NEWS OF THE DAY.

Patea Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 1011, 19 March 1883, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

+ The Masons of Patea will notice by an regular meeting is to be held this evening. The Lodge of Instruct!oh’meets strand; the Lodge is.tyled at'7.3o. The business is something'mysterious known among the craft as “ raising.” ; The trustees of the Wesleyan Church held an important meeting on Frida}* evening last. Financial matters were dis- ! cussed and regret was expressed at theheavy amount of pew-rents outstanding. A communication from the Rev. Win. Morley, of Christchurch, was read by the Rev. J. A. Luxford stating that he intended spending a month in districts between Wellington and New Plymouth on an official visit. Of that time 10-days . would be,, spent, in Patea circuit when ho : would conduct divine services and lecture in Patea, Hawera, and Manaia. It was resolved to have a large soiree in the Harmonic Hall on June 4th, and ask the Rev. W. Morley to lecture on the sathe evening. Another insurance company is about to commence business in the district. Ap s pi ications;are;invited for Thp subagency of the Equitable Insurance Association of New Zealand, which was recently floated with such success in Dunedin. Mr Dudley Eyre, of Ridgway street, Wanganui, intimates elscwhere?l.hat he is prepared to undertake all kinds of commission business on behalf of the country residents. In addition, Mr Eyre Conducts a general enquiry office through which sorrowing creditors may often learn tidings of the “ dear departed.” Mr D. Kitchen, saddler, of Wanganui, has a business announcement in this issue. Mr Kitchen's country connection is largely on the increase, and no doubt will bo further extended as the railway advances in this direction. - As a natural consequence, therefore, lie has;just replenished: his stock with a splendid assortment of ladies’ and gentlemen’s saddles and bridles, and-the usual accessories required for equestrian exerciser Country people, when in town, should give .him a call. That well known hostelry the Ship Hotel, Taupo Quay, Wanganui,, has ;cbanged hands, the' new proprietor being Mr J. H. Jensen, a gentleman well and favorably known over a very.large district. The travelling public may steer safely for tne “Ship” and when there may rely on receiving the best of attention combined with reasonable charge. Mr J. R. Wright, the well-known architect of Wanganui, has left that town, and his extensive practice has been taken over by Messrs Young Brothers, a firm which has attained a considerable reputation in their profession. Some of the handsomest designs in Wellington are due to; the architectural skill of the Messrs Young and we have no doubt that public bodies or private individuals who entrust the important business of preparing plans to Mr Wright’s successors will find that they will produce something exactly in accordance with the taste and means of their ■- .*• ~~'

It appears,: (says a Wellington paper) that the Adams family, of which so much has been heard in connection-with the Longhurst case, is at present in very reduced circumstances. The Relieving Officer reported at the meeting of the Benevolent Institution yesterday that a child which had recently died in the family had to be interred at public expense, and the father is laid up with some lung disease. It is not improbable that the maintenance of the family will ere long devolve upon the institution. Commenting on the visit of Mr Redmond to Sydney, the Daily Telegraph says ; —“What guarantee have we that he is not inviting us to contribute to what is literally a murder fund ? He may be sincere enough in what he seeks, and earnext in his desire to ‘ save his bleeding country,’but if he is the tool of such ruffians as Carey and Kavanagli, of what 'use "is his sincerity of his patriotism ? We do not know, and certainly Mr Redmond can give us no guarantee, that the funds he collects will not devoted to the maintenance of ‘ murder committee.’ If Mr Redmond thinks he is coming out to these colonies to stir up strife and rebellion he will find that his mission will prove a miserable failure. Queen Victoria has no more loyal subjects in any part of her wide dominions than in the Australian colonies, and we should be more than surprised if any itinerant preacher of sedition had the power to turn them from their allegiance or to cajole'thein intojassisting an organisation which, if it has no other and more unworthy object, is certainly designed to undermine and destroy the law. We have no desire in these colonies to enter upon old world differences and to raise up feuds and dissensions in our midst, and we can only regard such persons as the hon. member for Wexford and his brother as public enemies and political interlopers. The British Government have enough trouble on hand without having to deal with an Irish difficulty in Australia.” A trick of legerdemain equal to, if not surpassing, any of the feats of the great Ali Baba, the magician, was performed by a knight of the rod and the line while following the pursuit of angling in the Tuapeka river last week, says the local Times. It appears that a trout, having been attracting by the tempting bait, began to nibble at the same. The angler gave a sudden jerk with the rod, but instead of hooking the fish ho found that the hook had been jerked across the stream, and had anchored in the ear of one of the recruits of the - army of “ bunny.” Poor bunny was soon despatched without injury to hook or line ; but of the many experiments for the destruction of bunny, this new idea is a, degree : or two beyond ; them all for peculiarity. The Christchurch papers aro teeming with correspondence, denouncing Mr Milner Stephen in unmeasured terms as an imposter and humbug. Dr Patrick, a well-known medical practitioner, writes to the Lyttelton Times , offering Mr Stephen twenty guineas for the cure of a bunion, or if that is beneath his notice, the doctor says he will give Mr Stephen a . thousand pounds worth of unencumbered property; and the strongest possible certificate if he can cure his (the doctor’s) son, who is partly paralylized. This ought to ; be “good enough,” but, up to the present, the “ magnetic healer” has made no sign. His chief anxiety is to get out of such a “ hot ” place as Christchurch, where the people don’t seem to manifest much faith in his powers. c c

