NEW YEAR'S DAY.

There will be no publication of the Guardian on Friday, January I—New Year's Day.

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1891. THE MELBOURNE FINANCIAL CRISIS.

As the details come out respecting the financial institutions in Melbourne which have lately come to grief, the unmitigated rottenness of the -whole land boom business isshown. The com panies seem to have been formed for the (purpose of enabling their managers and secretaries to gamble in land, and in many cases* not even the directors appear to have known how the share holders' and depositors' money was squandered. The one solitary fact tliat is quite clear is that the money is gone. The ruin that has been caused by the failure of these societies is very great, but it is confined to Melbourne. There was no land boom in the country districts, and very few country people invested or deposited in the finaijc'al companies that sprang up during ihe boom. The country districts of Vic toria, indeed, were never more pros perous. They had a good harvest last year and tKis year's promises to be quite as good, and farm lands did not come within the scope of these com panics operations, so that the holders Are not affected by the trouble. What the urisis means t ) some peop!« may be gatlwred from the fact that shares in almost all these concerns, even jtli^sfi which are declared to be solvent, aw* unsaleable at ,any price. The Premier, Mr Munro, UoHs U% one company I^,ooo shares paid up to lQ* t which during the boom period were (fi £$ to '£% but are now selling at one pem'xy. Hit 11, fi. Davies, the Speaker of the Assembly, * position to which heissaidLto have heefi 4ppointed on account of his groat wealth, i*xt been brought to the necessity of resuming the practice of his proCe^fJon as a soli f. t<ir,. Fail ur^g of large «»e«^fat^i'sp aj'ij

of daily occurrence, and the depositors wbosemoney, if not lost, is locked up for an indefinite period are in sad straits. Business is paralysed, and the situation is most serious. The frauds that have been exposed are not the least part of the trouble, and it has not yet been ascer tained how far they have extended. At the height of the excitement an Act was passed with the expressed intention of preventing solvent com panies from being compulsorily placed in liquidation l»y a panic-stricken creditor. Under this Act, a petition for liquidation must be supported by at least one-third of the creditors, instead of, as under the old law, and as in England, a single credicor. The Premier and the Speaker made the explanations at a meeting of members of Parliament, which enabled the measure to pass both Houses in a single sitting. Since that time two of the- Premier's companies and one of the Speaker's have suspended payment, and it is now stated that the reason that the Act was passed was to prevent enquiry being made into the affairs of these and other companies which are in difficulties. The state of the whole of this section of the financial system of Melbourne is, as we have said, utterly rotten, and it will be long before it can become purified.

LOCAL AND GENERAL

An advertisement in another column enquires for information respecting Mrs Matthew Ferguson, sister of Ann Sherlock. The half-bi ¥ed Jersey cow belonging to Mr Mulford, Harnpstead, a few days ago dropped two fine perfectly devoloved bull calves; cow and calves doing well. ( The Carisbrook cricket team had decidedly the worst of their match with the Lancaster Park Club. The Christohurch eleven scored 156 in their first innings, and the Dunedin eleven scored first innings 98 and second inning 3, for eight wicket 3, 38.

The many friends of Mr J. H. Morrison, the manager of the Mosgiel Wollen Factory, will be interested in learning that he was married on Tuesday to Miss Edith Hobbs, th« eldest daughter of Mr Frederick Hobbs, of Chriatchurch.

Acceptances for the Handicaps and Entries for the Maiden Plate and Novel Race at the Tinwald Race Meeting, on New Year's Day, close at Tinwald Hotel this evening at nine o'clock.

It will be sesn by advertisement that the Akarman Company intend giving another performance on Thursday and on New Year's Night. The latter is to be followed by a ball, to which those holding front seat tickets will be admitted free.

St Mark's Church, Wellington, was robbed on Christmas Day of the white attar-

cloth used in the administration of the Holy Comm union. The theft was committed while the church was left open in the afternoon.

It is officially stated that the fror.cn meat traffic has to some extent affected tiie railway revenue, but the returns still keep well up with those of last year, and the Railway Commissioners are sanguine that their estimate will be realised.

On Christinas Day, a man named Leonard Price was arrested at Wellington on a charge of .assaulting, with intent to io v, George Thomas at Pahiatua on the 6th inst. Accused was brought before Mr Robinson, R.M., on Boxing Day, anil remanded to Pahiatua, where he is to appear on January 2. Bail was aUowed for his appearance on his own bond of £40 and sureties of a similar amount.

A correspondent" of the "Washington Star." who has been studying the subject •f getting rid of fleas, gives this as the resu t of his investigations :—" If those who aie troubled with this insect will place the com mon adhesive fly paper on the fioor3 of the rooms infested, with a small piece of fresh meat in the centre of each sheet, they will find that the fleas will jump towards the intat and adhere to the paper. I completely rid a badly infested house in two nights b)' this means.

An inquest was held at Sanday, Bedford shire, recently, on the body of a, schoolboy aged eleven, who committed suicide by drowning. He attended the National schools, but having lately played truant his father sent a note to the schoolmaster on the subject. The boy afterwards told another boy that he was afraid either to go home or to go to school, and should drown himself. The father said he believed too much work at school unhinged the boy's mind. A verdict of " Suicide while ot .unsound mind " was returned.

A few days ago a cable message dated from Ottawa was published stating that the Canadian Athletic Association would give a cordial welcome to a team of New Zealai d athletes in 1892. As there is no intention of the proposed team visiting Canada it was thought that the cable message had been mutilated in transmission, which proved to be the caae. The tnessage referred to the English Amateur Athletic Association, and should have read as follows :—" London, December 14. The Amateur Athletic Association has decided to extend a cordial welcome to a team of New Zealand athletes who contemplate a visit to England during the year 1892."

