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Patea Mail, Volume 1, Issue 37, 18 August 1875, Page 2

J. G. Gordon, of ILnvora, was brought before Major Turner at the. E.M. Court Carlyle, on Monday last, charged with being of: unsound mind. It appears for several days previous the patient was labouring under the belief that two respectable settlors were seeking to do him bodily injury, and had mounted the roof of his wharo to afford them a favourable oppor. tiinity for carrying out their designs. On the. 11 tb inst Gordon came before James Livingstone, Esq., J.P., and charged two other settlers, of Hawera, with the murder of one Thomas Smith, Medical certificates wore handed in to Hie Bench from Drs Croft and Walker which went to show that Gordon was suffering from mental aberration, but with a companion could be trusted to return to bis wharc. Tim Bench discharged tbo patient. As an evidence of. the scarcity of labour in this district, two young ladies had yesterday to take their place in the field to perform the arduous duties of ploughwomen. Wc feel confident, after learning the straits that our farmers are driven to obtain labour, our immigration officer will endeavour to secure the introduction of labour suitable to the wants of our settlers. The Tlalcione, now overdue, might supply our market if an officer was despatched to New Plymouth to make the selection on her arrival, as her immigrants arc highly spoken of. The present state of the Patea Bridge is one of the first matters which wo trust our new Board will direct its attention to, as the structure requires immediate re, screwing, owing to the various sections having greatly shrunk since its erectionThe floor of "the bridge is also covered with water, and the boring of a few augur holes would be likely to be attended with beneficial results, as horses are liable to slip while travelling across.

Aii inspection parade of the Wain) Light II >rs3 and Wairoa liiiie Volunteers took place on Saturday last, at Wairoa. The Light Horse, under the command of Capt Uhl, were marched on to (he reserve ground, where they were put through the sword exercise by Sorgt. Shied, the drill instructor from Hawera, and who, at the close of the manoeuvres, expressed himself highly pleased with the improvement they had made since Ids last visit. Lieut. Walkington and Sub.-Lieut. Johnstone were also present. Sergt. Harrell Was also in attendance on the Volunteers, and during the afternoon served out to the members the new Government rides.

At last our sporting friends have some little excitement to look forward to, as there is every probability of a match being arranged between Air Quinlivan’s u darkun ” and the well-known hack Folly, of Wanganui, over a niilc-and-a-half course. The former gentleman lias put his hors e into active training, under the care of F. Potto, well-known in racing circles as a painstaking trainer, and we are sure that both him and the owner will leave no stone unturned to insure success. Cornel, some short time since, on the Parawunui race course, sustained an easy defeat at the hands of Air Chadwick’s game little horse, so if our local “dark-nu” should turn out as his noble owner contemplates, a severe struggle will no doubt be witnessed between these equine celebrities. Air Quinlivan, who is willing to meet the Wanganui favourite half-way—AVairoa,— has staked £o in our hands, and we now anxiously await for Folly’s hacker to cover the deposit to close the match. This is no

The meeting for the nomination of members to form the Town Board of Carlyle is iixed for Monday, the 2d id hist., at noon, at the Court House. Mr F. McGuire,. M.P.C., lias been appointed chairman to preside over the meeting, and in the event of a poll being demanded, will act as returning oilicer. We learn that the following gentlemen are in the field as candidates for Town Board honours :—Messrs Taplin, Hirst, Lett, F. 'McCarthy, Dale, Gibson, Sherwood, W. Williams, Milroy, Achcspn, Souih by. As will be seen by an advertisement in another column, Mr Kelly, Provincial Secretary, has not broken faith with the deputation that interviewed him at Kakaramoa, and that tenders are now invited for the erection of the two immigration cottages, as promised,in that district.

Members of Rt George’s Church, Carlyle, are reminded of the general meeting to be held in the Court House, this evening, at seven o’clock, to consider the churchwardens’ reports for the half-year, and for the election of a now churchwarden.

