Untitled

Waikato Argus, Volume I, Issue 70, 17 December 1896, Page 2

From Adelaide conios the statement that Toms, a cyclist, rode a hundred miles in 5 his 7 mill 3 sec, which is an Australian record. The Government do not intend to avail itself of the opportunity of joinin" the commercial treaty recently entered into with Crcatßritain and Japan. The police have secured convictions against the Proprietors of the New Zealand Sporting Review for inserting bookmakers' advertisements. Fliey were fined i'l and CI Ss costs in each case. The petroleum well at Maturoa yielded twelve bands ol oil on Saturday eleven on Monday, and six on Tuesday morning. The yield exceeds the most sanguine anticipations. Telegrams from the south stale that welcome rain began falling on Tuesday afternoon and continued during the evening. In Chris'church several showers of rain have been experienced. Messrs Alfred Auckland and Pons, Auctioneers, intimate that in consequence of the holidays their weekly .•ales will be held on Wednesday, 23rd and 30th hist., and the cattle trams will run on Tuesday, -22nd and 2i»th December. A telegram from Timarn states that a young labourer, named James Aitken, suffered a sunstroke on Monday and died on Tuesday. The greatest care at this season of the year is necessary to ensure that the lack of the neck and head are protected fiom Ibe direct rays of the sun. Mr Thos. Wells, of the Cambridge Co op., is, as usual, to the lore' with a large and well-selected stock of goods suitable to the Christmas season. One of the principal features of the Co-op each year is tiic " Christmas window,'' which this year will be unite on a par with its predecessors. We remind parents and others interested of the presentation of prizes ill St. Mary's Monastery at, :i p.m. this afternoon. The afternoon is always a most enjoyable .me and the concert • oven by the pupils, together with the exhibition of the work, shows the excellent teaching of the reverend ladies An important gold discovery has been made at J unco, New South Wales. Stone from the reef varying from a few inches in thickness to 23ft, treated at the local cyanide works, assayed 3ao/.s of gold and over 33ozs of silver to the torn The ore is feiruginoin quartz, impregnated with gos an, and is veiy extensive. We have been r quested to slate that during the ChrUtmis holidays the practices of the llanrlton Orchestral Society will be discontinued. Theresumption of the praet'eos will be duly noilieci. Wc uudeistand that Dr. llaciisler has conse.itcd to accept the conductorsbip and with the accession of a large number of new members—ladies and gentlemen —the high standard to which the Society has attained will, no doubt, be maintained.

The Hamilton East school broke up yesterday for the Christmas holidays. The annual picnic takes place to-day at Mr Gillctt's farm, when a good programme of sports will be carried out.

Owing to the social in the Hamilton Public Hall last evening it was decided to adjourn the meeting called to consider the holding of a horticultural show in 1897, to Monday evening, at 8 p.m., at the Commercial Hotel. The matter is being warmly taken up, and the show under the new auspices should he in every way as great a success as under the old Socety.

Improvements are gradually being made in the main street in Hamilton. Mr D Salmon has jut erected a verandah in front of his shop in Whyte's I'.uildi'H's, and a start has ben made by Mr Atkinson with the nsphalting of the footpath in front of Me srs Howden's, Maundei'rt and HaFeustoin's blocks of buildings. We notice that Mr J. 15. Barker has a quantity of t'mber on his property for the erection of his new shop, which will be taken in hand at once by the contractor, Mr Pettigrew.

The shipping companies have issued circulars intimating that owing to the decreased depth tf water in the Victoria Channel, their vessels will not in future proceed further than Port Chalmers. This will be a very serious business for importers as it will cnta 1 an additional cost, of 3s 7d per ton. The matter was considered at a special mooting of the Chamber of Commerce and it was decided to ask the Companies to delay acting till the result of the steps being taken to deepen the channel are ascertained.

A firo occurred at Hamilton East yesterday just after nroa. by which a bouse at the corner of Cook and Gallo-way-strects, formerly occupi d by Mr Thomas Cassily, was destroyed. It is not known how the tire originated, but some furze was b ing burnt across the street, and it is thought that a spark from this may have started the fire. The house was unoccupied, but Mr Charles Mart. Hi Ird seine, saddles and harness stored in it and these weie all destroyed. The house was owned by the Onehunga Building Society. Mr Maitclli estimates his lo?sat'£l2or £l3.

The accident to Thomas Sutton, wharf-baud at Tiniaru, who, as was recorded in our last issue, was run ever by a truck, proved fatal. At the inquest a verdict of •'Accidental death was returned." A number of men were shunting a dczen loaded trucks by pushing. Deceased wa'ked between the rails, and caught bis foot in the check rail at the crossing. He was thrown down and run ovcr.ai'id died within two boms. Experts stated that there was no danger if the men looked where they put their fee% but the men were continually warned not to go between the rails to push.

