NEWS OF THE DAY.

Patea Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 1004, 2 March 1883, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

... We direct attention to a notification in another column from the Public Trustee, for whom Mr E. C. Horner has been appointed agent in ibis district. Some of the objects for which the Public Trust office . was; founded,"are ;statcd in the advertisement, and it is needless to remark that perfect security against fraud or dishonesty is guaranteed. The business of the department has been steadily on the increase for some time past, and local matters will receive every attention at the hands of Mr Horner. There was quite a field day at Court today. In addition to the adjourned case of the County Council v. Black, there was the charge brought by the same body against G. Beamish/ late dog tax collector. Black was committed for trial, bail being increasedjlo £IOOO / and Beamish’s case was remanded for a week to enable him to prepare his defence. In addition- to some civil business, there ’was an action brought by the Patea Land, Building, and Investment Society, against W. Dale, to recover some books retained by 'hiin/bnt this was also adjourned as defendant is living at New Pljunouth, where, his evidence will be takeiL ■ Added to Lot 2 in .the sale of properties by Mr Cowern on Saturday, is a planing machine and band saw machine. These articles are in splendid order, and enhance the value of the lot very materially.; Special attention is directed to the important sale of town properties to be offered to-morrow by Mr Cowern, at his rooms at 2 p.m. The list comprises Mr Dale’s well known sections and buildings, some of the choicest for business and residential purposes to be found in Patea. The properties are divided into three lots, and, as the present, is a favourable time for investors and speculators, wc expect to see a large attendance. Mr Cowern will be glad to give' all particulars to intending purchasers. We regret very much to hear that the Waihi'has beeni withdrawn from the Patea; trade, a telegram to that effect having been received by Mr Cowern. Her place will be taken by the s.s. NapierJa twin screw. It is understood that the Waibi is to run between Wellington add Blenheim. i : G. : ‘‘ - It is supposed that the child, whose body was found on Wanganui beach on Tuesday, has been the victim of foul play. Some particulars are given elsewhere. Mr John Hair, Wayerley road, continues to effect improvements to his farm. He is now calling for tenders for four miles of wire fencing. With the aid of the tjhe^Flower draw a good; many people to the Harmonic Hall on Wednesday evening. receipts in connection with the Show were £l6 11s. : A telegraph station 1 has been opened at Boatman’s County, Mangahara, The office hours will be from 9 a.m. till 5 p.m., except Sundays and public holidays when it will be closed.

Th'eJJ "cutting of greenstone pendants, which the Maori hangs from his ear and the pakeba from his watch-chain, must be tedious work. A je'weller in ! Napier has just been suing a Maori for £2OO, for work done in; cutting up/a block of greenstone weighing about 3 cwt., into a dozen slabs. It took him two months to: make the first trial cut, and nine months .to make eleven other cuts, working eleven saws at once, driving them by steam power and keeping them,going I'rom=ten to fourteen hours a day. The Maori thought the charge too high and offered £l6O ; then £IOO and half the stone, and next £6O and half the stone. The jeweller declined these compromises, but offered to take all the stone in payment.-" The native owners thought that charge too high also. Another jeweller stated that Is per square inch was the usual price for cutting greenstone, and the plaintiff said he would ibe willing .to accept payment on those terms. Reckoning it up. it was found to come to £194 Bs, very nearly the amount sued for. We have not yet heard the result of the case. ; The steamer Rowena is announced to leave the New Plymouth roadstead, and the s'.s. Hannah Mokau the Waitara, on Saturday evening, both with passengers for Kawhia. , They return on the t Sunday, evening. ’ ' ; It will be seen from advertisement that His Lordship the Bishop of the Diocese will preach on Sunday, morning and evening. There will be holy communion in the morning, and at the evening service the rite of confirmation will be performed. As it might happen in case of the simultaneous arrival of several cargoes of frozen meat in London that the entire quantity could not at once be disposed of, huge cellars capable of holding 100,000 carcases of mutton are being constructed under Smithfield Market, fitted up with refrigerating machinery, in which the meat ca nbe kept for any length of time. To these cellars the meat will be conveyed from the vessel’s side in railway waggons, which are, we believe, specially constructed so as to exclude all outside thermometric influences from their contents. For some weeks past strange Maoris have been assembling at Parihaka under the belief that Te Whitx was soon to appear again on the scene. The gathering has been so large that the authorities deemed it advisable to interfere, and accordingly the Maoris were ordered to disperse and go back to their homes. The Maoris obeyed the order, and left. Path haka at once without making any opposition.

Should the weather remain favourable* the Volunteer Band will have an open-air praelico on the vacant ground adjoining the Conrt.i'-jHousc, at half-past seven this ev cni ng, wllcn th c foil o wing prog ra mm c will be given March,“Salvation’s free.” Schottische, ,f The Signal.” Waltz, “ Rustic Queen,” Quadrille, “On the Banks of the Thames.” Polka, “ Old China.” Waltz, “ Cordelia.” Galop, “ Polo.” The railway Hne'bctwech Waitara'a'nd' Sentry Hill haa;ljecn so damagedTby;tlie late rains, that the trains cannot run until repairs are effected. A ship named the Torrens had a narrow eaoape from, sharing the same fate of the Austral, at Adelaide lately. Whilst being loaded she suddenly lurched over, bursting the ties that held her to the quay, and but for a steamer that was alongside her must inevitably have capsized. A letter, posted in London, and bearing the somewhat ambiguous address, “ Boyne Hill, New Zealand,” was, aftor travelling all over the colony and back to London again,--finally delivered to its rightful owner in Berkshire, England,.nine months after it started on its voyage of discovery. The words, “New Zealand” had been added accidentally to the address. And wc hear complaints of the carelessness of Post Office officials.

