Untitled

Manawatu Herald, Volume I, Issue 96, 1 August 1879, Page 2

Medical.— Wo nre glad to note the arrival of the gentleman selected by the Foxton Coinmittco as resident medical practitioner, Dr Barber having 1 come up from Wellington per steamer Huia on her last trip. We cordially welcome him, on behalf of the settlors, and would repeat the remark we made in last issue, that wo hope his career in tho district will be satisfactory alike to himself, and the people amongst whom he has cast in his lot. We congratulate the Fox ton people on at last securing a resident qualified medicnl gentleman with such high recommendations as those Dr Barber possesses. Snags. — Captain Wills has requested us to bring under the notice of the Harbour Board, the fact that the snags now lyin<r at the South end of the wharf, have the effect of causing a ver3' strong current to rush around tho corner of the wharf when the tide its ebbing. Yesterday morning, when tho 1/uia was coming alongside, all hough the bow-rope was hauled quite tight, it was some time before the steamer's head could be got ag-iinst the wharf, owing to the ouvlvnt. Whilst wriiing on this, we mi^ht mention tli.it on July 8, it was resolve ! by the Foxlou Harbour Board to hold a meeting tit the Athenaeum on July 28, toonsider the matter of a harbour endowment. We are not aware that the meeting has boen held, and trust that as the subject is an important one, steps will be taken to get the lioard together at an early date, that no time may be lost.in moving Parliament in the matter. Council.— The County Council w.ll hold its nest meeting on Monday next, August 4. Sale. — Messrs Thvnne, Liuton & Co. hold a sale of Merchandi-o at their store on tho JMoutoa road to-morrow, at 1 p.m. The Frost.— A very heavy frost was experienced throughout the Manawutu on Wednesday night last. The first sight early on Thursday morning was very effective, every thing being covered with a snowy white mantle. The ride per first train from the Foxton end was not pleasant by any means; a plentiful supply of wraps being necessary to keep out the intense cold. Along the railway line Ihc side drain was for miles covered with ico. Amongst the passengers was a well known diseiplo of Esculapius, who indulged in a skate on the wayside pl.it forms to keep upthe circulation, whilst a legal gentleman who had devoted tho previous evening to the worship of Terpsichore, indulged in a schottissche in the carriage. As tho room was limited, and the train at that timo passed over a rough part of the line, his gyrations assumed a rather startling aspect two or three times. All werd glad indeed to reach Palmerston, whore a hearty meal at Host Batclielor's soon lestorod " your own's " equanimity. Oboua BitiDGE. — This bridge is now nearly completed, and in a few day-swill be out of the hands of tho contractors. It U aheady finished sufficiently for vehicle traffic. If gravel can be obtained to form approaches, Mr Hayns will tako it over this week, or early next. Awapun'l. — A "shelter ahed" is now boiug erected at Awapuni platform, and no doubt will bo greatly appreciated by pis sengers from th:i*. locality, both native and European. Puosiotion — We understand that Mr Holmes, ono of the assistant engineers of this district, has been appointed to tuko charge of the Government works at Taranaki, in place of Mr ttees, who. it will be remembered, was recently appointed En gineer to the New Plymouth Harbour Board. Mr Holmes was in charge of tho survey ?t tho Gorge and will assume his new duViea in a few days. Off to the Exhibition. — Wo are glad to notice that F >xton will not be unrepresented nt tho approachiug Sydney Exhibition, and although the articles forwarded from this township are not of the manufacturing cliss, nevertheless as works of art, we believo they will attract both attention and praise. Mr It. Palmer, who is woll-kno.vn in the district as an artist of cons-durable inert in water colours, sent away to Wellington en route for Sydney on Wednesday last, two very excellent painting*. One picture represents a river scene on the Wait Coast of tho rtouth IslanJ. Tho view (partly from imagination) h an extremely beautiful one. In tho distance arc the glorious snow-clad Alps, brought out in fine contiast with the turbulent and rapid river sweeping along in the foreground over a bed of bonhleis. The sun fljods part of tho river with golden light, whilst the overhanging trees shade the remainder, the clear blue water flowing in the shade forming a pleasing contrast. The foreground containsscveral fine specimens of our forest trees, including the pines and totara. Tho subject of tho other picture is a scene in Kaivvarra Gorge, near Wellington. It represents tho small stream flowing over a number of stones, through a ravine, whilst the high bunks are overhung with dripping foliage, which gives a misty appearance to the saone, tho artistic effect being extremely beautiful. The coloring in the f >regr-jund strikes us as rather florid, consi eiiug the other features of tho piolure, but apart from this tbo paiuting is exceedingly creditable to the artist. As a joung artist, Mr Palmer . ives very great promise, and though tho pictures he has sent are plain rural scenes, ho has "caught the expression" of Nature and transferred it to t he paper in a manuer which she ws he possesses the true eye and aoul of an artist. Mr Palmer's picture.' were very handsomely mounted by Mr A. Jonson, of Main-street, A Correction. — Wo regret tint in our last issue it was stated lint the nanc of the man arrested for stealing a watch was Derrick, and that he was the peison who rode Fishhook when that horse was disqualified. 1 his statement turns out to be abso lutely untme, as the jockey who rode Fishhook is not in uny way connected with the affair. The veal name of the man arrested is Price, and now that he is ia the hands of the law, it is likely he will be prosecuted on an accumulation of charges. In explanation, howcver,.of the remark that he rode Fishhook when that horse was disqualified, we mny state that such was the statement made by the man himself in fe\>xton, and which was given to us by one of <ho Court officials. Accepting the information as correct, we published it. It turns out that Price was simply personating the man who actually did ride the horse mentioned. We express oar regret that we should through the false- j

