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Patea Mail, Volume II, Issue 143, 23 August 1876, Page 2

The cxi'itimes of tin; Acclimatisation Society fvri'ii < llters, in sotting tlie .skylark free in this district, have been attended with.iniiisnai. -success, tor the little Houg> sters can be heard every morning npwdii; various direct ions round, and they seem to have Ihnnished exceedingly. During the present season their {.numbers will. doubtlessly lie largely nndtipied, and the thanks ui th;i piib.ie are heartily due to t hose v, ho introduced so welcome a feathered musical -sonvepir of the v old. country. 0 ,• /

At the present time, it is considered no great featSu iiiovea'liuhs'e in itscntireiy'ahy 1 distance p(| solid ground, even, if tjie,route to be tmWrsell is somewhat hilly', * biit it is not every., day that wg hear of a building, all standing, crossing a bridge on its way to a future site. Ikich was, however, the ease at Whenuakura on Monday'last, when the hotel. there, occupied hy Mr Lloyd,, bodily ililted j’ from’ its .late,..location to (Ids side of the' river, and was safely placed in its-'intended' position‘there. removal was eifgqtQdiu«Mwl)fi[cleverly and ingeniously, but most expeditiously, and the bridge was got over in an admirable manner, traftic .being; but a very short yitna. inter-,, fiiptoti by its passage.' The bridge itself .must; ho a -jwe}!-, built? stnictiu’O To, ;.otirny itjuch an unlooked for weight, without sustaining the slightest lilijtny. Travellers who passed up and had their glass of ale in the hotel on oho -side of the river on Seniday, cpuld havo'c'allcd there on Monday other sidfe'of thdStfekfh,' refreshed,, themselves. The building is a good size, and do so move it ‘was 1 riot easy. Great credit is due to Mr Strachan for the manner in which lie executed it.

; Of hdc several of the business men of, : this, township! ‘andi other places in' the -.neighborhood, who are.getting goods from Dunedin and more distant places, .have 1 dnistsedigoeds from cases, which'have, when opoMod, been* most mysteriously sboVt of the mvoices 'accompanying 'them.' It has been generally supposed by the receivers" that 'errors/ had been made by the houses shipping,-jjn packing the cases, and a good 1 deal of'correspondence has cqnseqtipntly taken place, the latter asserting that the goods were invariably^,.spit .as per invoice,, andJhat tjie. cases. <juiustlbee3. tampered with on the way. A key to the problem ;bas recently been supplied. /Most df those ;having, goods have. employed.Mr . VVfighti of Wanganui, to receive, store, and forward dm packageS- oiThefo,/ JindheUiAsihad a man named Casey in his employ, who had access to, and cave of bil Store. /Ifrqrnt circuTu,stauccs 'that came to Mr Wright’s knowledge, this maif Casey was given into cnstoiljS v ahdiseveral%rtidl.es : thaT.liad beeud missed found on him. There can be little doubt that he has been pursuing a regular .system of robbery,' which is, fortunately for all parties, now brought to A conclusion.* 1 /During 'the time that goods iuivo been missed, in noinstance has any large quantity been taken from one case or package, but 101 l lias been exacted from all, in; Such quantities as to justify those receiving Diem in thinking that by some mistake the correct amount bad not been sent:, whilst the greatest 'skill ‘iii opening :in i d rod using has been shovvn r W e bear that some of the Patea residents will have to make' a [fripVto Wanganui dn Casey’s account, for the purpose of identifying some of the articles found in ; his : pbsscsSiOll. -i'- .. ; •

The foollj-tll niatcli between, the Patea and Waiigamn'districts,’came off at Wanganni last.Saturday, and prpyed to be oiy?. uf the most'closely!contestcd.gamos wh'icli has ever lieen played between the two districts. Some error is-said to have, been made in the scoring,’the Patea t(jaui claiming to have, won the game by f ialf ;.a point,., whilst the Wangamiitos ou tlie other hand, allege tliat. they won by. One,poiiit and a-, liallv ; This; dillieronce r occurred i through a Wanganui elaiming'a'-f-touch down’.’ after time-had been called by the Patea umpire.’■ 'No-goals w'ere obtained on either side; and therefore, as a ' avoso/dn ‘thfd abovematter;' it was 'iiifiyersally acknowledged that- the .'■niatefi'' should be ' considered;,'a drawn 0n0..., ; T)ie uiajority of the.inembers <iJ: both- teams i gpC ooufjiderably,yknocked- ' about, but no one ;i was eqripusly daniaged, ; ’The•Wnijganui te,am .entertained'our local players at a liberal dinner at-the? Ship! .Hotel aft’er:tl r iei lAatoh 1 , after: which songs were indulged in,-and 4114 *comp£fny ; parfecl : ’ iif k, feeiiAgi ' W’liatevef'ifiay 1 gatti;e, f wl i otlfor tl#e ‘ ' Patea' 'cab claim the ’ honors',.’ is mo great matter; 'biif t lip .good .feeling .engendered ( bctwcpii.tlio hieipbers,.of; the,twp.clubs,by -,the. hospitality of., lhq» former ,is..yoifyt' Vnaf^'ifih'NhdE.were, it i)njy.,.fpi; that*[endfit.* uY)uid;-b'e I,well lif such friendly i coritestb ' were far more 'frequentiinala'- ordernto: determine the vexed points at issue, we : understand tbat-that great Aiithority, the

