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Waikato Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1100, 12 July 1879, Page 2

An accident, we regret to say, occurred yesterday afternoon, to one of Mr Gallon's men, working on the new railway line between Ohaupo and Te Awamutu. It appears that the unfortunate man was engaged with others m the erection of a bridge crossing the line where a road intersects it, and, wliile holding up a stringer, his foot slipped and he fell, the stringer falling also and crushing him severely. He was brought into Ohaupo, where lives, yesterday afternoon, and Dr Blunden was sent for. At the time our informant left the extent of the injuries was not known. Me T. 0. Hammond has removed into his new premises m the Waikato Times Buildings, and requests us to inform our readers that m a few days he will be m complete working order, with, the largest stock of stationery, fancy goods, tobacconists' wares, and sewing machines to be found m. any country town •m New Zealand. When Mr daminond's arrangements are completed, considering the handsome premises, extensive fittings, and the splendid and varied assortment of goods he is opening up, his shop would be an orriament m the leading thoroughfares of iiny of our principal towns. Mr Hammond deserves credit for the enterprise he has shown, during the three years he has been m business m Hamilton. Commencing m a small way m the shep at present occupied by Mr G. iSdgecumbe as an office, his rapidly increasing business rendered larger premisas necessary. He thenremoved into the handsome shop m Whyte's buildings, but a few months proved that it was not large enough for the still-extending trade, and before a brick was laid of the new Times office he made arrangents with the proprietor to lease the premises he is now occupying. We feel assured that when Mr Hammond gets into full swiiig there will be no necessity for settlers or business people to send away from Waikato for anything m his line of trade. His new advertisement will appear m our next issue. A serious accident befell a little boy some twelve years, of age at Hamilton yesterday. William Taylor, son of Mr Taylor, contractor, of Hamilton, was assisting Mr Salmon, butcher, m driving three bullocks across from the East to the West side the river. Both man and boy were on horseback, but at the time of the accident the boy had dismounted and was hjlding his horse on the staging j leading on to the ferry They had sue- j ceeded m getting the bullocks on to the ! punt, but the man m charge neglected to shut the gates, and hence the accident. He simply put the bars up,and two of the bullocks broke away over the outer end of the ferry, and jumped into the water and swam ashore to the west side. The other turned and pushing aside the bar on shore end of the ferry, dashed across the staging striking the horse the boy was homing. William Taylor was knocked down, and the horse stepping on his leg broke the bone below the knee. The fracture was a simple one, and the bone was at once set by Dr Beale, and the boy conveyed home on a stretcher. j At tbfe Resident Magistrate's Court at Te Awamutu, on Thursday, before H. W. Northcroft, Esq., KM., Patrick Gafrney was charged, on the information of Constable Gillies, and pleaded guilty to being drunk and disorderly m Te Awamutu, on the 7th instant, and was fined 10s and costs, or forty-eight hours hard labour* John Murphy was charged, on the information of Constoble Gillies, and pleaded guilty to assaulting Arthur C. Elmsly at Te Awamutu, by kicking him on the legs and attempting to strike him m the face with his clenched fist, and ivas fined £5 and costs, or one month's hard labour. The same prisoner was also charged with assaulting Constable Gillies while in' the execution of his duty, by striking him on the face with his clenched fist, kicking him on the legs, maliciously damaging his uniform tunic to the extent of 20s, and otherwise resisting him. Prisoner pleaded guilty to this charge also, and was fined £7 and costs, or m default two months' hard labour m Mount Eden. That a man runs a risk of being buried alive, even m New Zealand, has been forcibly illustrated during the present week. A settler of Pokeno, Mr Austin, fell down m his field, dead it was supposed, on Monday. His obituary notice was published m the Auckland papers. An inquest Avas held upon him on Tuesday, and, on the evidence of a medical man', the jury returned a verdict of death from disease of the heart. On Thursday he was to have been buried, and many gathered to the funeral, for Mr Austin was well known, as a veterinary surgeon, to the people of this province. The corpse, however, retained, its freshness : there was no appearance of decay. The hand, when closed, re-opened ; the arm, laid to one side, fell gently back to its recumbent position ; the eyelid, drawn open, closed again. We need scarcely say that the funeral was postponed, and wo trust to hear that somebody will have the chance of buying a cheap secondhand coffin. Prom a gentleman arrived from Pokeno, yesterday, we learn that the neighbors scarcely relised the position of the quasi-deceased, that while they were unwilling to bury him they still left him lying m his coffin. Ere this, however, medical aid will have been called m, and. an intelligent appreciation formed of what cannot but be a most interesting physiological phenomenon. There were but six competitors at the pigeon match at Ohaupo, yesterday. Out of five shots each three of our crack Waikato sportsmen killed four birds the other three fired well, there being an eight and two tens— the two latter shot off, and Mr Hutchinson was the winner. A report was prevalent yesterday that a member of the Armed Constabulary named Drake, or Drew, had been shot at Taranaki. It Ayould appear that the event was an accident, and that he shot himself, but whether severely or not wo i cannot say, while cleaning his revolver. A Ladies' Benevolent Society for Hamilton has been for somo time talked about, but the matter has now assumed definite form and shape. Some twenty-five or thirty ladies have promised their annual guinea subscriptions as members, and it now remains for the gentlemen to assist them m. their verylaudable effort to establish a responsible Charitable Association, which may from time to time attend to Jind provide for those cases'of distress, which, despite the prosperous condition of the working classes m this colony, will happen where the heads of families are suddenly taken away, or prostrated by lengthened sickness. One such case occurred lately m -Lower Waikato, and another m Hamilton, where a woman with a family of small children, deserted by a worthless husband, was left utterly destitute. The case of Mrs MoUausland was drawn attention to

