IE AWAMUTU.

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2064, 29 September 1885, Page 2

IE AWAMUTU.

\Vii\t was neatly turning out a fatal ac , cident occuued hole a short tuno .yn. A gentleman had an old native employed for a few days diguing m li 1-. gaidcu. J >uni^ very much tumbled by the small buds eating the young plants, ho proomed some of Kelson s bird poir.oll, and having steeped i-ome bioad put the pinion in it ; he bt ought the dish with the poisoned bread into the gaiden, and showed it to the .Maoii. Not being acquainted with the Maoii for poison, he summoned up .ill of the language he knew which consisted of two words, mohio, and kino, and .said \ery impressively. "Jack you mohio this is — kino,— kino, you inohio, poison foi the the Hiuedeemed small buds that eat my plants; don't eat it, Jack," and he went through a pantomino performance of a bird Hutteting in it-> death agonies. Jack laughed and said "weiy goora." He didn't seem to quite catch the me ming intended to be com eyed in the awful word kino, and put it down to " porangi " on the part of the pakeha. To in ike as-,uianee doubly sure the gentleman mivd some e.uth with the bread, so as to make sure tlio simple savage would not eat it. This pioeeeduig the siinple-imnded child of natuie put down to meanness, and he detei mined to punish the pakeha by eating the biead, which he did 311 st when ho was about to start for home. Ho was found soon aftei m a veiy ciitical state, and if two gentlemen had not attended to him and administered lestoiatives he would ha\e died in a very short time. Tlieie was no excuse foi his eating the poisoned biead, foi he was well fed wheie he was woiUmg, the gentloin in 111 (juestion being iiiiytlung but .1 niggaid with food, and the Maoii admitted having received a good meal brfoiu leaving. The hist intimation the paUeha got of the matter was fiom some natives, who told linn the old 111 in was dead. He was hoi 11hed when he tonnd out what had happened, but was soon lelieved by hearing the natives laugh, which they did on seeing the look of consternation on his face. The question that uitei est» people heie now is whether a coionei who has been the limo cent cause of a'man's death by poison (or otherwise) can legally preside at the inquest. Writing of accidents- reminds mo of a matter which will be the cause of an accident one of these days. I allude to the depastuiing of hoi sen 111 the streets. I don't know whether the town board sei ved notices on people, but if they did the notices weie disregarded, for horses vvandui about the stieet? and footpaths the same as over. On Satuulay I saw a little girl narrowly escape having hei biains kicked out by a horse that was grazing on the footpath. Two little childien, the elder about four years old, were playing on the footpath when the horse came close to them. Childish like, of course, they wanted to investigate its hind legs when an elder sister, hve years old, pulled them away and, getting a stick, tiled to dme the hoiscaway. The biute would not go, but kicked at the child, just missing her head. Fortunately the mother emus out just 111 time to pievent one of the little ones from going up to the hoise's heel-. In this case the horse was grazing at the very door of the house where the little ones weie playing. When people keep hoiscs they should be compelled to keep them in .in enclosed place, and not be allowed to let them wander about the street-, endangering life and limb. If a horse is woith keeping it is woith paying paddockmg for, and it is ieally too bad tli.it a few people should be allowed to inconvenience tho whole place. If they aie too paisimomoiis to pay foi a paddock they should do without hoi.ses. They would look very foolish if they had to pay heavy damages for an accident. Anothei source of annoyance is the useless curs that are beginning to accumulate 111 tho town. Not long ago two men were thrown, their horse-, coming down with them by being frightened by one of these biutes rushing out suddenly in the dark. One of tho men was suveiely shaken; in fact ho knew nothing of the matter till ne\t morning, lie was stunned by the other man's horse falling on him. For a collection of usoless curs and thoroughbred mongrels To Awamutu can hold its own almost with Kilukihi in the Land Couit days. — (Own Correspondent )