A ustralasiarif is; to be appealed .-'to, And: a'• statement 1 of-'the'* fadta’forwarded - for * ahopinion. ' After : this : ss' : given there can be no aopeal, 1 bnt'in any case the harmony between, the clubs will , not. be disturbed. The return match, we hear, will not come ol£ this season.

Tlio adjourned Hospitaliiieeliug emm-v----off on Sai tmlay-evening last, but owing to the.inclement state- of tlio, weather there L*. ( i i V. !:e;. < *•■■■■ l , . . wdfb v 'hardly’As Umnny '.present i.as i would otherwise have, been the ease.. . ,Mr Win. ■bale was elected to the chair, and after reading tlioMid^Vtiseineiifcalling the meeting, touched upon .the gi'eal d.-si lability that existed For tlie establishment of a permanent hospital in Patea. There, had been so many accidents .of late, that this' was absolutely necessary, as at present there was no decided place to put : patients. He then called uppu Mr Lett, the convener of the meeting;, Wlio briefly, stated that he . had called the-meeting in-order to ascertain the feeling ofitlieidlstrict uponUhe matter, jan.d would like to hear the opinion of the imeeting on ‘ the‘'subject. ‘ Mr Hirst then iproposed, and. Mr Lett, seconded That jin tlie'opihibn of this meeting, it is highly jdpsirable,,.both,,as.a .matter of policy, .and jaisOiip .tlic/intorestsj of cpnniipa Imumuity, fth'at steps sliould be ;at once taken towards joponing a permanent hospital in Carlyle, for the beiiciit of’sufferers from accident or illness, in'the 'district,' north arid south f L.i .. . h.j.vpj'f . t t ',> .■;I V I of this town.” 'This'was carried tniani-. moilsly, It was proposed by Lett, seconded (by Mr J. Fackcnlmm, and carried ;—“ That Ja telegram ' be -sent’ ■ to • Major 'Atkinson, asking ;-,biiiv to .Allow a- portion ,of .the,, iliumigration Barracks ,to bo used as, a temporary hospital.” .Great regret was Expressed by jsovCTal present,- at, the luke-r Iwarinucss of the country settlers iu the mattery as they would no doubt derive the greatest benelit from 'the establishment of a hospital. ; Mr McHi|'iro proposed, Mr jHirst sebbntied'f and it’ was carried: —“ That Messrs Lett, 'Williams, arid Hankins, bo appointed, a committee ( .with power to add, to jtlieir’ number, to take steps towards , the formation of a district hospital.” A resolution was also carried' to the effect that ‘the chairman .forward 5 copies of the resolutions passed at the meeting to Major Atkinson; cliairimiV then proposed a jvote of thanks to Mr Lett, for the very active part ho had taken in the matter) knd wished there were a few more like } him in Paten. The resolution -was carried enthusiastically. . The usual,vote of thanks to the chair terminated, the meeting. J * f ■ ' ■ •

j We regret to say that one of the Australian magpies lately liberated here hascaiwo ;td ah 'untimely fend, having'been found ‘drowned in Mr Lett’s water-butt on.Mon - ;day morninglast. Ho wit came t lie re docs not iappear, but that it was accidental ly drowned iwas evident. It was in splendid condition, jand its plumage ffliowed-that-qt was in [excellent health.. A pair of these birds [were recently flying about , tiro outskirts :of the - township, and the defunct was iprobably one. The other lias either met [with some equally ; disastrous end, or has [sought other company, for it'has not been 'seen since.

