COMMENTS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1959, 27 January 1885, Page 2

COMMENTS.

The Press Association credits Mr Stout with a lcference to " British Speaking Peoples." We should very much like to know what soi toi language " British " is ? If the Premier meant Welsh, he might have said so, and given the good folk of the Puncipality the full credit: but he might pet haps ha\e intended to indicate Eise, ov the equally tuiuful speech of his own Shetland home. The blunder recalls to our mind a story once told to us by one of the pioneer iettlcis, a. pi hate in the 3rd Waihatos. One «'\euins», about twenty years ago ho v.is splitting lails in a ceitam bush, long since vauished, when he he.ud \oices ! With a head full of Maoris find tomahawk! and such like, lie cioudied behind a tree, in fear and trem hling, until, as he used to say he hoard, to his infinite relief, that the individuals approaching were "talking huifipcan."

"Crcwnkrs" and their juries enjoy a ripe old rpputation for making donkeys of thcmselvee. The literature that makes wa laugh is largely composed of atoiies of jurymen 'a blunders. Savon, and Norman, and Englishman alike have laughed at the pieposteious vci diets which the combined intellects oftwehc " good men and tine ' have ft cm time to time evohpri. The " Crowncr " himself comes off nneh better titan his benighted coadjutors, but it ought not to bo forgotten tliat that worthy is in nine cases out of ten responsible for the verdict, both in spiiit and in letter. As juries are constituted they are little else than dummies, actuated chiefly by a desire to got the disagreeable business over, and, should there be no suspicions of homicide, quite willing to Jet the coroner do the

whole business. In e.i«es of aimple accident they run no danger of making a mistake, but wheic there is the slightest complication they tieail on the edge of a precipice. At the inquest on the body of the poor old itiitti . v avas<e, at Huntly, the other day, the evidence pioduced wont to show that death was not the result of accident, w h.ite\er else it might have been. Hut inasmuch as the pool old Mlow was known to have been dunking, anil that at the best of times he was not blessed with a, particulaily blight intellect, the jury safely decided that he had "wilfully and feloniously committed suicide nhilr in a state of ttinpoittiij niMinitt/V We need hardly say that there can be no felonious intent in the nimd of ,m insane person. We trust for the credit of the piofession to which the coroner belongs that he took no hand in dnft'njj this stupid verdict, winch is on all fours with that memorable iinding, "not guilty, but the piisoner is warned not to do it again."

Is it possible tli.it tlw Railway Department will ever become alive to the f.iot tli.it it is doing inoie to ret.ud the pro»iess of the tonutiy tlian the codlin moth, pcauh blight, scab, and all otliti cmls put together. Today we ha\e to draw attention to another of those pleasant little experiences of railway transit charges which have lately come under our notice. Meshrs Lewis and Simpson, of Cambridge, imported a traction engine for Mi J. Allwill, which arrived on the Onehunga wharf a few days ago. The engine was lifted out of the steamer into the trucks at the wharf, and on its anivalatthe Hautapu station was unloaded by the consignee. For the mere caniage between Onehunga and Hautapu the Department charges the neat little sum of £'.\~), with an additional £2 for Ihe use of a crane, which, properly speaking, should be an appurtenance of all goods faheds. How long the country H going to put up with this kind of thing it is hard to tell, but surely such an insufferable nuisance as our present railway tariff cannot, like the biook, goon for ever. For transferring the engine f i oin one steamer into another at Wellington a charge us made under the head of " whaifage "of £9. This is an illuitrat.on of the advantage which direct steam communication will give to Auckland.

Tiik propriety or otherwise of removing lucach ot promise of marling*; fiom the category of ofFem-es has long boon <j moot point. The subject has been pretty well threshed out, and «c shall not just now recapitulate the arguments pro ami con. Hut we cannot forbear giving prominence t() .1 very singular case which cropped up it Elgin, N.B , recently, which goes a long way in favour of those who desiie to see provision for this description of oflence blotted out of the statute book. A Mis-, Clark brought an action against aMr R.iy, claiming £100 da>n>gi's. So far so good, but it appe.ired that the plaint))} had transfeired her blighted lu art to another, lint Miss Clark said this in no way affected the case against Riy, who had none the les-s broken his promise, and on whose account she had " sutTeied agonies." The joke is th.it the plaintill, being a marned woman, was not legally entitled to bue, her busbind being the poiper pel son to porform that act. But unless the l.idy had early developed a more than oidinary capacity for making her spouse unhappy, it was hardly to be expected that lie should sue a man who, by his tieachery, had actually given him a wife ! Thecise was dismissed on this technical ground, but the Sheriff is reported to ha\e offered some veiy interesting lcmaiks upon the geneial question. 1 lie elements of damage which the law admits in those cases are, he said, " loss of market"- -matrimony, that U — and some allowance for wounded feelings. In mat tying .mother man Mi*>s Claik had compensated her&elf. Mr Kay could no longer make the promised reparation if he wished. If it were urged that the actual husband was not as good inntcli as the lost lo\e, the Slierill did not think it his duty to work out the difference in money.

