The Akaroa Mail. TUESDAY, APRIL 13.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 4, Issue 385, 13 April 1880, Page 2

The Akaroa Mail. TUESDAY, APRIL 13.

It is a melancholy fact that the Borough of Akaroa is—well, short of ready money. The Council was just managing to move along however, when they received a knock-down blow in the shape of the last half-year's subsidy. A few more such " subsidies " will knock them into a cocked hat, and if there is an Insolvent Court for public bodies, will drive them into it. This is how a paternal Government makes the account stand between the Borough and the Treasury:—Cr. By half-year's subsidy, £124 9s Bd. From which the following deductions are to be made:— Proportion of cost of Akaroa Hospital, £95 ; Charitable Aid, £55; total, £150. Now, £150 deducted from £124 leaves as a remainder what in algebra wouldjj be called the minus or negative quantity of £25 odd, and accordingly the Treasurer (smart man) brings the Borough in debt to the amount of £25 10a 4d. Not a word of explanation is vouchsafed as to how it is that the expenses of the Hospital have more than doubled in 1879, as compared with 1878. In the latter year the deduction for this purpose amounted to £4G, as against £95 in the former. The Charitable Aid again (although the Borough have taken over the distribution of relict within its borders) has jumped from £12 to £55. Uncharitable people and those who have not the proper amount of reverence for tin* " fair trial," Government will find a ready explanation in the present " hard up " state of the Colonial Treasury. That wonderful department is great in financial jugglery under the guise of book-keeping, and of all its directors Major Atkinson has shown himself facile princepx at propounding statements of figures which " no fellah could make out." We presume that the Council will request some explanation the present arithmetical puzzle. In the meantime, let us hope that, until the Borough gets a little more fiinily established, it may be preserved from being the recipient of' any more of the Major's " subsidies."

The following sad accident which occurred or. Saturday last, should be a caution to numbers who are in the habit of getting into and riding in railway trains while in an intoxicated state. A man whose name has not been discovered was killed by falling from the express train near Eakaia. The deceased who was intoxicated, had been sitting on the platform of one of theMjarriages, and was seen to suddenly fall from it. On the train reaching Rakaia, Mr C. C. C. Duncan, assistant cashier In the. -Railway Depart ment, who happened to be in the train, went in company with guard Ileaton, , back on the line till he found the body of the unfortunate man frightfully mangled —almost cut to pieces. The body was put on a trolly and taken to the Rakaia station, where it was given in charge to the police, and where an inquest is to be held to-day at noon.

Mr C. W. Bridge announces a sale of furniture and effects to take place at the house of Mrs Brough, Balguerie street. 7. ho sale is to come off to-morrow at 'I o'clock.

We have to correct two omissions in our report of the Railway meeting held on the third instant, with reference to the list of those gentlemeii who were requested to furnish statistical information to the sub-conimitteeel The names inadvertantly bmirted are those of MrG. B. Jolilin, for the Little River and adjacent district, and Mr J. S. Thacker for Okain's Bay and its neighbourhood.

An accident which might have terminated very seriously happened v to a lad named Brown in the employ of Mr Bennett, of Decanter Bay, on Friday last. It appears that Brown was cutting firewood when the axe slipped and inflicted a serious cut on his foot, narrowly missing the artery. Dr. Guthie was in attendance as soon as possible, and dressed the wound. Brown is getting on satisfactorily.

A correspondent, in another column, suggests the advisableness of reviving the Akaroa Mutual Improvement Association. We heartily concur in the opinion expressed by "Mr Straw." Wβ remember that at the time the late session was brought to a close, it was resolved to meet again during the first week in April. The first day of the month was considered an inauspicious anniversary. We hope the suggestion thrown out by our correspondent will be acted upon without delay. There cannot be a more useful or agreeable manner of passing an evening once a week or so than by attending the meetings of such a society. Last winter several very pleasing and successful sittings took place, and there is no reason why this should not be the case again. As we have before remarked the succees or otherwise of the affair rests chiefly with the 3'ounger members. There is a certain number of seniors who, we feel sure, can be depended on, if only they see that their efforts are appreciated by the younger members attending and taking such part in the proceedings as they are able to do. We would suggest an initiatory meeting being convened by the officers of last session.

