LOCAL INTELLIGENCE.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 8, Issue 377, 4 February 1864, Page 3

LOCAL INTELLIGENCE.

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE’S cIhJRT. Wanganui, Jan. 27, 1864. John Jackson v. Hapimana ; amount of claim Ml, being for damages dono to punt ; judgment for plaintiff with costs 7s. - .The plaintiff pi’oved by witness that the punt was broken, and damage done to said amount or more, through the negligence of defendant in anchoring the punt in shallow water after being cautioned not to do so, whereby she got foul of the anchor and was stove in ; the defendant stated that the punt was in a very leaky 6 state and unfit for service, which plaintiff denied, and showed that she was serviceable for the purpose of conveying firewood at the time the injury was sustained. Defendant also wanted to make out that '‘the punt did not get foul' of the anchor, and that she was broken before the injury complained qf was committed. ‘ Capt. Thomas Kells v. Michael Brannigan, for a breach of the Militia act Amendment act in failing to attend parade at the time and place appointed. Case dismissed, defendant having pleaded non-liability on the ground of being a volunteer. Dunleavy v. Martelli, for debt 61 14s ; judgment for 21 6s, and costs 6s Dunleavy v Jones, and Taylor, Watt, and Co v. B. Sherriff, claims for debt ; settled out of court. February Ist, 1864. Capt. y John Fairchild v. John Han) ill, seaman, for desertion and disobedien'ce of lawful commands. Prisoner sentenced to two months imprisonment with hard labour under the Merchant Seaman’s act. Constable Ooakly v. 0. W. Broughton, for a breach of the Constabulary Force Ordinance in allowing his chimney to catch fire ; fined. 5 s and costs 6s 6d. February 2nd. Corporal Atkinson v. 1 a trick Cruise, for escaping from Wanganui gaol on the 26th nit., where he was imprisoned by virtue of a warrant of committal in a case of horsestealing. Prisoner, after 'hearing the evidence, pleaded guilty, and was 1 committed to the Supreme' Court, Wellington. Henry Burne; Michael Brannigan, and Peter Hurley, were fined os each, and John Hamill 10s, for drunkenness.

The Rangitiki Drspute. —The Superintendent held meetings at Ilangitikei .and Manwatu on his way down the Coast, but did not succeed in settling the native dispute.' The Ngatiapa have made over the land unconditionally to His .Honor, and a portion of the. Ngatiraiikawa are willing to do the same, but the remainder object to abide by the results of an arbitration or fall in with any mode of settlement. All parties have, however, agreed to refuse to receive any rent until the dispute is ended ; but in what way it is to be ended does not at present seem to ).>e very clear.

Tea Meeting in the Presbyterian Onunon. —The social meeting in connection with the bazaar held last week took place on Thursday evening last in the Presbyterian place of worship winch was quite filled by a- large and respectable audience. After the discussion of the more substantial part of the fare, in the providing of which -the committee had shown their usual judgment, the meeting was shortly addressed by the chairman, the Rev. I) Hogg, pastor of the church, who first addressed • his remarks to tire repugnance- some Iraki to such a meeting being convened in a place of worship ; there was, however, really nothing objectionable in it. jft was, rather, the not being accustomed to it that made people doubt its propriety, for what objection was made to taking a drink of water .or even a‘ pinch, of snuff in a church ; and if such things were tolerated, much more becoming was a quiet cup of tea. Pie noticed objections also that might he made to a bazaar for church ' purposes ; but whatever these might be,'the present one had certainly had one good effect —that of stirring up the congregation to an unwonted interest iu the church’s welfare, almost all having contributed liberally, and some munificently, to the object—some giving time and work, and others rather giving money. They had also been indebted to .friends at a distance for timely aid, and to friends in the place who did not belong to the Presbyterian denomination. The choir then sung an anthem, “ the Earth is the Lord’s,” Mr. P. Bell acting as conductor, and Mr. Davis playing a. harmonium kindly placed at the disposal of the committee by Mr. G-. Howe. 1 Mr. P. Bell, the secretary, next read the .report of the bazaar committee, which contained such information as has already been made public through our columns. Mr. T. 13. Taylor, the treasurer, read the financial statement, from which it appeared that £192 had been realised by the bazaar. Another anthem was then sung by the choir, “ Make a joyful noise.” The Rev. Tv . ,J. Watkin (Wesleyan), in a lively and piquant address, commented- on the “ Results of the bazaar.’’ The principal result was that the church was now clear of debt. This was a good thing. The office-bearers and members oi a church might, by force of habit, lose a sense of the evils connected with a debt on their place of worship. But the evil ..was nor, the less real. It was an incubus which disturbed their quiet, as the nightmare "troubled people who;had taken a hearty - supper of' pork. Tie could not subset ibe to the idea of some, that it was necessary to be in debt. .An American was heard to say that he was “ five outs and one in j” that is, “ Out of money aud clothes, out at elbows and toes, out

