The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. SATURDAY, FEB. 11, 1888.

Waikato Times, Volume xxx, Issue 2432, 11 February 1888, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

SATURDAY, FEB. 11, 1888.

liqual and exact justice to all men, Oi .vliatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political.

Our leading article is crowded out by pressure on our columns. In our Supplement appears a new story, " My House in Oxford Terrace " ; a story of the Black Watch ; a description of iiti uKI newspaper ; children's stories ; an ancient [Miction, and many bits of interesting and useful reading. The operations of Whitney's Ammunition Company will probably be extended to Australia. It is rumoured that the police and prison departments arc to be amalgamated under Captain Hume. The farmers on the Pacific Slope clear an average of eighty cunl.s, or 3s 4d pur bushel for their wheat. Forty thousand acres of bush in tlm Mercury Bay district, have been destroyed by h're this season by gumdiggTs. The New Zealand War Medal has been awarded to Private Thomas Wooster, No. 2 Company, 2nd Waikato Kegimeut. The Hamilton West School Com mittee have decided to grant a holiday for Tuesday next, the occasion of fcj. Peter's parish picnic. Two houses were destroyed by fire in Grey-street, Auckland, early on Friday morning. The amount of damage is estimated at £1000. Harvesting has just been com inenced on the Uukuhin estate. About SO acres of oats arc being gathered, which look veiy healthy, and are expected to givts a fair yield. A large fire was burning on the Kuknhia estate all day on Thursday, destroyiiiK one of the fences. It is supposed to have been started by sparks from the railway engine. The Village Homestead special s.'tt.li'inent lands in the Arnhn, Waitoa, Ritrtere, To Papa, and other Auckland dis tricts. have own withdrawn from the perpetual leasing system. Our news from Te Aroha contains some interesting items. Mr Yate, who is r ported to be missing, was formerly with Messrs Wells and Soutter, of Cambridge, and not long ago, purchased their branch business at Waiorongomai. A Supplementary Gazette contains a proclamation from the ActingGovernor, specifying the rural lands which have ooun set aside for sale or selection in various districts under the Land Act Amendment Act of hist session. The Cambridge Library Committee met on Thursday evening, and appointed Mr IT. W. Wen by librarian, protein, during the temporary absence of Mr John Duds through illness. We are requested to state that iiny parishioners of 8. l'eter's who may not have received an invitation to the parish picnic on Tuesday, should communicate with the Incumbent or either of the Churchwardens. A little boy, four years of age, son of Mr Donald Monro, of Paterangi, was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday lust, suffering from a soveia incised wound on the ball of the font, inflicted about two weeks ago by running i'.2;;inst a scythe. A supplementary Gazette, tfatsd January 27th, contains the new scale of fares, rates and charges, which came into operation on the New Zealand Railways on the (>th inst. jt.is a ponderous publication of 5G pages full of tables and regulations. The epidemic at Cambridge Wesfc turns out to bn. n very bad case of thn itch. It was reported to have broken out in two families, but such jsnot the fact, as ono was merely mosquito bites. The school lias be>'ii thoroughly disinfW;ted, and will b.e I ie-opvnuU on Monday morning,

