TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 1881.

Waikato Times, Volume XVI, Issue 1396, 14 June 1881, Page 2

TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 1881.

The days when the farming man, if he kept sober on his eight shillings a week pay for forty years, and brought up a large family respectably without parish aid, and never omitted attendance at church on Sundays, and always took off his hat and respectfully touched his forelock to the squire and parson and all God-appointed magnates, was presented by the squire with a bran new smock frock, and by the parson, with a penny tract as his just and very humbly to be acknowledged reward in this world, and his free pass to a continuance of the same enjoyments in the world to come per favour of the parson ; those days are gone, whether for better or for worse it is hard to say, but gone they are as irreversibly as the past time ; however, the dial may point backwards. We shall never see the old servile, contented, ignorant, but true-hearted clodhopper, meekly licking the hand that smote him, any more. Men will no longer fight the fierce battle of life for nothing, or only for others ; if there is any reward they will have their share of it as their right, and no longer accept any scrap or crust flung to them by any assumer of superiority, let him be as mighty as he may ; and the farmer, if his old land or his old employer cannot afford him his due in these days of spreading intelligence and self-assertion, will find fresh employers or found new countries for himself in every corner of the globe. Mighty America, and rapidly growing Australia and New Zealand show the millions who have risen, and rather than go to open war with old institutions have honestly turned their backs on dried up old faiths, and started on their own account. The farmer with a few years of independence and good education, out here, offers a wonderful contrast to the old chawbacon, even as a labourer, and is sharper and shrewder, and jperhaps harder and more selfish in his dealings with his inferiors than any of his former masters. There is one very good lesson his education has taught him, howevor, and that ia the folly of hoping for equality and communism in sharing the products of the would until we are gifted with equality and dead level of intellect, and he can see that if there were equality thers would be no ambition, or competition, and that man's industry and the progress of the race would cease. Gorillas would be our brothers again, and tails of more importance than brains or hands. With his modern true enlightenment the farmer can tee for himself without any long-winded explanations or ranting stump orators, the real solution of the long wrangled over question of capital versus labour, and like a wise man he decides that labour without capital must be as weak and useless as capital without labour, and that it is better for the cleverest and wisest to advance and show the way to their brother men, to higher and better fields, even if they benefit themselves first and most largely, than for all to sink into the dead lovel of a hopelebs swamp. The really hardworking sensible man never calls out against capital. If ho cannot find the key to wealth himself he is gkd to see any one else do so who can upend his money in finding work for bis inferiors. Only the loafers call out for no capital in the hope that in a general scramble they might have a chance of knocking a capitalist on the head and robbing him ; that according to their ideas being better than work. Is it better to have owners of land like some we have in this neighborhood ; one employing perhaps a hundred men on one great work of draining a whole district, others contracting for the ploughing of several thousands of acres of land annually, others putting up scores of miles of fences, and others spending thousands on the making of side roads, even if the properties are what is called private speculations, or to be one of a hundred men pigging together in twenty or fifty acre allotments, desperately struggling for bare subsistence without hope, and without the means of effecting necessary improvements, and with almost the certainty of having to lose all they can do for want of capital to complete the work, and having to sell the small allotments at last at afey price to the capitalist? The Americans, the mosh advanced race of men on the face of the globe at the present time at all events, rejoice above all things iv beating their old father, John Bull, on his own ground. Having beaten him on the racecourse, and even we believe, with the descendants of his own improvements in the breed of cattle, they wag their goat beards at the old governor and tell him the old race cannot stand against the new. Probably they are right ; young men and young nations can always beat their grandfathers in going ahead, but they are apt to go too fast and fall into holes, from which their sires escape by experience. Young Australia and younger New Zealand are gracefully skipping along now, making use of their old Dad's long years of thought and plodding work to build up a fortune for his sons, an,d in time they