of credit, and in debt.” Mow tiiat was amiserable condition, and he was heartily glad that .this pi ace of worship was now free of 'debt.* -Then, again, the success of tile bazaar slum ‘cd the spirit oi vVanganui. Advance 'Wanganui ” should be their motto, ana th’fy were advancing. Improvements were en on all hands. Houses were now ft'rn.'shed, not only with the necessaries, put with the conveniences and elegancies of d cmestic life, and. what was far better, /Pled with hosts of healthy children. .Might thtf blessing of God rest on them ! Then/the bazaar showed the good feeling of all pene-mina-tions in the place. They helped each other, and anything that fostered such a feeling - was good. Hey- believed that Wanganui would prosper, and lie hoped ■the inhabitants would be distinguished in New -Zealand for honesty, . straightforwardness, and the fear __of God. .(Applause.) T'li e doxology, “We praise thee, O Lord,” was then sung ; and the Rev. Mr. A 11sworth, of Turakina, addressed the meeting on Christian union. In his address he showed that love was the distinguishing characteristic of Christianity, 'and the more people entered into the spirit- of religion the more would they feel drawn ‘together by the power of Christian love. He must congratulate the church on having accomplished their object. It was a sad thing to have Peter and John bound for the testimony of God ; it was sadder still to have the Word of God bound ; but nothing was to his mind more lamentable than to have the house of God in debt.. They were no longer in that uuhappy position, aud that notwithstanding that some of the members had acted like the London dandy j who, when the waggon could not get.up Holborn-hill’. stood on the pavefneut making remarks, instead of lending his shoulder to the wheel. Mr. Alls worth resumed his seat amid applause : and the ‘anthem.“ How beautiful upon the mono- j tains,” was sung by the choir. At tins ’! stage of the proceedings Mr. R. Bett, ! being called on by the chairman, came forward and said that, as treasurer of the subsidiary committee, he had to mention that £75 had been subscribed chiefly by persons who did not quite approve of the bazaar (applause). Some remarks were then made by Mr. J. U. Taylor and Mr.. W. H. Watt bearing on the duty of the church in respect to Christian missions ’ and the present state of the congrega- * tion ; and after an anthem from the : 78th Psalm had been sung by the choir, ' and the chairman had made some con- i eluding remarks, the meeting was closed by the singing of the doxology, “ Lord, j bless us still.” The-assembly dispersed, much pleased w.jfh the proceedings, and especially gratified by the high 'character and fine execution of the various pieces of music sung. We may mention that ' in all the church has raised at present 1 £275, of which £14.5 will he available,! after clearing the debt, for such improve- : meats on the church as may be thought j needful.

