The Patea Mail. Established 1875. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1883. NEWS OF THE DAY.

Patea Mail, Volume IX, Issue 1107, 2 November 1883, Page 2

The Patea Mail. Established 1875. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1883. NEWS OF THE DAY.

The Agricultural Show, entries for which close tomorrow afternoon, pro* mists to he a success. The Railway Depart merit have arranged to run a special train from Waitolara, leaving there at 8 o'clot k and returning from Patca at 5 p.m. This will enable settlers to have a good day's outing, and should the weather prove fine, no donut it will be largely availed of. We hope that a good number of entries will be received tomorrow, as the district ought to bo able to produce something worth looking at. Another special prize is announced elsewhere.

The directors of (ho West Coast Moat and Produce Company will meet at 11 o’clock to-morrow.

There was a curious passenger h}’ the Wanganui train this morning. It was neither more nor than a six-legged sheep, which was being taken to New Plymouth to be exhibited at the races. A five-legged lamb and the person in charge of these curiosities together with a racehorse made up the “ family party ” which occupied the truck. It is intended to show the sheep in Patea towards the end of the month.

We learn that Madame. Moeller the celebrated canta< rice, who has been for -some lime past a resident of Nelson, proposes to make a professional tour from New Plymouth down the Coast. This talented Indy will be a ompanied by her daughters who are also skilled musicians and charming singers. Mr Elleiy Gilbert will act ns manager on this coast, and will also take part in the performances. Mr E. N, Lifiiton, of Wanganui, will hold an important sale to-morrow, when the stock of the Wairoa farm belonging to Mr W. Craig will bo brought to the hammer. The stock is said to be some of the finest in the colony, and no doubt there will be a good demand for them at fair prices. Borough Council meets on Monday evening.

Mr O’Donnell, of Woodvijle, was, wo regret to hear, somewhat badly knocked about by a bull yesterday. Particulars have not reached us.

At the inquest on the bodies of the men killed by a fall of earth at the Manawatu railway works, the jury returned a verdict of manslaughter against Edward O’Malle}', the foreman, O’Malley admitted that the accident occurred through Ids neglect in not having the ground supported. Major Atkinson returns from Auckland to Wellington on Sunday hy the steamer Stella.

A meeting of the creditors of Mr F. O’S. McCarthy was held at the Courthouse on Wednesday afternoon. Ihero wore about half a dozen present, and a chairman being appointed, the first business of the meeting was to consent to the Deed of Arrangement filed by the debtor. A motion to that effect was accordingly moved, but Mr Barton, the chairman, who •attended on behalf of Messrs Krnll and Co, voted against it. Those in favour of the motion, although being stronger in number and representing more in value than Mr Barton's claim were powerless, as tho Act distinctly stipulates that the majority must bo tbree-fourtbs of tho number present, the majority in this instance being only about two-thirds. A number of creditors who would have materially altered tho position of affairs, and who, it was understood, were in favour of tho deed being assented to, were absent from the meeting, and the anathemas invoked upon them by those present were, if not loud, at least deep. One gentleman at the request of others actually set forth on an errand to “ round up” some of the defaulters, but before lie had returned the unfortunate creditors d|M.*!>Vor,ed that even if they succeeded in getting a majority together no end would be served) as the deed was now practically rejected, and a fresh one would have to be filed before they could attain (heir revenge. The mooting accordingly dispersed.

A man named Cornelius Pierson committed sucide at Mosgiel, near Dunedin, on Wednesday, by cutting his throat with a pen knife. The injury would not have proved fatal if medical attendance could have been promptly procured.

Messrs Lundberg & Co., have receive'! samples of some capital Indian mats, suitable for.bedrooms, for which they are now taking orders.. From the substantial nature of these mr.a, wh'ch are handmade, we should .liink they wou'd be of “everlasting wear.” Ihe Itcv. Mr Torry being still at the Hot Springs there will be no morning service at the Presbyterian Church on Sunday, the Rev. Mr Thomson having to preach at Hawcra.- In (lie evening, however, Mr Thomson will preach a special sermoh'a’t Pa'tea, taking Martin Lmh''r as his subject.

It is rumoured that the object of the Premier’s journey to Auckland is to arrange will) Mr Peacock, M.11.U. for Auckland North, to succeed Mr Johnston in the Cabinet, although possibly Hot ns Public Works Minister.

