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Poverty Bay Standard, Volume 1, Issue 7, 16 November 1872, Page 2

Wc regret having in our last issue, somewhat unguardedly coupled Captain Porter s name, and Military duty which called him to Wellington recently, with the settlement of the Native School difficulty here. We did not desire to implicate Captain Porter, in the discharge of a manifest duty, in any way which would cause a collision between himself and the Government; but it is difficult to dissociate the] two positions this gallant officer occupies. If there is one man more than another whom wo should commend for straightforward, fearless, action, in the discharge of public duty it is Captain Porter ; and it is a misfortune, for which he is not responsible, that he has to clean the stable of an official Augeas. lie happens to be on the Native School Committee, and, in the interests of the Natives who are supposed to reap the benefit, accepted the opportunity of meeting the Native and Defence Minister on other business, to lay before him the cause why the establishment of these schools here have not been successful. Captain Porter had no communication with us on the subject, and we were not aware of his intention until after his departure. The action Captain Porter intends to take is as a member of the School Committee, and not as Captain and Adjutant of the district.

Tenders have been accepted by the' Road Board for the maintenance of roads, for twelve months, as under: —No, 1 contract, L. Dunne, £7O. No. 2 contract, L. Dunne, £9O. ~No. 3 contract, G. S. Saunders, £25.

J. 11. Campbell Esq. Resident Magistrate at Waiapu, arrived at Gisborne on Tuesday eveninf en route for Napier, to confer with the Hon. the Native and Defence Minister upon important matters connected with Natives under his jurisdiction.

Colonel Gorton has been distinguishing himself once ntore. It appears that two coal scuttles issued to Judge Fenton became unserviceable and were consigned to the dust heap. Not shown - in the next return Colonel Gorton came down upon Judge Fenton “ like a wolf on the fold.” They had. been issued to the Judge ; he was responsible forthem, and he had no right whatever to “expend” them. on dust heaps. In consequence of this Judge Fenton had the scuttles fished out from then- unsavory repository, packed them up carefully, addressed the valuable package to the Native Minister, and forwarded it with a bill of lading by steamer. The expense of the correspondence, freight, and other charges upon these scuttles, has been about twenty times -their value as -okL iron. And it is to look after such matters as these that Colonel Gorton is paid several hundred pounds per annum. — Post.

Gisborne Library.—The usual quarterly meeting was held in the Library room on Mondav evening last. Mr. Webb having resigned, Mr. Strong was unanimously elected to the post of Librarian. The chief item of interest was an offer made by the Directors of the new Hall, to the Library Committee, with a yiew to the Library being removed to That building. The plucky, spirited, enterprise of 4 the four gentlemen who have assumed the responsibility of catering for public wants, deserves support, and we hope the members of the Library will support their Committee in providing means to meet the extra expenditure which the increased accommodation entails. The Library so far,- —thanks to the energy and zeal of its promotel’s, and the general economy which has marked its career, — has been a success. There are some 700 volumes of varied literature on the catalogue, with as good an assortment of Colonial and English newspapers as can be afforded at present; and we hope to see a general assistance accorded, by which the plan of the Committee may be given effect to. An advertisement in another column calls a meeting of members for next Saturday evening, to discuss the question of ways and means, and in the meantime we invit e the attention of all interested in the progress of our town, to a consideration of the measures to be adopted towards furthering the legitimate objects of such an institution. The Directors offer acccommodation for five evenings in the week, and the advantages of a quiet, comfortable, reading room, on very reasonable terms. Should the Library Committee find chess, draughts, &c., we have no doubt as to the result, as they will then be in a position to offer inducements to participate in the refreshing delights of intellectual I enjoyment, minus the exciting surroundings of most places of entertaininent.

Auckland Police. —The following is the opinion of the Weekly News, as to the result of handing over the charge of this body of men to local management:—“ The change proposed to be made in’the police force in this province is creating a considerable amount of uneasiness and dissatisfaction. A telegram expressive of this feeling of disapprobration was sent to the Hon. Julius Vogel, and we have been favoured with the message] received in reply. It reads

thus :— ‘ When General Government took police they did so on the condition that when the Provincial Government wished to resume charge they should be permitted to do so. They desire to resume charge, and we fulfil conditions. The matter rests with the Provincial Government.—Julius Vogel.’ We understand that the announcement has caused a very considerable jwnount of discontent amongst the members of the police force. They state that they took service under the General Government, and under it .[they had some chance of promotion for good service, or for the exhibition of intelligence, but that those conditions will be altogether changed on reverting to Provincial control. It is not at all likely that the members of the Armed Constabulary at present in Auckland will serve under the Provincial Government for 6s. a day, while they have the chdnce of earning more by joining the- field force in the Waikato, Tauranga, and’\other districts. Whatcvci’ may have been said in favour of not making the change at first, while the other provinces retained control of their police, we unhesitatingly affirm that the present action iu restoring to the Provincial Government the control of the police force is a most unadvised step, and one calculated not only to do an injury to the members of the force, but also to make it less efficient by interfering with the independent discharge of their duties.

Speaking of the diseases and complaints of cattle the Country Gentleman says : —“ There is one medicine for cattle that can never do harm and is commonly beneficial; this is pulverised charcoal. Nearly all sick animals become so from improper eating in the first place. In nine cases out of ten the digestion is wrong. Charcoal is the most efficient and rapid corrective. Jt will cure in a majority of cases if properly administered. An example of its use—one of The old men came in with the intelligence that one of B’s finest cows was very sick, and a kind neighbour proposed the usual drugs and poison. The owner being ill and unable to examine the cow, concluded that the trouble came from overeating, and ordered a teacup of pulverised charcoal given in water. It was mixed in a bottle, the head held upward, and the water with its charcoal poured downward. In five minutes an improvement was visible, and in a few hours the animal was *in the pasture quietly eating grass. Another instance of equal success occurred with a young heifer, which became badly bloated by eating greenstuff, .The bloat was so severe that the sides were almost as hard

as a barrel. The old remedy soda, was tried for the purpose of correcting the acidity. . But the attempt to - put it down always: caused coughing, and it did little good. Half a teacupful of fresh powdered charcoal was next given. In six hours all appearance of bloat was gone.”