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Waikato Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 2678, 10 September 1889, Page 2

The Waikato Farmers' Club met at Cambridge last evening, a report of the proceedings will appear in our next issue. At the regular drill of the Hamilton Light Infantry this evening, several non - commissioned officers will ba appointed. A special meeting of the Piako County Council will be held at the County office, Cambridge, at 11 a.m. on Saturday, the 14th inst. 15usiness: Making bye-law re traction engines ; raising Patetere special rate to l-10th of a penny in the £. An oidiuary meeting will be held at 11.15 a.m.

No trace whatever can be found of the missing Cambiidge railway porter, and it is pretty certain that ho must have fallen into the Waikato. On Saturday the police opened his box at the house where he had lived, but did not find anything that would lead anyone to suppose that he had contemplated suicide.

By an error in'our local columns 011 Saturday, the wrong day was named for the meeting of the Archdiuconal Conference. The Conference meets at Cambridge, this day (Tuesday) at 4 p.m., at S. Andrews' school-room. The evening session will be held in tho Church, owing to the Masonic Lodge having arranged their meeting for this eveuing, by mistako.

The prorogation of Parliament is ixpccted to take place on Friday.

Paul te Amohau, a leading Ngativhakaue chief of Rotorua died on Thursday igoil 85. A big tangi is to be held.

Messrs J. B- Whyte, Fulton, and Captain Russell aro mentioned in conueclion with tho vacancy in tho Cabinet. Captain Russell is considered the most likely candidate.

A boy named Blom, in Napier, was stabbed in the abdomen by another boy ii.miod llutton, in a quarrel. The affair is considered serious. Both boys are undor 14 years of age.

Mr Hislop will be opposed at the Oamaru election by Air W. M. Firth, his former opponent, and Mr Dunn tho Mayor. MrJJellicoe, tho Wellington lawyer, is also announced to stand.

An elderly couple named Heath man, in Timarn, lay down together in their house and committed 3uicide, by taking laudanum. Thoy wore discovered after being missed 12 days.

It is stated that a man named Pearco, a plasterer, a native of Brixham, Lower Devon, and whoso address is at present unknown, is entitled to a sum of one million foil- hundred thousand pounds, by tho death of a clergyman in Sydney.

Mr J. Parr is collecting subscriptions in Hamilton, in aid of tho London strikers, and has met with fair success. It Is suggested that the Rev. Mr Garland should repeat his recent sermon on the question in the Public Hall, Hamilton, in tho form of a lecture, which would be largely supported, and tend to excite public sympathy to a greater extent. Mr Parr will be glad to receive subscriptions from sympathisers, before forwarding the sum in hand.

The Napier Daily Telegraph says : —The thrilling news comes from Oamaru that the express train from Christehurch ran into and killed a cow yesterday. The cow surely must have been asleep, but if it was a fair catch-up-and-run-to-a-fiuish business, what may we not expect of our railways in the distant future '! And yet some people say that the management has not improved under the Commissioners ! This is nonsense, and the old cow killed at Oamaru proves it.

The annual general meeting of the Cambridge Lawn Tennis Club was held on Saturday. The attendance was small, owing to the inclement weather. Tho balance sheet was read and adoptod ; and the following officers were appointed: Secretary, Mr H. Wilson; Committee, Messrs, F. .T. Brooks, F. W. Cooke, T. Hartlv, and Dr. Moon. The opening day of the'season will be Saturday, tho 21st. inst., when all are invited to attend. We aro pleased to learn the Club has a credit balance in hand.

A painful accident happened on Saturday morning last, to a Maoii working at a Raglan flax mill, by which be had his arm crushed from the shoulder. Ho was brought ill to the AVaikato Hospital late on Saturday night, where the limb was amputated and everything done by Dr. Kenny to relieve the sufferer. He, however, died at 4 a.m. yesterday morning, The cause, we hear, was attributed to great loss of blood, as he in such a weak state when he arrived at the Hospital, that it was considered unsafo to administer choloform. He was quite conscious up to within a short time of his death.

Miss Julia Knight gave the Catholics of Cambridge a treat on Sunday by singing in their Church. At the morning service she took the whole of the vocal music, no members of the choir being present. At vespers some slight assistance was given her, but we certainly think that the singers of the Catholic congregation were wanting in courtesy to let a visitor take the whole of the singing of a trying service by herself. Miss Knight has a full rich contralto voice of great power and range, and wn are pleased to learn that she is going to Melbourne to be further instructed, after which she will doubtless make her mark in the singing world. We wish her every success.

