The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. THURSDAY, FEB. 24, 1887.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2282, 24 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 political. THURSDAY, FEB. 24, 1887.

We gladly give insertion to the courteous letter of Messrs Glauville mid Elyett in another part of this issue., We are pleased indeed to 'find that the Frozen Meat Company have carried on so extensive a trade in the interests of the produc-ing-class. We are so-well accustomed to hear the .company abased (too often deservedly) that statements such as those offered are grateful as the occasional breezes during the late hot weather. As regards, the Tavnahere butter consignment, the matter must rest between the dairyman and the ciompany. We can only repeat that the farmer in question assured us that his butter was sound and good, equal, in fact, to. the ordinary run of butter dispensed in the stores. As will b;: seen, Messrs Glauville and Klyetf tell a very ; different story, and our readers must judge between them. We are bound to add, however, that this ■ was- the 'first complain! made to us in reference to the Frozen Meat Company's butter trade- . *■

The concluding remarks of- the letter have our heartiest sympathy and concurrence. It is only too well known, too painfully apparent, that the great' bulk of "the butter made, not. only in this but in most of the other country districts of the colony, is .greatly, below the standard, while . much, a great deal too' much,' , 'is fit only for greasing cart-wheels. If the farmers want the top price they must niake the tip-top articles. This is the advice that-has beon offered times out of number. M> Bowron, sometime Government' inspector of dairy factories, was incessantly drumming it into the ears of the settlers, but it is safe to say that, as a general mile, it has been wholly disregarded. But it ought- to be heeded, and that at once. Butter that will only fetch twopence per pound should be thrown into the pig's trough. Tosemi it avvny serves only to disgrace the district and must. Jessen our chance of "beitig able to compete successfully in foreign markets.

We luive pastures equal to any in the world, we have a climate equal to any other and superior to that of nearly every other country in the world : it is true the breed of our cows might be improved with advantage ; but on the whole the letter sent out of Waikato should Ibeeqna] to the best made in England, Scotland or Ireland. If it falls befow that standard then the fault lies -with the makers, and laeitlher the private dealer, the Frozen Meat Goiopfiny, the Cooperative Association, ,<pt> anybody else can hope to do anything for it.

Tlie Churchmen's Working Club, Chi-istclmrcb, is in a very flourishing condition.

H.M S. Diamond sailed from Sydney on the 22nd, for Tonga. The batting ou tha Australian Cap and Newmarket Handicap is unchanged. . r Tli3 next English mail via San 'Frisco will close at the Hamilton Postoffice ..n Saturday, 24th iust, at 3.15 p.m. Assessment Courts will be held at Kiliikihi on the 7th. and at Hamilton (jii the. Kith March. A telegram, dated London, February 21st, states that the English Waterloo Gup resulted in a division uetween (-Jreat Scott and Herschel. The latest news from Tonga is of a very exciting character. It is stated that five more natives have been shot, and that 30 still await trial. Sir Robert Stout, in an article in the Nineteenth Century, insists that Colonial Federation must precede Imperial Federation. Daring last season the Victorian Parliament granted £20,000 for distribution among the agricultural societies of the ci ilony. The New Zealand Societies are not quite so fortunate. A steamer of 1000 tons is being built on the Clyde by the Messrs. Denny Brothers, f»r the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand. It will beemployed in the West Coast trade. The cricket match, Shaw-Lilly-white team versus Eleven of New South Wales, was concluded on Monday, the New South Welshmen winning by 122 runs. The secretary of the Hamilton Public Library has reeeived intimation that the amount of subsidy on the basis of the library's income, with the nominal addition of £25, is £13 (js lid, which sum will be remitted forthwith. On and after Saturday next the public baths on the Hamilton West side will be open to the public, under the care of Mr Pannell, Professor of Natation. The hours for bathing are advertised in column. The annual Huntly Races will be held on Mr R. R. Ralph's farm, below Huntly, on the 17th March. The programme, which consists of six events, ia_ a very liberal one, and judging from the list of officials, a really good day's sport should ensue. The ceremony of presenting the Mayoress of Hamilton with a silver cradle will take place at the Public Hall at 7.30 o'clock this evening. .It is contemplated that there will be a very large attendance of burgesses to do henour to the occasion. A meeting of the chief committee of the Waikato Horticultural Society will be held in the Borough Council Chambers, Hamilton, on Monday next, at 11 a.m., in order to elect a president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer. A London telegram states that an explosion has occurred in a Rhondda Valley coal mine, not far from Cardiff, whereby 20 lives were lost. Some years ago an'explosion occurred in the valley by which upwards of 170 livp.s were lost. The Cambridge school swimming matches will be held in the Tβ Koutu Lake to-morrow, commencing at 2 p.m. Professor Pannell will also give an exhibition of fancy swimming. The last item on the programme is a ,l duck hunt," with Mr A. Souter as duck. At the inauest upon the body of Mrs Tucker, who was drowned in the Freshwater Baths at Auckland on Saturday, the jury recoumended that an attendant, who nrnsi buan expert swimmer, should be in attendance, and the clerk promised to see the instructions carried

