NEWS OF THE DAY.

Patea Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 1048, 18 June 1883, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Tenders are invited for draining and certain other works in connection with the Patea School. Particulars may bo ascertained at Mr Kenworthy’s. The accounts in connection with the subscription for Robert Whitton, to provide him with an artificial leg, have now been closed, and are lying at the office of this paper for the inspection of any subscriber who may wish to see them. The total amount received was£2olos6d, which was disabursed as follows :—Whitton’s expenses to Nelson, £5; maintenance there, £5 Os fid ; return, £3 ; half cost of leg, £7 10s ; total, £2O 10s fid. The balance of cost of the limb was paid by the Government. The Fire Brigade held their usual monthly meeting on the 11th instant. The Captain gave information as to the aid given to Brigades by Borough Council in other towns, and the matter was fully discussed by the members present. It was resolved to again apply to the Borough Council for monetary assistance, failing which the Brigade should be immediately disbanded. Two now members, Messrs Brophy and J Baxter, were elected ; after which the meeting adjourned. The regular monthly meeting of the Patea Kilwinning Lodge will be held this evening at the usual hour. At Waverley to-morrow evening a musical-entertainment will take place in the Town Hall commencing at 7.30. Professor Sample, the celebrated American horse-trainer, is announced to lecture in St James’s Hall to-morrow evening. Admission will be free, and as the subject, “The management of horses,” is an interesting one, there will probably bo a large attendance.

The frost has been so severe in Wanganui that some of the water-pipes have burst. Further defalcations by W. Dale have come to light. It has now been ascer tained that he has defrauded the Building Society out of another sura of £9O by the simple process of receiving * the money from a client and transferring it to his own pocket. We believe a small sum, about £5, is also known to have gone the same way. We think some steps should be taken to have Mr Dale made bankrupt. Previous to leaving here, he transferred his property and book debts to his brother and that gentleman, although he has full power to “ collect,” has none to pay, rather a one sided arrangement. The Government is. a - creditor for £SOO through W. D. having absconded, and it might be worth while for the Minister for Justice to enquire if some portion of that money could not be recovered through the Bankruptcy court. Creditors hero no doubt would be willing to assist. There will be a large quantity of grain sown in the Waitara district this season. The Waitara paper says that the cheese made at the Manutahi factory is meeting with great favour among consumers, and commands prices equal to the best Canterbury. On Sunday evening last several men created a disturbance in Bedford street by fighting and using the most obscene language while people were on their way to church. The police, we understand, liave a clue to t/ie offenders/ and it is to be hoped they will be brought to justice.

The enterprising proprietor of the Hall of Commerce has taken unto himself a partner, not a partner of his joys and sorrows because he has done that already, but a partner of the male sex who, we presume, intends to multiply the joys and leave the sorrows to his partner’s other partner. The fact is that the mantle of the Hall of Commerce has descended at Hawera upon the business of Mr Wright, which henceforth will be conducted by the new firm of Brown Brothers. This explains the necessity for the partnership arrangement so that one of the principals can superintend the business in each town. We hope prosperity will continue with both establishments.

The Railway Station contract is rapidly approaching completion and preparations are now being made for laying the asphalt on the platform. When this is done and the yard cleared up, the whole will present a very neat and business-like appearance. The goods platform has been finished, and the concrete walls of the stage for putting horses in the trucks are also erected.

The river is making a big encroachment into the ground upon which the cottage at the Boiling Down Works is built. Several very large cracks are visible, and it is apparent that unless some protective measures are taken a large slip will shortly occur.