will abandon the old man and revile him, and kick him maybe, if they get the chance, after the manner of the world. Ceitainly these young fellows are taking very good care to learn the best, lessons they can from the old «tyle of grow- [ ing beef. They mean to stick to John Bull's touching affection for his beef, | They like four meals of solid meat per diem. There never surely was a more flesh eating race than the modern New Zealanders, and in order to pro1 vide fully for the utmost they caa do in that line, they are taking especial care to uphold the quality of their flocks and herds, and to take the lead,' of the old country in beef is the great object of heir ambition, among the farming classes at all events, and everybody more or less, whatever he may be besides, is a farmer in New Zealand. Shorthorns and Here' fords ; which are the moat easily and cheaply fed ; which carry the most meat at the earliest age, and which give the most and best dairy produce, are the great problems now for our enlightened farmers, and necessarily, being human, their opinions differ. They some uphold the one with all their energy and capital, and some the other ; but they do not, somehow, seem to take kindly to the best and most profitable in the opinion of the higest judges in England, viz. : the Red Devon. Some prefer the Shorthorn for its early maturity, and attaining what is called ripe condition at t^e earliest possible age, for the good milking of the cows, one sound English farmer's authority mentioning 4 gallons of milk night and morning as the fair average of an improved shorthorn cow, with a much larger percentage of butter yielded than from any other breed ; and the deep mnssive framed and short legs, an ox of the pure breed belonging to Lord Yarborough some years ago measuring, according to a writer on the good points of a Bhorthorn 5 feet 6 at the shoulder, 11 feet 10 from the nose to the setting on of the tail, 11 feet 1 in girth, and 3 feet 3 across the hips, shoulders, and middle of back ; his breast being only 14 inchea from the ground. Some of the weights of carcases without offal or tallow are given at 145 stone, 169 stone and up to 220 stone in one instance. These figures are quoted from a comparatively old work, and have doubtless been exceeded nince, but they are sufficient to account for the high favor in which the shorthorn has been held for years. Some again prefer the Hereford breed, and it is rising again in favor, even in comparison with the Shorthorn, both in England and in the colonies, for certain qalities in which it is said to be superior. The following is what a well-known and very good judge has to say about the Hereford:—" The |Heroford is more hardy than the Devon, and the hide considerably thicker, the head is small and the chap lean, the chest deep, and the bosom broad and projecting forward, the shoulder bone thin, flat, and no way protuberant, flesh full and mellow, the chest full, lain broad, hips standing wide and level with the chine, quarters long and wide at the neck, rump even with the level of the back and not drooping 1 , nor standing high above tho quarters, the barrel round and roomy, the carcase throughout deep and well spread, the ribs broad and standing flat and close on the outer surface, legs shorfc flank large, the flesh soft and yielding to the touch everywhere, especially on the chine, the shoulder and the ribs." He further saya, " they fatten to a great weight and at a very early age and are therefore very advantageous to the farmer, they are more kindly feeders than the Devons and will live and grow fat where a Shorthorn would starve, and the meat is very fine grained and tender." In a table given of the feeding of three Shorthorns, and three Horefords for tho same time it is shown that the Shorthorns consumed 12,7551bam0re of turnips and 1714 of hay than the Herefords and only realised when sold a total of £1 more, leaving the difference in the amount of food consumed in favour of the latter breed. ] These are subjects which ought to exercise the minds of our agricultural population more than they do, and it is with a view of bringing them more prominently into notice that this article has been penned, and that from time to time wehaveinsertedartiolesfromour travelling reporter dealing with the progress made in 'he large estates around us. It h chiefly by observing and testing what our neighbours are doing that we arrive at that degree of perfection which we desire, and in the publication of the articles mentioned we trust is recognised a means to this end.

Mr J. B. Whyte, M.H.R. (Waikato), left Auckland on Sunday, per Penguin, for Wellington.

The Licensing Courts for the districts of Hamilton and Kirikiriroa, will be held at noon to-day.

The public meeting of the householders of Kihikihi, called for laat Saturday regarding the management of the school at that place, has been adjourned till Saturday evening next.

Mr William Duncan, of Ruapuke, Raglan, has been gazetted a Justice of the Peace.

It is notified in the Gazette that the name of the Post Office at Waitetuna has been altered to " Okefce."

A very heavy and distinct shock of earthquake, with a rumbling noise, which continued about five or six seconds was felt at Kuri bush, Taieri district, Otago, on Thursday, at 9.40 p.m.

The Observer has lately continued some highly interesting and well-written political sketches.

We understand that the Rev. H. Bull returns to Waikato this week after two months' absence at the General Conference of the Wealeyan Church., He ! will conduct service in Cambridge next Sunday morning, and at Hamilton in the evening. No doubt large congregations will welcome the rev. gentleman back to his sphere of work.

i Professor and Mad&me Haselmayer open in their celebrated enteriajnment at the Oddfellows' Hall; Hamilton, to-morrow night, and at the Public Hall, Cambridge, on Friday, playing' at each place two nights. The character of the performance is so well-known that very

little in the way of inducement is required by those in search of a good evening's entertainment to attend. We refer our readers to the advertisement for particulars.

The trustees of the Cambridge public* cefn^tery ,are considering the rules and regulations of the Auckland cemetery, trustees, with a view to their adoption! There is a considerable sum / of money due for repair*, etc., to the 1 ground, for which the trustees are being asked to "stump up," and it is not at all unlikely that an appeal to the " generous and charitable" will be made towards liquidation.