The Melbourne boy, Alfred Jesse Mayo, who retained such extraordinary vitality after being shot in the head, died on December 20, after nearly a month from the time of his injury. A gun exploded while his brother was playing with it, and despite the fact that the full charge of shot lodged j in his brain, portions of which protruded through the hole in the forehead, he retained his consciousness, and answered cheerfully and intelligently all the questions put to him. The autopsy of the body showe.l a hole in the left temple an inch in diameter, connecting with a large abscess, in which had accumulated some fragments of bone and several flattened pellets of shot. The left side of the brain was inflamed.

I The popular tnarrier of Melbourne (says i the "Qtago Daily Times" correspondent) lis Mr Nathaniel Kinsman, of Fitzroy. I Religiously he claims to be the head of the ' Free Church of England in Victoria, and ; secularly he follows the profession of an auctioneer. His fee is 2s 6d, his church is a room over the auction mart, and -his wife ; is always on the premises to accommodate 'as witness. Some rather disquieting disclo sures concerning this wholesale celebrant of the marriage tie have recently been made in Parliament. He is declared to have married a drunken man to a girl whose condition was such that a husband was a necessity. I The Bishop of the Free Church has written to the Attorney-general to say that "Mr f Kinsman does not belong to our church, and | he is not even ordained in any sense or by ! any ecclesiastical authority ;" while of two | persons who have been also licensed to perform {fiarriages upon his recommendation as alleged head of a church, one ia believed I to have been licensed under a false name.

At the last meeting of the Royal Humane Society of Australasia the following awards to New Zealand were made : —Silver medal: to John White, of Opotiki, JSlew Zealand, a storekeeper, aged 40 years, who rescued ■ Robert., Rawsou, of Opotiki, aged 18 years, from drowning at the Opotiki bar on August 15, 1891. Bronze medal to William Night ingale, of Oainani, New Zealand, railway employee, aged 45 years, tor attempting to rescue a man from drowning in the Oitniaru Harbor on'the night of September 26, 1891. Hearing cries for help from the harbor he immediately jumped in and swam IGO yards, ami at once brought the man back, but found he was dead. Certificate of merit to John Dyer, of Oamaru, New Zealand, constable, aged 34, who assisted Willian Nightingale ; j to William Maloney, of Westport, New Zealand, a laborer, aged 24 years; Henry Huckstep, of same place, a laborer, age.l 32 years ; Michael Brady, of Cape Fowlwind, New Zealand, a quarryman, aged 21 years, who rescued John Bennett, of Ngakawau, a laborer, aged 30 years, from drowning at Cape Fowlwinrl, on September 5, 1891. Says tha London correspondent of the "Star " :—" A north country doctor of some standing recently informed me that he intended to settle in Tsevr Zealand and practice there, saying also that he concluded, from information he had received, that Palmerston or Fox ton would be the best place for his purpose. Knowing that both towns mentioned are extraordinarily healthy, I suggested they were scarcely 'pitches ' to be desired from a medical point of view, unless indeed he could take out with him a J selected assortment of baccilli and introduce them to the inhabitants. Last week the worthy medico wrote me that he had abandoned the idea of settling either in Foxton or Palmerston, and had decided to try his hand in Wellington, which place he was told was not' abominably healthy.

LATEST CABLE NEWS.

HOME AND FOREIGN.

(PKR PRESS ASSOCIATION.)

December 30, 10.30 a.in.)

(Received RUSSIAN CONSPIRACY.

St. Petersburg, December 29. A conspiracy against the life of the Czar has been discovered in Poland, and a large number oE public officials, students,and officers have been arrested for complicity in the affair.

THE JEWS IN RUSSIA.

The Governor of Moscow has refused to renew the permits which were issued to Jews some time ago, allowing them to reside in that province. One hundred thousand Jews in other dis tricts are reduced to a state of beggary by the strict enforcement of the harsh decrees.

THE INFLUENZA.

Stockholm, December 29. The Duke of Wermland, the Crown Prince, takes temporary charge of the Government during the illness of the King, who is suffering from influenza. Rome, December 29. The influenza is very prevalent in Northern Italy. Mew York, December 29. Twenty thousand cases of influenza have been reported during the last few clays in the State of Ohio.

PACIFIC STEAMER LOST.

San Francisco, December 29. The Pacific Company's stsamer Managua has been lost on the coast of San Salvador. The crew were saved.

(Received December 30, 11.30 a.m.)

THE RAUB PAHANG RIOT.

Singapore, December 29. The rioters in Raub P<ihan<? took to the jungle after seizing the food in the mining stores.

THE ROYAL WEDDING.

London, December 29. Members of the royal families of Denmark, Wurtemberg, and Belgium will attend the marriage of the Duke of Clarence and Avondaleand Princess Mary of Tec It. The Empress Frederick of Germany will aho be present at the ceremony.

DUKE OF KENT.

Prince George of Wales will shortly be created Duke of Kent.

LORD RANDOLPH CHURCHILL.

There is a great outcry against the possible appointment of Lord Randolph Churchill to the post of British Ambas sador at St. Petersburg, in succession to Sir R. Morier.

MR SPURGEON'S HEALTH.

Rev C. H. Spurgeon is slowly im proving in health.

AUSTRALIAN.

(Received December 30, 11.45 a.m.)

DESTRUCTIVE BUSH FIRES.

Sydney, December 30. A.n immense amount of property has been destroyed by bush fires in the Narandsra district, about 350 miles inland. One fire swept everything before it for thirty miles. One death is reported. Melbourne, December 30. Sixty thousand acres of grass and large areas of standing crops in the Kyabram district, 123 miles north of Melbourne, have been burnt by bush fires.

THE VICTORIAN AGENT GENERALSHIP.

Speculation is rife regarding the ap pointment of a successor to Sir Graham Berry as Agent-General. Indications point to Mr Munro, the Premier, ac cepting the position.

