TOWN EDITION. The Daily Telegraph WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1881.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3221, 26 October 1881, Page 2

TOWN EDITION. The Daily Telegraph WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1881.

The Napier Borough Council does not Beem to know what to do with its landed endowment in the Seventy-mile Bunb. The ratepayers of this town have to oay County rates upon this Municipal estate, and the least they have a right to expect is that the land shall be put to some use, and not allowed to be a sort of white elephant on the hands of the Corporation. The Wellington Borough is endowed in the same way as this town has been, but with a view to turning its bush estate into a source of revenue the Council of that city appointed a committee to visit the land and report upon it. The report of the committee, which may offer some suggestions to our own Corporation was laid before the Wellington Council at its last meeting. The committee state that the reserve is situated on the main road from tbe Wairarapa to the West Coast, about twelve miles on the Wellington side of Woodville, and about eighteen miles from Ekatabuna, the road being maintained by the County Council, and in first-rate order. The land is covered with bush, principally tawa, but not so heavily timbered as to offer any difficulty in felling it, and is well watered throughout. The reserve consists of 1601 acres, and is subdivided into eleven "sections of from 63 to 204 acres each, having been laid out to tbe best possible advantage, all having frontages to a surveyed road, and five of them fronting the main road already made. The soil on all the sections was found to be a rich brown loam of considerable depth, with an under-stratum of gravel, and, when cleared and laid down in grass, capable ofl carrying a large amount of stock, and in

course of time yielding heavy crops of grain or roots. Adjoiniagtbe reserve on th-i Woodville side there i 3 a township reserve, which is now being surveyed by Government, with n view to being cut up iato five-acre- blocks, and between the two re°«ry_ B there is a road laid out. Tie e.jromittci are of opinion that it would materially assist the Council in di jpeslrjgr 0 f the reserve to advantage w.;r. the roarls forced which have been la-d off, giving access to the various secfinns, and, to insist iv this, would recommend that the County Council be communicated with, the City Council undertaking tc bear a<ici portion of the expense as may be mutually agreed upon. The reserve is most highly spoksu of by all who are acquainted with it, and is regarded by the setters in the neighbourhood ns one of the best p'accs of land in the district. With a view to disposing r the land to the best advantage, the committee recommend that* at first, 50 acres on each of some of tbe sections - Hay the sections on both of the main road, containing some 593 acres—be cleared, the timber burnt, and the land sown with crass. when tenders might be called for 42 years' lease of the pann, at a periodically increasing rental. The clearing, burning, and 2C ?ing, T;..;i„ cost about £3 per acre ; bufc the outlay would be amply repaid by the iueii:a?ed value given to the land, md the greater inducements held o'it those who could then work the lan.; '._ advantage, but are unable, at present, from want of mean?, to meet tbe preliminary outlay of the purcnase of a freehold, and clearing same. As the first cleared sections are taken up, others might be dealt with by decrees in the same way, as the Council found themselves in funds for the necessary outlay. To provide for this outlay, the committee recommend 'hat the moneys which the Sinking Fund Commissioners of the City Improvements Loan may have for investment, from time to time, be lent to tbe Corporation, secured by mortgage on the land, the rents from which would far more than repay the interest on tbe loan. The committee finally congratulate the Council and citizens of Wellington on the possession of so valuable an endowment, which they say in course ot time will materially aid in lightening the burdens of the ratepayers.

CoNcßaxiNG the " difficulty " on the West Coast, the Canterbury Standard Rays th;<t, notwithstanding the manner in which events may be concealed or distorted, it is well k .own that fencing trespasses and other overt breaches of the law take place every day, and that these excited ParihKka people who commit them are only eagerly awaiting an opportunity of more substantially distinguishing themselves io the ivar path. Government, who have for some time .»nxious!y watched tha current in which runs public opinion in regard to this native question, has come to the conclusion that, it is veering in a marked degree towards the channel of the views expressed by Mr Bryce when he advocated sudden measures of a determined character, whereby Te Whiti's mana might be nipped in the bud. We believe that at any moment the authorities may take the initiative, and force the issues between the two races as far as the settlement of the West Coast is concerned. Nothin?, it is felt, will bring this ridiculous position of pffairs to a finality but the force of arms. The New Zealand colonist has displayed wonderful patience durin? many long years, and the expenditure iuvolved in trying to maintain pe?.ce at " sugar and blankets " cost, has been enormous. Public opinion is much inclined now-a-days, to look upon the immediate assumption of hostile measures ?.s the only practical solution of this never ending difficulty. The first cost, once frr all, will be the last; and it may not prove so very great if one of its reMilts be, not only crushitig this fanatic Maori thorn in the path of furthering the settlement of the country, but causing that expensive and mysterious department, the Native Office, to be stamped out of existence, and its cost expunged from the annual estimates.

