The Temuka Leader. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1878.

Temuka Leader, Volume I, Issue 101, 4 December 1878, Page 2

The Temuka Leader. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1878.

Pianoforte Tuning. —Mr Slmuonds, a professional tuner, will be iu Temuka tomorrow for the purpose of tuning pianos. Orders may be sent to the Royal Hotel. English Mail. —We are requested by the postmaster to announce that the next English mail via San Francisco closes on Thursday next, sth inst., at 4.10 p.m. Sale at Geraldine. —On Friday night Messsrs J. T. Ford and Co sell at Geraldine 56 acres of Mr Postlethwalte's property, divi led into small sections, and the school site and buildings of the Waibi Bush School, and three other properties in the neighbourhood. New Map of Temuka District.— The Temuka Road Board has just received the new map of the district compiled by Messrs Thornton and Bull, of Christchurch. It is drawn to a scale of ten chains to an inch, and therefore covers a considerable space. It consists df six sheets six feet by four and a half feet. Very few of the ratepayers will, we think, care to purchase copies of the whole six sheets. Most people would be very likely to get lost amongst them, and bring up in the blue Pacific or Eaugitala. Some fault may be found w r ith the workmanship and with, want of completeness—roads opened by the Board, and roads diverted not being shown, the present railway line even is not shown, and a great many purchased sections are not marked off. As it is under- ; stood that the surveys of the province are considerably in arrears, it is supposed that this is the reason of the defects referred to.

Shocking Accident. — A shocking accident occurred on Saturday last at the Rakaia to a young ghd named Caroline Hurst, daughter of Mr J. Hurst, landlord of the Wind-whistle Hotel. The girl, who is 13 years of age, was trying to catch a horse iu a paddock when the animal, in running round, got one of his legs twisted in some flax. Miss Hurst stooped down to unwind the flax, and the animal immediately launched out with both hind legs, catching the poor girl in the front of the face. She was immediately brought to town and received into the Hospital, where it was found that both bones of the upper jaw were completely separated, the nose torn right away, both lips very much cut, and the skull fractured as far as the base of the brain. Though the girl is so young, she bore her suffering like a little heroine, calmly telling Dr Brins and the house surgeon how the affair happened while they attended to her injuries. We are glad to be able to add that so far she is going on bravely.

Conceit Taken Down. — A New Zealander writing from Paris to the ‘ N.Z. Times,’ tells the following story of how a blowing American was taken down. “ Guess you are just from Eng'amd,,’ were the words addressed to me as I took a seat in the saloon on my return to the hotel. “ Yes,” I replied, whereupon the speaker began to expatiate on tbo wonders of America, and to draw all sorts of insinuating comparisions between that country and England, and at length warming to his subject lie exclaimed, “ You Britishers fancy that if you travel from London to Paris, and perhaps on to Switzerland, you have been all over the world. Why, to me, such travelling is no more than going from one end of New York to the other by tram-car. Fancy, sir, I have just come 4000 miles to see this poppy-show ; what do you say to that ?” Many of the company were English, and were greatly amused by the Yankee’s warmth, but were more so when in a few minutes they heard him exclaim, “ I give in to you, sir, I give in,” which he did on my telling him from what part of the world I had come to see his poppy-show. On Forcing Children. —Above all things (says Professor Huxley) let my imaginary pupil have preserved freshness and vigor of youth in his mind as well as the body. The educational abomination of desolation of the present day is the stimulation of young people to work at high pressure by incessant competitive examinations. Some wise man (who probably was not an early riser) has said of early risers that they are conceited all the forenoon and stupid all the afternoon. Now, whether this is true of all early risers in the common acceptation of the word or not I will not pretend to say ; but it is too often true of the unhappy children who are forced to rße too early in their classes. They are conceited all the forenoon of life, and ssupid all its afternoon. The vigor and freshness which should have been stored for existence in practical life, have been washed out of them by precocious mental debauchery—by book gluttony and lesson bibbing. Their faculties are worn out by the strain upon them callow brains, and they are demoralised by • worthless childish triumphs before the veal work of life begins. I have no compassion for the sloth, but youth has more need for intellectual rest than age ; and the cheer-

