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Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue 74, 17 May 1881, Page 2

West Coast Railway —Mr James Wai lice, one of the Provisional Directors of the Company, arrived at Foxton yesterday, on a tour through the district inj the interests of the Company. We believe that before that gentleman returns to Wellington he will hold a meeting at Foxton — probably on Friday eveuing nuxt — for the purpose of eniistiug the support of the people of this part of the district in the object for which th>: company has been formed. The total amount subscribed is about £43,000. Ah soon as the sum of £60,000 is reached, steps will be at onoe taken to register the Company. Railway. — The District Manager announces in this issue train arrangements for the Queen's Birthday and the Wanganui Steeplechase meeting. R.M. Court.— The usual sitting of .the R. M. Court will be held tomorrow. Should Mr Ward be unable to conclude the hearing of the libel case at Palmerston today, the C >urt will be presided over by Justices. The Awahop Bridge. — This structure, which has now been iv course of erection some time, appears to be ill-fate ', four of the uprights having been broken by the pressure of the Band tilled in alongside. The Palmerston Libel Case.— lt appears that our statement that Mr Dungan had taken criminal proceedings against the editor of the Manawatu Standard was not correct,as a denial is given by the Standard on Siturday to the report. We received the information f ram what wo deemed a reliable source. Although we are n<«t intimidated by the threat of the Standard that it was going to take advice about \n, we take this opportunity of correcting the error into which we were unintentionally led, as an act of simple justice. We would do the same thing in reference to ai.y other person or any other in itter. The Libel Cases.— The charges of erim initial libel broii4ht by Mr M'Minn aga'ns' Mr Dungan are to com ) on for hearingtodav, at Pidineraton, before the Resident Magistrate. A full report will appear in Friday's issue. To a Correspondfnt — We have re-ceivt-d a letter from Otaki signed "Spectator," professing to give a "fair and impartial" criticism upon the recent concert then*. As we decline to allow this journal to be made the medium for anonymous writers to vent their paltry spleen towards ladies and gentlemen who band themselves to raise funds for a most praiseworthy object, we have thrown "Spectator's" effusion into the waste paper basket. Our correspoudeuce column is at all times open for the ventilation of public abuses, hut when persons attempt to make it a medium f ->r communication of the class "Spectator has sent, we draw the line. If ''Spectator" had signed his name to the letter and had the courage of his opinions, it would have been a guarantee that his criticism was ''friiraud impartial."

The Oyster and the Shell.— We understand that the legal fraternity have received or will receive ever two hundred

pounds from tho bankrupt estate of H. Br nvn, baker, Foxton. Of this aum alj>ut £170 has been paid to legal luminaries in Wellington, the balance bein^ divided amongst three or four representatives of the long robe in Mmawatu. As each of the fifteen or sixteen creditors w o proved in the estate will )>« levied on for about £7 to make up a deficiency between the. assets ami the liabilities, w« think it will be admitted than in this instance the oyster has gone to tho I'j npire Cry, "while the ahull remains here, or, to burrow a simile from the debtor's business and a pirn fro>n hi* na<n^, the creditors have been decidedly " (tone Drawn. " Art ILvio.v.— Tho owners of the wellknown nailing bo it Z>'ln intend to dispose of it on Thursday nsxt, by art union. LAND Salk. — Tn our advertising columns Messrs Halcombe and Sherwill announce that they have received instructions from the Emigrant and Colonists' Aid Coporation to sell by public auction about 6000 acres | of land, situated in the vicinity of Palmer- ! ston. The sale will be held at that town on the lGch of June next. We will take another opportunity of referring to this sale. In the meantime, inte'iuing purchasers are referred to the advertisement, which speaks for itself. A HI'MOKOUS IXSPECTOn-OF-NCTSAXfIES. — It is not often that Inspectors of Nuisances are endowed with so keen a sense of humour as that possessed by one in the County of Miinawalit. This official was recently called upon to inspect several nuisances taid to exist in a certain neighborhood, amongst others brought under his notice being tins terrible bellowings each night of a cow anil calf. On returning to I lis ollioiJ the Inspector sat down an I wrote to the person complained of — "Sir, — Mr Blank having complained to iti's of a nuismce caused etuh uiuht hy the bellowing of a cow and cilf belonging to you, I have to request that you w ll cause the mouth of the cow to be bound up each night, and .at the same time administer to the calf a sleeping draught !" Whether the nuisance has since ceased, deponent sayeth not. Examination*. — The report of the April Civil Service examination has been published. Of the 3(i candidates who underwent the junior examination, only siv passed, of whom William Henry Russell was the sole representative of the Wellington provincial district, being fourth in the order of merit. He was, according to the Hay.:ittv, educited as follows— Wesleyan j Day School, 3 years; Ruckle-street and Mount Cook Public School, 2 years ; Wellington College, i» years. In another part