NEWS AND NOTES

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 100, 13 December 1879, Page 2

NEWS AND NOTES

Held Ovbr. — At n late hour last evening we received a letter si'trne'i ".Tohu Belk," which we were competed to, bold over. Tnn District Cofht. — The f» rst sifting of the Palmerston Patriot Court will be held on Monday morning, before Judge Hardcastle. The o»ly criminal ease on the calendar is Mat against Benjamin Pepper, for perjury. hut tho list has beon largely supplemented by civil eases. Thb Latr- Ahsox Case. — We hear (though certainly not from an nutlwritntfve source) that a pompln»nt has .been lodsre'l against Constable Prfee for 'nt t havin' reported the burning of Belk's liou^e to the Coroner, with a view to having an m vostigai tion held into the matter. 1 Ohiauisi's Cibcttb. — Fromf our Wanganui exchanges wr learn that; the "Cimis ha 9 taicen that town Hy storm, tlicre bpinsr on the opening niglif eonsiderahlv over two thousand persons present. There will be ft mid-day performance to-.day, and fn order to give visitors alon? the Imp no. opportunity of sPflirig: it ovit, the' mnnager- has kindly arranged to tlfttain the train until the entertainment is over. Bankettpt's Salb. —We would draw l^tegiiqg to the »al^ to bo held lq-duv a^

noon, at Main street, by order of the trustee m the insolvent eitate of Charles Eosinsky. The lots to be disposed of are well worthy of attention. It is notified by the auctioneer that the sale has been held at that early hour, so as not to interfere with the weekly sale at the Auction Rooms two hours later. Thb Palmbbbton Sohooii. — Mr. Foulis the Inspector of Education for this district, visited the Palmerston School on Monday for the purpose of examination. Although not quite all the scholars on the roll were m attendance, there were, however, no less than 191 present, and although the results hare not as yet been declared; Mr. Foulis appeared highly pleased with th<? large: increase m numbers and the progress of the' Sohool generally. An Invalid.— George Boyd, the ferryman over the Manawatu at the Gorge, was, on Thursday, brought into town in order to obtain permanent medical attendance. The poor fellow is suffering from a very severe attack of congestion of the lungs, and has placed himself under the care of Dr. Marriner. There can be no doubt that the very trying nature of Boyd's occupation has been the cause of the disease, as scarcely a day has passed that he has not been for hours in his wet clothes. News for the Epicures. — Mr. Cole, of Feilding, is certainly a most indefatigable caterer to the public taste, and appears to spare no pains to procure delicacies for his patrons. During the oyster season he always took good care to have a plentiful supply of the enticing bivalves, and now he has laid m a fine supply of smoked fish. From personal experience we can affirm that they cannot be excelled, and will be found a delicious treat. Cricket Match. — The Palmerslon team is to play a match against the Marton Club on Saturday next, the 20th instant, on the ground of the latter. The following are the names of thoso chosen to do battle for Pnlmerston : — Marriner, Mason, "War-, burton, Charles, Staite, Lloyd, Watson, Pirani, Mowlem, Doyle, and Seafcon, Emergency, Draper. As the Rangitikei men are no mean opponents, and proved troublesome customers last season, it is to be hoped our men, will make good use of the coming week to practice every erening. The Trial op the Bushrangers. — A special cablegram to the Post dated. Sydney, Thursday, states that the trial of the|bush rangers was continued that morning. Scott ("Moonlite"), the leader of the gang; made a splendid address to the jut-/ m defence of hirfiself and his comrades. > The speech displayed a wonderful amount of_ Tmnmtguiictj. — iscucc — £nraty«ea~TTOß"evrffewce~ with great skill and adroitness, and appealed to the jury with an amount of effectiveness that caused considerable sensation m a crowded Court. It is thought unlikely that the bushrangers will be convicted of having directly murdered Bowe», but only of being accomplices m causing his death. The fatal shot is alleged to have been fired by Neahitt who, m his turn, was killed by the police. The Boxing Day Spoets.— We understand that the commit te are working indefatigably to have the sports on Boxing Day as attractive as possibly, and expect to have n very large number of entries for the Hack Races. It is intended to subsidise the cabs running, so as to bind them over to make the trip r to the ground for sixpence, instead of one shilling, as charged last — that is, the committee will give a lump sum equnl to the extra amount, so that the conveyances will be compelled to run at the reduced rate, and so popularise the Sports. The Ground Committee are also making arransements for *he erection of a Grand Sta^d with awning over- it, and several other matters which will be conductive to the comfort of visitors. The Libel( Against the "Rangitikei Advocate." — The action for damages entered by Mr. H>nry Anderson against our Marlon contemporary, is, it appears, contrary to general expectation, to he fought out to the bitter end. Messrs Buller and Lewis are acting on behalf of the plaintiff, and Mr. Conolly has heen engaged for the defence. Our own opinion is that m seeking reparation for his wounded feelings in -a court of law Mr. Anderson has exhibited what we must term "strong weakness;" but whether- ha he successful or not, bothPress and public must heartily sympathise with the proprietor of the Advocate on account of the gross provocation received. Blanks and Prizes. — Onr Feilding contemporary m its last issue has the following m connection with the Horticultural J and Pastoral Society :— " The secretary I read a statement of the receipts and expenditure for. the Spring Show, and after paying the prize money and other expenses, there was a surplus of to the credit of the Society." Instead of the singular announcement creating blank surprise, the paper reports, " that the statement was received with cheers," a hiatus .l.eing actually left for the jubilation to come m. We trust that it would not be out of place to suggest that the cheers were fiyidencea of irony. The Town Joker. — It may not be generally known that our worthy Town Clerk is the Champion Jokist of Upper Manawatu, and were his many and excellent witticisms entered upon record they would not only form a bulky volume but a formidable rival to " Joe Miller," His latest jen d x esprit was m connection with the Christmas Sports for which efforts a/c being made to obtain a band. TheSecretary had been instructeu to communicate with Mr. King, of Wanganui, with the view of hiring v violincello, but unfortunately received information that no such instrument could be had. Upon the announcement being made i to the wit, the incorrigible held up his hands J an 1 exclaimed, " What a violent cell, Oh !" [English, American, and Continental papers please copy.] A Suggestion. — We have received the following wvpital suggestions from a correspondent, which we publish for the benefit of the Sports Committee : — " Dear Editor — Just a few words m reference to the Sports. 1 understand that all the races are upon dry land. Now, considering there is a fine river m or near the grounds, it would be a great novelty and improvement to supplement the Sports with a few swimming mutches, the longest being, say, a mile. The. competitors could swim half-way against the stream and return with the flood. As there are no few swimmers m Paltneraton, it would be only justice that this should meet with success, and thus give a chance to all parties to win honor and a prize." The Schoolmaster Abboad. — The following literary curiosity has been received by a gentleman m Pnlmerston, and has been handed to us for publication : — " Mr. i Rortte a lion or to ekspekting to find you m the saim Place Sir Wold you Be Kine anofe if i cum round to give me sume Work as things is very Doll m, Masterton and Wellington i surPose that you must have a good loot of Kattel now you Can give me anuther gj'i stock Bailing if you like i have Been Clock ovur hear for B — — _ra. if you will give mo a gob i will Cutu as Soon ?iS i g<t » litter from you if you can not give me one. Dp' you think i Can get on© if i Kum round., Will you ]«>•! me now ns soon m 'y.iu. Onn, pie »."■ We, should like to see the books of Mr. B '•' j which have been kept by this accomplished ' /'dock/'(derk). ■ '

