The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 214, 3 April 1886, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Equkl and exact justice to all men, Oi whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. Here shall the Press the People's right maintain, Unawed by influence and unbribed by gain.

SATURDAY, APRIL 3, 1886.

The Cambridge Football Clnb is going in for steady practice. The ordinary meeting of the Kirikiriroa Road Board, called fot ye»t»rday, was adjourned until Monday. The correct insurance on Mr ! Morse's house, burnt duvrn on Thursday \ wight, is £120, and £30 on the furniture. '

Mails for Europe by direct steamer via Rio will close at the Cambridge postoffice on Monday at 9.10 .i in., .md at Hamilton at 3 p.m. Dno to arrive in London M.iy2oth.

The Government are about to undertake mine repairs to the Wai pa bridges at Te R->re and Whatawhata. Tentiers for painting the structure aro called for.

Captain Steele and Mr J. Knox. J. P. attended at the R.M. Court, Hamil ton. yesterday, and revised the jury list foi the di>trict. A number of names whip struck off, and others added.

;.The Rotorangi and other stations, formerly the pioperty of Meisis Grice and Parker, will hencefoiward be cuiied on by Messrs Win. Grico and Co., Mr Parker having disposed of hi? intcreit therein.

The duck-shooting season opened on Thursday. A number of Auckland peopje were passengers to Waikato on that i day, and several local sportsmen went out to try their luck. We have not yet he.ird Lota-ny phenomenal bugs.

It has been decided to hold a coroner's inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the destruction by fire of the old .mission station at Hopahopu, receutly occupied by Mr T. McDonald as a general store. The date has not yet been fixed.

Mr T. Wilkinson who met with the .severe accident near Cambridge on Wednesday, is recovering from the effect-, of his injuries. Mr Cassidy, the other party toibe collision, who had two or threu ribs broken, besides a bad bruising, has proceeded to his home at Ohaupo.

The Hinemoa was expected at Raglan on Thursday night, but as the weather wan unfavourable and tbe bar vory rough she went on to Kawhia. The Colonial Secretary and the recently-arrived Scotch fishermen were aboard, and intended to pay a visit to the Raglan harbour.

An. Auckland cricket team will .Tlsit Waikato at Easter. It is proposed "tnat they play Waikato at 'Cambridge on Saturday, Easter Evo, the 24th inst., and Waipa at Hamilton on Easter Monday, the -26th. Whatawhata will also be in Hamilton .to-morrow to play the conquering match with Hamilton, so that the cricketing season has not yet died.

The date of the big sale at Lichfield han again been changed to suit the convenience of Auckland visitors, to Saturday, the 10th inst. The stock to be sold compriso 600 tir*>t-class bullocks. Messrs W. J. Hunter and Co., in conjunction with Mr J. S. Buckland, will conduct the sale. Messrs Vaile and Douglas will sell the landed property.

Archdeacon Willis asks us to draw attention to the notice given elsewhere, for tho information of the parents of .the children attending S. Andrew's Sunday-fchool, that the school will be closed to-morrow and the two following Sundays, This course has Iteen adopted on the recommendation of the superintendent and teachers in con«eq nonce of the prevailing epidemic.

The following tenders have been received for digging holes on the Horotiu estate at per hundred :— Mclntyre and Odium, (accepted) Is (>d; Geo. Mann, lsOd; Kempthome and Wright. 2s 2Jd ; P. Munro, 3s (id ;J. Coombrs, 3s 11 W ; Parker and Hutt, 3s Gd ; R. Fitzgerald, 4s Id ; Alfred Booth, 4s Id ; D. Stewart and Co., 4a 6d ; G. Brown, fis ; W. Hikey, Gs ; John Murphy, (5s 2{ f d ; W. H. Goodwin, 5s Gd ; E. Wilson, ss"4d ; J. Deegan, 14$.

The series of the United Evangalistic Services, held in the Cambridge Public Hall during the past three months, will be concluded to-morrow evening. Mr W. P. Hunter, of Glasgow, a gentleman who takes a deep interest in such gatherings, is announced to deliver the address. A collection towards defraying the incidental expenses of the meetings will bo taken, and the surplus, if any, will be handed to the Bible Society.

