The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, JULY 29, 1879.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 224, 29 July 1879, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, JULY 29, 1879.

I We doubt whether we could qualify | ;as a Sabbatarian, but wo have a strong j 'objection to forcing men to pursue on i without urgent necessity their | 'everyday avocations. The Colony is '■■ aiow guilty in this respect in tolerating 'lailargeand industrious department of [ 'the civil service, working3Gs days in the ! year when by all principles ot law justice | .-and: physiology the members of it should be restricted to at least 310, We refer 1o the .telegraphists, who are scattered :at small stations all over the country, | ••aud who. after working long hours daily "throughout the week have to spend a • certain iime at their offices both niorn:ing and evening, on what may be •termed their day of rest. It is true that the colony gives an air of sanctity "to Sunday messages by charging double : rates—working on the same principle ' we presume as the Scotch porter acted ' when he was induced to cany a carpet ' bag on the Sabbath day, and was ten--dered the usual fee of sixpence,— •'What!' said he, 'only saxpenco and ' break the Sabbath.' If in the public : interest Sunday telegrams were con•ducive as Sunday trains are to the .health and prosperity of the public, we • would not say a word against them, but s3uch is not the case. We believe that : if an inquiry were made it would be :found that out of the hundred or hun- • xlred and fifty smaller stations in the

colony the majority of thorn would not average a single telegram per Sunday. Still the operators have to bo at thoir posts watching their instruments and beguiling the time with a little innocent gossip with some acquointance forty or fifty miles away. The Sunday business at small offices amounts to very little either in quantity or importance, and no public inconvenience wonld he experienced if it were at once discontinued, and the telegraphists of the colony were allowed to enjoy undisturbed that period of rest which nature and religion alike enjoin. If the earnings of the department on Sundays were such as to make the business a profitable one, some excuse might be found for the foolish custom which prevails, But if, as we assert fearless of contradiction, the /Sunday receipts are but nominal, while the expenditure of human flesh and blood is real, wicked, and useless, we contend that steps should be taken at once to stop a cruel practice which subjects between one and two hundred intelligent and industrious public servants to a deprivation which is as unnatural as it is unnecessary. If the Premier during his term of office had struck this one shackle off in the cause of the humanity which he everlastingly preaches about, we would have admitted that there was at least one grain of corn in Iris many bags of chaff. As it is, we hope to see the boon accorded under the new regime, and we would ask some member of the Legislature to move for a return showing the number of smaller telegraph stations in the colony open on Sunday, and the number and value of messages sent from them, believing that such a return will prove conclusively that such stations should at once be closed for Sunday tiaffic. We hope, too, that more influential journals than our own will take up the question, and urge action in the direction wo have indicated. The Press is the best customer the Telegraph Department has, and if any persons are inconvenienced by Sunday closing it would be journalists. Still, wo are proud to express au opinion that journalists are not selfish in such matters, and would cheerfully make a small sacrifice in the interests of their good friends the telegraphists.

Wo trust to see a large attendance at Te Ore Ore to-morrow, to witness the ploughing match, also.it the dinner in the evening, which takes plaoe at the Empire Hotel. We notice that a'dividend will be payable in the estate of James Harvey, on and after August Ist. The Queensland Government have introduced a Loan Bill for £10,000,000 for railways and public works, Tenders are invited by the Masterton Highway Board for a bridge on the MataIviwi road. At the monthly meeting of the Committee of the Working Men's Club, Greytown, on Saturday, Mr H. Wickerman was appointed Custodian. A body has been found on the sea beach about seven miles from Wellington, supposed to be that of one of a party of Italian fishermen, who left town in a boat last week and are supposed to be lost. A most spirited scratch match was played by about 20 of the Greytown footballers on Saturday last. The pky was kept up with great determination for an hour. Several carpenters and small contractors have lately become victims to the bad times by building houses and not getting paid for their work. In this manner men of small means have sustained serious losses. We would suggest to the building trade that the members of it should agree not to accept any contract except under a stipulation that possession of the premises should be be retained until payment in full were made. Messrs E. and J. Brown report the following sale. A section of land in Church street, the property of Mr Galloway, sold last week for £l5O cash, being at the rate of £3/10 per foot frontage. The same firm has recently placed the following properties, 40 acres at Mauriceville for £l5O. Cottage and section, Hall-street, £285. quarter acre, Wrigleys estate, £BS, and in live stock, 300 fat sheep at Bs, Mr J. H. Corbett, in another column, expresses his views on Municipal matters as a candidate for the vacancy in the Maston Borongh Council. We are glad to notice that Mr Corbett is favorable to employing paid eugineeriug and professional assistance, and if the burgesses arc not favored with assurances from the other candidates on this and other material points, we would recommend them to support Mr Corbett on the ground that he has declared his programme and that it is a very satisfactory one. Yesterday the candidates were nominated for the Masterton Riding, viz., Messrs Rhodes Donald, J. S, P, Holmes, and D. McGregor. The proceedings at the nomination were merely formal the only candidate present being Mr D. McGregor. We hope, however, to have some expression of the views of all three candidates in County matters before the day of poll which is fixed for Saturday, I August 9th- We do them the justice to suppose that they all have opinions in County question?,, and do not desire to be returned on personal grounds only. Yesterday Mr Wardell held a special sitting at the R.M. Court, Masterton, for the purpose of hearing a case Travel's and another, Executors of the late J. Gilligan v. certain natives at the Taueru, who recently pounded some horses belonging to the estate of the Abbotsford property. Mr Stafford of Wellington, and Mr Bunny appeared for the plaintiffs. Mr T. H. Hill, on behalf of the defendants, applied for an adjournment, on the ground that they had not had time since the reeeipt of their summonses to obtain legal assistance. They impounded the horses they said, in order to assert their right to the land. Mr gtafford wished the case decided, as the Court could only decide the question of occupancy, which was undispnted, and could not go into any question of title. He said that the conduct of the bush lawyers who had advised the Maoris to adopt a wrong method of procedure in asserting their claims was most reprehensible, as it tended to produce ill blood between the two races. Mr T. H. Hill explained that his connection with the case was simply to interpret beeween them and their Solicitor, The Court admitted that it could not go beyond the question of occupancy, but as a good reason was assigned by the plaintiffs in asking for an adjournment, it would be granted. The case was adjourned till Saturday week, at 3 p.m,

