The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or SATURDAY, FEB. 19, 1887.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2280, 19 February 1887, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or SATURDAY, FEB. 19, 1887.

+. The Gazette notifies the appointment of T. Jackson as returning officer for the native licensing district of Raglan. A meeting of the Hamilton West School Committoe was called for last night, but lapsed for want of a quorum. On Wednesday morning next a partial solar eclipse will occur. It will be visible throughout New Zealand if the day proves fine. The usual monthly meeting of the Piako County Council will be held in the Hamilton Borough Council Chambers this morning at 10.15 o'clock. A cablegram, dated London, February 17th, states that a thousand armed men assembled in Ballycar, and prevented the evictions being carried out. It is stated that either Sir Julius Vogel or Mr Ballance will bring down a measure next session extending the franchise to women for the return of members to Parliament. Only three tenders have been received for Bradley's bridge (timber, heart of kauri and best totara):—Jas. Proctor, £(>9 7a ; JVFrear, £52; J. Wright, £5115. The tender of J. Wright was accepted. Messrs C Starr, jun,, Peter Kay, G. T. M. Kellow, F. G. Taylor and H. J. Saulbery have been elected members of thr Ngaruawahia Licensing Committe, unopposed. Mr W. S. Stewart the master of the Cambridge District High School is making arrangements for a swimming match to be held in Te Koutu lake, in which school pupils only will be allowed to compete. Mrs Robert Wallen, wife of the well-known writer " of the Australasian, is dead. The deceased lady partook ot a glass of iced water, which gave rise to internal inflamation, causing death in a short time. Six of the prisoners concerned in the Tenga outrage have been shot. Miss Baker is not expected to recover. Mr Baker is staying at the King's palace, which is guarded by troops. The result of the City Licensing election, Auckland, which took place on Thursday, proved a decisive victory for the Independent or Moderate party, as they secured a thorough victory in each ward. Wβ beg to reming those interested in the annual cricket contest between the counties of Waikato and Waipa, that the match will be played on Sydney Square to-day. Play is supposed to commence at 10.30. Judging by past experience it will begin about 12. There are now forty - seven ostriches in excellent health upon the Armando estate, Kaipara, the name which Mr Nissen has given his property. Of these there are 22 females and 25 males. Nine birds were lost on the voyage from Natal. Tenders for road works in Liverpool and Willoughby-streets were received by the Hamilton Domain Boaad on Thursday last as under :— J. Winter, £1117s 6d ; J.Coombes, £7 18s; J. Deegan, £9; R. Dellicar, £3 15s. The lowest tender was accepted. Inspector Kiely, the officer in i charge of the Waikato Police District, arrived in Hamilton on Thursday to take up his permanent residence here. The other members of the force hitherto stationed at Kihikihi have also been removed to Hamilton. The Queen's Jubilee has been celebrated with much pomp throughout her great Indian empire. At Calcutta a grand native procession took place. Religious services were held, and at night most of the towns were brilliantly illuminated. There was also a wholesale liberation of prisoners in gaol for petty crimes and debt. The Goyernmeut have received a communication from the natives and settlers of Poverty Bay that should Te Kooti visit Gisborne there certainly will be trouble. Te Kooti has been warned by the Government that if he persists in visiting Poverty Bay they will not be responsible for his safety. The scaffold for the execution of the Great Barrier murderers has been completed at Mount Eden gaol, under the supervision of Warder Picton, from Wellington. The condemned men are especially attentive to the spiritual ministration of the chaplain of the gaol, and await the carrying out of the dreadful sentence with fortitude. Mr Boyce. of Cambridge, telegraphed to Mr J. R. S. Richardson yesterday morning, saying a number of burgesses were anxious for him to be nominated for the office of councillor for the borough of Cambridge. Mr Richardson replied, thanking the burgesses, but declined to stand, as his family were unwell and would require his attention for some time. The addition and improvements to the Presbyterian Church, Hamilton, which have been carried out by Mr Thomas Evans, have greatly enhanced the appearance of the building. A commodious vestry has been built on to the rear of the church, while the windows have been replaced with much larger ones. The buildhas also been painted within and without. We have frequently heard of a pet sheep that occasionally wanders about Cambridge stealing the milk from any cow that would allow it to suck. The example was followed on Tuesday evening by a cat that was observed in the Victoria road road standing on its hind legs and contentedly sucking a cow's teat. The cow did not appear to object and stood perfectly still for the operation to be performed. At noon yesterday Mr J. P. Thompson, returning officer, declared Mr T. B. Lewis duly elected a councillor for the Borough of Cambridge, there not being any other nomination. Mr J. R. S. Richardson, who was expected to stand, did not receive the petition, as he was called away to Auckland, where his family are unfortunately down with typhoid fever. , . The Hobart Mercury reports that for the year just closed over 17,000 tons of potatoes have been exported from the Mersey, which, at a fair average of £3 per ton, represent over £50,000 in hard cash. It is estimated that the total amount that has come to the North-west Coast for potatoes for the past season must be about £80,000. One individual on the Mersey sold 700 tons during the season at a slight advance on £3 psr ton. Happy man ! At the Harvest Thanksgiving Festival at S. Peter's, Hamilton, to-morrow, the following will be the order of services : —Holy Communion at 8 a.m.; Morning Prayer and Holy Communion at 11; children's service at 3 p.m. ; Evening Prayer at 7. The second celebration of Holy Communion will be choral, to Berthold Tours' music. At Evening Prayer, Stainer's anthem, "Ye shall dwell in the land,'.' will be sung. The Rev. T. T. O'Callaghan, D.D., Incumbent of Epiphany, Auckland, will preach at morning and evening service. A large band of workers have been busy throughout the week in decorating the church.