During the last year (says a Home paper) there have been unusually few shorthorn sales, and prices have.continued 'to fall. On’y 1588 heady have 'been sold, ’against 1738 in 11880,. and 2811 in 1878. About'three years ago Sir Henry Allsopp gave 6000 guineas for cows for his, choice herd at Hcndlip, and a year later Lord Fevershara .gave 2000 guineas for a heifer, whose dam had-cost 4000 guineas. Seven years ago prices were still higher, and averages of, 100 guineas were quite common ; but there-.-has been a ruinous rebound. The averagemf the 35 sales held this season was only £34 17s although selections from all the most famous herds have been sold, the best being £B3, jthat of the Kent herd of Mr St. John Ackers. The highest price of the year Was 730 guineas, paid by the Duke of Devonshire for a shorthorn heifer from lAinerica,/for his herd at. Holkerj Lord. : Beauqharap’s herd • at v Madresfield was sold off in the summer, but the aVerage for 96 animals was only £34. When: the E.M.S. Australia ; was at Sydney, two tide-surveyors, while searching her, foundTla number,,o't sto wed aw ay on bo ; ard the .vessel. Or i opening them they found that they contained about 25,000 cigars. The cases were removed toThe ; ©ustom-honse pending further investigation. No clue .has yet been obtained to the ownership of the goods. ; ’ ' ;; Monday’s Fast says : The wife of Mr William Chute,- of the.'firm of Ougliton and Chute, the contractors for the brick work of the Post and Telegraph Offices, was confined yesterday of three fine daughters at her residence, Clyde-quay. Mother and children* we are glad to learn, are all doing well. Dr Rawson. was .the medical attendant. WeL understand that the usual ;Queon’s bounty will be applied for. 1 A new' and valuable use has b'ecnJfou»d for oyster shells (says the London Times), which until recently were only utilised in making lime. It has been discovered that . the shells make k : c r apitah foundation for oyster beds, and within the past two years many thousands of bushels have been used for this purpose in the United' States. The oystorman selects a- : good spot-for the .bed apd simply drops the shells overboard. This is dpnefn July and August,, during the spawning season. The spawn attaches itself to the shell,/and in two years the shell is covered with oj'sters—ranging from the size of a quarter to thahof a half? dollar. Then tip; pystjefs are big enough to seed, and are ■ planted as such. Sometimes 30 or 40 of such oysters are found attached To a single shell. The shells are .worth only three cents per bushel when thrown overboard, but at the end of two years they are worth from 50 to 75 cents per bushel, making a very good margin for profit. This method of raising seed oysters is being rapidly extended in the States, and may be imitated with advantage as regards our British oyster beds, which are not in. too. flourishing a condition. ~

Vanity Fair gives the following instance of “ red-tapeism “The other day the copying-machine in the paymaster’^,office in one of the .Plymouth Miipf wds’wdih oiit, and the paymaster at once set about getting a new one. To begin with, he inade-out on a,form a demand for the article to be surveyed, and sighed it himself. (2) After this the captain of the ship signed it, and the paper was (3) sent 'to the admiral, who in his. turn (4) signed it, and (5) forwarded it to the dockyard officials, who in turn (6) surveyed the article, and pronounced it deficient on a special form. (7) This form was sent to the captain, who (8) gave it to the paymaster. He at once (9) made out a demand for a new one, and signed it ; the captain (10) then again signed the form, and (11) sent it, with the report of the dockyard officials, to the admiral. He in his turn ql2) signed it, and returned it to the captain who (13) gave it to the paymaster, who (14) sent it to the storekeeper of the dockyard, and so,, obtained the copyingmachine after several days’ correspondence. This machine is valued at the sum of 2s.’

One of the new chum policemen-as they are called, unmindful of a similar joke recently played on one of his conferee in Otago, fell a victim to a practical joke recently perpetrate'd by a well known Wellington publican' The policeman had an eye against' Sunday traders, and watched the Bank Hotel all the forenoon; and was ’ jlist leaving to seek fresh fields and pastures ’ hew, when he espied a boy coming out of the back premises of the

said hotel carrying an ominous looking bag. The policeman pounced on the youngster and seized his bag and took out of it what he thought was beer. The wily bonifacc, however, was on the look out too, and, seeing the police on the watch, had filled the bottle with cold tea. The guardian of the peace collared his prize and did not find out that he was sold until someone who was in the joke informed him of the bottle’s contents, but even after he had tasted it he was somewhat dubious, but at length had to admit that he had been sold. ;

The American Mail anil JSxjwrt Journal states that in the year ended June 301h, 1801, 5013 reapers and mowers (which include binders) were exported, from the United States, and in the following year 10,513 implements of this class. Of the latter nearly all went to Europe—England, France, and Germany being the principal buyers, Australasia taking 730. .