The Sub-committee appointed by the members of the Hail way Committee met on the evening of the 9th inst., at the residence of Mr J. D. Garwnod. Correspondence was received and considered, likewise the statistics which had been sent in up to that date. In connection with this matter, we beg to draw attention to an advertisement which appears in another column, and trust that those who have undertaken to supply the information required will do so at as early a date as possible, especially as the Commissioners are expected here so soon. It is also requested that the information may be as full and complete as possible.

A most amusing and well carried out entertainment was given by our local talent at the Oddfellows' Hall last night to a fairly filled house. The bill of fare was a liberal one, and the audience seemed thoroughly satisfied. The entertainment was a charitable one, and we trust the poor man on whose behalf it was given may benefit by it. We look upon this sort of thing as a step in the right direction, and we trust to see similar performances repeated at periodical intervals during the winter months.

Another lazy man has been found. He is on a Western paper. He spells photograph, " 4tograph." There have been only three as bad, One lived in Kansas, arid dated his letters'" llworth" (Leavenvvorth), another spelled Tenessee, " lOac." and the other wrote Wyandotte, " Y&."

A meeting of the stewards of the Peninsula Jockey Club was hold at Wascoe's Beach Arms Hotel, April 3, to decide the protest re Eclat .v. Malvina, in the Publican's Purse. The following Stewards were present, viz.:—Messrs W,. Coop, (in thechur) Wai. Birdling, senr., J. Gebbie, W. D. Gebbie and P. Birdling. After the undermentioned evidence had been taken,'it was proposed that the second horse, Eclat, receive the stakes. The evidence in favor of Eclat was as follows:— Alfred Shadbolt, rider of Eclat, stated that he had the inside position at the start, and at the far side of the course Malvina crossed him ; also at the winning post nearly putting him inside the winning post, crossing him on the quarter. Thos. Hogg stated that he was standing by the winning post, and saw the two horses running together past the said wiuning post, and Eclat's rider seemed to try to raise his whip to put the rider of Malvina out of his track. His impression was that Eclat was being joetled. J. H. Parkes stated that he saw Eclat and Malvina running at or near the winning post, and distinctly saw Malvina cross the track of Eclat, or try to procure the inside running, when Malvina was only about half a length in the lead, and considered it was a jostle to all intents and purposes. The following evidence was produced in favor of Malvina :—James Belcher stated by letter that he saw the race between Eclat and Malvina for the Publicans' Purse from beginning to end, and considered it a fair race throughout. J. H. Wallace, rider of Malvina, stated that he had the outside position at the start, but by superior riding he got the inside, and when near the winning post Eclat was running behind him,. and making a rush. He got the inside running, after which he took the lead, and

won the race

The "intelligent foreigner," this time an American on a visit to New Zealand, writes thus to a southern contemporary on the subject of dairy farming :—" The man who invented cheese, though his individual

existence may be as doubtful as that of the man who invented sleep, and as uncertain as the personality of many inventors, was the greatest of our benefactore. Hβ has not only reconstructed the stomach and stimulated wholesome appetite, but he furthermore accomplished the greatest of all achievements —that of making every acre of land in the arable parts of the world worth many pounds more than it would have been worth but for cheese. The coming great dairy fair for all nations, which is being advocated in the United States and elsewhere will do for the world at large a great service, if it shall force again the attention of the people of every country in which the cow will thrive and pasture the enormous sourcn of wealth that is within easy reach, and which, with the exception of the United States, has been slighted to a very great degree. Discoverers of gold fields are not numerous, but the cultivation of the dairy farm has always enriched the country where it is practiced far more than the discovery of several Bonanzas within its limits. All the grand product does not flow into one coffer, but the wealth created by the dairy farm is distributed most democratically to all the people ; the small farmer, the milkmaid, and the cow-herd each come in for a share. This then, is the mine to be fostered, and it is the bounden duty of the people to produce and work it, as it is that of the political economist to advocate and defend it.

