The Telephone. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1884. Local and General.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume I, Issue 67, 15 February 1884, Page 2

The Telephone. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1884. Local and General.

Licensing Committee.—Nominations for members to sit on the Licensing Committee must be in on Saturday next by noon. Cause List.—The following civil cases are set down for hearing to-day in our R.M. Court :—Nicholas v. H. Wariki, Mclntosh v. Parsons. Adair v. Francis, and Nicholas v. Temoka.

The Harbor Conference.—At a meeting of the Sub-Committee—Messrs. Chambers, Gannon, and Tucker—appointed to draw up a report on the harbor question, it was agreed to wommwd the adoption of the BUI.

Deputy Official Assignee.—Mr. Bennett, of Graham, Pitt, and Bennett, has been appointed Deputy Official Assignee in Bankruptcy for the district of Poverty Bay, and Messrs. Ward and Kenny are to be the Deputy’s legal advisers.

County Council.—On account of their being only a bare quorum of members present at the County Council meeting last night several important questions were allowed to stand over until a larger attendance could be secured. Not the least of these was the communication from the Borough Council re the construction of the Tauranganui Bridge. Slight Accident.—As one of our country settlers was driving home on Wednesday evening he met two bicyclists who apparently possessed little control over their iron steeds. In trying to avoid Scylla he ran foul of Charybdis, with the result of bringing one of the riders heads in such violent collision with the fore part of the buggy as to render necessary the calling in of the doctor, who declared that it (the buggy) had received a severe compound fracture which necessitated its laying up for a day or two whilst undergoing repairs. Very Hard Lines.—lt must be a matter for surprise to many who have witnessed the munificent manner in which the Hospital Committee dispense their favors, that they turned a deaf ear to the modest (?) application of their wardsman. They actually refused, after granting him a month’s leave of absence on full pay and finding a substitute themselves, to provide the wardsman with funds to spend during his holiday. Whatever can be the reason for this niggardly fit we are at a loss to understand, We should have thought his careworn appearance would have melted the most obdurate heart and thoroughly convinced the most sceptical committeeman of the urgent necessity for carrying out the medical advice for “rest." Wool.—The N. Z. Loan and Mercantile Agency circular, published for the January mails, and received by us yesterday, reports as follows: —“ A retrospect of the market during the past year, and an examination of the position which our leading Colonial staple now occupies, bring to light the following features, viz : —(a) A decline on average in value of nearly five per cent, (b) An increase in available arrivals of fully five per cent, (o) An increase in direct missions to manufacturing centres of two per cent, (d) An increase in quantities catalogued of nine and a-half per cent. Apart from the question of intrinsic inferiority of growth and condition of the Australian clip dealt with last year, the decline in the average value has been in a great measure brought about by the policy pursued, to which allusion has already been made in previous issues, of admitting available arrivals for the third series quite beyond either trade requirements or speculative wants. The adoption of this course contributed in disappointing the hope held out twelve months ago of a maintenance of values, occasioned many withdrawals, induced much irregularity in the biddings, and caused the holding over for succeeding sales of the large aggregate of 56,000 bales. Had supplies been more evenly distributed, it is probable that not only would a higher level have been reached, but a larger quantity of the raw material might have passed into the hands of dealers and consumers. Neither in the volume of available arrivals nor in the proportions thereof sent direct to consumers have any very marked changes been shown during the past year, and while the quantities catalogued exhibit the material increment of 91 per cent., this was largely due to the repeated offerings of wools in the fourth series, those embraced within this category being estimated at 66,000 bales. The part played by Home and foreign buyers points conclusively to the fact that, notwithstanding the activity displayed by the former throughout the closing months of the year, in sympathy with the upward movement then manifested in the domestic wool market, their competition was sufficient to absorb only 47 per cent, of the total sales, while 53 per cent is recorded as having been passed for export, American as well as European Continental buyers having from time to time been present as competitors in the sale-room.’’

Cure for Cancer.—We call particular attention to the advertisement in another column of a jwmaneftt cure for cancer, the production of Canadian enterprise, and one which is fast gaining an enviable reputation for the positive cure of that dreaded, loathsome disease, The discovery of a sure cure for cancer has long baffled medical science, and to know that a remedy has been found will be an inestimable boon to thousands of sufferers who are now writhing under its fatal influences. Dead Body of a Hero.—“ Any lingering hope that Hicks Pasha may possibly have escaped has been finally dispelled. His body was discovered where he died fighting, with his revolver in one hand and his sabre in the other,"

A Singular Case,—A Brisbane telegram in the Melbourne papers says:—“ Mr, Jones, who was so severely injured at Rockton by a circular saw, is still alive. The saw cut through five ribs. The heart and left lung can be seen in full working order. Only one case of a similar nature has ever before been recorded,” Penny Wise and Pound Foolish. —The Otago Daily Times of the sth instant reports that “ a Caversham landlord, named John Calder, was receiving £2 rent from a tenant, and thought he would save one penny, being the amount of the revenue stamp provided by law. He therefore gave the tenant two receipts for £l, and no doubt thought he had done a clever thing. This happened in the year 1882. By some means the Stamp Department became possessed of the receipts a short time ago, and Mr. Calder to his surprise had to appear in the Police Court yesterday to answer a charge of defrauding Her Majesty of one penny. He pleaded guilty, and was evidently astonished when the Justices told him he was liable to a penalty of £lO. They, however, let him off with a fine of £2, and he had the pleasure of paying his tenant Bs, for attending the Court as a possible witness, He left the Court fully determined to comply with the provisions of the Stamp Act on future occasion*,’'

A Little Blarney. — A gentleman, responding to the toast of the ladies at a recent dinner up-country, is reported by the Austra. lasian to have delivered himself as follows “ I have grown up from among the fair daughters of Erin; I have spent many days among the stately beauties of England; I have danced and sported with the lilies of France; I have drunk lager beer and played kiss-in-the-ring with the fair-haired children of the German Vaterland, but never did I properly appreciate loveliness and virtue combined until I came to Australia, and never did I lose my heart, and bow down a meek and conquered victim before the shrine of beauty, until I had the misfortune to teach astronomy to a Victorian girl by the dusky light of the Southern Cross.” Meilncholy Accident.—From the Lyttelton TlvniS we find that “ a melancholy accident occurred at Riccarton shortly before 7 o’clock on Saturday evening, 2nd inst., by which Mr. Thomas Ballantyne, brother of Mr. J. Ballantyne, of Dunstable House, lost his life. The deceased gentleman, who resided at Canowie Farm, on the Ham Road, was driving from town to his home in a waggonette. After he had turned into the Ham Road the horse took fright, from some cause not ascertained, and, when close to his own gate, Mr. Ballantyne was thrown violently out of the vehicle. The accident was seen by two ladies, Mrs. Pitt and Miss Harler, who were walking along the road, and by the deceased’s two children, aged respectively eleven and eight years, together with a young man named Haskett. The lastnamed stopped the runaway horse, before it had proceeded much further. On raising Mr. Ballantyne, he was found to be apparently dying. He was taken into his house, and Dr, Nedwid was sent for. The doctor at once proceeded to Riccarton, but found that he could do nothing, as life was extinct, deceased’s neck having been apparently broken by his fall. Mr. Ballantyne had on’y been resident in Canterbury for a few months, having previously lived in South Australia. He recently purchased Mr. George King’s farm at Ilam, and bestowed on it the name of Canowie, from a celebrated sheepstation in South Australia, The deceased gentleman, though resident here but a short time, had made himself much liked, and his death has occasioned a good deal of regret. He was forty-seven years of age, and leaves a young family to deplore his loss.”