uf the Gazette wo notice Master Russell's appointnunt as a Cadet in the Education Department at Wellington. Foxton Ferry. By advertisement in another column it will be seen that the proprietor of the mail coaches it* advertising for tenders for the erection of a stable, coachhouse, &c, on the east bank of the Manawatu river. The object of this step is of course to avoid the very expensive ferry at Foxton. We understand that hitherto Mr Macara has paid a lump sum of £120 per annum for ferrying his aoaches, but Mr Hillary, o*vin<? to the very high sum he now pays for the ferry, insists on the full amount allowable by law being paid. Mr Macara considers times will not warrant the increased payment, and rather than make it intends to erect the stables on the east side of the river, the mails being ferried over on the punt, and a trap meeting the punt on the Foxton side and taking passengers and mails to the railway station. .Railway Traffic. —We understand Messrs Buber Bros, are about to try a n experiment in the conveyance of stock pe 1 ' train from Waverley to Foxton. The cost of driving mobs of cattle from Patea to Wellington is at all times costly, not only on account of tolls, drivers' expenses, &c., but also because of the depreciation in condition of the beasts. Messrs Barber are in treaty with Mr Rotheram for a special train to bring down a mob from Waverley, and believe the cost per train will show a fair reduction on the cost of driving. Mr Rotheram guarantees that the trip will be made in eight hours, the cattle being placed on terra fram at the Motuiti station. The only fear Messrs Barber have is that the train may cause a loss of spirit to the animals, as it has been found that sea voyages frequently affect the animals in such a way as to make it necessary to slaughter them shortly after arrival. They think that possibly a long railway journey may have the same effect, j and of course if such is the case the loss would be greater than the gain. Should the trial be made, we believe Mr Rotheram will personally superintend the operations, being very desirous of it going off success- I fully. Agency. — In another coluirn will be fouud the business card of Messrs De Yeaux & Co., shipping, land, and general commission agents, Christchurch. As ' c have a personal acquaintance with one of the members of the firm in question, we can assure settlers in this district that any commissions they may be entrusted with, — either for the sale of timber, or land, or the purchase of agricultural implements, &c., will be attended to with strict punctuality and fidelity. A J. G. S Grant at Feilding.— A man's worst foes ate they of his own house-* h»ld, and it is the same with communities. When amemberof a community undertakes to wilfully traduce the commercial position and prospects of the district in which he dwells, his attack does tenfold more injury than those of outsiders. Feilding appears to be the unenviable possessor of such an individual, and it is to be regretted that the attempts lately made to injure tho reputation of Feilding hare come from one of its own residents. In support of these remarks, we quote the following paragraph which has been goin-j the round of the papers. This extract is from the West C »aat Times :— •■' A Feilding correspondent of the I'atea Mail says :— • We have had a terrible depopulation lately. I don't suppose ono house in three in the township is inhabited. In Halcombe it is still worse.' '' The statement made iv the above paragraph oan be characterised only as an absolute am™ th. But who was tho correspondent ? The Grey Valley Seat.— Mr G. G. FitzGerald, brother «f the Comptroller-Getier-il, and at present editor of the Wanjjanni Chronicle, is a candidate for the Grey Valley seat, vac it«d by the reu&matio i of Mr Ma^tern. Mr FitzGerald was formerly Warden and R -sident Magistrate for the Hikitika district, and will stand a very «ood chance of securing the vacant seat. Mr Robert Stout was asked to stand for the Grey Valley peat, but declined. E<c-Dis-trict Judge VVeston received a requisition asking him to stand for the Grey Valley seat, but as he is on no electoral roll he way obliged to decline. Manawatit County Rolls. —The Manawatu County rolls not having been prepare 1 within the time prescribed by the Act, owing to the delay caused in the compilation of several of the valuation lists of the minor local bodies, the C ilonial Secretary notifies in the last Gazette that the time for the preparation of the rolls has been extended to the 21st inst. The rolls will be open for inspection from the 26th iirtsi. to the 20th June ; objections will be received till the 30th of June, and the Revision ,

( 'ourt is appointed to sit not later than the 2lst July. The roll will come into forcj on „ the Ist August. i;' v Lkcislatiox.— ln the C.mi't of Appeal yost«rday Mr Travers, daring the course of his remarks in connection with, the case of Heudry au<l others v. Hutt Couoty Council, said that the Legislature appeared to delight in mixing up tho County Acts, and having thuin couched in such language as to ren-ler them almost' unintelligible Mis Honor th night that the blame was more, correctly speaking, due t'j.tUoao persons who amended. the Acts. Ho considered that there should be ar. otlijur appointed to w.itch the fra niug and amending of such Acts, as was the case ia E iglau 1. — N. Z. Times, of Saturday. „ .Educational AuvAXXAUkS.