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Temuka Leader, Volume I, Issue 91, 30 October 1878, Page 2

A peculiar petty larceny case was heard at the Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday, in which the unfortunate victim was sentenced to one month’s imprisonment for stealing drink. There is no doubt whatever that the man was not in a fit state to account for his actions, and we think tnat inexperienced youths should never be permitted to stand behind the bar of an hotel and serve men with drink until they become too intoxicated to know what they are doing. Numerous complaints have reached us lately as to the impropriety of allowing whitebait fishing in the Temuka river on account of the number of young trout that are brought to land with the whitebait, and never again returned to the stream. We hope that steps will be taken to prohibit it, and that in all cases where the offence can be proved, a penalty be inflicted. A quarterly meeting of the Committee of the Temuka and Geraldine Agricultural and Pastoral Association will be held to-morrow evening in the Star Hotel for the transaction of general business. To-morrow evening a burlesque company will appear at the Volunteer Hall under the management of that wellknown comedian Mr J. P. Hydes. As the company includes many first-class artists, the public can look forward to some good burlesque acting. At the Resident ‘Magistrate’s Court yesterday before A. Le G. Campbell,

Esq., R.M., James Barnett was charged with stealing a bottle of brandy and a bottle of whiskey from the Crown Hotel. Prisoner was arrested about ten in the evening, while'in his bedroom, where a search being made, a bottle of spirits was found underneath his pillow. The barman at the Crown Hotel identified it as the property of his employer by its having some peculiar marks about the cork. The prisoner was sentenced to one month’s imprisonment with hard labour. We have often had complaints with us against the rash manner in which stablemen and other tradesmen drive horses through the main street. Several “bolts” have taken place through this procedure. Only Monday last a dray with little children in it would have been off, and might have led to serious resrdts but for the firm hold which several men had of the horses. We do not wish to hamper a ryone in carrying out their legitimate business, but human life ought not to be jeopardised when there is no necessity for it. Cracking of whips, shouting and howling, are just the means best adapted for starting nervous horses. A little attention is all that is required for the protection of the lieges of the town. This could be carried out either by taking in the horses at an early hour in the morning or keeping them at a walking pace during their passage through the public thoroughfare. The local volunteer company having accepted the invitation of their Dunedin brethren of the sword to send representatives to the Demonstration, a special parade was held last night in the hall, for the purpose of imparting a few finishing touches to the less efficient members who will compose the visiting party. About four-and-twenty will go to the Demonstration.

As is usual on the principal Show-day the various stores iu Temuka will be closed to-day.

The acceptances for the Christchurch races closed last Saturday night. For the Cup there are twelve acceptors ; for the Steeplechase seven, Te Whetu, the Agent, and Ivanhoe, being of the number, For the Tradesmen’s Handicap, seventeen ; for the Metropoliian, nineteen ; for the Christchurch Plate, eleven; for the Publicans’ Steeplechase, ten; for the Maiden, five ; for the Railway Plate, seven ; for the C. J. C. Handicap, fourteen ; for the Derby, seven ; for the Flyiug Handicap, sixteen ; and for the Selling Race, eight. A man named James Miller who formerly carried on business as a grocer at Mornington, ivas proceeded against at the City Police Court, pursuant to instructions from the Colonial Secretary, for a breach of the Fraudulent Debtors Act of 1875, viz., for having, as alleged, obtained goods on credit from Mr F. A. Little, merchant, within four months of the tiling of his schedule. The prisoner was committed for trial, bail being allowed in his own recognizance of £IOO, and two sureties of £SO each.

