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Patea Mail, Volume II, Issue 126, 24 June 1876, Page 2

Thkrb are great changes impending in the distribution of the A.C. Force in this and other districts, changes that, to the uninitiated, rfisem exceedingly undesirable and unnecessary, as far at least as Patea is concerned. Whether they arc required elsewhere we have no opportunity for judging. According to present orders from Wellington, the whole of the Armed Constabulary stationed here are to repair to Waihi, which place is in future to be head quarters. This exodus will involve the departure of the Officer Commanding, Major Turner, the Medical Officer, Dr Walker, the sergeants, storekeeper, and privates, all of whom are already making preparations for leaving. The reasons for this step are as wholly unknown to those most interested, as to the general public, and it is shrewdly, and probably correctly supposed, that it lias its foundation on political, rather than other grounds. At the present time there is no disturbance, either pending or threatened, at or near Waihi, the frontier post, as it may be termed of existing European settlement for a long distance. If very recent occurrences arc any indication as to where a force is required, they would point to Carlyle, for natives in the Wanganui direction on the one side, and at Kakaramoa on the other, have been specially overbearing, as well as turbulent and troublesome in both directions. The Kakaramea affair must be very fresh in the memory of our readers, whilst the Dickie and Nicholson Maori trespasses are not likely to be forgotten. If it is out of no apprehended disturbance In the direction of Waihi that the move is made, why, in the name of all that is reasonable, is it advisable to collect at the most distant spot, constabulary that are now judiciously scattered throughout the district ? There arc to be two of the force loft to do duty hero as police, a number that must render any idea of checking Maori insolence, whether prompted by drunkenness or not, quite out of the question. Under instructions at present issued from head quarters, natives are to he treated “ with'great forbearance ” by constables of all grades and descriptions; as far as Patea goes, it is fair to assume

that, in future, they are to bo -allowed to do and act exactly as they please. In this inexplicable transfer a good many things are involved. In the first jvla.ee It is hardly likely tlmt XjnJoiTurnor will retain the Resident Magistracy, since he will bo stationed more than a score miles away, whilst to discharge medical duties of one kind or other in connection with various appointments, vaccination &0., will bo very inconvenient to Dr Walker, residing as ho will, at the extremity instead of the centre of the district. In connection with the first named office, a Resident Magistrate is constantly required for some purpose or other, and it is exceedingly unlikely that the appointment will remain unfilled. There is a rumor, though we cannot trace it to any solid foundation, that as Captain Wray has a sinecure now as Immigration officer here, he is to have the berth on the same terms as Major Turner, viz. the use and occupation of the house at present occupied by the latter, as remuneration for discharging the duties of R.M. Wo can hardly think tliis can be'correct. If it so prove, there can be no question.such an appointment will be most unpopular. In the fiist place Captain Wray’s judicial experience is not oven equal to that of Major Turner, and therefore would be no improvement from a legal point of view. Indeed, though that gentleman has held a commission as J.P. for some time, his attendance on the Bench has been most rare, and his visits, few and far between as they have been, cannot have enlightened him much in relation to the duties or the functions of a magistrate. Major Turner, it must be remembered, has most unwillingly occupied the position of R.M. It was forced on, not solicited i>y him, and any shortcomings therefore can fairly bo excused, but the public here do not want, as his successor, a gentleman unposted in law, and generally less competent, though lack of experience, if from no other cause. What is required is a magistrate thoroughly up to the duties, and if Major Turner be removed, his superior alone will give satisfaction to the comm unity here. Altogether this latest act on the part of the Defence office is at present an unexplained departmental mystery, one that to outsiders is both unnecessary and nn-called for on public grounds, one calculated to encourage rather than cheek future native disturbance. As time rolls on, possibly we may learn what motives have brought about the changes.

It may not bo generally known that at least one half of the coppers in general use are tabooed at all Government offices, being merely tokens, issued by tradesmen in different parts of the colony. It is high time that these should be withdrawn from circulation, and that the genuine recognised currency should bo substituted. Not only in Government offices, but by many tradesmen, tokens will not bo accepted, rendering some action on the part of the Government in the matter still more necessary. At the Resident Magistrate’s Court at Ilawera, on Tuesday last, the business was not of much importance. In an action, Earnage v, Fitzsimmons, to recover £ls 5s rent, and also to obtain possession of a house, a verdict was given for the amount claimed, and defendant ordered to vacate the premises within a month. In Quinlivan v. Kuril Kuru, judgment was given for 12s Gd. There was another case set down for hearing, but the summons had not been served.

In a Government Gazette of the 15th inst., the appointment of Archer Charles Croft, as a Justice of the Peace is notified. We have no doubt that the worthy doctor will zealously discharge his new duties, and we cordially congratulate him on the honor conferred.

