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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5791, 21 October 1879, Page 2

At a meeting of the Government party, yesterday, thirty-eight members attended and three were represented. The political position was fully discussed and several courses of action were considered. Eventually, it was unanimously resolved that the Government should insist on their measures of electoral reform being passed into law. and be prepared to have recourse to all constitutional expedients for that purpose. The meeting was characterised by great determination and unanimity.

from the Wairarapn yesterday, consigned to various merchants. It was forwarded through Mr. Thomas W. Pilcher, railway carrier and forwarding agent, and, as usual on such occasions, tho engine and brake were decorated with a variety of New Zealand ferns and shrubs.

Mr. Lewis Moss has resigned his seat in the Council for Lambton Ward. The names of several candidates havabeen already mentioned for the vacancy.

At a meeting of stewards of the Wairarapa Jockey Club held on Saturday last it was decided that in consequence of the encroachments of the Tauherenikau, the races could not be run there this year. Steps will probably he taken to secure a new course, but this season the animal event will probably have'to come off on the Waibenga course. About thirty members of the Rugby Union Clubs of Wellington held a meeting at the Star Hotel last evening for the purpose of forming a Wellington Provincial Rugby Union Association. Mr, Cowie was voted to the chair. It was decided that an association should he formed, to be called the Wellington Rugby Union Association. , Mr.'E. Pearce was elected president, and Messrs. P. M. Ollivier and C. A. Knap)) vice-presidents. Mr. A. S. Bate and Mr. G. Campbell were proposed, and Mr. Bate selected, for the office of secretary and treasurer. A code of rules were read seriatim and adopted. It was decided that the uniform to be adopted for representatives matches should be black jersey, knickerbockers and stockings, with black velvet and gold skull caps, with the monogram of “ W.F.0.” on the front. A vote of thanks to the chairman concluded the business.

A meeting of the committee of the Local Industries Association will be held at Mr. Robertson's office, Custom House-quay, at eight o’clock this evening.

Tenders for advertising provincial district notices, for a period of twelve months, from the Ist of January, 1880, are called for by the Colonial Under-Secretary.

“Hugh Miller” will form the subject ot a lecture to be delivered this evening by the Rev. J. Paterson, under the auspices of the Wellington Young Men’s Christian Association. The popularity of the rev. lecturer, together with the excellent subject chosen by him, will be sure to attract a large audience to the Athenaeum Hall. Messrs. Hiscocks, Hayman, and Co. have kindly placed the Theatre Royal at tho disposal of the Cricketers’ Association on Thursday evening. As the Troubadors do not appear in Christchurch before Saturday evening, this act speaks well for the lesees of our Theatre Royal.

The experiment of holding a masked ball in connection with the Oriental Exhibition was repeated last night, and was again highly successful, There were a large number ot people present, dressed in a great variety ot costumes, and dancing was kept until an early hour this morning.

There was a good attendance at the Theatre Royal last evening, when the programme of Saturday night was most successfully repeated by the Juvenile Troubadors. This clever troupe close their season to-morrow evening, and we can only again advise those who have not yet witnessed their performances not to miss the epportunity of doing so. Mr. Hutchison, the democratic Mayor of Wellington, has proposed a reduction in the salaries of the Corporation officers (says the I Vairarapa Daily), but he does not hint anything about his own being added to the list. He is too good a democrat for that J

The prayer meetings on behalf of Sundayschools were continued, yesterday evening, the service being held at the Methodist Free Church, Courtenay-place. The Rev. H. B. Redstone presided, and there was a very large attendance of members of various denominations.

A correspondent at Clive brings under notice of the Hawke's Bay Herald a singular departure in the habit of the skylark, when imported into this colony, from what is its attribute at Home. “ Here,” he says, “ these birds are to be seen pouring out their souls in melody—not as at Home, high up in the heavens, but upon the fences near the ground, I have seen many of them between Clive and Havelock perched almost at my hand, and have been much struck with this change in their habit. Probably it is occasioned by being, cooped up in cages during the voyage out. At all events, whatever is the cause the fact remains, and I think it sufficiently remarkable to call for investigation.”

