The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, JANUARY 14, 1901. GISBORNE’S HOT SPRINGS.

Gisborne Times, Volume V, Issue 10, 14 January 1901, Page 2

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, JANUARY 14, 1901. GISBORNE’S HOT SPRINGS.

We trust, when the allocation of Government grants for the opening up and improvment of the thermal regions of New Zealand are completed, that it will he found our representatives have done justice to the hot springs of Gis-. home. For years the hot springs and lakes of other districts have been advertised, and rightly so, throughout the world, and our wonderland of the north has been visited by thousands of tourists from the remotest corners of the earth. Large sums of money have been yearly voted, and, so far as can be judged, the Government grants aL

Located have been judiciously expended and an adequate return always obtained. But it is time that the thermal regions of Poverty Bay should receive more attention at the hands of the Government, and for that ohj'ect we bespeak careful consideration to our claims in this respect. At Nuhaka and Waipiro we possess hot springs, the medicinal and. healing properties of which have been highly spoken of by experts and others well qualified to express an opinion. Almost at our doors we possess streams, whose healthgiving properties have been highly spoken of by members of the medical profession, and which are well deserving the attention of our legislators. What is urgently required—if justice is to be done to this important district—is that by means of Government grants the thermal districts of this province be improved, that easy access to our hot springs be provided, that the valuable adjuncts which we possess shall be brought before the notice of the public, and the medicinal and other properties of the valuable waters of Nuhaka and Waipiro be given the prominence they undoubtedly deserve. We are apt to seek further afield for advantages and attractions that frequently may be found at our own doors. We are too prone to erroneously conclude that distance lends enchantment to the view and value too highly in other districts advantages and attractions that we ourselves possess. The splendid medicinal properties of the hot springs in the districts mentioned are undoubted; the scenic beauties and the other attractions of Nuhaka and Waipiro are highly appreciated by those who have paid visits to these charming spots. It is admitted that favorable resorts for invalids andtourists could be made of the places mentioned by the judicious expenditure of portion of the moneys set apart by the Government for the development and improvement of the thermal springs and show districts of New Zealand. We are satisfied that the attractions of Nuhaka and Waipiro are sufficient to warrant such an expenditure, and with confidence we urge the claims of Gisborne in this respect and trust that when the particular allocations of Government moneys voted for this purpose are made full justice will be done to this district.

Most o£ the visiting bowlers left for their homes by the Mararoa and Te Anau yesterday. The Central Hotel, Victoria street, Auckland, offers excellent accommodation for visitors to that city. The attention of parents and guardians is directed to the advertisement of the Ring’s College, Auckland. There is still no sign of the ship Grace Harvar. Captain Bernech, of the Te Anau, kept a.careful look out during the trip from Auckland, but could see nothing of the missing vessel, and a similar report was received on Saturday from Captain Phillips, of the Mararoa. The funeral of the late Mr John Andrew took place yesterday, and was attended by a large number of mourners. The brethren of the Oddfellows’ Lodge were present in strong force. Tho funeral service was conducted by Messrs Tidswell and P. Burch, and Bro. Goldsmith dispensed the rites of Oddfellowship.

Messrs Common, Shelton and Co. hold their monthly sale at the Warenga-a-hika yards on Thursday, when some really firstclass lines will be offered. The same firm hold a sale at Mr W. Hutchinson’s yards, Puhatikotiko, on February 12th, and present entries include 4000 sheep. Mr J. B. Hells will act as auctioneer.

Mr G. Gamon, of the firm of Messrs Simmons and Gamon, large sawmill owners in the Dannevirke district, is at present visiting the Motu, with the view of ascertaining its timber resources. Mr Gamon will be shown the district by Messrs Smith and Peddle, of the Motu, and if he is satisfied that the timber is there in sufficient quantity he will at once take steps to have a mill erected. The result of his investigation will be awaited with interest.

The storm on Friday night and Saturday morning did not do the damage that might have been anticipated, and it undoubtedly did a great deal of good. A peculiar feature of the electric discharge was that the vivid lightning seemed very close to the ground. A gentleman who was coming down the Gentle Annie road during the storm informs us that the flashes of lightning over the plain seemed beneath his level when he was coming around the hillside. At daylight on Saturday the wind was blowing with tremendous force, but very few trees were blown down.

The rise in the value of sheep (says a Wairarapa contemporary) during the last 12 months is shown by a comparison 'of the prices obtained at the Amuri wether fair last week and the corresponding sales last January. The Aohray 4-tooth store half-bred wethers at last week's sale fetched 17s Gd as against 13s 8d last January, the Kaiwarra line 15s 8d against 14s and 13s 6d, and St. Leonards 14s 9d and 14s lid against Us 9d, the Balmoral fat lambs fetched 15s 2d as against an average of Us lOd in January, 1900.

On the front page of this morning’s Times a column of cricketing news is given, including a special article on the doings of the representative team at Napier, and a telegraphic account of the interprovincial match, showing that the Aucklanders made a very poor stand in their first innings at Napier. There is also a telegram recording that the ex-champion tennis player beat the Victorian at Auckland on Saturday. On the fourth page there are some interesting rowing notes, the handicaps for to-night’s races being given. The speech of the Acting Defence Minister to the sixth contingent and a report of the trial of the Crown milk separator at Patutahi.

Considerable interest is attached in Napier to the Hawke’s Bay Homing Pigeon Club’s race from Gisborne, which came off yesterday, the birds being let loose in the Flagstaff paddock by Mr Arthur Kennedy, of Napier. The following nominations were received: R, T, Smythe’s Joker and Major, J. Waterworth’s Never Never and Rocket, A. J. Durney’s Wellington and Sir Launcelot, W. Jackson’s JEronaut, N. Creagh’s Britisher, F. Moeller’s Son-of-a-Gun, T.R.C., John Mac, Uncle Tom, and Gisborne, Captain Norman’s Baden-Powell, H. Svensen’s Shakespeare. Mr Kennedy’s instructions were to let the birds go at 8 o’clock no matter what the weather was like. Ten minutes after the hour .the pigeons were Eet free, and after circling round for about three minutes, they made a straight line for home.

People are ready enough to grumble when a vessel passes Gisborne, and therefore it js. well to acknowledge the considerate way in which Captain Phillips, commander of the Mararoa, treated the port on Saturday. He waited from 5 a.m. until the evening to enable the passengers to be taken to and fro, and then the steamer signalled that the lighters would be waited for. It was arrauged that the lighters should go out at daylight yesterday morning, which they did, bringing in all the cargo for Gisborne, including 79 rams for Mr Perry, of Tologa Bay, and 20 tons of cargo that had been overcarried. The only thing not transhipped was a merry-go-round which the owner, in view of the rough westher, would not risk being lightered. The action of Captain Phillips was much appreciated by passengers and business people who would have been inoonvenienoed by the nontendering of the Mararoa.