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Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 65, 25 May 1878, Page 2

Considerable amusement was created at : the Police Court,! Palmerston, during the hearing of the assault case against- the Natives, at the manner m which- Peeti te Aweawe, who waa chosen by his people to. be spokesman and defender of then? liber* ties, ' conducted his case. During the examination m chief of the various witnesses he .was particularly, busy with' his "metallic," and when his turn for cross-examining came, the manner m which he referred to' his" brief "-■ for information was worthy of a Q.C. In his closing peroration he. was' brilliant, and the portion m. which he declared, that he had instructed his tribe not to^-molest -Europeans, for "Europeans were -aUgdodl people," was given witk telling effect. Unfortunately for him, however, the weight of evidence overcame the, power of oratory, and the ringleader, Warena te Ra, was fined £5 and costs, or two months m gaol, with hard labor i Peeti was mulcted m the sum of £5 and his share of the costs, with the alternative of one month; and Wi Katenewas allotted a similar punishment. All these were given 'grace to find the funds, Peeti stating that Mr Fritz Jenssen would come to his rescue ; Warena intimating his intention to part ; with some cattle, and Wi Katene exchanging his horse for i his liberty. Before dismissing the prise* ners, ;Mr Ward administered to them some wholesome advice, and certainly, if the very' penitent appearance of Warena m "the dockicontrisfed with his bellicose conduct on the night of the. offence,, is to . be taken for anything, he has been taught a lesson he will not easily forget. . : A tea meeting took place during the week at the school-house', Stoney Creek, after which prizes were awarded to the; successful competitors m the different classes by J. T. Dalrymple, Esq. After the prizes had been presented, the children sat down to the good things provided, to which ample justice was done. The greatest credit is due to Miss Stevens and other ladies who so kindly gave their aid m carry- ' ing out the arrangements, and brought the meeting to such a successful issue. The following list represents the names of the principal prize-takers, Miss Blixt being the. best conducted girl m the school, and. John Cvyanagh the best writer : — Jennet MeKenzie/ number of marks, 231; Agnes McEenzie; '220; Kenne'th 1 McKenzie; 214 ; Ellen Blixt, 2-14; John Cavanagh, 207; Johau Adolf Anderssen, 205 ; Alvilda Sophia H. Berg, 20i ; batherine A. MeKenz.ie, 204 ; Emily G-ow, 203; Anna Marie Erenstrom, 197 • Helens Maria Thomssen, 193; Carl Erenstrom, 183. „ ; Those persons who appear to think that property m and about Palmerston is not only a drug ;in the market, but has been depreciating m value, will be surprised to learn that within the past month Beyeral strangers have been m the district anxious 'to invest, and a. few transactions have taken place at terms whioh speak volumes for the estimation m which land has been held by outsiders. During the past week Mr Peter. Manson has disposed of his magnificent farm known, as Burnside, to Mr Robert: Lintpn, of.Halcombe.. Mr Manson has had several offers for the property, but he had put a reserve: price upon it, and from that ■he would not abate one jot. It is satisfactory to him, and flattering to the district, that although the sum asked was a long one, Mr Linton thought it well to secure the land on the terms, the stock, (Sec, to be taken at a valuation. Messrs. Thynne, Linton, & Co. were the agents through whom the negotiations were effected. A general meeting of .the Foxton Choral < Society was held last Wednesday' evening,, at the -Vthenaeum, when, after several mattew had been considered, on the motion of

