Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY, JAN. 12, 1899.

Manawatu Herald, 12 January 1899, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY, JAN. 12, 1899.

It is somewhat singular that Canada has on her hand, like New Zealand, a difficulty with regard to an influx of aliens. The aliens in this case are Russians, not Austrians, and of a religious sect in Russia, holding somewhat the same views as the Stundists, and having the same objections as the Quakers with respect to bearing arms and military service. They have been so persecuted by the Russian Government that they are emigrating to Canada by thousands. The Opposition call upon the Government to put a stop to the influx of aliens, as inimical to the future welfare of Canada. The Government are indisposed to do anything, as these men would be practically punished for their religious belief, and moreover, the North-west, to which these Russian Quakers are heading, needs more population. At the Feilding Police Court on Tuesday, Thos. and Annie Looney were charged before two Justices ot the Peace with having discharged a loaded gun at Ernest Fraser (a lad) at Waituna on December 25, with intent to do grevious bodily harm. Both accused were committed for trial, and were taken to Wellington. We understand a monster picnic is being arranged for Friday, 17th March (St. Patricks' Day), in connection with St. Mary's Church, Foxton. It is proposed to hold the picnic in the vicinity of Paiaka, and where it is known some very suitable sports for such a gathering exist. The picnickers will go by river steamer, and they will in all probability be accompanied by our town band. The excursion and picnic is sure to be a great attraction for that day, and a great crowd will certainly goThe Mikado of Japan has recently issued a decree allowing a Japanese woman to lead, if she chooses a single life. Hitherto, if found unmarried after a certain age, a husband was selected for her by law. The Palatine Fire Insurance Company of Manchester is retiring from business in the colony. The number of offices in New Zealand, however, will not be reduced, as the Law Union and Crown Insurance Company of London, an old established company, is coming with its head office to New Zealand. Mr Holmes, flax expert, will be the general manager in New Zealand. The police are said to have information supporting the theory that both the Gatton and Nundah crimes were the work of the same individuals. The bullets used in both cases correspond in size. A "biggest man" competition was held in Melbourne in connection with a bazaar the other day. The champion was proved to be a constable hailing from Preston, colonial born, who scored 34 points, 32 points being awarded to his next opponent. As this competitor also gained the special prize for the best entry of any country, his measurements may be interesting : — Height 6ft 4^ in, weight igst i6lb, chest 46m, neck i7|in, shoulders 49m, waist 45m, hips 48m, thigh 26in, calf ißJin, length of body 25m, length of leg 34m, length of arm 3iin, circumference of muscle 14m. The Wellington Times says: — A meeting of members of the Opposition side of the House is to be held in Wellington towards the end of this month to take into consideration the present position of affairs political, and to decide probably upon some future course of action. There are indications that the advisability of conducting an organised pre-sessional campaign throughout the electorates will be discussed.