hood of the culprit, have connected an m« nocent man with his crime, and trust that if the injured person sees this paragraph, he will acoupt the apology we make for the error.

Tit Our Sandom SunscmnEitd. — We exceedingly regret to hear several complaints from our tnibscribors as to tho ii regularity with which the Manawatu Heiiali) is delivered Ju that d-slricr, a id wo may s.iy we are entirely at a 10-^s to account i'or thi. 1 reason. Otio gentleman says:—"Sometimes I get the paper a month old. I re ccived last Friday's paper (18ih July), today (25th July) ; 1 have not received the paper of the 22nd y»t, and some 3 oi 4 I have not received at all." We can assure our corrcfrpondciit that every ouo of the papers are posted in time to catch tho mtii on the day of publication. Tuesday's papers should therefore reach tho Sandon PostOffice on Wednesday morning, and Friday's papers on .Saturday morning. Under these

circumstances jre can only attribute the blame to some of the offlci-ils, and we intend to reach tho matter by laying th<s whole aifair before the Postmaster- General. Wo do not wi-.li to say where wo think tho blame lies, but <ye aro confident id is not in the FoxLon office.

The Thief of Time.— At the Local Board meeting on Wednesday last, a discussion took place on the advantages of punctuality It will be seen from our report that Mr Loudon almost lost his seat on the Board through absence from four meetings. As a matter of fact, he was absent from six consecutive meetings ; but he had a plied for leave of absence from one, another was extraordinary, whilst a third (that on July 10) Mr Loudon declared ho attended, having been present at the Board Office »l the hour mentioned in the Clerk's notice. The Chairman admitted that the meeting that day did not t'iko place till half an hour after the time. This est .Wished Mr Lo wlon'n c.iso, and hud his name appeared in the minutes Tor that day, it would have saved the Board at least half-anhour's discussion on Wednes lay. During the conversation which took place, Mr C-il.-y made a very praciical suggestion that five minutes' gr.ica should be allowed to each member, bu! th.it. any one coming later than that time, should he finsd half-a-erown, — the money to go to the pior. Ihe idea is a capital one, but it 13 neadless to say did not meet with general approval.

Puivate Streets. — The question of pri vate streets was again forced upon the consideration of the Looal Board on "Wed nesday last. The necessity of forming the street lending from .Main street to the Public Hall, and down to the Manaw.itu Hotel, has been for some time apparent. A short time ago, the Board determined to do the first part of the work, but upon fur ther consideration found it would be inadvisable to do so, as the land had never been legally handed over to the Crown. Uut immediately alongside the j-ath in M.iinstreet was a'large, stinking holo on the private street. Thi3 wes filled up with sand, at a cost of £2 2s, and the account l.dj beforo the Uoi. id on Wednesday. To this item Mr Loudon very properly took excep. tion, on the ground that it was a private stree';, and the amount was struck out. Mr Coley, who is a practical and hard-headed member, at once remarked that if he was Mr Crowther, he would not let the public have the use of the land unless they kept the road in repair. In fact, if Mr Crowther would fence in the land he had given for the road, he (Mr Coley) was prepared to rent it at once as a timber yard.* To this Mr Crowther replied that he had en tered into a bond to the amount of £ot)0 to hand over the street, so far as he was able to do so. We consider the B ;ard have done quite right in striking out tho £2 2s, but at the same lime we think it is rather hard on Mr Crowther. As a lessee of tho land, it it is manifestly impossible for him to hand over absolutely the road to the Board. Ho is willing to do so to tho close of his lenso, which is, of course, tho " length ot his tether." Yet the public are constantly using the street in question, and if he were to fence off his part it would leave the stro.it past Whyte's rfotel ouly 20 feet wide, which would be so narrow that no Boaid could take it over. Under these circumstances it seems hard for him to have to pay to keep the road in repair. Perhaps after all, if there is no way of gettiug out of the d.ftku'ty, his best plan will he to accept Mr Ooley's duggestion, and fence it in. Public spirit is good, but personal loss is often the converse side of the picture. If another poul of stagnant water were to gather on the road, Mr Crowther could at any timo he sued for perpetuating a nuisance, as it would bo on private property, though used as a public street.