The Patea Mail. ESTABLISHED, 1875. MONDAY, APRIL 23, 1883. NEWS OF THE DAY.

Patea Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 1025, 23 April 1883, Page 2

The Patea Mail. ESTABLISHED, 1875. MONDAY, APRIL 23, 1883. NEWS OF THE DAY.

■tp Episcopalian Church "matters in Patea, which a long time past been at a low ebb, show signs of mending. That a town of the size and importance of this place should be without a minister of the denomination which is said to be the ■‘^lar'gegt^aWd^'eSJtH!eßt- , ?' f in' the community seems a very extraordinary thing. Either the Episcopalians are possessed o£ such easy, consciencesthat they feel the services of a minister of religion are superfluous, or they sufficient energy to rouse themselves and secure a pastor. The example, set by the other religious bodies in' Patea has been an excellent one. They have: their ministers, and the affairs of their respective churches are matters of interest between the congregations and their pastors. They recognise‘the fact that their church has to be supported by themselves by voluntary contributions, and the result is that their hands are often in their pockets in aid of church work. Not so the Episcopalian body. They seem hardly to realise that they .are not in the Mother Country, where the Church derives aid from 'the State, and they are not called upon to any great extent to ,c keep it going.’,’ There are signs, however, that Episcopalians are awakening to a sense of thenduty to themselves.and to their 1 children'. A . short timeago.; the Bishop of the Diocese wrote saying that the services of a suitable clergyman could he procured, if £SO were subscribed towards defraying liia passage from India where he now is. Captain Wray has taken the matter in hand and up to Friday he succeeded in obtaining promises for some £33. Encouraged by this, he, wrote to the Bishop guaranteeing the required amount so that in due course churchmen may anticipate the arrival of a competent clergyman.lf however, circumstances intervene which would prevent the Rev Mr Whitehouse—for that is the gentleman’s name—accepting the charge, the subscribers money will be returned to them. No doubt the members of the “ largest and wealthiest ” religious body will make it their concern that Captain Wray is not a loser by the guarantee he has given. It rests with them to come forward without delay and subscribe the remaining balance, 4 a trifling one where so many iare interested. The journey of Mr Bryce.through the King Country has been safely accomplished and the first step towards the opening of the King Country may be said, to have been taken. It is a subject for congratulation because many fears were expressed that Mr Bryce would not be allowed to go through without molestation. The contrary has been proved to be the case, however, considerable kindness and assistance having been rendered by the Natives. They are beginning to understand that in dealing with Mr Bryce they are dealing with an honest man, and not with a shuffling profligate intent on the demoralisation of their race with bad whidcey. It will not be long now before the King Country will be surveyed, and its capabilities thoroughly well known. The ice has been broken, and hence-forward the King Country cannot be .looked upon as a terra incognita. Mr Bryce may be congratulated upon l the success of his latest move in Native Affairs, which rye feel assured will be productive of good to the Colony in the immediate future.

. The Harbour Board invite tenders for alterations at the Pilot’s house. A special meeting of the Borough Council will be held on Thursday, to hear objections to the Burgess Roll for the coming year. A musical entertainment in aid pf the Kakaramea Institute fund, will take place on Wednesday in the Town Hall, Tha Rifles will parade for inspection tomorrow at 7-30 p.m., and at the same hour on Wednesday. f ; There was a large attendance at Mr Cowern’a rooms on Saturday, when the jewellery recently shown opposite the Bank of Australasia was submitted do auction. Things went very cheap. The well known Masonic Hotel is advertised for sale or to let. This a favourable opportunity for any one wishing to acquire a profitable hotel business. Mr H. F. Christie, is expected to return to Patea on Thursday. His health has been much improved by the trip to Australia. The quantity of coal shipped from Westport during the month of March was 3230 tons. There are about 500 appeals against the property tax valuations in, Waipawa county, Hawkes Bay. The local papers say that since 1881 quite £82,000 has been expended on new buildings in Oamaru. A monster pumpkin, weighing 2441bs was brought over to Wellington from Nelson a few days ago. This is said to be the largest vegetable ever seen in Wellington. The following very narrow escape is chronicled by the Eangitilcei Advocate : A young fellow picked up a cartridge the other day in a house in the Bulls district, and, without, thinking what he was doing threw it on the fire. Presently a loud explosion was heard, and the •, bullet : whizzed to the other side of the room. Gn its journey it passed under the arm of the housekeeper, tearing away a portion of her dress. ' The lady had a narrow escape from serious not to say fatal injury. The progress made by Druidisrn since its establishment in the Colonies, has been something astonishing. In Victoria and New; Zealand last, year 18 newJodges have been opened, making in all 164 lodges unde^the ijurisdictipn; pf the Grand Lodge of" Australia, 2,622 new members were initiated, which had increased, the total to 6,848 merhbers with an aggregate capita] of over £33,000, showing a net increase for the year of £5,276. - During the same period, the sum of £3,429 had been disbursed for sick pay.;.for funeral claims; £1,035 ;.and for surgeons and medicine, £6,061. The total statistics for the principal towns for last month show that, there were 449 births, against 428 in February- The deaths amounted to 222, a decrease of 2 on the previous month. A very bare-faced case of robbing children of their clothes occurred at Auckland last week. A girl ■ about fourteen years old took a couple of children to the Catholic Cemetery and stripped _ them naked, being caught in the act of spoliation by a search party which the distracted father had gone out with. The unblushing effrontery of the girl may be imagined from the fact that she persistently asserted that the children were Tier sisters, and that she had a right to do what she liked with them. The girl was given into the custody of the police, but singularly enough, the authorities decided that it was not their duly to prosecute, and that proceedings must be in the form of a summons. Unfortunately the parent of the children did not feel inclined to prosecute, owing to the expense, and thus the offender got off. j

