Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1899.

Manawatu Herald, 3 June 1899, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1899.

At the Otaki Licensing Committee's annual meeting all the licenses were renewed, the police reports in all applications were favourable. They always were, and probably always will be, but they are not a good guide to a committee. Mr John Stevens, M.H.R., will address his constituents at Foxton on Wednesday, Shannon on Thursday, and at Levin on Friday. The engine driver Carter was found not guilty of manslaughter at the Supreme Court, Christchurch, on Wednesday. He was the driver of the second train in the Rakaia disaster. The Rev. W. Woollass will preach at the Methodist .Church to-morrow night and take for his subject " Woe unto him who giveth his neighbour drink," with special reference to recent events. The members of the Good Templar Lodge will attend in regalia.

Church matters in Palmerston seem to be in a bad way from what the Rev. H. F. Hunt told his congregation on Wednesday night. He said that on the 31st March la3t £106 was due for pew rents, with the result that the stipends of Mr Wilson and himself were a quarter in arrears. The new vestry, he said, were doing their best to provide a remedy.

Madame Patti has made as much as £70,000 in a single year, though at present, it is said, she does not trouble to make more than £10,000. Melba earns £30,000 when in full work. Sarah Bernhardt makes an average of £14,000, and Rosa Bonheur has sold one year's paintings for £38,000.

In one of the African oases about 600 artesian wells have been opened successfully along the course of a subterranean river.

The "British Medical Journal" authoritatively denies that it is necessary to operate upon the Queen's eyes, which were reported recently to be suffering from cataract.

In a letter to the Post, the Rev. F. W. Isitt states that while in the Clutha district there were only 19 convictions for all offences last year, including 8 for sly-grog selling, in the Palmerston North district there were 528 convictions.

Upwards of ioo,ooolbs of snails are eaten every day by the residents of the gay French capital, the snail market being the busiest industrial mart in Paris.

The N.Z. Times says the conditions of the hemp market have undergone no material change, but the wet weather has retarded deliveries, and several millers have been unable to keep their engagements. This has hardened the price for spot parcels, which are quoted at £16 to £16 ios. A few contracts hnve been made for delivery in September and October on the basis of £14 to £14 ios per ton. Millers are working their machinery full time, and are likely to continue so pretty well to the end of the year. The market will, however, depend wholly upon the situation in .the ! Philippines. The Japanese Government has given orders for the building of one thirdclass cruiser, two torpedo gunboats and twelve first-class and sixteen smaller torpedo boats. A bronze column, inscribed with a treaty between two cities, made in the third century before Christ, has been found in a Doric temple in Greece. The Borough Council meets on Monday night, when tenders will be opened, and possibly the Estimates for the year will be decided upon. In accordance with the requirements of the Postal Union, the colours of some of the New Zealand stamps will be altered at an early date. The £d stamp is to be printed in green, the id in red, and the 2^d in blue. The new colours for the 4<3 and 6d stamps have not yet been decided upon. — Post. A resident of Pahiatua killed a pig of enormous dimensions, and when weighed it turned the scales at 4141 b. It was reared by Mr Barrell, and was related to a pig that took first prize at Woodville Show. The Husband : When I married, boys, I made it a rule never to allow myselt to be hen-pecked. — Maid of All Work rjpiease, sir, missus says as har you a-comin' in, 'cause if you're not, j she's coming for you herself ! Thirteen hundred trains (not counting luggage-trains) pass through Clapham Junction in one day. Speaking at Auckland on the land question Mr T. E. Taylor said: — "The lease in perpetuity was a 999 years fraud. At the end of, say, 100 years, when this colony had probably ten millions of people instead of 760,---000 people, the land held under the lease in perpetuity would be fetching pounds a foot r.ent frontage, and forsooth the increased value which would come by reason of the settlement of people would go as it went now — into the pockets of the landowners. May of the present year will long be remembered as the wettest month for many years in Wellington. Rain has fallen on 26 out of the 31 days, the total fall being 6.87 inches, as against 5.95 inches in May of last year. The average for the same month in previous years is 4.88 inches. The maximum fall in 24 hours this month was on the 10th, the measurement being nearly an inch and a quarter. The Suez Canal yields an annual profit of £3,750,000.

Lady : What did that man shout ? Captain : Eight bells and all's well. — Lady: He wouldn't say that if he knew how bad I feel.

At a meeting of clergymen, held at Christchurch, in response to the invitation of the Ministers' Association, to consider the question of united action on the liquor question at the coming elections, Bishop Julius, of Christchurch, presided. A resolution was carried, with three dissentients, "That this meeting of ministers of religion agrees to adopt the no-license' and ' reduction ' votes at the coming election as the basis of united action."

The proposal for the ratification of the Anglo-French Convention concerning the French and British spheres of influence in Africa, which was signed two months ago by the representatives of France and England, was carried in the Senate last Wednesday.

' A hundred men and women have » effected their escape from the Khalifa's > camp, and have surrendered themselves to the officers of the British . gunboats on the Nile. ' ,•

In the course of his charge to the Grand Jury, at Christchurch, Mr Justice Denniston remarked on the necessity for a rearrangement of the Supreme Court system, and suggested that the evidence should be taken down in shorthand. The Grand Jury having finished their work expressed their approval of the suggestion of the Judge, and stated that ifJudges were relieved of a considerable amount of clerical work in taking down evidence, the alteration would be an advantage to suitors and all concerned.

The meeting which was to have been held on Thursday night to organise the Liberal forces in this district was postponed on account of Mr A\ Edwards, the secretary of the Liberal and Labour Federation of New Zealand having inadvertently chosen the same evening for a meeting in Feilding. A letter apologising for the mistake was read from the gentleman named.

A remarkably rich " strike " of gold is reported from Cripple Creek, Colorado. ■ " Some of the pieces of ore are 80 per cent gold, and run over £100,---000 a ton," writes a correspondent. "In one of the richest sections examined there is at least £1,000,000 worth of ore. This is 620 feet below the surface. Armed guards are watching the property.

The Foxton Mutual Improvement Society will meet next week on Tuesday night instead of Wednesday, as on Wednesday the District Lodge of the Good Templars meets in the Templars' Hall. The subjects for discussion at the Mutual are, the finishing of the debate as to whether the present Government should remain in office or not, and an essay on the Immorality of Gambling by Mr W. Johnston, to be followed by a discussion.

The Hon. Mr Cadman has decided to retire from the Ministry after the Session.