The Patea Mail. Established 1875. MONDAY, MARCH, 26, 1883. NEWS OF THE DAY.

Patea Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 1013, 26 March 1883, Page 2

The Patea Mail. Established 1875. MONDAY, MARCH, 26, 1883. NEWS OF THE DAY.

The annual balance.;shpel and accounts of llie Patea Harbour Board will bn found on our fourth page- 1' u 'll Sl -‘ ll l | Kl * the revenue for tire past year am iintcd to £1938-4s 6d inclusive of ..the ol £551 12s 4d hank overdr-riti. The ex r penditure amounted to £1907 0s M, loavin« a balance. inYhand-of x £3O 15s o-l. 'the wharves working account sho'ws rt; profit of £376 0s 10.1, and the assets are' in excess of liabilities to the amount of £663- 17s 4d| leaving the breakwater out of the question. The accounts show very clearly the cost of each department-in4hfc Board’s service ; and in making his audit the Auditor passed a very high, am. wo may add—deserved, couiplmieiit upon Mr Eylon, the Secretary, for the excel.ent manner in which the books ;were kept, l ;t .iiitr «o much in con*rast to those or sour* iMiblic bodies.

The residents of Patea Arc about to receive a treat in the way of amusement. Fred MaccAbe —the great Macenbc—mimic and ventriloquist will give bis entertainment entitled ‘‘Begqnq dull- om-e, op Friday at the HarmoiiicTltill. lucre is a lot of care about Patea just now, but a visit to the versatile Ircoeriek is gitaiantced to disperse mountains.

•The 1 time 'for ■•receiving, tenders for gravelling Bedford Street, has been extended until Monday next, at 4 p.m. In spile of bard times properly around Patea has yet some value. Wo bear that, one day last week, Mr furlong, of Hawera* sold 15 acres swamp land, adjoining the Carlyle extension, at £3O pel aerc, the purchaser being Mr Ho wilt, baker, Patea. ; The Hawera folks had a glorious day for their races, and from the dull appearance of Patea it seemed that half the people had gone to; the meeting. Unfortunately,; the Telegraph Office was closed to-day, except fur an hour in the morning, so we are unable to give the results oT the racing. ;

The Borough Council, in committee on Wednesday evening, resolved to accept the tender of Mr Or F Sherwood for a supply of drain pipes, with; the condition, however, that if the pipes are not delivered according to time and specification, the Council to have liberty to piucuie.:them elsewhere. -

Wish regard to the difficulty which has arisen as to the terms of the Engineers appointment, the' Borough Cotin. i! have resolved that three ■ months’ notice on either side will be sufficient to terminate the present engagement. On Friday morning, about eleven a.m. an accident ocean ed to a man named Houlihan, . working on the railway at Kakaramea. By a fall of earth he was jammed against a truck, sustaining severe injuries about the loins. He remained at Kakaramea till Saturday evening, when, his mates .conveyed him pn a Stretcher 'to the' train which 'brought' him to Patca. 'On his arrival at the Hospital the sufferer was attended by Dr Keating, and is now progressing as favourably as possible. The question ot drainage, which was to have been dealt with at theSspecial meeting of the Borough Council on Wednesday evening last, had to be adjourned till next meeting.'On ; .'accoiint.ofj the Council deeming the-mappreparpd, incomplete.

The tender of Messrs- PrCr.dcrgast and Butler for No. 9 Contract has been accepted by the Borough Council. ■

Mr T. Haycock, of Meredith street, is very, busy with his flax mill.' He has put through about a ton of fibre, and the Sample,-according* to expert*, is an excellent one. A scutching machine is about toi be erected, .and .proprb.toiTlvopes to be able to dress' the fibre; in-first-class style.. .-There is just a possibility of a rope walk being started in connection with the mill, but-.itWill,not beJhst yet, as Mr Haycock wants to get present appliances into thorough worldng order previous to making extensions. The market for flax fibre - is brisk at present and the industry should proyc ; profitable. . : There was on-boards the steamship Wairarnpa a novel consignment for the great American showmanj Mr P. T. Tfarndrih of New Yoik. saj’s' the Press of Saturday. Ihe consignment consisted of eleven, Aboriginals of Australia, nine males and two females, described by the great showman’s agent, Mr Cunningham, as •* genuine thoroughbreds,” captured rja'ht in the heart of the Queensland forests up gum “ trees,, &c.| No end oi expense and trouble was entailed to induce them to f gb into the’show bizness,” and a bond had to be entered into with the Queensland Government that they would be returned in like good order and condition, plus wearing apparel—a new idea to them—in three years. The agent is negotiating forJa dozen of the best specimens of the Maori face, and hopes to get them in ami go on by the next steamer for San 1 rancisuo. At the Resident Magistrate’s Court on Fridaj’, Kate Piummer’s application for an order, compelling her husband Robert Plummer to provide for her maintenance, was granted. , -