We would again remind our readers that during the first week in May, the whole of the members of road boards go out of office, and that by Section 39 of the Road Boards Act, 1882, it is provided that 110 ratepayers shall be entitled to vote at an election of road board members "unless he shall have previously paid all rates then due by him in respect of his qualification." It consequently follows that if an elector is disqualified to vote at an election, be i» debarred from bejng nominated, or offering himself as a candidate for election.

The following special messages to the Press Association, dated London, April Ist have been published : — H.M s. Polyphemus has been ordered to Sntida Bay — The. Standard opposes the surrender by Englaud of the New Hebiidea to Francs. — Sir Alexander Stuart has arrived in London. — It is officially considered that the attitude of Queensland and Victoria, respecting the French deportees, favours the perpetuation of the French convict system. Too close an adherence to the terms of the Sydney Convention is also deprecated. —The death is announced of General Sir Edward Green, K.C.B.

Mr W- McLean, one of the prospectors who has recently been into the King Country prospecting for gold is at present in Hamilton. Like the rest he met with no success. He describes the Tuhua country as being quite destitute of gold. It is chiefly of slatey formation, with quartz of a hungry appearance here and there on the highest ground. The low lying parts aro all pumice. Messrs Griffiths and Fenton ai c still at the head of the Waipa, where they intend to make a further effort. All the others have now returned.

The first general meeting of the creditors of Martin Harsant, a settler residing at Kauroa, near Raglan, was held at the Court-house, Raglan, at noon yesterday. The whole of the resident creditors were present, and one Auckland creditor was represented by proxy. The Deputy Assignee presided, and read the bankrupt's statement of assets and liabilities. A resolution was passed that the pigs seized under writ should be sold at once. It was also decided to allow the bankrupt to retain the furniture (which was valued at £20) at his. homestead at Kauroa. The assignee was instructed to sell the equity of redemption in the bankrupt's lands and other asbcts at un early date.

The Taranaki Herald says that koninfi or wild fuchsia posts are likely to be much in demand in the future in places where there is any danger of fires. It has been noticed that where pine or th* other woods usually used in Taranaki for fencing have been subjected to the action of fire, the pines have been entirely burnt away, while the fuchsia has simply been scorched. It appears that the latter wood has groat fireresisting properties, and in wire fences where other timber has been totally destroyed the fuchsia has not even been so badly charred as to have the staples loosened.

A Southern exchange gives the following good advice to its readers :—": — " We would like to impress on our good people tho importance of getting acquainted with the strangers who are seeking homes among us. A family ought not to be allowed to live for months without receiving a call from neighbours. Many a woman has become home-sick only for the reason th.tt she thought herself slighted by her new neighbours. This ought not to be. Espocially should members of the several chinches look after new-comers, and see that they find encouragement and assistance from thoie of their own ' faith and order." Thn is not proselytising, but a Christian duty. If the family have no church relations, it is none the less the duty of good people to make their acquaintance, and by kind acts and Christian work lead them up to the better way. Look after the new-comers, and make them feel that they are welcome among us, and very aoon they will not want to leave us."

The following is the outline of the English Land League :— " First, abolition of primogeniture, settlements and restrictions in dealing with tho land ; second, enfranchisement of all inferior and customary tenures, and abolition of absolute manoi hi rights ; third, compulsory registration of titles, and the simplest and cheapest system of transfer ; fourth, preservation of commons, foreshores, roadsides, and popular rights over land and water, and restitution of those improperly taken away in recent times ; fifth, enfranchisement of long non-agricultural leaseholds ; sixth, a modification of the law of landlord and tenant calculated to protect tenants from capricious eviction, and to establish the right of the occupier to all improvements made by himself ; seventh, to promote the occupation and ownership of land by the people for residence and occupation, both by general laws and by tho instrumentality of municipalities and other local bodies.

