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Manawatu Herald, Volume II, Issue 102, 17 August 1880, Page 2

The West Coast Railway. — The following extract from a private letter, dated L2th August, written by a gentleman in Vellinsfton who take 5 ) an active interest in the West Coast Railway, will be read with ; nteiest: — "The meeting at Foxton has done good. Your member has stirred him M"lf, and since huts actively associated him<elf with the other Wellington members. )u Tuesday all the W llingtoa Province nembers, with the exception of Mes.si!Beetham and Bunny, waited upon the Minister f'»r Public Works, and strongly urged the claims of tho West Coast Rail way, and they intend a/am to interview •iim and keep at the Government until they .jet fair play. I believe Mr Johnston is prepared to withdraw his support [from thGovernment], were it not that puch action would make way for Sir G-. Grey. Mr Oliver's only reply to the repr;sen tat ions of the members was, 'There are no funds." He offered to give over the benefit of the 63 ,000 already speut to any comp»ny which might be formed to take up the Hue. We are moving to strengthen tho t-ffjrts of the members by ge'tintr up a public meeting ■it an early date next wt'ek." LocAii Board.— Hi3 Excellency the Go vernor has appointed Mr Andrew Jonnon a Commissioner of the Foxton Local 80-trd. R.M. Court.— The usual sitting of the Resident Magistrate'% Court will be huld it t'oxton tomorrow (Wednesday), b;.'f»r Ir Ward. R.M. There are a considerable number of cases down for hearing, including me or two assaults, a charge of fighting in the street, and several civil cases, which ire likely to take up a considerable time. New Publications.— We have reoeived the first numbers of '• The Yeoman " and " The Health Gazette." The former is tht- " Weekly Herald" (WauganuiJ under a new name, and with a decided improvement throughout. The Health G-azette is to b<issued monthly from the Wanganui Herald office, and is a rarity amongst newspaper.* in that it makes its first appearance quite destitute of advertisements. The article* in it are capitally written and well selected, and there is a freshness about the style of the writing in the Gazette which iuteresto the reader to a decree, even though the subject may be of the dryest kind. Law And Justice. — We notice the Evening Post of Saturday points to the action of tb.9 Court at « >taki (not Foxton, as stated by the Post) in dismissing the girl Ii Oriori on a charge of escaping from gaol, ut committing for trial the man who assisted her escape, as •• another extraordinary instance of 'JustioeV justice '" If tb ptragraphist on the Post had read th pirigrnph he has made into such a "hash" he would have seen it was clearly explained that the Magistrates cave the or.ly decision on the case they could justly give. The a surdity involved is in the law, not m thnlministrators of it. We presuni" the par;i/raphict on the P >st would like the Hingis - t.pn to make tha laws as well as administer them-

Ferry Leases. — In the Counties Act V.meudment Bill now bnf>re Parliauititit •md which the G ivernment have deelarel their intention of get 'ing passuil this eeinon, ii'iwer is giv^n to the County Councils t> lease reserves or ferries for uny term nof

jxceeciin ; fourteen years. Phis will be a great improvemaut upon the present law, by which the frny leases are let from year to year, as the annual change of ferryman N tivqaiiitly a cans> of danfife'-, owini? to the tixie it tnke.s nw hands to mister th •• "knack" of wo king a heavy punt. St-11 we think that in districts like Mwawatu, where anincre 89 of population inconstantly taking place, it would be inadrsiable to 1 -a-te the ferries for i lo iger period thun three years, an the vain - of t>e properly is certain to increase apidly

EsiBRPBrsB a.yd Push.— Mr Lewis Parsons, who but a few weeks ago assumed proprietorship of the Kelvin Grove Sawmill, at Palmerston, is determined not to let the grass grow under his feet. Not only has his mill been turning out a large number of orders in the district, but he is bent on shipping largely. The ketch Corner, which cleared for Ly^tolton on Saturday last, has on board 34,0(X> feet of timber from Kelrin Grove Sawmill, while the Tui took over 10,000 foet for Welling o i fr>m the same mill. Mr Fanonit was uatil re

cently owner of the sawmill at Oxford, where was to bo found almost the only patch of bush land in the I'rovincial District of Canterbury. Oxford being worked out, he li:ib removed to thia district, and from the fact that he is already shipping largely, we presume he ia turnin* his know--1 dtfe of the Canterbuiy timber trade to good account. We have frt-quently said — and we hold to tho opinion still — that if the Miinnwntu millowneis bud themselves out to secure the Canterbury trade, not only would all the mills in the district find nn> • ployrrenr, but there would be roon for a dozen more. Directly tho new wharves are finished, Mr Parsons intends to ship largely to Canterbury.