American grain circulars state that there are twelve million bushels less wheat now on the way to England than there were at the same period last year. The Dunedin Harbour Board are moving to have the Harbours’ ;Act amended to effect the following purpose, viz. : Ist, to include, the "agents-of vessels amongst the parties liable for dues, upon goods ; 2nd, to give agents of vessels a lien upon all goods, for which they have paid dues to the Board ; and 3rd, to extend the power of recovery by action to the agents of ships, as well as to the Board. A Nelson correspondent telegraphs to the -FW that no less than If inches of rain fell in that town fin the course of only 40 minutes., Seeing that an inch of rain usually represents about 24 hours’ steady downpour, it will be seen what a terrific deluge is represented by “ If inch in 40 minutes,” No wonder the town was flooded out.

The course of the cornet is referred to by Professor Proctor in the December number, of , Knovjledge as follows “ There is now no reason to believe that this COinet will sdor. return . It is travelling along steadily enough in an orbit of great extent; ‘though -the exact extent of the ; orbit is not yet known. The Vienna Observatory, on which our estimate of period was (provisionally) based, turns out to have been quite inaccurate.”

The captain of one <-f (he many barques that have recently arrive*l in Lyttelton-has (says (hi! Lyttelton Times) brought with him rather an “ uncanny ” hit of cargo in the shape of a woman's skull, snrmniv-led. with a mass of dark-brown i»nir, piaite<l in lengths nf 2tin, and in ht-autifnl preservation. Tin's specimen was found, by, the captain in a disused graveyard at Pisagna, Pern, in 1881, where he was told no-bodies hj nl h.-'on buried for upwards of 400 years. Sc icch'-rs for treasures occasionally explore ih i s co n iu i ery, ; ; and-i t AvasJ n, the, course, of a .s iiiii Ia f expedf lion Ghat (he skull and hair wore, found. Pisaguais in th<3 midst of the sa’lpftro district, and probably this: Would 'nmnTnt for ’preservation of the hair for so long a period., . The specimen is at present on view at the shop of Mr A. W. Parsons, chemist, Lyttelton. Not long ago, we believe, a bnman gbodyv,.in ;: ii; peff.ecj; s state of preservation, Gvasfon inUm a/shipload of.nitrate of soda’ at Liverpool, from the same district. The Nc.w. :r York correspondent of the Auckland looming Star:] writes— ‘‘ The Inman pier hr this city took about 2.15 o’clock this morning.- ’The steamer Egypt, of the National Line, which-arrived--yester-Idayi with fhe cargo: of the sunken steamer City of Brussels, was at the pier, ami had discharged most of (he cargo,which had not been removed from the dock. ! Guns-and rockets were fired for lugslo come to the asssistance of the Egypt., The warehouses, which'were built of pitch pine, and the Egypt’s freight were totally consumed The fire is supposed to have caught from a 'labourer's pipe. Although smoking is prohibited, the men break tbo rule clandestinely, and conceal their pipes in any Convenient place, .on-' :ho ‘pier. Thu.Gnioii Line pier, just north, was -threatened,.ns the wind was blowing the (l imes in that; direction. The heat; was so great that ■effective work from the land or river was nearly impossible,. : At 3 o’clock the steamship Egypt, lying, at the dock, was (owed, into the stream, all ablaze from stem to stern, and llmnigh-bcr rigging and sparsTiofe the’"flames' To’ the rigging of numerous other vessels lying at anchor. Nearly the entire Fire D qnutin-nt of the city was on hand,- but- many engines could not bo iili-ised. At 3.80 o’clock, the spectacle was grand in the extreme. Tbo river . front for many hundred feet was ablaze. All attempts to save property on (he Inman dock was abandoned, and the work of the firemen were concentrated on (ho Gnion Line dock, adjoining. The famous ship of that line, the Alaska, was in the greatest danger. The tug-boats ami ferry-boats made the greatest efforts to save hj r by hauling her into the stream."

