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Patea Mail, Volume II, Issue 119, 31 May 1876, Page 2

Mr Rose, Inspector of Post-offi oo3 Now Zealand, passed through Carlyle on Monday last, en route to New ’PlymouthIt was supposed that he would stay here and investigate the complaints that have been made as to the insufficient accommodation for postal and telegraphic requirement, and consequently there might be a hope of improvements that are greatly wanted. He went on without visiting the local office, but will probably return on Saturday by coach, and then make an inspection; At present the space at command is ridiculous for the double purpose it now serves, and how the postmaster manages at all in such limited quarters puzzles us greatly. An extension in some way or other, or a totally new building suitable for what it is intended should be completed forthwith, and we have no doubt that, on seeing the interior of the present Post and Telegraph office, MrPmse will concur in that opinion, and report accordingly at head quarters. At the conclusion of the Maori case yesterday, the Resident Magistrate notified that in all future eases of larceny, proved against natives, the Bench would send the offenders to gaol without the option of a line, and he desired Mr Williams to translate that to the Maoris assembled. This was done, but did not seem to cause any serious concern, the three guinea fine apparently having the greater terror attached to it. Whether owing to the cold weather (hat makes woollen clothing acceptable, or to a stoppage in the How of Government money, or to other causes, petty larceny Of -clothing . by. the Maoris is becoming frequent. Several storekeepers in the district have found this out to their cost, Mr Adams being the latest victim. lie lost a waterproof and jacket on Monday last, both of which were lying almost under his very eyes. Wc would recommend business people to look sharply after their brown-skinned customers, otherwise, they may bo equally or more unfortunate. Mr William Dale, will have a general ssle of merchandise on Saturday. A quantity of clothing - , cats, groceries, &c., will be sold, positively without reserve on the occasion. The football season has now fairly set in, and some indiscriminate play has already taken place. No club has, as yet been formed, but a public meeting is called for Saturday evening next, the 3rd inst., for that purpose. It will be held at the Albion Hotel, and proceedings will commence at half-past seven o’clock

Mr Brown, the well-known watchmaker of Wanganui, lias announced his intention of commencing business in Carlyle in a short time, and will offer a splendid stock of jewellery of every description. We have no doubt that he will find a profitable field in this district, and wo wish him every

success. The Wairoa Light Horse have been so satisfied with the exertions of their drill - instructor Sergeant Shiels, that they n * centlv presented him with a purse of sovereigns, in recognition of the pains he lias taken in advancing them in their drill’ The compliment is, we hear, well deserved, that officer having been indefatigable in his task. Volunteers generally seem to be grateful when drill-instructors take trouble with them, for only a few mouth’s ago Sergeant K. Whelan, who then was performing the same duty for the Hawcra Volunteers, received an equally substantial compliment in gold from his pupils. At the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday, before Major Turner, 8.M., and 11. F. Christie, Esq., J.P., a Maori named Karcauo, was charged with having stolen a shirt, the property of Mr Adams, draperit appeared from the evidence of the pn - secutor that on Monday afternoon a number of Maoris came Into his shop, and succeeded in stealing a jacket and a waterproof cloak that ho had just taken out of the case, and had not been even marked. Whoever the thieves were they got clear off, but the loss naturally put Mr Adams on the alert. About 3 o’clock in the afternoon prisoner, accompanied by a .Maori-woman, went to the shop, aud asked to bo shown some flannel. The woman stood in front of prisoner, and when prosecutor’s back was turned to reach down the flannel one of them whipped up the shirt, which was lying on the counter, when prisoner put it under his coat, and walked oat. A little German hoy, employed as errand boy by Mr Adams, saw the theft, and gave information. Prosecutor followed, overtaking prisoner just as he was about to mount his horse, took the shirt from him and then gave him into custody. In defence, he said that his wife banded him the shirt, which she was going to pay for. This ingenious yarn did not obtain credence with the Bench, who ordered him to pay four times the value of the article with £2 5s costs, £3 3s in all, the shirt to be returned to prosecutor. This may strike some people as an odd way of dealing with a larceny, but it was quite legal, the 104 th clause of the Resident Magistrate’s. Act leaving it in the discretion of the Court to fine or imprison Maori offenders. A large number of Maoris were in Court and one of them finding the required cash, the prisoner was released, no doubt a sadder but a wiser man. The next time he wants a shirt he will probably pay for it. Besides Is lie could have honestly bought thirteen shirts with the money, and have avoided a flight in the lock-up besides. As it is he not in possession even of the shirt he has paid so dearly for. As will be seen by advertisement, tb e I hull of the unfortunate Egmont, together with tanks, tallow casks, timber, and other material used in connection with the attempted launch, will be sold by auction, by Mr Co’wern, on Saturday next. An old bachelor in Maine has been deterred from committing matrimony in a novel way. Thinking over the subject seriously, and particularly the expense of maintaining a family, he set his table in his lonely abode wxth plates for himself and an imaginary wife, and five children* He then sat down to dine, and as often as he helped himself to rood, he put the same quantity on each of the other plates, and surveyed the prospect, at the same time computing the cost. The r.3BirU of his examination was so discouraging, that he resolved not to marry Under the head of “ A dreadful ending,” a comic English publication lias ti.m xol--1 owing;—“ Irate wife ; “There ! I haven't patience with you ! Drunic yesteiday and drunk to-day ! Why, if you go on like this, what d’ye think you’ll become ?” Inebriate : “ Become, Sairey—-become ? Why, a Good Templar, I’m— (hie)— afraid !”