Road Closed. — Iv another column Mr Davies, of Wirokino, announces ♦ hat he has closed the road at the back of his estate. This course has been found absolutely necessary, owing to the frequency with which the gates have been left open. Pu-ely as an act of graoe Mr Daviea has allowed the natives to use the read, even going to the ex tense of having gates erected of sufficient width to admit of the passage of a cart. This kindness has bean so HWlo appreciated that despite numerous warnings the nativeß persist in leaving open the gates, thus permitting the sheep in the different paddocks to mix and oanshig great trouble and loss of «ime in consequence. To prevent this, Mr Davies has determined on closing the road, and a notice to that effect, as already stated, appears elsewhere.

Licensed Interpreter.- We understand several prominent residents of the Foxton district intend to memorialise the Native Minister, askiug that Mr S. M. Baker, Clerk of Court and Government Interpreter, may be allowed to exercise his license as au interpreter under " The Nutive Lund* Act, 1873," and the amendments. At pre sen ; the only licensed interpreters in thia district are Messrs Stevei.B (Bulls), H. Booth (Feilding), and R. Booth (Otaki). It will be seen that though Foxtou is in th? centre of a large native district, in wh:ch nutive lands are constantly being exchanged, it is totally unprovided with a licen-ed interpreter, thus causing a want keenly fi?lt. Mr Baker possesses the confidence of both natives and Europeans ns a man of integrity (which is the quality ;,bovd all other* necessary in a licensed interpreter •■, and it is to be hoped Mr Bryce will aocedt* to the wish of the memorialist*, and perini him to exercise his license. Wo may meu tion that m hen Mr Baker first came to Fox ton a-» Clerk of Coart Hnd Interpreter it was on the understanding that he was to hayt 1 permission to act as a licensed interpreter, tlr Uowen being Minister of Justice; but o 1 the accession of the Orey Ministry to offioe they withdrew the permission tht-ir predecessors had given. The present Ministry, we believe, are not disposed, as a matter of principle, to allow native officers to act as licensed interpreters, but considering thi-t Foxtou is exceptionally situated in this mutter, nnd that the busiress people !iave every confidence in Mr B'llcer (a shown by tlie proposed memorial), we think the Nutive Minister might in this instanc stretch a point, aud grant the concession prayed for.

Dissolution of Partnership. — By advertisement in another column, it will be seen that Messrs Bills Bros., general storekeepers, &c., at Otiki, have dissolved partnership, and that Mr Fred Bills will in future carry on the business. We hop.. . ho bußiue!)3 will continue to improvo under f he new proprietor.

Strange, Ykt True. —As a comment, upon tke Public Works Statement it may be uo*ed that the railway line fron? Kopu" to Makatoko, which Mr Oliver, in th> '"üblic Works sxys will bo gon< ou with during the year, has beeu finished three months, and trains run regularly t" Makdtoko !

As Expensive Commission. —The totn •ost of the Kail way Commission, is £-->,85U which sum is upon the Public Works Estimates., and will in due course bo voted The sum mentioned seems a very large one but the Colony would not begrudge it i; the result were at all commensurate witl< the outlay Judging, however, by the \ alu of the work done by the Commission on r.hi.s Coast, and the fact that thair report ie in direct opposition to tho whole of thi evidence t:iken, wo think that if the printed copies of their report werp called in by Go vernment, sold for wastepaper, and th proceeds handed to the Commissioners -t

recompense in full for their work, the Colon would still have by far tha wors'. of th o:tn;ain.

Mretino op Creditors. — A meeting o> creditors in tho estate of if. Brown was h«l ifc the Foxton Athenaeum on Satnrdiiy last. Mr W G-. Rjbiuson • trustee) in the chair The chief business was to consider the heav\ iccount that has been received for law •iXfenses, and this the trustee wainstructed to have carefully checkeu over. Mr Robinson w»s also requestor 'o sue at onco defaulting debtois of the estate, and to insist upon the payment, of all account* for which no receipt coul I b. shown. It is certain no dividend will bt hsclared in this estate, the whole of th funds having been swallowed up by the solicitor, who in this case has undoubted^ 'iiid the oyster, and the principal effort of the creditors is now directed to making th • mvraent they are likely to be called upo for as small as possible. The moral of this onnkrupt estate and its managemoii' mdoubtedly is, that when a man fails it ibetter far not to prove your claim, nntl simply write opposite to the amount in your ledger, " Bad debt, not recoverable," ■ tut treat the debtor in future as most men lo persons who h ive bitten th«m. In thin iostance both the Fox ton Local Board and ho County Council have p oved as credi :ors in the estate, and it is therefore pro !>uble those bodies will have the ple^eutj of i Ivancinsj their proportion of the defiri->ncv ! This will bo a novel experience in local selfgovernment.