Sir Julius Vogel, replying to the Mayor’s congratulatory telegram, re the opening of the railways says : —“ lam greatly pleased that the work has been completed which links together cities with so grand a destiny before them as Dunedin and Christchurch have a right to expect. When I think of what they were when I first know them a few years since, and consider their present position, the wildest dreams of their futnre progress could scarcely exceed the reality of their past advancement. To those, who, like myself, look upon the towns of New Zealand as merely adjuncts to the requirement and development of the country districts, it is especially gratifying to know that the prosperity of Dunedin and Christchurch is not anticipated, but that their progress lias literally kept pace with ind denoted the progress of the districts of which and to which they are outlets. Their conuectiou by the iron horse must greatly aid the producing and commercial industries of the cities themselves, and of the districts which seperate them, and I am at no loss to imagine the heartiness with which their union must have been been celebrated at the banquets of which the telegram tells me. Whilst I share with you all in the satisfaction which the completion of the work has occasioned, I have to thank your thoughtful kindness for the special, not to say exaggerated pleasure, which the knowledge has brought to me, that in the midst of your rejoicings you have found time to think of one so far away, and to credit him with a share in the result. Public life entails ranch anxiety and care, and not a few sacrifices, but the memory of the one, and the reality of the other, are lost in the reward which a public man feels he has received when he is honoured with the approbation of those in whose service he has laboured. Pour telegram brought to me this reward, and has exceedingly rejoiced me.” A most distressing case was reported to the police of Tipiaru yesterday, A man named John Mananga, a Frenchman, engaged in fishing near the Washdyke, was thrown from his horse pn Monday, last week, and had his leg broken. The accident occurred eight miles frorq his tent, and as no assistance was offered, the poor fellow started to oraw], to his tent. It took him two days and nights to get al qng the beach tp the tent, and the exertion wore the flesh off the knee of the unbroken leg. He bad no food in his tent, but kept himself aUvp by eating Maori hens, which his dog caught and brought to him. He was discovered by two_ bovs yesterday, whom he informed of his sad position. The boys reported the matter to Mr Cbateris, who at once informed the police. Sergt. Haldane got Dr M‘lntyre to go out at once, and the man was found in a frightfully emaciated state. He was brought in to the hospital, where the leg was set with some difficulty. Mananga is expected to recover witli a few weeks’ pareful mirsing,— ‘ Lyttelton Times.’ Last week’s ‘ Tablet’ publishes as a sort of black lisf the' names of thirty-eight members who voted against Mr Curtis’s Education Bill, and recommends the Catholics to place a copy of it in the most frequented part of their houses, lest they should forget or mistake their enemies.

The Oamaru k Mail ’ of Oct. 24, reads the members of the Oamaru Cricket Club a long lecture upon a piece of snobbery shown by them in blackballing a Mr Snow, who applied to be admitted to membership. Mr Snow is a clerk, and the Oamaru Cricket Club is composed of gentlemen (?) only. A shade of W. M. T ! Amongst the recommendations made by a Committee to the Oamaru Harbor Board was the following;—“That the Secretary be instructed to procure the necessary materials at the lowest possible cost, for the establishment of telephonic communication with the Breakwater, and that tenders be obtained for fitting up the apparatus.” The inventor of useful instruments must, of course, obtain the higher honour, but those who presently adopt his inventions are entitled to but little less honour. We hope the application of this particular intrument will prove successful. Balclutha is being put to rights again. The local paper says the Borough Council has had a stall of men and drays at work for the past few days placing the main road through the township in a state to receive the traffic. So much progress has already been made that yesterday the coach was able to pass along it with the exception of the portion at the top of Gordon-street, where a detour had to be made by Charlotte-street. This break is also being filled up, and in a day or two the w hole length of the road will be again open. In the meantime, strangers entering or leaving the township after dark require to be very careful to prevent accidents. Indeed, many of the streets are yet quite unsafe for strangers passing along after dark. The Oamaru ‘Mail,’in speaking of a recently taken photograph of the Oamaru Harbor, copies of which have been ordered by the Harbor Board for distribution at various ports, says;—“The distribution of such an evidence of the utility of the Oamaru Harbor, and the progress of the district as proved ffiy the presence of so much shipping, would correct many a false impression in regard to our pet scheme.” This idea of distributing photos of the harbor is very ingenious, and will doubtless do good, while it cannot do any harm. Would it not be worth while to engage a good artist to take a few photos of the Milford Lagoon from different points of view, copies to be distributed in any useful direction ? There are a few copies of Mr Johnston’s plan in existence, but the generality of people can form no idea of the reality of such things from a mere ground plan. A good photographic view would give a better idea of what the Milford Lagoon really is than a plan of any scale, or than a thousand pages of letter press. _ , The ‘ Cromwell Argus, ’ of the 22nd iust,, referring to the flood fund being raised in Otago, says even should the fund, as we anticipate, reach L2ooo, it will go but a liable way to relieve toe distress that has been occasioned along the course of the Molynenx Riven In reading Dunedin papers we have been struck with the fact that the residents in the chief city seem to think all the loss and misery to be concentrated in and around Balclutha. A very slight knowledge of the interior is all that is necessary to undeceive those who hold this view. From the headwaters of the river to Inch Clutha, cases of moat severe hardship have occurred—in many instances, some of which have come under our own observation, whole families being left utterly destitute. To such at the present time a little assistance would be of the utmost value in giving them a fresh start in life ; and as this is set forth as the first object of the Relief Committee, we hope to see the funds collected expended so that they may benefit as large a number of sufferers as possible throughout the Provincial district. Before disbursing the fund, strict and impartial enquiry should be made into the various applications for relief in each district or County, so that those who have come forward with such open-handed liberality at th,s time may be assured that their offerings have been prudently and wisely expended. The saying, “ it’s an ill wind that blows nobody good ” is verified so far as the late floods and the Chinese are concerned. Along the banks of the Kawarau and Molyneux the Celestials are mustered in strong force, and the ceaseless grating of their cradles reminds one of the olden days. From prospects obtained by some of our townsmen on the Kawarau banks, no doubt the industrious Chinese will reap a good reward for their labors from the golden deposits left by the flood. An accident happened at the railway station at Oamaru on Tuesday, which the local ‘ Times ’ characterises as the result of too obvious bad management. “The breakwater engine was ‘tailing’ some empty trucks on one of the sidings, and without warning was run into by some carriages which were being shunted by another engine. The cause of the accident was, of course, neglect in attending to the points, the carriages in question being allowed to turn on to the siding on which were the other locomotive and trucks. The driver of the break-water engine barely escaped by jumping on to the ground, the part of the engine where he had been standing being smashed in. Of course, adds, the ‘ North Otago Times,’ the management is not directly to blame for the occurrence, but as the system of removing servants, and filling up the vacancies occurring with comparatively incompetent men, is at the root of this, and all similar disasters, we hold that, indirectly, the fault does lie with '’those placed in authority. We do not knowwhat action the department will take in the matter, but we hope that the frequent warnings it has received will lead it to take such measures as will ensure a more satisfactory state of things in the future than appears now to obtain.” A duck living somewhere near Oamaru lately laid an egg with its shell turned inside out. The opinion sometimes heard, says the ‘ Lyttelton Times,’ that wild cattle can be hunted and slain as if they were really ferae naturce, was forcibly and authoritatively contradicted by Mr Justice Johnston the other day from his seat on the Bench. He stated that in no case could such cattle be considered to be without owners. In some provinces, formerly, ordinances bad been passed to vest them in the Superintendents. -4t the abolition of provinces, no doubt, the property in them would revert to the Crown. We (‘ Arrow Observer ’) are informed that during a thunderstorm the other day a young woman in the service of Mr G. M. Ross, Queenstown, was carrying a tin dish along the street, when it was struck

