COMMENTS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1890, 16 August 1884, Page 2

COMMENTS.

" The poetry of earth is never dead," said the immortal author of Endymion, and though Carlyle has assured us that the divine art is fading out from amongst men, we prefer to believe Keats. The world will always have its sweet singers, whose voices, penetrating the dull leaden atmosphere of our ordinary workaday lives, will recall us to a sense of something bettev and higher than the cavking cares which fetter us at every turn. But poetry is not a commodity one can pick up in the market-place ; it is not, in fact, turned out as it is wanted, like bread and butter and cheese. Poets are not born every day, and when they are it matters very little whether the world wants them or not ; they have a message to deliver, and though the body be pinched with hunger, though it shiver with the cold, the lips must utter the words given them to speak. Under such conditions Burns and Otway, Goldsmith and Keats said their say, not thinking, hardly hoping, that in days to come Fame would make amends for the cold neglect which was their portion in this life. Genius has to wait, it is mediocrity that claims a present advantage. What for instance would not Shakespeare, or Milton, have given for the notoriety which the apostle of Aestheticism has obtained? This is the kind of thing with which Oscar Wilde can move the multitude, the cultured multitude of the nineteenth century !:

Beautiful star with the crimson lips And flagrant daffodil hair, Come back, come back, in the shaking ships O'er the much overrated sea, To the hearts that are sick for thee With a woe worse than mal de mer— O beautiful star with the crimson lips And the flagrant daffodil hair. O ship that shakes on the desolate sea, Neath the flag of the wan White Star, Thou bringest a brighter star with thee From the land of the Philistine, Where Niagara's reckoned fine And Tupper is popular— O ship that shakes on the desolate sea, Neath the flag of the wan White Star.

This is an invocation to Miss Ellen Terry, the actress, on her departure from America! And this is the sort of stuff that fetches money and goes the round of the magazines, and is read and admired ! When Milton sold his magnificent epic he received for it the enormous sum of five pounds sterling ! How much would he get for it now, or would the publishers take it at any price ?

The sportsmen who have set the Hawk Club agoing have earned the thanks of everybody, and nothing but praise ought to be spoken of them. But, without detracting from the value of their services, might we suggest that they should go a step further. Nearly everybody believes that the hawks are a great nuisance, and it requires no keen powers of observation to tell that their numbers are increasing year by year, but these pirates of the air are not the only, even if they are the most formidable enemy of the sportsman. Not to speak of wild cats and other occasional depredators of that description, the "pot hunter" is a foe not to be despised. We should be * very sorry to see the old game laws of England introduced in this country, but no hardships need be inflicted on anyone by the preservation of foreign game from the hand of the poacher. A large sum of money has hitherto been taken out of this district for licenses, some of which at any rate ought to have been devoted to the payment of a ranger. Were due precautions taken to prevent the indiscriminate killing of hen birds in season, and cocks and hens put of season, the inducements to take out licenses would have been much stronger, and the revenue arising from this source would have been considerably larger than =it has been, In the interests of sport,, we .hope the promoters of the Hawk Club will '.not confine their attention to the feathered {xaste, "'

Nothing very striking has occurred in the political world since our last. The air, as is only natural, is full of all sorts of rumours, the latest of which is that Mr Larnach is to move a vote of no-confi-dence in the Stout Ministry when they meet the House. Mr Larnach performed a similar duty for Sir George Grey in 1877, ind became a member of the new Government, [having for colleagues the very men who, if report speaks truly, he now wishes to oust. The Southland and Nelson members are said to be opposed to the new Government, whose chances of holding office for any length of time are growing "small by degrees, and beautifully less. It is almost certain that the new Ministers will find themselves in a minority.

The English mail via 'Frisco closes at the Hamilton Post-office on Monday, the 18th inst. The first of a series of humorous sketches by " Essoin " appears on the fourth page of this issue. A concert in aid of the school library will bo given by the Hamilton East scholars about the second week of September.

Mr R. H. Holloway, of Hamilton, has been appointed travelling agent for Waikato for the New Zealand Government Insurance Department.

The contract for carrying the mails between Cambridge, Oxford and Lichfield, has been let to Mr Giles Kelly. The subsidy is £BS. Post-offices have been opened at both places.

