EKETAHUNA.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3507, 10 May 1890, Page 2

EKETAHUNA.

(From Our Own Correspondent.) A : Bpecial meeting of the Eketahuna School Committee was held on Thursday. Present—MessrsT, Bayliss" (chairman), W. Bayliss, Belby, and Brenmuhl. Correspondence— From Education' Board re appointment of Mr" Wardlaw as temporary assistant teacher; from H. D, Bell, tendering thinks for the Committee's nomination of him to the Board, and informing them that he had withdrawn from the contest in favor of Mr Beetham;. from Education Board, re election of candidates to Board. The Committee deoided to defer the nominations till the next meetins. It was resolved that the Board be requested to Bupply the sohool with tanks to catch water from the roof of tho School, as the well oouldnotat all timeß be depended on for a supply. The head teaohor mentioned that he had spoken to Mr Lee in reference to placing moveable screens in tho sohool to divide the standards. It was deoided that Mr Bennett's suggestion be forwarded to the Board, with the Committee's recommendation. Plans were pro-

duoad for alterations and additions to the school and head-master'E residence. Mr Hodges waited on the Committee, requesting the use of the school-room to hold tht meetings of the Eketahuna Debating Society in for the winter evenings. Granted, for the sum of Is tid per week. The Committee then ad> journed.

A publio meeting will be held in the school-room on Wednesday, 14th, at 7 p.m., to elect officers for the winter meetings of the Eketahuna Debating Society. On Wednesday last Mr Parsons informed the Constable that someone had told him, that someone had told him, that someone had been told by a man who said that he had heard that thero was a skeleton lying at Mr George's accommodation house, Alfredton. The Constable immediately rushed to. tho stable, jumped on a horse, and went off at full gallop towards the scene of the supposed tragedy. On the road he called at the house of one of our respeoted J.P's, shouted over the fence, "Terrible affair 1 Skeleton found at Alfredton! lam going out now; hold yourself in readiness for an inquest'; I'll try and fetch the romains in to-morrow; good bye I" "Hold on 1" said Mr—-."I'll go with you, and we'll hold the inquest out there." Away the two went (I am told tho distance to covered in the fastest time on record), Arriving at the house where the remains were located, Mr—remarked to the constable that'the people there seemed to take it very quiet, and there was no crowd about the door. Tying their horses up, they.rushed in. " Where is the body ?" Mr George: What body ?" Constable: "The body, skeleton, ofmu-anl' 1 Mr George: "Is that what y.6ii haTe come' for? And what iial Mr --r-come for?" Constablei "id hold an inquest I" Mr Gelrfj "Hal bal ha I Oh die I Hold me, someone! On tof) thisisrioh IMr—: "That'senough, Mr George; do youmean to Bay that no skeleton has been found?" Mr George: " Oh, yes, Oh deaf, what a sell I Ha I ha 1 Here it is (bandinga! small piece of skull of somethtaye Mr—), that's ; all the have; I don't know what itlsf ! It maybe a piece of a pjg's bend, dog's head, or any other ■head'"for/ all \ fapw. Anyhow,s'omeo^B^d'ltin ibs tiiPh iV<<* Vqu

lave been sold. Neovr mind, boys, have a drink; it is not often two such diti iiguished visitors come here together." The return journey was not done in the fastest time on record.

Hospital Ball at Greytown. The annual Ball in aid of the fands of the Greytown Hospital was Mi in the Palace Hall last evening, and was without doubt an unparalelled success. The affair had been looked forward to. for a considerable tiine past, not only by tho residents of Greytown, but also by those of the adjoining townships, as it has been a recognised faot that tho Hospital Ball is always tk event of the season. The credit of the continued successes of these annual gatherings is' certainly due to the influential committees formed on each occasion,

especially the ladies, who are called upon to supply the edible portion of the programme, and they, recognising the excellent cause for which they are working, provide a spreadin quality and quantity that Cannot possibly bo improved upon by the most expensive * caterer. As the years roll on the Hi '

Loapital Ball increases in popularity, and the one held last evening quite eclipses all previous 'ones in point of numbers, and we doubt whether a more gay assemblage of youth ,and beauty has ever gathered within 'tk* walls of abuilding before in the annals of the Wairarapa, It is. the good fortune of the promoters of the affair toalways have a fine night for their gatherings, and last evening was no exception.to the rule, it being calm and moonlight, thus enabling visitors, from a distance to- rather' enjoy '-the journey , down, Between' sis" and .eight o'clock .last night, Greytown liad the appearance of being en fete,

conveyances of all descriptions arriving from every direction, Featherston, Carterton, and particularly Master-' ton, being well represented. Soon after, the usually quiet' thoroughfare was enlivened by the presence o crowds of pleasure-seekers, wenching j their way to the scene of gaiety- the Palace Hall. The interior of the hall

was' decorated in an elaborate manner, flags, emblems, greens and nikau palms being placed in very artistic styles, representing apparently a glimpse of fairy-land. The scene from the. gallery, when the festivities were at its height, was really inagnifioent, and one to be long remembered, The electric light, the recent acquisition to this splendid hall, made the interior very brilliant, and contributed largely to the appearanco of the gay assemblage.