fulness, the tenacity of purpose, the power of work which make many a successful man what he is must be placed to the credit, not of his hours of industry, but to that of his hours of idleness in boyhood. Even the hardest worker of us all, if he has to deal with anything above mere details, will do well, now and again, to let his brain lie fallow for a space. The next crop of thought will certainly be all the fuller in the ear, and the weeds fewer. National Greatness. —Alderman Macai’thur, when lately on a visit to the North Island, attended a Presbyterian soiree at Tauranga. He is reported to have said on that occasion : “ Ask yourselves what is the chief end of man P It is not to get money to die and leave to somebody else. I myself do not value money, except so far as it tends to increase happiness, and promote Christian knowledge to those around me. One of the chief ends of man is to glorify and enjoy good. The true cause of England’s greatness and happiness has been her godly men and women, and her Bible; and so long as he reverences the Bible and is faithful to the trust reposed in her, the time for the New Zealander to sit on London Bridge and gaze on the ruins of that city will never come."

The Ameer ak j - the' ••'Aie- ‘ Whitehall Review’ publish or> ’ ! , ~i,er- from tlie Ameer of i Uie Sultan, dated tiie;l9tb .Tanna i '^^' / ,,5, winch it declares to be and which certainly loots so. , In if Shere AH, after praying God to guard the residence of the centre of Islam from the invasions of the enemy, warns the ISulhvn that the English “ willingly desert the basis of friendship and candour/’ and states that all his efforts arc directed to keep them at distance. “ The Russians possess as much energy as the English, and always surpass them when it is a question of good faith.” I know well that “your Highness did not approve of what I said in my last, that the friendship of the English was only a word—a word written on ice ; but now your Highness has been able to convince yourself by your own experience how little reliance there is to be placed in their friendship, and you see that the English always abandon their friends in their misfortune to their fate.” “ Confident in their power, they have always acted in an arrogant and disdainful manner.” He therefore advises the Sultan to “ reject alliance with England, and come to an understanding with Russia.” It is curious to note how completely Shere Ali agrees with Continental politicians that England is specially perfide, What is it in our conduct that gives that impression—our talk about our “ interests,” or our habit of always gelling something out of every imbroglio ?

Paint tor Posts. - A Californian writer says that posts painted with linseed oil anil powdered charcoal will last for years. He says : “ Put a coat.of tins mixture over the timber, and I lice is not a man who will live to see it rot.”

A Potato P- * vrec.—The ‘ Prss ’ gives the follow leg cwount of a pntalo planter manufactured by Nash and Broihers, Newport, and imported by Mr George Booth, and exhibited at the late Clirisiclu'ioh Show :*■ It is a wonderful little implement, and. from its comparative smallness, may have escaped the notice of those agriculturists who were present. It is titled with two tubs somewhat resembling bushel measures, fixed on a frame with two. handles ; the whole M achine is not much larger rhan a goodsized wheelbarrow. Whole pota toes, small and medium-sized are the best, are placed in the forward measure, which is firnns'ied wiidi cutting disks, which revolve as <he machine is drawn along, and cuts Ihe potatoes into sets and drops them at the same time into a tube one at a time, and at regular intervals, which conducts them into a deep rut formed by a coulter working in front. The second measure or tube may be filled with compost, bonedusl. or guano, if so desired, and by a simple and ingenious contrivance is caused to drop a handful of the manure with each set. A pair of mould-hoards, one at each side, im lined inwards, draws the earth into a dr ill, covering the seed and manure. We saw it al work, and with rare exceptions every set h id one or more eyes. Some envious experiments, recently tried in the old country, irnprobab'e as it may seem, go to establish the fact that if a set happens to he cut without a visible eye, still the principle of vitality is so sirong that eyes will he fornu'd, and a plant produced, The phenomenon may he accounted for in this way, that eyes may really exist under the skin in a norm d state, which would probably never have been deve'oped had the exigency not arisen. This theory is not our own. but is founded upon a report on the subject by Mr Coleman, the celebrated experimentalist Those who doubt the statement can easily test the correctness or otherwise by trying for themselves. One horse and one man can conveniently plant five acres per day. The cost of the machine is about LI2. There are none in the country as yet for sale, hut doubtless those in the trade have ordered a supply. With one of these machines and a potato raiser, the cultivation of potatoes should become a profitable branch of industry.”

