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Patea Mail, Volume II, Issue 161, 25 October 1876, Page 2

There has been some difficulty occasioned through the site for the Literary Institute building being mixed up in the late leases of the Town Board. All has been now arranged, and the site is duly gazetted as the property of the committee. This should give them fresh energy, and contr - bute alike to the benefit of the institution, and the advantage of the township.

An operation for cancerous tumour of a serious nature, was performed by Dr. Walker yesterday, on a Mr Burrows, who is an inmate of the “ temporary hospital.” Wc learn that this unfortunate sufferer is progressing favorably. The following are the weights for the Patea District Handicap’ to be run at Wairoa on the 9th November :—Folly 9st 71b ; Firetail, 9st ; Cornelia, Bst 121b; Treason, Bst 101b ; Flora McDonald, Bst 7Jb ; Cripple Kate, Bst 71b; Satellite, Bst Bib ; Iniquity, Bst 31b ; Sailor, 7st 101b 1 Patrick, 6st 31b. We would refer our readers to our fourth page, where will be found an advertisement,from Mr T, Bush, draper of Wanganui. We would also call attention to Messrs T. S. Wymond and Go’s advertisement, which appears in another column. The new township of Woodville, as it is termed, is at least being properly laid out. Tenders were recently called for clearing some of the streets, and the lowest was 14s per chain, the highest being .exactly double that amount. Skilled surveyors are being employed upon the work, and the money needed to make the new settlement available, is to be furnished Without stint. Already, it is said, problematical sections are rising in problematical value. We may say that there will be no fear of future fiascas in connection with the streets of this township, as the proprietor proposes to vest all streets in a public trustee. We may add that Larson and party obtainedthe contract for clearing.

Mr T. Pi. Procter, has had a very good time in Patea, all things being taken into consideration. On Saturday night last, bis seance was exceedingly well attended, and a number of fortunate winners emerged from it, one ex-member of the A.O. force bringing with him no less than &2o worth of honestly gained prizes. Others were also more or less lucky, and fortune seemed to run contra to the holder of the bag, a result very opposed to usual custom. Last night was the last night, and Mr Procter, with his goods, leaves to-day for Wanganui.

The following telegram was received by Mr W. Dale on Monday last, from his Honor the Superintendent, F. A. Carrington, Esq.:—“ Re Ratepayer’s meeting 25th Road Board District, a general meeting will be called for the end of November, to fix rates, and appoint Commissioners. This matter has been unavoidably delayed till now, through the changes about to take place.” Death has been .amongst old residents of late. We are sorry to say that Mr William Kells, brother of Mrs S. Taplin of this town, passed away on Sunday last, in Wanganui, at the early age of 24 years. The cause of death was consumption. A Nelson clergyman, in the course of his sermon on a recent Sunday, made use of the following illustration :—The way of truth is a complete way—not like onr railway, which professes to be a railway to Fox Hill, but stops two miles short of it. The wav of truth loads to Heaven.

The funeral of the late Mrs Odgers, of the Australasian Hotel, took place ori Sunday last, and was the most numerously attended sad ceremonial of the kind that has been witnessed in Carlyle of late years. The deceased and her husband have been highly respected in this township for a number of years, and on this occasion the residents paid the last teslimony possible, by accompanying her remains to tllß cemetery. The funeral conducted by Hr If. J. Smith —moved from the Australasian Hotel at a little before three o’clock. The Cortege, before reaching its destination, numbered fully a hundred persons, including all the leading business men and settlers of illO district. Through some mischance the Rev. Mr Dasent, the Episcopalian incumbent of the parish, could not perform the setvice, and Captain Wray, as lay reader, officiated in his stead. Notwithstanding the absence of the orthodox minister, the ceremony was conducted in a most impressive and decorous manner, and the greatest credit is due to those who took part in the proceedings. The Rev, Mr. -Dasent was engaged to hold services at Waihi on the day in question. Though in a quiet way, Wairoa is certainly going ahead, and the buildings that are going up in the neighborhood are sufficient evidence of the fact. Amongst the principal alterations in the township itself, may be said to be the additions to Air Hogg’s store, a verandah, extra store accommodation, &c. Messrs McFarlano and Co. have made the additions, and the way In which they have done their work is a credit to them, as also to Mr Hogg for his enterprise. In the Resident Magistrate’s Court, Car* lyle, on Monday last, James Quin, for being drunk and disorderly, was lined 10s with the alternative of 48 hours. The iinc was paid.