Commander Edwin telegraphed at 12.20 p.m. yesterday :—Expect bad weather between north and east and south east. Glass, further fall, and wind backing with very heavy rain fall within 12 hours from now, and much warmer weather. Nothing further has been elicited concerning the robbery in the Nottingham Castle Hotel, Morrinsville, about a fortnight ago. The police have been making the strictest enquiry, but the thieves have so far managed to evade the hand of the law.

The examination for District Scholarships will be held in the Hamilton East school on Tuesday, 19th inst., and following days. Mr V. E. Rice, Secretary to the Board of Education, will supervise. There are twenty-one Waikato candidates, six boys and fifteen girls. We would remind all those interested in the establishment of a cheese factory in the Cambridge district that a meeting will be held at 7.30 tin's evening in the Criterion Hotel. The committee will submit its report, and if its canvass has been of a sufficiently successful character, business will doubtless be at once proceeded with.

Mr Purdie, landscape gardener, who has been employed by the Cambridge Domain Board to lay off the Lake reserve, commenced work on Wednesday last. He is now busily engaged pegging out the ground previous to planting. The work of clearing will be finished in a few days, and the fencing contract will also soon be finished.

The Sisters of "Our Lady of the Mission" announce that they have opened their select school for young ladies at the Hibernian Hall, Hamilton East. The course of instruction comprises an English education in all its brandies, French, and plain and fancy needle-work, with extras. Particulars may be obtained from the Rev. Mother Prioress.

A meeting of persons interested in the starting of a hawk club for the Waikato will be held at the Criterion Hotel at 4 o'clock this afternoon. As the time for taking action in the matter of exterminating the hawks is now at hand, delay will defeat the object of the promoters. It is therefore trusted that as many as can make it convenient to attend will be present at the meeting this afternoon.

There was, considering the state of the weather, a very good attendance at Mr J. S. Buckland's sale of Mr Joseph Cochrane's live and dead stock at the farm yesterday. Good prices were obtained for nearly all the lots submitted. Young heifers (2-yr-olds) brought £2 10s to £3; cows, from £4 to £7 10s ; hacks, A!b' 10s, and draught horses up to £2O. Large pigs brought an average of about £3 ss, and small pigs from £1 up. The implements also sold well.

The following special messages to the Press Association, dated London, August 14th, have been published : —The Thames Valley-Rotorua Railway Company's debentures have not been covered.—■ Sir John Gorrie deals with the assertion made by a Fiji planter in a letter to the English papers, that theFijians have been reduced to slavery, and he defends the policy of Sir Arthur Gordon. —Sir Evelyn Wood, who is to command the expedition to Khartoum, has started for Assouan to make the necessary arrangements.—lt has been ascertained that the anti-French Mandarins poisoned the late King of Anam. We regret to announce the death of Mr Joseph Karl, senr., of Ohaupo. Mr Karl was -one of the oldsst Waikato settlers, having arrived here in 18(i3 from Bohemia to form a special settlement at Pahoi, but did not long remain there. Capt. Krippner having formed a German company in the 3rd Waikato Regiment Mr Karl joined, and after the war was stationed at Cambridge. He was, however, among the earliest to occupy his land at Ohaupo, where he lived to the day of his death. He leaves a widow and numerous family, now grown up. He was a good neighbour, highly respected, and is deeply regretted.

We draw the attention of our local musical amateurs to an advertisement in another column with reference to a proposed recital at Christmas-time of music appropriate to that season. Prom a sketch plan of the programme which has been shown to us, we note amongst the concerted music two or three numbers from the Messiah, a couple of quartettes and choruses by the best modern composers, an "Ave Maria," by Abt, together with a goodly sprinkling of Christmas carols, old and new. We understand that the proceeds of the recital will be handed to the trustee with the request that the funds be expended upon the alteration and embellishment of the platform of the Hamilton Public Hall.