An extraordinary case of assault was heard at the Napier Police Court, on the 11th May, in which Sub-Inspector Carlyon, of the Armed Constabulary, figured as plaintiff, and a Sergeant Jones, of the same force, was defendant. The evidence showed that Jones kept a female—a Mrs Brett —at Tarawera, and the Sub-Inspector came to her house and found Jones there. He ordered him away, when Jones refused to go and a scuffle ensued. Jones was pushed out, and afterwards placed under arrest by Sub-Inspector Carlyon for striking bis officer. The woman asserts she sent for the captain as he owed her money for goods supplied to a half-caste girl with whom he lived. The magistrate’s dismissed the case, and Jones intends taking action against Captain Carlyon for false imprisonment. The timber trade of Auckland employs regularly about 2000 men, and the annual production exceeds one hundred million of f ee t—worth about half a million sterling. In the district of the Thames and Coromandel Peninsula alone sixteen mills are constantly in operation, employing six hundred men, annually producing nearly thirty millions of feet of timber, worth about from £125,000 to £145,000 a-year.

Another witchcraft case has turned up on the East Coast, and a very extraordinary case too. An old man 90 years old was regarded as a wizard. He is called Purangahia, and lives at Tabeka, in the Arawa country. The authorities weie informed he would be killed, so as to save trouble, they removed him by a wan ant for his apprehension, issued by Mr Hamlin, the E.M. at Maketu. He was brought to Maketu, where, however, the Natives disputed the right to arrest him, took him out of gaol by force, and claim damages from the Government for false imprisonment. On the whole they will make rather a good thing out of the affair before they have done with it, and there will bo many a chuckle over it in Native circles. At the Dunedin Resident Magistrate’s Court .lately, a melancholy state of affairs was manifested in a case in which a re-spectable-looking young man was sued for various articles of clothing purchased by his wife. According to the case: as reported in the Otago Daily Times , he denied having received tiie articles, and called liis wife (who was dressed in the latest fashion, and had apparently seen about twenty-three summers) to prove his defence. After being sworn, she, to his evident astonishment, declared that she had received the goods mentioned in the particulars. The defendant (to his amiable partner) : Didn’t you tell me, when you used to come home the worse for liquor, that you got the drinks at Mrs Pollock’s ? Witness : “No I didn’t. The defendant : “ Then you are a false woman 1” It appeared that the defendant had been informed by his wife that the plaintiff kept a sly-grog shop, and that the goods sued for were simply stated as a cover for alcoholic liquors. Judgment having been given against the defendant, he said that

he would have to ask for time to pay. The young - couple do not seem t.o have a prosperous career before them. With our progress and increase of population (says the Wellington Post) are certainly allied some evils. It is impossible to walk about the streets without noticing ragged, dirty, and neglected children, who are evidently left to grow up without cither care or supervision, and a percentage of whom will undoubtedly develops into criminals. The petty thefts in the cloak-room, at the cricket-ground, and the robberies during the recent fire, all serve to indicate that a criminal class is growing up and strengthening in our midst* Increased police supervision may keep it in check, but something more might be done to strike at the root of the evil. It would be cheaper and better for the State to take in charge those gutter children, feed, clothe, educate, and teach them a trade, so that they might become honest and useful colonists,' than allow them to become criminals, and then expend the money of the taxpayers in maintaining police, magistrates, judges, and gaols, for their detection and punishment. It costs less in the end to turn a child into an honest man than to reform the same child when grown up into a hardened criminal. Truly the Government policy, as far as the natives go, is odd. The Thames Advertiser of a late date has the following “ Some discontent has been aroused amongst certain sections of the natives at what appears to he at least an injudicious act. Some of the Keriweri hapn of the Ngatitaraatera tribe, who arc members of the new fanaticism or religion, have lately been in town purchasing ammunition and guns on permits signed by a Minister of the Crown, while some of the friendly Ngatimarus were unable to provide themselves with similar supplies, not having the necessary permit, and not being able to obtain one. In this and some other matters the Government would appear to be acting on the priuciplc that their friends are secured, and their favors should be distributed amongst their enemies to bring them over. With native matters, however, it is not wise to excite the jealousy of the friendlies by making it appear that they arc slighted, while rebels and mal-contents .arc favored, as appears to have been done in the case we have noted.” writes to tire Melbourne Leader Sortie time ago a young lady went from Victoria fls a missionary to the Fijis. She was full ot zeal, and determined that no hardships of privations would turn her from the noble task she had imposed on herself. She wafted on a clergyman, delivered her credentials, and explained the object in view. She was given a mixed class of youths and .maidens to instruct, and went on the performance of her duty with a high heart. But when her youngpeople turned up, the maidens with nothing on but necklaces, and the youths without even that slight covering, her ardour cooled, and she determined on giving up missionary work. The young lady is once more an inhabitant of Victoria, and thinks it much nicer to teach in one of our Sunday Schools. „ - “ Cameo” in the News tells a story, that when the Pearl was in quarantine the other day at Auckland, the editor of the Cross commiserating the enforced isolation of our gallant defenders, despatched a number of carrier, pigeons as well as a : letter to the Commodore. VThe letter was not delivered, but the former were consigned to the steward, and the fact of their being 1 educated" birds was just discovered in time to save theii lives. They were worth three guineas a pair.