Mr Soiners, it was resolved that the Society give an extra concert on the 26th proximo. The music committee then arranged a very attractive programme, and as two gentlemen at present unconnected with the Society have kindly consented to assist, it is confidently anticipated that the forthcoming concert will be one of the best yet given m Foxton. We understand that Mr Somers and the Sol-fa class are hard at work preparing for a service of song, which will be given early m July, m aid of the trust funds of the Primitive Methodist Church. Thursday was a perfect field-day at- the Police Court, Palraerston, and the labors of the Resident Magistrate were extended over some twelve hours or more. In addition- to a' number of civil cases, one of which — for the recovery of tolls, from Messrs. Hastwell and Macara by a ferryman, — occupied three hours, there were a Breach of the Licensing Ordinance, a charge of robbery, transferred for hearing from Feilding, and a lengthy case against a number of Maoris for-: obstructing the police. In the first case the information was bad and the case dismissed, without prejudice, m the second the prisoner was discharged, but that against the Maoris was sustained and fines of £10 and £5 and costs entered against the respective defendants. The report of the charge against the Natives, on account of its length is held over until next issue. . . . We regret to have to announce the death, rather unexpectedly, of Mra Blixt, of Stoney Creek, which took place yesterday, at noon. -The deceased lady was m the enjoyment of health up to last Tuesday night, but on the following day feeung-anwell,. medical aid was summoned, and she has since been under the care of Dr. Ghdmes, of Palmerston. At twelve o'clock yesierday she breathed her last, and we understand that so unexpected was her death that neither her husband nor those m attendancecan realise the melancholy, event. ; Wle learn that Dr. Grimes has declined to give a medical certificate of death, and, consequently, a corqnial inquiry will have to take place. ;:iv / ••. As the Napier coach was being driven over to theP.o3t office, Palmerston,, yesterday morning, the horses were not turned sufficiently .quick to cross the railway, line at the Square, and the consequence was. that they continued their course into the cutting' at the side of the track, and' capsized the coach. Among3t those on board w.»re a lady, the hon. •member for ' Wellington,, City, Mr. Gh E. Barton, and some others — yet although the lady received a goodjshaking, nothing serious occurred, ; ;and a; few man-power succeeded m righting the vehicle without any damage. Steeplechasers are often very heavily handicapped, but we question if there .are many more so than one which tried a little hurdlo jumping yesterday. The animal m question was m Mr Waldegrave's paddock' wfc^riit evidently formed the conclusion m its own mind tp';indulge m an impromptu race. Tlie insignificant fact that a dray; r bn whiph a barrel was placed, was no drawback, anda : spring was made ta clear an opposing barrier m the shape of a three-railed fence.-' As : might have been expected the barrel came to grief, the fence ditto, and after a short but glorious career the cau.se of all was brought to its senses, and a standstill by a ' complete capsize m the road. . . .-.-, ; An amusing incident occurred recently at a sitting of the Police/ Court. A- witness had been giving evidence, and his examinai tion m chief conducted withthe .w.or.ds "I believe I was drunk when I was- taken home." Mr. Staite commenced a crossexamination, and upon the conclusion of the evidence, when the deposition was .being read over, the clerk m reading the portion "I believe I was drunk when. l was taken home." By Mr. Staite if—thereby showing that the next . answer was m reply^ to. a question • from counsel- I—in1 — m his hurry to get through the business, made no stop between the words "home" and "By," and the consequence was that it .would. appear as if the cross-examining counsel had been the witness's convoy upon, the occasion ;in question. i Mr. Staite did not 'verbally 'protest against' the imputed alliance, but that mental repu- :• diation' was being- made, wan evident by the; energetic shrugging of his and the elevation of his eyebrows. ; '■'.-,]■.,■... , / We paid a visit to the Foxton; WJiarfpnThursday, and although somewhat pleased to see four vessels waiting for cargo,, our pleasure was considerably damped by finding : that notwithstanding there were 22,000 feet of .timber waiting for export-, there was but one ; man to unload no less than five trucks. Considering the great want of waggons all al'img this section of the line,- we do think ai little more expedition might be shown m unloading their contents, particularly when it is considered there is m this district; alone upwards of 100,000 feet of timber awaiting conveyance and shipment.' ■ ; : Mr Keeling, Registrar of Births and Deaths, appeared at the Court on Thursday to prosecute a foreigner named Kruifmann for a breach of the law m not registering -the birth of a female child. The ease; was brought m. a friendly way, soyas i£b~ enable the man to have the birth registered, as, according to the Act, after a certain time had elapsed, that could not be done until a conviction had been obtained.. The defendant pleaded guilty, and ignorance of the law, and the nominal penaltyof one shilling, and two shillings and sixpence costs, was inflicted. This is the third case that has occurred recently, and the Registrar wishes; the matter made knowhj to avoid. the" com-i mitting of tie offence by others through ignorance. f : - As' we were going to press we heard that Mr Henry McNeil has disposed of his property on the Rangitikei road to a purchaser from Napier. We did not hear the amount; which changed hands, but have been informed that it was a good round sum; and one which' quite satisfied Mr McNeil. : < At the meeting of householders held at Stoney Creek School-house on Saturday evening, May 16th, for the purpose of electing a local school committee, the fol-: lowing gentlemen were' duly 'elected :— Messrs. A. Grammar (chairman),' IL KnOtt, Blixt, Johnson, Anderson, Cavanagh, Am-: strom. fetters havirtg been read from the; Education Boardi and other business transacted, the meeting terminated^ r ' ' • Last Thursday was the opening .dayrof the daily : .communication, , .with • Wellington,; and it was expected that the morning papers Uwould have re; o led Palmerstqn. by six o'clock. In this, however.'there vvtVs doomed to bo a disappointment, as the train started away at its advertised time, and only three, minutes before the coach - hove m sight!' Another disappointment ■ wtis' experienced last night, as the coaoh had not arrived &% the departure of the train, .; The resignations o£, Messrs. Gilbert, arid , Sutnmerhays sis Borough Councillors ofPainierston, having been accept ed at . the last sitting of the Corporation, we notice that

the Returning -officer, m accordance with Clause 46 of " the Regulation of Local Elections Act, 1876," has issued a notice of election, that nominations will be received up to noon on nest Saturday. ; and that the election will take place on the Tuesday following. .''.-'. i ■"■.-.. We notice that Mr Snelson will hold two important sales at his iriart to-day-*-one, the usual fortnightly auction, at which the household-furniture and effects of M> Barton will be disposed of; arid the second, cows, calves, and gigs,, the property of a bankrupt farmer m the district. Before the usual business of the Palmerston Police Court was'eommenced on Thursday morning, the Resident Magistrate, R. Ward, Esq., administered the oath to Henry McNeil, Esq., a newly-appointed Justice of the Peace for Palmerston, who thereupon took his seat upon the Bench. A notification appears m oar advertisement columns that the first meeting of the oreditors m the bankrupt estate of Samuel Tansley, of Foiton, will be hetd on Monday next, m the Court-house, Wanganui, at two ojcloclcin the afternoon. : . .--•■ . — • A proclamation m the " Gtezette" " notifies that His Excellency has further prorogued the sitting of . the. Assembly, wKich was to have, met on last Thursday, until Saturday, the fifteenth of; June next. y