A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 5217, 31 December 1895, Page 2

A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

The Wairarapa Racing' Club's Summer Mectiug opens at Tauherenikau Jo-ponoji'. Ap .excellent day's sport may be anticipated at'thc Wafeuipd Caledonian Sojefcty's gathering' on tlij Mastertqp •!#» mni»d .Oijr fpjdcr? of t)ip firsf appearanco of Hugo's M(n?tre|s ft Ihp lijsterton Theatre Koynl taptfPff evening. The Masterton Catholic Picnic, always a pleasant and popular gathering, takes place, in Father McKcnna's hush to-

Thp Masfcrton Post OJlico will bo closed in all its branches to-morrow (Now Year's Day) but there will be a delivery of correspondence over the counter this evening after the Wellington mail is sorted from 8.30 till 9 o'clock. All mails usually closing on Wednesday will be olosed to-night. Tho costs of both parties in the Midland Eailway Arbitration Case arc expected to reach the grand total of £IOO,OOO. In tho cricket match at Christchurch yesterday the New Zealand men were all out for 187, the New South Welshmen losing three wickets for 79 runs. A special train for Eeatherston loaves Masterton at 9 'l6 a.m., to-morrow morning for the convenience of those attending the Taukerenikau Eaccs, The annual picnic in eounection with the Mnstcrton Presbyterian Church, an annual eyent now much looked forward to, will be hold to-morrow in Mr &. W. Woodroofc's paddock, Colombo Eoad. Tho Kaikoura, which left for London on Saturday, took 350 tons of butter and 237 tons of cheese. Tho quantity shipped at Wellington was 259 tons of butter and 98 tons of cheese.

Messrs Colo and Bartlelt adyertise for a bay pony which has been removed from their stables at tho Empire Hotel, by mistake or otherwise. Messrs Colo and Bartlelt, of tho Empire Hotel stables, will run their splendid new drag to the Tauherenikau races on New Year's Day,

St. Matthew's Parish Band will play at the Caledonian Sporls to-morrow. Mr Norman Grurr, tlio well-known athlete, was married on Saturday to Miss Eingwood, of Napier.

Sixteen trucks of sheep were despatched from Masterton this morning.

Tenders ore invited for cutting 300 acres of light scrub on Blairlogic. Tenders close on January 201 h. The Masterton Salvationists hold another picnic to-morrow, this tiino in a paddock in Worksop-road, A contrivance has been invented by Mr W. H. Hughes, of tho Agricultural Bureau, Adelaide, by which cattle may be allowed to graze in orchards without injuring tho fruit trees. It consists of a leather thong formed into a halter with a loop at each side of the nose, the running part passing through between the forelegs and over the wither, and then buckling on to its own part again. This allows the animal to feed on tho grass and herbage; hut if it attempts to lift its head to secure the branches oE trees, the lialter effectually causes the mouth of the animal to close. A Chinaman named Ti Chong, who was under arrest at Tenterlield for the attempted murder of his fellow-country-man, committed suicide in the local gaol by hanging himself with his braces. During a violent thunderstorm in Tasmania recently, Harry Nelson, of Brighton lodge, was struck dead by lightning while adjusting covers on a hay rick to preserve it from impending rain, the Hash that killed him firing the slack. A strange fact connected with the fatality is that there was found, vividly imprinted on the skin, a picture of a tree which stood near. l'ersons slaughtering sheep are now and henceforth required to furnish a return of sheep slaughtered up to April 30th in each year. It is said that a bunch of purple clover in ii room is a preventative ot flies, which have a great dislike for it. A new canal is about to be constructed in Canada from Lake Eric to Cornwall, for a considerable length of which the Niagara river, Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence will he used. The canal will be divided into two branches, one in the direction of Montreal, the other in the direction ol Watcrford. The. cost of this scheme is estimated at £40,000,000 but it is calculated it will increase the value of farm lands in the sixteen Western States by some £'25,000,000.

Mr James Moncricff, junr., fourth son of Mr James Moucrielf, Wcstboume, Wailiakeke, was married on Saturday to Catherine, eldest daughter of Mr Henry Uraithwaite, Fcrnichurst, Wailiakeke. Miss Laura Braithwaitc and Miss M. Moucrielf were the bridesmaids, nnil Mr W, 13, Smith best man, The bride, who was dressed in cream trimmed with white satin, with wreath of orange blossoms and veil, was given away by her father, The happy couple left the same afternoon for Christchurch. A law in Basle, Switzerland, prohibits the occupancy of a house until four weeks after it has been completed. This is to prevent disease from damp walls.

High prices are sometimes paid for seeds. In an English grower's catalogue, one variety of begonia is quoted at £4B per ounce, and two varieties of petunia at 32s per 1'32 part of an ounce. But the highest price is reached by a new scarlet gloxinia at 30s per 1'320z., equal to £57 per on,, or over £9OO per lb.

A clerk named liohan, 53 years of age has committed suicide in iParis for an extraordinary reason. In a letter addressed to the President of the French Hepublic, which ho left behind him, Man said" lam not abandoning life because I am tired of it, but I am getting old, and I feel that with advancing years lam becoming lazy. Ido not want to have to suffer from this. I have never had the satisfaction of living a very oasy life, hut at the same time, I have never known what it is to fall into distress, and I do not want to learn, Consequently Ileavc France." He employed a charcoal stove as his means of departure, and was found dead in bed,

There was one ironical note in regard to the Midland Eailway award, says tho PokL It practically mulcted the Company and the Government in £50,000 apiece of costs, and told the Company it would have to put up with tho loss of its working and tho various concessions from which it and its shareholders and debenture-holders had hoped to reap profit, Tho document effecting all these things was enclosed in a foolscap-sized official envelope, hearing three seals. That at one end was a figure of Justice. That at the other represented two cherubs playing see-saw, one up, t'other down, with the motto " Such is life." a crumb of comfort which shareholders and directors, debenture-holders and taxpayers, may take as ironical comfort when footing that £IOO,OOO bill of costs.