A copy of the Belfast Wcehhj News, has an article which notices the prosperity of the Katikati settlement. Care is taken, however, to show that New Zealand is in a bad state, and the article concludes thus: — New Zealand is no doubt, a fine colony on the whole, the best our countrymen who must emigrate could select ; but it is not a'l a Katikati! The Government hesitates about doing anything for the idle, starving people whom it has bought from their native soil ; but the some Government, as a correspondent, quoting from an land paper, informs us, does not hesitate to spend £BOO in the encouragement of a Maori feast at Parawai, the chief characteristics of which were drunkenness, indecent dances, and immorality, encouraged by native preachers. To keep the Maoiis feasting, and the immigrant Irish fasting, is not very praiseworthy on the part (f the Government, and ought to teach our people to slay at home and work at home.”

It is stated (says the Wairarapa Standard), that a man, wife, and daughter left this district some 27 years ago, after accumulating property to some considerable amount, and took cabin passages from Wellington, But on their way back they took advantage of the free immigration, and arrived per the last ship, and are now in the valle}'. This is the second time the passages of these people have been paid by this country. The latest news by the ’Frisco mail states that Messrs Moody and Sankey have quarrelled. Mr. Moody, it is alleged, has appropriated the lion’s share of the profits arising from the very profitable business of converting sinners to repentance. Mr Sankey, whose singing “drew” quite as much as Mr Moody’s preaching, naturally objected, and threatens law proceedings. The scandal will probably bo hushed up by Mr Moody paying over to Mr Sankey the amount he apparently intended to bank to bis own credit. When accounts have been squared it is to be hoped Mr Sankey will withdraw anything he might have said calculated unnecessarily to wound M r Moody’s feelings ; at the same time he will most likely reserve to himself the right of watching Mr Moody very closely in the future, 'to obviate any further collapse of conscience on the part of the money taker. Messrs Moody and Safikey must have done pretty well, on the whole, since they have been on the missionary business, and some people will regret anything that may arise to make them believe these Yankee revivalists to be no more than “ showmen ” of a bold and original type.

An English paper states that, during the excessively hot weather that has prevailed in London of late, mosquitoes have made their appearance in considerable force. It is alleged that they have been involuntarily imported in the luggage of passengers from the West Indies. In some of the principal hotels they were so troublesome that the sojourners there, unaccustomed to such a nuisance, were obliged to relinquish possession in favour of the invaders.

The following singularly characteristic advertisement appeared in'a! late issuo of the Ross Guardian Notice.—l the undersigned, hereby give notice, that I will not be responsible for any damage done by red cow, ear marked.- That I bought her from P. W. Ryan, arid have returned -.the same, not being in calf according to guarantee.- — J. M Gowan.

Several fatal accidents have occurred in Canterbury lately. A young girl, 19 years of age, was walking across a street in Christchurch with a baby in her arms, when she was knocked down and killed by a cab, tlie Infant escaping. At Lyttelton an elderly lady having occasion to go from her bedroom to anothe.r part of the house, the kerosene lamp she was carrying fell, sot fire to her night-dress, and caused such' injuries that she died a few hours after, A man named 'William Stewart, 63 years of age, was drowned in the Iliver Avon, in Christchurch, the same week.

