The Wairarapa Daily. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1891.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3991, 17 December 1891, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1891.

On no place has the light of the Ministerial countenance shonsmore brightly than at fciketahuna, and nowhere have the Knights of Labour asserted themselves more vigorously, and yet trom Eketahuna comes tale after tale of bard working men despoiled of their fairly-earned wages by reckless or unscrupulous contractors. Men, with no means, appear to take bushfelling contracts, draw money on the same which melts away some way or other, leav„ ing ihe hauds they have employed destitute and unpaid. Ministers and Knights of Labour are powerless to help the victims of these wretched contractors. They may promise legislative help, they may propose workmen's liens, and other ingenious devices, but, as a matter of fact, the difficulty is one that cannot be rat-1 by legislation or palliated by political professors. In the ordinary business of life prudent people guard themselves against contingencies of this kind by a very simple process. Commercial men are wont to take counsel together, and to put black marks against the liames of any persons who are unworthy of credit. We hear that the storekeepers in the bush districts are also victims to these defaultory contractors, and surely they may coEjbine together and classify the employers of labour who are safely to be trusted with a contract, and put a mark against the names of those whose characters or resources make them insecure or dangerous. By a simple arrangement of this kind the business men of the bush districts can protect, not only their own iuterests, but also save a large number of bush hands from being deprived of their wages. (Jf course, if workers in the bush district choose to take employment from contractors whose names are bad on the books of the local storekeepers, they would deserve to come to grief, because, every man in whatever position he may oocupy must be expected to display a reasonable amount of prudence and circumspection. Men in business are in a better position than casual hands to ascertain the position of the various contractors m their district and the latter could reasonably look to them for iriformati n on such points. Let them ask the storekeepers of the bush to take such joint action as will enable a prompt and effective check to be applied to the worthless contractors. They can in this way obtain immediate security from being despoiled of their hard earnings, and self help of this kind will be far more effective than any legislation that can be brought to bear on the difficulty.

Another epidemic of typhoid fever is ratting in 'Melbourne. There has been an alarming increase in the number of caßes dut-in? the past fortnight. The Masterton public schools " broke up " for the summer vacation to-day.

A pertinent essay on .the Aubert Remedies appears in our advertising columns tprdap,

The Masterfcou Rifle Volunteers parade as usual this (Thursday) evening.

Besides the properties already advertised to be sold by Mr F. H. Wood at his rooms on Saturday next, an acre having frontages to the main road and ?ast-Btreet, on which ia erected a substautis'lj-built eight-rcomed house and good outbuild ii'ga will be offered. A yaty choice selection of new designs in useful spd ornamental jewellery, and in silver-plated aoods. has been specially imported for Christmas and New Year by Messrs G. and T. Young, of Lambton Quay, Wellington, whose nofciftc&tmn .on the subject appears elsewhere. Both in these lines, and in gold and silver watches "of every value, | the firm has an excellent stock. J A special housa allowance ot £lO has ' been granted by the Wellington Education Board to Mr W. H. Jackson, head? maater of the Masterton school. Mr Lot Cross, of Cross' Creak, died 1 on Tuesday afternoon at the age of do. A short tun/a ago be was seized with influenza, which culminate J in bronchitis. DeceasedVas an eld settler, and highly rcspectod. He leaves a widow, but no family. The Wellington Education Board has granted th« sum of £lO to Mr William .Johnston, pupil at the Taueru, towards the expense of.,residing from home.

A special notification by Messrs I Scoullar and Chi&holm, of Wellington, regarding tbeir Christmas importation of pianos and their extensive stock of furniture, appears in another eoJuoin. The firm's reputation as household furnishers in good style at moderate coat is well-known, and they are now doing the best business in the city as a reward of legitimate trading.

The bouse of Msa E, R. Welch, of the Opaki,"whicH was destroyed by fire on Tuesday morning, was insured for £325 iu the London, Liverpool, and' Glbbe tire office.

The larce two- storied residence of Mr Ferny, on To Ore Ore, was destroyed by fire about one o'clock this morning, a vigorous alarm was sounded on the Masterton fireballs, and tho various brigades turned out, but of course did not proceed to the scene of the conflagration.

The Wellington Builders' Association has condemned the conditions in Government contracts as being unfair to contractors. It has been decided to ascertain the views of the candidates for the Wellington seat on the subject.

A school teacher in the Auckland district wrote to a parent stating that he would punish the younger brother every time the elder was absent. The Education Brfard admonished him to be careful.

