NEWS OF THE DAY.

Patea Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 1015, 30 March 1883, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

The creditors in the estate of John Armstrong, of Kakaramea, are taking steps to prosecute the debtor for fraudulent insolvency.

In the match West Coast team v. Auckland colts (15), the Taranaki’s total score was 206. The colts bad nine wickets down for 41, the game being drawn. Taranaki played the Grammar School, past and present, on Wednesday. and won the match on the first innings. The scores were :-Taranaki, 'lB6 . Grammar School —Ist innings, 59 ; 2nd, 84 for two wickets. C. McCormick, 21, and Arniel, 32, not out, were the top scores of the match.

Ratepayers are reminded that Borough rates not paid by to-morrow will be sued for without further notice.

Mr Cowern has four Auction Sales tomorrow, at 2 o’clock. A quantity of very superior furniture left over from the previous sale will be offered in Dale’s rooms, together with some Rye grass, Woolpacks, and a couple of guns. The other lots consist of property, the particulars of which will be found in our advertising columns. We expect to see a large attendance of the public. At the R.M. Court this morning, a man named O’Brien, a recent arrival from • Wanganui, was fined £lO, idr 3' months hard labour, for using indecent language. We remind our readers that Mr Maccabe, the celebrated ventriloquist and mimic, will appear at the Harmonic Hall this evening.

Mr C. F. Barker will sell at his rooms* to-morrow, at 1.30, a shipment of fruit and 20 boxes tea.

Intending tenderers are reminded that the time for receiving tenders for gravelling Bedford street will close on Monday afternoon at 4 o’clock. Tenders for carting gravel are due at noon same day, at the Borough office. It may also be mentioned that tenders for the Manawapou metal contract close at noon to-morrow at the County Council office. ; ; ; The usual weekly ‘session of Star of Palea Lodge, 236, 1.0. G.T., was held on Wednesday. A few visitors were present, among whom was the Rev H E Ensoi, L.D.G.W.G.T., from Opunake, who gave a most interesting account of the progress of the order, and of his lodge in particular, in that.district. Previous to closing the lodge, it was announced that a special degree meeting would be held on Monday evening. The Nelson races took place on Wednesday, and passed off successfully. The Hurdle race was won by Hope, and the Maiden by Miss Juan, who also carried off the District Handicap. The Jockey Club Handicap, of 120 sovs, was appropriated by Satellite, Forest King second. The Ladies’ Purse fell to Moona. About £750 passed through the totalisator. The numbers present at the Easter Encampment. were as follow i—Wanganui district : Staff (Major Stapp, AssistantSurgeon Tripe, and Staff-Sergeant-Major Henry), 3 ; Garrison Band {including band master and two 20 ; Naval Artillery, 57 ; Alexandra Cavalry, 40 ; Wairoa Light Horse, 25 ; Wanganui Rifles, 48,; Patea Rifles, 39 ; Wanganui City Rifles, 47 ; Rangitikei Royal Rifles, 18 ; Palmerston North Rifles, .l2 Manchester Rifles, 20 ; total Wanprahni district; -329. Nelson district ; Staff (Major Pitt and Staff Sergeant-Major Aidborough), 2; Naval Artillery, 44 ; Artillery H. Battery, 28 ; City Rifles, 31 ; Stoke Rifles, 28 ; Waimea Rifles, 11 ; total Nelson district, 144 ; grand total, 473. - f

