The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1880. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 334, 28 December 1880, Page 2

The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1880. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Father Pezant, an old Catholic priest, and at Blenheim on Thursday last. Tuhi, for the mui'der of Miss Dobie, will be hung at Wellington to-morrow morning, at 8 o'clock.

It is vmiiorsto'xl that the Hon. Mr Rolleston will accompany His Excellency on a tour through the Colony next month.

Messrs Maclean and Stewart will hold a large sale of sheep, cattle, and horses, en the farm of Wm. Frew, Esq,, Arowhenua, to-moriow, at noon.

The Western Star hears that Mr P. K. M'Caughan, the member for Riverton, is about to pay a lengthened visit 1o England and will in consequence shortly resign his seat.

A gumdigger named O'Connor was burnt to death in his whare, at Chinaman's Landing, Kaihu Creek, Auckland. Diink is supposed to be the cause of his death.

The first con( tact of the Cathedral Tower Chrisielmrch, was finished last week. The flooring of ihe nave is to be gone on with after when a second portion, of be commenced -,

if three members for id, the serve in tha and time^^H

Presbyterian Manse Fund has been postponed till March next. In the meantime donations of every description will be thankfully received by the Committee.

The members of the Brass Band, with, their wives and families and ii number of friends, held a picnic in the Geraldine Bnsh yesterday ' The weather being beautiful, a most enjoyable day was spent.

Mr J Barnett notifies in our advertising coin in us thai he has commenced business as hairdresser, &c, in the shop lately occupied by Mr Cooper, painter, Commercial street. His charges being liberal, we have no doubt but he will meet with a fair share of support.

The next mail for the United Kingdom, via San Francisco, will close at the Temuka Post Office on Friday next, Dec. 31, at 5 p.m., and late fee letters can be posted in the van attached to the Express going North on Saturday, Jan. 1, 1881. At a meeting of the Christchureh Industrial Association on Thursday last, an excellent sample of starch made from wheat wns exhibited by Gourlny and Meyers, who assert that they can compete in price with the imported article.

The half yearly meeting of the Auckland branch of the H. A. C. 8., Society was held at Auckland on Thursday last. The balance shet-t showed LI2OO available to the branch, exclusive of the funeral fund.

At the R.M. Court, Geraldine, on Wednes day, befor.- J. N. Wood, Esq , R.M., and L. Walker, Esq., Captain Clougstou, and Rev G. Barclay, J.P's., John Casey charged with assaulting W. Patrick, fined 5s and costs £2 7s. A cross action, John Casey vW. Patrick, was withdrawn. Montgomery Heal ley charged Alexander O'Neil with assault and the defendant was fined 20s and costs 7s. W. S. Muslin charged Jam en Reid with assault. The case was dismissed. Godfrey Pischey charged James Smith with horsestealing. The stolen horse was reported to be found in the possession of A. Gibbs of Temuka. The evidence was. to the effoct that Gibbs had bought, the horse from one Essery. An order vvas made for the horse to be returned to Gibbs.

An - interesting paper on the Public Works Policy was read by Henry F. Sealy, Esq., at the Oddfellows'Hal!, Tiniaru, one evening last week. The object of the paper was to shew that the present depressed state of the Colony was not due to the Public Works Policy op, 1880, but to the fact Unit the policy of Sir Julius Vogel and his coadjutors was not adhered to. The author proved, by facts and figures, that, the Colony had been and was suffering from the way in which settlement was impeded by the locking up ©f large and Valuable tracts of country, admirably adapted for agricultural purposes, in the hands of corporate bodies like the City of Glasgow Bank, absentee pioprietors, and large estate holders. The writer maintained that settlement was essential, not only to the prosperity of New Zealand, but that the opening up of the cream of the country, now held for pastoral purposes in a few hands, was absolutely necessary if the bone and sinew was not going to be driven out of the Colony, and National bankruptcy precipitated. The remedy pi oposed by Mr Sealy was a land tax on a progressive acale, which, while pressing but slightly on the bona fide farmer, would have the double effect of largely augmenting the revenue, and compelling the holders of large areas to throw their estates open for industrial settlement. Several of those present expressed their admiration of the paper and the opinions expressed by the author. A hearty and unanimous vote of thanks was accorded to Mr Sealy. It was decided to have the paper published find circulated throughout the Colony, and a Committee was appointed for that purpose. M. de H. Duval, who occupied the chair, mentioned that it was proposed to form a branch of the Canterbury Liberal Reform Association in Timaru,

It is- worth noticing that of the five men, who have been committed for murder within the last two or three months, only one is a European. The murderers we refer to are An Lee, Chinaman, murderer of Mrs Young, Kyeburn, Otago ; Joe, a native of New Hebrides, murderer of a man, Auckland ; Mr Hutchins, Europeaa, murderer of his wife and child, West land ; and Tuhi, Maori, murderer of Miss Dobie, Taranaki; Wharapa, murderer of his wife, Chatham Islands.