I We take the following bit of ! eulogy from the Tuapeka TTime:—Thes :— The former representative of Brnce, Mr W. A. Murray, ia abuut ti> take a trip to England. In v, letter to an Auckland paper, in which

he refers to a request made to him to reenter Parliament, he says: — "It is not likely, in view of an early dissolution of the New Zealand Parliament, that I will relinquish my purpose of visiting the Home Country, after an absence of 20 jv.ir*, in order to re-enter the unsatisfactory arena of New Zealand politics." According to the above Mr Murray takes it for granted that the electors of Bruce have to a man declared in his favour as a parliamentary candidate. No doubt there are a few of tho electorate who will remember Mr Murray's great ser\ices, but the feeling in his favour is not so unanimous as ho evidently leads himself to believe. He speaks as if he had been hard pivs-.ed to relinquish his purpose of visiting the Home Countiy that he might, in view of an early dissolution, represent Bruce in the New Parliament. Mr Murray tne-4 to nnter the "unsatisfactory arena "of locil politics during his stay in Auckland, but was invariably unsuccessful. Even the Road Board would not have him at any pi ice, and in the election of a candidate to to fill a vacancy in the County Council, beyond the votes Mr Murray gave himself, the Biipport he secured was exceedingly limited indeed. Perhaps the ex-member for Bruce in going Home has got something else in view— probably a seat in the Imperial Parliament. If so, we wi«h him every success ; for such talent as his is only thrown away in a tenth-rate colony like New Zealand. He will just be in time to solve the Irish question, and, in thin respect, his assistance will be invaluable to Mr Gladstone and the Liberal party during the present crisis.

"At a recent meeting of the Christchurch Caledonian Society," says an exchange, — "Mr Reese, M.H.R., in a very able speech, gave a brief outline of the history of draughts, and as showing how ancient this popular and scientific game is, the speaker stated that Sir W. Jones, of London, had come to the conclusion after ire»t research that it was familiar to the people of the East 4000 years ago. Homer in his accountjof the siege of Troy, stated that the Grecians were then playcre, and in a work on savage life by Mr Angus, that writer say* that Captain Cook on landing in New Zealand found the Mauris adepts at the game. Among the earlier publications on draughts was one by M. Mallet, of Pari", Professor of Mathematics, IGGB, also one by W. Pnyne, of London, teacher of mathematics, 1750, also other works by Joshua Sturge, of London in 1800, Sinclair, of Glasgow, in 1832 and more lately by Anderson of Carlisle, and other American and British writers. As showing the enthusiasm of players the speaker related an anecdote of two old Scotch players who met one day, and in tho course of con\ersation one of them mentioned that the locil doctor, a well known player, was dead. His companion appeared so choked at tho news that his informant inquired the reason of his emotion. "' Why, man," was the reply, " It's at the thocht of him being awa a game ahead o' me." Mr Reese also mentioned than it was quite on the cards that Mr Wylie, the well-known "Herd Laddie," would, in all probability, pay a visit to Australia and New Zealand soon, and that arrangements were now being made for his reception. In conclusion, the speaker pointed out, for the encouragement of local players, that Canterbury was the champion draught-playing province in the colony, and that it was their duty to maintain that position against all comers."

We have to acknowledge (says the Oatnaru Mail) with thanks, the receipt of two printed circulars from the Canterbury Railway League. One of *-heae is a reprint of a letter that appeared in the Chribtchurch Star in July, 1878, over the signature of W. Rolleston, and the other gives an extract from a speech that Mr E. C. T. Stevens made in Christchurch on August 2G, 1879. These circulars show that the two gentlemen named, in their pjlitical capacity, expressed themselves as favourable to. the construction ot the Canteibury Ea-st and West Coast and Nelson Railway by the colony, and the design of the League is to demonstrate that, as those gentlemen now oppose the construction of the line, they have acted inconsistently. We must confess that we are greatly shocked at such proofs of political turncoatism — a thing that, as our readers are aware, is quite a rarity in New Zealand. Messrs Rollcoton and Stevens may have discovered that they had committed a grave error in advocating the construction of tbe line, but it is certain that they have committed a graver error in confessing their mistake. Whatever a man says he should stick to, no matter what may betide. The League have the comforting assurance that we would rather have seen four millions wasted over the East and West Coast and Nelson Railway than that Messrs Rolleston and Stevens should have been guilty of such shocking political immorality. If we have no money — if we are taxed till onr last copper has been extracted from our pockets — let us at least retain our honesty. We sucrgest that the League, which has set up such a splendid example of self-sacrifice for the sake of the colony, should establish a .school of morals, and that Messrs Rolleston and Stevens should be their pupils.