NAPIER.

Waipawa Mail, Volume I, Issue 14, 30 October 1878, Page 2

NAPIER.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) October 26. The great topics of conversation here during the past week has been the wreck of the fine ship City of Auckland at Otaki, with immigrants for Napier, and after undergoing troubles and trials, the safe arrival here of the majority on Saturday afternoon. The telegraph will previously have furnished you with the account of the shipwreck, so that I need not here reproduce the details. When it was known on Friday evening that the Hinemoa, with 182 castaways, would arrive here on Saturday morning, an appeal was made to the public for subscriptions to obtain aid for them in the shape of clothing and other articles which they might require. It was not without effect, for within a few hours a response was made, and, I believe, upwards of £7O was raised, and handed over to the ladies who had formed themselves into a committee to render help to those who required To-day Mr Balharry gave a cheque of £SO as representative of the New Zealand Shipping Company. When the immigrants first landed they were in a pitiable plight, and bore evidence of the trials they had undergone. Several had friends here to receive them, and I can assure you the meeting between brothers and sisters who had long been parted was a sight which will be long remembered by those who witnessed the scenes. There is a great call for labor here at present, and also in your districts, and therefore there will be few if any of the immigrants but will soon find a home.

You will regret to hear that several cases of scarlet fever are reported to have broken out at Port Ahuriri. In one family I am told there are seven down. Should the present dry weather continue, it is feared that we shall have to encounter not only scarlet, but malaria or low fever. The stench from the swamps are already overpowering to those who have delicate constitutions, and if such is the case now, what are we to expect as the season advances ? The Maori dual vote and Native Lawsuits Bill still agitates the mind of those who interest themselves in political matters. To-day the Managers of the Conference between the two Houses were

unable to agree on the dual vote question, and it is expected that the Government will l»e obliged to withdraw the Bill a** agree to the amendments made in t. * Electoral Bill in the Upper House. The latter course would be preferred by all those who wish that the present good feeling should continue to exist between the two races.

Notwithstanding the presumed hard times, and the complaints of storekeepers, Napier continues to progress. Buildings are going up in every direction, and the hammer of the carpenter is to be heard in almost every thoroughfare. There is a large school being erected in Clive-square for the Education Board, which will be a credit to the town when finished. There is also a large concrete store being built near the Criterion Hotel, and Messrs Banner and Liddell are making great ad - • ditions and improvements for their stores in Tennyson street. The business in our Resident Magistrate’s Court has fallen off considerably of late. Litigants care not to run the risk of the “ eccentricities” of our Chief Magistrate, prefering to let their cases slide, or settle them without an appeal to justice. It is pretty generally known that after the session has closed, the Government purpose to create a District Court, with, of course, a District Judge, but it is vain yet to conjecture who is to receive the appointment, although it is rumored that one of the gentlemen named in the Native Lawsuits Bill will likely be the favored individual.

On Friday next the members of the Napier Working Men’s Club will celebrate their first anniversary by a fete at Farndon. There is an excellent list of sports, and should the present weather continue, the fete will doubtless be well patronised. It is purposed to hold what is termed a “ Bruce auction,” and the members of the club who solicited goods and articles for this purpose from townspeople were very successful. To furnish you with a list would be impossible, but there is one offer worthy of remark. A noted dentist of the town promises to extract two teeth by a new principle to the person who bids for his prize. If any of your readers are afflicted with the toothache, by bidding for this gift they will be able to have their molars cheaply and beautifully extracted. There is a good story told of a farmer who resides not many miles from Napier. A neighbor’s son wished to pay his addresses to the farmer’s daughter, and spoke to the parent on the subject. The young lady demurred, having already a lover, and in reply said, “ But you know, pa, that ma wants me to marry a man of culture 1” “ So do I, my dear, so do I, and there’s no better culture in the country than agriculture.”