All the employes in Guthrie & Larnach's establishment at Dunedin, have had their wages'ijeduced, A granite cross, ten feet high, is being erected at Balmoral in memory of tha late Princass AliceJudging from the weather this morning we could suggest that it would be prudent to postpone the ploughing match tomorrow for a few clays. _ We are pleased to observe that the adjourned annual meeting of tho Wairarapa and East Coast Pastoral Society is notified by advertisment for August sth. The business will be to elect officers for tho ensuing year, and the arrangement of shows, TheMasterton Quadrille Club meet tomorrow evening" The Club lias changed its nights of meeting, from Thursday to Wednesday. On Sunday last the Rev Mr Bruce preached eloquent sermons in the Presbyterian .Church at Mastodon. There was a large congregation in tho morning, but in the evening the severity of the weather kept many away, "The Sex of Angels" is the somewhat abstruse subject an which inquiry haslately been pursued in the correspondence columns of the New Zealand Herald. The correspondence has closed; but the point appears to be unsettled. During the last twelve months the British and Foreign Bible Society circulated 3,340.995 copies of Bibles, Testaments, and portions. Since the Society commenced (1804) it has issued close on eighty-five and a half million copies. Mr Josh Billings says that an Editor's bizness is to write editorials' grind out poetry, sort manuscripts, keep a mighty big waste paper basket, steal matter°fite other people's battles, take white beans and apple sass for pay when they can't get it,;work 18 hours out of 24, and be damned by everybody. We quite agree with him. _ Mrs Captain Bates the tallest woman in the world, has recently given birth to a baby, which is described as probably the largest on record. It weighed 23£lbs was 30 inches, in height, breast measured 24 inches, head Winches, and the foot U inches long. The mother is known as the Nova Scotia gaintess and stands 7 feet 9 inches in height, her husband, Captain Bates, a Kentuckian, being 2 inches shorter. A man has been brought down from Ekatahuna charged with being drunk and disorderly. He had prior to his removal from the scene of operation been tied down as a necessary precaution. He will be tried before two J.P.'s to-day, if two can be found. There is hardly a sufficient staff of J.P.'s available in the town itself for the prompt despatch of cases of this character, only Mr A. W. Eenall can be depended upon. We think the Government should be requested to appoint at least one additional resident as a J.P., to enable legal business to be conveniently despatched. There is no saying what the people will take to, there is no foreseeing what music will become popular or when, says tho World. We wiil take two striking instances from the very last season. Apublisher, a shrewd and experienced man, refused to buy a ballad offered him for £5. He was sure the sale wouid not pay for the engraving. For certain reasons, however, he undertook the publication on sharing terms. This ballad has up to the present time brought in over £3000; it is called " Nancy Lee." Certainly it is not a model of classic music, but tho publisher refused to buy it for £5 because he thought it would not brim- in as much Again, " H. M. S. Pinafore" was given at the Opera Oomique: It enjoyed public favor so little that the receipts went down to £4G a night, and the salaries were lowered. Suddenly the public took to it; to obtain a seat was a favor, and at this moment the publishers ' font queue,' and wait their turn to receive the numbers of scores ordered. The Mormon Giant Girl, who formerly travelled with_ Barnum, and has of late been on exhibition at a Bowery Musenm New York, has lately died (says the British Medical Journal). Although only 18 years of age, she weighed 5101bs.,and her coflin was six feet six inches in length and two feet in width. An unusual number of extraordinary specimens of the human race have recently been on exhibition in New York, including the North Carolina Twins, or Double headed Nightingale, the JBenoit Twins, which were described last summer in the Beston Medical and Surgical Journal, and the remarkable dwarfs known as the Midets. A number of well-known physicians were invited, a short time since to make a physicial examination of the latter. They are about 22 inches in height, and the weight of tho boy, who is said to be 14 years of age, is 91bs.; while the girl, who is 15, with the long train and all the other appurtenances of a lady of fashion, or rather of a modern French doll, actually weighs only 4|lbs. The diameter of the boy's head, as ascertained by Dr H, T. Hanks, professor of obstetrics in the Dartmouth Medical school, is scarcely larger than that of an average new-born infant, and that of the girl is even smaller. One was born in Central New York and the other in Mexico.. The boy was found to be suffering from a little bronchitis, and, after someflf the physicians had made an examination of his chest, it was very amusing to watch his little companion practising percussion and auscultation upon him iii imitation of the proceedings. Her parents state that when she was born she weighed only three-quarters of a pound. It is so.—" We have ever found," says an American paper, "that carpenters are more or less, speaking planely, but they will chisel when they get a chance, Not unfrequently they are bores, and often annoy one with their old saws." "I say, Sambo, were you ever intoxicated?" " No, Julius, neber; was you?"" Well, I was, Sambo." " Didn't it make you feel good, Julius?,'" Yah! But, golly, next morning I thought my head was a wood-shed, and all the niggers in Christendom was splitting wood in it!"