Manawatu Herald. FRIDAY, MAY 21, 1880.

Manawatu Herald, Volume II, Issue 77, 21 May 1880, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. FRIDAY, MAY 21, 1880.

Reclamation. — It is rumored in Wellington that Mr J. Saunders is the successful tenderer for the Foxton station contract, but no official notice to that effect has beeD given. Football. — Wo hear that some of the athletic residents of Foxton are about organising a Football Club. There is plenty ; of talent for this game about the district, and we see no reason v?hy a good club should not be started. Mr Whyte, with his usual generosiby, has promised/to provide a firstclass ball, and also the use of his grouud, should the club be organised. A meeting in connection with the matter will be held next week, of which notice will be given in the next issue of this paper. The Steamkr Tui. — The favorite steamer Tui, which left Wellington for Foxton on Monday evening last, has not yet turned up, nor been heard of. She is" probably anchored snugly at either Kapiti or Mana, out of reach of the heavy westerly gales which have been blowing during the week. The Manawatu Accident.— The cases against the captain, purser, and Wellington agent of the p.s. Manawatu,for breaches of i the Shipping Act, are to be heard at Wellington on Tuesday next. The facts briefly are that the steamer had been overhauled in Wellington, and one of the foundry hands, who was uncertiflcated, went as engineer. In order to obtain a clearance, however, the name of a man named Simmonda, a certificated engineer, was entered on the articles, but Simmonds himself declares he gave no authority for such an I entry, that his signature was forged, and that he simply went to see that things went right. During the passage the accident to the boiler occurred, and the Customs authorities have taken steps to have the whole matter investigated in the R. M. Court. The whole affair appears to bo the result of a cheeseparing system of managej ment. | Journalistic. — Our contemporary, the ! Wanganui Herald, han taken a further step in advance, and now issues a paper contaiuing 82 columns of matter. The whole of the type used is quite new, and our namesake looks au smart and handsome as a newly-promoted Lieutenant. The success the Wanganui Herald has gained has been well deserved, and we cordially wish our contemporary increased success, with his increased sizo. Drunk and Disorderly. — Yesterday, at the Court House, Foxton, John Robert Evans was charged with the above offence, before Henry Sanson, Esq, J.P. The case — which was a bad one — was fully proved by Constable M'Anulty and Mr Tansley, and the accused was fined £1, or seven days' imprisonment in Wanganui Gaol. Tho money not being forthcoming, prisoner wis taken on to Wanganui by the evening train. Pbbjurt. — At tho R.M. Court, Bulls, on Fridpy last, George Reos Davis was charged with perjury, and committed for trial. It appears that a few weeks ago Davia was

summoned for nulls due to the Sandon Flour Mill Company, ho being a defaulting shareholder. During the hearing of the ease it transpired tint tho list of subscribing shareholders had been lost, and Davis in Irs evidence swore that ho had not signed this, and that ho had no shares ivi the Company. After tho caao was concluded, however, ho sold two shares in tho Company for one shilling to Mr Wilfred Jackson, and strange to say a day or two afterwards the missing share list turned up. This proved to have beon duly signed by Davis, and proceedings were at onco taken agiinst him for pcijary, with the result already mentioned. The Clf.iik or The Count. — Considerable dissatisfaction is expressed throughout this distiict at tho manner in which Foxton is treated as regards tin Oivk of th-^ O.nrt. Only a month or twr» Mr B.\!'3r w.'s sent on an expedition to Muriiv.otn, and \vus away from the district, over a month, during which timo no provision whatever was made for the duties of his office, except in so far as they were per"- "'nod by the Foxton Bailiff, Mr Tansl< y. Wo hag been again removed, this timo to Morton, where for thu last wp-V he has noted "s Interpreter to the Nat-"- • Lands Coin-;, and is, we hear, to attend upon that august tribunal in its pevo^iiniMons to Bulls, AVanganui, &c. This is rather a cool method of treating the sottlers in these districts. If a Clerk of the Court is necessary at Foxton at all, he is always necessary, and these repeated absences from Foxton of that official are a source of very grave inconvenience to the public, as well as thoroughly disorganising the Court business. Only la3t Wednesday, an important Maori case was heard at the Foxton Court, and in the absence of the regular Interpreter, the Magistrate (Mr Ward) was compelled to translate the evidence himself as tho case proceeded— h necessity he should certniiiy have been relieved from. As regards the ordinary business of the Court, it i« manifestly unfair to exj>ect that the Bailiff wi'l be i-ble to transact the duties of Clerk of Court and Registrar in the same efficient manner aMr Maker. Besides, Mr Tansley is required by his agreement to attend the Court only three days in each week, lfs stipend being' of a correspondingly small character. As I a consequence, the public need not bo sur- | prised to find at any time a notice posted on the Courthouse that the office will during the Clerk's nbsencebe open only three days in each week. Complaints are constantly reaching