We acknowledge the receipt of copies of a pamphlet by " W..T.5.,"0f Auckland, on True Parliamentary Representation. What is il? How to obtain it. This is a large subject which has been attracting public attention lately, and to which we will again refer later. Oh Thursday evening the Cambridge Band played in the domain grounds from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. The performance was very creditable, and showed that the member's must have been practicing assiduously. Tho public attended in large numbers'and seemed greatly pleased with the performance. A trial of Messrs Hornsby's latest improved harvester will be held on Wednesday next, at Mr Jivines Taylor's farm, Cambridge. It will be seen on reference to the advertisement that settlers are requosted to bring other machines to compete with Messrs Hornsby's, so that farmers can judge as to the relativo merits of the different machines. The Annual Harvest Thanksgiving Services will be held in S. Peter's Church, Hamilton, to-ircorrow as follows :— S a.m., Holy Communion; 11 a.m., Moruing Prayer and choral celebration; 3 p.m., children's service; 7 p.m., evensong, (full, choral). The Ven. Archdeacon Dudley will preach the sonnons. Gifts of fruit and llowers will be received to-dny, and workers for the decorations should also attend at the church. The following company order has been posted :—Hamilton Light Infantry : Promotions: Sorgt. George Pearson to be colour-sergeant, vice G. White (resigned); lance-sergeant J. Burke to bo sergeant, vice G. Pearson (promoted); enrol. J. McGuire to be lance-sergeant, vice J. Burke (promoted) ; Inncc-corpor.il Hinea to be corporal, vice J. McGuire (promoted); and private J. Eyes to be lance-corporal, vice R. Hines (promoted). We regret to learn that Cavalry Drill-instructor Carly has received intimation that, in view of retrenchment, his services will be discontinued from the inst. This is a case that will press very hard upon one who has served the Government YA years in New Zealand, and 21 years in "the Imperial service, especially as lie has a large family to support, several of which are under 13 years of age, and he has only been given three weeks' notice. There was an excellent attendance at the Library meeting last night which was held ostensibly for the purpose of electing a new commmittee for the current year, but the most valuable tima of the evening was wasted in useless talk on extraneous matters. For instance, what iu the name of sense has the question of public abattoirs to do with library management? But the irrepressible loquacity of some, people, combined with a craving for publicity of their utterances, will lead them into any absurdity. We understand that the Hamilton East School Committee have refused to sanction a holiday on Tuesday next, the day on which S. Peter's parish and school picnic will be held at the lake. The committee, of course, are free to exercise their own judgment in the matter, but as the children will n» doubt take the holiday, it will appear like inflicting a, punishment on Mr Stevens and his assistant, teachers for sins they have not committed, for the reason that his salary will be alfected by the non-attendance of his classes. The Taieri Advocate says: - Barbed wire has its usefulness, but it has its bad qualities also. When conversing with a Dunedin saddler the other day, he told us that owing to the damaged condition of the hides, through the bullocks being injured by barbed wires, he was afraid he would be compelled to cease purchasing New Zealand leather, and fall back entirely upon the Victorian article. Barbed wire makes such horrid scars and rips in the hides that a largo amount of leather has to cut to waste. Something ought to be done to prevent the wholesale robbery of persons who have bush property, etc., nnar Hamilton. In particular, it appears that a perfect raid is being made upon Dr. Carey's timber, ti-tree bush, and rushes. \Ve have been informed that nearly all the stacks round and about Hamilton have been thatched with rushes so obtained. We would advise offenders to make some arrangement with the owners of such property, as by helping themselves they run the risk of being prosecuted, particularly as the material may be bad, if required, on very reasonable terms. The Cambridge tennis tournament was 'jontiniied on Thursday by Mc-srs Bull and Porter, who played level. The game was. a must excitintr one, and at the end of tho three sets the score itood :—Bull and Porter respectively, (i—s, (i—4, 3—li. Each one having won ]."> games, it was agreed to decide it upon an extra set, which was won by Porter, who scored 0 to Bull's 5. The sot was very close, each one scoring alternately, every game but one being deuce. Yesterday Wilson and Parry played, the sets being (!— 3, (s—ii, 3 —l, Wilsc n thus won by 15 games to Y2. A correspondent says : — The Mayor of Cambridge is very anxious to arrange for the ladies to have the use of the bathing place on tho Waikato River, below Major Wilson's grounds, from 12 a.in to 4 p.m., and seems greatly annoyoi that a number of gentlemen who use it during the afternoon will not consent to give way, and says they are very ungallant. The gentlemen cannot be blamed fur sticking to their hour, as last year when a time was set apart for the ladies it was very seldom used ; and indeed the road is not tit fur ladies to travel, as there have been several landslips that necessitate a considerable amount of climbing. If the mayor is anxious to gain the favour of the ladies let him appoint a special time for them at Moon's waterfall, as there is a good road to that place, and the double benelit of the fall aud the river. A tournament between the members of the Hamilton Tennis Club will be commmenced on the Club's Courts this afternoon. Wo are glad to see, from the large number of entries, that such general interest is taken in the affair. The handicapping was done by Messrs von Stunner, J.S. Edgecumbe, Wallnutt, and DrMurch, and judging from the expression of opinion of the competitors, they seem to have given general satisfaction. The pairs were drawn yesterday afternoon, with the following result : -li. F. Sandes plays H. Hume, T. Wallnutt plays J. S. Edgecumbe, K. Brookh'eld plays P. 15. Stevens, Dr Murch plays E. C. Forbes, l>. Fioud plays W. T. Forbes, W. von Stunner plays R. J. Gwynne, and S. McLernon stands out. Play will commence at 4 o'clock, nnd players aie requested to turn up punctually. Two of Wolseley's sheep-shearing machines have been fitted up this season at the Galloway Station, AVoolshed, Otago, and are worked by Messrs Brown and Sheppard, who have had experieivce in Australia. The Dunstan Times says :—The machine itself is about 'Jin long, and is a wonderful little instrument, and can be used with equal facility upon any part of a sheep as the ordinary tsheepshears. The way in which tho shearing is done is truly amazing, the wool rolling off in front of the cutter like corn before a reaping machine. The points are taken off evenly and cleanly at one cut, and from round the horns and ears every particle of wool is removed ; and if seond cuts are not altogether avoided the waste of wool in that way is reduced to a fraction of that caused in hand-shearing. Two ordinary well-shorn ewes were solectod from tho yard, and the machine run over them ; the result being that and 15oz respectively was obtained. Several of the shearers left their places and saw this done, and were perfectly amazed. One of them, with a laudable desire to maintain the reputation of hand-shearing, sheared .'mother ewe, talcing all tho wool oft' which he possibly could —and taking too, a long time in doing so. When finished he brought it down to the machine, declaring that no more than 2oz could be taken otf, but the tell-tale machine showed liioz as the result. What the gain in wool would be off a whole flock when so much extra can be obtained from ewes, almost staggers one to think of. We have seen the new product saccharine, which is three hundred times sweeter than ordinary sugar. It is also many bundled times dearer, being quoted at from six to ten shillings per oz, therefore it will be a considerable time before the common article is superseded by it. Referring to saccharine, the Christchurch Press says :—" It is a greyish powder made from coal-tar, and is not the least wonderful of the many wonderful substances which modern chemistry has succeeded in evolving from that apparently substance. Saccharine is 300 times sv/eeter than sugar, and according to the statement of the makers it is invaluable, not only in pharmacy, but also in all domestic uses, fruit preserving, browing, wine-fortifying, tobacco-sweetening, mineral wator?, coprliaN, essences, kc. It is further cl.iiined that it is superior to sngfar jn inany respects, inasmuch ns it is unferinentable and un.ciystajlisabie. Further, it has no effect on j

the appetite or digestion, and people constitutionally unable to take sugar may, it is said, indulge in saccharine without fear. It has to be used sparingly. Less than a grain is sufficient to sweeten a cup of tea or coffee, and one of our staff who unthinkingly swallowed a small mouthful of the drug is believed to have converted himself into a perennial fountain of sweetness, and to bo now in a position to dispense with sugar in any shape or form for twelve months at least. Now that sugar is advancing in price, housekeepers and manufacturers will no doubt give saccharine a trial. We understand that the makers have just contracted for i>o tons, equal to 15,000 tons of sugar, for the supply of the grocery trade only.