ALEXANDRA. [FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.]

Waikato Times, Volume XIV, Issue 1215, 13 April 1880, Page 3

ALEXANDRA. [FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.]

The Waipa bridge, which is in a most dilapidated and dangerous condition, was once more inspected by a Government engineer last week ; as none of our local authorities were aware of the gentleman's presence amongst us, I believe he obtained no information beyond his own personal observation. The repairs required are considerable, several of the piles being completely rotted through at the bottom, which of course he could not be aware of unless informed of the fact. A new bridge is undoubtedly required, or if repairs are decided upon they should be commenced at once, or a total collapse may be expected fiome day with, perhaps, loss of life. A good deal of valuable time has already been lost, the river above the bridge having been fordable for some months past, which would have been a great convenience to settlers while repairs were being made. The picnic at the Acacia Groves, given to all the children of the settlement by the parents of those attending St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Sunday-school, on Thursday last was a great success, thanks to the exertions of Mr P. Connell and Mr Kelly as general manager of the sports, and the liberality of Mesdames Sage, Barns and Kelly and Miss Cronin and other ladies who supplied and attended to the wants of their numerous juvenile guests. A concert will take place here on Thursday next, in the Public Hall, in aid of the baud fund, in which our local amateurs will be assisted by the Messrs Baker, the celebrated delineators of the songs of Ireland. NATIVE NEWS. Rewi has gone up to Hikurangi to visit the King and the new arrivals from Taupo. Te Tteringa or Wetere (the name he is better known by) from Mokau, was here last -week, and has also gone up ; he is not a chief of much influence I imagine, Ids name having principally gained notoriety through being connected rather unfavourably with the White Cliffs massacre.

The man or woman who has never loved, hugged, kissed, played with, listened to, or thoroughly spanked a child, has missed the cardinal joys of life. " "What is hell f ' ' asked a Lutheran Sun-day-school teacher of a Limestone street boy in class last Sabbath. ' ' A shirt with th 9 button off, ma'am," replied the boy. " Explain yourself ; what do you mean, sir ? ' demanded the meek -spirited but surprised teacher. " Well, I heard ray pa say to my ma the other morning, when he put on a shirt with the neck-button off, • Well, this ia hell.' That's all I know about it." — yew Orleans Item. The averages for six years in the Australasian Colonies of illegitimate births to each 100 children born says a Dunedin paper are aa follows: — Victoria, 3.38; New South Wales, 4.14; Queensland, 3.11 ; New Zealand, 1.68. Here again, then, we can a.-sert our pre-eminence. Turning to the particulars of illegitimacy in Fugland, Scotland, and Ireland for the sake of comparison,' we find Boroe remarkable results, in England and Wales the percentage is 5.1, in Presbyterian Scotland 8.9, and in Roman Catholic Ireland only 2.1. Note this, ye Chiniquists who take pleasure in slandering your Poman Catholic fellow Christians in regard to the immoralities of the confessional. T n rfcot, land, the stronghold of P^esbyterianisro one birth in twelve is illegitimate; while in Irelaud, the stronghold of Roman Catholicism one in fifty i« illegitimate " Let him that is without sin cast the first stone." It is gratifying to note that NewZealand stands higher in thiero-^pect thin even Ireland, though during the past fen yea i-3 the percentage has slightly rbea We-