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Patea Mail, Volume II, Issue 187, 24 January 1877, Page 2

We understand that there will be a great display of pedestrianism here on Saturday next, over the old sports ground Several of the competitors at the late Christmas and New Years’ sports are dissatisfied with some of the results, and consequently some four matches are likely to be run. Chief amongst them is W. Williams against Dixon. The latter is an up-country celebrity, and his friends are confident that he can beat the Carlyle champion. On the other hand, Williams’ friends are equally certain that the task is beyond his (Dixon’s) powers, and some lively betting is likely to be the result. As our Hawera readers will see, the valuation of the Hawera Town Board sections lias been made, and is now posted in the Court House. The Board will sit on the 15th February next to hear objections, and any to be made must be made before that day. The Skating Club here arc doing well, and have frequent practice. By the next season, instead of having to ask representatives of Wanganui to come here to show skating, Patea will be able to show them a similar example. We are glad to say Mr Derrett, jnn., who recently met with so severe an accident is going on most favorably. The same may be said of little Ted. Ussher, who was similarly injured. Dr Walker is superintending both. Things have been dreadfully dull here daring the last week, and money is becoming an unknown commodity. The E.M. Court has had no work to occupy it, and the re-action usual after Christmas and New Year has fairly set in. We are informed that in lieu of Mr Rawson, of New Plymouth, being appointed Clerk to the R.M. Court here, a gentleman named Baddeley, formerly holding a commission in Her Majesty’s Imperial troops, is likely to receive the appointment. We republish the rumor as we have received it without in any degree vouching for it s accuracy, though we have every reason to believe it correct.

One of the fiercest squalls that has been experienced for years, accompanied by heavy rain, thunder and lightning, swept over Carlyle yesterday afternoon. The wind blew in terrific gusts, and drove the rain into nooks and crannies of almost every house in the place. We believe that under the combined influences, scarcely a building proved thoroughly weatherproof. Some of the more looselj' built were flooded. Last evening the wind blew with great violence from the westward, and altogether, we regret to say, our farmers and crops have had a bad time of it during the last twenty-four hours. There will be two day’s cricket this week on the Carlyle ground. Friday, the Hawera-Waihi team will play the Waverley Club. On Saturday, the Patea Club will play the Waihi-Hawera the conquering match. Each club has, so far, scored a win, and this will be the deciding point.

About three months ago (says the Marlborough Express) we chronicled an elopement from the Hutt District, the parties being a married man, who left his wife and a large family, and a young lady in a respectable position. The runaways left here in the ‘Zoalandia, 1 but only went as far as Kandavan, wo “believe, and from there they found their way to some other of the Fiji Islands. The naughty little romance has had a fatal ending, as the young lady’s relatives here, we believe, received intelligence of her death. She was in very delicate health when she left here.