"Echoes from the Cafe" will be found in the fouitli page of tlnS hmic.

Mr W. T. Carr has been appointed secietaiyto the Cambridge Jockey Club, vice Mi W. Scott, ie--igner].

The Te Awamutu band, under Mr Sibloy, will play on the To Awamutu r.ice-cour-e <m the 2!(th.

A concert in aid of the funds of Clni^t Church, Kihikihi, will be held in the j Town Hull on Mnnd.iy, the Kith February.

I The Cambridge Public School opened yesterday morning with 20 new pupil*. Four of tliii number belong to the High School.

The annual meeting of the congu'giituin ,uid ivirisliunierH of S. Andrew's, C.inibudge, is called for this evening. The meeting will bo held in the school room at lialf-t»a«,t 7.

I Mr A. Isaacs, of Cambridge, is the •■uicce-'-'ful tenderer fur the telegraph pole conti.ict between Cambridge .md T.uipi). The tender v.is £272") for the dehvei y of 1500 polt'-s between a distance of <>4\ miles.

The tourist traffic to the Hot Lake and niteiior continues to increase. Fi Din tin- Ist till the 24th of thn month no fewer tli.m 140 tomists ])a-*s('d between Cambiid^o •iud Kotorun iiiCnrtt'r'sco.itliL 1 -. No gieatei i>roof could be jjneu of the | grownig iii>pul.nity of this route.

i The Cambridge Lawn Tennis Club is now f.urly under way. There .ire alre.idy about twenty int'tuber*, which, it is expected will be augmented by a number of l.idio-. The ha>> boon busily wiK.igw] getting the court in order, .and the m.iteii.il is expected in about a fortnight, i when play will be commenced.

The Government appear to have tuiotiMdetrd the .step of di^ehnitfinj,' all recenerti of yold irvunue .md Ihtoumg the work on the countie- 01 othci ltic.il budien. Mr WiUoii, the recener .it Te Arolin, h.i^ hiid ui-tnictnnii ti> continue to act in th.it capacity for the present.

At the Police Court, Auckland, i))] S.itiml.iy, Thotn.is Luptoii, wlio-.elnuses it will be lemeniberul c.mie mi contact with a tram on the Nuwin.ukut lo\ll cro*>snitf on the Hth iu->t., w,i*> ch.uged with •ittoiiipti in^ to time a di.iy ,icio-<i tlie lino while .111 1 tMiKint) was aiipioaclntig, and hned I'Oi and 0 lit-.

The Archdeacon of Waikato, the Rev. \V. A. Sw.m and H. S. Danes, mid Ml W. \. (ii.ili.itii, an 1 expected to address the meeting .it the distribution of Sund.iyichool pii/t>> at Hamilton this e\enin<j on Viniotis points conncctijd with Sund.iyschonK, Hi'.idnix- \sill be by Muims K. H.Toniiilor, S. K. <}. Smith, .md T. (J. S.vndes.

The following special messages to tin* l'ic-> Y -.violation, d.ilcd London, January 23rd and 2">t!i have been published : -Austunn authoiitios urn onqwung into the achisableness of e>«t.ib]ishiii<j a trins-ocn.in p<*nnl .settlement. — The whole <if tho sh.niN in Mi Hojjinald Uictt's fm.tnci.il company of AdH.ndu lin\i* .'liculy bucn subsmued, but tho list will roin.iiii opun till Wodnosdiy ii(*\t. — Tho meat by the ste.imet Victoiy, fioiu Kou Zu.il.md, is ic.ilisiii},' fiom ."({d to ~>\d.

A special meeting of the Tamaht'iu Koad hoaid \\a-> hold ye^toid.iy at tlio Tamalicre hotel to recenc tendeis for tho Cciiti'iJ load contract. Tlio follow injf tcnfieiw nujo d|m'l)C(} :— Messrs Coombc-. and Oa^sidv, £<>7« \h <>cj : J. C. JJootli. i'l)hl 10^ ]ld; J. C.i«oby, 4JMi>7 iU; Uolton :md Cleinunts, £701 M< (id: Muihliy, «70.) N« ."id ;J. Li\ mt'stonc, £84<S 7« lf<! : J. H.imil. ton, £'«.")« 7s <»d ; J. Foiioit, t'!K)"i; Patnok Dillon, £1,«»2». The tender of Mos^r-, Cavtidy and Cooinbes was accepted. Tlio en^'ineui'-j uituiiiite was t7ir>.