The annual meeting of the subscribers of the Hamilton Public Library was held in the library-room last night. The report, was read and confirmed. The revenue received during the year was £73 19s 3d, and the expenditure £74 9s 3d, leaving a debit balance of 10s. The following were appointed a committee for the ensuing year:—Messrs C. Tippen, A. Scott, J. Parr, D. Salmon, H. Quick. W. Salmon, G. French, W. A. Graham, and R. Peat. The committee met immediately after, when Mr W. A. Graham, Mayor, was elected chairman, and Mr Geo. French secretary and treasurer. Several matters in connection with the working of the library were discussed, and the committee adjourned.

During the next session of Parliament (the New Zealand Times reports) Mr Fisher will introduce a bill to amend the Licensing Act, in the direction of preventing brewers or wine and spirit merchants owning or possessing a proprietary interest'in public-houses. The effect, it issaid, will lie to prevent the. brewers putting in "dummies" as licensees, and to improve the quality of the beverages dispensed in public-houses. This bears out " Harapipi's " suggestion in our Tuesday's issue. If the licensing committees choose to take the matter in hand there would be no need tq wait for legislation.

A woman who died at home the other day left £10,000 to the Dogs' Home at Battersea, while to her executor, a poor parson with a large family, was left £100 as a legacy. There is no mistake in the figures. It may well be said of this good lady that both she and her fortune "havw gone to the dogs." There is some talk of upsetting the will on the ground that the lady meant '' parsons" when she wrote "doßs," and vice versa. It will result in a lawsuit, this canine benefactress might just as well have written "lawyers" at once, for these dogs will get every penny of it.

The printers of a country newspaper in Victoria received a great fright one day last mouth. A lightning flash entered the Dandenong Advertiser office at about six o'clock in tho evening, and injured several compositors more or less. One was lifted up and thrown violently down, both legs being paralysed for a time. His trousers were singed and his feet discolored. After a few minutes he revived, through much shaken. The electric current spent its force on a large press and exploded with a loud noise, filling the office with smoke and flames, which seemed to rise from the abrasion of the iron. Had the shock come ten minutes sooner, when the men were at the press and the machine there wouid have certainly have been lives lost.

A gentleman who is very well known in literary circles (says the London correspondent of the Argus) lately imparted to me two secrets in connection with the coin of the realm, by wagering on which, he said, I might make a " very prettypenny," indeed an income. With my usual generosity, I reveal them for the benefit of the public. First, " How many threepenny pieces can be laid flat (you ask) on a half-crown without protruding beyond the circumference ?" The reply is generally " three," at least; but, as a matter of fact, you can only lay one. In most companies —even literary ones—the coins can be produced and the problem solved. No. 2 requires more capital for its elucidation. In these hard times, indeed, the thing can hardly be exhibited practically except a Bank. How many Bank-notes (you ask) will outweigh a sovereign ?" Some people will reply "ten," some "twenty," some " fifty." The proper answer is five.

Most of our readers have heard of the veteran cricketer, Mr. C. Absolum, tho " father of all cricketers" as he is called by the English papers. Hβ has been in great form again this year, for his old club, the Turfnell Park' Holloway United, which are supposed to play more whole-day matches than any other amateur club in London, most of tho matches being made with the best clubs in the metropolis, as well as in the country. This club has won all its matches, bar seven. For this club alone Mr Absolum scored 500 runs and took wickets in proportion—a great performance for a man who will be seventy years of age on May 30 next. For other clubs, for which Mr Absolum played, he has an equally good average ; he scored 1073 rhnS—an average of nearly 20 per innings, iMid he also took 204 wickets. Many a young man would be very proud of such performances as these. Mr Absolum finished up this season by getting 45 runs and taking six wickets. He was at the wicket nearly three hours, and ran over 130 runs. In all, Mr Absolum played in fifty-one matches, and batted sixty-two times. Mr Absolum lias been before the public for over fifty-five years, and has made an average of considerably over 1000 runs for the last ten years. He retains his strength in a marvellous manner, and can still take the half-hundred weight on his little finger, and make his mark 7ft. high. Mr Absolum has been a total abstainer from intoxicating drinks and tobacco for over thirty years, and has probably brought out more good players than any man living- •