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Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue 39, 14 January 1881, Page 2

The Foxton School. —When the Foxton school " broke up," it was announced that duty would be resumed on Monday next, 17th inst. We understand, however, a number of the parents have intimated their desire that the children may have another week's grace, and consequently a notice appears in this issue informing parents that the school will not reopen until Monday week, Jauuary 24. It will be seen that the notice is signed by the master, Mr Hulke, inconsequence of his being unable to see the Chairman of the Committee (Mr Thynne) yesterday, pwing to his absence from town. Otal-T Item. — The schooner Elizabeth, when entering the Otaki river a few days ago, through going too far south, while trying to avoid th. wreck of the City of Auckland, went ashore on tho south spit. She was expected to be got off either yesterday or today. Local Boari*.— The Foxton Local Board will hold a meeting this evening, at 7 p.m., to make arrangements for notifying the completion- of the valuation list, and to transact general busiuess. Counts' CoTTNOit. — A meeting of the committee appointed to enquire into the collection of the rates, &c, was held on j Tuesday last. The members present were the County Chairman (Mr Macarthur), Messrs Sanson, M'Lennau, and Rockstrow. The result of their meeting will probably be laid before the Council at next meeting. At last sitting, it was remarked that the Council annually lost a considerable amount through the rates not being collected within two yeais of becoming due. Hence the appointment of the committee to enquire into the matter. The FiTZU-*m-Ki:T Reevs. — We understand that some 50 men are at present exploring the Fitzherbert district ior quartz. Mr Linton informed us on Wednesday that he had on the previous day seen two very promising specimens of quartz brought in to Palmerston that morning, the gold beiug distinctly visible to the naked eye. Still further, the meu who brought in tho specimens referred to wero persous in who. o truthfulness M Linton had every confidence. A parcel of the stone has beeu sent away to be tested. Nelson Subpubs Election.— The poll for the Nelson Suburbs election took plac<on the llth iustant, and resulted in the return of Mr A. C 'llin_. He beat his opponent—Mr Harley, a well-known brewei —by 30 votes. Foxton Regatta.— The programme of the forthcoming regatta is published in this issue. We notice that no one is allowed to enter a boat uuless a subscriber of at least half-a-guinea to the funds, We think the above a desirable rule, to compel persons to contribute to the funds wh-> would be glad to win a prize but are too mean to give a donation. We think, however, it would bo only an aot of courtesy towards crews from Wanganui and Wellington if an exception to the rule were made in favour of all Club boats. Theatrical. — The members of the Bur-ford-Ciinton theatrical company expressed themselve. immensely pleased with the acous'ic properties aud appointments of the Foxton Public Hall, which they said was superior to anything they had previously performed iv on the coast. Tliey also stated they were in every way satisfied with the " bag " they made iv tho place. Palmebston Races.— ln another column will be found the programme of the Palmerston Races, whick take place in Mi Beale's paddock on Anniversary Day, Saturday, January 22. As will be seen by the advertisement, a capital programme has been prepared, and a good day's sport may consequently be expected. .A Clean " Sweep."— .Mr George North, " the Wellington sporting barber, unquestionably levanted by the last 'Frisco mail steamer, taking with him his £4000 sweep. Great ia the tribulation of holders of " horses." Perhaps Mr North's departure will tend to counteract the gambling mania which has so strongly affected this country during tha last few years. Ministerial.— Mr Rolleston is to tako temporary charge of the Native and Defence Departments, which are rendered " headless" by the resignation, of Mr Bryce. The names of Sir. Win. Fox and Mr Ormond are mentioned as possible successors, but Mr Ormond will probably prefer waiting uniil the session shows the state of parties before accepting offloe. As to Sir Wm. Fox, height go into: power as Native Minister, but it is not likely. Doos.— The Dogßegistrar, Mr Mowlem, attended at the County office yesterday, to regieter dogs and reet ive rates. Owners <lf 'irking favourites were, however, palpably .disincline -.to disgorge the re. quired t enihUHnjw, and the total number registered'aid riOtTeach 20. By section 4 it is provided that a penalty of £5 over and above the fifcitoi} be inflicted upon the owner of any dog not registered by the 14th of January. As this is the l-lth, those persons who intend to keep their do », and have not registered them, should oompl? with the Aot at once.