Some samples of Defiance wheat of this season’s growth have been shown to the Camarn Mail, which says of it “ It is not a plump grain, but it is long. Its best qualities are that it is positively nist’and wind proof. These facts have been conclusively demonstrated hy,.McSe.rs Jessep'and ~E Ider, who have,grown il-inow tor four years, and who inform ns that they have seen other kinds of grain—both wheat and oats—all round it perfectly red with ni't, whilst it his been absolutely free from anything of the kind. But it is said that it is not so proof against moisture as the velvet, as it sprouts on the slightest provocation,although (here are not the least symptoms of sprouting in the sample shown to'us. Mr Jessep attributes' this to the great care which he bestowed on the crop durtng the late unfavourable weather. Tbut it is a good yielder there can.be no question whatever, if sown in the it.ia- essentially a' spring wheat. Mr Jessep expects to realise fifty bushels to the acre ; and has kindly promised to let us know, after threshing, what the actual yield has been. It is an interesting fact that although five seasons ago on Boz were sown by Mr Elder at Maheno, Mr Elder and Mr Jessep expect to realise 1,000 hags from the crops on their farms on the Tables. This is a marvellous increase, especially in the,face of last year’s miserable yield,” A fearfully sudden death on a cricket field is reported from Mooreopna (Victoria.) During the progress of a cricket match between a local and a Shcpparton team, Charles Claj 7 , a bank clerk, was stiuck near the heart by a ball, and after walking a short distance be lay down and died from the effects of the blow.

Rraija gnll? Bpotbj’fion Qf;tlie generalissmo, of the Salvation Army, was married a fdw months ago at Clapton, England, his father officiating. The ceremony was performed in the presence of .7000 persons, admitted at a shilling a head! ; The body of the man Qnayle, who was recently found dead near Oatnaru, was lying? decomposing for ten days in: ; the; -water-face which; supplies (ho. Borough. No wonder that tbo local paper thinks an inspection of the race should ho held ofteuer. It will bo reinetubered (says a/-souther.n pa per) ho w a French physio logist.some 30 years ago, succeeded in ennobling the wild grass CEgilops by cultivation until it became veritable wheat, though of a low quality. Mr Grant Allan, in Macmillan's Magazine, now traces the pedigree of wheat far beyond that, and declares that by evolution our bread-corn has descended from no less unlikely a plant than a lily. A rather good joke was played by one of.the reported missing ones from H.M.S Diamond at Lyttelton on Wednesday /(says' the Press). Disguised as a “sundowner” he- made his way to port, and is there said to have -nhno'st rubbed shoulders with some of (lie local police, inquiring about how ho could get a passage over to tlie‘ opposite side of the harbour. He was directed to ask the watermen at the steps,' which it seems he did. The waterman' said lie would take him across, but mustfirst call at the man-of-war with the ...who were then in his boat; The Sundowner ” jumped into the boat, quite satisfied with the arrangement Shortly after the boat left the steps he, commenced the extraordinary'operation of “ peeling off ” his outwardi rig, disclosing hinsolf to the boatman and, his follow passengers as a- tull digged “tar.” He bowed and smiled to some one, on shore, and it is supposedit was to. a policeman, who, in, this instance, had just missed a reward of. £2 or £3./ , The Dunedin Herald says editorially “ Ministers are determined to get rid. of' Messrs Dick and Rollcston. Mr Whitaker talks of resigning ; Mr Bryce ismcddling in the Waikato, at Major Jackson’s instigation ; and generally the Cabinet is at sixes-and sevens.” Otago Daily Times says The Nc‘M v #vWhind Refrigerating Company’s wefifisj- which have now been idle for some tiiri'v wiT recommence freezing operations -on iWednesday next. The vessel for which; preparation is to be made is the s.s. JJeristanton. She.will arrive here: about the 10th April, and will leave at the end of that month, taking from 9000 to 10,000 ■ U'be sheep vvl 1\ 7 afei - W39 "fcl 1G- C3SO in former shipments, bo obtained f/oin a number of different shipments. 1 In 1/340 Ireland held nearly one-third of the population of the United Kingdom, It now holds one-seventh.

The probable cost of a Channel tunnel (observes a i. ondon paper) lias always .'l>..-en a very obscure question, and Sir Edward \Vntkin has hitherto been very silent about it. Recently lie felt himself in a position to give some figures on this particularly important point. Ho is making; a tunnel, somewhere or other, through one of the hardest stratified rocks he knew. This costs £3B a yard, and that means roughly £65,000 a mile. The Channel tunnel would be about 24 miles. .°f .taking the cost at £'65,000 -a• nii 1e; let ihem assume that it \yould:bp £ 100,000- ami in, and that would ropresertt a cost of £2,400,000 for the runnel underdhii sea . That is liis-estimate of the'cost of the actual (impel. Next, ho believed the cslim He of £1)50,000 for the tunnel to connect the,.Chatham and Dover 1 and the South Extern railways would not* bo exceeded. The ieutirC cost .of - th.eo woik, therefore, cam'e to" only £3,000,000. .With an original outlay of this modest kind, Sir Edward was, no -doubt,.-justified ;in describing I lie project as likely 1 to be on.; of the most profitable ever undertaken —if profitableness were the only thing to be considered; But then jnjhis estimate nothing JU included for thd dost ;of 'fbrtitications at the English end of the tunnel,

