Manawatu Herald. [Established Aug. 27, 1878.] SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 1904.

Manawatu Herald, 30 April 1904, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. [Established Aug. 27, 1878.] SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 1904.

The total value of crops gathered in New South Wales during the year is estimated at ,£8,500,000. At a wedding in Gisborne the other day four greys attached to the bridal carriage had their hoofs painted in gold. This is a custom prevalent at society weddings in America. On the hearing of the numerous criminal cases yesterday the Magistrate commented on their extent and nature and expressed the hope that it was not a frequent thing in Foxton. Last Saturday, be said, seemed to have been ajrejular sight out in Foxton,

According to recent figures there are 782 hotels in Sydney, or one to every 597 persons. Foxton excels Palmerston in some things. At yesterday’s sitting of the Court, the S.M., said there were more attachment applications in Foxton than anywhere else. One of the local counsel (Mr Reade) remarked that it was found to be about the only way of getting bad debts paid here. When Mark Twain was a young and struggling newspaper writer in San Fransisco, a lady of his acquaintance saw him one day with a cigar box under his arm looking in at a shop window, “Mr Clemens,” she said, “ I always see you with a cigar box under your arm. lam afraid you are smoking too much.” “It isn’t that,” said Mark ; “ I’m moving again.” It is not generally known, writes a correspondent to the Advocate that quite a respectable living is made by both Europeans and natives in some of the northern bush districts of this island , out of the gathering of the bark of the tanekaha tree, Which is shipped to Europe and used, it is said, for tanning the finer classes of leather. Tanekaha bark is packed up in icwt. bundles, tied around with supplejacks. The well known theatrical proprieter (Mr Alfred Woods) appeared under a writ of arrest before Mr C. C. Kettle. S.M., at the Auckland Police Court on Monday morning, to answer a claim made by Henry Robertson, an Auckland house painter, for the return of handcuffs and a revolver lent to the defendant. The plaintiff alleged thai Mr Woods was going to leave the colony that day, but on the latter assuring his Worship that he was not, nor was he likely to do so for three months to come, hts Worship adjourned the case until Friday next. Mr Woods mentioned that the articles in question, valued by the plaintiff at £g , had been stolen from the theatre. A Christchurch stock-dealer, while giving evidence at the Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, stated that some years ago he had brought a line of cattle down from Bulls to Christchurch. After the journey from Bulls to Wei lington, the latter had been kept for 28 hours in the latter city waiting for a steamer, while the passage from Wei lington to Lyttelton occupied 36 hours. From the time the cattle left Bulls until they arrived in Christchurch they had not received anything in the way of food or drink.

Mayor Cock, of New Plymouth, rose up and “ said things ” the other night about the apathy of local people in following up a proposal to entertain the Governor. He asked the Borough Councillors to meet him at lunch and entertain the Governor and suits. He would do his best at all events, even it the “upper ten,” —he called them the “upper ten,” and didn’t care whether the reporters published that or not—would not do their duty then lhe “working men ” would. It was always the same in New Plymouth. Who were working the exhibition? The working people, the businessmen. The " upper ten ” were never there. He began to think he was a fool to act as Mayor in a community which contained such people. At Sydney, the other day, a convict had a further term of three years added to his sentence for an attempted burg lary, the sole evidence against him he ing the impression of two fingers, which he left in the dust of the lower sash of the window, through which he entered the house. These; impiessions were photographed, and in comparing them with the records of criminal’s finger prints kept by the police 3 they were found to tally exactly with those of accused. Subsequently the man con fessed-

A verdict of guilty was given at Gisborne Supreme Court in the manslaughter case. The accused, Matene Kaipau, had hastened the death of the chieftain, Hetea Te Kani. The latter was suffering severely from consumption, and Kaipau had him taken out of bed at daybreak and cold water poured over his naked body. Later on Hetea was put in a tub of cold water. The patient had not used cold water for ten years previously. Sentence was deferred until Friday. The mystery concerning the disappearance of a police constable named Parker from Wyndham, the post of the Kimberley goldfields, in West Australia, has been cleared up. It was thought that Parker had left the district for some private reason, and the interest in his disappearance was beginning to wane, when it was revived by a tragic discovery. A hunting party last week succeeded in catching a very large alligator. The body wasjopened, and the captors were horrified to find in it a policeman’s tunic and other portions of clothing, and parts of a human body. How or where the-un-fortunate constable was caught by the monster is not known.

The prosecution for polluting the river with night-soil shows a somewhat unsavoury state of affairs in the borough, and will no doubt come as a somewhat unpleasant surprise to resi dents, especially the large number who make a practice of swimming in the river in summer. It is to be hoped the prosecution will have the desired.effect and prevent a repetition of so offensive and insanitary a practice. If the night-soil contractor has not sufficient facilities for properly carrying out his work it is the duty of the Council to see that proper facilities are afforded him at once—otherwise Foxton will hardly maintain its reputation for being an extremely healthy district, a reputation which its climate has so far maintained for it.

The following is a sample of repartee at a recent meeting of creditors in New Plymouth. Bankrupt had stated that he had no record of his transactions, and had no books at all. A creditor: “But you had a fire. Hadn’t you?” Bankrupt: “ Yes ; and you had a fire. Hadn’t you ? And you did not know the place was insured till four days after.” Both gentlemen glared at each other, and there was an evil glitter in the blue optics as if they were ready to spring at each other, but fortunately there was a table between them. Then they relapsed into scornful silence, and curled their lips at each other in contempt,'—Rsraldt

The suggestion to have the fence at the firebell stand altered so that better means of access in case of fire has been carried out presumably to everyone’s entire However, an improvement, we are informed, can still be made to the erection. It is authoritatively stated that at no other time in the history of Wellington has there been so many substantial buildings in course of erection as at present. A rough estimate of the cost of buildings shows that the sum of no less than £275,000 is involved. Mr Edmund Osborne is haying very necessary improvements carried out at the Centre of Commerce. The shop is undergoing a thorough painting and renovating, and is commencing to appear quite up to date. Mr Osborne will open shortly in these premises with a new stock. In this issue Mr G. A. Simpson returns his best thanks to all those who supported him on election day when he was successfully placed at the top of the poll as Mayor of the Borough. He hopes by good work during his term of occupancy of the position to merit also the approval of those who did not vote for him.