Before leaving for Napier, in his farewell speech at Queenstown, Mr Warden Beetham bore the following testimony to the high character of the miners—a class of men often under-estimated, and too lightly spoken of by persons who have no real acquaintance with them — “This being a goldfields community, I have necessarily been brought into intimate connection with the miners, and I cannot allude to them without stating my conviction—derived from a long and extensive intercourse with them—that, in many respects, a nobler, more manly, more intelligent, a more hard-working class of men it would be difficult to find. The isolated and independent life which they lead seems to generate a more than ordinary amount of self-reflection and selfreliance, I have frequently been astonished in Court at the acuteness —I might almost say subtlety—of their remarks and I am not ashamed to confess it, I have on more than one occasion been put right by them.” The Wellington correspondent writing to the Lyttelton Times says : —“ Considerable comment has been made here lately regarding the manner in which the Government steamers are being used. They are apparently entirely at the disposal of the Secretary of Customs, who dispenses his patronage in a most capricious manner. Recently, when one was going to Auckland, « young clerk who had obtained leave to visit his family there, was refused a passage on the ground that the Government steamers were not to be made pleasure yachli for the Civil service. Yet on that very trip she took up some half dozen favored officers, who were far better able to pay for passages in the usual way. And recently when the Stella was making one of her trips to the Brothers with lighthouse material, Mr Henry Travers wished to accompany Dr. Hector there for a scientific purpose. He applied to Dr. Pollen, who gave him full permission, but said he had better ask Mr Seed also, as it was his department. Mr Travers did so, and was met by a curt refusal, on the ground that people not connected with the Government service should not travel in GoA r ernment steamers. Yet, on Boxing Day, Mr Seed had a party of forty or fifty relations and friends on board the same vessel, and took them all round the harbor and to the lighthouse. The discourtesy shown to Mr Henry Travers is the greater when it is remembered that it is impossible to get to the Brothers by an ordinary steamer, and when his scientific services to }he Colony are remembered. He has, at bio own oxponso, twice visited the Chatham Islands, and made most valuable botanical and other scientific collections there, and has greatly enriched the Colonial Museum in a variety of ways. Yet because he was not a civil servant, or a personal friend of Mr Seed, he was treated in the manner mentioned. Some strong letters on the subject of the management of these steamers generally, and this case in particular, have appeared in the local papers. The poor old Luna is lying anchored in the Bay. It is understood she is for sale, and an offer from Melbourne has been received but not accepted. I have heard that the Government ask £4,500 for her. She originally cost them £9,000, I think. A discovery which brings recollections of the Wainwright murder case has been made at Rome. A box forwarded to the railway station there lay for such a length of time without being claimed that the officials of the company began to suspect, that something was wrong, and proceeded to open it. They found that it contained the remains of a young woman, but the body had been embalmed in such a manner that, although death had taken place long before, there were no signs of decomposition. At first the police experienced the greatest difficulty in obtaining any clue to the sender, but a diligent inquiry led to the discovery that the corpse had been preserved and packed by a master baker, occupying a good position in Naples, who had maintained the girl as his mistress. Traces of poison have been found in the body of the deceased, who was known in Naples as Giuseppina Gazzar, and little doubt is entertained that she met her death at the hands of the baker. Great sensation has been created at Naples by the disclosure of these facts, and the trial is looked forward to with anxiety.

Our Dunedin telegrams the ather day eotained brief mention of the fact that a chimney sweep, rejoicing in the worldwide name of Smith, had come into a fortune of £400,000. The Guardian says : “By the last mail from Europe, Henry Smith, who hails from London, where he was brought up to the profession of a chimney sweep, received a letter. As his education had never extended sufficiently beyond the alphabet to include the mysteries of reading and writing, the document was submitted to a friend. It proved to bo an intimation that a relative of Smith’s had died in London, leaving the moderate fortune of £400,000 behind him, and that Henry Smith, of Caversham, was the next of kin. An eminent legal firm in this city have now the business in hand, and from what has transpired it seems morally certain Mr Smith is on the eve of stepping into a fortune such as in his most sanguine moments he never dreamed of.”

A Greek named Angelo—no descendant of him of the Christian name of Michael of Mornington, Victoxia, selected a novel mode of terminating his mortal career. In a fit of insanity he drank half a pannikinful of molten lead, and then ran into a neighbour’s house bawling out “ Fire,” which was not to be wondered at. The friend having learned what had happened, poured oil down the Greek’s throat, causing him to bring up a lump of lead weighing nearly two ozs. He died shortly afterwards, and at the post-mortem examination half a pound of lead was taken from his stomach. This is nothing. Many a perfectly sane man has died from half-an-ounce of lead.

The English Cricketers (says the Taranaki Herald) left Sydney by the s.s. Tararua for Hokitika on the 17th. If the programme is followed as laid down by Mr Bennett, the English Cricketers will play first in Auckland, on the 29th and 30th, leaving for Wellington on the 31st, and playing their match there on Saturday, the 3rd, and on Monday and Tuesday, the sth and 6th ; they next visit Wanganui, and having played there, will come overland to New Plymouth, thence they vyill embark for Southern ports. From Christchurch they proceed to Greymouth, returning to Christchurch to embark for Dunedin. The last match will be played at Invercargill. Mr Bennett, the agent of the AllEngland Eleven, came ashore from the s.s. Taranaki on Thursday last, with a view to making final arrangements for the match proposed to be played here. He was met by Mr J. C. Davies, captain of the Taranaki C.C., and inspected the cricket grounds at Henui and at the Racecourse, The Racecourse ground was preferred on account of the conveniences in the shape of grand stand and other rooms connected therewith .