The Wellington Evening Press gives us the following bit of literary gossip: " We learn by tho San Francisco mail that Mr E. Wakefield, on the 13th July, concluded an agreement with Messrs Cassolls and Co., of London, New York, and Melbourne, to print his book, "New Zealand After Fifty Years." The book will be printed octavo size and contain 40 illustrations of New Zealand subjects. The work has been placed in hand at once, and the book is to be brought out at the oarhest possible date. It will be a much more complete and attractive work than at first contemplated, and tho fact that so celebrated a firm as Cassells are undertaking the publication of it is a guarantee of its merit and success." A writer of Educational Notes in an Invercargill paper, in condemning the scholarship system asks : —" Is it sending a boy or a girl to a High School to get a smattering of Latin, or Greek, or Algebra, or Euclid, or any other of the many subjects of the syllabus that look so much and may mean so little —is that the Alpha and the Omega of a scholarship ? Is it worth spending twenty or forty pounds a year that a lad or a lass may acquire a species of learning that soon after leaving the school will be entirely forpotton, that —unloss as necessary preparation for a learned profession—is comparatively valueless ?" 11a would, as an alternative to this system, make higher education free for all children who pass the primary schools creditably.

One of the Karikariki natives, who has- of late exhibited decided signs of destructive mania, by attempting to burn down wbares, destroy pigs, • chase horses, cattle, etc., yesterday made an attempt on the life of one of his friends, by trying to stab him with a long pole, the point of which he had sharpened for the purposo, and was only prevented from carrying out his design by thointerference of a number of other natives who wore present. The native whoso life he had threatened came into Hamilton this morning, and reported the matter to Constablo Wild, who at onco accompanied him to ICarikariki to arrest the unfortunate lunatic, who has established a sort of reign of terror among his friends. Constable Wild returned to Hamilton with his prisoner, Tera, at S p.m., ha will propably be brought before the Court this morning.

Last evening Professor P. J. Durney gave an exhibition on skates at the Acme'llink, Hamilton. The attendance was not as large as the excellence of the exhibition merited, but the professor went through the various feats, as advertised, in full. His first appearance was in trick and fancy skating, some of the performances being remarkably clever, especially his chair-jumping and somersault throwing. After a short interval he appeared in his stilt skating, for which he has justly earned fame throughout the colony, the various feats being neatly and cleverly executed. Following this the professor gave a very amuiing impersonation of Miss Sylvester, the renowned lady skater, and in this his skipping, which was extremely good, was loudly applauded. As a finale tho laughable sketch of "The Dude," or, "The experiences of a young man learning to skate," was given, and the various contortions which aro displayed by new hands at rinking were imitated by tho professor. In this, instead of the usual skates, the professor wears a pair of toy waggons, and how he managed to make way at all is wonderful.

An important point (says the Melbourne Argus) is raised by tho increased duty on oats and barley, and that is the complete wnut of consideration shown to New Zealand in our tariff alterations. The neglect to study our relations with New Zealand in felt by the mercantile world to be a grave mistake. New Zealand has entered into a new poriod of prosperity, which is evinced by the fact that she is now exporting far more per head of population than Victoria. During the past half year, indeed, the absoluto amount of her exports, irrespective of population, was largely in excess of ours, the figures comparing as follows : — New Zealand, £5,022,283 ; Melbourne (tho export trade of which forms nearly the whole of of Victoria), £4,42!), 123. The recovery of New Zealand, by means of her enhanced productiveness, from depression will greatly •nlarge her import trade, and would possibly increase her connection with Victoria, under favouring conditions. The exports from Melbourne to New Zealand have become so shrunken that no encourage-

ment offers for shipping enterprise, and it results, therofore, that it costs more to send goods thero than it does to bring: them from the United Kingdom, which is a severe handicap fur tho Melbourne merchant. But if intercourse were fostered there would be a larger trade between the two colonies, which would be further promoted by a consequent reduction of freights. To the Victorian mauufacturer New Zealand offers a market at present only second to that of Now South Wales, and probably in Iho near future it will be a bettor oue.

At a certain skating rink the other evening, says a Wairarapa paper, as a fair skater completed her hundredth round, there was a wild scene of several rinkists falling over a somewhat preAdnmitft gentleman in gaiters, who boldly stemmed the lido of skaters till he met the

lady—his wife. Without a remark of any kind ho clutched her in his arms, skates

and all, and carried her out of the rink, She has not returned since.

The Parliamentary correspondent of the Otngo Daily Times states "that the Defence. Minister has been urged by Captain ■ Ru.-sell to increase the salaries o! officers commanding volunteer districts to such an amount as would enable the officers to give all tlniir tune to their work MiFergus promised that the Government wonkl take tho matter into their favourable consideration when preparing the estimates." This practically means the selection of officers from England and elsewhere who have had a regular military training. It might bo that in a few cases those at present in charge of the districts would bo offered the position, but this could only be done in the case of those having a full and practical knowledge of tho work. Of course in some instances it would not pay to throw up a lucrative business for the salary to be offered. If Captain Russell's suggestion is carried out we hope that in every respect suitable men will be procured to fill tho posts, as the future success of the volunteer movement in New Zealand will greatly depend on those selected.