Manawatu Herald THURSDAY, DEC. 24, 1891. Christmas.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 24 December 1891, Page 2

Manawatu Herald THURSDAY, DEC. 24, 1891. Christmas.

In every quarter of the globe whereever an Englishman, or his descendants reside, an effort will be made to celebrate to-morrow's. festival. Except in some of the northern offshoots of the Old Country, no other portions where the energetic Briton has settled, permits, from climatic influences, the recognition of Christmas Day, as the Emigrant had been accustomed to see it recognised, but under whatever sky Britons meet together for this purpose, they, as far as they can, make merry, and recall the times long past. The «* Old Country," and " Home " as Britain is generally referred to, causes many strong regrets on the part of those who have left her shores, at this season, as it brings so .prominently before

all the vast distance that separates blood from blood. It is Well that the old Home should still keep gre^h in our memories, though we are building a new one on a distant soil, and surrounding ourselves with children, friends and new honie tics, which permit us to admit that our regrets are more iargely those cf sentiment than those cf real feeling. Still as W9 wisely gather around us those who are nearest and dearest within our family circle on this Christmas Day, more than on any other day in the whole twelvn months, we have to note how the time passes as another little chatterer occupies a place at the board, or the absence of a loved and revered one is conspicuous lor the first time. Thankfully we can note that the discord amongst professing Christians is least noticed in this colony, and we hope that we may all hold to the grand and nobly broad utterance of Dean Stanley, who said " Remember the honest search for truth can never displease the God of truth." During the p&z.l twelvemonths everything may not have gone so smooth as we could have wished with all of us, but the positioo of every colonist in New Zealand has been cast in very pleasant places as compared with those of other countries. Our visitors are delighted with our adopted land, which Christie Murray says " is the wonderland of the world, and the scenery of the Northern Island is an amazement, and the Southern rejoices in scenic splendours which oast the glories of its northern neighbour into the shade. Norway possesses no finer fjo'ds. and Switzerland no more b9autiful lakea. Its buph is too beautiful f k words." If, (as must bs admitted) we have a'beautiful climate, and a reproductive soil, the other surroundings are in our own hands, and our lives must bo as we make them. In the Home circle whose influence is paramount ? whose praise and chidings remain longest in our minds in after y.^ars ? Our Mother's ; so let us on this day, breathe a prayer of thankfulness to her who has done and borne so much for us, and with Dbken's in his " ''nckvt on the hearth" recall, "the hearth she 1 as — how often I — blessed and bright ened, the hearth which, but fjr her, ware only a f^w stones and bricks and rusty bars, but which has b^en, through her, the Altar of your Home ; on which you have nightly sacrificed some p?tty passion, selfishness, or care, and offen d up the homage of a tranquil mind, a trusting natuiv;, and an overflowing heart ; so that the smoke from the poor chimney has gone upward with a better fragrance than the richest incense that is burnt before the richest shrines in all the gaudy temples of I this world I — Upon your own hearth ; lin its quiet sanctuary ; surrounded I by its gentle influences and associations ; hear her ! Hear me ! Hear everything that speaks the language of your hearth and home." In doing so great happiness will be gained, enabling us to wish one and all, as we most heartily do our readers " A MERRY CHRISTMAS."

