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Manawatu Herald, Volume II, Issue 29, 2 December 1879, Page 2

English Mail.— -The above mail closes afc the Foxton Office on Friday evening next, at t'ue usual hour. Scho')L Treat. — The annnal treat given to the children attending AH Saints' Church Sunday Pchool took place yesterday . The gathering was held in a paddock on the Avenue. There wa* a wood muster of children and their friends, and various games and sports were indulged in for the entertaiumeut of the youngsters, the teachers beina: indefatigable in their efforts to amuse them. As the day was beautifully fine for the affair, a very pleasant day was spent by all. Licensing Court.— The Licensing Court will sit at Otnki to day, when Mr Udy will apply for a license for the Club Hotel, at that township. There will also be a sitting at Foxton to-morrow, when Esteven Bollve will apply for a license for his hotel at Fielding. An application will also be made for a license for the Awahuri Hotel, and will bo supported by a large petition. A ComiECTiox. — In the report of the County Council proceedings on Friday last, ifc was stated Mr Rockstrow said " one qunrtor " of an acre of Mr Johnston's laud would be required for the Foxton-Otaki road. Tho expression should have been " one and a-quarter." A ItoCK Aiiead. — Considerable comment was caused in Foxton yesterday, owing to the State school being closed on «ooount of tho Church of England picnic. It was pointed out to us by several paterfamilias that the fete was entirely denominational, no general invitation to the youngsters of the township having been issued, and that it was not fair to deprive the great portion of the school children of their day's education because one section of the community were indulg-ing in a holiday. We may say we agree with these views. Our system of educatiou is purely secular, and tho closing of a school on the oc :asion of a Sund ly treat — no matter what denomination ifc may be— appears to us to be giving a sectarian tinge to school matters, aud *or.c likely to breed vory grave discontent in the future. Having closed the school on the Church of Kngland treat day, there can be no sound reason ur^ed against it being closed on the occasion of i similar event amongst either the Presbyterians, Catholics, or Methodists. Should one denomination be favored in the matter, sectarian jealousy will bo at once created. Wo regret that the Committee have acted as they have done in the matter. [Sioco the abovo was written we have learned that the matter was not brought beforo the Committee in any shape, no meeting having been held. Wo shall probably hear more of it when a meeting takes place.]

Mr Loudon'b Pale.— Mr Lotulon's Sale continues to exert a powerful effect upon the minds nf the settlers in the district, attracting numbers daily to (he sale in search of bargains. Up to Saturday night, the interest had in no way abated, lots being knocked down to the highest bidder for whatever they would fetch. Wo may remind those who have not secured any of the bargains that the sale at Foxton must clohe either to day or to-morrow, as the Palmerston sale opens on Thursday.

Lost Akd Focnd. — A singular oase of the finding of a relative after an absence of 18 years, was recently narrated by our Pul merston contemporary. It appears that when a mere boy v brother iu-law of Mr Jorgensen, of Palmerston, ran away from home, aud after many wanderings settled down atKumara a 8 a miner. Meantime, Air Jorgensen had como tp New Zealand, and though lie advertised freely nine years asro, upon his arrival, could not discover the wanderer ; but a year or two ago. the latter s<?nt home to a Danish paper an advertisement, to try and discover tho whereabouts of his relatives, a scrap of which fell into their handa, and Air Jorgensen was at once communicated with, the consequence being that the runaway arrived in Foxton by the Stormbird on Sunday morning, and proceeded on to Palmerston to rejoin his friends.

Sanson Railway.— A meeting of the Direolorsof the Foxton-Sanson Railway Company was held at Eoxton last Thursday, when a deputation, consisting of Messrs. Gray (Foxton), M'Leunanand Gower (Carnarvon), and Sanson (Sandon), were appointed to wait upon the Government in regard to matters relating to the railway. The gentlemen named ab »ye left for Wai lington at 10 o'clock last night, by the Stormbtrd.

Evading the Duty.- With that keen appreciation of tho '• bawbees " which charactoriaes the Angrlo-Saxon nation, several old colonists who feel their «• mortal coil " beginning to. hang loosely, are endeavoring to evade the stamp duties levied upon legacies under wills. The duty upon the property of the late Hon. W. B. Rhodes

amounted to over £18,000, which is in it self ft smiill fortune, and a law oase is now ponding owing to efforts being made to reduce the nmpunt. Ft is therefore not surprising thac attempts should be made by divHing the property in life, to avoid the duty. It is said that recently a wealthy Ttfelsonian divided his inheritance a'nongst his family, retaining whatever was necessary for his comfort during life, in order to evade the duty; whilst another Tumour reached our ears a little while ago that a wealthy gentleman in \V?llinpteri, who is noted for the short speeches ho makes in the Legislative Council, recently called his large family together, and asked them to elect whther they would have £15,001) no.v or have £20,00i> at his death. Wo need hardly add, that they remembered the old proverb, thnt " a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," and accepted the £15,000 now— at least most of them did, according to the rumor we have heard.