Taking a Header. — Foxton will soon be i bio to start a dog show, if wonderful aiv< e-cen'ric mambers of the cutiine fnmil increase and multiply at the present rat-. A. few days a*o an intelligent kuri owne i by Mr Andruw Jonson was seen drawing a i-atlier primitive ciut on the Avenue, in which was seated a child ; and on Saturdui ■venins? a young do? owned by vlrCxx, of '.•!id B ink of Ansti'.il.isii, was seized with a desire to emulate thu performances of circus Mien who jump throuah paper-covered hoop*. &v , win this difference, thst the material selected by the dog was glass. The animal in question was by Home means or other i>i -ar^ftraed in Whvtn's H»ti>l, and being a disciple of Sir Win. Fox, probably thought it wo »'d be inco>i«i <teht to b j seen wandering around a " pub," «ren though it were so wall conducted >is VViiyte's Finding the doors clused, he therefore incontinently went foi O'»e of the side-lights adjoining the glata door which opens out into the main porch The leap was successful, for " doggy " made a clean breach in the blue glass, and reached the street, after gaining a high reputation as a jumper. Aitracte.i by the smas!), Mr Whyte at once appeared on the scene, and truth impels us to st>te that his regret at the breakage wis perceptibly diminUhi'd unon discovering amongst the hrb'c«n gla<»» sandry loc' • of hair and nieces of akin which the oanine acrobat had left behind him.

County Council Vacancy.— Mr Lish, wb,o was elected, for the Manchester Biding

upon Mr Halcombe'B retirement^* resigned, having found that the timo occupied by the meeting* of the Council can be spent more profitably to himself. While in the Council Mr Lash did not take a very active part \j the prooeeiHngs, but we saw enough of him to know that he would prove a useful and independent member, fiis resignation is therefore to be regretted. The Feilding Guardian appears to be sanguine of the return of Mr A. P. Douglas in Mr Lash's place. It is quite possible that Dr. Johnston may again contest the seat, whilst the name of Mr Bailey, of Taonui, is also mentioned.

Batchklob to the Fobb.— We are glad to notice that Mr BatoUelor, well known as the popular host of the Royal, at Palmnrßton, has determined on importing his stock under bond. By the Tui, on Satur* day, their arrived for him three very large packages of wine and spirit, in bulk. These are stored in Thynue's bond, at Foxton, aud Mr Batchelor will of course be able to draw supplies from the bund, a* the state of trade demands. By this means he will nvoid paying the duty, which in some cases is actually more than the cost of the liquor, until the iirticle is required for consumption. I'hi-t is one of the great conveniences afforded by Foxton being a Customs port. The wonder is that many more of the hotel keepers and storekeepers in the Upper Man. awatu do not take advantage of the facili ties for saving money afforded by the Custom Houße at Foxton.

A.N Anomaly.— It is a strange fact that whilst butter is being constantly exported in large quantities from Manawatu, it is a cj'nparatively scarce article in the district, ('he Tui took away nearly 20 kegs on Sunday, for Wellington. Yet we notice in our commercial reports that prime salt butter is worth ouly 7d per pound in the Wellington market, while fresh butter is selling in Foxton at 'a 6d and Is 9d per pound ! Che farmers of Sandon might surely find a market for their butter in Foxton, instead <>f kogging it to Wellington for such a low price.

Deceased. —Mr G-. Ireland, M.H R. for ftakaia. died at Wellington on Sunday. His ase was 51.

Agricultural And Pastoual. — At a meeting of the Wanuanui Agricultural and Pastoral Association Committee iast week, a letter was read from the Ha wire's Bay \ . and P. Society, requesting the Comnaitee to nominate Judges from Wanganui r<» act at their show on Nov. 15th. — The following gentlemen were then nominated : -Cattle and sheep. Messrs Owen and R. Wilson; Horses, Mr D. Scott; Draught horses or cattle, Mr W. Craig ; Lon^wool sheop, .Messrs J W. Baker, and Qt. y. Robertson ; Cattle or sheep, Mr J. W G-ower. esolved, that Judges sent from hem to the Napier Show have their expenses paid by this Association A letter was also read from the Wairarapa A. and P. Association, asking the Wanganui Association to nominite J udgtM. The followiug were nomiuated : — sheep, Mr P. Richards; cattle and sheep, Mr J. Or. Wilson ; horses, cattle, and sheep, V[r D. Eraser ; horses, Mr J. Stevens. Mr Grower, on behalf of Mr Lark worthy, offe'ed a special prize for the champion bull, and .t was resolved, that the thanks of the Association be forwarded to Mr Larkworthv cor his special prize.

