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Patea Mail, Volume II, Issue 109, 26 April 1876, Page 2

Foil public safety it would be well, if it were possible to ascertain, on whom the burden of repairing the main road lies—more particularly that portion of it loading from the bridge The holes in it have already cansml more than one, accident, and so deep are they becoming that mishai'S of one kind or other may ho in future looked ones regular daily casualties. Tiie condition of fho road along the whole of the street may he said to be simply disgraceful, ami actually dangerous to human life. There are perfect chasms, from which every trace of metal or gravel has vanished, though bordered by the same, into which incautious wheels sink plump, and irom which it is with considerable dilliculty that vehicles emerge. _ Only a a - cry lew days age an upset occurred through this cause, the persons capsized being people well versed in diiviug vehicles of ail kinds. Fortunately no serious harm was done, lull it is impossible to say when some graver occurrence, arising from the same cause, may happen. ’Hie road is in an absolutely dangerous state, and either the Oovenuir’iil should eompi the Tmvn Hoard to repair it, or the lalim - body should orirg biiva to near on ihe (loveruViiciil. it seems that there is a dispute as to the iLbiUtv, and, whilst the <!nvmnmeni ;!•• rime any responsibility, the Tmvii Hoard are ■■qne.ily coy. in she i a .vu'.mv-, lie; wi' :|u p,h,'h ; heir

surely a condition oi’ sHairs that cannot too soon be put an cud to. By a direct appeal and plain statement of fads, the Government either would or wonid not undertake the work, a plain answer, yea nr nav, could be elicited, and, if unfavorable, then an appeal to the higher court of I’arliameut might he made. In the meanwhile, tin; members of tbc; Town Board are the recognised conservators of pui.lA .security, as of public health, and it is (heir (Inly to see that roads, ab.solnldy dangerous to life, do not exist within the limits over which they have jurisdiction. How the pecuniary mailers in connection with necessary repairs are to bo arranged, is a question id's them to settle in the best way (hey can, but, pending such settlement, and with daily danger hovering over all travellers, they .should at least effect such repairs as would render the read safe to travel over. The dispute is between the Town Board and the Government. —whilst they are squabbling life may ho lost. Nero fiddled whilst Borne was burning ; the Town Board arc idle when its members may do good service, to those by whom they were elected. That the. road should be repaired by some, one forthwith is certain ; the sooner it is determined on whom the responsibility must fall, the belter.

A mooting’ of those interested in tho ji(lairs of the IVeshytoiian denomination, will be held in the Town Hall, on Friday evening' next. Mr Freeman 11. Jackson will hold a sale ul! stock at. Ins .sale yards, St . llili-strcot» Whsngo.:;in, to-morrow. at 12 o (.-look. According to telegram, Parliament will meet on the Idi'i Jane, for the transaction of business. It is reported that Mr T. Qninlivaa has parted with Brigham luting to Mr D. (.'anvil 1. lato oii Grcymouth, for £.150. Brig’liatn is a wcll-hrcd horse, is a good hurdle jumper, ami will no doubt p.ove himself worthy of his pievious own as Vfc regret. In sav that, the construction cl the telegraph line, between ILiwcra mnl Mow i'iy nr u;(h. hy I lie way of the fdmmiam ( rack, is not progressing as fuvorably as could be wished. The nanves on Monday nut a .slop to the operations of the cmdr.uaor at the llawora end, on the gvoiiiid ine.i ihev were owed money, and ISia t. i’ney wmild not allow tho work to lie jeviocmi A vriih, without payment. Yd hat their just claims mv, or what the (lovcrnmciit will do, remains to be soon. Jl is with no li.tlc pleasure we arc able to say that steps for some lire organisation are about to he taken hy .some of our citizens, and it is proposed by some of the more c.norgolic to purchase an engine. Tins can ho procured, it seems, at far less cost than anticipated, and it is thought that the sum asked, and (lie terms to be given v. ill he within the means of the people of the district, aided as Hay no doubt, will hj”, by tho hanks and the insurance comp ulies, Kveil (!i.> country ■mtilers will no doubt help, for tho protection of the property of them customers is a pure matter of self-interest, and one that appeals specially to their own pockets. As soon as some preliminary arrangements are made, it is tho intention of a few wellknown residents to call a public mooting and discuss tho whole matter.