In the Supreme Court, Auckland, on Thursday, in Bankruptcy, in re William dimming, Mr O'Neill appeared for the debtor, and applied for an order of discharge. Mr Husketh, instructed' by Mr Hay, appeared for opposing creditors. He said ho did not think it was a case where a public examination was necessary, but there had been a previous application for discharge to a Court of competent jurisdiction. —His Honour did not see how this Court could make an order of discharge, or how the .application could be made. — Mr O'Neill drew attention to rule 15, but his Honour did not think it applied. It only referred to the local Courts. The proceedings were under the Act of 1870, and the District Court had no jurisdiction. But, however, after reading the trustee's report, he would not, if he had the power, have granted a discharge. The convict scene from " Youth" was reproduced in real life at Plymouth on .Tune J). While a gang of 25 convicts were at work, one of their number threw a large stone at the solitary worder, which struck him on the head, inflicting a stunning blow. The entire gang then rushed for him. A life convict named Stevens outstripped the others and seized the warder's rifle and ammunition and fired upon the advancing convicts, six of whom he seriously wounded, when his ammunition w'as exhausted. Stevens clubbed five others with his rifle, and when assistance arrived he was completely exhausted. Details of the affair were promptly reported to the Government, and the Home Secretary gave orders that Stevens be immediately released from prison and rewarded. When the good news was made known to Stevens he fainted.

Referring to the recent outbreak of smallpox in London, the "British Medical Journal" says :—" To afford protection against smallpox to adults in the same measure as we do to children by vaccination in infancy, is clearly the only effective means (apart from isolation in hospital or at home) of preventing epedemics of smallpox; and to effect this a se6ond vaccination should be performed soon after or at the age of puberty. We have frequently instanced the experiment of smallpox hospitals, where the staff there employed are re-vaccinated, to show the complete immunity from smallpox, enjoyed after re-vaccination by those engaged in nursing- the sick. If the public would protect itself against smallpox in the same way that officials of smallpox hospitals do, this loathsome and.darigerous disease would {lever assume the pr6porti6aCWe'U?.VQ i Wftjß

accustomed to see during the past fifteen years. To prevent au epedemie of smallpox, we unhesitatingly say the only effective measure is re-vaccination.

During his visit to Whangarei, says the Northern Advocate, the hon. E. Mitchelson was shown all the orange cultivations about the district, and he was greatly surprised at their extent and the manner in which the trees thrive. He was particularly struck with the fine tree growing in Mr E. Dent's orchard, and requested that it be photographed so that he could show people in Wellington what could be done in the North. This tree is a beautiful picture, having now fully 100 dozen oranges upon it, 50 dozen having been previously picked. Mr Mitchelson also made a selection of oranges from various trees, taking two extraordinarily large oranges from a three-year-old tree grown by Mr E. Boult. These oranges were the size of good puding apples. Mr Mitchelson went away convinced that oranges could be grown iii North Auckland with ease and profit, and remarked that "after seeing the orange tree at Mr Dent's he could hardly understand people bothering with cattle and sheep, when the profits of the two industries were so vastly different." A careful and learned observer tells a significant story. It is of four hungry flies and their fate. Desiring to satisfy their craving, one of them alighted on a sausage, a second on a bag of flour, and a third on a drop of milk. After a slight repast they all fell dead. The sausage was colored with aniline, the flour mixed with plaster of Paris, and the milk contained chalk. The fourth fly, in despair at the sad end of her companions, resolved to commit suicide. With this obiect, she flew upon one of these prepared papers that you damp with water, and pumped vigorously at it for some minutes. But it was of no avail. The " poisoned paper" itself was adulterated ?

The following is from a New York paper : —" I propose," Prof. Mezzeroff says, "with 1000 Irishmen picked from the best educated and most intelligent of those living in Irish cities to free Ireland. They will first have to be brought over here. There is neither freedom of speech nor freedom of action in Ireland, England, or Scotland. England would hang at a moment's notice all scholars and instructors in a dynamite school. One thousand scholars must be taught right here in this city. Then we could send them back. I would distribute them in the cities of England, Ireland, and Scotland, ready at a preconcerted signal to destroy all the English banking houses, arsenals, prisons, and public works. I would keep up the war until every English war ship was blown from the seas, and all England's 98,000 soldiers were blown from the face of the earth. Let me fell you what tri-nitro-glycerine is. It is ninety-two times more powerful than Italian powder, which is the most powerful of all powders. We have got one step beyond the time fuse with the tri-nitro-glyce-rine chemical fuse. It is entirely harmless to the agent.