CRICKET.

Lord Sheffield's team defeated twenty of Ballarat by an innings and I«3<£ runs.

TO-DAY'S TELEGRAMS.

[PER PRESS ASSOCIATION.]

Taraitstki I'nulr. Njbw Plymouth, December SO. Men for saving grass seed are required, but are nob obtainable. A pound a day is offered at Stratford. The tradespeople in town and all the townships on the coast; speak of doing better business this year thin they hava ever before known. Ono bank at Stratford was cleared out of money. Altogether this Christmas lias been a brisk and good one. . fatal I»ol»oiiii»«\ Mastrutos, Fjioembar 30. A sad case of poisoning occurred at Pahiafcua on Christmas Day, when the whole of the guests of Mr E. Taylor, Avhoae daughter's wedding was being celebrated,, were attacked with violent vomiting and other symptoms of poisoning after dinner. Medical aid was immediately summoned, find the victiuis were thought to be pr> gres.sing favorably, but ksj, night two deaths resulted, Joseph Moore!,' member of the County Council, and Mr Dickson, }f,iW<igev of the Wholesale Drapery Co., succumbing \.o the effects of the poison, which U supposed to l).%yp been accident ally mixed, in, QJuistmw'j»wWw&

TELEGRAPHIC.

HOME AND FOREIGN

I PER PRESS ASSOCIATION

NEW ZEALAND MUTTON. London, December 29. Wflddel's circular complains of tho quality of New Zealand frozen oiutton, which it asserts is even lower than last year, while, on tho other hand, the Australian and River Plate has im proved. AN IMPENDING STRIKE. " The Times " states that the colliers and miners in. South Wales hare quarrelled relative to the basis of the sliding scale payment, and unless n compromise is arranged before the end ,of the year 100,000 colliers will be idle.

ENGLISH PARTY LEADERS. I The Marquis of Hartington, who has succeeded to the title of Duke of Devonshire, will remain leader of the Liberal Unionists, and Mr Chamber lain will be leader of the party in the House of Commons. LORD RANDOLPH CHURCHILL. The " Standard ".asserts that Lord Randolph Churchill aspires to the posi tion of diplomatic representative, and may probably be appointed to St, Petersburg to succeed Sir R. Morier, who has beer transferred to Rome. It, however, considers that it would be rather a risky experiment. PRINCE CHRISTIAN'S ACCI DENT.

Prince Christian was not shooting, but simply advising his son, when a shot from the Duke of Connaught's gun glanced off a tree and struck him !in the eye, He is progressing fairly i well, but will not be removed from I Osborne for several weeks. ' OBITUARY. Mr JT. Cellier, the composer, died after finishing the music to " The Mountebank," which is to be produced ! on Thursday night. Berlin, December 28. Sir W. A. White, British Ambas sador at Constantinople, died of in fluenza while visiting his daughter in this city.

THE UNITED STATES AND CHILI.

Valparaiso, December 28. The Chilian Government is likely to propose that the dispute with the United States be referred to arbitra tion, December 29. The Chilian Government interpret the absence of the United states Minister from the ceremony at the proclamation of the Chilian President as an act of discourtsey. Tlie followers of the late General Balmaceda are said to be holding secret meetings.

WRECKS AND LOSS OF LIFE.

Madrid, December 29

A storm has been experienced off the coast of Valencia, during which fifteen vessels were wrecked and fifty persons di owned. A SPANISH LOAN. A Spanish loan lias been successfully floated.

LYNCHING.

New Yokk, Decemßer 28.

An infuriated mob rescued from the custody of the Sheiiif seven outlaws, charged with robbery in Alabama, and hanged the whole of them.

THE PAMIR EXPEDITION.

Calcutta, December 29. The British forces at Gilgit, in Western Thibet, which was threatened by Pamir tribesmen, gallantly stormed several positions near Fort Nilt, with out losing a man, while the loss on the side of the enemy was seventy killed, and ono hundred and twenty taken prisoners. The tribesmen lied to Nagar, where the Chief submitted.

FRANCE AND BULGARIA.

Paxis, December 29. In the Chamber of Deputies to-day, M. Ribot, Minister of Foreign Affairs, In referring to the difficulty with Bul garia, stated that the French Govern ment would take a determined attitude in the matter.

AQUATIC.

Ottawa, December 29,

O'Connor, the sculler, has issued a challenge to row anyone in the world for a purse of £1000 a-side,

AUSTRALIAN.

THE VICTORIAN PARLIAMENT. Mjelboukne, December 29. Parliament was prorogued to-day.

INTERPROVINCIAL.

Auckland, December 29. The inquest on the body of Maloney having ended in a verdict of " Accidental death,, .no. blame being attached to any one," the charge of murder preferred against Kelly has been withdrawn, and he has been released from custody. A girl of fourteen, named Ivy Haggard, has been drowned in the Kaihu Creek, near Dargaville. Duneoin, December 29. Robert Higman, a Salvation Army captain, was drowned to-day at thf Port Chalmers baths while bathing. Robert Hepburn, his companion, tried to save him, but failed. Higman was forty-three years of age, aud leaves a widow 1 and 1 three children, The barque Inverurio, from Santos, called ab Ofcago Heads and was ordered to proceed to Napier. She reported that the captain had died on November 11 from yellow fever, and that several of the crew had also suffered, but were recovering.

FARM NOTES.

