HIGHWAYS BOARD VALUATION.

Manawatu Herald, 10 February 1880, Page 6

HIGHWAYS BOARD VALUATION.

*- Complaints are constantly reaching us of the manner in which the Manawatu Highways Board publish the valuation. " The Rating Act, 1876," under which the Board levies its rate, requires that a distinct notice should be given to each ratepayer of tin property for which he is rated, and the amount fixed. The desirableness of this is beyond question. Ratepayers ■who live at a distance from their property and are unable without great inconvenience and expense to inspect the valuation roll, have full notice given them. There is, however, a proviso in the Act which says that the omission or neglect of the Board to furnish the valuation notice, shall not affect the validity of the rate. Under cover of this proviso, which is evidently intended to apply to exceptional cases, the Board has systematically neglected to furnish ratepayers with valuation notices. Such a course of action is strongly to be deprecated, as it leaves at least a third of the ratepayers in a most unsatisfactory position. For instance, there are numbers of settlers in Foxton who own property near Palmerston. These persons must, in order to ascertain the valuation placed on their properties, travel to Palmerston, and lose at least a day, or employ an agent to examine the list. The conduct of the Board in this matter is unjustifiable. The Act distinctly requires the valuation notice, and all the other local bodies in the district furnish them. To take advantage of a proviso of the kind mentioned, lis most unbusiness-like, and opposed* to the spirit and letter of the law. In fact, so palpable is it that the proviso is intended to meet exceptional cases, that we believe the neglect to furnish valuation notices would be a strong ground for asking the Assessment Court to throw out the whole valuation roll. We bring the matter before the settlers at the request of several who have suffered, and we trust that if there is no other way of " getting at " the Board, Mr Ward will, when sitting at the Assessment Court, read the Highways Board a severe lecture upon their proper duties. Whether their neglect springs from ignorance of the law, a contempt for its provisions, or a desire to save a few hundred " twopenny stamps, " it is equally reprehensible, and we trust the ratepayers will not allow the matter to rest without a searching enquiry.

SoHc«t. Committees — Thursday, February 19, U the day fixed fer the election of local school committees at Foxton and Moutou. The Time Table.— We notice from an advertisement in another column thut the General Manager of the Railway has taken off the "special" train from Wanganui to Palmerston and back to Halcombe, whilst the early train from Halcombe to Wanganui is suspended, running only on Saturdays. These aUps have been rendered necessary