The books of the Government Life Insurance Department have just been closed for 1898, and they show that a prosperous year has been experienced. New business amounted to £712,000, while voids have fallen to These are the best figures for many years past. The Woodvillc Jockey Club suffered a loss of £162 18s 7d by their last race meeting, Mr Jordan, who was suspended fVdm the Railway Department, Woodville, through the late accident, last Saturday received instructions to commence duty in the Wellington station yard, whither he at once proceeded. The machinery for printing the last issue of stamps made for the New Zealand Government is now on its way to the colony, and the Government Printing Oi^ce anticipates being able to start printing by the end of February. A copperplate expert, who has been engaged in London for printing the stamps, is expected to arrive by the next San Francisco steamer. [ All stamps of the new issue will in future be printed at the Government Printing Office. The details of an up-to-date elopement are the common topic of conversation in Masterton just now, both the fly-aways being married people. It is said that the lady of the drama left a family of three little one's with a neighbour to " kindly mind for half an hour." The next train carried the foolish wanderers tar out of reach. The husband of the guileless one went in hot pursuit, but returned unsuccessful, and now a warrant has been issued for the safe return of the alleged male offender. And so the world goes onl The Rev. Leslie Durno, incumbent of St. Paul's Church of England at Port Pirie, Adelaide, has been found hanging by the neck in the washhouse of his residence, quite dead. Deceased had been despondent, and had suffered from insomnia. He told his wife that attempts were being made to blacken his character, and that he dreaded taking the next day's services. We have received a copy of the first issue of the new series of " The Advocate," the official organ of the Wesleyan Connexion in New Zealand. The paper has been enlarged to 16 pages, and is the only id illustrated paper in New Zealand. It was formerly published in Dunedin, but in future will be published by McKee & Co., the well-known publishing firm of Wellington. As the " Advocate " circulates throughout New Zealand, the claims of the Empire City as a distributing centre have been recognised. The paper is well printed, and the engravings are gooJ, and we wish our contemporary every success. The following are the returns of cases brought before the Magistrate's Court at Foxton during the year ending 31st December, 1898 : — Criminal cases, 109 ; civil — plaints entered, 96 ; cases tried, 64 ; aggregate amount sued f° r > £386 7s 3d; amount recovered, £233 10s iod. An increase is shown of school attendance cases 42, as against 29 the year before; petty theft, 7 ; and increase of drunks to 8. At Wanganui on Saturday, the wife of the licensee of the Wangaehu Hotel was convicted on a charge of unlawfully supplying liquor to a Maori woman. The charge was denied, but Mr Kettle, S.M., in recording a conviction, said he was satisfied that if Mrs Hilliar did not supply the Maori woman she permitted her to have liquor on the premises. A fine of £5, with costs £2 gs, was imposed. The headstone provided by the subscriptions of the Newtown School children and friends of the late Mr Charles Hulke has just been erected over the respected schoolmaster's grave in the Karori Cemetery, says the Post, and the grave itself enclosed in a concrete wall topped by an iron fence. The stone is a plain marble slab, with a simple inscription, indicating that it is " erected by a few friends " of the deceased. One of the Masterton applicants for an old age pension is (we learn from a local paper) a woman owning to 88 years. She was born in 1810, thus having lived during the reigns of four monarchs of England — from George 111 to Queen Victoria. Three thousand acres of land at £2 a year. This was the condition, says the Times, which a tenant of the Land Board at Friday's meeting notified his intention of throwing up. And yet people complain of the paucity of land and exorbitant rentals. It would be as well to explain to avoid misunderstanding, however, that the territory mentioned is chiefly mountain-top scenery in the airy vicinity of the Rimutaka ranges. It is estimated that its most prolific crop is rabbits, but that otherwise it will carry one billygoat or wild pig to every four acres. The Rangitikei Musical and Operatic Society, Bulls, have decided to stage the opera " Patience," and it will be put into practice immediately. An exchange says: Winning racehorses are generally bays, chestnuts or browns; and for every hundred winners among them are fifty chestnuts and thirty browns. There is no record of an important race being won by a piebald. People in the interior of New South Wales find flies the bane of their lives in the summer time, and are often heard in their annoyance to ask whether there is any place on the earth where these insects cease from troubling. There appears to be such a place existing according to an affidavit read in one of the Sydney courts on a motion for the attachment of a person for non-payment of divorce costs. The party proceeded against said that it was a case of persecution, and the opposing solicitor had told him that he was bent on putting him ' where the flies would not get at him.' Where is that ? I would like to know ?' queried Mr Justice Simpson. ' In Darlinghurst Gaol,' replied coun- 1 sel ; ' they have screens there.' j The crops in and around the Sandon district are said to be looking extremely well this year. 1 Sir George Grey's estate has been j sworn at £866. *

A very quiet wedding was celebrated in Palmerston on Tuesday, the contractir..; parties being Mr C. M. Ross, of T'lmerston, and Miss K. A. Trask, of -'oxton. The newly married couple ]vi by noon train for Wairarapa, Wellington and the South Island. We offer our 'congratulations and best wishes. — Standard. Those '. iterested are reminded of the sale of privileges on Saturday next at McMillan's auction room on behalf of the Ftixtrii R'atiing Club. The sale is fixed for ?. p.m., and we haye 1 no doubt that the different lots submitted will be much sought after and satisfactorily disposed of. The racehorses Toa and Moonstone have arrived to take part in the Foxton Racing Club's annual meeting. The Wanganui and West Coast Cycling Club has received a permit from the Executive of the League of New Zealand Wheelmen to hold another sports meeting on Easter Monday, says the Chronicle. An Ai programme, to cater for all classes of riders, i 9 to be arranged. It costs I i2t)9 in fees and expenses to become a duke, a marquis pays £1128, an earl £957, a viscount £80, a baron £652, a baronet £534, and a knight £97. The railway revenue for the nine months to date is expected to reach j£so } 000 more than a similar period last year, but the expenditure has been very heavy on account of bridge building in Hawke's Bay and re-laying rails on the Southern lines. The experiment of running four express trains weekly to New Plymouth has so far been successful, and has relieved traffic greatly. A Maori elopement has been agitating some Napier circles during the past week. It appears that the Adonis is already enveloped in the nuptial chains, and was a resident of Levin. The charms of a dusky maiden at Otaki made him throw prudence and propriety to the winds, and the fair dusky one, who is only fourteen years of age, reciprocated his passion. They Jeft their old haunts by one morning's express, and flew to Napier, where they endeavoured to fix up matters at the registry office. The hard-hearted official, however, would not accommodate them, and as the parents of the erring female are moving in the matter, she will in all probability shortly be under their wing again. — Herald.