Oceration on A Monkey. —Poor Joss, the well-known babnan in the Alexandra Palace, who in a very docile manner, and without chloroform, bravely submitted a week or two ago to the extraction of two teeth by Mr F. S. Mosely, the well-known dentist of the Strand, was on Saturday afternoon submitted to a further and more serious operation at the hands of the same gentleman. The poor creature had for a long time suffered from necrosis of the lower jaw, ano while the former operation had considerably relieved his sufferings, it was necessary to extract two more teeth, together with an old fang, and to bieuk away a large piece of the diseased jaw. Chloroform was used, and as this is the first instance in which it is known to have been administered to a monkey, It will be interesting to state that the animal is a rather large individual of his species, probably from 12 to 15 years of age, that the anaesthetic was 4 minutes 37 seconds in producing perfect unconsciousness, and that the revival took place in about 10 minutes from that time, during which the operation had been successfully performed by the practised skill of Mr Mosely. Poor Joss soon recovered his usual condition, and after cooling his face against a window pane for a few minutes quietly rejoined his companions, apparently little the worse for the mutilated jaw, and much relieved by the treatment. —‘ Times.’

Ostrich Farming. —At a public sale of ostriches at MiddleLmrg, in South Africa, recently, twenty pairs of breeding ostriches realised an average of nearly L2OO per pair. The lowest price given for a single couple was Ll3O, and as much as L 283 was paid for one pair of birds.

Unparliamentary. —That our Parliament is still a trifle more refined than that of Yictoria is plain from the following extract: —“Mr Macßain complained that the lion, member for Kara Kara, in trying to stab the lion, member far Mandating with respect to his land a Iministration had referred to him (Mr Macßain) and made statements that were unfounded and unwarrantable. He would remind the House that the travelling reporter of the ‘Age’ or ‘Leader’ had in one of his articles sa d he (Mr Macßa’n) h id charged 2<i per head for cattle watering at his dam during tlie drought. The man who wrote that was a lying slatuK rer. Did the hon. member for Karo Kara write that statement?—Mr Dow : Yes.—Mr Macßain: Well it is absolutely untrue and a lying slander, and I say that the man who wrote it is a lying scoundrel.—The Chairman said that the hon. member must confine himself to the question before the Committee.—Mr Dow : What I said is true.—Mr Macßain : 1 have lived an hou /rable life, and 1 will not allow any man to stab me in the back and traduce rav character. Would wo bo men if we

af'owed such statements to he made by pa i : es who lived by i-t-idnclug cha?rciecs 1 —A.tier a lon-' - alte'caffon, Mr Dow accviied Mr Madßain’s' disclaimer, and Mr Macßain withdrew the offensive expressionsdielhad used.” '

Mix so MaeE'Agg.s.—“ Dagonet,” writing in the ‘ Referee ’ observes :—“ A man marries a woman bn the distih. t understanding that the chi Mi-on born of the. marriage sha d be brought; -up in herreligion Roman Catholicism. Having obt ined her hand, and having been blessed with the chddren, this person deliberately go -s back from his oath, and forces the children to be Protestants. This is the Agar-E'l is ca°e, upon which Sir R. Mai ins has just delivered a dis-gracefully-worded judgment. It seems that if is -Mr Agar-Ellis acknowledged that he had married Ids wife on a distinct promise. but he pleaded that ‘ strong religious feeling ’ compelled him to break it And the Vi'-e-Chmcellor took Ids side because ‘in every Christian country the woman must obey her husband.’ What an outrage on decency ! What an insult to common sense ! This ‘ gentleman ’ pleads that he is fo;sworn, and a traitor, and robs a woman of her children because of his ‘strong religious feeling.’ If that’s what religion makes of a man pray give mr a clean-sonled Hear,hen! ”

