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Manawatu Times, Volume II, Issue 50, 11 April 1877, Page 2

It is satisfactory to notice that tenders are invited m the present issue for the erection of two school buildings — one at Stoney Cr-'elc, and the other on the Rangitikei line. The establishment of schools m these localities will prove a great boon to the settlers, who have displayed commendable energy m so promptly moving m the matter. We have been informed that the Presisent of the Wesleyan Conference has decided to alter the appointment for Palmei-ston. It seems the Rev Mr Hammond is not, after all, to be located amongst us, but is tospend the year at the Three Kings Training Institution m Auckland, and a Mr. Purchon, a young minister from England, is to be sent to Palmerston m his stead. We can sympathise with the disappointment that

will ho fell .it tliis change, but wo may venture to point out that Mr Hammond himself will he a gainer by llio alteration, as lie will now be m a position 1o prepare more thoroughly I'or future usei'iilness, find to pass his final examination as a probationer for the ministry with credit to himself and the Church he represents. Moreover we have been informed that Mr Hammond has by his . own wish been designated to the work of the Maori Mission, and that he will be able at Auckland to acquire the Native language. Sir. Purchon has been preceded by very satisfactory credentials. He has been a student at the Didsbury Wesleyan College, and we may expect to find m him a devoted and able Minister. A melancholy accident happened on the East Taratahi on Wednesday. A child about two years old, the daughter of Mr Andrew McKenzie, a sattler there, had been playing about, and was not missed till its mother went to draw a bucket, of water out of a well, when she saw it floating m it. j With some assistance the child wa9 at once got out ; but too late, for life seemed to have fled. An inquest was held on Thursd.'.y, before Dr Spratt, when, we understand a verdict of accidentally drowned wa3 returned. — " Nmi s Letter." It is rumored that anew morning paper is shortly to make its appearance m Wellington. The appearance on the scene of a Northern newspaper proprietor gives confirmation to the rumor. It is also said that the new paper is to be started m the Grey interest. — " Argus." We learn that Mr Nathan anticipates finishing his metalling contract m the Forty Mile Bush m about a month. — " News Letter." The " Wanganui Herald " says : — The rather startling discovery has been made m Melbourne of upwards of 300 newspapers at the house of a post office employe which had not reached their destination. There is intense interest m Pittsburg, Pa., on the temperance question, occasioned by a succession of meetings under the lead of Francis Murphy. Nearly 7,W0 members of the Reform Club have signed the pledge, including lawyers, ex-Congressmen and the principal merchants. A Masterton paper states that a duly qualified medical practioner, named Robert H. J. Gilbert, who arrived at Wellington some time ago m charge of immigrants, has been sentenced to a month's hard labour at Masterton for stealing a fowl. The " Weekly Mercury" states that the natives of Takapau are about to take active steps to carry out their proposed township and special settlement project at Tnkap.iu. The land to be placed m the market adjoins the railway station, and is of sufficient area to provide for the comfortable settlement of a large number of small farmers. The opinion is expressed by the "Herald" that as the Counties Act will practically impose location on land, it will lead to fchs breaking up of the large tracts of land hitherto held by speculators. The result i 3 expected to be most beneficial. It is a sign of the times to hear of Auckland expecting benefits from the death of provincialism. — " N. Z. Times." A remarkable illustration of the curious freak 3 which nature sometimes indulges m is now m the Rangitikei district. There is within a hundred miles of Marton a baby eighteen years old. This may seem a misnomer, but we know of no more appropriate term, for though " the little thing " has a head of the normal proportions belonging to a girl of that age, with long dark hair, the body is that of an infant some six months old. She is carried about byanurse, is m every way tended as an infant, and unable to articulate a single word. The " Wanganui Chronicle " learns that the work of " reclamation," m repairing the breach m the spit, is progressing satisfactorily. It is now found advisable to introduce fascine work as a portion of the sea-wall, or rather foundation for the new beach. After considerable inquiry, manuka of the required growth was found m sufficient quantity on the property of Mr H. Cliurton, who m the most patriotic and liberal manner possible has consented to allow of his land being cleared m the manner proposed, only claiming a royalty of twopence per bundle for the fascines obtained. Such an example is worthy of imitation. It is not generally known that the late Sir Donald M'Lean rose to hishi<?h position from the lowest rung of the social ladder. When about eighteen years of age he came to New Zealand from New South Wales, and worked as a sailor before the mast on ' board a coasting vessel. Later on he lived among the Maoris at Coromandel, and engaged m hand sawing m the bush. Sir Greoi'ge Grey accidentally met him, and was struck with his knowledge of the Maori language and customs which a long residence among the Maoris enabled the Native Minister to acquire. He left behind him an income of £18,000 a year. — " Thames Advertiser." New Zealand of all places within the broad British dominions — the colony furthest removed from the mother country, lying m mid-ocean, at the uttermost end of the earth m relation to horne — has (says the " New Zealand Herald ") acquired the lofty distinction of producing within the pale of scholai-ship the first " sweet girl graduate " who has ever received the somewhat incongruous distinction of Bachelor of Arts. To Miss Kate Edgar, of Auckland, this high honor has been awarded. In all the branches of knowledge, to the test of which this young lady was subjected, she was facile princeps ; and men of taste and true feeling, who have mothers and sisters, will be gratified by the honor conferred on one of the sex, who lias, by earnest study and application, attained to a position which no other British woman has yet reached within the still broadening field of higher education m the British Empire. An amusing story m connection with the - Lynch Family of bellringei's and Messrs. Verten and Margetts — who by-the-bye, a.re nearly all bachelors — recently appeared m the " Lantern," a comic journal printed m Adelaide. At the time the company were