Mark Twain was interviewed by a [ representative of (lie Si/dnei/ duily inki graph as to his tour through New i Zealand. But lie declined to be drawn, fie hadn't formed any opinion about the colony in general except that it had a graijd cljmatc. He saw mostly the edges of the country-cursory glances from tho car window as tliey dashed by. As to the people, he hadn't noticed that thoy were in auy way different from the people of the other colonies. Even if he had any impression as to the politics, lie , fpekoned thpy likely to be erroneous ones; and he a objection to pcoplo "just hurrying through a place, and then venlurinsan opinion on tho nature of tho country, apd the characteristics of the people, of which they just know nothing," A correspondent has the following reference the gold-bearing capacity of the Uriwera district:—"lt is said that there is plenty of gold to be found in the Uriwera country, and that some of tho reefs are exceedingly rich. There are mie or two -white men—men of tho highest character, who have married Uriwera. women—who declare that they have seen reefs so rich with gold, that to get a specimen a tomahawk had to be used to cut it off. These men are carefully waiting and watching till the country is opened up, as at present tho Maofjs jyjll pot allow any manMaori or pakeba-'-to go near the places wjiero gold is'ltnown to oxisj:. Up North if 'js freely 'sijcl' thaf' fhc 1 "poycrnnienj; (HP WW t|ia(; gp]<J exists in flip Uriwera and fop that reason are putting roafls through that country in every direction, anticipating a great gold rush in tho soar future,"

We are asked to state that Mr James Lewis' starting machine is his own invention. It has been patented by him in England. Tonders are invited for the completion of contracts 108 and 109, Clelland's Eoad Mauricoville.

The total number of bankruptcies in tho Wairarapa district for the year 1895 is 28 as against 13 for last year. For the month of December thcrohave been three as against two for the samo month last year.

A Wairarapa Championship Lawn Tennis Meeting and Handicap Tournament, under the management of the Masterton Lawn Tennis Club, has been arranged to tako placo on tho Club's Courts Chapel-street, Mastorton—on Wednesday and Thursday, 22nd aud 23rd of January, 1896. Entries for the following events, are invited from players throughout tho Wairarapa Championship Singles and Doubles; Handicap Singles and Doubles; Ladies' Championship Singles, and Combined Handicap Doubles. AH entries must be forwarded to Mr N. D. Bunting, Hon. Sec., M.L.T.U., on or before Monday, 13th January, 1896. Entry forms together with any further information desired re the proposed meeting may bo obtained on application to tho Secretary,

There was a very pretty weddiug at St. Mary of the Angels' Church yesterday afternoon, when Mr G, Cork, managing clerk for Mr C. Pownall, solicitor, of Masterton, was married to Miss Bessie Grant, of Wellington. Mr W. Cork, brother of the bridegroom, was best man, aud the bride, who was charmingly dressed was attended by her younger sisters, Misses Florrio, ltose and Kathleen Grant as bridesmaids. The bride was given away by her brother, Mr J. N. Grant. The ceremony was performed by the ltov. Father Dcvoy. At the conclusion of tho service, Mr T. J. Toner, who presided at the organ, formed the Wedding March, Mr and Mrs Cork left by tho afternoon train for Masterton, were they will rcside.-iY,£, Times.

Messrs Lowes and lorns add 100 young breeding ewes to their Alasterton stock sale for Wednesday, Mr C, E. Daniell notifies that Lis business premises will be dosed on lhursday next, tlic occasion of liis firm's annual picnic. _ We direct our readers attention to an inset in this issue from the drapery department, of Hit) Wairarapa Farmer's Co-Operative Association, Ueing direct importers and as tnc firm carry enormous stocks llicy arc in a position to suit everybody, both as regards price and quality, "Amoug certain injurious habitswhich women indulge in, such as drinking salvolatile, injecting morphia, etc,," said a West End physician to a representative o£ Cussell s bulunhg Joimud," Quito a new and more reprehensible vice is becoming fashionable, namely, a craze for smoking green tea in thoformof cigarettes. Though adopted "by some fair ladies merely as a pastime, not a few of its votaries, strange to say, are women of high education and mental attainments. Among my patients, suffering from extreme nervousness and insomnia, is a young lady higbtly distinguished at Girton; and lam treating a lady novelist whose books are widely read, and who habitually smoked twenty or thirty cigarettes nightly over her_ writing for their stimulating effect, The practice is increasing among ladies. At the house of a well-known lady, where I visit, green tea cigarettes are invariably handed round after dinner ; and I know three actresses of celebrity who give 1 teasmoking 1 parties, twice a week; and a coterie of literary ladies in Kensington, have formed a small club for the same banclul indulgence. One lady patient of mine, to break off this habit, on which she expended nearly £2 awcck, haslately voluntarily placed herself under private retraint. To conceal her hobby from her husband, she used an artfully-con-trived silver cigarette; it resembles a bunch ot keys, each key containing one cigarette, So much is the habit spreading that certain tobacconists arc beginning to make and stock these 'tea' cigarettes."