The Kumara Times. Published Every Evening. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1881.

Kumara Times, Issue 1367, 17 February 1881, Page 2

The Kumara Times. Published Every Evening. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1881.

At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, before H. A. Stratford, Esq., R.M., there were no criminal cases. The following civil cases were disposed of : Spindeler v. C. A. Jones, claim, £3 75.. Judgment was given for plaintiff for £2 17s, and 7s costs. In Malachi Taylor v. Herman Meyer, claim £l9, the defendant admitted £2 4s 6d of the debt; and judgment was given for that amount, with lis costs. The ordinary meeting of the Borough Council will be held this evening. The steamship Hero, from Melbourne, arrived at Hokitika at 2.30 this afternoon, and will leave for Greymouth and Melbourne at 10 o'clock to-morrow morning. The drawing of Tonks' Sweep on the Dunedin Cup has been postponed until the 21st inst. There are a few tickets remaining, which can be procured at either Mr Gilbert Stewart's, of this town, or at Mr Peters' Dillman's Town. That various specimens of New Zealand woods are peculiarly adapted for furniture is generally admitted, but at the same time they are seldom used in the manufacture of any articles of utility or ornament. To-day, however, we have had the pleasure of inspecting a card-table and a couple of workboxes, made by a well-known resident on the Christchurch road (during the many hours of solitude entailed on him through the position of his residence and the nature of his employment), and which useful articles have been consigned to Mr Blake, of this town. The card-table especially is a capital piece of workmanship, the top being formed of a unique pattern, produced by the inlaying of native timber of various grains and hues, which brings out the design most effectually. The workboxes are similarly inlaid, manuka forming the groundwork of their construction. We have little doubt the articles in question are the result of a large amount of time, trouble, and perseverance, and that the maker did not gauge his labor by the marketable value of the articles he was constructing.

The for-lfeiv Canterbury and Westland Grand TCfijfnti Railway have been Both sides of the Island, and, as nearly as -can be ascertained, .'1(3,000 (£5) shares Imve already been taken up. The following paragraph was omitted from our San Francisco mail news:— " The Chilians continue to burn, tallage, and destroy as they advance. In front of CaDao -the Chilian Squadrcfo Buffered severely-. A 250-pounder turret gun on the Huascaf "burst, and the famous long*¥ange Armstrong gun 'on the Angamos also bursty killing Mr-Slate, "the representative ! of the manufacturers of the gun. The Chilians also lost two torpedo boats and a number of men in the attack tm CalJ&o." Mr A. Dornwall, formerly -of Auckland, has the following advertisement in the Otago Daily Times:—" Has a horse only instinct, or has it reasoning capabilities ? After rubbing turpentine oil on my mare's sprained shoulder, and when the pricking sensation became intense, she took a mouthful of straw, and began rubbing the sore place. The above animal can be seen at any day behind the shop, where the primestmeat in Dunedin is sold at the lowest price. The Chinese are still flocking to Port Darwin (so the correspondent of the Melbourne Age reports), in hundreds, and they now number 4000 to about 500 Europeans, while we may soon expect another 1000. We are just now going through a strange season. The cyclones have been very severe. In one day I have seen three iron houses stripped, and two days after the township at the Union almost demolished. On the sth December a thunderstorm visited the place with terrific violence. The wind was not heavy, but four inches of rain fell in two hours, and the thunder was incessant. A Chinese store was struck by the lightning and burnt to the ground. Four Chinamen were injured. Two days after, a heavy shower of rain fell, accompanied by very little electricity. It was a steady fall, without wind or thunder, when suddenly a tremendous explosion occurredj' while a flash of lightning struck apparently in the centre of the township, lighting up the whole place, and producing a strong smell of sulphur. No one was seriously injured. Singularly, this was the only clap of thunder experienced during that storm. ;:~; .. The Daily Telegraph attributes much to: the misery of the Irish peasantry to their incorrigible " mania for early marriages." The existence of this " mania " is an as-, gumption which is not justified by facts. A pamphlet published the other day by Mr Pim on the Irish question contained. some remarkable statistics, which may be commended to those who think that pre-: mature matrimony is the chief source of Ireland's woes. The Irish neither marry earlier nor multiply more rapidly than the English or Scotch. Quoting from the census returns, of 1871, Mr Pim shows that marriages were only 4.4 per 1000 in Ireland, against 7.1 in Scotland and 8.1 in England. The increase per 1000 was 5.5 in Ireland, 15.1 in Scotland, and 15.7 in England. The percentage of unmarried persons in Ireland was 44.99, in Scotland 43.77, and in England 37.22. Commander Cheyne, of the Royal Navy, proposes to Lieutenant Schwatka to join in an International Polar Expedition. Schwatka will not probably join the movement, as an independent expedition is talked of from the United States to the North Pole by another route from the one followed, the command of which will be his if he wants it. Mrs Cross (George Eliot), the great authoress, died in London on December22nd. Her death was quiet, almost painless. On the previous Sunday she was seized with a sudden chill, which attacked the larynx. The attack, however, did not cause much alarm until the evening a few hours before she died, when the case was found to be hopeless. Her remains were buried in" Highgate cemetery on December 28th.