We understand tbat Mr H. A. Banner xvill leave Southampton to-day on his return to New Zealand.

Scarlatina is still very prevalent at Waipukurau. Ihe Rev. P. H. Long is now laid up with this disease.

Mr Scarfe, who bought a portion of the old Spit stores of Messrs Wardrop and Co., is about to re-ereot the building in Dickensstreet.

A smart shock of earthquake was felt in Napier at 4.15 a.vi. to-day, the direction of the wave being apparently from south-east to north-west.

Mr E. P. Menzies has been appointed the Hawke's Bay agent for Messrs Henry P. Welch and Company, of Melbourne, who are the colonial agents for the Bell-Coleman Refrigerating Company.

The Rev. W. O. Robbhas passed his final examination before the Hawke's Bay Presbytery. The ordination ot the reverend arentleman aa a minister of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand will take place next month.

A man of the name of Holm has, we are glad to say, been sentenced by A. Levy, Esq., J.P.,*to fourteen days' imprisonment with hard labor for a breach of the Education Act, in annoying the district schoolmaster at Norsewocd during school hours.

A cricket match will be played at Petane on Saturday next between elevens of the Petane and Civil Service Clubs. The Petane team will be selected from the following:—Meesra Hamilton, Gilberd, Tanner, ft. Brathwaite, Hill, 0. Villers, J. Dinwiddie, ,T. Begg:, Mullany, Davis, P. Dinwiddie. H. Brathwaite, and Westenra.

At the Resident Magistrate's Court this morning, before Captain Prcece, R.M., Frank Fane and William Seymour were charged with drunkenness, and each fined o.s and costs or 48 hours. The latver was also charged with using insulting and abusive language, and fined £1 and costs, or seven days imprisonment with hard labor.

At the close of Mr M. R. Miller's auction sale of the Moteo and Korokipo estates yesterday, Mr W. Heslop bought the three unsold sections, amounting to about 3000 acres, at £8, £8 10s, and £10 per acre respectively. We hear that some of the buyers afc the sale have already disposed of their purchases at an advance of from £1 to £2 per acre.

It will be seen from advertisement that the Mammoth Gift show Company open at the Theatre Royal on Friday night. In addition to giving away a large number of valuable prizes this company present to the public a varied and interesting entertainment, including legerdemain and ventriloquism. There has been no entertainment of this description in Napier for a considerable time, and as popular prices of admission have been fixed Mr Levoi and his company n.av expect a considerable amount of public patronage.

At a meeting of the Napier District School Committee, held last evening, Miss Mann's resignation of her position as mistress of the infant school was received and accepted, the resignation to take effect # at the end of three months. A communication from the Rev. De Berdt Hovell, asking permission to use the school-room for half-an-hour on two days in the week for the purpose of giving religious instruction to children whose parents were willing they should receive it, was read, and the request

granted, the time of holding the class to be arranged with the head master. Messrs Winter and Fielder were appointed a visiting corixmittee for the month, and tbe Com. toittee adjourned.

A cottage at Hastings had a narrow escape from destruction by fire on Monday afternoon. The cottage was occupied by Mrs McKnight, who states that, at about half past three o'clock in the afternoon, there being very little Are in the chimney place, she left her three children in the bouse and went to call upon a neighbor. She had not been gone ten minutes when she heard the children soreaming, and running back found the place in flames. The eldest child, a boy about five years old, told his mother that a spark from the fire fell on the sofa, and that he took the bellows to blow it out The mattrass on the sofa and some clothes took fire, and the flames burnt the roof and the side of the house. Fortunately it was raining at the titrie, or the whole building might have been destroyed.

