NEWS OF THE DAY.

Patea Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 1014, 28 March 1883, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Platelaying is finished on (he Manutahi section. At- the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday morning, before C A Wray-, ■■ Esq., judgment was given for the plaintiff, in the only case that came before the Court, that ot Williams Bros, v, Bayley. We have received the plans and specifications for the schoolho.use and teacher’s residence at Okaiawa, and they will be open for inspection at this office until Friday,-whemtenders,-.close. ..... .. .. . We remind our readers that the Harmonic Society will /give-a concert at their Hall, toruight at eight o’clock. The first 'part'WTh§ i '’ : f)fßgfamino''' consists 'of inis-' cellaneous songs. and choruses, .and., the second of Callcott’s pastoral Cantata" The Golden Harvest,” at singularly appropriate selection at the present time. The Conti actors are pushing on the embankment across the swamp, and making up for time lost through the subsidence of the w r ork. The greatest depth to which part of the trestles sunk, was twenty-three feet, nine inches. The s.s. Napier will leave Wellington for Patea to-night. Site has been laid up for the purpose of having horSteni Cabin •fitted -Hip -for passengers. She will prd-

bably leave here on Friday, The second engineer of the Rotorua died from sunstroke while on the voyage from Fiji to Auckland. Mr R. 0. Hendry’s dwelling house at Hawera was burned down on Tuesday night. The origin of the fire is unknown. The building was insured in 'the National office for £IOO. We learn from Wellington that the charge of perjury preferred against a barmaid named Lucy Bulger has been, adjourned until Friday, bail being allowed herself in £IOO, and two smeties of £SO each. On Monday afternoon, Thomas Thompson, 70 years of age, a painter, living at Christchurch, poisoned himself with strychnine. A petition praying for the release of the prisoner Longhurst will shortly bo presented to his Excellency the Governor. A Dunedin telegram says : During the recent southwest gale and tides, the sea came right through the sandhills at the Ocean Beach at St. Kilda. This is the first-time that such a thing has been known..

When performing at ; St. George’s Hall, Bradford, some years ago, Maccabe, with his customary readiness to assist brother professionals, consented to. take part in the farce of “TurnHimOut.” His own entertainment having been rather prolonged, he dressed at the hall for the character in the farce (a seedy old loafer) and sent his servant to engage a cab, into which he made a hasty entrance to escape observation, This attempt at concealment aroused the suspicions of cabb}', who descended from the box, and was astonished at the appearance which his fare presented. “ No, yon don’t,” said he, seizing the disguised occupant, and attempting to jerk him out. “But I’m Maccabe, and want you to drive me to the Royal,” exclaimed the impersonator. “Oh ! you’re. Maccabe are you ?” said jehu, amazed at the coolness of the supposed impostor. “ Well, I know better, old party.' Hout you come,” and in spite of his pr6tcstations, the indignant, but withal amused performer, was forcibly and ignominious!} ejected from the cab, and, attired in his stage dress, had to trudge on foot to the theatre, followed by a large crowd attracted by his strange and novel appearance. That was, perhaps, the most realistic performance of “ Turn Him Out ” in which Mr Maccabe, in the course of his eventful career, ever took part. A most extraordinary item of intelligence reaches us from the Cape, to the effect that, our erstwhile most popular Governor, Sir Hercules Robinson, who now rules over the Cape Colonj r , is by no means appreciated by the inhabitants of South Africa. They complain that he devotes all his time to horse racing and gambling, and entirely neglects the business of the country ; and it is further said that his present subjects will be only too glad to see his back, while Sir Hercules only regrets that he ever left New Zealand. After this we shall not be suprised to hear that Sir Arthur Gordon is most popular in Ceylon.—N.Z. Times . The Wairarapa paper reports that King Tawhiao has announced his intention of going to Salt Lake City, unless all the Maoris consent to become Mormons, and practise the peculiar ceremonies of that religion in their native country. It has been decided by Judge Docker, of Sydney that, :bookmaking is not an illegal means of obtaining a livelihood.

A contemporary informs us that Lady Florence Dixie is the sister of the present Marquis of Queensberry. She is still quite a young woman, having been born in 1857. In 1875 she; married Sir A. Beaumont Churchill Dixie, Bart., and there is one son by the marriage, born in the following year. One of their residences is known as “ The Fishery,” at Windsor. Lady Florence is a remarkable woman. She has travelled in South Africa and Patagonia, and wrote an account of her adventures in the latter country.

A 10-inch spherical shell is being mounted on a wooden stand at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich,for the Prince ofWales. It will bear the following inscription : “ Presented to H.R.H. the Prince of Wales by Admiral Lord Alcestor, G.C.8., as a souvenir of the bombardment of Alexandria, July 12tli, 1882. Came through the port side of Her Majesty’s ship Alexandria, above armour, passing through torpedo-lieutenant’s cabin, struck combing of engine-room, and rolled along main deck, when Mr Harding, the gunner, put it in a tub of water, ior which he received the Victoria Cross.” When the shell arrived at the Royal Arsenal, it was uncharged and had no fuse attached, “ Rip Van Winkle,” the new opera by the composer of “ Les Cloches de Corneville,” M. Planquette, is stated to have caused quite a furore on its production in London.

