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Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 3, Issue 221, 30 August 1878, Page 2

In opposing the second reading of the Akaroa Railway Bill, the Hon Colonel Brett said " One of the most important elements of this Bill was the incorporation of the District Railways Bill, and if it passed in its present form, the trustees of this railway would have the power of rating all the ratepayers in the district through which the railway ran. He raised his protest against the Bill altogethe r as a most objectionable one, which had been brought in for political purposes, to keep an hon. gentleman in bis place in the House. He wanted to know from the hon. gentleman in charge of the Bill what benefit would accrue from it to Christchurch and the neighborhood If the railway was constructed to Akaroa, a place about the size of the Hutt, with two or three hundred inhabitants, there was a gagantic hill through which a tunnel would have to be cut, and would cost as much as the Lyttelton Bill — £400,000. It would be monstrous to entertain such extravagance, and he considered the Bill a waste of money." Putting aside the insinuation conveyed in his remarks against Mr Montgomery, for which he was brought to task by the Hon Col. Whitmore, and subsequently tendered apology, it is a pity that the hon. gentleman did not make himself better acquainted with this locality, and the whole character of the railway scheme before denouncing the Bill in quite the terms that he did. As far as we are aware, Col. Brett has never honored this part of Canterbury with his presence, and therefore the " gigantic hill " and his estimate of the cost of tunnelling are either phantoms of his own fertile imagination, or the result of hearsay from some equally reliable source, the truth being as is generallj l " well known that the hill is nothing so very great after all, while the sum estimated for the tunnel comes nowhere near in amount to that of the Lyttelton work. In fact the tenor of the hon. gentleman's speech only goes to shew how even a Legislative Councillor, talent, ability, &c, being of course a sine qua non, can talk the most egregious nonsense when speaking on a subject with which he has not taken tho trouble to make himself acquainted, and on which he is evidently most felicitously ignorant.

At the sale of the household furniture and effects belonging to Wagstaff's Hotel, MrJ.D. Davis was the purchaser of a comfortable looking horsehair armchair, which was plaoed aside awaiting removal at the conclusion of the sale. . On returning, however, after tea to take- away his purchase, Mr Davis found that the chair was gone, and neither search nor enquiry could elicit any information as to it* whereabouts, or as to who had taken it. Matters remained iv this way for some days, and not a trace of the missing article, could be discovered. On Tuesday morning last, he found the long lost chair blocking up the doorway of Vne little lean-to at the rear of his dwelling-house, where it had evidently been placed during the night. So far so good. But was this a joke ? If so, it is a very sorry one, and on. that we should advise the perpetrators to be very cautious of practising. Many an unfortunate hashad to do gratis little odd jobs for the Government for xery much less a cause than this.

In another column will be found an advertisement notifying the sale of a township the property of Mr Win. Coop, Little River, to-morrow, Saturday, August 31. Messrs H. Matson and Co. are the auctioneers, and it is anticipated that the property will fetch a good price. There can be no doubt that the.'advent of the railway to Little River *-will greatly increase the value of this property, and that there must be a flourishing township spring up where this land is to be sold. Speculators in land might .do worse than be preseut at this sale.

The late severe weather has proved most disastrous to the cattle on the hills. We are informed that almost every farmer in the Barry's Bay sido of the range has suffered the loss of one or more head of cattle during the recent snowstorm, while some have lost even more. Mr E. C. Latter is reported to be the heaviest loser, some forty or fifty head having succumbed to the cold, and exposure, and want of food consequent on the heavy fall of snow. Doubtless there have been many other disasters of a similar nature in other parts of the Peninsula with which we have not as yet been made acquainted; but the instances mentioned are sufficient to shew that the season as a whole will be remembered throughout the district as one of unwonted severity.

. Our travelling reporter paid a visit of inspection last week to the works now in progress for the construction of a lighthouse, and other buildings, at the north head of the entrance of Akaroa Harbor. The Government have availed themselves of the small bay known as Haylock's Bay as a suitable place for landing the stores and materials required in the construction of the works. The work now in progress consists of the formation of a landing platform, and roadway leading to the site where the buildings are to be erected which is upon the southern point of the above named bay, at an elevation of about 250 feet above the sea, and immediately overlooking the cliff. The landing of the material is effected by means of a derrick lift, taking the goods direct from the boat and landing them upon the platform, the height of which is about 45 feet above high water, and thence by road to the lighthouse, a distance of about 25 chains. The platform and • road run mostly along the face of bold rocky precipices at a uniform gradient of lin 7. The work, which is of a somewhat difficult and dangerous nature, is being carried out under the supervision of Mr William Black, of Otago, who has displayed considerable aptitude and skill in its construction, and happily up to the present time without accident of any kind. It is expected that the work will be sufficiently advanced to commence the.- buildings ; about October next. Of these we shall have something to say on a future occasion. Mr C. W. Bridge notifies by advertisement elsewhere that he has been instructed to sell at her residence to-morrow, commencing at 12 o'clock, all the household furniture, &c, belonging to Miss De Malmanche. Among the items mentioned, we notice an American organ, which should realise a good price, these beautiful instruments being in great demand. In the course of the proceedings of the Akaroa County Council, Mr J. B. Barker made some remarks regarding the non-in-sertion in the Akaroa Mail of an advertisement convening a public meeting in Okain's-Bay re the alteration in riding. We regret that the advertisement in question did not appear in our columns, but cannot plead guilty to any culpable neglect in the matter. The facts are that we received a letter from Mr Barker, as Chairman of the School Committee, which was complete in itself. There was no intimation that anything was written on the other side, and it was not th] after the meeting had been held that we learned that such an advertisement had been sent. On looking up the letter, we then found the advertisement on its back page. We reiterate our regret that any inconvenience was caused by its accidental omission.