Barlow’s circus troupe arrived in Carlyle on Sunday night, and huge Avas the delight, of the juveniles as they followed the pretty and tiny ponies that comprised part, of the stud to the. Albion Hotel stables, whore they v.vro located. Unfortunately for their further enjoyment the circus did not stay here tor even one night’s entertainment, Imt proceeded to Taranaki early on Monday morning. The disappointment was a great one to oldsters as well as youngsters, for reasonable amusement of any kind is so scarce an ingredient in Fatoa life that a circus would have been found a pleasure and a relief to other than the rising generation.

We learn that two lamps in Mr Fmlong’s billiard-room were knocked down on the tabic on Saturday night last, and bursting’ nearly set the place on fire. Fortunately, the 1 lames were extinguished before much damage was done.

Wo are sony to have to record the blinking of Mr Contts’ Hour mill dam at Kalcaramca. This is the more to ho regretted as the mill would shortly harm been in working order, and the building of a fresh dam Avill entail on Mr Contts considerable extra expien.se. “it never rains hut it poms,” is an old saying, and this lias been fully exemplified during the past fortnight.

A cricket match will be played tomorrow, on the new ground, between the Carlyle and Wairoa teams. This will be about the last match of the season, and the Carlyle team avi’ll be represented as foIIoAVS : —.Tacomb (captain), liev. Mr Dasont. Messrs C. and 1k Dasont, Hobson, R. E. McKay, F. C. Meredith, S. Taplin, it, C. Tonnent, Fetch, and <T. N. Baggett. It Avill he remembered, by these who are interested, that those clubs have as yet b ‘.si on level terms during the bed or existing erielmt sea-on. hhe-h have won a nuddi on their oavu ground, and the conqueror cranes oil’to-morrow. Both parties are equally confident of victory which just as certainly, will rest Avith one side only.

’ 1 1 A n i I • r >Il iimo-rravn. T‘aA im. < m!. f!,m d i

A new engine, belonging' to the Steam Thrashing Company, has arrived as far as Messrs Morton and Lnpton’s at Wairoa, and will commence work probably to-day. It is one of the best ever introduced into the district, is built by Hornsby and Sons, of Grantham, Lincolnshire, and is particularly compact in all its details. Tlic newly-formed company ask the strictest inspection of the thrasher, the elevator, and the engine being the best that wore over introduced into the colony, still less into this province. The company have had no slight difficulty in obtaining the same, and the thanks of the colony as well as the district arc due to them for what they have done. The company are now prepared to carry out their engagements with the public, and from the firstclass machinery at their command there can he no doubt of their being able to fulfil all their engagements satisfactorily. The Mountain Road has been defined in the New Zealand Government Gazette, and is as follows ;—Commencing on the northern side or the main road from New Plymouth to Wanganui at a point situated between sections numbered thirteen and sixteen in (he township of Hawcra, proceeding thence in a generally northerly direction for a distance of about twentyeight chains, more or less ; thence in a generally westerly direction for a distanc 0 of about two miles forty-nine chains, more or less, to the Ohaugai Road ; thence in a generally northerly direction for a distance of about twenty-three and a-half miles, more or less, to that part of I,ho northern bank of the Mangamawhctc River which adjoins section number eighty-seven in the Moa District. From the point of commencement to the Ohangai Road, the above described line of road shall bo not less than three chains wide.

We quite agree with the opinion expressed by the Post in the following paragraph : —“The l!cv. Samuel Cross, of Keefton, in refusing to read the funeral service over the remains of a Mr Hughes, because he was a member of a Freemason’s Lodge, shows that some clergymen do not possess much common feeling. Homan Catholic priests have given similar refusals but the latter have the excuse that the Vatican has denounced the Order of Freemasons. The Church of England, to which the Pcv. Mr Cross belongs, has not put its ban upon Freemasonry, so that the action in question was inexcusable. To refuse the rites of the Church to the body of a man simply and solely because be was a Freemason, was simply a piece of ecclesiastical tyranny.” It is said that Princes Beatrice of England—who is not, as previously reported, to marry Prince Louis of Battenburg is deooly in love with the Prince Imperial of France. On Tuesday morning, April 13lh, South Canterbury was visited by a severe shock of earthquake, at about half-past eleven, which lasted several seconds. No injury was, however, done to any of the buildings. A curious story comes from Kensington (Victoria). The body of a man, in a somewhat mangled condition, was discovered about half a mile from theaddison road Station, and two days later was identified by a woman named Triggs as that of her husband. Further identification was forthcoming also in the testimony of bis children, and of the supposed employe' of the deceased man. An inquest was held, and a certificate for burial granted by the coroner. Within an hour of the interment , and as the hoarse was nearing the door of the supposed widow, to the surprise of ail parties, the latch was lifted, and William Triggs, the husband .supposed to be dead, entered the house, and gave a satisfactory account of Ids absence.