The English agricultural correspon dent of the " Witness," writing on Octo ber 31, says :—As I write, the long; period of rainy weather (five months in duration) which we have experienced appears to be at an end. At any rate we have had a respite for a few days, and appearances are indicative «f frost rather than of rain. There is no security, however, and as likely as not the rain may be pouring down again by the time that this lettot' is put into ihe post-box. The barometer and all signs of the weather have been "ab sea " during this extraordinary sea son. Time after lime we went to bed under a clear star-lit sky (with a roof in tervening for most of us), and woke to see the rain pouring down. For live we;iry } months we have suffered under a watery infliction almost without precedent. I believe it is no exaggeration to say that there was only once during the period a dry spell of more than three consecutive days, and that was when we had ten days of fine weather in September, a priceless boon which enabled farmers in the early districts to get up most of their corn. At the beginning of this week there were considerable Quantities ofl corn still un harvested in the North of England, and probably the fields are not wholly cleared even now. As for potatoes and mangels, which should be safely stored by this time, there is touch to be done before they will be all out of the way of possible frost. The land has been in such a boggy condition that caL-t ---ing over it has been hardly possible, and quite impossible without doing great damage. Consequently tew farmers have attempted to cart their mangels, and many have most of their late potatoes to secure. Wheat-sowing has hardly been begun, and unless we have an exception ally fine November, winter will be upon us before all the land intended for wheat has been planted. The heavy soils are quite unworkable at present where they have been ploughed, and some of them will not become workable until they have been touched by frost. The best chancu of getting wheat sown quickly is where the land has not been ploughed, as the harrows will work closely behind the ploughs after a few dry days. Bufc all work is . seriously in arrear, and the chances are that it will be stooped by show or frost before it is nearly finished All attempts at cleaning foul land by autumn cultivat'on.have been futile, at least as far as concerns weeds requiring dry weather to kill them. Altogether the season has been a very unfortunate one.

The large quantity of Australasian butter and cheese that is being imported into the United Kingdom (says a writer in the " Canterbury Times ") is causing English dairy farmers some perturbation. They have stuck, to tjheir effete methods of manufacture just as tenaciously as many New Zealand farmers have done, despite the teaching of dairying iiiscruo tors, and now they find that their produce is being supplanted by the machine-made Australian and New Zealand products, and they are being told that unless they re form their methods they will lose th"/ Home markets altogether. Old pre judices and customs must be given up and the latest systems adopted if their repu tation is to be maintained. Dairies must be properly situated and furnished, well ventil'iteci and well-drained ; the roof of some non-conducting material, such as thatch, and the floor of concrete or cement; the building placed far enough away to escape the smells from stables, cowhouses, pigsties, or henneries, and never to be used as a larder or for any other purpose than the storage and working <'f milk and its products. The creamer to be used in small, and ihe separator in larjre, dairies. Much the same advice is needed by '.iimy—pn> bably the most—of the New Zealand dairy farmers. The buyers of butter still •speak of the great number of samples of bad butter that are offered to them, and it is still difficult to get good butter at a country store, where, of all places, one would naturally expect to get the best. Even the practical inducement to improve that is given by the fact that while really good butler is commanding ninepence a pound or more for export, ordinary butter cannot be sold at more than fourpence to sixpence a pound—the export buyers re fusing to look at it afc any price—seems to be of no avail. Our A ustralian neighbors have seen which system is most to their advantage, and the Victorians have the satisfaction of hearing it said that their factory butter is the finest in the whole world, and is expected to command at least 140s per cwt (fifteen pence a pound; at Home during the present winter,

How to get rid of sorrel is a problem which has always exercised the minds of farmers in Victoria no less than in New Zealand, The remarkable vitality of the plant has caused many people to abandon all attempts of eradication, and even where land is well cultivated the crop yields are reduced considerably by the presence of this weed, which seems to grow with equal luxuriance in either rich or poor soil. Mr Thon,as Baker, the manager of Corunnun, has (says the " Leader ") succeeded in clearing a good deal of land that was infested with sorrel, and, by caveful attention, he hopes to thoroughly eradicate the plant, so far as the estate he manages is concerned. His plan is to work the land during hot weather with the "skimmer," an imple ment invented by the onion growers of the Portarlington district and used by them as the best means of cultivating the soil for the onion crop. He finds that it is labor in vain to attempt to get rid of sorrel in rainy or even in cool weather. The work must be done when the sun's rays are sufficiently powerful fco wither the plant when it is turned up. By carefully watching a field and working only on hot days, each successive growth of sorrel is killed as it appears, and paddocks that were formerly overrun with the weed are now entii'ely free from it. If the coil is moist and cool the sorrel will sprout again with undiminished vigor after each opera tion, but the combined effects of heat and the skimmer are too much for it, and the result is found in clean fields. As its name indicates, the skimmer is an imple ment designed for operating on the sur face soil only, though it can be set to stir the ground to a depth of three or four inches. It consists of n rectangular iron frame, to which are attached typ gteel knives, each about two and a half feet in length and set so as to form two sides of a triangle. The depth of'working is regu lated by a wheel, and handles at the end are used for guiding the implement. Onion growers use it because it provides a firm seed bed for the onions, preventing the bulbs from growing downwards in the soil, a point of great importance in the cultivations, of this necessary article of diet. As a means of overcoming sorrel, Mr Baker considers the skimmer an invalu able agent, and is of opinion that, with it any field can Ije cleared of this weed, pro vided it is attended to in hot dry weather.

MELBOURNE NOTES.

[FROM OUR CORRKSPONDENT.]