The culture of olive trees is proceeding very successfully in Canterbury, and four hundred plants will be sent to Auckland this week for distribution there. We remind farmers that there will be a large sale of cattle at Hawera on Wednesday, at one o’clock. Messrs Nolan, Tonks, and C 0.,, will then offer under instructions from Mr H. S. Peacock, 300 head pure-bred Shorthorn Cattle, by the well-known bulls Red Duke, Wizard, Master Carlo, Oamaru, Conrad, and Falcon. Most of the cows are by the noted prize-taker Wizard, and will be sold in small lots to suit purchasers., Thef uneral cortege of _tho lafeTSlr John E* Keys left-hia residence yesterday afternoon, »and was largely attended. It is said to have been the longest procession ever witnessed in Patea. The usual beautiful service was impressively read by the reverend J. A. Luxford. In the evening every available seat in the Wesleyan Church was occupied, and the minister of church preached ah impressive sermon from Heb, ix, 27—“ It is appointed unto man once to die.” During the sermon special and feeling reference was made to the deceased. Pope’s Ode,*“ Vital Spark,” was well rendered by an efficient choir. The Dead March in Saul was played by the organist, Mr W. Boagey, as the large congregation separated. During the service Mr Bnsor assisted Mr Luxford by reading the hymns and leading in prayer. The Waverley did not do so badly by putting into Wanganui, as she secured about a dozen passengers from that port to Wellington, The Waverley’s passenger accomodation is so much superior to that of most of the steamers running to Wanganui, that perhaps it might be worth while for the directors of the Patea Company to consider whether she should not include Wanganui in her ports of call. The late North-westerly weather appears to have set the channel somewhat to the southward 6f the breakwater, but the run out is still fairly straight over the bar. The tides are beginning to make again, and there will soon be plenty of water. It would be a great convenience to business men if a telephone were erected between the Railway Station and the Post office. In the course of a few months most of the shipping will be done at the Railway wharf, and with the trains running as well shippers and others will have to be up and down Bedford-street pretty often. A good deal of time might be saved by a telephone, as messages could be sent to the steamers, or the officials at the station, with the greatest ease. A small charge might be made at either end for delivering a message or calling the person wanted to be spoken to, and we feel sure that the telephone, besides being a public convenience, could be made to pay handsome interest on the cost of putting it up. The Harbor Board too might consider the advisableness of extending the service to the Heads, so that, isteamers could be reported immediately on arrival, which latter often occurs some hours before the vessel is able to cross the bar and get up to the wharf. There was a large attendance at Mr Cowern’s salerooms on Saturday, when the property of Mrs Haywood, at Kakaramea, and some Borough leases were offered at auction. The prices realised were an indication of the times and another proof of the tightness of the money market. The first lot was section 200, one rood, with two-roomed cottage. Bidding commenced at £lO, and rose by £5 bids to £SO, at which figure it was knocked down to Mr'T. By ton on behalf of the Building Society. Lots 2 and 3 were similar properties to the above, and realised respectively £65 and £SO, both being purchased by the Building Society. The next property submitted was a leasehold, a subdivision of sections 1,2,3, Block XI, Borough of Patea, with the building known as Warren’s Photographic Rooms. The first offer was £IOO, and this was advanced by bids of £25 to £225, at which figure it fell to the nod of Mr Eyton, acting as before. The Borough leases were then put up, and there was a little competition for the first lot, Sections 5,10, and IT Leicester-stieet, with four-roomed cottage. Mr Williams became the purchaser at a rental of £l6. A number of sections in Block V were passed in, but lot 2, Block 42, three acres, found a buyer in Mr Gowland, the price being £4 10s per year. Some other sections, about 2J acres in Block 9, were knocked down to Mr J. Sheahan at a rental of £5 10s. The Borough leases were part of those in the estate of Mr W. Williams, and part held by Mr W. Dale, and by the sale on Saturday the Borough rents will be enriched by some £2O a year. Afterwards Mr Cowern submitted a quantity of miscellaneous goods, some of which were disposed of at rates in favour of buyers;