iii those columns, and we are glad to learn . that Mrs Dawson and Mrs Laishley took the matter m hand, and succeeded m obtaining- sufficient money to purchase her a sewing- machine and provide for the pressing necessities «f tho family. But the case is a peculiar one, and further j assistance is needed, as the unfortunate woman is likely soon to have another little oue to provide for. It is time that cases such as these should be otherwise met, and that they should not depend on a chance paragraph m a newspaper to draw the attention of the charitably disposed towards them. For this object the Hamilton Ladies' Benevolent Society will be established, with a lady president, and working committee of ladies. And a meeting of ladies will shortly be held to enrol further subscribers, and to elect a committee from their number. We have no doubt but that the project will bo warmly supported by the public generally , and we wish, its projectors every success m their laudable undertaking. On Friday Captain Steele sat on tho Hamilton Bench. There was only one case. William Mitchell was charged by Constable Murray with a breach of the Public Works Act, section 100, namely, by being drunk when m charge- of a horse on {the public road m the Borough of Hamilton. Fined os, and costs 2s. The Bankruptcy Laws. — At a meeting of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, held on. Wodnesday, it was stated that the Government did not intend to bring down a bill to amend the Bankruptcy Act. A petition to Parliament was adopted, setting forth : — First, that the provisions of the present Act were unsatisfactory and detrimental to trade and commerce, and tended to encourage reckless trading, dishonesty, and fraud ; secondly, that an alarming number of small debtors have taken the benefit of the Act, whose assets were nil, or whose estates did not pay any dividend, conclusively indicating the expediency of bankruptcy 1 law reform ; and thirdly, that a bill be introduced to remedy the evils. The Catholics and the Education Question. — An aggregate meeting of Catholics was held at the Temperance Hall, Dunedin, on Wednesday evening last, for the purpose of considering the education question. Bishop Moran presided, and the hall was nearly filled, among those present being delegates from various parts of the colony. No fewer than eight resolutions were passed. Two of these condemned a national system of purely secular education, as being contrary ' to the conscientious convictions of Catholics, also un-Christianand anti-Christian, as being calculated to injure the moral tone of the community, and render life and property insecure. A third resolution affirmed that, under these circumstances, it was a grievous injustice to compel Catholics to pay a tax for the maintenance of such a Bystem of education, and to pay for the Christion education of their own children by another. It was resolved that a petition, praying for such alteration m the Education Act as would place Catholic schools on a footing of equality with State Schools be forwarded to Parliament, the petition to be presented m the Legislative Council, by the Hon. Dr. Grace, and m the House of Bepresentatives by Mr J. C. Brown, M.H.R., for Tuapeka. A project is on foot, m Christchurch, from the retail trade to form a protection society, by keeping a private record of questionable enstomers, by v which shopkeepers will be forewarned against people who go about from firm to firm getting fresh credit, when others have refused them further trust. The artfulness of woman is increasing. They oven have designs on pottery. The Burlington Hawkeye finds it a solemn impressive thought" when you look at such a man as General Grant, that some day away back m tho shadow of the misty past, a woman used to turn the mighty figure of the present upside down, and count the stitches m the biggest patch on his trousers with a flat-soled pitiless slipper. The Te Aroha Block. — The surveys made of the blook by the Mr Cussens are m a forward state, and may be expected to approach completion by the end of the month. Speaking of these land 3 recently, the ' Thames Advertiser' says :— " Little can be done until another season comes round, it is true, but we hope the Government will take immediate steps to hand the blocks over to the Waste Lands Board, and tHat the latter Avill on their part loose no time m throwing the same open for sale and settlement. With the railway m prospective, and the roads m progress, the Aroha lands should command a good price m the market, but care should be taken that these lands are not reserved for the speculator, and the bona fide settlers excluded from competition by the handicap another is thus able to impose Tns newly formed company of Hamilton Rifle Volunteer Infantry met for drill again yesterday evening. The corp now musters over 80 of all ranks, many having joined since the formation on Monday week last. At the last meeting a Band committee was formed, consisting of the commissioned and non - commissioned officers, and Messrs. Hume, Laishley, Captain Steele, J. 3. Whyte, and R. Gwynne. Last night quite a number volunteered to form the Band, and their services were accepted. It is intended to raise a cadet corp m connection with this Company as soon as the names of thirty boys between the ages of 12 and 16 ohall have been enrolled. There should be do difficulty m procuring this number, or, indeed,, many more m so prolific a place as Hamilton, and we hear of fully two-thirds of the number having already given m their names. It is from the cadet corps we must look to keep the ranks of our volunteers efficiently and fully manned, and the movement of establishing a cadet corps m the present instance is a wise one. Speaking of the Calif ornian Salmon, the ova of which were recently deposited m some of the New Zealand rivers, the ' Lyfctelton Times' says : — A large number of these fish are still at the Opawa fish breeding establishment. Their greatest enemy has proved to be the kingfisher, which is attracted by the fish leaping out of the water after flies. Losses have also 'been occasioned to the various fish by ducks. Recently some of these bird? belonging to a neighbor, killed 15 salmon' which were remarkably fat and well grown; some measured 7:j- inches, the smallest 4£. Although not possessing the flavor of salmon, the fish proved very good eating. One of the largest was found full of milt, a fact which would lead to the conclusion that the American variety come to maturity for reproductive purposes much sooner than the Engliuh."