Window Obnambsts. — A hanging garden of sponge is one of the latest novelties in gardening. Take a white sponge of bug ■ sr. e and sow it full of rice, oats, or wheat. Then place it for a week or ten days in a shallow dish with water, and, as the sponge will absorb the moisture, the seeds will begin to sprout before many days. When this has fairly taken place, the sponge may be supei.ded from a hook in (lie top of the window, where a lilt'e sun will enter. It will thus become like a mask of green, and can be kept wet by the mere immersion of it in a bowl of water.

Wrestling Match. —The wrestling match between R. Dagg, of Otago, and J, Thomas, of Victoria, for LIOO a-s.lde, of which so much lias of Lite been heard, came off on the Caledonian Society’s show ground, at Dunedin, on Thursday. Thomas is described its weighing 12st 81b and standing oft lliix, while Dagg weighs lost 2ib and stanos 6ft |in high. The conditions of the match were that the wrestling should be done in the Cumberland style, and that the first three throws out of five should constitute the winner. The contest does not appear to have been very keen in its-df, as Thomas threw Dagg three times in sin-cession, and was thus, without being once thrown by Dagg, dec’ared the winner of the match. A match between Thomas and Tyson, the champion of Otago, is to take place on the ISth of next month. Painful \cctdgnt. A distressing accident occurred in Atu-kl. nd list week. A little hoy was stealing fruit, when a baker passed, and called out “Policeman !” hearing which the boy became flurried, and loosing hold of the bough, dropped down on to a fence. The little fellow’s stomach was i-imp ! y ripped open. A most delicate and difficult operation had to be i erformed, which none but a highly-skilled surgeon could hope to accomplish. Dr GoklslW, however, succeeded without the aid of chloroform, in replacing the disturbed parts, and sewingup the wtund. The ‘Star’ says the boy’s father occupies a responsi- le position on the railway. Fegg and INOSPe v DRBT. —About 200 ladies recorded their votes at 'the Dunedin Mayoral el -ction on Wednesday, and the majority of these 'are suppos -d to have been given for Mr Walter. We have not heard whether in the case of Dunedin the silk dress influence was brought to bear, bub we are informed that in another township an aged lady r-fused to record her vote until handed an order for a handsome silk dress promised, but not given, at a previous e'ection.— ‘Clutha Leader. ’

Tug eras a Cattv’. It is tea ly astonishing the Public Works Department will, against all experience and common sense, persist in creeling square pens for loading cattle into railway trucks. We had thought the experience of the Stirling and other pens would have led to a change, hut no. The same square pen instead of a suitable crush has just been constructed at the railway station here. What : s the result? l number of fine fat bullocks were brought down from Clydevale to be trucked here on Monday for the Dunedin Show. Till they got this length they were as quiet as domestic pets. The work of trucking then commenced. Goodness ! what knocking about and hashing the poor brutes had to submit to ! From being quiet, docile cattle (heir tampers gradually assumed that of thoroughly mad bulls They were dangerous to approach, and a number got so exhausted before thev could be got inro the trucks that they had to be “ killed to save their lives.” All this annoyance, time lost, valuable stock lost— why ? Because some Government official will persist, notwithstanding remonstrance after remonstrance, to plan and erect unsuitable yards. Any butcher’s boy in the colony could draw a plan of pen by which the wildest as well as the tamest cattle could be trucked with ease and safety. But with such pens as that erected here, even the quietest cattle cannot be trucked without being bruised to to such an extent as to render a great part of the heef unfit for human food. — 'Clutlia Leader.’