•In anticipation of the establishment of a Hour mill in the Putea district, a number of settlers are laying down a largo quantity of land in wheat. Wo have not hoard anything concerning Hr Weirs intention to supply the much felt want since his return to New Plymouth. Failing its establishment before next harvest, groat disappointment and loss will bo experienced by settlers. From the Gazette wc loam that the officer in charge of the confiscated hinds at Patea is authorised to sell to Capt. K. T. Blake, under the New Zealand Settlements Act, IGI acres, 33 pexches, land situated at Ketemarae, at the upset price of .£2 per acre. The purchase money to be paid within one calendar month, and upon due payment of same a Crown grant shall be issued to the purchaser. We extract the following interesting statistics from the minutes of fixe Wesleyan Conference, hold in Melbourne, of Minister's representing New South Wales Adelaide, Victoria, and New Zealand. The figures show the total number of churches, &c., established in the different colonies. No. of churches, 1036 ; other preaching places, 852 ; ministers and preachers on trial, 287 ; colleges, 4 ; Sabbath school teachers, 8,885 ; local preachers, 1,476 ; class leaders, 1753; full and accredited church members, 26,267 ; on trial for membership, 2,262 ; catechmnes, 1,058 ; deaths, 196 ; number of Sabbath schools, 950 ; number of Sabbath scholars, 75,296 ; attendance on public worship, 190,005. In New Zealand there are 136 churches, 160 other preaching places, 54 ministers and preachers on trial, 965 Sabbath school teachers, 195 local preachers, 176 class leaders, 3,101 full and accredited church members, 287 on trial for membership, 169 catechumes, 21 deaths, 131 Sabbath schools, 9,390 Sabbath scholars, 24,973 attendants on public worships. Air T. Kelly has got the second reading of tHe Taranaki Waste Lands Bill passed through the Assembly. It is a small bill that corrects errors in the present Act, and sets aside five per cent, of the land for education, and enables the Waste Lands Bean! to deal with land for manufacturing establishments, such as sawmills, &e.

We regret to learn that Native Constable Himona, who arrived per coach from Opnnake on Saturday last, is suffering from injmy of.^the' spine, and that there are not the slightest hopes of his The unfortunate man was taken to odg«4’ Hotel, and Dr Walker, who is in constant attendance with the sufferer, is unremitting - in his efforts to afford relief, llimoua lias been a most faithful servant to the Government, and great sympathy is ft*lt for him in his present prostration. 'Since the above was in type we are sorry to report the death of Himona, which sad event took place yesterday at noon. The deceased will be buried this day in the cemetery, when the constabulary stationed in this district will follow the remains to its last resting place.] Wc hog to remind contractors that tenders for gravelling 44 chains of the Manawapou Hill, will close at 4' p.m., at the. Public Works, New Plymouth, ,u,u Wednesday next, August 25th. The specifications' arc still laying at Captain Wray’s office.

The report 'that the ComptrollerGeneral (Mr Fitzgerald) had prepared the Abolition and other Government Bills, is entirely unfounded. A telegram from Wellington lately said that T3,500 would ho required to complete railway from Waitara to Inglewood. Haa~ mrd reports the words used by. Mr Richardson to be as follows ; —To complete the line inland from the township of Inglewood will require an appropriation of £35,000. Seeing how rapidly the settlement of this district is proceeding, the Government will ask for a vote for that amount.”

Referring to the telegraphic report of Sir George Grey’s speech against the Abolition of the Provinces Bill, the Thames Advertiser siyys :• —“ We publish a portion of Sir George Grey’s speech in the House of Representatives, and our readers will bo able to judge of its merits. ono portion we feci inclined to describe as nonsense. We cannot fall down and worship the ‘pristine beauty’ of provincialism. Wo are too badly in want of money to malco ) our roads to think of worshipping any constitutional image, however beautiful.”

A cablegram, dated Loudon, loth July f states that the New Zealand cable is’to bo laid before May next. This is carrying out the work with despatch. The colony is to pay a subsidy of £7,500 . per annum for ten years ; the charge for the transmission of messages through the cable not to exceed 7s Gd per message of ten words, and 9d for every additional word inclusive of names and addresses ; the tariff to be reduced to 5s for every ten words, and G I for every additional 1 word whenever the average number of messages during any preceding six calendar months has amounted to two hundred per week, excluding Sundays. This cable will bo another great tax upon newspapers, which are already very heavily handicapped with telegraphic charges. Frequently during the present session of parliament, our. telegrams for one day’s issue have cost between £5 and £6, the full benefit of which is secured by any of the public for a penny. It is needless to say that these large expenses are not in any way recouped, by direct returns, and comparatively few of the public even discriminate between the news collected at so great a cost and and the badding and bogus rubbish which some journals pass off as “ telegraphic. Auckland Star.

Why is a drunkard like a bad politician.? Because he is always poking his nose into measures that spoil the constitution.