A singular buggy accident occurred near the Maori Kaik, Otago, on Boxing Day, Messrs Edwards and Morrison a buggy and pair for the purpose of having a look at the Maori village near Tairoa Heads, and upon reaching Portobello were directed to drive round the beach. Meeting some fishermen, they were told if they drove round a point they would see the village, only they would have a little water to go through. As they got near the rocks the water began to deepen, and was soon above the horses’ knees, An attempt was made to back out, but the horses could not move the vehicle. Mr Morrison then stripped, and got out and tried to work the wheels back so as to help the horses, but the wheels only slipped round. The horses then plunged forward, and they and the vehicle disappeared in about 30 feet of water, Mr Edwards swam asho; e, and it was quite providential that Mi Morrison had got out before the buggy sank, as he could not swim. The buggy was fished out of the water, but both the horses were drowned.

The following are the remarks (says the Taranaki Herald) of Judge Gillies in his charge to the Grand Jury, having reference to the duty of magistrates : —ln this case [a cattle stealing charge] it appears to me that the committing magistrate or his clerk has been evidently very ignorant of his duty. Without alluding to minor irregularities, the depositions which were returned appear to have been forwarded to the Crown Prosecutor, and afterwards to the Registrar of this Court ; but instead of having annexed to them the usual certificate by the magistrate, in the form given in the Justices ol the Peace Act—allowing that these depositions were taken in the case —there was nothing returned, but a loose sheet of paper. Recognisance and information are in another place altogether; the whole being in a most irregular form. I wish magistrates to remember that it is their duty by law, on committing a persm for trial, to cause the information, depositions, and recognizances to ho delivered to the Registrar of this Court ; that the depositions ought to be fastened together in the form provided by the statute. In the present case nothing of that kind was done, and consequently, if these depositions werj required on the trial, they would be perfectly valueless At the same time, I think you will agree with mo that magistrates should be careful in putting the criminal law in motion where the right of ownership is disputed.

The public are poisoned in so many various ways by the food they eat, by the water they drink, by the air they breathe, and by the paper with which they cover the walls of their houses, that they will hear with but a languid interest of another poisoning method by which their illnesses are caused and their liver occasionally destroyed. Yet it may bo worth while to call attention to a paper read at a mooting of the Society of Public Analysts at Glasgow, “ On Enamelled Cooking Vessels." Though not struck at by the Act of Parliament, there could be no doubt, said Mr Tatlock, the author of the paper in question, that the use of many ordinary cooking vessels was calculated to introduce poisons into the food prepared in them. Brass vessels for the preparation of jams, &c., had been frequently pointed out as dangerous, but Mr Tatlock’s object was to deal with enamelled pots. The results of his analysis showed that the enamel contained too much silica. The use of these improperly enamelled pans would undoubtedly cause poisoning by arsenic and lead.

The song of the Russian volunteers when setting out for Servia gives some indication of the feeling of the people there towards England. It is a passionate imprecation against England, The author, Mr Touquenen, represents Queen Victoria and her maids of honor playing croquet with heads of the victims of the Bulgaidan massacres. All at once he exclaims—- “ See the youngest of the Queen’s daughters, a charming child, sends one of these heads further away from the others, and makes it reach her mother’s feet. A child’s head, with curly locks, its livid little mouth murmurs reproaches. The Queen utters a cry of horror, and indescribable terror veils her eyes ; the Queen enters her palace ; she is alone and begins to dream, her eyelids close—horror ! the Avhole skirt of her dress is soiled with a bloody stain. Let it be taken away immediately, wash it out for me, rivers of England. Never will the Royal House of England be cleansed of that stain of innocent blood,”

The annexation of Fiji has resulted in a difficulty even more appalling than the epidemic of measles which presented itself contemporaneously with the assumption of the government of the Islands by her most gracious Majesty the Queen. It appears that the King of Fiji has taken very kindly to the missionaries laboring amongst his interesting people, and, being desirous of giving a substantial pledge of his gratitude, he selected seven handsome young female Fijians, and has asked the Governor to forward them to the chief amongst the London Missionary Society’s laborers as the rev. gentleman’s wives. The worst of it is that his Majesty cannot be made to understand the grounds of the Governor’s refusal to act as a wholesale matrimonial agent, and trouble may ensue.