NEWS OF THE DAY.

Patea Mail, Volume IX, Issue 1132, 31 December 1883, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

The survey oE the King Country cm braces a block of 3,700,000 acres.

At the sale of Crown lands at Auckland on Friday the receipts were £1,500.

Two divorce cases are down for hearing at the Divorce Court at Wellington on U-h January next. . The Grand Hotel, Melbourne, has just been finished at a cost of £loo,ooo. It has 140 bedrooms.

The new Queen of Madagascar’s name being inte-preted, means Cloud-full-wator. Long may she rain. It has been decided to establish a butter and cheese factory at Stirling, in the Clutha district, Otago.

One hundred nominations for immigrants have been received this month by the Auckland immigration officer.

At a recent Mayoral banquet at Adelaide, unfermented colonial wine was the only “ tipple” used, on account of the new Major being.teetotal. The entries for the Lincoln-strect sale, which takes place on Wednesday, appear elsewhere. There is a good selection for purchasers to choose from.

Mr W. H. Vanderbilt, who is supposed to be the least generous of aU American millionaires, is proved to have quietly disbursed last year £60,000 for private charities.

A cornetist was stung on the hand by a wasp while ho was playing his cornet in the Congregational 'Church last Sunday. A deacon rose and thanked the wasp.— A ucldand Star.

A smart shock of earthquake, seVeral seconds in duration, was felt about midnight on Friday. It was preceded by a smaller shock, and accompanied by the usual rumbling noise. A Wellington telegram states that arrangements have been made with flis Excellency the Governor and Major Cant ley to inspect Wellington harbour and its entrance, with a view to designing a complete plan of defence.

Nows comes from Blenheim that there has been a heavy downpour of rain there. are entertained of a serious flood. Damage to the extent of thousands of pounds has been caused to the crops, which, for the most part, had previously been excellent..

The Roman Catholics of the Dunedin diocese are signing a petition to 'Parliament praying that justice and equity may be done them in the matter of education, either by placing their schools on a footing of equality with public schools or by exempting them from taxation for public school purposes.

Mr G. V. Pearce, of Kaknrnmca, pulled oil the qunrier-milo race at the Fielding sports on Boxing Day. The local paper says the win was an easy one. Time, 55secs. The same gentleman also won the mile race at the same meeting, beating five others, including Johnston, who won the mile here last year. It is with deep regret that we announce the death of Mr E. Holtham, that gentleman having passed quietly away last evening. Mr Holtham has been one of the pioneers ofPatea, and has resided in Ibis district for many years. His decease was very sudden, he having been ailing only a few days. His death will bo lamented by a large circle of friends and acquaintances, and deep sympathy is felt for the bereaved family. A leading Melbourne paper states that “ the names of the 15 delegates to the Sydney Convention will beheld in as much veneration ns are the names of the signers of the Declaration of Independence by the Americans. James Service will be regarded as (be Australian George Washington ; Graham Berry will be the Hancock of the movement; and William Bede Dailey its oratorical Patrick Henry. Happy men, who are making history and handing do wn their names to immortality 1” The principal attraction in Patea tomorrow will bo the Caledonian Sports, to be held in the Domain. A very fair number of entries have been received, and fine weather alone seems needed to ensure a successful gathering. In the evening, the Harmonic Society will produce “ The Sorcerer,” an opera that is greatly admired by all who have seen it, Mr Clark has painted "some now scenery, and altogether no pains have been spared to make the performance complete. We hope to see a crowded house.

We are.sorry to learn that, after all, Mr O’Dea did not get the contract for building the convent at New Plymouth. He was the lowest tenderer, and was asked to go to New Plymouth. When lie arrived there, he was told that the whole building would be too expensive for the means at command, and the estimates would have to be reduced by £IOOO. Fresh tenders were invited, and some Taranaki people determined not to lot the job slip again, put in at a very low price, and secured the contract. Mr O’Dea will act as overseer on behalf of the ladies who are erecting the convent.

Parliamentary life at Wellington has been blamed for sending more than one legislator out of the world before his time. The late Mr Teschemaker’s death was undoubtedly accelerated by the unhealthy atmosphere of the Parliament Buildings, and according to the Christchurch Press , the same cause has led up to Mr E. J. Lee’s demise. In the course of an article on the deceased gentleman, our contemporary remarks :—■“ Indeed, it is generally supposed that the entire change in living and confinement in the close atmosphere of the House was mainly instrumental in accelerating his death. Recently, says a contemporary', we referred to the extraordinary steaming of the new Atlantic liner Oregon, which averaged 20 knots, or 23£ miles an hour, over a trip of seven hours duration. In view of the interest now attaching to these new and swift steamers, it is worth while to give the Oregon’s chief dimensions. She is 520 ft long, with a beam of 55ft, and measures 7500 tons gross., Her engines indicate 12,000 horse-power, working at a pressure of IQOlbs, and burning ten tons of coal per hour. She has nine steel double-ended boilers, each having four Fox furnaces at each end. Her highpressure cylinder is sft lOin in diameter ; low-pressure cylinder, Bft Bin ; the stroke being 6ft. These are prodigious dimensions.