owing to tho ema'lnes? of the traffic between (ho places mentioned. j The Imhh Rgliei Fi'Siii. — We aro phased to learn froivi oiiv iSilmerston contemporaVV "t!Vat Ihe gross receipts of the frisli Relief Fund concert at P lmer^ton amounted to £51 1 8s I<l, and the expenditure to £4 173, leaving a balance of £17, which mini has been forwarded by \Lv Dun pan to the proprietois oTF the Evening Post for transmission to Ireknrt. Valentines ! — Messrs Russell Tiros an iiounce they have imported a number of the Intent novelties in caricatures andsenti mental Valentines, which are <sri f.-ile at chn-jip rates. For. tfie 'convenience of the publio Ijheii &nop will be kept open from 6 to S o'clock this evening. Cricket. —Mr of the Otaki Cricket Club, informs us thai the cricketers of that township arc very desirous of p!ay in* a match with tho b'oxton cficheters, and that he has aeut a. <!MUehge to them, but has received iio reply whatever. This {9 much to be regretted, and we hope that some actiou will be taken by the knights of the willow at Foxton. Mr Cox, the recentlyappointed agent of the Bank of Australasia, is an ardent supporter of the garne^ and we trust that with his advent Our men will bestir themselVeSv eVen although it is late in the Season. Mr Simcox also states that tho Otaki Club has challenged the Palmers'on men, and desires, if possible, to play them on the Xoxton ground. Brutality. — A horrible case of cruelty to animals occurred at Otaki on Monday last An inhuman brute named VV. Knocks rode a young horse of Mr Simcox's till the poor animal was completely " baked," and then took his stirrup iron and hammered the beast with that weapcn over the head and body. Our reporter was shown the injured horse j which had one deep gash over the eve, one under the eye, six or seven cuts on tiie forehead between tho eyes, and some moreon the nostr.l, andlower part of thehead But the worst injury was on the underpart of the flank, where the rascal, as he «afc in smd s f ruck the horse repeatedly, cutting ' through, tho akin at every blow. The horse was discovered late at night in the paddock, standing in a pool of blood. It appears Knocks had hml the horse to break in, -which had been done, and the animal was thoroughly quiet and ti actable. Mr S'imcox had delayed taking delivery because he was not then ready to receive the horse, and he told Knocks he could keep it for a little longer. Dv ing Monday night, Knocks made himself scarce, but h. ■warrant was issued for his apprehension on the following day, and he will have to answer for his conduct before the Bhhcli. Camped Odt — A traveller who was going down the coast on Monday night, gob benighted neer Otaki, and was unable to find the "turn -in" at that township. After vainly attempting to find the road, lie wad forced to seek the shelter of a friendly flaxbush, where he rested till daylight, and then maJe tracks for the township, which he reached none the worse for his night's airing. Law and Costs. — \ civil case was heard at Otaki on Tuesday last: Defendant was not pretent, and tho ci.se, which had been adjourned two or three times previously for various reasons (once at defendant's request) was given in favor of plaintiff. The amount sued for was £1 10s, and tlie costs amounted to £2 Is, made up as follows: — Co*ts of case Us ; costs of witnesses, £L ; allowance to plaintiff, 10s. After the case was over, another sum of 3s was spent by the plaintiff in the action in taking out a distress warrant. Anothru License. —Mr Harper has given notice to the Clerk of Ihe Court thai lie intends to apply for a license for Langley's house at Otaki, to be called the Club Hotel. The householders' crtificute at-t-iched to the license is signed by the folfowinjj persons :— William .Smith, J. Dij.ith, John M'Crae, James Cootes, Thomas Cootes, A. Smnll, William Udy, W. Small, W. Jenkins, and Tnos. M'Clelliiu^. We hear that the peti'iion in favor of the license is being extensively signed. Tub leish Reliev Fund. —We believe that a subcription Hat is to be started at Otaki for the above fund, and with a view to augmenting it, a dance will be held there, the proceeds of which will be given to the same object. As in the case of Foxton, we will have much pleasure in prini.ing the Otaki list as it io subscribed to. Otaki Lockxt. — The Court house and lockup aft Otaki have for years been a disgriice to the Department of Justice in New Zealand, and it seems hopeless to expect that anything will be done to improve it. But it is quite tithe that the lockup was made at least secure. On Monday night Constable Coyle " run in " a man who was discovced lying drunk on ths road, but in the morning the bird had flo-vn, and was not visible anywhere in the township. That there should be a lockup in the colony where all a prisoner who wishes to escape ha.i to do, i 8 to place his back against the wall, and force a board out, is an absolute disgrace. The whole matter of of the court buildi 'gs at Otaki requires attention. As it is now, men who place themselves within roach of the law get off "scot free," simply because thero is no place which will hold a prisoner if he wishes to escape. New Store. — Mr Thomas Bills has now got into bis new shop at Olaki, and it is a decided improvement to the place, hi anather column Mr Hills announces his Intention of making the Telegraph Store the cheapest one in the district, and we hope tba* he will tne^t with the success his enterprise merits. Not to he Caught. — A good joke occurred in connection with the recent native proceedings at Otaki. One old fallow was asked why the gathering was hold after a period of 40 years. Not to be stuck for an answer, the wily .V aori spluttered out, " The children of Israel were wandering 40 years in the wilderness I" Wanganui Cur. — We are informed that tickets in Mr Crawford's £1000 sweip on the Wanganui Cup are going off rapidly, so that those requiring tickets should apply without delay. At the Otaki Gathkrisg — The dresses worn by the Maoris at the festival at Otaki presented in some cases a comical appearance. One y-ung man, a fine-looking fellow, was dressed in a very tight p iir cf men's under pants, white shirt, black hat, trimmed with a great quantity of spotted muslin, and around his loins some yards of the same material wound in a very picturesque manner, by giving him rather a " Grecian beiid " appearance. He was one of front.men in the procession. Some of the articles worn by those in the procession included—silk and holland coats, duck and flannel trousers, white shirts and ties, white boots and canvass slippers, and other equally peculiar mixtures, borne of the men looked well in white shirts, and a sheet wound round the lower part of the body from the waist. One Maori of a religious turn of mind, with a desire to copy the surplice of the clergymen, appeared on the scene with a nifeht gown on. And he looked well in it too, as it became his portly figure. In contrast to the European costume, a handsome young chief named Knraitiana walked about all day clothed in a rich mat of native make, in which were blended some beautiful