The Wanganui Chronicle is severe on the designer of a certain obnoxious tower attached to the local Post-office, and thus "goes for" all concerned: —Among the many misdeeds of the Hall-Atkinson Government which will eventually hurl them to well-merited destruction, and sause their name to become a proverb and a byword among all people, must be reckoned the resurrection of the old clock tower at the corner of the new Post-office and Telegraph buildings. Thia which was originally modelled on the upper half of a discarded parish pump, from which the handle and spout had been previously removed, never satisfied our idea of the useful or beautiful. A something was evidently wanting, and the want appeared to be fully supplied when the beastly contrivance was built-in from the public gaze by the aditional height of the new walls. When it no longer reared itself in full view of the passers-by, there was a disposition to forgive, though not forget, the bad taste of the fiend who first planned it and placed it in position ; but these better feelings were quickly emothered when the contractor for the new building put together a kind of gallows above the walls, and by means of ropes pulled the old pump-top bodily up into view again, and nailed it securely at the top of the edifice. "Finis coron.it opus." A wicked man might wish that it would be blown down just as the Premier or the Minister for Public Works was passing underneath. It is a frightful object, a dreadful piece of extravagance, a useless incubus, and a travesty on the carpenter's art. A clock of good moral principles would refuso to strike in such a monstrosity.

At the Dunedin City Court lately a number of publicans were charged with selling adulterated liquors at the recent races. Concerning these prosecutions the South Canterbury Times remarks :—"Two pints.of.brandy .were" procured and submitted to the Colonial analyst, with the result that the article which purported to be brandy was found to be aduitemted with more than one-third of its bulk of water, a quantity of table" salt, sulphates, and other substances of a foreign character." Notwithstanding this, the Bench decided in favor of the liquor sellers, upon which our contemporary moralises as follows:—" If the Dunedin Bench is right, publicans have a perfect right to add to add to every sixty gallons of spirts thirtyeight gallons of water. The quantity of table salt, sulphates,' and other ingredients, which may. be added with impunity as well, is not defined. But a person who is in the habit of seeking nourishment from stimulants has a right to know what ho is getting. As Resident Magistrate Watt's standard nobbier is composed of nearly half water well flavored with salt and other chemicals the consumer will be able to relieve his mind and pocket by the consciousness that if he is being poisoned it is with powerful preservatives. He will have the happiness of assuming, should he be addicted to tobacco, that when his earthly course is run, he will be not only smoked but salted. If, under the influence of salted brandy he does nothing to immortalise his memory, he will run a good risk, at all events, of handing his carcase down to posterity in the unimpaired condition of salt junk. Habitual imbibers of the cup which inebriates will be enabled to console themselves with the possible proepect of contributing to the civilised cannibals ot future ages. Perhaps it may be considerations of this description that have led Resident Magistrate Watt to reprove the police and compliment the prosecuted publicans by deciding that severely diluted and salted brandy is a perfectly legal tender to thirsty palates in exchange for the unadulterated coin of the re-ilm."

The following report of the Banger to the Taranaki Land Board on lands sold on deferred payments will doubtless be read with interest by those who desire to see facilities given for the beneficial occupation of the waste lands of the colony :—

"New Plymouth, Feb. 14, 1880. The Chairman Waste Lands Board. Sir, —I have the honor to forward you my second report on the portion of the Huirangi District sold on deferred payments during the month of January, 1876. This block was almost entirety taken up by Germans and Danes, and they, have very conclusively shown that they are a very desirable class of settlers to introduce into the country. Within the four years that they have held the land—.and although they have bad to build houses and erect temporary fences—they have actually cleared on an average over 60 per cent, of their holdings, find after deducting the required amount to cover the first inspection (made two years ago) they have made, improvements to more than five and a third times the amount required to cover the present inspection There is not one defaulter in the block, and every holding but one is occupied by a family. When it is considered that none of these settlers havo been here more than five years ; that they came here as immigrants, having absolutely no money of their own ; that since their arrival they have paid three instalments of the purchase money of their land ; that on an average each one has made improvements on the land held by him to the value of over £150, and that while doing all this they have provided for their families, and in nearly all cases have purchased cows and raised stock ; it will, I thjnk, be freely granted that they are the proper stamp of settlers to bring into anew country, and especially into our bush districts. In my previous reports I have alluded to the depressing influence experienced by travellers in passing along the railway line or Mountain road through • seeing so much still standing and seemingly so few iinprouements made. It is really by visiting such parts as Huirangi, and the back parts of the Moa, Huiroa, and Manganui districts that one can judge of the real progress made. The progress is, however, so great and substantial as to satisfy even the most sanguine supporters of the deferred payments system, and, judging by tho past, I anticipate that the late action of the Board in setting apart alternate sections on deferred payments will result in effectually opening up those districts, in ensuring good district roads, and in settling a large 1 resident population on the land. I have the honor to be, Sir, your obedient servant, G. F. Robinson, Ranger."