The fine' weather of the last' few days jhas had a most favourable effect throughlout the district,-and'already-fanners’ hopes are high for future crops. Lambing also has set in early, and! the increase is so far highly satisfactory. Indeed pastoral ami agriculturalprospeots are exceedingly good) and settlers have every reason for great satisfaction, afethe..present outlook. A : second wire: is’ being rim between Mow • Plymouth ■; and'Hawera,; whereby direct communication will be obtained with 'Wellington. , Hitherto all messages have .been sent from. New Plymouth, by the ‘.Wanganui' wire,, but the, addition will 50011 bo completed, when present inconvenience will JbO Obviated. !.

i The Canterbury Challenge Football Team* propose tohsbt 'blit on; theiiv tour on the 24th inst, and play at all the'chief places in the colony. Whether- they will or will not be as unsuccessful as the Auckland champions,' who went out on a similar excursion:, some time since, and) were

worsted in..nearly every match, remains to bo scon. They will play against Taranakf a,bout the 2nd of September, and the local -team there arc making all preparations. •In the list gfven by the local paper appear ffhd harhes of .Messrs G. and F. Bayly,- both :df whom hail frbnrMokoia, in addition to* •which it states > that two others are to be -chosen from Patea. Captain (Rowan has b'een chosen urnpire.for Taranaki. ’ | Our readers; w ill see by ;an advertisement .in another column,-that the weR-known fine Entire horse ,-‘f Wellington,’! the , property ,o|E Sy'mes ■ Bros., will .bo at The service of n'eedera -this' sensor.), and’will travel weekly between Waitotara and Hawera.- ■

| Ameeting:of tho members of the Church of held last evening, for the ,p|urp^'se : nf electihg’a parishioners’ Church--warden, in the .stead of iMr. i Dyer : was bnanimo.v sly, chosen, and Septets on his duties'forthwith;' ni si ;.y , I A’ special meeting, of - tlie Tbwn.,Board held last evening, -for ,the purpose,-of framing conditions of sale oflciascof thirty three 'acres' of Ihfe' Ce'm’etery ''reeef ve’J ■ ! This ’ia : to he on ’tho’ ,2Gth.inst. '■ Tliere : was .a.jlittle -other, .business, but; .nothing of- the slightest, pliblic importance. - 1 ! The following items',are. the,latest .telegrams; from; New-.iSouth/ Wales The. Governments’;of i! the respective colonies intend to unite in a' protest against * the threatened-,release o£ ai number . of Coni-, munists at New Caledonia. —At billiards, Roberts beat Dean by two hundred and -fifteen points. The play was brilliant,”

' We remind-cricketers that the .adjourned .meeting of 1 lie Patea Ulnh will be held on It rid ay - evening, »t the Aibion hotel. As a very clear proof that Masonry is ’’progressing in the Colony, despite, the absurd attempts of some to traduce mid misre present lllat iiistiliilion, we may slate . that a new lodge was opened at \\ aitara on the loth instant. We take the following in reference to the ceremony from the Taranaki Herald of Saturday, last..;— I ‘‘Tl.id opening of a l i 'reemasons’.Lodge at Waitara on Tuesday evening last, brought together a goodly number of the craft to take part in so important a ceremony, upwards of forty members arriving .by special, train (from New Plymouth ; altogether there j were about .sixty brethren present.; This lis the first Lodge opened, under dispensation from the District GrandfiMaster,,and, ;to commemorate , the event, it !has been 'named the “ Sir Donald’McLean . Lodge.” Brother P.M.. William Black has been elected the first master, and from'’his' general knowledge of ! Freemasonry’ and untiring energies' ‘.on behalf of the craft, a more Worthy master could hot have been chosen. Some years ago he bad the honor of opening, the .that Lodge at Wanganui,cm -which'occasion a magnificent piece of plate was presented: to him., Thejpresent Lodge being opened- .under dispensation on?} r , tlio ceremony of its consecration,; dedication, and installation of officers can only taker place under warrant from the idrand'Lodge of England, which is expected by the next" English mail. After the closing of tlie'Loclge; bretlwen sat down to supper,' Which .hadl been supplied by mine host Brothbrl Cold Well, Audi the 1 iisnal loyal, and other' toasts .were drunk with all honor. In consequence, however, of the time being limited,, the speechifying was necessarily curtailed. Brother P.M. f

Black, in a few appropriate remarks/ returned thanks to .the..toast n of, theieyepngpj Shortly., .before cloven., pfplock^,-Brother. Smith left the table,, .and as it.was kno'NVlithe train was under his meeting.; [was soon after brought 1 to 1 a conclusipnl i On departure of the train from the station,, three hearty, cheers wore giyeu ; by the’ brethren remaining., .on the platform for the; brethren-who had', so kindly 'Attended* from town to inaugurate nohauspiciousarioccasioa/V; •••• • c.ni am I -