Now that the Christmas season is approaching the though's of the young—and old too, for that matter—naturally trend in the direction of Christmas cheer, and, of course, the time, honoured pudding is of paramount importance. To make this of A 1 quality it is essential that the fruit r.s'.d should be a first-class sample, and in this connection we observe that our local tradesmen (Mr E. T. Davey) has just opined up some good lines in currants, denies and sultanas. He is also oll'ei ing special value in confectionery and nuts (also very important items), haoms, bacon, etc. His ad veitisement in another co'uinn will well repay perusal. A meeting of tho Waikato farmers' Club was held on Monday at Cambridge, when there were present : Messrs H. Gillett (President), J. Gano, John Fisher, W. Tucker, E. Allen, J. McLean, R. Fisher and James Forrest Mr \V. H. Herrics, M.H.R., was elected a nvimber of the Club. The. delegates who visited the meetiutr of the Auckland Agricultural and Pastoral Association gave an account of what they did when there. Mr Win. Tucker, who has lately I een visit, ng Canterbury, undertook tj give an account of what he saw, and his impressions thereon, at a future meetin-.'. A slight discussion, re sugar-beet, took place, but the matter was eventually adjourned till next nueting.

It is stnted Unit during the lato Presidential contest in tin: United States there has been an outrageous abuse of the franking privilege. During the piesent campaign Senators and Representatives have asked fir aud received envelopes costing the Government sl-10.000. and these envelopes, filled with political literature, have 1-cen sent over the country broadcast, burdening the msils to an unpreocdcnlcd extent. .S.mctlrng of the Fame sort, on a less gigantic scale of course, prevailed during the late e'ecthvs in ih'ucolo'y. It is (piito time that it was a recognised principle that the te'egraph aud postal systems should o ly t.e used by the Government for purely public business, aud that the promotion of the return of Ministerial candidates does not come under that head-

In the church of St.. Katheritie dec, Lcadenhall-streot, London, on October ICth, the annual " Lion Sermon " was preached by the Archdeacon (f Kssex. The sermon has been delivered in the simc ehutvh for '-'."H yens in succession. Its oiig"n is due to Sir John Gayer, at one tine Lord Mayor of London, who found himself face to face with a lion when travelling with hit car:i\\.n in a desolate place in Asia. Mis position was one of extreme danger, for his party were far ahead of him and therefore powerless to help him. lieingu pious man Sir John fill upon his knees in fiout of the" animal and prayed to God to stand by him in his hour of need. The prajer was an.-weied, for on rising Sir John nof'ee.l that the animal was walking away. IK considered his escape miraculous, and on Irs return lo London set aside a sum of money to purchase gifts for the poor on every October Kith, the anniversuiy of the day of his escape, and also to secure that a sermon should be preached to tell future generations how Cod heard his prayer and deliveied him from the mouth of the lion.

Lord Chiulcs IVresford (speak ing nt the Constitutional Club on October'2Bth), said there was no <iuuslion which commanded more attention in (ireat Britain lit the present momentanil there was ro subject which would command more interest in the country mid throughout Europe it) the near future—than the Ibitish occupation of Egypt. Although wu went to Egypt to protect the Suez Canal anil to restore order, it was not the question of the Canal which had kept us there, but the necessity that we found of complete, thorough, and drastic reform in all departments of the Stale before wc could hand the country over to an Kgyrtian (Jovernment without nullifying all our previous dibits. All our tliilieulties, past and present, were due to :be great blunder which wc committed in JSS'J -a mistake into which great countries were all liable to fall, cither from excessive modesty or from an unworthy fear of consequences which might attend decisive action, but which, owing to the rotten state of our Fleet at that time, was not unnatural. When wc found how li.nl matters were in Egypt we did not declare a protectorate over the country as France did over Madagascar and Tunis, more particularly as every country in Europe expected we should, ami as any other country in the world would have done. Instead of that, we adopted a policy of shilly-shally announcing that our expenditure of blood and money was quite disinterested, and we thus alienated Hie .sympathies of other countries, who naturally considered us hypocrite?. During our occupation of Egypt we had cairied out reforms and improvements which, he ventured to say, had never been equalled in history.

Mr Mann assumed possession of the Commercial Hotel, Hamilton, yesterday. We wish him every success in hij new enterprise, which wc have no doubt he. will merit by catering for the public in an acceptable manner.

The English Tost Oflice Department is carrying out a series of experiments in the transmission of electric waves without connecting wires. Mr William Henry Precee, Engneer-in-Chief of the Engineering Department of Telegraphs, considers that the system will be of considerable value as a means of communication between lighthouses and ships at sea.

A accident occurred on Tuesday afternoon to Mr Hammond, of Hamilton East. He was painting at Mr Thos. Evans' new house, w hen the scaffolding on which he was standing collapsed and he fell to the ground. Dr. litewis was called in, and he found that as well as a bea'y shaking Air Hamnoml had received a severe sprain of both ankles. He will be laid up for a few days, but we arc glad that the accident in not likely to be attended with more serious results. The annual examinations for scholarships under the Hoard of Education arc now being held. Mr Y. E. Rice, Secretary to the Hoard of Education, is acting as supervisor at Hamilton, where twelve candidates have presented themselves for examination. The subjects taken yesterday were grammar, history and English literature, the first being spoken ot by the eandida'es os very hard. The remaining subjects are arithmetic and composition, to be taken to-day, and geography, science, dictation and writing on Friday.