With reference to the new method of getting rid of the rabbit pest, a correspondent of the Sou.tVa.nd Times k rites :—“ There is at present considerable boasting about the great success already achieved by poisoned wheat in getting rid of the ‘rabbit nuisance.’ It has been tried with tho best results on Ka-ipdale station, and the new laud company, I am told, have sacked all their rabbi tors with the view of following suit, and no d rib: but that poisoned wh-.at iD'ov being used or r 1! * '‘ion lands where rabbits have made themselves troublesome. Mo one can blame landowners for destroying rab-

bits, but the qne-tion js this new m>tho 1 not op-n to serious objection ! If pouowd wh-at kills rabbits v.i ! it riot also kill ever" animal and bird that happen* to partake of it 1 What will the Acclimatisation .Society sav to the destruction of übeasints, partridges, larks, starlings, Ac. ; and again, even of trout and other fish stored in our rivers at enormous expense to the country 1 Rabbits abound on the banks of streams, and there can be no doubt that hundreds of the poisoned ones will, in their death struggles, fall into the waters, and that as they become decomposed, fish will feed on them, with what result I am not able to predict. I think however the matter deserves consideration. Give the land to farmers, and the rabbits will soon disappear by other and more harmless means than poisoned wheat. ’ Many are the strange stories related of the curious or wonderful freaks played by lightning surprising, perhaps, because anomalous. One of these (says the Manawatu Times) we h ead of the otlmr day as having occurred between here and Wanganui. During a thunderstorm which passed over the district, the electric fluid struck one of the telegraph poles and damaged seven others. The pole first struck appeared as if riddled by small bullets just below the arm which supports the wires. The others were either jagged, as with a chisel, at one of the coiners, or had large splinters torn off. In the last pole a hole about an inch in diameter was bored clean down the centre from the arm to the foot, the portion in the ground being splintered to pieces. As tho poles are four chains apart, the electric fluid must have travelled along the wire more than a quarter of a mile before entering the ground.

The man Busch, who now lies at the Masterton Hospital, the victim of the late outrage, is stated by his fellow countrymen to be a respectable, industrious person. He has a wife and family, and is in needy circumstances. A gentleman called at our office on Saturday (says the local journal) and stated that he would be willing, in the event of a subscription being got up for the benefit ot his family, to give £5 to it ; he being satisfied from inquiries which he had made that the case was one which deserved the consideration of the public. The Anglican Bishop of Wellington preached at Greytown on Sunday morning, and in the evening at Eeatherston. The members of the Working Men’s Club at Invercargill might very well take a lesson from the one which has been in existence here for the past two years and a half. According to the Southland Times “ the proceedings at the half-yearly meeting of the club were ot a most disgraceful character. This was due to the conduct of about half a dozen members, who appeared determined to insult everybody and oppose everything. The language used by some of the members was altogether unreport-

able, and reflected great discredit on the institution, which will speedily fall into disrepute if many more meetings like that of last night are held. Coarse, and at times indecent, language appeared to be the order of the evening, and one member, who should have known batter, but who, doubtless, was aggravated by some remarks made about him, was guilty of uttering one sentence at anyrate in public that ha will doubtless, on duo reflection, feel heartily ashamed of. The president was completely brow-beaten, and it was only at a late stage that he announced that in consequence of the tone of the meeting lie could not think of again offering himself for re-election, that there was a revulsion of feeling iu his favor, though withaut effect. The meeting terminated without fixing upon anyone to fill his place. It is to be hoped that at the next meeting, to be held in a fortnight's time, tomething like decent order will prevail.”

Mr. J. L. Wiltshire, of Marton, has challenged Mr. W. Delaney to walk from Wanganui to Palmerston, via Marton, hack the same way, and then finishing at Marton ; stakes to be from £SO to £IOO aside. Delaney prefers finishing at Wanganui, that being now by offering to walk from Foxton to Wanganui, stakes to be £IOO aside.