Mr J. W. Walker, a Thames mining expert, has written a letter to the New Zealand Times slating that a bar of gold < xhibited ns being the product of ten tom of stone recently conveyed to and crushed at the' Thames, wherever it was obtained, certainly was not got at the Queen of Beauty mine, Mukara. TTic directors arc indignant and we learn from Wellington that they have instructed (heir solicitors to take proceedings against Mr Walker. Edwards has accepted a challenge from J. O’Connor, of Timaru, to walk 50 miles for £SO a side.

The particulars of flio death of Agnes Cook, who was killed on the railway line near Shag-point, Dunedin, on Tuesday, show that tho deceased (who was nine years of age) was in company with her mother, standing by a hawker’s cart near the railway point when the 4 o’clock p.m. train came along. The horse became restive at the noise of the engine, apd the child, to get clear of it, rushed on to the railway line in front of the engine, and was dragged about fifteen yards before the train could be stopped. She died before medical aid could bo rendered.

'i’ll!; Commissioner of Railways in New Sou'll Wales is inviting tenders for the supply of 150,000 tons of steel rails, to be manufactured in the Colon}”. The object of calling for such tenders is to encourage the development of local iron mining and steel manufacturing industries.

Surely never was there a more curious instance of crazt? (says a Homo paper) than that which has just been developed iii tbe course of an'examination before flic Sheffield Bankruptcy Court. A fund has actually existed for the purpose of excavating the famed Hill of Tara, in Ireland, in quest of lost treasures. These are not the chords of the harp which Tom Moore so sweetly sung, but something far more suggestive of the Moabite sikns of Mr Khapira—namely, the deeds that -were given to the prophet Jeremiah when he purchased the Land of Palestine ! The persons who got up this extraordinary fund were interested in the discovery of the lost tribes of Israel. But why they should have imagined that the site of the Royal residences of the Firvulgian, Tuede D man, and Milesian monarchs should have any connection with the folk missing “ down in Jndee,” ia one of those mysteries which vainly ask for solution.

At a meeting of the Philosophical Society, at Wellington on Wednesday night Dr Duller, in remarks on rare species of birds in the colohy, said the wattle bird of Australia had been found here. In referring to the kea he said they were increasing rapidly in destructiveness, apparently growing fonder of the fat of sheep. Keas killed from fifteen to twenty thousand sheep annually.

Married women at Homo must be careful in future bow the}’ contract debts on their own account, as they will bo liable to arrest if they do not pay up at the appointed time. They have, in fact, a legal status which was formerly denied them by the, common law. Hence the court holds (hat as the reasons on which their exemption from arrest was formerly based no longer exist, the exemption itself cannot be successfully claimed on their behalf. So completely is the independence of married women secured by legislation in Great Britain that a learned judge recently stated that a woman could ‘put her husband in prison if ho made off with an umbrella which she could prove was bought with her separate money. Women certainly appear to have got their rights at last. Tim schedule of prizes for the spring and autumn show are ready for distribution, and can bo obtained from the secretary, Mr 11. E. P. Adams. The spring show will be held towards the end of this month. The committee will decide at their next meeting on what day the show will be held, when it will be ndvenised in the Mail.

Tho following is the account given of the leading incidents in connection with the unfortuato shooting fatality at Balclutha the other day, by Francis Stowart Simhionds;—“ He took his gun from a corner of the bedroom and said, ‘ I think this wil! be letter than mine, as mine is very foul.’ Ho proceeded to How down the gun, and asked me if I had any matches. I said, 1 Is your gun loaded or not ? ’ and he replied 'No ; I discharged it the last lime I was out shooting at Riverton.’ I held tho match to the lefthand nipple. He blew down the barrel, and nearly blew. I he match out. Ho then said, ‘Try the pilfer ban-el,’which I did, the match being abpnt an inch from,tho nipple at the time. He said, ‘Closer, as I cannot see the light.’ I did so, and then heard a report, and fell backwards from the shock of tho gun, and on coming to my senses saw spots of blood over the bedroom. I looked to Hey wood, and saw him lying on the floor, with his head towards the washstand. I asked him to get up. I noticed a large pool of blood by his head, and I staggered from tho

room to call for assistance. I met Mr Wiilmott coming to the room, and I told him Heywood was shot. He told me to go for a doctor, and on getting out to the street I fainted.”