been obstructed by a timber, and instead of eating through it, the animal had chosen a position for its hole in a line with a seam between two planks. This process had so far thinned the wood that the oakum had given inwards—hence the leakage, which was partially stayed;, but on arrival the master was induced to charter a steamer in order to. immediately proceed into harbor*"

The flax industry in the Manawatu district is making rapid progress.

Capt. Holmes, of the steamer Charles Edward, was fined £5 and costs at Hokitika recently, for landing one head of cattle without a certificate from theInspector of cattle.

The Wellington Amateurs have decided to give a peformauce for the benefit of the unfortunate sufferers by the late fire at Carterton—to come off on the evening of Monday next.

An amusing incident occurred lately, according to the New Zealand Herald,, at a country race meeting in the province of Auckland. It appears that for the leading race of the day, only two came up to the staning-post, and the consequence was that, as theie were two prizes the race would have fallen through for want, of a third entry. A spectator, mounted on. what, seemed a sorry nag, was asked for the sake of sport to enter his horse which he consented to do. The resr.lt was rather startling, the strange horse, which proved to have been an old racer of renown on the Sydney side* coming in first, and beating the regularly-trained horses with whom he was entered.

The Wellington Independent, 3rd Feb., says :—lnformation reached town, last evening to the effect that an extensive bush fire was raging in the Wairarapa. At the time the news left, Mr Revans's saw mill at Woodsidewas in imminent danger of being destroyed. The whole of the timber districts in that part of the country are said to be ablaze. A fire, which, had all the appearances of a bmnihg-houKe, was blazing at the Hutt last evening, but th'etelegraph would have informed us had there been anything serious.

A woman named Mason had a narrow escape from drowning in Wellington harbor on the night of Jan. 3L As the Phcebe vas leaving the whaifabout midnight, she endeavored to get on board, and fell down between the wharf and the steamer. The mate of the Queen Bee who witnessed the accident was fortunate enough to.succeed, in rescuing, her. She was taken to Prospers Hotel and properly attended, to.

The Evening Post, 3rd Feb., says : Greasy, wool, damaged also by sea water, &old by Mr Duncan at public auction this day at 10-|d to lOd per lb,; pieces at BJd ; and locks at 6fd. This is an increase of at least 50 per cent, and upwards of what the same sort: of wool would have brought, if it had been sold at this time last year. We Lave been informed by one of the largest shippers iu the colony that the average advance may be stated to be about 50 per cent, all round. This represents the enormous sum of about ,£1,000,000 profit to the wool growers in one year: According to the Customs returns, the quantity of wool exported in 1870 was 37,039,763 lbs., and for the year ending December, 1.871, was 39,793,734 lbs., —nearly two and three-quarter million pounds more. This, with the additional value of the article, not only is a great relief to the country, but adds considerably to its realised capital. We are the first journal who has. been enabled to draw attention to this gratifying fact, and to publish these figures.

In a com muni cation to-the Germantown Telegraph. Mr Josiah Clark, of Manchester, New Hampshire, says : " Sorrel is not, as is supposed, the result of sour soil. I hauled apple pomaca on a piece where nothing but sorrel giew, and harrowed it and grass seed in. The result was sorrel disappeared and grass came in its stead. Anything that tends to sour, with fertile matteradded, will work a cure just as alkali rectifies the acidity in the stomacb. The sour waste of breweries, coarse, wet, sour litter, vinegar, or anything that is sour, worked into the surface of the soil, will tend to eradicate sorrel.

The Japan Mail, of 22nd November, contains a lengthy obituary notice of Mr Edmund Morel, late Engineer-in-Chief of the Japanese Imperial railways. It is stated that for two years Mr Morel was chief assistant road engineer to the New Zealand Government. Mr Morel's wife, who died at the early age of 25, only survived IIQV husband twelve hours.