The Banks were closed to-day, being St. ,George>;day. ; : Mr;;?rßTyce paßsed through Patea on iSaturaay'oirjhis way to Wanganui. Upon -big artivaVat ; Nqw.Plymouth on Friday, b’igbPtKe bein', .'gentleman was presented 'with address, on replying ■to which be-hvas loudly cheered. He spoke in the highest terms of the chief Te ■Wetere, him, and that he (Mf : Bryce); was the first representative of the Crown who had passed through the King country, which was now opened. In referring to Mr Hursthouse (who was on the stage) he said he (Mr Bryce) was not the man to send another .to do, a task that he, was „pp,t prepared to undertake himself, and he had accordingly come through from - Alexandra to New • Plymouth, and had been received by .the natives -in a friend ly manner. Mr Bryce will be banquetted at New Plymouth to-morrow evening; - v -

We {Manawaiu Satndard) had a strange visitor to pur sanctum the other day. , He had the haggard, appearance of:a manjwho; was about to start a newspaper, and, showing us a three - penny piece, he solicited a coin equivalent in value as a subsidy' to enable him to further fortify himself against the cold. of early, winter. We advised him to deposit his earnings in the Savings Bank, and he left- to try’ somebody else. It is hard to say how often -that coin had served s the same purpose. It is stated that Mr Redmond, M-P., and his brother, will include Westport in their tour of New Zealand. Their mission will commence at Auckland. New Guinea, just annexed by Queensland, is the; largest island (excepting Australia) on the globe. It is about 1200 -itffles in length, and its greatest width is #ter 300 miles,- The population of New Guinea, with the immediately adjacent islands, is supposed to he about 800,000. By proclamation in the Gazette, portions of Blocks 13 and 14, Opunake district, have been set apart for leasing under the Land Act. The total area amounts to 2143 acres, divided into 14 sections. Section 2 B 13, Kaupokonui block, comprising 314 acres, will also be dealt with in the same way.

Sir Philip Rose, whose death was chronicled in our telegrams last.week, was a partner in the celebrated firm of Baxter, Rose, Norton, and Co., who were the solicitors of the Tichborrie claimant when he first turned up. A London paper says : —“The -latest novelty for evening wear are electric-light .shirt studs. Tiny incandescent lamps are affixed to the shirt front, and a small battery, with switch attached, is carried in the waistcoat pocket, so that the wearer may illuminate himself whensoever and wheresoever he may wish. These studs are especially adapted for mashers ; but; should only be worn by occupants of the stall. In a private box, too much light thrown on the subject is occasionally a nuisance.” A bold suggestion is made by a St Petersburg correspondent in the columns of the Engineer. Men have not yet learned to fly through space like birds, but why should they not take a hint from the Engineer , and construct an ferial line worked by electricity ? Locomotives are almost useless off the rails, and feronauts may be well content if they learn to fly along wires. The projector would substitute for the unwieldy balloon a light, stout plane, shaped like a kite, balanced by a car, and propelled by a screw driven at a good speed by a dozen or more Trouvc machines arranged in couples along the propeller shaft. By a line of stout telegraph wire led on poles from Berlin to Paris, or from Pekin to St Petersburg, he would transmit 100 horsepower along the wire by powerful dynamos at stations, say a hundred miles apart, which would be taken to the flying plane by two light wires, having contact carriages at the lower ends. The wire would have to be strong to stand the strain of a heavy wind on the buoyant kite, but it is much more probable that men will learn to fly along wires before they are able to fly alone “ promiscuously ” through the air. The loss caused by the New Plymouth waterworks accident will be great (says the Herald), whether it falls on the contractors or the Borough Council, as a new site will have to be chosen, and a new reservoir built.