l'he light thrown into the hall was such as to induce Mr Price, our talented photographer, to take a view

of a ball-room by night, and placing the camera in the gallery he managed to get a good photo of upwards of one hundred couples in set order, It is,

perhaps, needless to say that the costumes of the ladies were beautiful, and' they were seen to exoellent advantage under the powerful rays of eleotricity, but the honor of belle seemed to bo divided between three or four ladies, and where all look so faioinatingi it would be an extremely dithoult matter to name one alone. It is estimated that there were fully two hundred and thirty persons in the lower portion of the hall, and about one hundred and seventy in the gallery, making a grand total of over

four hundred visitors. As we before mentioned, the supper table was a gorgeous array of everything imaginable, and although it had to be re-laid several times, plenty remained. The catering committee: Mesdames Buroh, Fuller, Tully and Wood were most attentive to the wants of their patrons, and deserve the utmost thanks of tho Committee for their untiring energy, Thornusio, contributed by Mrs M. Wood, Miss J. .Wood, Mr Varnham, and Mr Maguire, jnn., was another successful part of the programme, and the good time of the band was generally remarked upon. Four aLG.'s had a rather hard time of it, but proved themselves very efficient in their department. Although some twenty-eight dances were gone throuh, the proceedings ended a little after three a.m,, so that ample time might be taken for rest.

The Hemp. Market.. The New Zealand Times of to-day says:—Although there is no actual rise in the hemp market, yet private advices from London point out that there is likely to be a good demand for our New Zealand hemp industry for some months to come, and it is possible that prices may improve shortly, This is a oheerng piece of news, and < already arrangements ar« being made for the restarting of over a dozon mills,in the Manawata Rangitikei, and ■ Wairarapa districts. Although the Wellington merchants are buying oautioußly, they are disposed to offer better inducements than they have for some time past, This new spirit in hemp will greatly revive trade in many country distriots, a revival greatly wanted. The general trade of the past week has been very quiet the principal topic of conversation being the threatened advance in the price of butchers' meat. The advance was made, but not maintained. It was seen that the people were decidedly, of opinion that the advance was hqt ; . merited.by the actual state of tho stock market, and universal opposition was set up against it. Tho action of agitating •for- a - Co-operative Butohering Society opened the eyes of the retail trade to tho very serious opposition they would have to oontend against, and this bad the effect of bringing prices down to the old level. Tho promoters of the Cor operative Society say they are not daunted by the recent reduotion, but, confident of success, are. determined to place tbo Society in actual exist ence as soon' as possible, and prevent in the future what they consider to be nothing more or less than a monopoly in meat,

•A Horr'ble Discovery. A most horrible discovery was' made ia Numurkah on Saturday night (says the "Herald "), and promptly reported to tho police, A brief recital of the case ia as follows;—A journeyman blacksmith, named Robert Baker, left his homo thres weoks ago to work at a shop some six miles oat of the town. His wife, who is a woman of drunken habits, remained in charge of the house in Quinu Street, Numurkab,bavjng with her four little ohiklren, who she was in the habit of treating in a cruel manner while in drunken fits. She gave birth to a child last February, which for the past few weeks has been ailing, its illhealth being said to be due for want of proper nourishment and attention, Baker cAme home pit Biturday rMt and flinty inquired sM.lliji dpron, mentioning pa> tl'pularly the. bahy, which bad been ywkly, In. reply to hiß tytdr enaoiry ,ift W» Wd)|iw%tifoVat>y

died four days ago, and had not yet been removed from the house. The rnau went to look and found iho remains of the infant iu a bed whore the other children had been sleeping, ever sinco it died ou Wednesday morning, Tho little corpso was just hustled in a corner and had apparently been dinturbod by tho little living inmates of tho. samo bed. The 4 matter was immediately reported to fhe police, who took steps to hold an inquiry, which was commenced yesterd iy (Sunday) morniug, before Mr J. C. Troogrove, J. P. Tho father was died lo give evidence, and he was found to be too drunk to understand what ho was doing, The other witnesses gavo evident to' tho effect above recorded. Baker was committed for 12 hours for contempt of Court, and the inquiry was adjourned.