A Paris letter says :—“ Cynics say that marriage is a kind of solitary confinement. An event which lias just taken place at Caen serves to show either that the cynics are wrong, or that the said solitary confinement possesses charms of which they are ignorant. A man named Napoleon Measure, aged 23, condemned to eight years hard labour, has been married to another prisoner, a seamstress named Mario Jeanic Legcr, sentenced to two years imprisonment. The civil part of the nuptials was celebrated at the Mairic, and then the £ happy couple ’ wore driven, under the guard of the gendarmes, to church, where they plighted their faith before the altar*. After this they were conducted back to their prison cells. The bridegroom has since been transported to the convict settlement of Cayenne, and the bride has promised to join him there as soon as she lias expiated her term of punishment.”

Mr Plimsoll states that he has excellent authority for making the following statement :—“ That out of seventy nine vessels detained for alleged unseaworthincss in the port of Sunderland alone, under the Shipping Act of 1873, every one, on subsequent survey, was found to bo unseaworthy, not one mistake had been made ; but sixteen of these vessels, the tonnage of which ranges from eighty to two hundred and fifty tons, have since been sold by auction, and that not one of them realised so much as £30.” The significance of this statement may bo judged by tho fact that the cost of a good plain cargo-carrying vessel runs from £l4 to £OO per ton.

Clement William Govelt, sun of the Yen. Archdeacon of New Plymouth, is gazetted Assistant Law Officer to the Government of the colony. This appointment is necessitated by the extra amount of work lately thown on the lav/ department in having to consolidate nearly all the Provincial laws of the colony. The prevalence of neuralgia among women now-a-day lias been occupying some attention in the medical journals, and the explanation given of its great increase and frequency is that it is produced by the insufficient head-coverings which women now wear. Let women adopt the large bonnets of there grandmothers, say the doctors, and they will enjoy their yraiulmotbe;s immunity from neuralgia. The Sun Francisco Chronicle contains a report of the formal reception of a Christian lady—a Miss Ellen McGoiTey—(a Roman Catholic) into the folds of Judaism. The ceremony was performed at the residence of the Rev. Dr. A. S. Rettelheim, Rabbi, of the Jewish Congregation “ Ohabai Sltalomo.” The ceremony appears to have been conducted with due propriety, and without the public; display that usually accompanies it in America. The convorj, having been appropriately addressed by the minister, he put to her a few doctrinal questions, ■which having been answered, the usual ceremony of bathing wa.s performed, after which the Rabbi formally received the neophyte as a member of the Jewish faith, and bestowed upon her the priestly benediction. She received the name of Leah, and was afterwards married to a Jewish gentleman.

There seems to be no degree of extravagance or absurdity to which the average Hindoo may not go in connection with the Prince of Wales. The Afhenamm ot: the 15th oE January publishes a translation of part of a poem by a Cingalese poet, in which the Prince of Wales is called a god, and addressed in all respects as a divinity. The same paper meniions among ihe mottoes of welcome to the Prince displayed at Madras, these two intensely ludicrous ones :— 11 The greatest oC lishes—whales ; the greatest of prmces—Walesand “and Mayst thou bo fat.” The Athonajiun mildly terms these extraordinary mottoes “ evidences of ignorance or mifathomabl e 1 unacy. ” A Perthshire magnate having lately come to grief, and into the Bankruptcy Court, his establishment has been sold off. His aristocratic dwelling-house in London has been bought for £25,000 by a former butler of his, who had amassed money as the proprietor of an eating house, and who purposes turning his new purchase into an hotel.