. out. ,-i local Wesleyan preacher named Chail.-s Angu-tus Smyth was charged at Melbourne on the loth inst. with having obtained £3700 from Thomas Ketallick Cornish, a fanner, who had lately arrived in the colony, by means of Ms* pretences. The accused w.is committed for trial. It is stated that the New Zealand Government Insurance Department intend to lend on freehold security sums varying from £100 to £3000 on a new principle, which will enable the borrower, by payment of a reasonable sum per annum, to pay off interest and redeem the security in a period of 20 years. A young man named John King was sh"t in East Melbourne on the 11th by a youth named Henry Lancaster. Both were members of the Volunteer Corps, and the cause of the deed is attributed to jealously. Lancaster fired the rifle point blank at King, who died a few minutes afterwards. While ths Prince of Wales was staying at Newmarket recently, he sent for Fred Archer's little pirl, chucked her under the chin, and kissed her while he spoke words of sympathy to the late jockey s sister. It may be remarked that the latter is a tine looking woman, and the former when she ctmes of age will be worth about 80,000.—Sydney Referee. The farm belonging to "the late Mr Mitchell, in the lower Wai pa district, formerly the property of Mr C. J. W. Barton has tieen purchased by the Messrs Nicholson Bros., who were for some time cadets at Marshmeadows, Capt. Runciiiian's place. The farm is one of the best of the numerous good farms along the Waipa; The closing scene in the Great Barrier tragedy took place on ' Tuesday, when the two criminals who were executed on Monday morning, were buried at the Waikomiti cemetery. Owing to the nonpublication of the hour, very few sight-seers were about. They were buried at 8 o'clock in the morning, side by side. The coffins were screwed down before they left the gaol. There was little, if any, change in the appearance of the bodies. The Wyndham Dairy Factory Company have decided to pay 2d a gallon for their milk instead of 4d, as formerly, reserving the balance to be paid when the cheese has been sold. By this means their bank overdraft will be lightened, and.the financial position of the company strengthened without any injury being sustained by the milk suppliers, who will receive payment exactly in proportion to the proceeds of the cheese.

Though every effort has been made by the police, no trace of the body of the unfortunate lad Fletcher, who was drowned in the river at Hamilton on Saturday, has been found. Constable Wild, who has gone down the river in a canoe on business connected with the collection of agricultural statistics, will keep a sharp look-out, but it is not likely that the remains will turn up for some days. In the general hospital at Rouen, a functionary named Charles Foy, 67 years of age, has just committed suicide by suffocation. In a letter written just before his death occur the following entries :—"I stop the pendulum of the clock at the moment I light the charcoal. 10 minutes past 8. Halfpast B:—The effects of the charcoal make themselves felt very slowly. Three-quarters past 8 :—Decidedly death by charcoal is not so easy as is generally believed." The programme of the annual Kihikihi races is advertised in another column. The meeting will take place on the 17th March, and the programme contains a Handicap Hurdle Ttace, Maiden Plate. Maiden Maori liace, Steeplechase, Kih'kilri Cup, Pony Race, Selling Hack R/c :ind it Convolution Handicap. N.ii'nJMiMnn* for handicaps are t<> bn-snnt in h> Tuesday, the Ist M-irch. The wfii'i.t.s will appe.r in Tpe Waikato TiMKrt '>n the. sth March. The annual general meeting of the shareholders of thi North N»w Zealand Farmers' Co-operative Association is convened for to-morrow at 2 p.m.,;but it is more than probable that the meeting will be adjourned, partly on account of that being the day for thf. annual railway excursion to Auckland. It appears also that the printed statement sent to each shareholder, arid purporting to be signed by the chairman, was never seen by that gentleman. Messrs Lewis and Simpson, of Cambridge, have dressed one of the windows of their store in a very .attractive and unique style. The articles used are. entirely of colonial iii:inuf;uturi\ among which we notice the following :— Preserved meats, flour, oatme.-il. I i <euits, honey, sugar, lemon peel, suni a, randies, hops, jams, &c, cocoa, biking powder, tinned mullet, tobacco and curare, in (i m:ii>v other articles too numerous to m ntion. We beg to remind our readers of the annual excursion from Wiukato to Auckliiud, which takes place to-morrow (Friday), returning the same evening. The fares arc reasonable. The train will leave Te Arnhn at 5.?,0 a.m., Waitoa about 5.50, MorrinsvilleO.ls, Cambridge G.lo, Tatnahere abouf; 0.35, Hamilton West, 7.5, Te Awanitttu <U5, Oliaupo f>.3 r >, Frankton Junction V.IS, BJgaruawahia 7.46 and

Taupiri 8, reaching Auckland about 12.30 p.m. Those desirous of prolonging their stay until the 28th can do so by hiking " extended " tickets.