it may not be known to many that Hanlon, the champion sculler of the world, eschews alcoholic liquors of all descriptions, and tobacco smoking. Some time ago we read a letter of his warning all persons ambitious of becoming proficient, with, the oar, to refrain frem drinking spirituous or fenuented liquors or wine, as by his own experience he fou d that they wore injurious to him. Trickett, as very nearly everybody knows, is a publican; and therefore, the race vns. to a certain extent, between temperance and alcoholism, and temperance has won it. From what we have heard, it appears that Lay'Cock is a man of very temperate iHB and we would net be to be informed that opinion as Hanlon beiog baneful. now lie^^^^^^^^^^^J temperate me^^^^^^^^^^H

Chester Guardian writes ; "The luck of

the Beresfords is proverbial. It is not so long since that Lord William—' Ulindi Beresford,' as ha is called-—bought the Bond or ticket in the celebrated Umballa sweep, realising thereby some £IO,OOO or £12,000. More recently he pure ased half the share-of Robert the Devil for the St. Leger in the same Umballa speculation and as the sweep was worth betiveen £OOOO and £7OOO the result was another remarkable success."

A correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald, writing from Nov.* Caledonia, says :— u Another lesson inculcating the necessity of less sympathy with the ' protected lambs of the Transportation, 1 as the ' Neo Caledonien' terms them. A thrill of horor has passed through the town on receipt of the news that a convict at Bourail—l2o miles to the northwest —had murdered a suaveillant (convict's guard), cut off his head and carried it triumphantly —some say on a pole—throng!) the town of Bourail. The murderer is arrested and will doubtless be condemned to death, but it is more than doubtful if he will ever be executed. A free man in like case would, as the ' Neo Caledonian' points out, ' be immediately executed without drum or trumpet; but one of these protected has the privilege of having his case first submitted to the President of the Republic (M. Grevy), anc" the chances are that the Home authorities will be too tender-hearted to order the executioa of a condemned murdered after the time necessary for the transmission of and reply to the appeal so wisely ordained. Convicted criminals of the worst type enjoy advantages such as free men do not. Not capital punishment, no lash, no proper respect, but the contrary inculcated for their guardians, every possible discouragement is given to the authorities here, and equal encouragement to the criminals, for whom they are iesponsible."

M. Marangoni, in a paper communicated to the Academy of Sciences, attributes to the swim-bladder of fishes another function besides that of regulating their buoyancy. He finds it so placed, and of such dimensions, as to render the fish unable both ;is regards position and level; that if the animal makes no efforts, either sink to the bottom or rise to the surface, and turn over, instead of swimming upright. He argues that this apparent inconvenience is really advantageous, both morally and physically. It keeps the fish on the alert, prevents it idle habits, and thereby renders it muscular and agile. He further maintains that the most active of terrestrial animals are those that have the least mechanical stability, and therefore must be continually engaged in keeping their balance by inuscuL.r adjustments, and he attributes their constitutional activity to the educating influence of this continuous effort.

If newspaper reports can be trusted (says the the Pall Mali Gazette), there is a good lime in store for the nervous gentleman who, whenever they are compelled to sleop in a hotel or strange house look anxiously from the window of their bedroom for a meens of escape in case of fire. An invitation which hag been adopted in three foreign countries for the protection of their museums and other public bull.lings was tried recently in the grounds of the Alexandra Palace, and with irreut success. A shed constructed of boards steeped in petroleum and containing barrels of tar was set on fire, and when in full blaze was extinguished within half a minute by a small engine worked by a single man with such completeness that the framework of the structure was still left standing. The cnildrcn of George 111. have received so little praise from the historian that not one of their good deeds should be left unnoticed. About a century ago, when a house professed to be proof against destruction from fire was built on Putney Heath, they consented to remain in the upper room while huge fires were lit in the lower part of the building, in ordei that public attention might be drawn to the advantages oi the experiment. The house was left uninjujed by this fiery ordeal, and a pecuniary grant from Parliament, with other rewards, were bestowed on the inventors. Unfortunately, the expense attending the construction of houses on this plan placed it out of the reach of general adoption.

" Atticuß " in the Leader writes : If the Treasury of New Zealand is not prosperous, it is not the fault of the Treasurer. Everything is taxed there —from your carpet to your chimney-pot your bank balance, your mining script, the watch in your pocket and the pictures on your walls. One wealthy banker m that Colony built and furnished a very handsome suburban residence a short time back, under a Liberal Administration. Taking n trip to England, he seized the occasion to purchase many articles of vertu, works <->f art, and other etceteras for his establisment.

Upon his return, however, he found the Conservatives i i power, and learned with horror that lie would have to pay a yearly tax upon'his house, his vases, and his pictures. He calculated his total, then collapsed. The vases have gone Home again, the pictures are lying in a soft goods warehouse in Melbourne. Whatever else he can find a buuchaser for has been Bth. would '