The Waikato Times. "OMNE SOLUM FORTI PATRIA."

Waikato Times, Volume V, Issue 274, 12 February 1874, Page 2

The Waikato Times. "OMNE SOLUM FORTI PATRIA."

7BUBSDAY, IEBHUAHY 12, 1874

111 1 if <»! eours»- a fortunate circumstance tha» tbe Cin-^nHoo Aft owriot be deviated frocn without mv rtlidating any action that might take place consequent on such deviation. Ihe necessity of acting eccording to the strict letter of tho law has just p!»ceu toe colouv in rather an unfortunate position, i "We sh i'l, through the negligence of one or other of ! our offlciaio, become liable to the gibes of the press throughout the Engiish-sptakipcr world. Asis explained incur te'egf«phiocolumns,bvanomission, the formal bothmir Houses of Legislature trom the 10th .ut-t. to a luturedate was not made. The result has been that tne few members of both Hoists who conld be got together at shoit notice have been pei forming a solemn farce. They met in the be'ief uiat their doing so would prevent the po-s'bility of »>ny unpleasant cum plications *rißiug> and e ucb being- »beir opinion they are not fair objects for rdicu'e. We r t j.. j that a. similar difficulty h»<\ uevei* bad to Le met by any legislative body, and it would be unfair to ex^tct any member to be j j.ro;>an>ri at a m rnicrtV nr.tic- to arrive «t an a curau n^'von ,>^ t,o t-h" be«t moie of action tinder DMprt cede r ted circurofct&nceb. The Attorney- Gener«l,i| lfier mature c mbi Je^ a .ion, has arnvtxi a »r the con- I cli -lot- ihut to uicct w»6 uimeoe».-Hr3 , and th.O-the , jm^embia^e ot a. sprinkling of members ban do.U6 j Be itn»-'* nor barm «fl their meeting- coold. n^t I popsibly constitute a season. We are inchnpd to ! b !tulU^tJd ao the uicidont, bat our ri-ibibty is i e'veked by thfcdu^odt we cauuot lulp feeling that, a't'iough vo have an armr o f afficerfi at the seat of (yu"er.)Ti,tM f » not one could be fuu.id to attfi,d tn bo cmr-.ioj r-nt of 0> loinaaliiies nei-*B«ry to

preveci our being renieied nd.udoud iv the tnes of every people possessed of rep: sse'imtive iruiuu-

An mquLMt w.is hel-i at the Nerth Slioie, Auckland, on thft boiy of Bernard Waytuoutb, who -.ras dro.vned .a conmqumce of tie sinking of fie yacht Pearl. The body w*3 p-eked up on the TTorth Shore beach- Thoman Henth, a farmer residing at Lake Takapunu, deposed to finding the b'tdj on 3onday last. The deceased was lying on hia face oil the sand, Mid appeared to hare been bleeding from the e/es. John Waymouth, jun., brother of the deceased, recognised the body. The witness further deposed that his brother l*ft Auckland on Saturday afternoon lnnt for Waib«*kp; he was accompanied by a young man named Peter Mirtin, aged about 20, and a lad named Edward Jones, ijred HDout 1G The G<vV*hod wsn npeci 25 yeare, and a Dual builder by trade. The Pearl wa* built by him, and was considered a good waft ortby bost. John White identifii d tlie body ; he also deposed t > having that morni q pjoceeded to Rangitoto, and fb having discovered the wreck sunk near Drunken Bay, in about 14 feet of water, and I about 200 yards from the shore. He saw sorre pencil m irked initials on the nmininaat— thf ? w< re B. W. aud J J., mid appemred to have been done by some persons w idit clinging to the uuwt. There were also pencil marl * on the other -side of the mast, but he could not make l tlu'tn out. The jury returned a >crdict of " Found D owned." The body was buried the sarao afternoon, and followed to its lasting place by a large number of friends. In a former issuo we inserted the following paragraph fri>ni the Pott : — "A most curious phenomenon :n natural history was brought under our notice to-dny. It afford* a remarkable instance ot the ?reat law of compensation in value, being no other than a ipider-catching jly. The inseci. avenger of his tmaller brethren 1 ! wrong* indulges in the amiable amusement of am*«f ing nli «p : dcrs suspected of flymurders, and imprisoning them in 'soft oiay, until at leisure to visit and tty them. A piece of cwrss, cut from the roof of a tent pitched somewhere on tho Wan?anui, was found thickly- studded with the»e singular city prisons, each containing a defunct spider. Tlits i« very 3urprisirg. We fully expect shortly to be tbown a moute addicted *o t/ie hunting a»id destruction of cat?." A correspondent, :n refsrenoe to the above, writes: "The above is not a fact; the insect it not a fly, but a large wa*p, of solitary habits. It is 3 little laiger than an English wasp, but not oo l,\rge a? a hornetI have watched its proceeding* for hours ir an old wool shed on the (roulbourn river. Victoria. Its mode of proceeding is a* follows t^lt first prepares a layer o' soft cky on a rafter, then catches a ipider, »tings it *everely enough to render it torpid. The wasp thwi lays an egg, which it j a'ttauiierto the spider's leg ; it then enclose* its young and th* spider in a thimble-shaped cell, made of soft clay The young wasp u thus enaßled to subsist till it becomes full grown. On Saturday a meeting of the Committee of the Central Waikato Association was held at To Awamutu. The sub•urijiMon lists of the different members amounted id nil to over £200 ; to this sum the Government have added £50 for distribution m prizes amongst the native*. A list of prize* was drawn tip and will bo found in otir advertising columns. It will bo neen that although the prizes are not large in amount there are plenty of them. After all, u settlor should not compete for the vulue of the prize offered, but with tbe objefc ol *howing what he aud hi» distriot aro capable of producing. t The track at the back of Mount Egrnout (says the Wan- '■ ginni Herald) is beinij actively pushed forward, the l>ejrinning of the end nmv approaching Tha first open clearing on the New Plymouth line has been reached by the advanced party, to that the heavy hush bus now been cut through. tbe distance from Ketenwrae, where the tiack first enter* the bush, to Mataitawa— tbe opening refeire.i to— i* 28 milfs. An soon as the track is complete, the telegraph Jine vyill be taken, thi^h, so at to establish au tmbroken communicatiou between Wollingtou ivua .*\«w riymouon. -Wejregwt to'ntate that the potato crop in this district will be aoumpnratire failure owing ho the long drought. Gram aUo is failing; the little rain that ha* fallen during the last week ha* hud littlo or no p«#lteptible elPoct on the parched land. Unless rain in conquerable quantities falls shortly, a large number of cattle will hare to be hurried to market or bold till next yo«r. Pirtrid>?ea are said to be becoming numeroui about the buuh tn Port Chalmers, numbers of them having lately been I acen by tho inhabitant*, so that the efforts of the Acclimatisation Socioty havts not boen in. v.'in. We understand that Mr R. R. Hunt has puroha.«ed the «team-I«nnoh Fairr, and that it it his intention to compete fvr the carrying of rivrr freight