We have to thank Messrs McMillan, Rhodes. & Co. for their pictorial almanac, entitled " Sweet Violets." The girl's face is a very pretty one. All will be sorry to learn that Mr John R. Russell lias determined to apver his emm-cti n with Foxtoa. For the past three years he has been battling with the Hax trade and has been compelled to with hold from further efforts, and his firm closed at the t beginning of the week. During the many years Mr Russell has been a resident of the district he lias always willingly lent his aid to a 1 public movements, and it ia therefore not surprising to loam that a movement is on foot to tend t him a complimentary concert wilhin the nit three weeks. Mrs Russell and fami y eft for Wellington to-day. We omitted to meniion in our repirt of the distribution of prizes at the richool chat the books were all obtained at r It. McLean's store, who met the Committee v»-ry liberally in the matter of discount. Mr McLean has a very well selected assorli mrrit of books, Xmas car s and fancy | goods, aud as might have been expected, he has done a thriving busines during tho | past fortnight in these lines. 1 Messrs Francis Henry Dillon Bell and William McL -an have. been nominated as candidates for the election of the House of il«pivßi>ntativt!B for Wellington. r l he poll will be taken on the 15th of January. The Wairarapa Daily states that the wlv at crop around asterton. especially in Makora and Lower Manaia, \* King destroyed in », wholesale manner by a small black grub The little pest., which i^ not unlike a maggot in appearance, attacks the whtat at thf root, mid works its way up the stem until it completcH ih;« \w-A- oi demolition. The grul) lw only iat K 0 •(■n discover, d. Oiu farmer at. .M<ik<>r.:<, ntut"s that wheat which a week or t.vo a;;o vis in a flourishing con.lii.ion is now quite brown and unfit for culling, airl tha rb ds of several others have been attacked in a iikj mann-r. -iugular\v enough, the gmh ims not affected thvi oat crops. A specimen of the pc t has been sent to Sir James Hector. Mr Startup hits on many happy idea.-*. To everyone who purchases a pair of boois from him this evening he will present a pair of new hose ! A 'purciias.-; at his shop will not be a " bootless ;| task hv any means The R?v. Mr Duncan interviewed \'v C. Brooks, of the Tram, y-jst'.-rdav, aivHi-; hrn promised to burn c jal for l.\\<:> i'utur.-.' during the dry weather. We aroglad to etatP, says tir- A'hwut,:, thatMr ijl. Sanson has \v>?n quttt- succi'Hsful in his boring operations for wrl.t at C'ampbelltown. Having obtained a <];>pth of 125 ft. a strong current of water wa> tapped, which now rushes up the pipe? and rises about Bft. above the surface. Messrs Mud ford a ko have tapped for water, and MessrE McL'an anJ Groen arc boring fov it, the part'a i\nn of which operations, and the qua iy of wat^r hitherto obtained, will be given in a few days.

Therg will life no service at Al Saints' Church to-morrow, the lay-read t not fee ing up to it. On Sunday the Rev. Mr Jones will ho d the U3ual services. The final heat for the Cup wa3 rowed on Tuesday night between T. Nye and C. Symons. Symons made good use of his 20sec start, and Nye had a hard pull to catch him. The race was in doubt for some time, but Nye put on a spurt fen i lengths from home and won by a bare | length. I The only store that, has made any outwarl ad vntnent for thn season is Messrs McMillan, hodes and Co., who have very tastefully decorated their verandah with ferns. Al the other stores have made some preparation for the holiday time, by having on view fancy articles, but there has > een nr thing like the effort made as there was last year. At the last meeting of tin Education Board the resignation of Mr Woodham was accepted, and the vacancy was referred to tin Executive. Mr J. O'Brien's resignation of the Oroua Bridge School was accepted, and the matter was referred to the Executivp to fill the vacancy. The Hawera Star says : — We have been introduced to a specimen of a novel intprnal parasite affecting some sheep near Okaiawa. Three of them were found, on consecutive days, in the windpipes of sheep which died. The specimen brought to us was found on Wednesday, in a sheep which was nearly dead, and was killed for examination. The parasite is a whitish worm, or maggot, fully half an inch long, and nearly a qnarter of an inch in diameter. It is pointed at oufe end and truncated at the other. There are two rouni blac < spots at the broad end which look like cyrs. It travels about with a magoU lik^ action, and must be a very u.icomfortable tenant to the sheep which has to carry it. It l'esembles the lavce of the oestrus ovis, or sheep bot fly There were many lung-worms present also.

There are certain customs that seem in issolubly associated with Christmastide, a d one of the oldest and most agreeable is that of giving and receiving presents. This time-honoured precedent we now follow at Te 'vo House. With a view to rendering shopping a veritable delight, an imparting to it all the pleasures of anticipation, we shall during the present month and until its close, prr-sani our ras/t customers with a Christmas p ; ft, tl-e vane of which will be in accordance with the amount of goods purchased at Te \ro House. The cash buyer of 10s worth wil receive a present, anl so on, varying in value for pirc-ls of 1 2 up to £100. The larger the p ireha-p the more numerous or valuable will be Mie gifts. Nevertheless every purchaser from the limit named wil I got a choice of prints as decided by the amount bought at I c Aro House. Tins free distribution will extend to and inc'ude the 31st or lust day of the month and year. This; who can appreciate the ad-antago of buying from the laryeat and best selected stock of summer drapery in the city, new, s'-asonable goods in perfect condition a f rtd fashion, and at the lowest wholesa c prices, wi 1 find the addition of attractive Christmas presents perfectly irresistible in a giug a visit to Te iro H 1U33 — ADVT. We are requested to direct the attention of our readers to the fact that Ross & 'Sandford, of the Bon Marche, Palmerston j North, have opened up a largo stock of Men's and Boys' Clothing, purchased diieet fro the best mills and manufacturers in the Colony. The value and choice in this department this season surpassing anything they have previously offered to the public. Visitors from this district are respectfully invited to inspect the stock in this and other departments.