us of inconvenience caused by the lengthened absences of Mr Baker from his office, and we press the matter upon the attention of the authorities, in the hope that he will be at once relieved of his Land Court duties, and be enobled to return to his office at Foxton. The Foxton Highways District. — Our esteemed Palmers ton contemporary is evidently rather sore at the proposed Fcxtou Highways District, and in the course of a recent snb-leader goes minutely into the probable income and expenditure of the new Board. No doubt the settlers will be very grotcful for the liberality of our contempor. ary in affording free and unasked so much valuable advice as» to the best means of spending the rales. No doubt. Our con temporary can doubtless afford to bo viry funny at the proposed Board's expense, but ridicule is not likely to prevent the ratepayers from obtaining separation. When they are cut off from the Palmerston Jistriet they will at least have the pleasure of spending their money, be tho amount great or small. For a ?ong time past they have had merely the satisfaction of raising it, only to find that it had ail been forestalled by Stoney Creek, Fitzherbert, &c, &c. Of course, "he may laugh who wins. " Hitherto our contemporary has been on the winning side, but probably the knowledge that Foxlon has now " cut the painter " and let adrift the helpless "dingies" that have been dependent on it for motive power for some months past, has caused our contemporary to look askance on the separation movement. Phopebty Assessment. — Messrs Thynne, Linton & Co., who have been appointed valuers under the Property Assessment Act for the Foxton Local Board District, Palmerston Borousrh District, and the Manawatu and Otaki Highways Districts, advertise their willingness to afford every information to settlers iv the filling up of the assessment papers. This information will be given by the valuers in their official capacity, and of course no charge will be made. Patea and its Doctor. — The Patea people have been schooled in war and other trouble, but evidently are \inable to put up with a bad doctor. The gentleman who has been " doing th 3 amiable " for them in that line, seems to have got into disfavour, owing to his refusal to attend in several very bad cases. They hays therefore buried him in effigy. The Patea Mail of Saturday last contains full accounts of the ceremonies, which were of 0 most laughable character. At the " inquest " held on the remains the following " verdict " was returned : — " We find the remains are those of an animal, name unknown, and that the deceased came by his death through excessive spontaneous combustion, brought on hypothetically. The jury wish to add, in a rider, that grave suspicion re9ts on the D.U.M.P. who attended, or refused to attend, in this case." Primitive Methodist Church. — In another column is an announcement of the anniversary tea meeting in connection with the Foxton Primitive Methodist Church. This festival had been arranged to take place about two motnha ago, but in conse» quence of the flood wasjpostponed. It has now been determined to utilise the Queen's Birthday holiday for the commemoration, and as there will be addresses in the evening, interspersed with singing by the choir, a profitable and pleasant evening may be anticipated. HooßWiiExuA Contracts. — By reference to our advertising columns, it will be seen that Mr ilayns, County Engineer, is calling tenders for bush felling and clearing at Horowhenua, on the Foxton-Otaki road. This will bo a capital chance for men out of employment to secure work, and for small parties to obtain contracts The total length of road to be felled and cleared is 5$ miles, and in order to give every one a chance, Mr Hayns has divided the contract into half-mile sections. The tenders close on Monday, June 1. Otaki tenderers will be able to see the specifications at the house of Mr J. Cootea. Patea Hah bol'B.— - We notice in the loca paper the annual balance sheet of the Patea Harbour Board, which body appears to bo in a flourishing state. During the year ended 31st December, 1879, the Board received £2472 from sales of land endowments, £241 rents of reserves, six months' rent of wharves, and £189 as wharf dues, also £50C0 from Government as a first instalment of a loan of £10,000. Works of considerable magnitude in the way of harbor improvement are going ou at Patea, and are found most effectualin deepening the channel. The land endowments of the Board are valued in the balance sheet at £5,651. We confess that when we look at the prosperity of tho Patea Harbor Board, and think of the condition of the Foxton one — penniless, without an endowment, or a wharf, or anything but a name — we are compolled to comfort ourselves with the thought that " Man was made to mourn 2 " However, our Patea neighbors are to be