Melbourne. December 22. There are a, number of financiers bo be found in the columns of the Melbourne newspapers who know far more about the proper way of settling our bnl-incj sheet than these who have the work to do can pretend. All those gentry are qui'e certain that Mr Munro is going to ruin all present bondholders and all future chances of raising a loan by obtaining per mission to issue Treasury bonds to the extent of'two millions at four ar.d a half per cent. No doubt if he were to float a permanent loan to that amount at such a rate of interest three and a half per cents would drop in price considerably, bub the truth is of course that the bonds are merely short dated.bills to be issued in small parcels as wanted, a hundred thousand, pounds at a time, and in no case have they long enough to run to give the most speculative financier any temptation to tamper with his permanent investments to buy them. If, as the London stockbrokers pretend to expect, £8,000.000 in treasury bonds were sud denly asked for by the colonies in the London money market, there would no doubt be a great financial disturbance, chiefly because London has not just now much disengaged money, bub the truth is that in the first place the total sum required is little more than half the amount, and in the second it will be wanted, if at all, as far as Victoria is concerned, by such gentle instalments that fehe last batch will nob be floated until the June of 1898, to pay contracts then coming due. The agitators practi cally pretend to say that London could not lend us a hundred thousand pounds a month without disarranging everything. Even so late as this (Tuesday) morning it is by no means certain that the proroga tivn ot Parliament will take place before Christmas. The truth is that the Legis lative Council are making a quiet but very decided encroachment upon the powers of the Assembly, and the Ministry have no intention of letting the movement suc ceed. One amendment in * the Local Government measure may possibly en danger that important Bill. The Assem bly passed a clause extending the time of polling for Municipal Councillors to seven o'clock, expressly in order that workmen who are ratepayers might be able to vote. The Council, to whom such a suggestion is poison, threw it out. The Assembly disagreed with the amendment and the Council insist upon it. The Assembly is distinctly Radical, the Council grows more Conservative every day. No one wants to see trouble between them, but everybody fears it is at hand.  Last Christmas we thought we were badly oif; this Christmas we know ws are. Last year everybody could afford his annual holiday.; this Christmas most people are preparing to stay at home. Yesterday I went to buy a travelling bag Jrom a maker. He reminded me that last year I did the same thing. "Then," he said, "I had only two left, and you had to take one or the other. Now you can have your choice of two hundred and fifty, and yet I have not made nearly so many as we got ready for last Christmas. Trade is deaJ, that's what is the matter." Great excitement was caused last night , by a rumour which was circulated that Lark in the self-confessed robber of 1 some seventy thousand pounds from the [ South Melbourne Building Society, had ■ been let out on bail. The rumor turned out to be without fomndation, but the per sons interested aie determined to prevent his release, as it is believed that he has a very large amount of secreted property. He will therefore be immediately charged with one or two of the more heinous and heartless frauds he committed upon the poor persons whose money he received to kivcst in fcho $ cio'y b\\'. k p l. fjr himself. By these means the bail, already very heavy— £BQM in all, £4000 himself, and £4000 other'sureties—will'be increased to an impossible sum. It is asserted also that Taylor, who is charged with defraud ing the Land Credit Bank of £103,000, has large sums safely stored away, and the sudden disappearance of his wife gives color to the rumour. It is not unlikely to lead to her arrest if she can be found.

The Native Lands Question.

THE GOVERNMENT POLICY,

While in Auckland the Premier in formed an interviewer that the whole question of Native policy had been gone into at Wellington before the Ministers separated, and a general understanding was arrived at as to what should be done, but it Wds in the Native Minister's depart ment, and, of course, the matter was left to him to carry out and to make the announcement; to the Natives personally. Broadly speaking the Government would never suffer private speculators to go into the King Country and pick out or monopolise Native lands. The Govern ment did not ask the Natives to give endowments of land to the North Island Trunk railway. Europeans were not asked to endow railway lines, with blocks of land, and they proposed to deal with the Natives in that respect on the same footing as Europeans. All they asked of the Natives was to dispose of blocks alonff the line for the purpose of .settlement at a fair and reasonable price (cutting out the necessary inalienable reserves for the maintenance of the Natives), the lands so taken'to be paid for in bonds bearing 4£ per cent. That being done, the re" strictions would be taken off the balance of the Native lands, and the Natives would be free to sell or lease their lands to whom they pleased, the Government only interfering no far as to see the land cut up into, moderate blocks. That would be a course which would benefit Europeans and Natives alike, and which it would be wise for the Natives to adopt. They might, however, reject these proposals, and insuch a case the restrictions would be maintained. It will not be permitted that the Natives should continue to hold jjhe kfysof the country and t/o block settle-: ment, waiting till their lands were enhanced enormously in value by the labour and the exertions of the colonists.

ISLANDS NEWS

PER PBJSSS ASSOCIATION.

§Yn^Ti December $}. Arrive4—Archer, from the Islands. She reports that several gales have been experienced, which have done consider able damage to low-lying islands, While at Tokolau, in the Union group the captain of tin Archer heard that six Samcan chiefs, followers of Mataafa, who are exiled there, complained of the bad treatment to which they were subjected, and declared that they would prefer hanging to the present life they were leading. A quantity of wreckage of the tajis-sing schooner Uvta hag; been picked up at the Islands. ArcKLAND. December 30. Arrived—-Richmond from the Islands. Mr Moss, British Resident at Hervey Group, arrived by theyachtßeagle, which wenbto Honolulu fromSlelbournerecently. It was alleged that the absconding bank directors were at Tahiti whon \he Rich mond called there a fortnight ago. The owners denied the reports tha^ they h^ iajjeii awj|y the defaulting directors.

The Andaman Cyclone.

HEROISM OP FEMALE CONVICTS.