- The'following warning appears in, the., Herald ,■ and may prove useful’ to vcountry! settlers clsewiicre :—“ On Wednesday last a family at Bell Block, consisting of the parents ' and five children, Were poisdnted r through' eating pickled eabbag-c that had heeivprCserved in an earthenware pot? which had originally been used for keeping sheep, dip* in : . Although tlieipot/had beeii empty between three and four years,-and before being, made use of had.bepn boiled ip spap and water, yet it appeals the poison must have st-fil adhered to the: sides; i The 'con-; sequence was tliat the whole:family l That" partook-of, the pickle Werb'aflheted%ith l ai very severe sickness which ‘continued for about ten hours. I)P St. George was in attendance, anpwte are ghul to learn that he reports that they are out of danger and doing well.” -

Captain Sheet lias retdrned safely, after an adventurous attempt to picrce the country between Hawera and the Waikato. He did not quite succeed;-but did a great deal,' and, by his trip,* has-added materially to previous topographical knowledge of that part of the colony.- Tire Taranaki Herald of Saturday supplifes ; thc‘' following , additional particulars —“ Captain' Sheet, as reported in our last, has retm-nod from the exploring expedition ,of which he'- was incommand, after haying. spent nine -weeks in the bush, J bdfc a party under CaptainSheet’s son h l ,now ■ out with a ; yieW; |ft>’ striking the track Which it i 3; supposed up tain Skeet would take. The weather is said to have been wet and cold, on the division of the party, only two blankets were left amongst five persons, it must have been uncomfortable.' The country travelled „ through was, chiefly, dense bush. Pigs were'met with oh the way But no natives were seen-by, the, party. .It is . said that Captain Skeet reached to within : qboutfourteen i-nilesjof the ; ]J'pper Waikato and could have got through in-seven or eight'.days’,, [buf provisions!ran short: a-fid the party fell sick. The party travelled , about twp-miles„a ! day, having to cut every - step of the way through the scrub.” (The - Wellington- Argus, hears that a 'niioveraent is on foot-amongst Masonsdn New Zealand, holding. under the Grand Lodge of Scotland, todeclaretheir independence and form a Grand Lodge -of New Zealand, after the example of their Cana-' 1 dian brethren*;-; Steps are, we learn, being [taken to test the opinion' 'of the various Scottish,'' Lodges- -iadNew.Zcalaridi oh the -'subject, and*the proposal appears generally ; popular. ; ' : A'conference of Lodge delegates will probably be held* at Wellington at fan early’date' to' consider the matter. r ; If'has., been said that Melbourne,is';., as. much infested -with beggars - as Constantinople, and in point of filth there is nothing > to choose j between ..thecWictorlam, mendicants ,an,d, thos.e of Staniboul—in fact, dirt is a necessaiy - certificate of character - to the , former, a clean] > deeeritly-aressed' beggar is liable to bo regarded-, as some--: thing worse than a beggar. A distinguished ■ visitor-to Melbourne not long ago is said to have declared that “ Every fifth ’ manyou mfeet is a beggar.' 1 ’

An inlm-sliug -account *nf 'a! ’curious/ Mam ,is ”IvPii by Mr Biis>h inMp-' cdnhibiifmn.s to the,“ ih-porls from officers of laid bi-inj-e Parliament The cenhiumy . ’described caljed-'' to ralcau o te mute.” It a()pc.'n-stjiatTuwhiao’s little <l:iii“litt'r had'•died, fhtd-ns be bad expressed tears that: bis oilier, children would be carried off, the switch used to brush away the flies during her illness was carried from Ponwere to Raglan as a preventive measure,- the place selected for depositing the obnoxious stick being Papahua, a sandy flat near the place where the girl had lived during' a visit to Raglan. The ancient Maori, custom, invariably t adopted when a chief of rank died, was to i retain the - takad,’ jbr stick, for a, year' or i lortgetV and it 'Was, pien/freqflently convoyed to the pa 'or residence of a former (enemy against a grudge was still Cheiished,'wheri if any person of the [opposite tribe was met by ,the party,,,he iWa’S' instantly killed, which usually resulted iirt a war •or ; i£ .no ; 'person /was/met,> the [stick -was .left, and? aftowards an : armed tparly ;wcnt and .attacked the pa.' It will [be. easily; understood, bow. : this . absurd 'custom must ;haye;, been a.perpetual eause» iof intertribal war. Mr Bush,- however, 1 (states that in the' -present instance the (former custom was'“ more honored in the (breach than In the observance,” seeing (that though’' hearers of. the'stick met jsevin-al Europeans' and' a half-caste oh the’ jroad they did not m'olest them in any way.' ■Another reason-for' carrying the stick Was jtha'S'm famous- -toVmnga,- or wizard/; had' jsfated, ex cathedra,- that none of Tawhiao’s [children would live l because (the 'Natives [had been guilty of-the skcrilegioud negligence of not conveying Potatau’s stick to koine rcmote place. 1