drawing very large houses at the Town Hall, and several ladies (young ones, we presume) wrote under assumed names, advising them to exchange the single state for married blessedness. As the epistles were very luughable affairs one of the company, at the evening concert, read them (amidst roars of laughter) to the audience. It so happened that the writers with some friends were present, and as ■ may be guessed, were thunderstruck at hearing their productions read. Standing it, however, as long as human patience could, and fearing perhaps, by some mishap, that their names might be appended, they with some confusion hurried to the door; but not before the audience, noticing how matters stood, and guessing rightly they were the authors of the letters m question, had given them such a round of appliiHse and cheers that considerably heightened their confusion and quickened their departure. So much was the incident enjoyed by those present that sevei-al minutes elapsed before order was restored. — " Argus." The " Timaru Herald " gives a description of an artesian well which has been bored through the solid rock underlying the clayey soil of Timaru with success. Mr Yardley has a shaft on his premises at the edge of the cliff, 2Gft. deep, with a tunnel on a level with the bottom of the railway extending to -the face of the cliff. In the portion of the tunnel underneath the shaft, he dug a well 30ft. deep, the bottom being the solid rock. Through this rock he bored for 46 feet, the last 16 feet of which was alternatively porous Milestone arid red sandstone. When this depth, had been bored the water gushed up so quickly that it rose a distance of 61ft:. 6in. m twenty minutes, or a distance of 15ft. up the well, the distance from the top of the wat er to the level of the tunnel and rail- • way. being 14ft. 6in. The depth of the whole sinking is thus 102 ft. from the surface of the cliff, and the water rises to within 40ft. 6in. of the top of the cliff. The water is perfectly clear, and has been pronounced by several to be entirely free from .braekishness and altogether pure. At Bedford, a man named William Salmon, a labourer, has been committed for the atrocious act of pulling out a horse's tongue. It was noticed one evening on the horse being put into the stable that it did not eat, and. on accused's employer speaking about the matter, Salmon went to the manger and pulling out something, exclaimed, "The horse may well not eat; here's its tongue." • The shocking crime has excited great horror m the town, and no motive has been suggested. Scene, a wedding breakfast. Company all seated about the table. A pause m the general conversation. — Happy husband (to his wife's seven-year-old sister at the end of the table : " Well, Julie, you have a new brother now." — Julie : " Yes, but mother said fco pupa the other day that she was afraid you would neveramount to much, but it seemed to be Ethel's last chance." Intense silence for a moment, followed by a rapid play of knives and forks. Sedentary Pursuits are Enfeebling. Nature never intended us to sit m a doubled up posture half our lives, and accordingly she revenges herself upon-, those who do so by iuflicting upon them indigestion, debility, and frequently lumbago and kidney disease. Persons whose avocations keep them m dooi's, behind desks and wqrk-tables, can, however, counteract, m a great measure, the ill effects of such confinement by the use of Udolpho Wolfe's Schiedam Aromatic Schnapps. — Advt.