There is a probability of a woollen factory being started at Hastings, in Hawkes Bay. There was a large attendance at the Christchurch Working Men’s Political Association’s meeting on Friday to discuss Major Atkinson’s Insurance scheme. The meeting passed a resolution condemning the scheme, and adopted one of their own. According to the Herald, the loss sustained by farmers in the Waverley district through the wet weather damaging the grain while in stack, amounts to about one-third of the crop. The Rev. Jeremiah Murphy, an exChurch -ofvEtiglahd minister, has been discovered by the police on a farm in the Wairarapa. It will be remembered that about a month ago he mysteriously disappeared from a restaurant in Wellington, where he was employed as kitchenraan, the impression then being that he had committed suicide by drowning himself. The total of the private bequests of Mr Costella only amounts to £3900, bo that . the balance of the immense estate, valued at £135,000, goes to charities. Several of the bequests are to be called Costella bequests. The funeral took place on Friday at Auckland. The Mayor and City Councillors, and the children of the Parnell Orphan Horne, were present, also a number of old settlers. The business places were closed, and the shipping flags half-mast high.

The Nelson, Mail records,an instance of commendable liberality on the part of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. A man named Thomas was accidentally killed in Brook street, Nelson, a few days ago, and soon afterward the widow, who had ordered a machine from the company, on which she had paid the sum of IQs only, received the following generous letter from the Wellington manager : “Dear Madam, —Sympathising with yon in your present bereavement, and anticipating that your engagement with us might cause you annoyance, _wo have decided Ip forward you our receipt in, full discharge for the sowing machine yoh had on deferred payment from our representative at Nelson on the 17th M?rch.”

The Whitehall lievieio says r —“The manufacture of champagne in the colony of Victoria is making great strides. The Victorian Champagne Company, lately started; has 100,000 bottles ready iov the market, and a brisk demand from England is reported. The quality of the.-wine issaid to be very, good, as the raw materia] is splendid,' and great pains have been taken‘to introduce all the recent processes of manufacture. In these days : o£ adulteration, amateurs of champagne who want a genuine article at a moderate price had better keep an eye on the produce ol Australia.”

The train between Now Plymouth and Hawera takes three hours and forty minutes, to cover the clistancd;',4B miles. The Steir characterises it as the slowest of slow coaches -The Waipawa correspondent oft he HavVke’s .Bay Herald' relates ,an amusing 'incident. Which ocourred in that, district". ’ A .member Jof ai church choir bought a handsome musical album, on his Way to the musical practice and took it to’ church with him, placing it on the harmonium, 'fpn leaving, he forgot to-take it with him, and it was left till Sunday. During the service the organist espied the book, and casually took it down to sec what it was. He opened it, when to his horror, it immediately commenced to give forth the well-known tunc Yankee Doodle.” In despair he placed it on his chair and sat “upoff itl'but'Sll to no pnfp^l , smothered a little,..but still." Yankee Doodle ”• Wns repeated again and again until the spring b«Td run down. The effect upon the cougregation may be imagined. "After tiie'service explanation followed, but the church officers could not be calmed down.

We ( Herald ) hear that Messrs Bristed Brothers* of Qainarn, are in negotiation witii the [directors of the New Plymouth Iron Company for the purchase of the Te Henui Iron Works, and that it is probable the purchase will he completed. The firm obtained a quantity of iron sand some lime ago, and had it tested,-and the result was so satisfactory that they have determined to float a company and order a ..cpniplete plant from Home, jr

I Ah English ebrresporident of, one of the Canterbury papers says: “ Shropshire sheep are the breed of the day here in England, arid if New Zealand means to export mutton , I think a trial of this class of sheep will lead to satisfactory results. Next to the Southdowns, the Shropshire%re •the-thickest fleshed sheep we have in proportion.to their size, and they will thrive where the Southdown would not. They are gradually,encroaching on the districts hitherto sacred’ to other breeds here in England, and are making good progress in the United States.” .-r'\