At the criminal sittings of the Supreme Court at Timaru concluded on Saturday last, no less than four cases of arson were heard. Patrick Egan pleaded guilty to arson, and was sentenced to six months. Hugh Boyd and James McComiskey, for a similar offence, were found not guilty, no evidence being forthcoming ; John Scott, for arson, was found not guilty ; John Johnson, for a like offence, was found guilty, and sentenced to four years' imprisonment.

We are informed that there is little probability of the members of the Waikato Cavalry being able to challenge the Thames Scottish to a firing match after all. The project was first mooted by Lieut. Johnson, of the Hamilton troop, who communicated his views to the other troops. The Cambridge men were willing to go to the Thames, but Captain Kunciman has intimated that it would be very inconvenient for any of his troop to be absent from home just now, and the match, will therefore have to be put off.

The entertainment to be given by the members of the amateur Paeu doEthopian Club, in the Oddfellows' Hall, Hamilton, to-mirht, in aid of the funds of the Hamilton Band, promises to be above the average of entertainments of the kind. We have been permitted to see the programme, and can speak with confideuce of its quality. The performance does not pretend to include much that usually finds a place in " nigger entertainments," the object being rather to provide with the old accessories such of the songs at belong to the Christy Class ; but in addition to these, Rome of the leading amateurs will contribute part songs, trios, &0., the musical accompaniments for the whole, being provided by the efficient orchestra belonging to the club, consisting of four instruments. They will also have the assistance of the new bandmaster, Mr Hadfield, and the Band. We trust to see the entertainment prove as great a success financially, as from a perusal of the programme we are led to think it will be in every other sense. We are requested to intimate to the members of the Band, that they are required to meet at the praotice room at 7 o'clock this evening, without uniform, in order to march to the Hall.

Very heavy gales have been experieuced along the East Coast of the Middle Island during the last few days, and have been felt more or less all over the colony. A telegram from Timaru dated Saturday, says :—": — " An exceptionally heavy south-easterly gale and sea prevailed last night and to-day. All vessels so far are in perfect safety. " A further message from the same place on Sunday reports : "The heavy gale which has prevailed for several days broke last night, and the weather to-day is beautifully calm. Most of the rivers were in flood, but no damage as yet has been reported ; the rainfall is the heaviest experienced for years." The brig Pakeha, laden with timber for Lyttelton, was driven ashore on the Ninety-mile Beach, near Lake Ellesmero, on Saturday morning, and became a total wreck. In this district too, the weather on Friday and Saturday was exceptionally rough, though a change for the better set in on Sunday.

Having been adjourned from time to time ior the past three months, the case Edgar v. Montrose, will in all probability be brought to a termination on Friday next, at the Resident Magistrates' Court, Cambridge, the evidence of Mr Joseph Ivess, for which the adjournments were granted, having been taken at a somewhat late hour, and under somewhat peculiar circumstances on Friday night— and Saturday morning — last. Mr Ivess had been paying a flying visit to the scene of his late operations at Cambridge, and being about to take his departure, the defendant, Mr Montrose, was desirous that his evidence should be taken before he went away, and having heard on Friday night that his man was about to leave town next morning, he and Mr Chttty went in search of a couple of the "great unpaid " an article usually at a premium when in demand, and after considerable difficulty succeeded in their object, Mr T. Wells and Colonel Lyon having been prevailed upon to hear the evidence at the unusual hour of 10.30. p.m. In the absence of Mr McGregor Hay, Mr Montrose conducted the examination and Mr Beale the cross-ex-amination on behalf of Mr Edgar. The examination lasted until about 12.30. a.m. on Saturday morning.

The atmospheric conditions for observing the eclipse of the moon on Sunday night were very favorable, and the phenomenon was noted with much interest. The eclipße is thus described in an Auckland paper by Mr S. J. Lambert, F.R.A.S. ; the moon not being so clearly seen at sunset in Waikato, as in Auckland : — As the sun disappeared below the western horizon, the moon appeared above the eastern, and though partially hidden by a bank of thin stratus cloud, it was evident that the earth's shadow had began to creep over the eastern edge of her enlightened disc. As she rose higher and freed herself from the veil overhanging the horizon, the eight became more interesting, and the gray shadow was more distinctly seen. Towards the beginning of total phase the grey tint gave pJaoe to the coppery colour usual on such occasions, which colour gradually changed into a lighter red. During totality the appearance presented was not unlike that of an annular solar eclipse, the moon appearing partly surrounded by a corona, much more brilliant than the central portion of her disc. At 7h. 3m. the first silvery streak of her light re-appeared ; at 7h. 10m. the crater G-rimaldi was freed from the •badow ; at 7h. 15m., emersion of Kepler ; at 7h. 21m., emersion of Copernicus ; at 7h. 23m. the shadow crossed the centre of plate. At 7h. 24m., emersion of J Archimedes ; at 7h. 30m., emersion of i Ptolemy ; at 7h. 31m., emersion of Menilius; at 7h, 33m., emersion of Meoelaue ; at 7h. 37m., the line of the shadow reached the crater Endyminion ; and at 7h. 43m. Tyoho re-appeared ; atBh. 6m., the shadow had passed off, the cop* pery colour remaining visible to within a few minutes of the shadow' a disappearance. Thus concluded one of the most interesting eclipses that has occurred for many years to the gaze of New Zealanders, and one (taken in its entirety) which may not be repeated for many years to come.