An unusually large number of people are suffering from delirium tremens in JNapier. Ln prison they make night hideous and they spend half their time in catching canaries, btea, rabbits, and attacking ferocious rattlesnakes. The latest report from the Masterton contingent of the Salvation Army runs as follows:—Sickness and duath ram* pant; salvation floods ; spiritual earthquakes ; ten bandsmen blowing; faithful soldiers enjoying the tough fight; fourteen prisoners (old and young) accept solvation

Frank Wakelin, a son Mr R. A. Wakelin, of Greytown, has won a scholarship valued at £l3 4s, and took first prize for science at the Wellington College examination. The poll taken at Eketahuna upon the proposal to raise a loan of £4OO for formation and bushfelling on Makakahi road north has been carried.

A very handsome picture, issued as a supplement to the Christmas number of Yule Tide, and representing Miss Nightingale at Scutari in 1854, is on view in the window of Mr R. T. Holmes, stationer, Masterton. Quite a number of sheep have been shipped from Kelson lately, says the Mail. Last week Messrs Bisley Bros & Co. consigned to a client in the North island a mob of 400 crossbred store sheep and yesterday by the Waverley a lot of 500 was sent to the same source, and we learn that the same firm anticipato further shipments shortly. A wedding was once stopped in the following curious manner. The people were well-to-do farmers. The day wai fixed, breakfast prepared, and the carriages waiting at the door. All things were ready. The bridegroom drove up to the house, and ran in to see his bride before he started for the chapel. He found her weeping, as brides often do wheu they leave home. And who would believe it if they read it in a romance? Tho bridegroom coldly informed the young lady tahb " if that was the way she was going to begin, it would be the end of it." He left, the bride in a dead faint, walked out of the house, and rode away. It was the end of it in more ways than one. There was an action for breach of promise. Tho young lady died of a broken heart. He afterwards married three wives m rapid succession, and his life was far from being happy. The famine in Russia is compelling tho use of some strange articles of diet by the peasants. "Bread made of straw chopped fine, and an admixture of ' rye," says t- correspondent of the Daily i Telcgr-iph, "is a godsend, to obtain ; which thousands of human beings would sell their very souls. Powdered tree ( bark, flavoured with ground peas, is esteemed an excellent food by men who work as if their bodies were made of srme incorruptible metal, " Hunger- ' bread," made of dried dung, tree bark, powdered peas and goose foot, is not only not spurned, but greedily (grabbed | up—nay, fought for—with as much eagerness as if it were ambrosia of the j gods." It is a mere truism to add after this that life in an English workhouse ' would be heaven to many a poor Russian ' at the present tiuie. ' Pursuant to notice, Dr. Newman, M.H.tt., at the meeting of the Education Board held yesterday, moved, "that 1 the Board bring under the attention ] of the Education Department the present cost of school books, with a view to re- ] duce the same." Dr. Newman, in moving his resolution, quoted statistics with a view to prove that the cost of school '• books in New Zealand was greatly in excess of the charges made in a similar < direction in the public schools of the ' United States. He had made calcula- ; tions from which it appeared that the ( cost of school books in New Zealand amounted to 12s 6d a head. Mr F. H. Fraser seconded the resolution, Mr J. ' Younc, as an old and practical teacher, ' characterised the books used by most of i the States of America as bsing much in- i ferior to those in use in our State j schools, indeed he would go further and wou(d fearlessly assert that the educa- ■ tional system of the United States—ex cepb perhaps, in the State of Massachu- 1 setts and one or two other States—was practically worthless. Mr J. R. Blair ; (chairman) remarked that of course the Government might cheapen the books | used in the Bchoois by importing them, but this could only bo effected at the expense of the entire community, and he doubted if tho people "f the colony would ' agree to having a still further burden i imposed upon them. However, no possible harm could result from the motion being agreed to, and therefore he should support it. The resolution was agreed to. Y\ e shall be ever ready to welcome the crowds who may take advantage of these desirable opportunities, and the more widely to distribute our Christmas gifts the better shall we be pleased at Te Aro House, Wellington. In addition to offering exceptional advan- '■ tages to customers, such as an 'rumense variety, a carefully selected and faahionabie i stock of goods in every department of the warehouse, we intend, during the remainder of the present month to present all cash customers to the extent of 20s and upwards with an attractive Christmas gift, at Te Aro i House Wellington. _ , We have a regular, devised scale for the 1 things, and in proportion to the amount o purchases so will be the value of the present < 'xhis scale will he on the same lines as on | previous yews, and no doubt will give equal | satisfaction, at Te Aro House, Wellington. . One thing should be noted especially, and that it is that this gift distribution will < extend during the present month up to the i very last day of December, 181)1, _ neither j more or less, Those that are wise will therefore take care to be iii time at Te Aro * House Wellington.—Aorr t