SuviiJßMK Court Sittings.— Just before the despatch of the memorial, which we mentioned last week was to be sent to the Covernmeul on (his subject, Major

.Durie found that at their meeting in Christchurch last March the Judges had agreed on'the practicability of holding a Court here, and had left it to the local authorities to make the necessary arrangements .with the General Government. Maj or Durie has therefore written to his Honor the Superintendent calling his attention to this fact, and leaving it to. him to'write to the General Government on the subject. . R. M. Court. — We learn that it is intended tojenlarge the boundaries of the District under Mr. "White's authority so as to embrace Turakina, at which place Monthly. Courts are to be held. Immigration Regulations. —ln our advertising columns to day will be found the regulations now in force for the immigration of the friends of settlers. Christchurch Congregational Meet* ing. —A meeting of the Parishioners of Christchurch was held in the Church Schoolroom on Thursday evening fast, to consider a financial report and abstract of accounts lately published by the Churchwardens. From the statements made at the meeting, it appears that 'when the formation of the district into a Parish was first mooted, the Bishop suggested, that in order that the service of an experienced minister might be obtained, such minister should derive a portion of his income by taking pupils, until such time as the parishioners felt themselves-in a position to pay the whole stipend, to which his standing and experience would entitle, him, according to the scale in force

iu.this Colony. Some of the Parishioners however objected to this, ami proposed to raise the amount estimated to be derived from taking pupils by subscription, so as to secure the whole of the minister’s, time and attention. The Bishop ami the Standing Committee of the Diocese consented, on condition that the. subscriptions should be guaranteed for three years, and a Committee was appointed to obtain signatures to a guarantee subscription list. A. misunderstanding occurred as to the conditions on which this guarantee subscription list Was signed, whirl) or- - easioned a reference to the Magistrates, and the case was decided against the vestry. The general feeling of the meeting on Thursday evening appeared to be, • that the‘vestry should immediately have - consulted the congregation, when the list 1 was thus rendered practically useless. The V estry however thought that by 1 collecting the Offertories weekly instead , of monthly, and calling for the- whole- - amount of the Guaraniee in the sub-. ; sequent years, they should be able to, 1 meet the Church expenses ; bud the result shews them to have . been, mistaken,. 1 as from the payment having become optional, the whole guarantee sums collected ; for the second year only exceeded*by about. ■- £0 the amount collected fur the firstyear, which was only half ofHte« gnaranteed subscriptions j and notwithstandin 1 the strenuous efforts which the •VccoViWs shew to have been made by them, (.thereceipts for the Ist year wore £22i, for the 2nd year £291, and for the - next 10--months £325) they after strugglim/ for 18 months, found themselves AIO.O in. arrear, and with a prospect of an increasing deficit -before them, and therefore' ■ published a report ami abstract of accounts, and called on the Parishioners torelieve them from.tb.6ir embarrassment,. At the meeting the guarantee -list \vascalled for. and questions asked as to who paid and who refused, and the reasons assigned by the latter for so doing. The Churchwardens replied, that some found fault with the minister, others with the singing, and others again with other matters ; some said they luid misunderstood the nature of the list, and many assigned no reason byt simply failed to pay. During the discussion which followed, Mr. vG. Roberts asserted that the whole difficulty arose from want of harmony between the minister and congregation, and maintained that as the- list -was signed at a time when the minister had gone to take temporary duty at Wellington, and many supposed he had left per- : maneutly, a personal dislike to him jus- ; tiffed• any subscriber repudiating the ; engagement, which in signing he entered - into with the Bishop and Synod, who he considered had not' left the appointment of the minister to the Parishioners as v.us expected.

Mr. T. Powell corrected Mr. Bo’ >evis’ statements as to the manner of the Curate’s appointment, and shewed, that it was distinctly the act of the Parish, to which the Bishop and Synod were bound to give effect in the absence of any definite ecclesiastical offence provable against the Parishioners’ nominee. Mr. H. Ross could state positively tha t every one who signed the guarantee !ht had the heading read over, and the whole proposal explained to him, and understood thoroughly what he was about. The Chairman said that the excuses put forward had always appeared to him so utterly inadequate to justify a repu diation of a written engagement, that he looked upon them as meiely put forward to cover an unwillingness to pay money where it could possibly be avoided. The case seemed to him ;i very simple one Tl>e Parishioners bad undertaken certain liabilities and were bound in honour to meet their engagements ; and had they done so, there would have been plenty of funds arid to spare. Ultimately Messrs. Boyle and Bradley were appointed to wait on the Subscribers to the guarantee list, and ascertain \v,lu> would pay, and who would not, and in the latter case the reason in each case for refusing, and to report to an adjourned meeting to be held at the same place at half-past seven this evening.. The Soldier Drowned.— Tin? bodr of Private Keefe was found by two Baoriea on .'•■aturday afternoon, on the sea beach, about half-way between the Turakina and Bangitikei Rivers near what is called