The result of the opening of the London market to the produce of the hop growers of Nelson has (says the Mail) undoubtedly been to create activity in the trade, the exports of late having been considerable. In the month of June 3(55 bales were shipped, which was regarded as a very fair amount of business, but last month the export was greater, we believe, than at any previous time in a similar period, having reached the large number of 582, thus making a total of 1307 bales for the current season. It is very gratifying to learn, as we have done of late, that the Nelson grown article is taking so good a position in England, as the result is that what at one time threatened to bo. almost a drug in the market is now finding a ready sale to the great benefit of the grower, the middleman, and the community generally. The money value of the export to date may probably be set down as something in excess of £20,000. whereas had the price it was once feared would have to be accepted been the highest obtainable, as it unquestionably would have been but for the outlet afforded by the English market, £13,000 would have been the outside value of the 1307 bales which have left our port within the last few moaths.

It is very likely that the forthcoming election of the Cambridge Town Board will be warmly contested. Both the present chairman, Mr Wells, and Mr Clark have decided upon retiring. Mr Hewitt, who had also expressed his intention of *' giving somebody else a show," has been induced to reconsider the matter, and is therefore almost certain to re-enter the arena of local-government. An effort will be made by the leading towspeople to induce Mr Wells to reconsider his decision, but from what we can learn, he will not allow himself to be prevailed upon. The loss to the town will be much felt, and it will be exceedingly difficult to replace him. It is understood that Mr Bernard Lewis will consent to take a seat on the board, and Mr Houghton is also spoken of. There is also the possibility of Mr Kirkwood being induced to contest the election, and Mr William Roid may be looked upon as a likely candidate. There have been whispers as to the likelihood of Mr Wdliams' candidature, and the two present " upper flats," Messrs Johnson and Richardson, are certain to re-enter the field. Altogether the contest promises to be an exceedingly interesting one, and should all the candidates named come up to the scratch, the Cambridge Town Board election of ISB4 will be a hard fought contest.

The Noumea (New Caledonia) correspondent of the Sydney Evening News writes :—"' A somewhat remarkable trial has just taken place here. Several months ago some ticket-of-leave men stole a fine boat belonging to an English subject, Mr Fred. Stilling, and made for Queensland. Upon their trial they were defended by the notorious deporte editor of the Progre s. He mede no attempt to deny the theft, but the whole of his long speech was an incessant tirade of abuse and threats against Australia for daring to interfere with New Caledonia. The men were at once acquitted, and it is an open secret that the verdict was given in revenge for Australian threats against Prance. The last official publication of the late Governor Pallu de la Barriere has been a very foolish one. His lax treatment of the convicts brought on its natural result, insubordination, and the warders used their revolvers rather freely. The last number of the- Official Monitcur contains a list of the convicts shot, under the following headings :—'Name of Victim,' ' Date of Crime,' and ' Locality of Criu.e,' This has naturally made the warders furious, and the local Press has taken up the matter, characterising it as an ' infamy." News has just arrived in Noumea of the appointment of Monsieur Lebouoher, Colonial Secretary, as Governor. He is the first civilian Governor of the colony, and many favourable changes are expected under his regime. It is rumoured that his treatment of the convicts will be very different from that of his predecessor, and discipline will bo strictly enforced." Talking of murders (writes the Age's London correspondent) one cannot but have the conviction forced on one that every year in this country unfortunate persons are consigned to the gallows for crimes of which they are as innocent as the judges and juries who convict them. We were nearly having a case in point the other day, when three Durham miners were tried for murdering a policeman in a pit village under circumstances of great brutality. Thanks to the perfection of our criminal system, the one of the trio who has since been proved to have been the principal in the tragedy, was unhesitatingly acquitted, and having stood his trial, can now be no further molested. The second man, who played only a minor part in the crime, and the third man, who played no part in it at all, were as. unhesitatingly convicted. The date for the execution of the pair was fixed, and it was only when on the very brink of the scaffold that the innocent man was saved by the manly and self-sacrificing confession of his fellowconvict, who destroyed his own slender hopes of mercy by a candid version of the real facts. He has since been hung, and the man whom he rescued from a disgraceful grave has been set at liberty, or, as it is insultingly termed, pardoned for a crime which he never committed, but of which, had he had solely to rely on the intelligence of a British jury, he would most certainly have had to pay the penalty. Our readers will at once remember the case of the Irish lad convictedl of shooting a man really murdered by the burglar Peace : and of the Devonshire man Galley, transported for life, and only pronounced innocent when he had alrsady reached the usual term of human life.