Calcutta telegrams give an appalling account of t.he disastrous effects of the cyclone which, early in the month, broke over Port Blair, famous as the scene of the assassination of Lor*! Mayo, Viceroy of India, by the convict Shed Ali in 1872. The .'■ettlemeiit-, which was first established after the Indian mutir.y, is ivw a very extensive one, and consists of a-large block of buildings, surrounded by smaller outlying houses. When at last ♦■he storm broke the Enterprise, a small iron steamer, belonging to the Tndirtn filirme was lying at her moorings in the lwrhour of Port Bl.iir, which is usually considered one of the safest in the Indian | seas. For several hours the vessel with stood the shock of the tornado, but at two o'clock in the morning of .November 2, a .terrific blnst .struck the ship and drove her adrift.' Nothing could then save her. Caught by the tornado, the fury of which at this time was beyond all conception, the Enter prise was swept along through immense seas, which every moment burst over her, and dashed upon the South Point x-eef, where she soon broke to pieces. There were eighty-three souls on board, thirteen officers and petty officers, and seventy 7 men. Out of this total only six Lascar seamen were saved, and these were rescued by an admirable act of courage. Close to the spot where the steamer was driven on the rocks is a small settlement for female convicts, and as the cyclone threatened to destroy tne buildings, these women were allowed to go doWn to the sh#»e. When the Enterprise broke up, and the crew were discerned struggling in the waves, the brave women formed them selves into a line, holding one another by the hand, and so, while the one end of this living chain remained on shore, Ihe other reached out far into the surf ready to seize and help the exhausted swimmers. It was solely to the gallant conduct of these female prisoners that the six survivors owe their lives. The bodies of the captain and three of the engineers, all of whom were Englishmen, have been since washed ashore.

English Opinion of New Zealand.

Mr John Roberts, C.M.G., of Dunedin, has just returned from a visit to England and Scotland, and lias of course been interviewed. In the «oursa of th« inter view, which was with a representative of the "Otago Daily Times,' Mr Roberts said; On my arrival in London I found in colonial circles a very general feeling of satisfaction -at the progress made by .New Zraland during the last four or five years; and the financial men ia London one and all were of opinion that this co'ony had shown a good example to all the other colonies by having adopted a cessation of borrowing and settled down in earnest to pay its waj. They were particularly emphatic in their praises of the industry and enterprise of the people, as shown in the vastly increased exports during the last three years. Some of them were inclined to look upon the imposition of the property tax with much disfavor at the time that it was imposed, from it 3 being a direct mode of taxation such as they had not been accustomed to, but after all they came to look upon it very much in the light of their own income tax, and had come to regard it as being, under the circum stances of the colony, a wise and neces sary enactment. Oh receipt of news fvoni this side of the abolition of the pro perty tux, and the imposition of a land and ii.come tax, seeing tney did not at the time know the exact, provisions of the new act—for I left London before the tax was fully understood, and at a time when but a few copies of the Act were to be had in England—they could not, of course, express any distinct opinion as to the wisdom of the new mode of taxation ; but one and all expressed themselves as firmly convinced that constant changes oi direct taxation were unwise. They asked : "Why not continue your property tas and vary that from time to time, either increasing or decreasing it. as the necessi ties of the country might demand." The income tax at Home is not by any mean* looked upon with favour, bub still all realise that the revenue derived from ii is a necessity, and as such ought to be borne. Of courso the income tax is in creased or decreased from year to yeai as the Chancellor of the Exchequer finds alterations necessary. Our property tax being based upon what is generally looked upon at Home as sound principle that every man should pay in proportion to his ability to pay, was regarded as being very much the same as the income tax ; and, as I have said, although when first instituted it was looked upan some what unfavourably, yet they have become accustomed to it, and sustained the burden it imposed cheerfully enough. The re peal of the property tax and the institu tion of a new system of taxation here is regarded as showing a desire on the part of the colonial Legislature to somewhat too hastily alter the incidence of direct taxation. Personally, I have not had time since my return to go minutely into all the provisions of the Act; so that I am iiotjprepfti'ed to say how far any direct cdlnplaints in reference to its provisions are justifiable, and my remarks with reference to it are only directed to show ing how people interested in the colony in England view any violent alteration of taxes which immediately affect ab sentees. The alteration of taxa-. tion in this colony has given those with whom I came in, contact an oppor tunity of expressing their opinion that changes in taxation of this nature are not desirable unless some really good ground for the alteration is manifest. The spirit of unregb which such alterations arb likely to generate has had with the larger bulk of the people with whom I came in con tact ti di&tinctly disquieting influence'; and several of those for whom I have acted for some years have expressed ft desjr^ to have their securities reajijjed upon. Per sonally, X am not altogether prepared to Lliisik that the alteration of the taxation will be go disastrous as somo people anti cipate, as money must be borrowed by the people in the colonies in order to conserve their interest* here, and the interest of borrowed money must of necessity be pro portionate to the risks ruu. At the same time, any distinct withdrawal qu the part of the English money lenders, tending as it cloos towards curtailing the amount of money available for investment, will, I oan see, tend also to the raising of (he rates of interest.

"THE GRIP."

A DIAGNOSIS THAT SUrtCEsTS FAMILIAR SYMPTOMS'. A writer in the " Weatern Medical Re porter " fapeiioualy writes :—Nature with ! a lavish hand, has endowed the human body with no less than sixteen million of spots to which an ache or pain can bs be attached. When each one of these spots, both inside and out, is filled with a hard platinum tipped pain ; when your head aches so that you ara conscious of all the ruffles and scallops on your braia, ;jusf as you see them in the picture^ \i\ your physiology ; when you.r heart thumps and, your stomach wobbles, and you. have the feeling that something la wallowing through yoi^r inside works ; when you,v sternum feels stove in, and, there is an uneasiness under your shoulder-blades as though your wings were beginning to sprout; when you are one moment alive to your finger-tips with. tl' t in|iiiig of the things you m^st get up and do, and the

thought of doing them ; when your back bone has the sensation of being twisted by a monkey wrench ; when you are so dizzy that you can't see, and your ears ring, and your nos3 is in such a state that it is presumption to lay aside your hand kerchief for one short minute ; when you cough and sneeze and groan in turn • in Hie, when you feel like the very duce— you cm set it down that you have the gnp.

Ashburton Horticultural Society.