A YODNQ- 'MAW VB.OU THE COTOTBY.-^-Oonsiderabl* amusement was excited on Wednesday, during the progress of the sale of horses by the antics of a bucolic, horse* man . from the Oroua Downs. The individual m question, who it was very evident was not. a disciple of Sir W lliam Fox, the better to exhibit his equestrian skill had taken. off his coat, and bis erratic movements as he galloped hither and thither were anxiously watched by the crowd. It would appear, however, that there is an especial Providence which watches over . drunken men and sailors, for although the inebriater >ould not have kept'his feet on terra fl*ma x he managed to stick on the animals; back, notwithstanding that, at.;;; times, his body hung out at an jingle of. forty-five degrees. Later, 6a., inlvtbe/* . evening he transferred his ' operations to the. Square, and succeeded m keeping his life m jeopardy for two hours m his efforts to. ride through, the turn-stilts. "'■ ' The Latb Aooidmtt.— We have heard with pleasure that the circumstances mentioned m our last with regard to the finding of the tongue of the unfortunate 'fellow, Henry.. Mumford, were greatly overdrawn. The true facts of the case are as follow: A woman picked up the tongue shortly after the accident, and, handed it tp Mr. Box- — as the dearastfriend of the deceased- — and that gentleman put' it m a tin case for its preservation -until the burial ;:of ;.the poor fellow. Oh Sunday, shortly before the the funeral, he had the lid of the coffin unscrewed, and placed the piece with the body, with which it was; afterwards interred. Those- facts coming to the ears! of some tattling busy-body, the. truth was distorted according to his lively imagination, and the story hatched as" already printed.; When publishing the rumor we hinted that it was more than possible it. would prove a canard, and ~we are highly^ pleased' to < learn such has been the case. A Nabbow Esoapb.— On Wednesday, night an almost miraculous escape, was experienced by two horsemen, while crossing the railway line at Terrace End. They were returning from the Gorge, and reached, the outskirts of the town, between nine and ten o'clock, when suddenly the wJuiatle of a railway engine caused one of the horses to plunge and rear just as it was on the centre of the track, and to the horror of the rider the train shot round the corner^ from Buiinythorpe, the lights appearing not fifty yards away. "The second horseman, went to the a*sistance%of his companion, and both drew dear of the train, altbougb/the steps almost grazed the horses' legs. As the train ■ was au hourjuidjialf latejjp^nthenijght.in~qußSClon7"th« travellers wererunder~flie ito-i* pression that it had passed long before, and therefore did'nol keep us sharp a look--bufci as otherwise they woald have done. In, any case we think instructions should be given to drivers to sound the approach while yet a good distance from the crossing, as on account of the sharp corner quite close thereto, if such precaution be not done gome fatal accident will be the result.