Timaru Waterworks have turned out a very profitable investment for the Borough, the revenue being sufficient to pay 9 per cent, on the loan which.'.was negotiated at 7 per cent. The Canterbury Frozen Meat Company have spent £14.792 17s Id on their land and buildings and machinery. Shipments will be despatched by the New Zealand Shipping Company’s steamers every alternate month. Imitation five-pound notes of the Union Bank of Australia are in circulation in Dunedin, two of. them haying been received at the Banks. These two. were a photograph from the same noteMr B. Hallenstein, the head of the wellknown firm of Hallenstein Brothers, proprietors of the New Zealand Clothing Factory, is on a visit to the Coast. Extension of the very extensive business of the firm is the object of Mr Hallenstein’s tour. The highest price at the Middle Park sale of yearlings on Wednesday was brought by a chestnut colt by King of Clubs out of Idalia, dam of Betrayer, Sir Modred, and Cheviot, who fell to Mr Pilbrow for 625 guineas. Thirteen colts and fillies were sold, realising 2070 guineas. On Wednesday night, at 10.30, a sharp shock of earthquake was felt in Patea, the direction of the wave apparently being from the north-west. The shock was preceded by a loud rumbling sound, which lasted some seconds. , The ceremony of . freeing the Wanganui .bridge from tolls Will itake;place on Monday next. There will be a considerable demonstration. A few evenings ago in Melbourne, just before the conclusion of the opera Aida, one of the pillars in the dungeon scene took fire from a gas jet to which it was too closely placed. Being of the ordinary scene composition it blazed furiously,. setting fire ,to other scenes, amidst the utter consternation of the audience, ; which perhaps fortunately was not a large one, otherwise disastrous results might have followed. Plenty of assistance being at band, the burning scenes were speedily dragged off the stage and extinguished, though not without ..consider.,, able difficulty. The full cast of performers; together with the auxiliaries, were at the moment on the stage, the majority being in a most awkward position over the dungeons. They had to assist as best they could, and, for the time being, disregard the piece altogether. The audience, as might be expected, were in a great state of excitement, but as they had a full view of the burning material they kept themselves comparatively cool and collected. Everything was managed satisfactorily and.safely, the curtain was not dropped, and the play was brought to a close as speedily as possible. The damage done was not great. Messrs Shaw, Savillc, and Co. have chartered the fine steamer Westmeath, of 3190 tons, and 1800 indicated horse-power, : and the Agent-General has arranged to send 200 people in her from London to Auckland direct. Darebin won the Sydney Gold Cup, 2 miles, in 3min 33,J sec, with Mistaken second, and Willeroo third. The other starters were—Ad Valorem, Britisher, Cunnamulla, Lord Liscrar, Creswick, Coulston, Lochinvar, Jessie, Little Jack, Masquerade, Sweet William, Musgid, Morpeth, and Stock well. It is proposed (says the Star) to plough up the Egmont racecourse, and sow it down with _ poapratcnsls, within the next month. Great pains will be taken to make it perfectly level, and Mr Fantham proposes to run wire round the inner circle of the course, so as to fence sheep off it when required. The corners of land which have been cut off by the course will all be planted, with forest and ornamental trees. ~ Messrs Flannary Brothers have almost completed the gravelling of. the main road at Waverley. We take the following from the Morning Herald We are not in Russia, nor living under a Russian Czar, but very strange things may happen, nevertheless, says a contemporary. The Public Works Minister has sent an order round to all officials connected with the working of the railways, to the following effect: —That an employd giving information to any person. about the department, its working, or its affairs,* directly ox indirectly' will be liable to * instant dismissal.’ This simply means that any officer may be discharged without notice who has in any way rendered himself obnoxious, for the word ‘ indirectly ’ is much too wide in its possible meaning, especially as its interpretation will rest with the Minister, or with—it is the same thing—the autocratic Maxwell,”

The Education Board has granted an equal sum of money to the Waverley School Committee, towards the erection of a dividing fencej and the erection of two rooms to the teacher’s residence.

- At-Halifax, Va., United. States, a rich young farmer named James Guthrie was, early in February, married to Miss Hulda Martin at the residence of the bride’s father. Owing to the bad weather the guests ro mained at the mansion all night. Next morning when they assembled at the breakfast table, it was remarked that the bride and groom were late in coming. Suddenly the shriek of a woman was heard, and the startled guests rushed into -the hall, where they met the bride of a night, who cried; “My husband ! oil, my husband 1” When she woke in the morning the young lady found her husband dead by her side. She was almost a maniac with grief. His funeral took place from the house in which he was married, his four groomsmen acting as pallbearers, and the minister who married him performing the funeral ceremony. '

Mr Robert Willis has been appointed temporarily to the Whcnuakura School. The following particulars of a painful incident in high life, to which reference has been widely made in the Colonies lately, are given by the Sydney Daily Telegraph \— <• Private letters have been received by the mail just arrived which cannot but fail to give pain to the very numerous friends of His Excellency Sir Hercules, Robinsonf who was for six years one of our most popular Governors. It appears that some two months prior to the departure of Sir Hercules from the Cape of Good Hope, Lady Robinson and her daughter, Mrs St John, left for England in advance of their husbands. Sir Hercules and Major St John, his son-in-law and aide-de-camp, followed in due course, but the younger lady was fickle towards her spouse, and .when she heard rof his '“departure from the Cape thought fit to elope with a Major Stephenson, who had been paying her considerable attention. When Sir Hercules and Major St John arrived in London the guilty.-pair-vhad flown. The unfortunate affair caused considerable excitement in colonial circles in London.”

