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Manawatu Times, Volume II, Issue 67, 9 June 1877, Page 2

An accident, happily unattended by any serious consequences, happened to the 3.10 p.m. train from Palmerston to Feilding on Wednesday evening last. Late on the evening of that day several passengers by the afternoon train returned to Palmerston and stated that the train had run off the line at the Trondheim Siding in close proximity to Messrs Richter, Nannestad, and Co.'s Mills, and had come into collision with some timber trucks standing on the siding. It was further stated that beyond a little bit of a shaking, no hurt had been sustained by any person in the, train, but that the locomotive and the siding had been seriously injured. It was somewhat amusing to note the different estimates as to the amount of damage done. Whilst some modestly stated it at £200, others unblushingly affirmed that £600 would not cover it. Later in the evening the Railway Manager accompained by the District Engineer proceeded to the scene of the accident taking with them the necessary appliances for lifting the engine, but having ascertained that the main line wad clear, and that traffic would not be impeded, deferred operations till daylight. On Thursday the engine was taken through to Foxton apparently little the worse for the collision. The front of the smoke-box is bulged in and a few rivets have been started, but the machinery is quite uninjured, and in a day or two we may expect to see this fine engine, the " Dougal " running upon our line as usual. The rails of the side-line have not been injured, but some of the sleepers with which the wheels of the locomotive came in contact were very much broken, but we believe these have already been replaced by new ones. It is very hard to account for this accident, more especially as the sideline had not been used for a period of six weeks, and the points during that time had remained intact. We suppose, however, that the points could not have been quite closed when the train passed over. It is a matter of great thankfulness that no lives were lost, and that the damage was so slight. We have been informed by a competent judge that it will not much exceed £5. From the information we have been able to gather on the matter, we do not think that the slightest blame attaches to the engine-driver or any of the Railway officials. It should be mentioned that both the driver and the stoker stuck to the engine like heroes. Great credit is due to both Mr Moinet and Mr Stewart for the promptitude of their action. By proclamation in the "New Zealand Gazette" on Tuesday last, Parliament is summoned to meet " for despatch of business" on Thursday, the 19th July next. Mr Crocker drove a fine mob of cattle, numbering one hundred and seventy-five, through Foxton on Thursday. A hundred and fifty of which were purchased at Waverly.

The Rev. Mr Lawry, of Marton, will preach in the Wesleyan Church in this township to-morrow (Sunday), in the morning at 11, and m the evening at half-past 6 o'clock. The transit of Professor Taylor through this place with his Queen of Skates is not, it seems, to be without results. A skating rink is to be formed, or, rather, a company is formed that will favor skating and other gymnastics. Some of our townsmen have already banded together, with this intent, and are, we understand, now in negotiation with the Public Hall Company with the view of having the hall for the scene of their operations. We wish the movement every success. Mr Lyon has had on view in his shop during the last few days a very fine sample of mangold wurzel. It was grown by Mr Rees Thomas, and speaks well for the quality of his land. It is a clean, wellgrown root, weighing 28lbs.— " Advocate." The'' News Letter' states that there is something radically wrong in the mail service between Masterton and Wanganui. It cannot pretend to say where the fault lies, but asserts that two letters, posted at different times, took eight days to reach Wanganui. An important local industry, the manufacture of jams, is likely to be firmly established in this district by Mr Murray, of Gordon Park, who will prepare for sale this year about two tons, and we understand the quality will be much superior to the imported article.— " Wanganui Herald." Ferrets are being put to good use on the Opaki. A party of two or three have five of these animals. With these and a net they go put, and having found a burrow, they spread the net and slip a ferret into the hole. If there is, a rabbit in it, it will come out in hot haste, and it is immediately secured. Hundreds are thus captured. A rumor is now currently reported (says the "Border Post ") that the officers of some of the four men-of-war belonging to Russia, and stationed at present in San Francisco, have had letters for them addressed to the Melbourne post-office, to be left till called for. It would thus appear that the alarm felt by some of the Melbourne folks re the possibility of a visit from a Russian fleet is not so absurd. The " Church Chronicle " is requested to state that the statement made in the May number, that the Rev. Mr Bevis was a patient in the Nelson Lunatic Asylum, was incorrect. The rev. gentleman was suffering from great prostration and required constant nursing, which he received, not at the Asylum, but at the Hospital. We are glad to hear that he has now completely recovered. The Thames "Advertiser " records the following incident of the sham fight there on the Queen's Birthday :— "During the advance of No. 3 Company, at the sham fight yesterday, a coincidence occurred, which, for a few minutes, occasioned some anxiety among the immediate observers. A volunteer took deliberate aim at a mounted officer, in red uniform with an asseveration more positive than polite that he would bring down the gaudy target. Bang went the rifle, and down fell the target— both man and horse. For a moment it was thought that the marksman must have used ball instead of blank ammunition, but the fears raised were dispelled when the red coat and his steed gathered themselves together, and the horse galloped off none the worse for the ugly looking coincidence. The circumstances connected with the case of two children who were committed to the Asylum a few days ago, says the "Times," are very melancholy. It appears that they have been insane, and also dumb, from their birth. One is a pretty little girl, the only thing about her appearance to indicate in the smallest degree her misfortune being a slightly vacant look in a pair of deep blue eyes and an unnaturally timid manner. The other is a boy, who in addition to other defects spoken of has water on the brain. They have a younger sister, an infant, who is similarly afflicted. We do not remember to have witnessed a.more melancholy picture than was presented by the appearance in Court of the mother and these unfortunate children. „The " Otago "Daily Times " refering to some dismal forebodeings as to the future indulged in by some of its contemporaries, remarks:—" Nothing of course, is easier to predict, but all such prophecies have hitherto failed to satisfy their authors. It is very provoking, certainly/ but it is nevertheless a fact, that although by this time the colony ought, by every calculation that has ever been made, to have passed through one or two at least of the most severe of severe crises, we are still going on, to all appearance, in the greatest outward prosperity, undisturbed by European disruption, and unmoved by the troubles and sorrows of far-off lands. The other day, in the discussion on the Bank of New Zealand balance-sheet in Auckland, notice was taken of the fact that the Government deposits were likely largely to diminish in the future as they had in the immediate past. As against this, and we ask our readers to mark the fact (if this betokens disaster, we really do not know what on earth betokens success), the deposits, the assets, had increased by no less a sum than a million, within the year." Whenever a newspaper says anything that is disfasteful to anybody, the individual concerned immediately puts a big cross at the head of the paragraph, sticks the paper in his pocket, and stalks off to the office where it is published. Arrived there, he enters with an expression of countenance as if he were loaded with electricity, pulls out the paper, holds it out at arms length before the editor, sticks the forefinger of the other hand near the cross, and then in a tragic voice, unburdens himself of the words ""Who wrote that." Then he looks at the editor as if he expected him to faint right off. It is useless to explain to such people that we cannot neglect the interests of our readers for his or her sole benefit. The other day the writer was stuck up in the middle of the street, and a copy of a paper published in another district was held before him, just as if we were supposed to know all about everything. In Wellington a man did the thing by proxy, his brother-in-law doing the tragic part. And all because the paper concerned had made a mistake in the name of a pianist who playod at a certain dinner party.—"News Letter."

