NEWS OF THE DAY.

Patea Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 987, 22 January 1883, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Hay reserved for winter feed is being served out to cattle around this district owing ; to ; pasture- being ..dried, ,up..= The very swamps arebardened, and the ground cracked over the surface. On Saturday, an unfortunate beast, which had sought to get to the river, was found bogged in the mud flat. It was a mere living skeleton, and had apparently been there several days. The gentlemen who discovered it, killed the animal to put it out of its misery. Water is becoming scarce in the town, and in one populous part a well, attached to a gentleman’s section, has to supply the neighbourhood.

The Patea Rifle Volunteers ai;e reminded that To-morrow evening at 7-30, Captain Taplin, and a Justice of the Peace will be at the Barracks for the purpose of swearing members in under the new regulations. Persons who are not members of- the present corps, but .would like to join are also invited to attend. Colour-Sergeant .Kells, and Sergeant Whelan will also be in attendance to receive the arms and accoutrements and company’s property of the Cadet corps, and of those members of the Patea Rifles who do not intend reenrolling. The'Patea Cricket Clubwill pla} T their return match with the Hawera Club nest Saturday, on the ground: of the former. Patea should go in for practice this week so that they may retain their laurels. His Excellency the Governor, Sir William Jervois, arrived at Wellington from Sydney'by the s.s. WakatipU at midnight on Friday, when the Premier, Mayor, Hons. Bryce, Johnston, and other.gentlemen went off to meet him. In order to ■fail;} in with arrangements made, His Excellency did nol land until Saturday afternoon, when, addresses .of welcome were presented and His- Excellency, after being introduced to the legislative, clerical, and civic dignitaries, was accompanied by an imposing procession to Government House. • * The annual meeting of the Patea Institute will be held on Thursday evening. There is a debt of about £SO, and- we hope to see a large attendance of subscribers, because it will be necessary to devise means to carry bn for another year. The Institute might serve a very useful purpose, but the amount of support accorded is about sufficient to dishearten those who have tire management. The banquet to Mr Win. Fergus, at Queenstown, on Friday, was a groat success. The Hon. Mr Rbllestoh said that if lie bad been opposed to the Otago Central Railway beforeyhe was now convinced that it was a colonial work, and he believed now that in this line the colony possessed a valuable asset requiring only judicious administration.

The Otago Presbyterian Synod spent six hours, over the deceased wife’s sister question, before they finally decided to adopt the decision of the Presbyteries—namely, to let the question stand exactly as it is. At the Christchurch Supreme Court, on Friday, John Meiklejohn, a Hororuta farmer, was sentenced to eight years’ penal servitude for stealing sheep from Sir John Hall and Mr Cordy, a station owner. The Auckland Star has the following : A habitue of the Police Court made a good bon mot this morning. An old female vagrant made a desperate effort to enlist the sympathy of the presiding magistrate hy ejaculating “I have been forty years in New Zealand and helped to leap the first wheat sown here,” whereupon the habitue aforementioned remarked sotto voce , “ and agricultural pursuits seem to have agreed with you as you have been sowing your wild oats ever since.” A Chinese gardener at Wellington has given a donation of £lO 10s to the local hospital. This act of munificence shows that John Chinaman can be frugal without being parsimonious. A boy named George Guthrie employed at a biscuit factory in Wellington bad bis left arm’ severely crushed’ on Friday, through placing it near the rollers of a dough breaking machine.

The annual meeting os householders in the several school districts under the. Wanganui Education Board will be held at sovoir o’clock this evening when the election of School Committees will take place. •

The householders in Patea district are reminded that the. election of a school committee for the ensuing year will take place this evening at the schoolhouse, at 7 o’clock.

Mr E. 0. Horner lias been appointed agent for the Public Trustee at Wellington. - .

Mr H. F. Christie returned from bis sojourn south on Saturday evening, and has apparently received great benefit froth bistrip. He leaves shortly for the hot lakes in the north.

Samples of raw silk manufactured locally’ by Mr Pederli are on view at Christchurch, and will be sent Home,

A cablegram states that in the cricket match, England v. Australia, the innings of the first named closed for. 204, and the 1 Australians for 114. At the close of Saturday’s play the Australians* in their second innings, had scored 28 runs for the loss of one wicket.

;The- polling for the|Peninsula- takes place to-day. Wells having resigned in favour of Donnelly, the contest is between Bishop Moran, Larnach, and; Donnell} 7 . Great interest is - taken• in the -election. The general belief is that Larnach will win, and the Bishop will be at (lie foot of the poll. At Donnelly’s ’meeting lastnight, Messrs Fish and Barron, M.H.R.’s, proposed and seconded the vote of confidence. The. Catholics and denominationalists will support the Bishop, the Orangemen having decided for Larnach The Trades and Labour Council espouse the cause of Donnelly.