Mr A. T. Bridge, pupil teacher at Waverley. has resigned his position. The St Patrick’s Day celebration in Sydney was successful. The weather was fine for the demonstration held by the Irish National League. Mr Hedmonddelivered an address in the afternoon. He referred to his mission to Australia, and stated that he had remitted £200! since his arrival in the Colonies. He hoped soon to send another £IOOO. He made no reference to the explosions in London. The harmony of the proceedings was somewhat marred by the action of Mr Copeland, Minister of Works, in responding to the toast .of the Ministry. -He made some some remarks in reference to Mr Eedmond, to which the audience refused to J listen, as they wanted to hear Mr Redmond. Mr Copeland persisted until Iris voice was drowned by ihe brass band. ,

Kakaramea School is to have a hew water tank, the Education Board having sanctioned the expenditure.

Mr Milner.Stephen, through an Oaraaru firm of solicitors, threatens the Mail with an action; for “ the very gross and unwarrantable libel” of him, which he asserts that journal published in a recent issue, Mr Stephen stipulates that the Mail must forthwith ■ publish an apology, to be approved of by him or his solicitors, and at the same time publish three columns of testimonials, or he will be under the painful necessity of bringing an action for libel,; and will seek for heavy damages. In response to this the Mail says :—“ We shall not apologise and insert a free threecolumn advertisement for Mr Stephen. We shall npt be; terrified by threats of legal proceedings into doing that which' we conscientiously ~ believe would be a wrongful act.” ; ; The Salvation Army have at last commenced operations in; the colony-. “ Captain with his wife and alien-, tenant have arrived in Dunedin; and have taken the Temperance Hall for three years. Captain Edward Wright and a subaltern go to Auckland. Captain Kendrcy (well-known in New Zealand by being in command of the s.a. Albion! who was injured in the Hawthorn railway accident, brought an action for damages in the Supreme Court. The jury awarded £1350 damages. Among the news published from Sydney (says the Timaru Herald) is an item stating that on the 11th instant, heavy rollers suddenly began to break on the coast in the neighbourhood of Sydney Heads. Nelson papers of last week speak of high tides .experienced at Collitigwood about 'the same rime, the wpter-flowing into'libuses in the town - ."” It is also oh record that the central volcanic region of the North Island was disturbed by frequent shocks during several days before and after the 11th. Taking these three facts together, it seems reasonable to conclude that an earthquake shock of considerable violence occurred somewhere in the bed of the ocean between New Zealand and Australia about the 11th. I

A workman of Irish parentage, employed at Otahulm, had saved £4O, and was about to take unto himself a wife on the strength of it, but pntriotioly relented and remitted the cash to the Land League. A peculiar discovery was made the other day (says the Waitnra Press) which may tend to reveal some important fact hitherto unknown. By the late flood a huge log was washed down the river and deposited on the sand spit reclamation near the Recreation Grounds, but day by day it grew smaller and “ beautifully less,” no one being able to account for its mysterious disappearance,.until one morning (when there was but a very small yemant left) Mr Tutty discovered half-a-dozen of his horses gnawing away the remaining fragments, and it then became apparent that the.animals had “ scoffed the 1 oig, a piece of .which'.was'secured, and will bo submitted id analytical examination, for it evidently contains some chemical property of which horses are particularly fond, or they ■ would never leave a luxuriant pasturage to feed upon rotten stumps. There are. several other logs in the same place that have undergone the changes of atmospheric and aqueous agencies, and have decayed as this has, but, strange; to say, they were never touched. The petition for Longhurst’s release has been signed by over 3000 persons.