The number of special prizes for ; the Horticultural Show at Tβ Awamutu on the 17th March is increasing, and bids fair to be large. The latesfcadditions are by Mr Win. McNaught, who offers a substantial bridle, valued at 17s 6d, for the second best collection of Held roots, and Mr John Parr, Hamilton, a china breakfast and (Sea service f<>r tho best collection of keeping apples suitable for the Home markets. We draw particular attention to the latter prize, as tho object for which it is given ie undoubtedly one of tho most iruuortant to orchardiets. The opening up of the Homo markets will provide a payable outlet for our fruit, especially apples. An estimable old sheep farmer, of Vermont, though a church member and a deacon, was sadly addicted to the 'ardent.' He was induced by the reform committee of the church to take the abstinence pledge, subject only to the sheep-washing period, during which taxing time it was deemed essential to allow some stimulant. But matters did not seem to mend with the worthy deacon very much, and the committee paid another remonstrating visit after a while, when they found him in a woeful state of intoxication. 'You see that 'ere sheep f he asked, with a hiccough, and pointed to a dejected-looking Cotswold; ' that's cleanest sheep in Vermont ; I wash him every fifteen minutes.'— Boston Globe. By yesterday's mail we received a copy of the Sydney Referee—a journal entirely devoted to sporting, edited by Mr Edward Ellis, a gentleman well-known in sporting circles. On the front page is a woodcut of Figtree, the winner of the Canterbury Handicap, exceedingly welldone. This new edition is bound to achieve success, and should find a corner in the, sportsman's home. It contains 56 columns of closely-printed, well-written matter, setting forth all the latest doing* on the turf, in the cricket field, acquaticß, and in the ring. It ie beyond doubt the best sporting, paper in the colonies ;it is printed on toned paper, and its get-up does credit both aliko; to the publisher and the printer. Wβ strongly advise our sporting friends ou this eide to take it. It is published weekly, and the price is only threepence. The office is 223, Clarence-street, Sydney. A lad, aged sixteen, eldest son of Mr Robert Lindsay, of WiurangJ, met with a very painful death on Friday of last week. He went out to catch a horse, and, following his usual custom, apparently proceeded to do so by tying a rope to the animal s head (it always kept its head away), but it would appear that he had also fastened the rope round his own body. As he did not return, his younger brother went to look for him, accompanied by a neighbour, when his body was discovered in the scrub, the clothing almost torn off it. Tho rope was fastened round the body, and as the other end was subsequently found attached to the horse's tail, it is concluded that the animal must have been frightened, and ran away, dragging the unfortunate lad over the stumps until he died. An inquest on the body was held the following day before Mr F. J. Johnson, J.P., acting coroner, when a verdict of accidental death was returned. Much sympathy is felt for the bereaved parents, as" the deceased was a line promising lad. This is really shocking news. We are told by a. contemporary that among other old-fashioned manners the " hearty British shako of the hand " is passing out of existence. The world is getting too refiued for any such material testimony of esteem, and the tendency in the London drawing rooms has of late years been " distinctly towards unxoeiatity." There is something very disturbing to one's peace of mind in this. We never advocated what we call the lobster grip, by which a man bends up your tinker ring for a couple of hours, but our soul abhorreth the flabby shake, the putty waggle, and tho cod's-tail wave. There is nothing more vexing to tho mind of a man who extends his hand in honest warm friendship than to receive a paw which has no more life in it than a pound of glazier's putty, or to have to agitate a lifeless and unsympathetic palm which feelß like the tail of a stale plaice—damp and clammy—and which is capable of expressing just as much emotion. The Pail Mall Budget of December 9th says that, if the account of a correspondent of the Daily News is trustworthy in points, the problem of submarine navigation is already solved, and by aCaliforniau. A boat with eisrht torpedos on her deck so magnetised that they ciitig to an iron or steel vessel, which can sink 45 feet, and steam '2h miles at that depth under perfect control f which can wait for a big passenger steamer coining along and dive playfully under her, rising to the surface again on one side, while all the passengers on the steamer are looking for her on the other, may fairly be said to solve the problem. No wonder that Admiral Potter ha-* declared that with six such boats he could drive off or sink the most powerful hostile fleet that could attack New York. Professor Tuck, the inventor, has complete confidence that he can build boats big enough to carry passengers regularly across the English Channel 40ft. below the surface, in comploto comfort and steadiness. One of the Czar's palaces. Taizi, has a peculiar history. It belonged to one Demidoff, who was a man of fortune. Hβ gave brilliant banquets and maintained hi* own musicians, some of whom were clever artists who had studied in Paris. This wealthy man often showed foolish extravagance, while at times his conduct partook of eccentricity. HiR daughter was betrothed to a nobleman and the day of the marriage fixed, but instead of attending the wedding the father sent a letter in which he expressed reeret at not being present and asked that a representative he sent might be courteously received. This represencative was driven up in a richly equipped carriage, with gaily dre-sed coachman and attendants, and it proved to be a' dead pig, which was stuffed with gold piecos and precious stones—the paternal wedding gift. On another occasion Demidoff bought an estate and invited the late owner to his palace. Here he made him dead drunk and then sent him home in a c'ltfin, having first informed his family that he was absolutely dead. The relatives received the coffined man with tears; but what was their surprise to find the dead man coming to his senses and the vacant space in the coffin filled with gold pieces! This palace is now in complete disorder.—Pall Mall Gazette.