The “Hallelujah Lasses,” or female members of. the Salvation Army Corps at Paterson, New Jersey, have brought an action for slander against the Rev. Charles Pelletreau, rector of the Protestant Episcopal Church in that city. Each of the plaintiffs claim 6000 dollars, as damages. The cause of the offending was a sermon, denouncing the Salvation Army as “a bold, shameless, religious rowdyism,” and tiie members as “ a lot of hungry cormorants let loose upon a community to destroy all the real good that faithful God-fearing men are labouring to accomplish.” A correspondent of the Auckland Herald suggests that the New Zealand lighthouses should; be regularly visited by a missionary. He concludes his letter thus “ The Government steamer calls at the lighthouses with supplies from time to time, and on these occasions, or perhaps oftener,; the missionary could be landed and removed at such intervals as might be determined upon. Doubtless there are children in the families of some of our lighthouse-keepers who have attained the instructing age, but who probably have not yet acquired a knowledge of the alphabet. Will not some of our Christian philanthropists, who take pleasure in laudable works, move in this matter, and make such representations to the Government on the subject as will induce them to take speedy and effective action therein ?” Dr Hector is at present on a visit to the Hot Lake district, the object of his trip being the completion of arrangements in connection with the opening of the Government sanatorium at Rotorua. A telegram recently received in Wellington from him states that he has been in consultation with Dr Lewis, the Government medical resident, and that everything is progressing satisfactorily. After completing his business at Rotorua, Dr Hector will proceed to Auckland, and from thence to the Bay of Islands, where he will inspect the coal mines in company with Mr S. H. Cox, Assistant Geologist. He expects to return to Wellington about the end of the month.

A few weeks ago we (Home papei) reported the narrow escape of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company’s Lima from destruction by a meteor which fell into the sea in her close vicinity. The United States man-of-war Alaska has recently met with similar good fortune. Captain Belknap, in a report to the department, states that on December 12, a few minutes after sunset, \a loud rushing noise was heard like that of a large rocket descending from the zenith with immense force and velocity. It was a meteor, and when within some lOdeg. of the horizon it exploded with great noise and flame, the glowing fragments streaming down into the sea like huge sparks and sprays of fire. Then came the most wonderful part of the phenomena, for at the point in the heavens where the meteor burst there appeared a figure the shape of an immense distaff, all aglow with a bluish-white light of the most intense brilliancy. It kept that form for perhaps two minutes, when it began to lengthen upward and grow wavy and zigzag in outline from the action of the wind, and .gradually diminishing in breadth until it became a fine spiral lino at its upper end, dissolved into the fast gathering clouds the meteor seemed to have evoked.

Our (Otago Daily Times) Lake County Correspondent writes ; —“ In a town not one hundred miles from the Arrow lliver, a family, consisting of a mother with eight children, was suddenly bereaved of its head, and left destitute. A committee was on the point of formation to appeal to the charitably-disposed for the relief of the family; but were forestalled by two well-to-do gentlemen, who undertook to raise a fund in their aid, for which purpose they collected <£4o 13s. Instead of applying this amount to the relief of the family they undertook to pay the debts of the widow, one of the collectors being amongst her creditors. This was done, it is stated, at the request of the widow. In this manner £3914 sod-—mark the 9d—was paid away, leaving 18s 3d for the relief of the poor widow and her eight children.. The perpetrators of this heartless and dishourablo affair should be made to feel that there is a public pillory in which breaches of public trust and conlidence—which the Jaw does not overtake—may bo exposed and hold up to public condemnation, and with that view reference to it is here made, aqd also to prevent a recurrence of such a gross outrage upon public charity and confidence.” The quantity of rain which has fallen in Wellington between the Ist and 18th instant has been greater than in any of the corresponding months of the past .17 years, 3'616 inches having descended up to the present time. The average fall for the whole month in years past was 3 GOS inches. There have only; been four days during, the 18. during which rain has not fallen. 1 ’ Elder Farr and a number of Mormon converts, from tho Wairarapa District leave Now Zealand by the out-going San Francisco mail steamer. The Elder has taken out tickets for himself and. the following persons ;—Mr and Miss Christiansen, Mr and Mrs Neil sen and four'children, Mr Olsen, arid Mr \Yylie. The party left Wellington yesterday. >

A gallant act by one of the gentle sex wa's’^petif&rmcd in Sydney. A child fell mtir'd'eep water at the foot of Duke-street, Balmain,.when the wife of aboatnjan, Mrs. SwanstiVri',:ipstead of crying for help, laid down - her own baby on the grassland sprang in and brought out the child, which wasV nearly drowned, and must -have perished but for this prompt action. The' case is one for the Humane Society.; ■ As showing what a nuisance hares and Californian quail are in the Mahakipawa district, wo (Marlborough Daily Times) may mention that the residents of that district have petitioned the Marlborough Acclimatisation Society to have them proclaimed* vermin: -The society acquiesced in the request, and the necessary steps will bo taken to give effect thereto. We are informed that quail are In thousands in the. disfnet atiuded tdr