A La rgk Tusk. — The tusk of ivory sent by Cetewayo to Lord Chelrasford as a peaceoffering, or rather as an evidence of bis dr. sire for peace, has arrived ssit'ely at the Colonial Office, Whitehall. |The tusk i< nn enormous one in point of size, being 7ft in length, and about half a yard in circumference at the girth. It is ono of the finest sppcimens of the olephant's tusk that hns probably ever reached this country, and must have belonged to an animel of prodigious dimensions. Sir Kvelvn Wood had charge of the tusk, which has b^en presented to the Colonial Secretary ; and, as was the ense with the King of Dahomey's ■seat and Theodore's umbrella, it is believed 'hat tho tusk witl be shortly on exhibition at South Kensington.

A Goon Emetic— lf a person swallows any poison whatever, or has fallen into convulsion-? from bavin" overloaded the stomacb, nn instantaneous remedy, most efficient aud applicable iv a largo number of cases, is a heaping tcHspoonful of common salt, and as 'much mustard, stirred rapidly in ft tecoupful of water, warm or cold, and swullowod iustanlly. It is scarcely down before it begins to come up, bringing with it the remaining contents of the stomach : and lest tliore be any remnant of (he poison, however small, let the white of an egg, or a tea spoonful of strong coff c b« swallowed as soon as the stomach is quiet, because these very common articles nullify a large number of virulent poisons. Esculapian.— The Scientific American qmtes the following sh^rt rules given by .I'rofessor Wilder for action in the case of accidents:— For dust in the ejes— avoid ru'.bing, dash water into them. Remove cinders, etc., -with the. round point of a lead pencil. Roiiove insects from the ear with tepid w:itfr ; never put a hard instrument into thr? ear. It' an artery is cU, compress above the wound. If a v»in is cut, compress below. If choked, get upon all fours and cough. For light burfts, dip the part cold water ; if the skin is destroyed, cover with varnish. Before passing through smoke, take a full breath, and then stoop down ; but if carbon is suspected, walk erect. Suck a poisoned wound unles3 your month is 9ore ; enlarge the wound, or better cut but the part without dela}'. Hold the wounded part, as lon™ as can be borne, to a hot coal, Oi 1 end of a cigar. In case of poisoning, excite voraiti g by tickling the throat, or by warm water or mustard In case of poison, give strong coffee, and keep moving. If in the water, flont on the back, with the nose aud mouth, projecting. For apoplexy raise the head and body. For fainting, lay the person, flat. " Brevity U the soul of wit," so the professor's maxims have, at least, the merit of being short ; and perhaps many will* think that some of them are more easily preached than practised — to wit, floating on your back in the water when you cannot swim, and cutting off your own finger, or putting into the wound a live cnal, when you have been bitten by a mad dog.

"Wounds in Modern Warfare — Some interesting evidence (says the Daily News) as to the character of modern fighting is 'supplied by a recently published volume, tho report of the Stafford House committee on their operations in the late Russo-Tuik-ish war. Besides a " record of operations," the hook contains some general reports on surgical matters by the chief surgeons employed. In these there is to be found nearly unanimous testimony, first as to the comparative fewness of wounds from the " white arm," as swords, bayonets, lances, andstichiikc weapons are collectively termed in French military language. The second point of iutorcst is the greater ease with which such wounds healed when they were not at onco fatal. Sword wound* were more numerous in the latter part of the war thau in the earlior, " says I\lr Kaker, and they usually healed easily. Bayonet wounds were much rarer. " Among thousands of wounded men," says Dr. Pinkerton, '• I did not see more than half a dozen Buffeting from sabre, lance, or b iyonel wounds." And he adds that the experience of others whom he questioned was the s.-ime. " The number of bayonet wounds coming under observation was exceedingly small," says Mr Mackellar, and though sabre wounds were more frequent in this gentleman's experience, they were chiefly due to wanton attadks on nun-combatants, not to fair fighting. The fact seems to be thnt not only is actual hind to-hand fighting very rare in modern warfare, but that modern weapons are very ill-adapted for it. The lance requires elbow room and vory adroit management ; the sibre nerds very great bodily strength, and not a little skill, to make it effective; the bayonet is " a most clumsy weapon." The bowie knife and the short Qhoorka dagger are, thinks Dr. Pinkerton, much more effective than any of our cutting arms. On the other hand, the modern riflo bullet is allowed to be a terrible weapon in its effects, even whore it does not kill, and the wounds it inflicts seam to be much more serious than those of tho old spherical ball.