Lovers of music at Waverley arc to have a great treat on Wednesday evening, When a concert will bo given by Madame Moller and her daughter, who have come over from Nelson to make a tour of the Coast under tbe guidance of Mr E. E. Gilbert, The opening concert at New Plymouth was spoken highly of by the Herald, both ladies being very successful in winning applause. In rendering the plaintive song “Never More,” Madame Holler’s expression was, says tho local paper, faultless, and she was enthusiastically applauded. Miss Moller also gave with clear enunciation tbe song “She wandered down the mountain side.” Her style is captivating, as it is artless and coy, and her pure soprano voice when required assumes an agreeable tremolo which shows it to be well cultured.

It seems likely that, with ordinary good luck, Mr Fraser, tho purchaser of the wrecked steamer Triumph, will make a good thing out of his speculation. A Press Association telegram from Auckland on Saturday says that a portable engine has been working since Christmas Day, pumping water out of the engine room, which is now nearly dry. It is found that there is no hole there, and that except in the fore compartment the leakage is all through the bulkheads. Men are actively engaged taking out railway iron in the forehold, and it is believed she will then float. Steam will be got up on Tuesday next if the weather continues fine, and an attempt will he made to get her off. If rough weather comes on the water will have to be let in again as the vessel is so light. The whole of the refrigerator was taken opt without the slightest injury.

Wavcrley sale on Friday next. The new Bankruptcy Act comes into force to-morrow.

Messrs Nolan, Tonka, & Co., sell stock at Manaia on Thursday.

Mr Cowern sold the whole of, Mr Tennent’s furniture on Saturday at satisfactory prices. There was a largo attendance. At Rukuhia Cheese Factory, Waikato, there is plant suitable for treating 600 gallons of milk per day, the only hands required being the manager and a boy. The partridges imported by the British King, to the order of the Nelson Acclimatisation Society, were taken to Nelson by the Charles Edward, and liberated on MiBest’s farm at Appleby. A train will leave Patea at 6 p.m. tomorrow for Wavcrley and Wanganui. The other trains run as usual. Country folk will thus have every facility for returning home after the sports.

A writer in the Auckland Herald recommends the foundation of an Industrial Association in that city, and says—- “ These shows attract attention, and a few more such in Christchurch will lead all outsiders to think, and reasonably so too, that Christchurch is the chief and only great centre of mechanical and manufacturing industry in the Colony.”

A rather Deary thunderstorm broke over Reefton last Friday evening, tho lightning being very vivid. We (Times) learn that one of the operators in the local telegraph office, while working an instrument, was almost knocked down by an electrical discharge, the flash depriving him of sight for a minute or so. Nothing more serious resulted.

The Westport Times of Tuesday last says :—The weather, which lately has been very peculiar for this time of tinyear, culminated on Sunday night in a storm that will not soon be forgotten. The rain poured, lightning flashed, amt thunder roared, in a manner seldom experienced even on this storm}' coast. Between each flash of lighting but a few seconds elapsed, and this exceptional feature of almost continuous light made the storm especially memorable. According to the Fiji correspondent of the Argus the increase in the production of sugar in that colony is causing the Governor considerable anxiety. His Excellency believes that Fiji requires a curb rather than a spur in this direction. His theory is that as Australia and New Zealand only consume about 110,000 tons annually, and as Queensland raises 40,000 tons, there is a fear that Fiji, if greatly increasing her present production, will overstock the market, and commercial disaster will ensue. He refuses to believe that Fiji will be able to compete with other great markets of the world.

In the course of an article upon our financial posiiion, the Press remarks : The author of the borrowing policy foresaw plainly enough what the result of it would bo, when, speaking on it shortly before his departure from the colony he had debauched, he said there would be occasional periods of great depression. His remedy for these was to borrow, and to borrow, and to borrow again. That remedy has been resorted to only too steadily by those who came after him ; but it has not had the desired effect. New Zealand has now got into a chronic state of borrowing Her regular drain, so to speak, is a million a year. But it has ceased to stimulate the social system. A meeting of the Kakaramea Sports Committee was held on December 27th. The accounts were read over as follows : Receipts—Balance from last year, £9 17s 6d ; sale of tickets. £1 5s ; gate money, £ll 2s ; nominations, £4 Is ; acceptances and post entries, £4 6s ; right of games, 10s ; sale of booths, £7. Tola!, £3B Is 6d. Expenditure—Prizes, £3l 2s 6d ; labour, £1 6s ; advertising and sundries, £3 ; use of paddock, £1 ; balance £1 13s. Total £3B Is 6d. The Secretary reported that all prize money was paid to the winners before they left the ground. The balance sheet was adopted, and votes of thanks wore passed to the officers who had carried the'meeting through.

A curious application has been made to the Wellington City Council. A letter from Liverpool, sent through the Bank of New Zealand, stated that Dr Langley, lately deceased, had destroyed bonds representing £BOO of the Wellington consolidated loan, and asked the City Council to recognise the proofs of such destruction, as had been done by other corporations whose bonds had been destroyed in the same manner. This application was considered, and referred to the acting city solicitor for his opinion. It was stated that Dr Langley was evidently mad when he tore up these and other valuable securities representing his investments. His legal heirs have been appealing to the various corporate bodies to recognise such proofs as could be furnished.