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Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 2120, 14 October 1885, Page 2

The Silver Wedding of Councillor am Mrs S. E. Gapper, was celebrated yester day.

The children attending the Masterton schools are making their excursion to Wellington to-day. The numbers that left were, 194 children, 29 teachers and parents, and 39 other excursionists, making a total of 2CB. The ordinary monthly meeting of the Mastorton Hospital Committee was held last evening. Present—Messrs Bo'ddington, lorns, Payton, Paige, B, P, Perry, and Buttle, The minutes of the preceding meeting having been confirmed, the Treasurer reported a credit balance of L 7 12s 3d, ' Accounts to the amount of Ll9 2b 6d were passed for stores and supplies. A circular letter from the Colonial Secretary's office re the new Act was considered, and on the motion of Mr Payton, seconded by Mr Paige, it was unanimously resolved that steps be taken to constitute the Masterton Hospital a separate institution, and that the Chairman, Treasurer, and Secretary bo appointed a Committee to take the necessary steps. ,Mr >J. lorns was appointed visitor for the ensuing month.

Professor Kirk's report on the condition of the fruit-trees of the colony has been issued from the Government Printing Office. It is an interesting paper. The following is from the report as to the condition of the peach crop:—"The peach is liable to the attacks of numerous fungoid and insect enemies, capable of effecting a serious diminution in the yield, and of exhausting the energies of the tree, but tho total amount of injury caused by these unwelcome parasites during a long series of years would be but trifling when compared with the wholesale destruction that lias overtaken the peach throughout the colony, and to which the term peach blight is generally applied. Thousands of acres of peach orchards and plantations in the .North Island have boon destroyed. The grand peach groves of the Maoris in tho flokianga, Kaipara, Waikato, Napier, and Wanganui districts are things of the past, and the peach itself, once the most common fruit in the colony, has now become the rarest, It is no exaggeration to say that by the destruction of the peach trees the food supply of the colony has been diminished by s.everi).} thousands of pounds." The paper is full of practical suggestions for the fruit-grower and gardener.

Thus Bays the Lyttelton Times on the Maori performances of the Otaki girls " Then was given the first of the Maori songs and dances, presumably the 1 haka,' in which the performers swayed their bodies, jerked their heads, swung their arms, stamped their feet, uttered at intervals sounds of a character something between the wheezing or snorting of a steam engine and the rasping of a saw, quivered their hands, and exercised a variety of other movements with the most exact and uniform precision. The words of the Bong were taken in alternate verses by various members of tho troupe, the chorus giving an ejaculatory refrain with great spirit. The subsequent Maori songs may be described as ' the same air with variations,' though in two or three there was a novelty introduced, This was a sort of bag or pad attached to a cord, which each performer twirled and swung and twisted, making all the movements so as to beat time, and showing considerable jkill }n wielding jt.

The Fire Brigade holds a meeting to' night to consider its position, 1 •

The next regular monthly meeting of the Masterton Library Committee takes place to-morrow evening.

Owing to various delays occurring on the line,-the midday train was more than half an hour late to-day. A final sale of the large stock of clothing, drapery, etc., from the shop of Mr J. McDowell will be held by Mr F. H, Wood on Saturday, The goods to be offered have not been previously put up, and will be disposed of without reserve.

To-tnorrow being a public holiday, Pearson's Private Band has decided to play through the town, and during the afternoon to take up its stand on the balcony in front of Mr Fannin's office. It is the intention of tho Band to play out once or twice a week during the summer months. The Masterton Cricketers are dissatisfied with the terms on which 'the Park Trustees have offered them the use of the oval, and at their request a meeting of the Trust has been convened for Friday next to consider the further concessions which are desired.

There will be a performance of a somewhat unusual character at the Theatre Royal on Monday night, when a benefit will be tendered to Messrs Foley & Berkley by a number of leading amateurs in Masterton. Messrs Foley and Berkley have always been found ready to assist in entertainments of local interest, and the compliment is therefore well deserved.' We direct attention to the programme, which appears in another column, A concert in aid of the funds of St, Matthew's Church will be given at the Church Schoolroom to-morrow evening, when tho following ladies will take part: —Piano: Mrs Paige, Mrs Seed, and the Misses Boddington; songs; Mrs Keith, Mrs Seed, Miss Ness, Miss M, Wardell, Messrs Moore, Coleman,'Gant, Stansfield, Wickorsoii, Sellar, Foley, and Berkley; duets: Miss M, Wardell and Mr Coleman, and Mr Moore and Mr Coleman. The Masterton String Band is also expected

to assist. The result of "Jacob Faithfull's" drawing on the Hawke's Bay Spring Handicap appears in our advertising columns. The drawing itself took place in the presence of a most reliable committee. " Jacob" has further forwarded us the names of the winners of the three first prizes, and these may be ascertained by any interested shareholder at our office. A monster sweep on the Melbourne Cup is now open, and should prove attractive to the speculatively inclined.

Baron Mollwo, who recently lectured in tho Wairarapa, Beems to be the child of misfortune. Hb has just landed on the hands of the Benevolent Society in Wellington, where he will be employed for a week cracking stones for the Corporation, In his letter of application to to the Society he states that his agent deserted him in Masterton, and at the same time disappeared tho proceeds of his first lecture. He had been unable to obtain suitable employment since then, and had been compelled to put his case before the Society. We remind those who wish to avail

themselves of the Friendly Societies'

excursion, that the train leaves at 5.30 a.m. to-iuorrow. There will only be the one tram to take passengers at excurtion rates, and passengers leaving by the 7.30 train will have to pay ordinary fares. We think the Department might have made some further concession, so that excursionists would be allowed to travel by either of the trains. By adopting this course all risk of over-crowding the first train would be avoided, passengers would travel with greater comfort, and not a penny of revenue would be lost, In the Exhibition there is ono special exhibit, which is greatly admired, namely, the wool mats and portmanteaus made by Mr Field, of Dunedin. The whole of the exhibit has been purchased by Mr Thorbum, the clothier, of Willis-street. Parties wishing to purchase any of the I above can now seloc them, to be delivered on the Ist of November.—Advt,