— -The Dan* bury News tells of an Irishman, who found a (government blanket, recently, ani rolling it up, put it under his arm and walked oil', saying : "Vis, that's mome — U £or Patrick, and S for M'Carty; be me sowl, l>tit this larnin' is a foinc thing, as me faythcr would say ; for if 1 hadn't an edication I would'nt have been after findin' me blanket." Ksci.rsii anh> Continental Operativks. — Euulaud has 2,930,000 operatives, whose average annual products are £224 each ; Germany 2 751.000, who produce annually, each; £103 in valuo ; France, 1.936 000 w 1 O3e a'inuai products average £220 each Tno valn-i of tv« textile prolucts produced in the Un : ted Kingdom is £ 133, 000,000 ; United States, £84,000 00* ; France, £()5,00f1,000, and Germany, £4S r OOO,OOO. Bismarok. — This great statesman is anxious to make his countrymen as successful in the arts of peace a3 they were in the arts of war. He has propuuded a scheme of bounties to German shipping to promote the encouragement of ship-building in the Empire, and the exteusion of its commerce. The plan is similar in principle to the one recently adopted in Prance, and the idea meC-s with much support in Germany. The Maori Kin'o-Makkr.— A Waikato paper has the following : — ' ' A singular accident happened to llewi ou his way to the Hikurangi meeting. Ho fell down a precipice 70 f<;ttt deep, from which he was taken up insensible by Messrs Pu>s3, Thompson, and ' .Mokau Jones.' Ilewi, when he recovered consciousness, asked to be dipped in the Punni ltiver, and afterwards found that ho had recovered the us^ of his left arm which had been for some time prej viims'y p iralyse 1. U«wi was carried back I to bis residence at Punui, where he remains for the present." Dnxßinx. — The population of Dunedin and suburbs is 42.802 as against 3.1.023 in 1878. At Port Chalmers it is 21S1 as against 1527 in 187S ; while the shipping is 428 as against 632 ia 1878. /VrnvupT in iJpRX.mr. Lom>o\ CVstom Hot'.^r.—^ome excitement was caused on January Bth by a report that an attempt had been made to burn down the Custom House, London. It appears that about half-past seven in the evening an officer passing through a room in the tea department of the building discovered what appears to have been an attempt to set fire to the place. The room contains ranges of shelves from floor to ceiling crammed with papers. Against one of the wooden partitions a hamper of loose paper had been placed and set on fire. The hamper was partially burned and the shelves charred, but the tire had not had time to make any serious progress, and it was at once extinguished. Infants at Schools.— We are glad to see that the Government intend to insist on the exclusion of childreu under five year* of age from the public schools, — at least they refuse to make any further payment to the Education Boards for their attendance. Some months ago we wrote strongly on this matter, pointing out that a great saving might be effected by the Government adhering to the law and paying only for those chidren of school age. The following circular has been issued to the different Education Boards : — "Education Department, Wellington, 4th May, 18SI. I am instructed by the Minister of Education to inform you that circular No. 17, of date ">th November. 1878. is hereby cancelled, and that after the 30th June, 18S1, capitatiou grants will not he paid to Boards on account of the attendance at public schools of children under tive (o) years of age. I am therefore to request that the attendances of all children under 5 years of age be excluded from attendance summary for the current quarter, on which, as you are aware, next quarter's payments are calculated, and to suggest the advisability of the Board forthwith issuing instructions to School Committees and teachers to exclude the attendances of all such children from their school returns for the present quarter. —John Hislop." We have made enquiries as to the degree in which the Foxton school will be effected by the above circular. Mr Hulke informs us that only one child under five years of age has been in attendance, consequently the local school funds will not suffer much. A Mysterious Rtvkb. —The river Bradford, a tributary of the Derwent at Alport, Derbyshire, flows about a worked out mine. The village was amazed the other morning to rind that the river had disappeared in the night. A vast chasm is left, and down below, at a great depth, the water can be seen. Fifty miners are employed iv the task of attempting to fill up the chasm with rocks and trees, but for several days the materials cast into the chasm were carried into the Derwent, into which the stream stills finds its way after flowing underground for several miles. Catholic Liberality*. — The following passage is extracted from the reply made by Bishop Moran, of Duedin, to the address presented to him on the occasion of his silver jubilee : — " On this occasion I may meution one other great source of consolation and thankfulness, and I do so the more readily as it will, I know, be to you a source of satisfaction and joy — there is no Diocesan debt ; and as regards this parish with which you are more intimately concerned, although more than thirty thousand pounds sterling have within the last ten years been expended on church and school buildings and institutions in and immediately around Dunedin, independently of their annual maintenance, there is not one shilling due on them. The foundation of progress is now, I trust, solidly laid, and it only remains for us to labour with the same faith, generosity, and perseverance as hitherto in order to raise a superstructure worthy of such a beginning. "