Not a bad instance of “ Scotch wit” occurred in Dunedin lately, and is worth detailing. An “ Old Identity,” hailing from the “ Land o’ cakes,” whose residence in the Taieri plain has somewhat sharpened Ins illative wit, if not filled his pockets, paid the city a visit for the purpose of disposing of his produce. His business over, Sawnie was having a look round before returning home. Curiosity led him into one of those well-known “ Loan and Discount houses, whore the first object that met his eye was, “ The man of business,” with spectacles on and fair round belly with fat capon lined, seated behind the counter engaged in elaborate calculation over his profits and returns. Curiosity again got the better of our hero, and bo asked, “ ITao, mon, what dae ye soil in this shoji ?” Onr local Shylock, not smelling a customer, and wishing to shut up the inquisitive Scot, replied shortly and in no gentle tone, “ Block-heads, sir!” “ Ac, mon,” retorted the other, “ what a gnid sale ye-maun hac had, for I see only ano left,” and departed, feeling himself for once master of the situation. The shearers at Oamaruboast of a society which has now been founded three years* Its object is maintaining the price of labor and affording timely relief to those who require it. There are now 200 members, and they have to their credit about £l5O available in cases of accident or distress. People (remarks a Dunedin exchange) should not indulge in practical jokes, and no one Will be more sensible of that than David Evans, who has just been committed for trial by (lie Court of Petty Sessions at Oftmaru, for stealing a purse containing £5 belonging to a felloW-workman. Evans maintains persistently that the whole thing Was a joke, and that he had no felonious intent. So strongly was the Inspector of Police at Oamaru impressed with this view of the matter that when the charge was first laid he endeavored to dissuade tlie prosecutor from proceeding with it. The points strongly Urged on Evans’s behalf were his respectability and well-known character, and the fact that he possesses a large credit balance at the bank, all of which should, it was urged by Ids counsel, prevent any inference being drawn to bis prejudice The Bench considering that the evidence did not bear out the line of defence, 1 bought their plain duty to commit Evans for trial, which they accordingly did, accepting bail in his own recognisance of £25.

A decision of considerable importance (says a Northern paper) to persons who have married their deceased wife’s sister, a not uncommon occurrence in this part of the world, was given the other day in Sydney. It appears that some years ago a man named Boyce married a girl in Victoria. She died, and he married her sister at Fiteroy, near Melbourne, in 1870. Subsequently* the Victorian Government passed a law legalising shell marriages. Boyce having been sued the other day by his wife for maintenance, the legality of the second marriage . was argued. After conferring with the Attorney-General, the Court ruled that as the defendant married his deceasedwife’s sister before the statute was passed in Victoria, the marriage was illegal, and that her claim for maintenance could not be recognised; This seems to place the wife in a rather* anomalous position.

The number of illegitimate births registered in this colony in 1875 was, according to the Registrar-General’s statistics, 196, or equivalent to 1.36 per cent of the births registered. This is considerably less than the English rate in 1873, which was .12• per cent. After that, who will charge the colonists with a lack of national virtue.

Some of the Maori witnesses examined in the Supreme Court the other day (says a Wellington contemporary) in Te Puni's case were rather pointed in their replies to questions put to them through the interpreter. One, an aunt of the prisoner, to the question, whether she kept drink in her house where the prisoner might have obtained it, replied,- “ Am I a European that I should keep drink in my hoitse for friends?” When Mr Wi Tako, M.L.C., went into the Witness box, Mr Barton enquired if he knew sufficient of English that the examination might be made without interpretation. His answer to the interpreter, given with a cyrtical smile, was, “Tako.knoWs that Asked afterwards if the grandmother of Te Puni drank, Ire asked in apparent surprise, “ Would an old woman drink 7" Mr Wi Tako is evidently not a frequent visitor to the police courts. A Scotchman one asked an Irishman why the’ English make so small a coin as halffarthings ?“ Why,” replied Pat, to give a Scotchman' a chance to' subscribe to charitable institutions.” ' , .