Our cablegrams announce the death of Prince Gostsohakoff, the well-known Russian statesman.

Mr H. Goodacre, bootmaker, has'dev tcnnined to leave the district. Weihotibet that his furniture .. and ,_ stock-ahltrade'fi includHigjwo sewing' .machines, will bp spldSfy auction; by Mr Barker .on WedneS- '* A fire broke out on Saturday evening about 7 o’clock in the. stable pwncd by~Mr, Smiths and' situ ated ’hear the'ceraetery. The Brigade were quickly on the spot,-, but owing to the quantity of hay and other inflammable substances stored in the building they could do nothing towards , quenohing^-"th -iand- absolutely’ nothing was saved. As the fire .took place wbile| !i|rg r e Iliumbers of ipeopid iwe're returning from the races a orowd-was soop■ ' : asscinbled‘\afthe scene. The eihbers were sti|L, smouldering yesterday. Mr Sipith ’Caritfbt account in any way for the firej no one having been near the place with a light for over 80 hours. The building was insured for £BS in the Victorian office, hut Mr Smith estimates his loss at £lB3 over and above that amount. We have heard complaints about the unwillingness of the public, with a-few to assist the firemen at the engine puiqps. Where the Brigade is numerically weak, as it is here, assistance is always expected, and ,in nineteen;, cases out ;of I twenty cheerfully given, i -We hope that on the next occasion when the services of the brigade are unfortunately called into request, that the public will give ready help in the direction indi'cated. Mr Smith returns thanks by advertisement to those who helped at the fire on Saturday. | A meeting of the directors of the Pa’tea Oil and -Fibre Company, was held at Mr Eyton’s office on Friday, at 4 pith. Present—Messrs J. Shield (chairman), iW. Cowern, J. Gibson, 0. F. Barker, E. |M. .Honeyfield, and R. Horner. It was decided to' make a call of ten shillings per share, payable in twenty one days. Resolved, “That the Secretary write to all shareholders whose calls arc in nrrear, giving them notice that unless the amounts in arrear be paid before the 15th April, legal steps will have to be taken to recover same.” It was decided to advertise the fact that the Company had ordered a scutching machine which they hoped to have* in full work in six months, and that as soon as the company can ascertain from experience the value of the straw they will advertise what they will give for it. At the present time it seems impossible to fix anything .like a correct value upon the straw. 'With regard to the 5 resolution about overdue calls we understand that this course has become necessary. The company's -.machinery ia,_ on the wiiyout and will have to be paid for so that shareholders will do well to take the hint and pay their calls at once. A very unfortunate occurrence in connection with ' the railway, works at the heads took place early on Saturday morning. Soon after leaving the heads the line is brought round the cliff and across a swamp, on trestles, and these, together with the embankment upon which they stood, suddenly sank down'a distance of obouflfl feet. The accident, of course,, is due to the swamp being unable to carry the, weight. There is a sort of crust on it, and that having broken, the-ground underneath was found to be very soft. On the river side of the works the ground has been forced up, and there are some ugly fissures. The general opinion seems to be that if the embankment is carried across the swamp the boiling-down works will extra work and some delay will be entailed by this mishap, the damage by which is estimated .at about £2OO. The district Engineer has arrived to inspect and decide whether the embankment shall be pushed on or whether the lino shall be takfen over by a bridge. It was a fortunate circumstance that the men were not at work at the time because loss of life would almost certainly have been sustained, as the engine and tracks were constantly on the trestles tipping spoil over to form the embankment. In our report of the last meeting of the Harbour Board Mr Adams is made to say that a report from the engineer had been adopted three or four months ago. It should have read three or four years ago. A special meeting of the Borough Council is called for this evening, the principal business being to receive tenders and :discuss that portion of the engineer’s repbttj referring to his engagement. The offer of the Harbour Board re price of gravel will be also considered. The Harbour Board meets at two o’clock to-morrow afternoon, to consider the .question of altering the wharf duos, and also to confirm the accounts for the past year. ,■ , The total cost of the Manawapou bridge was £485 19a made up as follow :—Coptract, £438 ; extras, £l6 4s ; supervision, £3l 15s. J Acting upon evidence given by the infprmerSjiEavanagh and Molloy, the-Bublin police searched the canal with the result of finding knives which have been proved to be used by the Phoenix Park assassins. A very painful case was ventilated in the Resident Magistrate’s Court at Wellington on Tuesday. A man named Jeremuh Murphy was proceeded against by his wife to show cause why he should not find sureties to keep the peace towards her, It was stated that the defendant was was a Master of Arts, and had formerly held the position of Incumbent of an Episcopalian Church; at Gisborne, but through his intemperate habits had beep reduced to scullery-man at local restaurant. Mrs Murphy gave evidence that on March 4, 1875, she was married to the accused at'Christchurch. At that time he was a Church of England clergyman at Gisborne, but before he had filled several livings in England which he had been obliged to vacate, owing to his intemperate habits. The case was adjourned.