A New London connoisseur of liquor, understanding that rum improved by being sent to sea, entrusted a cask to an old captain, who did not return for three years, when the new Londonitc found that all the nun had been absorbed. Affectionately seizing tbo sailor's hand, be naively gave thanks, asking;, “Gan I ever forget your goodness in bringing back my cask ? Never, never 1” It may be interesting says the Evening Argus, to some of our old identities, who have known Wellinglou from its infancy, when an acre of land on Lambton Quay was worth about .£ls, to learn that the ground occupied by the Empire Hotel was sold at the rate of £28,146 9s 2)d per acre. Our sulphur springs have become famous even at home for their efficacy inrbenmatic affections, to judge from the following anecdote by “ iEglcs” in the Australasian. Speaking of a gentleman who was on a visit to the old country from New Zealand he says : “ His trip to England bad been mainly taken with the view of consulting some great London physician about a rheumatic affection from which be had long suffered. He explained bis symptoms at great length, and underwent a careful examination at the bands of the eminent practitioner in whose charge be had placed himself. He was then gratified by learning that medicine wouldn’t help him. ‘ln fact,’ said Dr , ‘the only remedy I can prescribe for you will cost both time and money. You must make your way as quickly as you can to the sulphur springs of New Zealand!’ Within 50 miles of which lie had been living for a quarter of a century.”

A courageous act on the part of a woman is narrated by the Adelaide, Express : —“A man named George M'Donald was charged at the City Police Court, on Monday morning, by Catherine Ilavraghy, landlady of the Globe Hotel, Ilowden, with burglariously entering her premises with a felonious intent on the night of the 14th March. It appeared that Mrs Harraghy heard a noise in the dining-room on the night in question, and she got up, and lighting a candle went into the room. The

candle was blown out, but Mrs Harraghy rc-lit it, and saw the prisoner standing in the room. She then in tho most courageous manner, grappled with him, and held him in spite of his struggles ; ho in the meanwhile biting her hand most viciously. She, however, stuck to her man in the most plucky manner until assistance came, and the prisoner was secured. As one or two minor burglaries have been committed about Howden recently, tho prisoner was remanded until further enquiries could be made respecting him.”

“-ZEgles,’’ in the Australasian, tells the following :—I fear her religions education has been neglected. That is, always supposing little Miss Redbud’s story to bo true. She declares—and when she declares she is difficult to contradict—that Mr Blank of the Legislative Assembly (who teaches in the same Sunday school), wondered why the Lord’s Prayer wasn’t read in the Lower ns well as in the Upper House. “ Don’t you know,” she explained, “ that it was written for them ? They like to he called the Lords. And they think—at least most of them —that the name of that petition is just a delicate compliment to themselves.”

An interesting item in racing new 7 s is, saas the Guardian, that Guy Fawkes’ win in the Publican's Handicap at Dunedin made (fie twenty-first time Mr Redwood’s horses have been first past the post tins season in the twenty-six events be has contested.

We (Auckland Star) understand that the suit in the Supreme Court, C. 0. Montrose, late editor of the Waikato Times v. Langbridgc and Silver, prourietors of the Times, for £SOO for alleged wrongful dismissal, lias been amicably settled to the .satisfaction nf both parties.

The Taranaki Herald says : —“We have a railway running to Wailara which conveys the mails daily, yet we notice in the Government Gazelle of the Gth instant, that the postal authorities have accepted the tender of Peter Peterson for the conveyance of mails between New Plymouth and Wailara during 187G, at a cost of £l7 10a. Surely there must be some mistake about lids.”

Referring to recent lotteries, the Otago Guardian. lias the following : —“The charge against Mr Caleb Moore iu connection with the sale of tickets for the monster sweep on the Dunedin Cup was disposed of by the City Bench lately, when a line of £lO was imposed Mr Vincent Pyke took occasion to give a caution to the proprietors of newspapers as to the consequences that might attend the, publication of advertisements re;orrmg to lotteries, and said that they, under an old Act, were liable to he punished for so doing - . This decision places ladies and gentlemen who took part in the lotteries at the recent bazaar in aid of Knox Church at the power of any person who might feel inclined to make up a case against them, for it was not contended that the defendant Moore, had any beneficial interest in the Gup sweep. Some years ago in Victoria, proceedings were taken at the instance of the AttorneyGeneral against ladies who had conducted lotteries at a bazaar, hut they escaped on the ground that they were not beneficially interested ; hut the law would appear to he diilVent in this colony in that respect/’

A Court of Forresters’ in London wholly composed of Jews, is said to he one. of one most prosperous Courts affiliated to the Order. It is named “ Court sons of Israel,” and has funded property to the value of £1,500.