Lavatory. — Probably the most disgusted mau in San Francisco was the leader of the orchestra at Baldwin's Theatre. In the play " L'A.ssominoir" there occurs, as we all know, a fight between two women in a washhouse, they fairly deluging each other and the staga with buokets of water. On oao occasion Aliss Bose Coghlan'hud just dashed a full bucket at Miss Andrews, who was directly in front of the footlights, when the latter suddenly ducked, and tho contents of the pail descended upon tlie head and shirtfront of the leader. The latter shook himself like a Newfoundland dog, and dived down below, making autiSunday school remarks, and looking as if he had just been fished out of tho bay. It required the united assurance of the entire company to convince tho embittered musician that ho was not the victim of a coldblooded and carefully rehearsed put-up job. Since then, however, he takes care to stand behind the big fiddlo and to keep an umbrella raised.

A Strange Work op Art. — A curious pidture was sold a few dayß Binco at the auction rooms in the Hue Drouo f . It was purchased for eleven thousand francs by a well-known Parisian amateur. The peculiarity connected with tho picture is the strange fact that it was painted on the human skin. Its origin ia, according to the Continental Gazetto, attributable to a shipwreck which occurred on a savage ooast, and which led to the oapturo of a number of the victims by a part* of Indians. One of the shipwrecked was "an artist, and as

the ceremony of tattooing was being proceeded with by the Indians, the artist, who had saved his painting utensils and colon, volunteered to paint the grand chief. The offer was accepted, and tlio French artist nt once painte I a magnificent view of the h-trbor aud the King's p:\lace on the breast of the savage To wards the end of 187<> some of the Indian tribes revolted, and being pursued by the Americans, several of them were killed or mide prisoners ; one of the latter died in the hospital, and when his chest-covering was withdrawn, the landscape in question, in an excellent state of preservation, was discovered on the breast of the Indian. A Frenchman purchosed the body, took off the skin of the chest, had il framed, and brought it to Paris, where it h'ls just beon knocked down to the highest bidder by a tap of the auctioneer's hammer.

The Election Telegrams. — Respecting the telegrams on electioneering matters sent by the late Government at the public cost, the Parliamentary correspondent of the Dunedin Herald furnished the following on Thursday :— " There is great consterna tion among the Opposition members to-day about tbeproduction of telegrams' exchanged be'ween the Grey Government and their supporters during the last election. In connection with the celebrated Inglis telegram, Col. Whitmore wired Sir Gee Grey — ' Outside all this, if you find wording of telegram embarrassing do not scruple to lay all blame on me, and pitch me overboard if it helps you.' The ex- Postmaster- General was greatly excited about one of the telearrams making him say, ' Fanny all right,' the hon. gentleman insisting ' Fancy ' was the word telegraphed. Thn parcel appears bulky, but is supposed not to contain those s.mt by Ministers when in other parts of the co ony than Wellington. The telegrams have been so rushed by members that it is impossible to get farther extracts at prosent." On the same subject the correspondent of the Timarti Herald telegraphed — " Some of them are very rich, and were evidently never intended to see the light. Ml 1 Macandrew stated positively in the House that no such telegrams existed, and his colleagues repeated the statemont. It is a shockiugexposare." — Canterbury Press.

Tug Native Department.— ln the House ou Friday, when the Native Department, was under discussion, the Hou Mi' Bryce said there were a good many things in the Native Department with which he was not satisfied, and if he remained in the service he intended to attempt to very much economise this department. If ho found lie could not carry out the changes ho would retire from his position as Native Minister altogether. Progress. — The House is now getting through the business rapidly, and it is hoped Parliament will bo dissolved on December 16. ■ Excklsiou. — It is stated that a Middle Party of "' Young Zealanders " has been formed in the House under the leadership of Mr Dr Lantour. Great things are expected of them next session. Sir George Grey. — The ex premier brought up the Christchorch election ques tion on Friday evening, and moved ; — That the portion of the report of the City of Christchurch Election Committee, which status that tho committee do hereby deter mine that Sir George Grey was not duly elected for Ghristchurch at the last general election of members of that City for tho House of Representatives, he expunged from the journals of this honorable House ; 2. that that portion of the same report which states that the Hon. Edward Richardson was duly elected, and ought to have been returned as a member in the If ouse of Representatives for the-Uity of Ohristchurch, he also expunged from the journals of this honorable House. The Hon. John Hall briefly replied to Sir Georgo, after which the motion " That the speaker leave the chair," was carried on division by 30 to 21, and the House went into committee of supply.

Registration of Elecxohs. —In the Legislative Council on Friday, the Hon. Mr Waterhouse proposed an amendment to the Registration I Jill, the effect of which would be that the prdsenc rolls should not be taken us the basis of tho new ones, and that after every election tho old rolls should be destroyed, and fresh onos complied entirely dc novo. The amendment was opposed by the Attorney-General, on account of the largely-increased amouut of trouble it would cause. After a very long discussion . the amendment was so altered as to make it compulsory on registration officers to satisfy themselves that every name he placed on tho roll had a light to be there.