Rrmiva.li of Kklly. — ftdward Kellv wa* conveyed by special train to Beechwortb •?cenrly, the irnwn Law Officer having de ;ided that preliminary examination must c ike place where the crime was committed, i'he iutention to take Kelly to Ueechworlh ivas kept quite secret, and there was no ■xcitemeut whatever in Melbourne. Ned, however, endeavored to attiacfc attention it the railway station, but failed, as no one recognised him He conversed freely with he officers en route, and when Sergeant t<*plo said hia gang were not such good <hots as they thought them-elves. he (Ned) .v;tnied to tight him. About a hundred oersous waited for the train at Baecuworth, but no disturbance ensued.

LocAXi IxnusTtiY. — The Marlborough Uiines of a rec«:nt date says: — It will be remembered that at the last election Alt •eymour, our member, promi ed to advocate •-itiier protection to fabrics made from Ph >rniuiu, usually known as Now Zealand flax. ir oniienvour to obtain a bonus far tlid sno•essful manufacture and sale of sucks, wo<lmcks, md t iv inn from this fibre. It is 'uiown that Victoria is attempting to tak*lio lead in this industry and get command >f the market. We are glad to learn that >Ir Seymour his t^kun steps to redeem hi« irotnbe, and has brought this questio irominently before the Committee invesfjaling the state of local industries. Seeing tie heavy charges for freight and wharfagv iy export to Victoria, there is little doub: litt a »raall bonus will give sufficient en•.ouragement to our capitalists, especially is the demand is practically unlimited. Ii duould also be borne in ruind that many lUtricts in Victoria are suitable to the growth of Phormium, and that the Victorian Legislature is certain to place an import luty on oar raw material as soon as it can iii) shown that they can cultivate it. It it> b& hoped that Mr Seymour's efforts will be successful.

Tracheotomy — A rather unusual auririeal operation — tracheotomy — was recently performed by Dr. Philson upon a child in Ounodin. It appnara that in some manner, which has not transpired, the child, which is only 14 months old, got a peanut into the windpipe. Dr. Stoc.kwell was at onc<called in, and used every possible nvans to the little sufferor to cough up the ob struction. As these efforts failed, and suffocation appeared ineviiable, Dr. Phil>on was sent for, who lost 110 tiino in operating, by cutting into the windpipo below the ■bstri'Ction, and inserting a, silver tub. whereby the necessary supply of air is conveyed into the lungs. Dr. Stockwell assisted and gave ohlorform. The patient is by no mean s out of danger, and the success of the operation has jet to bo seen.

The Melbourne Tbagbdy — The tragedy enicted recently at the Opjra House (anythe Melbourne Herald) baa oauaed a d< ep sent -ition amongst the French inhibitanls of Melbourne, and has called forth an expres*\o'i "f opinion th.-it Mnn-i-jr . foundry, who was (he priino cause, as disturber of peace, between the young: couple, which led up to a tr plo attempt at murder, should at ones resign his responsible and representative position as commissioner to ta'<e charge of the French Government exhibits at" th forthcoming International Exhibition. The leading Frenohn.fln hero say that Monsieur Soundry is not worthy to remain in the colony any longer as representative of the Gr«nt Rttpublio, and tlu-y view his conduct with utter disgust. As a private individual, of course, there is nothing extraodinary in the fact that Monsieur Souudry is a Frenchman. But it is not advisable to have a physically and morally disfigured person representing a great nation in an official capacity at an International Exhibition, and to be continually an oljeot of curiosity to visitors, jon each occasion recalling his conduct which led up to the terrible tragedy. Since the above was in type, a telegram has been received fiom Melbourne stating th»t Soundry will at onoe return to Europo.

Educ iTrnrAC. REr«RNCHMBNT.-From Napinr we learn that the Hawne'e Bay Education Board will not have to make any redqotiuu io th« expenditure ju coaaequenoe

of the redaction in the grant, and salaries, &c, will continue to be paid as heretofore, the Board having so husbanded its resources that it has £3000 invested on fixed deposit. Lucky body ! The South Canterbury Fducation Board have, owing to the redaction of the education vote, instituted sweeping reductions, which will begin from the fir»t of the present month. The reductions are \ as follow :— All aalarieß from MSO to £100 are reduced 7 per cent. ; from £100 to £160, 8 per cent ; from £150 to £200, 9 per cent.; from £200 to £25", 10 percent ; from £260 to £300, 11 per cent ; £300 and upwards, 12 per cent. The salary of the iuvpeotor and secretary is reduced by 12 per cent., and that of the assistant secretary by 8 per cent. The bonus for passing pupil teachers is rednced by SO per cent., and the i«e for instructing the first pupil teacher by 26 per cent. The general office expenditure is reduced by £50 a year. Lastly, the incidental grants to committees are reduced by one third. The system adopted 'by the South Canterbury Board of a sliding scale is, we think, much fairer and more equitable than the all-round reduction of 10 per cent, adopted by the WVnganui Board.