The Kumara Times. Published Every Evening. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 1882.

Kumara Times, Issue 1785, 21 June 1882, Page 2

The Kumara Times. Published Every Eve ning. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 1882.

In a paragraph yesterday concerning the weather and communication with Hokitika, we stated that “ the Arahnra river bridge was impassable for the coaches, but Mr Morse, the driver of the coach from Hokitika, succeeded in getting the mails over by fording the river up to his waist some distance above the bridge.” It was the Arahnra Creek that the coaches could not cross, and which Mr Morse forded with the mails. The creek, which is on the other side of Quinn’s hotel was troublesome again to-day, having increased in volume to one-third of the Arahnra river. The coaches from Hokitika and Kumara met at this creek, and the passengers and mails were put across with the assistance of a dray backed to the high foot bridge, causing one hour’s detention of the mail Most of the streets in Hokitika were flooded yesterday. The Teremakau was higher in flood last night than it had been all day. Yesterday’s northern mails were got across this morning by a boat ; and it is expected today’s mails will be crossed and be brought up by this evening’s tram. Mr Stratford, R.M., took the precaution in order to hold Courts here to-day to drive up by the road. Several landslips were passed, but he arrived and held Courts, and returned this afternoon.

The severity of the weather has greatly impeded the movements of the coaches to and from Christchurch. None of the four coaches which usually halt at the Bealey on Tuesday nights had arrived there at eleven o’clock this forenoon. Mr Rngg’s coach did not leave here till after eight o’clock this morning ; and, indeed, it would have been absolutely impossible to have proceeded yesterday.

The parliamentary correspondent of the West Coast Times telegraphed yesterday “Mr Seddon presented a petition, signed by two thousand persons, praying that the Education district of the western portion of the Middle Island be divided, and asked if it might be received.—Messrs Petrie.and Hurst objected.—Mr Seddon replied, stating that unless petitions wore read before the House, the particulars in ninety-nine cases out of every thousand were never made known.—The petition was then road.”

The same correspondent telegraphs ; “ As an instance of the deep interest taken in important legislation by the Legislative Council, it may be mentioned as a fact, that while the Premier, this afternoon, was speaking on the Peace Preservation Bdl, out of a House of 34, 15 members wore sound asleep, lying in various more or less graceful attitudes. Their names were taken down, ami checked by all the press representatives present ; in fact the only member who appeared thoroughly wide awake was Colonel Whitmore, who had to take notes for his reply. Viewed from the gallery, the floor of the House was very comical.’’ The Registrar-General has issued two failles showing certain results of the census of last year as to the conjugal coudi-

tion and education of the people of New Zealand, from which are extracted the following particulars : —Unmarried men in the Colony number 186,941 ; husbands, 73,261 ; widowers, 4964. Unmarried females number 140,184 ; wives, 72,804; widows, 7296. . The proportions to every hundred living are, among males, 70.39 unmarried ;27 '73 husbands; 1 - 88 widowers. Among females, 63’64 unmarried » 33 - 05 wives; 3‘31 widows. Six wives are classed as under 15 years, or of unspecified age. In respect to education, 192,979 males and 151,288 females can read and write ; 13,180 males and 54,158 females cannot read ; and of 1363 males and 862 females the degree of education is unknown.

The barque Campsie Glen, from Timaru, arrived at Newcastle on May 19th in charge of the chief officer, who reported the suicide of Captain Duncan Smith twelve days after leaving Timaru. He was found dead in his cabin with his throat cut. The wound was inflicted with a broken bottle. The body was kept twelve days in canvas saturated with gin, but ultimately had to be buried at sea. A late telegram says:—“John Green, a seaman belonging to the barque Campsie Glen, the captain of which committed suicide at sea on the voyage from Timaru, was sent to gaol for four months at Newcastle, shortly after, for purloining from the cabin of the deceased numerous articles of clothing and jewellery while the dead body of the late captain lay overhead on deck. The Bench characterised the theft as one of the meanest on record.”

In speaking of Te Wliiti and his promises Mr Sheehan is reported in Hansard to have said :—I can give several cases in which the promises of Te Whiti came back like dishonored bills. He promised, among other things, to restore to the Maori people at their next annual meeting their dead ancestors. He was about to repeat the history of nearly 1900 years ago, and bring about another resurrection. A year went by, and the promise was unfulfilled. He gave as a reason that their cultivations were not extensive enough to provide for so many new-comers. Another year went by and the promise was still unfulfilled. The question was then put by a Native whom I may call the leader of the Opposition, “ Did not Te Whiti tell us that on a certain day he would raise our dead ancestors?” The answer was a very clever one. Ho said, “Do you not remember that I promised to do if for 12 months you were all sober, temperate, pure, and chaste in your lives ?” They replied, “ Yes.” “Have you been so?” The answer was, “No.” “Then,’’ said Te Whiti, «do you think I would disgrace your ancestors by bringing them back to a crowd like this ?”

“ Juvenis,” in the Otago Daily Times, writes:—l will notice two singularities as to the new House, one of which, may cause confusion when debates are sent along the wires at midnight—that is, the large number of names double. There are two Browns, two Buchanans, two Greens, two Johnstons, two M‘Kenzies, two Wilsons, two Whites—though Waikato’s member changes “i " to “y ” (Whyte). The last House was fortunate enough in having only one name in duplicate —Fisher. Then there are two brother M.H.Rs.—the Johnstons. I cannot recal an earlier instance of this, and I do not think two brothers have yet sat together in a Now Zealand Parliament.

A well-known West Coast celebrity, “Piccolo Charlie,” otherwise Charles Evans, has turned up again, this lime in Christchurch, where ho was the other day fined 5s for drunkenness.

At one of the Government schools near New Plymouth, the teacher had in a very proper manner explained to his schoolboys the roundness of the earth we inhabit, its rotation around the sun, and so on ; and (we learn from the Taranaki Herald) having concluded, proceeded to test the practical effect of his exposition. “ What round thing do we live on ?” he asked boy No. 1 ; to which question boy No. 1 promptly replied, “ Spuds !” A telegram is published in the San Francisco papers, dated Cronstadt, May 6th, which states that within the next six months 14 Russian men-of-war, capable of carrying 800 troops each, will be stationed in the Russian ports in the Pacific.