Another Grumble.

Manawatu Herald, 27 March 1894, Page 2

Another Grumble.

In this we are not singular. All ! new-papers ai2 full of the terrible ' mudd'e made iv the electoral rolls*. | Niini.-s have been struck off uiO3t I ciirelessly and no new rolls were I obtainable for inspection iv time to '

ascertain in what manner those who were previously on, the roll, had been treated. The result is that many, a great many too many electors were disfranchised at the Licensing elec tion from the fault of Government servants. _ It appears that the j machinery for checking t' ~ erasures I made on a roll is bad, and thai no publicity is given to the playful action of- the -Registrar of Electors. We believe that the selection of officers has been bad, and the remuneration likewise bad, the two run together, bad pay secures only poor men and the result is great ■dissatisfaction. These things- must be mended, it being . not possible to end them, and those who have been prevented from voting by the illegal act of a Government ( ffi.ee r should have power to obtain redress from him. Circumstances' can easily bu imagined where, uudev this Alcoholic Liquors Act a publican deprived from voting might have thus lost bis license, his vote, perhaps preventing prohibition being carried, being refused.. The Registrars of Electors are paid a salary to do their work properly, by us unfortunate taxpayers, and if they choose to slum their work causing any of us loss, they should be the persons who ought to recoup us, or else their employers, the Government. When officers can be sure of all the emoluments of office without the con straining.powerpf probable liabilities, carelessness is apt to become very marked, therefore a change is needed. In this town we know of a case of a man, : who voted at the general election, being refused a vote at the last election as it had pleased the Registrar to scratch his name out, j without warning him in any way.

To morrow'Me'ssrs Gorton & Son hold a very large sale of stock at Messrs Manson's homestead, Stanway, near Feilding. On Thursday Messrs Abraiiam & Williams hblft a sale at Palmerston and on Tuesday following ono at Colytou. On Saturday Messrs Gorton & Son hold a clearing out sale at Bulls, in the bankrupt estate of Mrs Richards. The social and dance in aid of the Taikorea school, will be given at Mr I Boswellls residence, Taikorea line, on Saturday evening next. The Borough Council invite tenders for the duties of Ranger. Tenders to be in by noon on Monday • I The Farmer states that three prominent I settlers near Levin, whose places adjourn, I have, during the last iew weeks lost u4O. i 070, and 600 sheep respectively. . I Members of the Wirokino Road Board at their last meetingmoved resolutions asking the Government to erect a Courthouse and ' lock-up and r^iee residence at Levin and at Shanuor. ;ind also to station a constable at the In llcr place. Times aj^flSbaS in New York that even the pasvn-feroKere -complain of bad busi ness. One man asserts he has not seen it so bad for 45 years. It is Baid that the poorer classes pawned all they had during the hard tines. last summer, and aowhave nothing else to pawn and no niouey to redeem their pledges. . i A well-known Sydney lady it was who conceived the idea of organising bathing parties to which both ladies and gentlemen \v,:\ invited. This has shooked the members of the Victorian Parliament and a bill making it incumbent upon the sexes to bathe at separate hours and ordaining '.hat the costume to be worn must extend from the neck to the knee, has* already passed its second reading. In this colony such precautions are unnecessary as when we get Prohibition we shall all be good. The Curfew bell was introduced into England iv 1068, A.D., and on the ringing of the curfew at eight o'clock in the evening all fires and caudles were to be extinguished under a severe penalty. The Curfew was abolished in 1100. The residents of BarkinOJssexr England are" taking steps to raise £600^to. restore their ancient Curfew tower, though it is not said they purpose renewing the enactments*. The Curfew bad its advantages, husbands were not tempteii to stay out late at their olubs, ancLwives could not sit up half the night darning. . Elsewhere it will be noticed that a French savant has arrived at the conclusion that, fishes , can talk. We wonder what they had to say about the excursion of the Que^n of the South to Kapiti oh Friday, and how they liked the Pinafore choru.es i which our bilious resident is so" full up " of ?, Because, in spite . of his official utterance", members -of the Pinafore Coinpairiy actuary-had the audacity to repeat Home. of. tht^feuuifeof -that opera though there, were a, large, number of excursionists aboard. « J : " The mystery of mysteries " a' sausage. Presumably made of meat not of the primest quality, and, in' London, and in London onlyjve „will hope,, popularly b£flfevM to* befieorapooM^of %tras*fiSe#«Wa cats. ".11 this is bad enough but in a case heard~ih"£l&*lp^Qßce OSbrVfcstffeionth it was alleged that it was " the custom of trade " to make beef sausages out of " red ochre, peppei\ salt, and soaked brown bread!" " ' Good, sound Russian wheat was recently sold at Bristol, for delivery, as low as 21s a quarter, in March. '• ■'' >Wh atevoiß may be the faults, of London cabmen, they are, as a rule, honest men. The property that has been left in cabs and restored to the owners during the past five years is shown by police statisticp to represent a value of no less than £100,000. Here is a striking fact mentioned by the FrVneh* Minister of Marine :-Frorn 1871 to 1891-the Triple Alliance expended on its navy £127,400,000, while France spent £127,680,000. Can fishes talk ? A French savant, M. Dufoese, has been observing the ways of several species ang others the sea-horse, and his reply is that they can. They can, he decareß, produce certain sounds at will by trig Vibra'fiob of certain specially designed muscles. These vibrations are caused by a litt c air bladder, which is alternately extended and exhau? ted. - . W#4have "nVard of lads treating a man in much the same way. We have it on Sir J. Lubbocks authority that be once fed some ants on food satnrated with alcohol. Like human beinga they became tipsy. Then the other ants, presumably disgusted with the^tmaUioi»D£ tlfci Appets, JHPfr"-«l : -b e «> "P ' and droppid 'bin into in* nearest water. ', Tlie ■•• ustrian- poor law gives every man 60 years old the right to a pensiou equal to ouc- third of the amount per day which he had earned during his working years.