Very grievous are the comiil.unti aiient the condition of the temporary ' bf il)K u !t t Mon.i\j.le, on the main road, iind the delay m the flection of tlie new budge i-i causing great Hiconvenjci}C.o ti) trq.vclloi'.. Yi'stotd.vy the contiactcj in.icjo a witlj the piles, but they proved Urn much f( j the Rear, although o\lfa strength had been jirovided, Xn trying t<i get tho fir^t pilo into position the »'i?iah gave way, not being accustomed to lifting wioh ho,»vy timbers an 15m. piles n»d tho contractor has had to ct-a^o work ])ending his obtaining a new winch. Hp left Canibndgp la->t night fi > that purpose, and hopes to be able to stait work in a day or two. Meanwhile the

gully i-< iucrtttMiig in m/.o d.iily, and tint difficulties of tho ttotk .ue mcieifuiitf ; where.is the bridge oti^ht to h.no boen elected .uul open im ti attic long ere tin-.

It will be remembered (says the Aioha New*) that some Jittle timo ago an e\.NMisiw;ly signed petition was forwarded to Wellington, praying that the Government wniud take the necessary -tei>s to enable persons in this district to purchase the freeholds of their land* if they desired ti> do so. A letter ha* Hint been roci\ed, stating that " the <io\ eminent doe-, not propiwe to allow uny poitioti of the Th.unes High School Kiidounionts to be alienated." Thi* is a nio-t unsatisfactory and inconi]>lete reply, as nothing is said with regard to the Ma in and other rever\es, which \sete specially refeired to in the petition.

Respecting the resignation of Mr W. Scott of the secretaryship of tin- Cam budge Jockey Club, the following resolution w.i". unanimously passed by the club in accepting the sau.e :— " Th.it the resigna* tioii of the secret .iry bo accepted, and th it this meeting desires to express its regret that that gentleman finds himself unable t<> continue his services to the club ; imd fmther tenders him a hearty vote of thanks for the energetic and able manner in which he has discharged the duties of his office." Mr Scott has been with the club dm ing the seven years of its existence, and has distinguished himself as an able and haid working secretary.

An inquest was held at Huntly, on Fnd.iy, before Dr. Up do, cot oner, cm the luiti.iitH of the unforttin.ito man Theobald N.tvajre, which were found on tho bank of tho river the previous day. Our correspondent forwarded 11*. the particulars on tho haine d.iy, but the letter miscarried. The evidence of Mr Williams, photographer, who saw Savape jump into the water was taken, and testimony regarding the condition and habits of deceaHed having been also adduced, tho jury returned a verdict that deceaspd did " feloniously and wilfully commit suicide while in a state of temporary insanity."

A fire broke out in a house in Klhott-street, Auckland, at an early hour on Saturday morning, and < >no < >f the mm ates, un old in an named Holmes, a theatrical scenepainter, was suffocated. At the inquest an open verdict was returned. On Sunday the remains wore interred in the cemetery, and a nio«t disgraceful hcene took pl.ict* in connection therewith. •Some <>f tin) friends of the deceased, ?>ctor<i nnd others, made arrangements for the funeral, and secured the unices of the. Rev W. Tebbs, in whose parish deceased lived, to read the sen ice at tho grave. Holmes' landlord, however, who is a freethinkei or rationalist, or something of that kind, intimated that as deceased was a freethinker, he should lie butiud as such. The iesult of this was that w lien tho funeral armed at tho cemetery a long altercation ensued between the fiiends of deceased who wished to have him buiied as a Christian, and the " Rationalist*," who wanted to perform their own peculiar ritfH. Finally Mr Tebbs expressed his determination to proceed with tliu f<ervice. When lie commenced, the enlightened " freethinker-." tried to drown his \i»ice with Mich e\|uo-.-sions as " Cut it shoit," " liitsh," " We've hid enough of that r it," "Shut v))," and «>thej lemarks equally well calculated to establish the freethinkers' claim to superior wisdom. When tho burial service of the Church of England was concluded, the freethinkers wished their celebiant, a peison named Kills, to proceed with tho otliei service, but Kills, to his credit be it said, refused. On leaving the cemetery Mr Tebbs was waimlv thanked by jhtsoiis of all denominations, including Roman Catholics and Jews.