The weather has been very unsettled of late, but on Thursday night it was positively awful. It blew from all quarters, the wind veering right round the compass, trying, as it were, from which point it could sweep with the greatest force. If anything, the nartherly blasts wore the most powerful, but there was not a great deal to choose between any of them. Heavy showeia accompanied the squalls, and the weak points of every house in the district were detected by their means. We are, however, glad to say that nothing beyond trifling damage was done, as far as we have at present heard, but many fences and ill built chimney-stacks succumbed. At sea, we fear, several, and probably serious, casualties have occurred, for the storm did not seem to bo confined by any means to local limits. We only hope our anticipations in this respect may not be realised.

At the R.M. Court yesterday, Captain Wray and H. F. Christie Esq., J.P.s, occupied the Bench in the absence of Major Turner, who was on his periodical tour, inspecting the A.C. stations. A man named Thomas Clark was charged with stealing a feather pillow, the property of Mr F. McCarthy, but was remanded till this morning. There were a few unimportant civil cases for hearing, but none of the slightest public interest. In Melbourne recently, the Chief Justice sentenced a woman to a month’s imprisonment for attempting to cut her throat while in delirium from scarlet fever. The poor woman has a family'of young children entirely dependent upon her.

It may not be generally known that Holloway’s ointment is the very best dressing that can be given a saddle.

Three splendid Catholic Cathedrals have been recently erected in the States —one in Boston, one in New York, and one in Chicago.

It is reported in the Otago papers that nine Chinese arc making forty pounds a week by gold mining on Tuapcka flat. They paid £3O an acre for the ground. A noted character at Christchurch named Brighton, a fish hawker and bottle collector, has had a fortune left him, consisting of about eighty thousand pounds in cash, and a landed estate at Homo.

The Otago Times is credibly informed, that Dunedin possesses an infantile curiosity in the shape of a boy who was born with fourteen toes, twelve fingers, and two thumbs. There are seven toes on each foot, and each hand has six lingers, exclusive of the thumbs.

The old Maori costume was worn by a gentleman at a grand fancy .ball, lately given at Dublin by the Lord-Lieutenant. The gentleman in question was Captain H. G. Eobley, of the 91st Highlanders, and lie has drawn his own portrait, thus attired, in the Illustrated London News of March 25th.

Proceedings to recover damages by civil action for alleged libel have, we learn, been instituted by Mr J. M. Perrier, of the New Zealand Times, against Mr G. M. Reed, of tho Otago Guardian, Dunedin. By way of reprisal, Mr Reed, whose journalistic career in Otago would seem to have been a troubled one, has blown a counter-blast. A recent telegram announces that an old. grievance of some two years’ standing has; been raked up by the latter ; a criminal information for libel having been filed by-Mr Reed against Mr Perrier,

The Otago Guardian, criticising a performance in the Green’s Theatre, Dunedin, says; —“Mr" Howe was excessively Amlgar, and deserved to be kicked off the stage for one remark he made.”

The female pupils of tho Onehnnga Catholic schools, at a recent school examination, performed (lie five-act drama of Alfred the Great, the dramatis jjersonce comprising eighteen male and female characters. It is said that the drama was played with good histrionic effect.

Robert Bell Thompson, a laborer on tho Canterbury railways, died the other day in the Christchurch Hospital, while under tho influence of chloroform administered to him before an ojieration.

A now-made minister having occasion to marry a couple as his first official act, and there being quite an assemblage present, he determined to strike them dumb with awe, and so, in winding up, lie said, “I pronounce-you man and wife, and the Lord have mercy on your sinful souls!”

The Star reports that an Auckland sportsman Mr Brodic, while sporting in the neighborhood of Patumahoe one afternoon, seeing a cock pheasant probably on the ground, could not withstand the temptation of bagging his game, and did not perceive two small children who were sitting on the ground. The bird rose, but the children went down, for shots took effect in their legs, and they were carried into a house close by, and a doctor sent for, who extracted the shots, and no serious consequences are apprehended. Ladies are strongly recommended not to wear pheasants ’plumes in their hats at this season, or there is no knowing what havoc these Auckland sportsmen may make of them. We heard of one mistaking a tame cat for a wild rabbit lately. During last week (says the (N.Z. Times) a man arrived in Wellington from the Kaikoura district, where ho had been employed on a station, and brought with him, as payment for his service, an order on a well-known firm in the city for £2O. On presenting the order at the office, he received a cheque for £2O, which on Saturday he presented at a bank, the name of which is unnecessary to mention. Ho was asked by the clerk in what form ho would take the money, and he replied “I’ll take it short,” meaning in large notes. The clerk in error, handed to the man two £2O notes, which the latter took away with him. Shortly afterwards the mistake was discovered, and the police communicated with, and Detective Farrell received instructions to hunt up the recipient of the extra note. Farrell received very meagre informatirn to help him in his task ; but he succeeded in finding his man nevertheless, managing the business with “ neatness and despatch.” He found the man in Orr’s dining-rooms, and entered into conversation with him, as one desirous of information about station work and wages, leading the conversation up to the other personal concern. At first the man stated that he cashed the cheque out of Wellington, hut on being close, pressed by Farrell, he admitted that lie had .cashed it in Wellington, and eventually “owned np,” as the Yankees say: lie produced the two £2onotes when requested, one of which' Farrell took possession of, and subsequently returned it to the bank.