Tylee’s pule. The head xyrts nearly covered with sand, arid the flesh had been wholly eaten off one of the legs, must probably bv the fowls The Afaoiies came to Constable Ereefcb late on Saturday evening and he immediately informed .Dr.-Curl the Coroner, who summoned a ' Jury to. hold an inquest. Qn Sunday morning, Constable Freeth, Mr Hugh Fraser and a Maori wont down to the beach, laid the body out, and covered it with logs to protect it rill it was removed. The inquest was held yesterday at Beaven’s Inn ; nothing new was ex-pisc-ited, ‘Sergeant Menzies identified the body j the Maoris gave evidence to its being found ; and a verdict was returned of accidentally drowned. TTJRAKINA. Turaxinv Mutual Improvement Society.—A lecture was delivered to the members of this association on Tuesday evening the 25th .ult., by the Rev. R. Taylor, of Puciki. ' The subject was the ** Origin of man,” and the reverend lecturer treated it in a very able'manner. *He first noticed the speculations that have been indulged in on the subject, referring particularly to Darwin’s theory of the origin of specie?, and showed the fallacies which were inherent in this and other theories based on insufficient data. He then referred to. the geological proofs of the antiquity of the race—which proofs, as far as they were authenticated, did not he considered tell against the account of the origin of the species, given in the Bible. Whatever difficulties might exist would, he was sure, be cleared upas 'more scientific light was thrown on the obscure parts of the subject.. He' then referred fully to the testimony given by the Scriptures on the subject. The lecture was very interesting and instructive —as much so as any that has yet been delivered her-e—and was listened to • throughout by a full audience. It is ex-, pected that the-conrse of lectures will be delivered regularly, several gentlemen having promised their valuable aid.

RANGITIKEI., Tutainui. —The opening of a new Day Schoolroom took place on Wednesday afternoon, January 27th, 1864. A large number of people assembled, consisting of* the parents and children, together with friends from a distance, to celebrate this important event by a holiday. At 3 o’clock 44 children were regaled with tea, plumcake, bread and butter, and t-arts; each child then received a small book in remembrance of the day, after which they went out to enjoy a little hearty, happy play, such as does children good, and makes old folks feel young to look upon ; somehow, you could not watch those children without getting the impression that they were milder, less prone to quarrel than most children, and altogether good material for the master to work upon. Mrs. Halcombe and others contributed not a little, to the enjoyment of the young folks, by scattering’ sweetmeats, &c, amongst them. At 6 o’clock the friends took tea together, provided by Mr., and Mrs. Signal, who had evidently spared no trouble, if one may judge by the, viands supplied, to, make it .everything that could be desired. After tea a public meeting was commenced by the singing of a psalm and the offering up a prayer for the Divine blessing upon the institution. This meeting was presided over by the Rev. R. J. Allsworth, of Turakina, and suitably addressed by A. F. Halcombe, John Jordan, and Alex. Milne, Esqs., and by Mr. Barker. The doxology was then sung, the benediction pronounced, and the friends, to the number of 150, returned to their homes delighted with the day’s proceedings, and yishing Mr. Gibson, the master, much success in his work. It is pleasing to see the people becoming alive to the great importance of mental and moral training for* their children,- and especially so wheu men of different nations, and belonging to different sections of the church of Christ, work harmoniously together for the accomplishment of so desirable an object. We understand that the schoolroom is to be ussid also as a place of worship, it having been kindly lent by the committee for that purpose, and Mr Allsworth, of Turakina, having agreed to preach there every sabbath evening at 6 o’clock.