Dunedin has sent £125 as the first instalment of a fund in aid of the Jews in Southern Russia.

For the first time, it is said, in twenty years, the Wanganui district is entirely free from scab in sheep.

Messrs Grant and Poster advertise in the Scotch paper that they are prepared to make arrangements with farmers and labourers to secure to each family, on their arrival in this colony, such a section of land aa they may select from the fine block lately purchased in the Auckland provincial district by the Lancashire delegates.

The Wairarapa Daily anxiously inquires —■" Is the new Parliament to be swamped with lawyers ? If so, what is to become of us all ? In this Provincial district lawyer Traver? and lawyer Stafford come forward for Te Aro, and lawyer Izard and lawyer Buller for Foxton. The law business must have been a profitable one of late years to enable so many of its members to leave their sift,arid eightpehces and go hunting electors."

Mrs Glenny, who recently resided at the North Shore, Auckland, and lately died in Melbourne, has made a most extraordinary will, which proves that with her the ruling passion was strong in death. She left some of her money to a young man in Melbourne, but the money is only to be paid to him when the English nation acknowledges that it belongs to certain Jewish tribes. The Observer is afraid he will have to wait a long time for his inheritance.

The special correspondent to the Lyttelton Times writes to his paper that taking advantage of Te Whiti's permission, he went some distance back of Parihaka. He saw nothing but cultivations. The fencings, however, were exceptionally strong, much more so than is necessary to protect cultivations; he should say four times as strong as elsewhere ; if fighting took place, they would make admirable lines of defence. He met with no obstruction, except 'that an old woman on his. way back became angry, and scolded him roundly for being there.

LSpeaking of the Surveyor-General's report, the Nelson Colonist says :—" As no man is wise at all times, so Mr M'Kerrow must not be harshly judged for what he says on Mulberry trees and silk culture. An Italian called Federli has gained the ear of the Christehurch Industrial Association, and the old rubbish about eggs and trees to be imported and a thriving trade establised is renewed. If ever the population of New Zealand engages in the production of silk, it must first have sank into abject poverty, so that every friend of the colony must hope that the Federli prediction of success may never be realised. Such success would be the offspring of dire misery."

An occurrence of a very singular character took place on Saturday at a swimming pond in connection with the Dundee public baths. While the basin was being emptied, a lad named Johnston, contrary to the rules, sprang in. He did not return to the surface, but a few minutes afterwards he presented himself afc the door of the baths, naked, bruised, and bleeding. The suction of the water had drawn him through the pipe by which it emptied into the Tay, a distance of between twenty and thirty feet, and had shot him as if from a catapult into the river. The pipe is only twenty inches in diameter. Johnston says that on leaping into the pond he felt as if some one had sewed him by the feet. The next moment all was dark, and he suddenly found himself in the river. He has since been confined to his bed, but his medical attendant is of opinion that he will recover. A grating will now be placed over the opening of the pipe.

Messrs H. Monteith and Co., will sell tomorrow, near the railway station, sawn timber, &c, at noon.

Messrs Miller and Potts will sell tomorrow, at the Empire sale yards, Waipawa, cows, hacks, &c, at 11 a.m.; also, at the railway stores, Waipawa, wool, sheepskins, &c, at 10.30 a.m. Messrs Kinross and Co., have been appointed agents for Messrs Kirker, Greer and Co.'s old Irish whiskey.

Messrs H. Monteith and Co. hold Jtheir usual stock and produce sale at the Horse Bazaar on Saturday.

Tenders are invited by Mr T. R. Cooper for removing and re-erecting a building next to the Occidental Hotel, for an addition to the Accidental Hotel, and for an addition to the Star Hotel.

Messrs Blythe and Co., have made a cheap purchase in girls night-dresses. The Mammoth Gift Show Company will open at the Theatre Royal on Friday evening. The s.s. Oreti will steam for Gisborne and Auckland on Friday at 4 p.m.

The Rifle Volunteers will parade tomorrow evening for marching, A number of new advertisements will be found in our " Warted " column.