The usual weekly parade of the Patea Rifles will be held to-morrow evening at 7.30 sharp. The roll will be called in future on the men falling in, and the parade will not count to those absent at that time, unless on very good grounds they can convince the commanding officer that it wasjimpossible for them to attend. The Officers medals will not be. fired for to-morrow, but due notice will be given of the time. To-morrow evening at 8 o’clock, weather permitting, the Company will “march out” accompanied by their Band ; so that a good muster may be looked for on parade. The “ dear departed” W.D., continues to occupy the thoughts of some people in Patea with a persistency that shows how tightly the “ bonds” of affection are drawn. On Saturday the general question about town was “ Have you heard the news! Dale’s caught at ’Frisco,” The parties who started this little fiction would no doubt be delighted to hear of it being converted into something stronger—a fact. We are sorry we cannot administer a comforting “ surety” of such coining to pass, as we are afraid “ Willy” is too “ wily” to give us the chance of seeing the light of his countenance again. During the first year of its existence the Hawera Fire Brigade has expended £165 on plant, nearly’ all of which was contributed by the Borough Council, As soon as it is in a position to do so, the Brigade intends to join the United Association. The New Zealand Q-rain Agency has declared a dividend of six per cent. Mr James McDonald, proprietor of the Mil burn limekiln, has announced himself as a candidate for Bruce in opposition to Mr Gillies (brother of Judge Gillies), and Mr Mosley. A man named Henry Ellis, for swearing in Manners street, Wellington, was promptly arrested and fined £5 and costs, or a fortnight’s hard labour. The use of obscene language in the streets is a great deal too prevalent all over the colony, and the Wellington magistrate is to be commended for his severity in this case. Speaking of the political situation, the Hawke's Bay Herald says that “ more than half the members do not care how legislation goes, provided plenty of public money be spent in the districts they represent.

Some Auckland milk vendors have been seeking to increase their profits by the addition of water*. Milk and water is a very useful mixture indeed, but most people like to do the mixing business themselves at home. The milkmen have been “ found out,” and will have to answer a charge of adulteration. A Freethonght Association has been formed in Wellington. A similar institution has also been started in Wanganui. The Early Closing Association in Wellington has met with some encouragement from employers who have agreed to close the drapery establishments at 8 o’clock on Saturday evenings. Patea employees should make another effort to obtain a similar concession.

The Timaru Herald attributes a great part of the depression which has so long prevailed to the widespread depreciation in the value of land below the speculative prices that were paid for it some years ago. No doubt there has been an actual loss of money on those transactions, amounting to an enormous sum, and crippling the activity of a very great number of settlers.

The Otago.distrio*'of Oddfellows now 'twenty-three lodges, numbering about 1,550 members,-wiili fumlo to their credit to the amount of £33,000.

A new sensational marine situation, says a London correspondent, has happened, and is still happening, off the Mumbles. A steamer is anchored there with a red flag flying, with nobody on board nor anyone likely to be. Its cargo has been discovered to consist of “ three tons and a half of dangerous explosive known as foresite, and of a vast, quantity of percussion caps.” The crew, it strikes me, must have had some foresight of their own to leave it. A gentleman of Swansea having represented to the magistrates that it lay only a quarter of a mile from the town, it has been towed further out to sea, where it lies much respected. An attempt is being made in Canterbury to institute an Association for promoting the nationalization of the land in New Zealand. Mr Redmond says his mission to Australia has been more successful than he anticipated, both financially and morally. In three months he has sent Home to the National League over £6OOO, and whenever he has had an opportunity of explaining the objects of the League he has convinced many men differing from him in creed and nationality of the justice of Ireland’s claims. The present system of electing the Licensing Committees is greatly in disfavour at Dunedin. A deputation of citizens waited upon Mr Fish, M.H.R., on Friday, and requested him to question the Government on the first opportunity as to whether it was their intention to revert to the nominative system of licensing benches. Mr Fish stated in reply that he would table a notice on the subject on Tuesday. When times are bad the number of fires, suspicious and otherwise, increases to an astonishing extent. The latest instance is at Timaru where a three-roomed cottage was found to have been fired in three places, tar and kerosene having been poured over the walls and floors, Insur£2oo, not bad for three rooms I The Insurance Company deseive to lose the money. The proprietor of the cottage, T. Parsons, has been arrested on a charge of arson.