The Post and the Rail —What is the meaning of the follow mil sentences from the Evening Post of Tuesday :— " Mr Bryco '» resignation will be greatly regretted by tho Colouy at large, His- adminif-firatio i hithorto haviug been ao remarkably able anct sucooßf ul. Still more will it be reI gretted by the friends of the present Ministry, who are n.at«_rially vv-.-ikc.ued i»v hie rt. tir-.tt.ent, all tho disclaimers of G <- Vernment organs notwithstanding." Considering that the Post has hitherto bee i a, thick-iud-thin "Government, organ " — t Ministerial Gazette, iv faco — tiie above is rather suggestive of a preparation to " Right-about-face " ! at an early date. Evidently the Post thinks Mr Bryce's resignation will precipitate a change of Ministry; atod we shall therefore expect our contemporary to assume a critical attitude towards the Ministry. Instead of being now a "Government organ,', it will become.'.' an independent journal, " which simply means sitting nn a rail until it is seen which side the clover lies. The Southern Road.— At the last meeting of the Hutt County Council, Mr Smith moved that the Engineer be instructed to lay off the road between the foot of Paikakariki and Waikanae. The Engineer said he had no power to lay off a road through native land. Tue Government would have to give that authority first. Mr Smith added to his motion, that the Eugineei. take the necessary steps to get the legal authority from the Government. Tne motion was then carried. -_„ Returned. — We notice the return of Mr the popular master of the Foxtou school. He has been spending his holidays in the Kaikoura and Wellington districts, and certainly ia improved by the change. THE* Coming Census in Britain.— The Times of a reoent date says .— The time has come to prepare for the new census. Next year it must be taken, and it is not too ..oon to make ready the machinery necessary for the work. The undertaking is no light one. It involves the employment of an army of some 32.000 collectors, or " (.numerators, "and 2000 registrars. It rerj vires not merely the services of the EegistrarGeneral's department, but also of a host of overseers, constables, and relieving officers. ; The mere operation of taking the census will occupy only a day or two. It is proposed next year to follow the course taken in 1871 : that is, to leave the papers with householders on the night of Saturday, April 2, and to collect them on Monday, April 4. When, however, the " enumerators " have copied tho schedules and handed in their returns, the work has but begun. The task of digesting and classifying tho materials remains, ancl it is arduous. The Registrar-General will publish a preliminary report by June of 1882. But the entire work may not be completed until more tban two years have elapsed. In fact, the time spent in preparing the Scotch aud -Irish fiual reports of 1871 was much longer, the former not having been published until May of 1874, and the latter haviug appeared in September of 1875. Some notion of the vastuess of the work is to be derived from the cost, which was about £100,000 in 1861, and which has grown by about £20,000 on each occasion. Black ox White. — At some bush races in Northern Queensland, a capital fellow was, by common consent, appointed to the responsible* position of judge. He mixed his liquors pretty freely, and towards the afternoon he was the enemy of no man. The last race of the day waa a match between a black horse and a grey. They changed positions several times in the run in, and the finish looked like a dead heat. There was a general rush for the decision of the iudge, who stood calmly steady in_* himsel- by a friendly post. "Well," cried the excited crowd, " Which was it ? Was it the black? Waa it the grey ?" "You're all wrongj" said the judge, in his most judicial manner. "T' was neither one nor t'other ; the winner was a blessed piebald 1" Life Statistics. — The average life of a Sheffield fork-grinder is only 29 years, but that of a dry-ariuder of sickles is 3S year.-. For every 70,431 tons of coal dug up in Prussia the life of a miuer is sacrificed ; and in England there is ono lifo lost for every 89,419 tons raised to the surface. Edit atioxai. Con undbums. —The following is oue of the interesting examination puzzles set to the candidates for scholarships under the Taranaki Education Board. " Make a list of the New Zealand lakes, giving the locality of each. Account if you can, for the absence of lakes in other districts ." These kind of questions could lie multiplied indefinitely. For instance, " How is it that there is no lake on th* side of M »unt E_'m<>nt, when lake Hirri> m Otago is over 4000 feet above the sea ? What sort of a summer drink would th-Soda-water at Te Aroha and the kerosen. at Gisborne make for Maoris ? H . vv is it .hat the bottom of Lake Whakatipu in some di*t ince below tho sea level and the top of Ruapehu above it . Is^ the man in the moon white or brown ? Wliy are lunar influences so apparent in Wanganui and School Boards ? A number of similar questions can be found.— Wairarapa Standard. Adhesive Hair Oil.— Captious critics (says the Melbourne correspondent of « contemporary) have sharply animadverted .»u the fact that the Hon. W. M. K. Val.* kept his hat on while walking in the pro cession on Opening Day, and havo even gone so far as even to hint at radically democratic principles— or rather want o orinciples— a3 the reason. Let mo hasten io relieve the honorable gentleman from any such imputation. The frozen trnth, jis Mark Twain says, is that Mr Vale, •tressing ia a great hurry on the mornin. _ if the Opening Day, mistook a bottle ol for one containing oil, and hastily ipplying the liquid did not distover his mistake until he endeavoured to raise hi* neaver at the sound of t ho National Anthem He eventually had to soak his head, intellect and all, ia lukewarm water before he t»ot rid of its covering.