by the electric fluid, and the flash then passed to her eyes, rendering her blind. She is under the care of Dr Douglas, and it is hoped the loss of her sight may only prove temporary. It is seldom, says the, 1 Star,’ that the domestic cat lives longer than four or five years. Some have reached nine or ten, but very rarely ; and it must therefore be regarded as nateworthy that a favourite cat owned by Mr P F. Duckworth, of Anderson’s Bay, died this week at the age of seventeen. Poor puss was a kitten when there was such a demand for cats at Gabriel’s Gully. She had a brood of kittens last year. News from Balclutha is not very cheering. A late telegram states that the river banks behind the township are washaway at a most alarming rate, and if the present rite is continued for a month the buildings in the township will be reached, and unless protective works be at once undertaken the township will have to be abandoned. The ground being washed away is private property, and the Borough Council cannot act, resides they have not the necessary funds. The position of the whole matter is causing well-grounded alarm. Last week in Wellington a Mr Rich, builder, charged his late foreman in the Resident Magistrate’s Court with larceny of building, material, value £4. The foreman, through his solicitor, alleged that the charge was brought out of revenge, because his wife, who is a very pretty woman, refused the improper advances of the prosecutor. The Bench acquitted the accused, stating the prosecution had, arisen from revenge. The case excited great interest, and the prisoner’s wife, who was the cynosure of all eyes in Court, instructed her husband’s solicitor throughout the whole case, which lasted half a day. A supplementary £ Gazette’ of the 26th publishes the terms of a contract with Messrs M‘Meehan, Blackwood, aud Co. for the conveyance to and from Melbourne of the Suez mails, from the 17th ult. to January, 1880. The contractors’ steamers are to call at the Bluff, Port Chalmers, Lyttelton, Well ngton, and shall also convey mails to Nelson, Westport, Greymouth, and Hokitika. The mails are to be delivered at the Bluff in seven days, Port Chalmers eight days, Lyttelton nine and a half days, Wellington ten and a half days from their arrival at Melbourne. For this service the sum of £4625 annually is to be paid for thirteen trips, with the usual penalties for non-performance. The Kakanui people are about to have a steamer of light draught built for their own coast trade with Dunedin and other places. Their grain export amounts to 5000 tons. The carrying capabilities of the steamer will, be 70 tons. L3OOO have already been subscribed. The boat is to> be built at Dunedin. The Outnaru ‘ Mail’ states that the adjourned coroner’s inquiry touching the circumstances attending the death of a female infant which died on tbs 14th instant through neglect at the time of birth showed that the birth off the child had taken place about seven o-’clock in the morning, and that the mother had been unattended during her confinement,, but had apparently attempted to conceal the birth. She had' not called in any assistance until some time after her coufinementf and had not previously given any intimation of the probability of her confinement. Dr Fleming stated that the result of a pod mortem examination he had held showed thal the child had been born alive, and had died from suffocation He also stated that the mother had evidently not made any effort to save the child’s life. The jury returned a verdict of wilful murder, and Mrs Scott had been arrested on the charge.