According to a Home paper an amusing tale is floating about at the expense of the Marquis of Whterford and his brother, Lord Charles Beresford. Both are known to be rather rollicking spirits, who can never resist a joke. As they were walking down some street in London they saw a crowd of ragged urchins chaffing and plaguing a pompous policeman. The Marquis offered one of them half-a-crown to throw some mud at the great man. " Show us yer bullion," the tempted one answered incredulously. Having got the money, the boy fulfilled his bargain by defiling the policeman's face with mud. A fiery zipzag pursuit ensued, and he was captured. Having boldly confessed who had incited him to the crime, he was confronted with the noble lords. The policeman grimly and menacingly asked them for their names, and heard incredulously "the Marquis of Waterford," " Lord Charles Beresford." He angrily asked for the urchin's also. The little cockney, with his hands in his ragged pockets and a v/ink of his eye, made valiant reply: I'll never round on my )>als. I'm the Dook of Westminister !" Thereupon tableau. '• Atticus, ,, in the Leader writes : " I have just heard of ;i singular case which is likely to put some fat brief* in the hand* of equity lawyers. A gontleman has been living in London for over 20 years on the income he has derived from Victorian bank shares and the rent of a large store in a leading business part of Melbourne. He had no local agent. His bank dividends were paid into his London bank, and the person to whom he ii.»i iou his sioru for £300 a year forwardud the rent with commendable punctuality till about 12 months ago. From that time the payment ceased, and letters and telegrams remained unanswered. He sent out a power of attorney to a leading firm of solicitors, empowering them to collect his rent, and was shocked on receiving a telegram requesting his immediate presence, as there was a man in the place who claimed the ownership by the right both of purchase and certificate of title. The absentee returned bv the next mail and found the case exactly as was stated. The tenant, to whom he hadlet the store rolet it some 17 years ago us his own. The new tenant >-tito3 that he bought it from this man in six months after, on the understanding that his only title was adverse possession for over 15 years. He himself only wnited till his own 15 years was up when he applied for and obtained a certificate of title. The original tenant who continued paying his landlord rent for

all those long years has disappeared, and the question tho court Will have ti decide is whether there Was collusion between him and the man in possession. After this, absentee landlords will probably see that they are represented by agente." We clip the following from our Opotiki contemporary whose Whakatane correspondent writes on the 15th instant, as follows :—" Some natives, who arrived here the other day from Ruataliiinn, a settlement distant some 40 odd miles from here, report a very peculiar meteorological phenomenon as having occurred there on the 17th of List month, in the shape of a terrific hail storm, the natives .asserting that the otonos wore fullv as large as a man's fist, varied by large sheets of ice. So violent was the downpour, though lasting but lAhours, whole branches of trees wero broken off, and the potato plants were buried in the hail, while tlioir whares were invaded by water to the depth of ten inches, where water had never been seen before. So impressed were they with the awfulness of the occurrence they were fully pursuaded tho "last day' , had come, and with some difficulty they congregated «" masse, resolved to die together. They however found that the storm finished, and settled down into calm once more. When they returned to their whares they discovered that their household utensils (pannikins, frying pans, and the like) had taken their departure for " fresh fields and pastures new." I omitted to say that the ntorin was purely local, covering an area of a few acres only." If the map of the North Island is referred to, it will be seen that a creek runs through that part of the country and flows into the Waikato. Would not this in some measure account fer the milky appearance of that river during the latter part of last week. Many people assert that the dust from the late eruption at Tarawera cannot possibly get into the Waikato, but it is nevertheless, stranse, if such is the case, that the discolouration did not appear before that, event took place.