ROAD METAL.

Gisborne Times, Volume VI, Issue 266, 19 November 1901, Page 2

ROAD METAL.

The decision of the Borough Council as to the metal in what is known as Douglas’s quarry is questioned by Mr D. Douglas, who writes to the press, making the following offer : —•“ Let the Council procure ton loads or fifteen yards of road metal from my property, and put it on any part of the Borough roads, when, if in the ojrinion of'Mr.King, the Harbor Engineer, after a reasonable use, the material from my property does not compare favorably with the Patutahi metal, I will refund the Council the cost it has been put to. In the yeariß93 my metal was considered good enough, the only drawback being the state of the roads. This no longer exists, as, since then, upwards of has boen expended on the roads, which are now in much better condition, As this is a matter

of vory groat ir.iero.-t to the iateyayer’, ; especially la view - f the proposed :x----teusiou of tia Borough bout) hub I have no hesitation ia asking j ti 1 to publish this odor.' 1 It would ut> j wise for the Council to take some ; notice of the oiler made by Air ; ’Douglas, but to vary it in form, j In view of the report of tlieir Over- ; seer, the Council can liarn!y ru-h j straight into tho expense advised, but it might bo well to moke an 0k.,: -.-i tire oiler to Air Douglas. Let him have tho mete! brought into town on : tested, the independent Opinion of King being take;.', and if the arm'. ; is what is claimed for it, the Conn - ; I ' ■to pay the full price for it. By lim: method, all parties would ha saiislie . and Air Douglas would show that ie-m has tiie courage of his opinions. It ! would be xuoro businesslike for tn-o Council to make a refund to him them • for him to be liable to be called on to make a refund to the Council.

NO TIME FOR SCOTCHMEN. j Now that Sir Hector Macdonald is r.v.'-.;, i from the colony there is au outcry n ; different parts as to the way many of the Scotchmen who sought to do lmn w 1 ; were coolly elbowed aside by olheiov.s | people. 11l the South it was notice err. ; but in the north it became unbe-traoie, | and the wonder is that the Scotchmen . > j silently submitted. An instance is given ; by the Auckland Observer of the way the respected settlers from Waipu were treated on arrival in the Northern city. They went to Auckland at their own expense, and were invited to become the guests of the committee. Hero we let the Observer tell the tale To their amazement, they were not allotted seats at the table, but, being anxious to do something for Hector, they were allowed to stall; around the table a couple of times while the dinner was in progress and give a skirl of the pipes. Then, they wero taken to a small room some distance off, and shut in “ till they were wanted.” Their eyes had been busy while they circled the table, and as Scotchmen, they were indignant to see a Scotch gathering with a Sassenach string band, in evening bn es, and a Scotch banquet with champagne and sherry instead of whisky for the toasts. Summing it up in the seclusion of the ante-room where they waited, they came to the conclusion that the colonized Scotchmen by whom the show was run wore ashamed of the Scottish dress, the Scottish liquor, the Scottish music, and . But they mutinied. It didn’t take much o f the ante-room, within sound of the prevailing mirth, to avouso their Scottish blood. In a body, with the Waihi pipers, who were their companions in humiliation, they made a general move for the street, and several of tli,em actually left. The remainder were, however, intercepted at the door, and persuaded to return to the banquetting hall. But once there, they were treated no better than before. They were not offered seats, glasses were not given them to enable them to join in the toasts, but they were left standing in an awkward group to gaze on the doing, end, listen to the sayings of fho ill's •ffhv’B Scotchmen around them. No wonder :!■ -y felt that the waiters were better treulei : than

they. It was lucky for the committee that it was not an Irish gathering, and that Irishmen were being so treated, for lucre would soon have been fun at tho expense of the committeemen. However, the Scotchmen who remained ciulured ull those slights in the expectation that they would be allowed to do honor to Sir Hector Macdonald with their pipes before the banquet ended. But it was not to be. There was time for Mr D. B. McDonald to explain what he wanted to say. plenty of time for Mr Alfred Kidd to trace Ins pedigree back to some place near Inverness, oceans of time for English love, and patriotic songs, but no tune iov tho bagpipes or Scottish music. In a word, after the expense and trouble these visiting pipers had gone to in order to honour their countryman, and the humiliations they had submitted to at the Scottish banquet, the two pibroch < were cut out of the programme, and •their chagrin and discomfiture were made complete. It is to bo hoped that now tho committeemen have had time to think over the matter they will at least have the manners to apologise for their conduct, which will naturally bo resented by every Scotchmen.