The "Wairarapa Standard," June 5, says : — The wire across the Manawatu river at the Gorge is broken; traffic by the punt was therefore suspended. When the Napier coach arrived there on Tuesday last a coach had to be hired on the other side to convey passengers thence to Palmerston and back. This wire has only been stretched across a few weeks. The punt must certainly have been built by some one who knew nothing of the construction of such things. Instead of a flap of sufficient length to enable a coach to get on it, the flap is so short that it leaves a great depth between it and the shore. On the 25th May the mail coach was detained forty minutes, while ten minutes should have been ample if things had been right. On a previous occasion it was stated the coach had to be hauled on board with a block and tackle. This want of ingenuity in erecting punts too short, with ridiculously short flaps, does not apply to this river only. The same complaint will apply to the one now being put on the river in the Forty-Mile Bush— the third river from Eketahuna. The law sometimes has strange freaks. A case lately tried in a Dublin court brought out one of the strangest of them. The plaintiff sued for damages for injuries sustained by falling into a sellar, the grating of which had been left open by the defendant. The plaintiff in his fall broke the grating, and for this damage to his property the defendant claimed £5. Plaintiff's counsel said that the audacity of this demand had never been paralleled in his experience, except in one instance; and this exceptional he proceeded to relate for the benefit the jury. There lived, he said, at one time, in the fashionable quarter of that city, an eminent lawyer, who afterwards, came to occupy a position on the judicial bench. He was a a man of high professional attainments, but of testy and irritable temper. His next door neighbor was a a retired major, noted for the eccentricity of his habits. Between the two there was anything but friendly feeling, and they did all in their power to annoy and harass each other. One night, memorable in Ireland as " the night of the great storm," the major's chimneys were, blown down. Crash they went through the roof of the lawyer's house, and thence down through floor after-floor, carrying havoc in their course. The man of law was in no good humour as he contemplated the destruction; and what made matters worse was that it was the major's chimney that had occasioned the wreck. His mind was actively engaged in devising some process by which he could get satisfaction from his arch-enemy, when a missive arrived from the latter, couched as follows :— "Send me back my bricks immediately," or I'll put the matter into the hands of an attorney ."—" Exchange.'' A Muddy Brain the usual concomitant of a disordered stomach. Life's cares are quite enough for the great thinking organ to bear without being plagued by the demons begotten of indigestion, constipation, and kindred ailments. But don't imagine you can drive away these plagues by violent purgation. The one thing needful is an alterative that will restore the regular action of the internal machinery without irritating or weakening it. Udolpho Wolfe's Scheidam Aromatic Schnapp's will do this.—Advt.