The Returning Officer announces the | result of the Licensing election and declares the Local Option Poll to be void. The Committee elected are Messrs Thynne 570, Williams 566, McCulloch SGO, Smith 555, Bennett 549, Gascoigne ! 537, Stuckey 530, Harnett 529. ' Fci -lie first time :n the history of the New South Wales colony a barrister has been struck off the rolls. Mr H. H. Lusk, l'oniierly of New Zealand, is the offender, and it is alleged that he had not paid over a client's money. An old lady who recently died at Stoke Fleming, near I artmount, with the key; of her safe iv her hand, and who had lived a life of comparaiiye seclusion, owned proparty worth £100,000. Her relatives have just found, hidden away in her house in vases and jars, about £10,000 in cash. ror the 3rst time in the history of Australia it is probable it will be represpnted as a food producing province of the Empire this year at the London Royal Agricultural Show, as Mr H. Keid, the Minister of Defence, has wired :— Collect o hibiis b.st buitt-r, cheese, fruits, wiuvrf, brandy, fodder, grain dud s-uni'ar products for lioyal Agricultural Show, 23rd June. Of great importance. Canada and other colonies exhibiting." Phylloxera has been discovered in the vineyard of Mr H. Knox, at Preston, near Liverpool. In consequence a Gazette notice has been issued by the Government quarantining all vineyards within a radius o> a mile of the diseased area, and strictly prohibiting the removal therefrom of any vines, cuttings, grapes, packages or implements. Two young ladies of Dundee have started on a journey round toe world. They are sent by the proprietors of the Dundee Courier and Dundas Weekly News for the purpose of gleaning information as to the conditions of female labor in various countries. Everybody, says the Christian World, knows the popular hymn in .- ankey's coX lection, A Light in the Window for Thee. The author o it, E. W. Uunbar, has recently died miserably as a tramp in Cofl'eeville gaol, Kansas,, Dunbar was , a singing evangelist, but he fell into vicious | ways and was incorrigible. No " light in the window " would entice him back to virtue. His fate reminds us of the outcast author of Home, Sweet Home, who also had a wretched ending. Henry Todd. an employee of the Governnient Insurance Department, committed suicide at Waitati with a revolver. On a visiting card he wrote—" Cause, lovely woman ; effect of broken promises ; j epilogue, a thousand apologies." Deceased j was 30 yeai'3 of age, and unmarried. He has no relatives in Dunedin, but has a brother residing in Wellington. At the inquest, a verdict of suicide while in a state of temporary insanity was returned.