All Work and no Play. —According to the ‘New Zealand Herald,’ the Ausfcrfili:<ns say tliey never could have got through their work in England had they not maintained the strictest temperance. “Some of them never drank spirits at all. The error they committed was in doing too much. The fatigue of the frequent and long journeys was very great, and they say that only on one occasion could they get sleeping accommodation in the railway carriages. Every other time they had to doze sitting, or lay themselves down on the floor of the carriage. They were thus at many of the matches not in a condition to play ; and one of them told us yesterday that he has fallen asleep with the bat in his hand waiting to take his turn at the wickets. They say that they would get into good fettle, and keep their condition up for a day or two. and then they would all fall away, as it is impossible to maintain the system long at a high strain. In respect to the Cambridge matcn, one of the team told us they would confidently tackle the same eleven again if they had a spell and were in condition. When all this is remembered the surprise must be

the greater at the great success of the Australians. A 1 th** team speak enthusiastically of the cordiality of their reception in England.”

, ■ Oun Mineral W ea.lth. —The Auckland ‘ Hex-aid ’ says.—“ Rumour of what promises to be a payable lead mine; at the Thames has. reached ns, but nothing definite as to the discovery, or: even the exact vicinity in which it lias been made, is yet generally known. There, however, appear to be good grounds fort lie rumour. A miner, who has b en many years on the Thames, and, wlto, it is said, had for many years before that a long experience in lead and iron ores, is tne reputed prospector ; and we are informed that several private tests of a satisfactory character have been made, the result of which has afforded encouragement to a few gentlemen to enter on the enterprise of its development. No doubt when the preliminary steps necessary for securing a pre-emptive right to the area required, &c., are completed, more will be known of the project and the alleged prospects of success.

The Electric Light v. Gas. —The gas companies (says the ‘ Spectator’) are beginning to recognise their new rival, the electric light. At the half-yearly meeting of two of them, lately, the possible effects of the introduction of the new light on their shares was discussed. Great stress was laid on the immense difference in expense of the two methods of illumination. At present it costs twelve times as much to light the New Avenue de I’Opera at Paris with electric light as wilh gas, and there is no doubt that till a cheaper burner and other simplifications are introduced, gas will not be disused in street lighting in favor of electricity. Shareholders, however, are told that even then they need not fear for their dividends, as “of all the business done hy the companies in London, that of streetlighting is of least concern,” being not so much as one per cent. of.the total supply ; w hile gas is becoming yearly more employed in the cookery, where it is safe from the rivalry of the electric light, which lias very little heat. The general impression among those who are financially concerned in the matter seems to be t'oat though the electric light must nut be pooh-poohed, it is not lo be feared at present, owing to its expense, or at any lime, by reason of its being too intense for any places but open squares, broad streets, and perhaps public halls, unless the extravagant method should be adopted of first producing light far brighter than gas, and then mellowing it down to an intensity endurable within the limits of a room. Probab'y gas and electric light will vo on side byjside. each having special advantages of its own, just as horses have survived the introduction of railways. The really formidable rival of gas for do nestic purposes is paraffin, which is hawked about all our ba-. k streets daily like milk, and which will ” carry about,” while gas is immovable. Wo-; tup of Wealth. —Another point brought out by the Bagot cas-* is the slavish adulation accorded nowadays to mere wealth. A man must no doubt have something ia him if u ithout brand he can acquire by his own exer.ious an altogether dispn-poi donate shar n i f that which is more or less (he goal of everyOody’s ambition, and for whi--h the competition is so keen. But the singleness of purpose which has enabled him to attain signal success in one direction may have rendered h’m indifferent to the acquirement of all other qualities fitting him for the society of those to whose level, in point of pecuniary position, he had ’•aised himself ; and the possession of wealth, whether earned or acquired, is by no means incons’sient wish offensive vulgarity of taste or habits. If, however, a man attains to the dignity of a “ Nugget’ his roughness is pardoned, or landed as absence of affectation ; his vulgarity treated as naturalness or eccentricity; and his vices slurred over, or attributed to defective education. If he has a good house, and gives good dinners, he can get plenty of people to go and eat them, even if they aggravate their meanness hy laughing at him behind his back. We have set up a golden calf in London, and worship it as assiduously ns ever did (lie Israelites theirs in Horeb : while as yet there arc no signs of any Moses descending from the Mount to smash our fetish. ‘ Saturday Review.’