congratulated on tho fact brought out, by the balance shoot, viz., that their Harbor Board transacts its business with both energy and economy, tho wiiolo cost of tho management— including Clerk's salary, &c being only £78 for tho year. Axotheu Duputation. -Tho Palmoiston pcoplo have boon "up and at it again." Their usiul " bag" includes a brnoo of Ministers, with a Kail way Oomiiiissionor or a Chief Engineer thrown in, but thi* time, in onlor Lo keep their hands in, they havti been compelled to have a shot at a plain Undersecretary. Mr Or. 8. Cooper, Undor-Scc rulnry, was recently on a vhit to the Borough, and as a matter ot course the usual deputation intorviewed]him, the proceedings being fully reported in the local journal. In tho absence of the Mayor, Councillors Dun gan, Metard, and Fergusson, formed tho deputation, the first-named gentleman leacl- [ ing the charge. The only subject referred to was the District Courthouse, fio importance of which was fully admitted by Mr Cooper, who nevertheless expressed a desire on tho part of the Government to stuve off the expense of erecting a new builsing f>r a year, owing to the condition of the Colonial finance. He was in favour of using tho Town Hall as a temporary remedy for the evils complained of, as tho Government could not afford to put up the new building at once. The report concludes thus: — " The deputation then thanked the Under-Secretary for his courtesy, and Mr Cooper took his departure five minutes later by the Masterton coach." A Montrosity. — A strnnge specimen of humanity came under the notieo of the honorary surgeons of the hospital (says the Ballarat Courier). A woman from a country district brought into the institution a young male child, about 14 days old, and apparently healthy, " to see if the doctor could do anything for it." On examination of the infant, it was seen that it had no thighs nor knees. Feet it possessed, and portions of legs, up to close below tho knee joints, but at what would generally bo called the calves of the legs, they were joined on the body. In nil other respects the child was apparently perfectly developed and healthy. The doctor could do nothing to set it ail right ; and it is hardly possible that any artificial contrivance can be made to s upply the defect. 'Ihe Sunflower. — 'I he sunflower is turned to extraordinary account in Li'hania. The seeds yield at first pressure excellent salad oil, and the residue forms excellent oil cake for cattle, who are also fond of tho leaves and stalks chopped up. The flowers a little short of bloom are, when cooked, nearly as good as artichokes, and arc in the garden very attractive to bees. Tho leaf, well dried is used as tobacco. The seed receptacles are made into blotting pnper, and the inner part of the stalk is made into a fine writing paper. Tho more woody portions of the plant, which attains great size, are used for fuel. The best is obtained in the Crimea. As an anti-mala rial agent the sunflower is most valuable. A Rich Joke. — The following joke is retailed by the Wellington Times : — Scene, a hairdresser's shop on the Quay ; -within, the proprietor, who is bald, and verj' touchy on the subject, operating upon the hoad of a legal luminary who is known for his Hibernian fondness for cracking jokes whenever he see eveu the pretence of an excuse. Lawyer loquitur : " Now, tell me truly, by your name, how did you come to lose your hair P" Hairdresser : " Well, to tell you the plain truth, sir, I lost it over in Sydney trying to be honest ;" and then, unctuously, whilst gently rubbing his customer's head with both hands, " What a fine head of hair you've got, to be sure, sir." The lawyer was tickled, but didn't laugh. Employment fob Women. — The latest proposition as to how our superfluous single women are to be employed emanates from a Committee of ladies and gentlemen, who propose to found a Female Agricultural college, where " women may receive instruction in theoretical and practical horticulture, dairy work and poultry rearing, beekeeping, and other kindred industries." Tho idea is not half bad, if well carried out, as no hard manual labor U required in either of these industries if the rough digging and delving be performed by the stronger sex. In France and Belgium women always attend to these departments of outdoor work. Lady gardeners with male helps would be a sure success. It is argued that there is a great demand for more fruit, more garden stuff and green vegetables, milk and butter, eggs and poultry, more cream and strawberries, for the dwellers in our metropolis and iv large manufacturing towns. If women take up all the branches of employment suggested for them it ■will soon become a grave question, what are we to do with our boys and men ? Lost Sheep. — Tho Thames Advertiser says : — " The discovery of sheep lost f or seven years is certainly a raro occurrence, and one that shows the value of Hew Zealand climate. Mr Gough, of the Thames, brought with him from England four prize Dorsetshire white-faced ewes and rams, which were for a time running in the Kauwaeranga Valley, and then suddenly disappeared. Years rolled on and no trace of the little flock was discovered until lately, when Mr John Liddle, the well-known prospector, intimated accidentally that he had seen a flock of wild sheep in the ranges near Waitekauri, and lost some duys in attempting to capture a ram, -which was of enormous proportions, and covered with a tremendous coat of wool. Mr Gough offered the prospector £20 to be shown the sheep — which he was told had increased to a flock of so»ne sixty or one hundred — and £1 per head for all they could recover. The two started out, and after two days' search fifteen enormous sheep "were found in the bush about three miles from tho Waitekauri battery. The sheep were lost seven years ago, and have not been shorn during that period. Thoy have had abundance of feed, and are such as to bo worth exhibiting. They are in size equal to two or three ordinary sheep. No doubt more will be dis covered after a few days' search."