In an article on the wrack of tb@ Tararua, the Tasmaman Mail gives a list of some of the maritime disasters that have occurred on the shores of Australia. It saya;— "Perhaps the worst was the wreck of the emigrant ship Cataraqui, on King's Island, in }.§44,'when 414 lives were lost. The Dunbar disaster at the Gap, near South Head, Sydney, £a £§<?/, will be remembered by the fact that there was ' one survivor, Johnson, oat of 120 passengare and crew. Nine years afterwards, strange to say, he rescued the only survivor from the wreck of the steamer CWarra, at the •ntrauce to $e\T-

castle, 59 persona beinjf drowned. In the wreck of the steamer Admella, on the trip between Adelaide and Melbourne, in 1859, there were 75 persons perished ; while tho disaster that befel the ship General Grant off the Aueklaud Isles, in 1866, caused the loss of nearly 90 persons. Then there was the loss, of the British Admiral off King's Inland in 1874, 79 lives lost ; the steamer Gothenburg, wrecked in Plinder's Passage, in 1875. 102 lives ; and the steamer Dandenong off Jervis Bay, in 1876, 40 lives.

The Earl of Ellesmere, who recently visited Australia, owns at hi« seat, Worsley Hall, the finest stud of .shire or English cart horses in England. Worsley Hall has also for years been famous for one of the finest breeds of pigs to be found anywhere. It was from this stud that the " Honest Tom" blood, so popular with the New South. Wales breeders, was drawn. So near a state of perfection have the "Worsley pigs also been considered to have arrived at that they are anxiously sought after by buyara from the Continent, America, and all parts of England. On 10th February last a sale of horses aud pigs was held at Worsley Hall, and, notwithstanding the depressed btate of the times the prices realisod were highly encouraging. A dr»ft of thirty-five horses — stallions, brood mares, and fillies were offered, the whole of which were sold at prices ranging from 20 to 240 guineas for stallions, 40 guineas to 240 for mares, and, 31 guineas to 100 guineas for fillies, fiuveral of the best being bought for Germany : the average of the thirty-five sold was 83 guineas. The whole of the sixty pigs offered were sold at prices varying upwards to 25 guineas, the general average of the sixty being 1 1 guineas. The Queenslandcr fails to discover the names of any Australians amongst the buyers.

Members of the 1.0.0. F., M.U., are requested to meet at the Lodge-room this evening at half-past 6. Mr John Knox will sell scrip shares in the AVaikato Gold Mining Company on Wednesday next. The public meeting re management Kihikihi school is adjourned until Saturday night next at 8 o'clock. Messrs H, E. Cotton and Co., Cambridge, continue to draw large attendances to their usual periodical sales, where an extensive auctioneering business is transacted, and where goods of unquestionable quality are vended. Messrs Halley Bros., of Cambridge invite tenders till Saturday next, for the erection of a building m Cambridge, labour only. Mr Kennedy Hill will hold his weekly sale of of produce and live stock ne\t Saturday. The new pure cash system now being initiated by G. and C. will certainly prove a benefit to the public. It has been a great success in Sydney and Melbourne, and when strictly carried out the customei who buys at an establishment where the goods are marked low to ensure a rapid sale must be a great gainer. G. and C. sell their drapery millinary, and clothing at such prices foi cash as gives the buyer the advantages of a shareholder of a co-operative society, without the risk oi being called upon to bear a. portion ot the loss should the year's business prove unsatisfactory. G irhck and Cranwell will aim to retain the confidence which the public have hithei to shown them, and are determined to give the pure cash system a tair trial ; whether they gain or lobe the first year Country buyers on remitting cash with order will be supplied with goods at co-operative prices , iustthe same as though they made a personal selection. Furnishing goods, such as carpets, floor cloths, bedsteads, bedding, and gencTii house furniture, the largest portion of which is turned out at our own factory, will be marked at the lowest remunerative prices, and a disc ount of five per cent, will be allowed to those who pay at the time of purchase. G. &C. having realised the entire value of their stock dining- their la*e cash sale, the present stock is mi wandw and cm apiy nouGHi. An inspection is invited. — GAiuinc and Cranwfll, City Hall Furnishing Arcade Queenstreet, Auckland