A.t a fire in Limerick recently, the local fire brigade struck for pay, and but for the ready assistance of the men of the 57th regiment, and of the artillery, much damage would have been clone. The kola nut patronised by .the “drunks” of Jamaica has a rival in a famous prescription in use in ' England for the cure of drunkenness, by which thousands are said to have been assisted in recovering themselves,' The prescription came into not oriety through the efforts of John Vine Hall, commander of the Great Eastern steamship, He had fallen into such habitual drunkenness that his most earnest efforts to reclaim himself proved unavailing. At length he sought the advice of an eminent physician, who gave him a prescription which he followed faithfully for eleven months. At the end of-that time he had lost all desire for liquor, although he had been, for many .times,Jed captive by a most debasing appetite. The prescription, which ho afterwards pub-

■Vt ~ ' ' ' lished, and by which so many drunkards' have been assisted to reform, is athfoE lows:—Sulphate of iron, five' grains ; magnesia, ten grains ; peppermint water, cloven/ drachms ; spirit of nutmeg, one drachm,'-.twice a day. This preparation, acts... as a tonic - and stimulant, and so partially supplies the place 6f_ the ac-customed-liquor, and prevehtstthat-. absolute physical and moral prostration' that follows a sudden breaking off from the use of stimulating drinks. Mr F R Jackson will hold his usual sale at Manaia on Friday next. - The County Council, the lawyers, and .the unfortunate ratepayers are going to have another innings. The Council have -issued-, ano-tlier^-baidi•’ of 117*au mmonsr •s,' which will'bo hoard on the 13th of next month. ■ As no election of a school committee had been held at Manutahi, the Education Board yesterday appointed the old conD mittee as school commissioners for the

ensuing year. The Education Board have resolved to employ a “ Truant Inspector ” to travel from place to place and “ round up ” recalcitrant scholars. The appointment is to be for six months, and the emolument £IOO .and a free .railway pass. - Applications wilt 'be plentiful. Dr Buller is -just completing a palatial residence in Wellington, the conlracfprice of which is over £3,000. A Renter’s telegram dated March 23 states that Her -Majesty the Queen is improving in health, the swelling in the knee having greatly lessened.

An accident happened beyond Manutahi last evening to a carter named Olymore, who was on the road to Hawera with his dray. No particulars are to hand be3 ? ond the fact that he fell off his carl, which passed over; him. lie was conveyed to Hawera.

The following appears as an advertisement in the Nelson Evynhuj Mail “Challenge accepted. Eleven Dressmakers are willing to p'ay Eleven chinists a friendly Game of Football in the .Botanical Reserve on Thursday, at half-past two p.m.” We have not heard whether the game came off, Sergeant Donovan has been interesting himself in the case of the man Whittem, who wants a wooden, leg, and with such success that he has collected £l3 10s in “no time.” The moral suasion of the police is known to he great, and hence it is, we suppose, that the genial Sergeant has found no difficulty in doing what nobody else can.—extracting cash from the pockets of the public. But the cause was a good one, and we. are a tolerably generous people. : „Tho list "dll remain open with the Sergeant for a day or two longer. Messrs Snelson, Carson, and Ross have been elected members of the Education Board. For the extraordinary vacancy caused by the resignation of Mr D Coutts, Mr Taplin heads the poll, the following being the votes received by the candidates ;—Taplin, 27 ; Doull, 13 ; Root, 9. Mr Root had previously written withdrawing his candidature. A protest was received from the Mars Hill School Committee against the election for the extraordinary vacancy on the ground tha.t no notice to nominate was sent. The Okoia Committee also protested on the same ground. The Board ruled that, as public notification or nomination had been given by advertisement, the Act had been complied with in both cases. There was quite a numerous gathering at the Farmers’ Club room on' Saihrday. The President (Mr W Wilson) was in the Chair, and there were present —Messrs J Ball, E M Honeyfield, A Palmer, R B Hamilton, J Burke, W C Symes, R W Foreman, &c. Mr Honeyfield was elected treasurer in place of Mr H. F. Christie, who had forwarded his resignation on account of being so much absent from the district. A lengthly discussion took place concerning the financial and future position of the Club, and it was decided to instruct the Secretary to write to members who had the Club hook informing them that a certain amount of expense had been incurred on Hie faith of their signatures and would have to be met by present members unless they paid up their subscriptions, Several other matters of interest were discussed, and it was resolved to meet again on the first Saturday in May, We are glad to notice the interest in the Club is reviving; and hope to see a good meeting on the above date. On Monday last, Sir William Fox, together with Majors Parris and Booth, Captain Wray, Mossis Sicelly, Bell and Hadfiold, attended a meeting of natives at Waitotara, convened for the purpose of inducing certain natives to give up possession of 400 acres of land which had boon sold to Europeans many years ago, hut on which a number of Maoris had settled refusing to recognise the right of the owners. Tapu te Waero and Epaino, two of the principal ringleaders, were present, and about a hundred other natives also attended. Sir W. Fox gave an elaborate statement of the caso._ Ho said that if the natives gave up their claim to (ho land ho would recommend the Government to give them another piece a few miles off, in order that they might not he homeless. He intimated that this would probably bo the last chance they would have of an amicable settlement, as recourse would bo had to the Court. Tapu To Waero in replying, denied the right of the natives who had sold the land, and finally the Queen’s right to confiscate and declared that he and his people would stick to the land in spite of the Supremo Court, Tapu To Waero has always opposed and endeavoured to impede the Land Purchase Commissioners in the district. It is thought that action will shortly be taken m the matter by the Native Minister,