colors Stuck in his hair were two feathers of |;tie native bird hvia, a large black fea»her with an inch of white nt the tip. In his right hand he carried a mag nificent greenstone ■Men; about a foot long and several inches In-oad, with tho edges rubb"d down us keen as a knife. Ap he strutted about, he excited universal admiration. Entertainment. — Tonight, at the Publio H ill, those old favorites. Billy Wilwon and Hosie Easton, supported by a strong .company, will porform. A good house should gr>;et them; Tiie Weather. — The intensely hot weather which has prevailed for week« past, has enabled many settlers in the out lying districts to burn off, and the air has been filled with smoke, which on some days lias given everything k pecdliat yellow appearance, litit whilst, the heat has been of great Service to those dwelling in the bush, it has been and is the cause of anxiety to settlers in the open countryi Tha grass has become exceedingly parched* and the feed is very poor, whilst the water supply is low. So long a spatte of hot, dry weather rarely occurs eVen in Manawatu. A few days of gentle rain at present would do a Vii>t amount of good. KnvitfeA. — The Kiwitea County Council election resulted in the Unopposed return of Mr Rototffc M'Beth. NotEr/— Mr W. Deards, of Terrace End, has hit upon a novel method of collecting his otitstanding accounts. In Wednesday's issue of the Palmer3ton Times, he publishes a list of debtors' names, representing ac counts up to June 30, 1879 This Ptep is taken to the preparatory to the issue of the " blue paper.' Nineteen names appeared on Wednesday, and it is promised that " amounts are to follow." The Late Bushrangers.— Writing of the bushrangers who were executed recently, the Sydney correspondent of a Southern paper says : — The decision as to their fate was communicated to Scott nnd Rogan on Christmas Eve. What a mockery the seasonable phrase. " A Merry Christmas "' must have seemed to those unliappv creatures during the following day. Scott received the tidings with apparent callousness. He said he had anticipated that s'icli would be their fate. Since then he had evidently been feeling the terrible narrowness of his time — the end coining momentarily nearer — and has been passing his hours in writing voluminously. H>. evidently means to speak to the public after he is dencl. Bub presumably, there will be an official censorship exercised over these posthumous works. Rog m, on the other hf»nd, appeared smitten with stupefaction when he learned that he was cast for death. This man's organism would appear to have been of a low order, and his imagination deficient. He had not, apparently, fully realised his position. Hanging, until the sentence became an absolute one, apppared to have had only an abstract meaning for him. But when the sentence was confirmed, and the day of execution definitely fixed, he bioke down. A coward in combat, he showed no more moral than he had displayed physical courage. Thf Murderer Suxlivas Again. — A iujaOi- is aflf.»afc that Sullivan, who caused such a sensation in New Zealand some few year* ago by the way he used to murder and rob the gold diggers, was seen a few days ago at the farm of Mr J. Sloan, which is about three miles from Wangaratta. It appears, says the Wangavatta Dispatch, that some young men, who were harvesting on Mr Sloaj's farm, and sleeping in the hut at night, were awakened by a knock at the door. Upon the door being opened a niau ent^nd v)\o was immediately recogn'sad as being Sullivan, the New Zealand murderer, by one of the young men who met him lefore dv a station in New South Wales. He looked very miserable, and asked f )r something io eat, which was given him. He then demanded a coat and trousers, but this could not be given him, as the mm had no spare clothes. Sullivan said he would not leave the hut until supplied with them, and the young men rather than argue the question out with him — for lie was not unarmed, a* he carried a long aheath knife — went away and left him in possession of the hut. BeIbiv they left Sullivan asked them where he could get a horse, as he wanted to go out to Warby's ranges to transact a little business. On the yoniiJ men returning to the hut in the morning, Sullivan had decamped. Thb New Americas Minister.— Mr James Russell L <well, who ha-t been appointed Minister for America in England, was born in 1819. He graduated at Harvard in 18 JB, and studied law, but never practised. From his College days he wrote ■ extensively both poetry and prose. In 1848 his most remiiriiablc work, The Biglow Papers, was published. In 1855 he succeeded Longfellow as Professor of Modern Language-! and Belles Lettres in Harvard College. la 18"t the degree of L.L.D. was conferred upon him by the English University of Cambridge. He has been connei-ted, editorially or otherwise, with the Atlantic Monthly, The I'ioneer, The Anti Slavery Standard, Putnam's Monthly, and the North American review. He has also been a lecturer before the Lowell Institute iv Boston on the British poe*.s. Towards the close of 1874 he was offered the post of Minister to Russia, which he doclined, but iv 1877 acceptud th-it of Minister to Spain.