A meehi g of the organising committee of the Ashburtor, Horticultural Society took place on Tuesday ovenin" in Hi« Arcade Chambers. P, fi .s«n": M (l !• .steward, m the chair, Messrs Bar itt (mtemn secretary), W. W. Smfrb, Jjl^ fe Alcorn, Barret? Bfcke^fca^'Sae^ Cuthbertson, W. C Davi* fef "i,^^ a k Fook, H -'iPT"'- Flower Halsall, ,). Hancox C A C h i Harper, F. Harper A »H °' £ Henry, Herring, iff Hunter^ V 80"' J< Kempthorne, 1U BjZ'ry' l^T' Lechner, MaW mXT', m^ 7' M'Cafferty, R.M&on^jJJgJJ. »•-»■?»'« the me: i b^7p Pt7r^"' originally intended f lo° as Chambers for the * «S y»* he Arcade election of Obmm?L'S3SS of rules date of Shoir c"™ °d Olhcers ' fixin^' draft r«les fe a nd S'2^ scSI prf a"»g approval of thoaK m r r the on Thursday eviliZiu?"*"*> flfd meefc at the « Mail » ()ffi" g 31st \ lnf •»* ? P-m. of the tSJLi OSf,T and that the date

Drinking in Napier.

was held in the AtheWnJ Si^^ Wainpu presiding Tl, ' tile, B'sh°P of chara.lerisS v fch« f 'Jmceed^'« were hquors w ro disastrous, the SLe^S arrived when more dedrWl the clistnot to enl^e upon the ovS 5 |3,7» ra"V? nl U">ir P'»^ to tto puipir,. j a committee be formed to deirwe ways and means of oomwSSS an observance of the licensi»g uSw b? those pewon, holding licenses, Relcom, be Held at a future date." "Thai- *W. meetmg pledges itse]f Un. cSrfrom cl edT fi r£more fche SI curse trom the dxsfcnot &*d with thi« objecb in view forms iteelf TnS the Napier Temperance Society, a^ that a meeting be held this day foSSrht fol enrolling members, electing offices and apppintid to consider the licensing q«e S t,on." -Tha^ it is dcsTrabk ZTI temperanoe hotel or club be formed to be called < The Station.hands' cTuV to be conducted sfcr iotly on toS abshnenoe principles, and that to this end appeals for support be made to the sheepfarmers of the district "

THE MARKETS.

. The Canterbury p TO2e n Meat and Dairy Seel ESbf °T Pany ' Limit"£ *% [PER PRESS AfWOCIATION.j (Reoeived December 30, 11.30 a tn ) \*7i i. i • ,Swi!y' December 30. Wheat, cluck, 4s 3d to 4s 6d • new "ll hIS Vi d Fl™> 3d Barley, Cape &Sd ; English, 3s. P 1?' f7^ lan T»B1" c ' 3s 9d- Bran and S^^ local grown, &. VjUondn 40. Onions, £4, Butter uany made, 8d ; faotoiy, 9d. Cheese od Bacon, Gd to W. HanW^^S Spaf 1' AlltheSG I****** MjßißQUßwjf, December 30. Inoro is practically nothinsj. doinc? i n tho market, and there is nofc likely to be anything till next week, Wheat.-4b 4d without business. " ' . Aupelaiub, Dooomber 30 Bu-unosa is at a standstill this iveek, and quotations are nominal; Wheat 4s 8d ; old crop 4 S JW. Vhmt stone made, £10 lOn to £10 15s ; roller, £1015s to £11 os. Now Zealand oars, 2s 3d to 2a 4d Barley Cape 2s 4d to 3s 3d j English and Polish malting sorts, 3s 3d to 4s 6d. Bran, Is Id. Pollard, Is Id.

THE ASHBURTOtf fItTARDIAN: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 3891.



The following figures may serve »s « bird's eye yiew of the growth of the mercantile marine of England :-—ln the voar lwfr.t.» *i. battle of Culilen, th. sKu^^ arrived m the port of Lirerpool were TS with an average tf less than 50 tons per shin On June 10, 1891, in one hourTfo^ S represented an aggregate tonnage which was oonsulerably in e^coss of the entire outward tonnage of the. port in 1744. If we go-back to the year IGoo, Liverpool had only twelve small vessels manned by seventy-men : now gteafc steamers like the Majeatic carry ere«r» of 3,>0 men each, jyjY wife is a capita housekeoper,, Ifer coofcins is quite a treat - Her tikes and pudding \^ mountailii l'lßOj In the bak.^g powder- her secret lies. —TVi Wnrliuvt'Mi's "Ciui't to Kent.



Ninian Hyslop and Co. rs " Imperial' pure Ceylor and Indian Teas are tlie bes in the market.—<*.Advt.) Ninian Hyslop and Co.'s "Impeiarl Ceylon and Ir-dian Teas are direct from tfw Tea Phntati^§.^(44vfc ( )



Ask for Ninian IJy&lop, and Co.'s Imperial new seasons' Pure Ceylon an<j judian Teas.' Special pj;ioeß,~-r(44yt,)'



The Best P.emedy fob Ikdigkstion— Norton's Camomile Pills are confidenty recommended as a simple remedy for Indigestion, which is the cause of nearly all the diseases to which we are subjects Norton's Piwa with' jit'stice called the 'Natural iSfcrcngthener of the Human Stomach," aot as a powerful tonieand gentle perient, are mild in their operation, and safe under any circumstances. Sold'in bottles, at Is l|d, 2s 9d, lls, by all medicine vendors throughout the world,



"Keating's Powder" destroys Bugs Fleas, Moths, Beetles, and all other insects, whilst quite harmless to domestic animals. J-f). exterminating Beetles the success of this powder $ extraordinary. It is perfectly clean in application.' See the article'you trarchaseis " Keating V as imitations'are ■ oxious and ineffectual. Sold in' TiijS, 6d^ 1% and p £d ?a.c,b f by (ill ebejniatg, '



Holt,oway •! Pills.—Factory Operatives and Workers m Manufactories. —The remark able remedies which have been discovered and prefected by Thomas Holloway, and which for more than forty years have been successfully used in every quarter of the globe, are especially useful in all the mani fold ailments which afflict those who by reason of their occupations are confined fflt> years, or all their lives, in crowded buildings and workshops. Holloway's Pills and Oint ment are associated remedies, the former restoring the vital powers when diminished, and always acting as an efficient blood Eurifier, whilst the latter relieves local laladies and checks inflammation, aiid acts ! as a cleansing and 'healing agent in cases oi bad legs, bad_ breasts, uicows, ajicVjjijiljeaitjiy sores of kinds.