A marvel of constructive ingenuity is reported to bo on exhibition at St. Petersburg. The article is a watch about the size of an egg, said to have been made by a Russian peasant. Within it is represented the tomb of Christ, with a stone at the entrance aud sentinel on duty. While the spectator is admiring this curious piece of mechanism, the stone is suddenly removed, the sentinel drops, the angels appear, the woman enters the sepulchre, and the same chant is heard which is performed in the Greek Church at eve.

Some sensation and no little amusement was caused at the House of Gammons lately by the discovery that some wag had ported up in one of the principal corridors a clever drawing ot Lord Beaconsfield as a domestic cat with nine tails. The likeness was excellent, and the nine tails were supposed to represent war, slavery, bankruptcy, imperialism, and other evils which have been associated with the policy of the present Government. The drawing was in its way quite a work of art. Id discussing the recent changes in the Victorian tariff, the Argus characterises the duty on hops as objectionable, and says that “it is a charge of from 50 to 75 per cent. And it canuot be necessary. Hops are grown in Tasmania without protection, and are shipped to free-trade markets, and if they can be produced there, and sold abroad at a profit without State aid, there can be no reason for giving the enormous bonus of fid. per lb. more iu Victoria. The imported article sells for Is. 3d. per lb., and the Victorian hop for 9d. It looks as if there was a great difference in the quality of the two articles, and if Kent and Tasmaniaenjoy peculiar advantages, why should we be shut out from'participating in them? Why should Victorian brewers be forced to use an inferior hop while the brewers of Sydney, Adelaide, and Hobarton can take the best that the world can offer ? Mr. Carter put the sanitary view of the case before the House very plainly. The reports of Royal Commissions and of analytical chemists all go to show that the colonial beer—and especially the low priced liquid—has not a sufficient quantity of hops and has too much sugar. Taxes on hops and malt will certainly not encourage brewers to use the articles more freely, and while a Id. per gallon excise charge would bring in the handsome revenue of £50,000 per annum, aud would not affect the quality of the article, the new duties may rightly be called ‘ imposts to encourage the use of quassia, picnic acid, and other noxious drugs.’ ”

A buns natures, in the shape of a foal with a calf’s head and feet, was (says the Hamilton Spectator) born on a farm near Byaduk last week. With the exception of the head and feet, all other portions of the body resembled those of a horse. Its mother was a fine mare. Mr. Christie, who supplied the information, says he never saw anything like it, nor do we suppose anybody else ever did, and had it not been stillborn, it would have been worth hundreds of pounds to a show man. With such grand mountain, river, and lake scenery ns we have, almost at our doors, it is surprising (says the Melbourne Daily Tiltgraph) to think how little we Australian have hitherto explored it. An opportunity now, however, is afforded by means of a tour, of which we have the prospectus, which embodies a fifty days’ visit to Tasmania, New Zealand (including the sounds of the West Coast and the mountain and lake territory of the interior), and New South Wales.

Mr. Hutchison, one of the members for Wellington City, has been sufficiently long in Parliament to know that the rules forbid a member from walking about the floor of the House with his hat on. This rule he several times infringed yesterday. Should he repeat the disrespect, intentional or unintentional, he will probably be called to order by the Sneaker.

An ironfounder named Denny has in Melbourne with a new gold extractor, which miners predict will revolutionise gold mining on fields thought to be worked out, and enable fortunes to be realised from them.

Holloway's Pills. -The stomach and its troubles cause more discomfort and brins more unhappiness than is commonly supposed. Thethousand ills that settle there may be prevented or dislodged by the judicious use of these purifying Pills, which act as a 6 entla anti-acid aperient, without annoying the nerves of vhe most su=centible or irritating the most delicate OTganisation, Holloway's Pills will bestow comfort and confer relief on every headachy, dyspeptic, and sickly sufferer, whose tortures make him a burden to himself and a bugbear to his friends. These Pd.s have long been the popular remedy for a weak s.omach, for a disordered liver, or a paralysed digestion, which yield without difficulty to thaxr regulating, purifying, and tonic qualities.— Adtt.