An liiioH Faction Fight.— Pat Torpey and Tom Mulcahy were indicted, before Mr Justice Barry, for an affray at New Pallas in November last year. Mr De Moleyne, Q. 0., said this was one of those shameful fights which nffecterl the reputation of the county, and the desire of the Crown in prosecuting was to endeavor to put an end to such disgraceful scenes. Pat Walsh was examined to support the case of the Crown. The prisoners said they would not go home from the fair until they •■ ere revenged on the Murphys. and they “ knocked ” a lot. of people. The fight lasted half an hour. There was not much noise., It was all hard work. (Roars of laughter.) One of the prisoners—Torpey—worked like a devil, and helped himself to a bit of one of the Murphy’s ears. (Renewed laughter.) Mr P. O’Brien ; Didn’t you bite the ear off a man ? Witness: Oh, begorra I couldn’t tell. (Laughter.) Tom Bourke, examined ; I was in the pig fair, and saw the fight. It was a real good one., (Laughter.) They had sticks and stones, and everything that was handy to break a skull. (Laughter.) Mr O’Brien; What side do you like ? Wp.ness : Oh, begorra, I like the “Threes ” best. (Great laughter.) And you “ wheeled ?” I did. And you whacked the Murphys ? I suppose I did. (Loud laughter.) And what did you get for all this kindness ? Oh, begorra, I got four months. (Roars of laughter.) Are you the “ premier boy ” in either O'd or New Pallas? Troth, I couldn’t tell that. Torpey (a prisoner) : Did you see a stone in my hand ? Witness ; I don’t thii.k Murphy hid anything in his hand but his fist. (Laughter.) John Ryan, examined ; i saw the row. It was a very decent one. (Laughter.) Plenty of sticks “were up” at it, and they laid into the skulls. (Laughter.) William Mulcahy, examined for the defence : One of the Murphy’s bit off Mulcahy’s ear during the row.' ,It was not a very good fight. On cross-examination he said ; I was in the row myself, and I got three months in gaol for stubbing a soldier. James Raleigh, examine I : I was in the fight. I saw Murphy eating off Torpey’s ear. He has since run out of the -country. The jury found the pru soners guilty, and they were sentenced to three months’ imprisonment each, and I I pay a fine of LI each.

Indian Princes’ Forces. —The Mahratta Princes dispose of 70,000 men, tne Nizam of 45.000, the Rajpoot Princes,-, 18 in nnn ber, of 70,000. the Maharaja/- of Cashmere of 20,000 the Nepaulese ruler of 100,000, while-'they .'possess in the aggregate at least 1500 pieces of cannon. That is a formidable array on paper, but it is not probable *that these Princes will unite, unless impressed by some common danger, such as a general order to disband their forces ; and if they did, tl.eir power would be far less in the aggregate and far more divided than that

of the British. In Nepal, we have no legal right to interfere ; in Gwalior, Scindi: li has trained the whole people, and no one can disband a nation ; and in Rajpootana, there -is no more coherence than among the Highland clans of Scotland. It is very doubtful, moreover, whether these armies are not a source of safety. They temnt the Princes, if they revolt, to tight pitched battles, in which we must win, instead of raising popular insurrections, in which we ate.nearly all sure to lose. The native who beats us svi'l be a man who never meets Europeans in the field, but perpetually harasses the white troops by retreats through a desolated country. —Spectator.’