Statutory Declaration. —I, hranz liaabe, Ironbark, Sandhurst, in the colony of Vic toria, Australia, do solemnly and sincerely dcclure fcij*fc on the 25th June, 1877, my son Alfred, six years of age, was accidentally hurt with ait a-p? «i* his k#ee. lat once took all pains to secure modiual .(.(tisjstance. How ever, in spite of all efforts, vii ihe 27th August, 1877, the opinion was given by fir Macgillivray that an amputation of the injured limb had become imperative, in order to 'sk^a Jife. At this juncture I called en Messrss iSaud/,*, 1 ;jud 8011s, procuring some of their Extract of' Globulus, and by the application of tlis »iUW? I Ui«l the satisfaction of seeing my son witUiu in fprt tyigj't out of all danger, and to-day he is I may just add that it was when the cassis 'L^d fyfcjtj}} reacheil that the Extract reftji'l'ed to ?vaff fyiiL and I make this 1 solemn doukraJiQif, "c'je. —.•^*jf'/J?z Raaijk, Declared at Saiidlim'sfc, ?n * tlfW colony of Victoria, Australia, this sev«n.t«enth day r,f! jQ.9f.ober, one thousand eight hundred and , Hsysmy-3£y(in, before me, i>fojita Oohu, J.P.



JPOSTAH, NOTICES MAIL NOTICES. Mails close for the following places as under, subject to the necessary alterations :— WEDNESDAY, December 30. For United Kingdom, Continents of Europe and America, and West Indies (via San Francisco), Sandwich Islands, etc., and also for Northern Ports of New Zealand, per Takapuna, as follows:—Ordinary letters and papers, 6.15 t>.m.; registered letters, 5 p.m.; money orders, 3 p.m. This mail will be due in London on February 3, 1892. For Chatham Islands, per Ktihu, at O.l£»p.m. New Year's Day (January 1), being a postal holiday, the Ashburton Post Office will be closed except from nine a.m. till ten a.m. and from seven p.m. till eight p.m. i Mails for Chriatchurcb and North will close at five a.m. Mails for Dunedin and South will close at ten a.m. No Mails will be despatched after ten a.m



Wanted. CASH Advertisements under this heading not exceeding SIXTEEN WORDS 1/-. Addresses may be Vftat this Office. WANTED, a small Boy, one who can milk a cow, for the country. Apply to Mrs Randall. " 12 192 WANTED ft Flonrman. Apply to H. Chiltos, Blacksmith, Wakanui Bond, Ashburton- 12+194 WANTED, a respectable Girl as general servant. Apply to -Mrs StEVEIWCW, opposite Bail way Station. _J^ 12 189 WANTED, Situation aa Traction Engine Driver ; experienced hand. I Thorough machinist, reipers and binders. Apply W., "Mail " Office. 12*178 MISS CARSON, Music Teacher, Burnett Street. Christmas Holi days, December 23 to January 4. 12 122 WANTED Known. —Great Bargains in Ladies' Cashmere Hose, Under clothing, Pinafores, &o. Come and see them. Handsome Xmas presents now giving away.—H. C s Seders, Melford House. WANTED KNOWN, a special lot of Hearth Rugs at Is lid, 2a 6d and 2a lid ; worth about doable. W. If. Collier. ________ TVTOTHING will Cool you so quickly and -»-* invigorate the systom so much as Ice Cream.—H.G. Flowbr, Confectioner, East Street. ALL Wool Colonial Tweed Suits to measure; fit and workmanship guaranteed ; from 50s cash. Rober? | Alcorn, Ashburton Clothing Mart, Saundera' Buildings. WANTED Known.—For first-class Drapery and Millinery go to j Melford House ; cheapest shop in town, j (See windows.) Beautiful Xmas presents being given away.—H. C. Segers. WANTED Known.— At "The Corner' now selling Ladies' French Sliofs. 5s lid. See them'.—W. H. Collieb. WANTED Known—A Beautiful Line of French Dress Goods, double width. Is 10|d ; original value, 4s. —H. C. Siegers, Melford House. WANTED Known.—l have a large stock of Tin and Ironware Goods to select from. Register Grates, Stoves, Portable Boilers, Spouting and Ridging kept in stock.—J. W. Hardley, East . treet. 6J202 SHEEP SHEARS. Having secured a Stock of the celebrated 8.8.A., and as there are very few in the Colony, Shearers arc requested to call early.— Robert Alcorn, Sauncfers' Buildings. fpO Meet the Times.—l am oupplying JL Galvanised Iron Tanks from 30s upwards, warranted for twenty years, Force pumps, deep well cylinders of all descriptions. Inspection invited.— /. W. Hart>lkv, Eas street. 6J201 WANTED Known—That you will make no mistake for quality and variety in English and Colonial Boots, and his highly reputed make by calling at J. Moison's. During coming holidays dis count for Cash. Repairs done at once. A staff of men always kept and best -material and workmanship guaranteed. WANTED Known.- -H. Bairstow has opened those premises in East street next J. Orr and Co., as a Furniture Warehouse. Latest designs in Vienna Chairs, and Iron Bedstead.s on vittw. Having a good stock of well seasoned figured Rimu and Kauri, he is prepared to take orders for Furniture to any design. Inspection incited. Ht6l