The Bay of Plenty Times is responsible', for the following :■ —We - hear that a Dunedin merchant, aMr Wilson; lias astonished the citizens of Nelson (known now as Sleepy Hollow) by purchasing the whole of the hop crop of this season. This gentleman wired last week to his agent at Nelson, requesting to know the price of hops now being harvested. The reply was Is ,(Id; per lb; the reply was Purchase all you can,” which was done, amounting to £IO,OOO. The next day the to the fact that hops had risen in'price in London to 5s per lb, and that Mr Wilson had realised upon his bargains 2)0 per cent, or a clear gain of £20,000. The Nelson hop-growers, after this lesson, are now agitating for a cooperative association, by which they will hold weekly markets, and so have their hops sold by auction. ’ The following is taken from an English paper of a recent date received by the last mail :—“ A gentleman, about fifty years of age, was found dead yesterday at a Plymouth hotel. He had given the name of James Harris, but was otherwise unknown, in his bag was found £276 in gold. It is ascertained that he lately came home from New Zealand, where he had been for twenty years, and amassed considerable property. He returned to England to; see his sister,* who was ill at Exeter, and had since died,, and purposed going back shortly,, but intended first to procure a wife. He suffered from palpitation of the heart, to which his death is presumably attributable.”

,-CTjhe'road leading from Manutahi to the sea, is being formed for a short distance. ?Thejmproveraent is being done in good; the winter sets in. J "A fresh in the Manawapou and Tongahde rivers has brought down large quantities of. logs, etc. The tide has piled the in-heaps along the beach between the two rivers. The settlers in the immediate vicinity are rejoicing at the prospect of ■being'able to obtain cheap firewood. That useful commodity now quotes at 25s a cord in Manutahi.

The town'was'quiteehlivened yesterday morning With {he Patea Rifle Company’s church parade under command of Captain Taplin, accompanied as they were by their band, which.,p)ayed;- : admirably. for such a small number of bandsmen. About 40 rank and file marched to the Church of England;, gate, when they were dismissed, each man going torhis'owmchurch.i. We like to see this style of thing, and would suggest to, the captain that sirriilar parades* take place monthly. Drill instructor Nixon arrived from New Plymouth tq-day, and.will spend three days drilling and preparing the Patea Rifles forjthe Easter , encampment,:;. The Dompany jare reminded that to-night, Tuesday and Wednesday nights a full parade is 'expected ; the latter night parade is to be held at's ( o’clock sharp. ; Inspector Foulis has been at Manutahi paying the teachers of the district surprise visits.

Byrne, who was recently arrested in Paris on suspicion of being implicated in the Irish inurders-under an extradition warrant has, now it is stated, been released. The Chinese' “ resurrection ” party were to commence operations in the Cromwell (Otago) cemetery last week. "With regard to them the-local Argus says five Chinese and one; European are engaged in the business, and have already disinterred a large quantity ' of remains in various parts of Otago. The whole number to be collected in this Province' is about 229, and the completion of the work will occupy some time yet. It is being.carried out by contract, the prices ranging, we believe, from £3 10s for a skeleton to £9 for a body in its most loathsome. i Queenstown and Arrow" cemeteries sixteen bodies were; exhumed, six at Cardrona, and eight, will be lifted here. The bodies being raised are those of Chinamen who come from the Province of Canton and the expense is being borne by their relatives at home and in the colonies. In New Zealand alone, we are informed, no less a sum than £7OOO has been subscribed, towards,the.object in view, some of the donations being very handsome in amount. Two brothers at RoumlHill, Southland. gave £4O each', ; and at Bannockbiirn £2O a-piece was given by a couple of well-to-do. Celestial miners, while all give according to their*means. When,all the bodies are collected, a steamer will be chartered to convey them to the; land of their birth to be interred in'their several native villages i A waggon accompanies.the party to carry the remains. The;identification of the graves is managed by the relatives or friends of the deceased persons vouching for them.