The London Daily Telegraph of Oct. 29 publishes an article on the, rapidly increasing prices of meat, which encourages New‘./Zealanders' who' contemplate shipping frozen , mutton to England to persevere. Wo. learn,” says the. writer, “ that England consumes * 1;800,000 tons of meat annually, and of which but 1,205,000 tons have been produced at home, and hitherto the annual deficit has been supplied: from America, but as meat is now as dear in New York, Boston, and Philadelphians,'iil London, frozen mutton will doubtless come to our shores in large quantities from Australia,-New Zealand, and La Plata, Years upon years, however,- will have to. elapse before we can expect substantial help trom these sources.”

The Egyptians killed in the late, campaign were converted by- Arabi into supernatural allies, thanks to the credulity of the Arab peasantry. He- told the fellahs that alb the Egyptians who fell, fighting for the faith would return as. spirits in the subsequent battles, mounted on white horses, and armed'with wooden' swords, and would completely exterminate the English. r An Arab servant, belonging to the correspondent : of th’e Paris Temps asked his master whether he had seen the dead from Kassassin during the late •encounters, and, on being answered in the' negative, declared that ithc correspondenl could not see them because he was not an Englishman! | Another / example 'off the peasants’ superstition, according to the same authority, is the explanation of The British victories given by the Arabs,in the country districts, most of whom declare themselves “ Children of Arabi.” They state that soon after Tel-el Kebir a lien laid an egg on which was inscribed : “ Arabi has lost the battle because he mutilated the corpses of the enemy. Allah has punished him, but he will keep his commandments in future.” There was a funny incident in The House of Commons just before the. passing of the cloture measure. The clock was on the stroke of 1 when Mr Newdegate rose to his feet amidst an objecting, roar. 1 . The member for North Warwickshire, got somewhat excited, and indulged in frantic gestures with closed fist, aimed apparently at the Premier. Inj the gallery sat one of theJndian,warriors. Brought up amidst the turmoil of “ wild Maharatta battle,” ho could account for Mr Nowdegato’s performance only ,on , the ground, that he wanted to Tight; somebbdy,-and that somebody must bo Mr Gladstone, whom bo was taught to revere. It was curious to watch" hqw ; uneasy The Sikh jwas, how nervously he grasped his sword and measured with his .eye the distance.from the gallery to the floor! 'lt"seemed that a little further provocation, and. Tie, would have been standing between the Premier and his assailant. But presently Mr Newdegate subsided, and so didfthe Sikh.

A consignment : of^fifty wometP will (says a Home paper of Nove.mbor2sth) be despatched in a fo‘w clays from Bdtirdeaux to Noumea at the expense of -the State, and on the distinct understanding that on reaching their destination ,they, uiust contract marriage with those convicts whom the local authorities wish To reward lor good conduct by conferring, wives'.upon them. It should be explained at once that these women jhaye pof been, pressed into the service. Although old “ offenders,” they are going ;to Noumea of their own free will to settle down as respectable convict’s wives. How the match making will ,be carried on is at present unexplained. Perhaps the persons most interested will be allowed to choose their partners ; perhaps, to avoid heart-burnings, the lottery system will be resorted to. Were the principle of open competition and lovemaking admitted, the most frightful consequences might ensue, considering the imperfect civilisation of the settlement. If these difficulties are avoided, France will deserve credit' for the heroic manner in which she has at length set herself to the task oT increasing the population of her colonies.

The New Zealand® Pottery Company, Otago, has wound'.up.;and thrown a number of artisans, specially brought to the colony, out of' employment, and no other factory.to engage them. ■ Lord Shaftesbury, speaking at a Church Pastoral Aid Society meeting at Wimborne recently, said references had been made to the “Salvation Army” commanded by General and Mrs Booth. He never admitted the title of the “ Salvation Army,’’for; to/use that word,'he had no' hesitation in saying, was. phemy. He placed no reliance on such a movement. H*e wanted full and complete evidence of proof before he believed in the so-called conversions of the members. He could not think any of the things said or done by the army were all in harmony with the earliest ages of the Church, or such as would have received the/appi-oba-tion of any of the apostles, and certainly not of the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

Malraaison, the Empress Josephine’s residence in Paris,dias several times been offered for sale in lots, but only.a few portions have been disposed of. On Oct. 19 the remainder passed from the bands of a bankrupt banker to a financial company for 453,000f.

lAt ia ifneeting to consider treatment of Natives, it is reported that Mr F. W. Chesson, of the Aboriginal Protection Society, ir corrected a misapprehension of our ever having conquered New Zealand, and pointed out that our authority in that country rested, upon the Treaty of Waitangi, to which the Native chiefs had voluntarily been a party. While expressing his regret at the land disputes that had; resulted in so many Native wars in New Zealand, lie yet thought that the Colony had set a good example to other dependencies of the Crow,n by admitting Maori representatives into the Legislature.’ When the philantropic Press, and even the Pall Mall Gazette, persist in patting Te Whiti on the back, it is refreshing to have, such ?an opinion - ; of "the; spirit ; 6f" New Zealand Governments from a man, in Mr; Chesson’s position. ■ r ' ,; The popular belief is, that ladies are careful not. to overstate their ages, but this does riot apply to Maoris, who are very hazy about precise dates. At. a:trial at Napier lately one good looking 1 Maori girl unblushing!)’-fixed her age at “ thirtysix or forty.” ' , .