The 10th of November received much attention from the German Press, as being of throe inch to wham Germany, owes most that has given her distinctiveness among the : nations—namely, Luther, the founder of Protestantism ; Schiller, one of the chief .creators of German literature ; and Sharnhorst, the organiser of the Prussian army. One vessel was lost every four hours during 1881, according to the Nautical Gazette. In 1879 80 (here were 400 steamboat in the North Atlantic Occam

The number, uf “certified chapels” in Great Britain at .which Nonconformists aie allowed to hold’ religious services has increased within 30 years from 14,662 to 21,366 or nearly 50 per cent.

A material, supposed to bo decomposed coral, is being used for buildings in Fiji. It is soft iu the mass, and easily cut into bricks, which harden on exposure and are very, durable. No .fewer than four deaths from cancer occurred in Wellington last month, being twice as 'many as those in all other, parts of the colony put together. There were two deaths from dropsy in Dunedin, but none in any other part of the colony. (Scrofula caused one death in Christchurch, and phthisis three in Wellington, two in Christchurch, and two in Dunedin. ; . There was an amusing exhibition of misdirected loyalty at_ Tuapcka the other day, when the eager * citizens mistook a reporter for the Governor ; and how the people at the Thames have been distinguishing themselves by ah exhibition of misdirected zeal in quite; an opposite form. Mr Bryce,- the Naliye Minister, hajS earned for- himself much dislike at the Thames over his action about the payment of their Volunteer contingent;at Parihaka. He was to arrive there on Tuesday night, and they set themselves to give hira-a__ warm reception. Unfortunately, however," they mistook the Inspector of the Bank of 'New Z .inland for the objectionable Minister, and it was Mr Murray they zealously;hooted nil the way io his hotel instead of Mr Bryce. What is one man’s loss is another , man’s gain ; though perhaps Mr Murray would have survived the loss of his company on the occasion.,.. " TheMelbourne ’2iffe .says “ The action of Moss v The Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand, in which the plaintiff (who is an owner of lighters and steam tugs) sued the defendants to recover £666 for damages caused to the -tug isteamer Sophia by the steamship Mauapouri strik-; ing her in the stern with her screw, and for loss occasioned by the tug being laid up for a time while being repaired, was brought to a conclusion in jthe Supreme Court, before. Mr Justice Williams and a; special jury of 12. The evidence for the defence was to the effect that there .had been contributory negligence on the part of the plaintiff, no person aboard the tug at the time the Mauapouri passed her. The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff for £600.” ;

About 6 o’clock last evehi.rfg a'lavge crowd assembled on Lanlbton-' Quay, attracted by the some “ British Kingsf ’ wlu) t liad ! ’ been eeldbyatihg theirarrival in the colony by getting “roaring drunk.” A serious row at las), commenced, the “drunks” taking to fighting among themselves. One man was soon knocked:: down and very roughly handled, being ■also: brutally kicked while down by one of his-shipmates., . The police soon interfered diid arrested’ the most violent of. the combatants, wild "kicked ami fought and struggled with such maniacal fury and extraordinary strength that four constables found they had quite enough to do to •hold him. He seized oneiof his captors by the beard, and lore out “ nearly enough to stuff a pillow,” as the loser ruefully observed, Another time, .when held by three policemenj he (aptually managed to throw liuin all as-/well as himself, the four coming’down on (he pavement with a niiglny erasing All the lime ho continued to yell and bellow at the top of his voice. Next,.'one of the shipmates he had been hammering: suddenly turned on the police and attempted to- rescue .the .prisoner, but; was promptly seized by two constables in plain clothes and “ run jin ” with a celerity that seemed utterly 5 to comfound him. Ultimately four stalwart policemen managed to slip into a strong cel! the buwliiig maniac who had given most trouble, and ho was left to compose his mind by degrees.— Vost. Referring to the stoppage of Mr Hursthouse on his journey through the Waipa Valley to Mokau, hj Mr T, B. Hill writes to too Auckland llerahl ;—“I am afraid certain pakchas of known hostility to the Native Mihister and ■ opposition to thb popular line of railway, will do all they can to prevent that consummation that all well wishers to Ihe land of our adoption so much-desire —that is, the final termination of the natiye difficulty and the future welfare of both races,”