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Manawatu Times, Volume II, Issue 47, 31 March 1877, Page 2

The English mail, via San Francisco and via Suez, will close at Palmerston N. on Monday, the 2nd April, at B*so p,m. The steamer Napier left Wellington for Foxton yesterday, and will return from Foxton again on Saturday night at 10 o'clock. We understand that steps have been taken to establish a Freemasons' Lodge m Palmerston. May we not say that civilization comes upon us apace. We notice that Charles Baker, of Sandon, and Henry Hickford, of Carnarvon, labourers, have declared their inability to meet their engagements with their creditors. We are sorry to have to chronicle the total destruction by fire on Wednesday last of the dwelling-house and dancing saloon owned by Mr Charles Litchwark of this township. The fire was first discovered m an upstair room at about 2 o'clock p.m., and is supposed to have originated through a defective chimney. Mr Litchwark's family were m the house when the fire was first noticed, but Mr Litchwark himself was temporarily absent. All efforts made to subdue the flames proved unavailing, and ih little more than half an hour the. buildings and furniture, with the' exception of a few chairs, were reduced to ashes. We understand that the house was insured m the National for £150 and the furniture for £50.

The interesting ceremony of the distribution of prizes took place at the Schoolrooms, Palmerston, on Thursday evening. Mr Snelson presided, and opened the proceedings m an appropriate speech, m which he stated that the number of scholars on the books had incresed to 90, and the average attendance to 70. He was pleased to "inform the parents that the teaching power of the flbhool had been materially increased by the appointment of *Mr and Mrs Collins, 'and that now military drill and sewing were taught. Mr Lee oh his recent visit had reported , most -favorably of the progress of the school,, and that-alto-gether, Palmerston might well congratulate herself on the present state of the school, and look with confidence to the future. With a few kind and encouraging remarks he presented" prizes" to— George Leyy, Sarah Patterson, Elizabeth Goodison, Julia Waldegrave,- Hannah Bjijlon, Charles. Hall, George Innis, Emily, Goodisob", Edward Dillon, E. Miiverton, Marshall Donnelly, • Elizabeth Innis, H. Daniels, James Ryman, James Innis, Frederick Meyers,LCharles Nathan, W. Keeling, and several .others m the infant class. Besides . the above, Ihe following were-* honorably mentioned: Alfred Symons, M. Symons, *LJ Tricklebarik. Agnes Hanlon, Eveline Goodison, Edmund Mackie, Andrew Johnson, and Hannah Fafieta. Two interesting prizes were, then awarded by vote of the pupils themselves for the best liked boy and girl, to George Levy and Petira Torp. The song of "I'd be a. Gipsy" w&' then .rendered by the whole school m most admirable style, and iwas : deservedly applauded^ even iby an enthusiastic , dog that had strayed, m. .Mr Hiilke, the worthy master at Foxton, then exhibited some ; .most amusing dissolving vie ws^ and oh : a vote ..of thanks being 'given for his great kindness replied with some remarks which we trust the parents will" long remember.' He impressed on, them the necessity of education htthe present day, and that now as their school had greater teaching power: than any other m Wellington, it was their duty to themselves, ; to^ the teachers, and above all to their children to avail themselves of the opportunity, by not only sending the children to school, but sending; them regularly. - The entertainment thenterminated,^ having been thoroughly enjoyed by between 250 and 300 of the pupils and their friend's As Mr Waite'stiil holds a balance from fche funds collected, a tea meet- ; ing will be held before the mid- winter holidays, and we trust it "will prove as sue-. cessfuTas the entertainment of Thiirsday. It was a noticable feature, at. the entertainment that the highest respect was paid -to Mr Waite, the head master, by. the' children, and we feel assured itbat Mr Waite's ability^ as a teacher, coupled .-With .his kindly treatL ment of the children, have won for him the esteem of the parents, as well as that, of the general public m this district. -.' A letterhas been received by Mr G-. M; Snelson, from our member, Mr-Walter Johnston, enclosing the reply 'of tlie Government to the req;uisition.,recently. made for a road through the 'deferred 'payment block west of Palmerston. The ::^9ply: states 'that the Government has no ■ poweir' to. appropriate any part of^ebtnd furid to the making- of roads, and therefore will hot enterjihto ;the : arrangement propds^ ;_..' We* inll-rnotice'the matter at length m our-next^ issue. . The entertainment, for the baiefit; of the widow of the late Charles Trim dtrtjA took place on Wednesday nightj in' the"Foresfc«»x; HalL ; We : were unable all that report says of;it ; be, t'rae^ the ; .fe.wer. of such exhibitions wij bave m Palmerston the better it will' be for the respectab*_ity;of the place. . Entertainments . such; as -this -is described to have been areih their.. tendency, excessively loweringtb the public taste aiid pernicibus to public morals. v We . givje.-the amateur artistes of WedriesdayAcredit for the most benevolent motives, and characterise their object— the relief -of- the widow and the fatherless — as a good and noble one, well worthy of pubhe. support. But the way to enlist the aid of respectable people to a good object, is not by an entertainment unfit for them to attend. Besides thisj itris m the highest degree* in-' consistent to make ribald jest, and scenic immorality the minisfcers of benevolence. The time for completing the 'valuation lists for the Manawatu Highway district is fixed for Tuesday, the lOthAprii. The election "of a Commissioner to the Palmerston North Local Board, which came off on Wednesday last; was very well contested. Both candidates went to the expense of providing conveyances to carry the : electors to the place of polling, and m every way entered upon the contest as if they meant to win. The result was as follows : — Abrahams, 45; Marsh, 33, thus leaving a majority of 12 m favour of Mr Abrahams. Mr G-. M. Snelson will hold an important sale of property at the Peoples' Auction Mart to-day. The -first lot to be offered will comprise town section, . part 183, together with a newly-erected? brick house of - three rooms. We understand this house' is well finished, and being-quite *';a novelty m Palmerston, the chance of securing it should elicit some spirited bidding;. - Soihe very valuable leasehold property m the Square is likewise to be disposed of , comprising shops ~ and dwellings at present producing a good rental. . Several other properties will also be offered, so that: to-day an .excellent opportunity will be afforded of investing capital ' and acquiring real estate. '. L . V Mr. Justice LRicl'-'-'UHidi^^ sitting of the Supreme Goiurtiat .Wanganui.

We are pleased to be able' to congratulate our Feilding friends on the completion ot the line of telegraph to their township, communication having been established on Wednesday mpraing last. AWe: also learn that the telegraph office at Sanson will beopen within ten days from the present date. | Being unable to, personally attend the - j public meeting held at Feilding on Thursday evening last, we made arrangements to* have a report sent to us. From some, to us at present, inexplicable cause this report haa not come to hand, thus preventing us from laying the result of that meeting before our ' readers m the.presentissuerL We -bbpe^to ' be able to present it- in our next. - '' XX We have been favoured, through the courtesy of Mr Dalrymple, with the following items of news' m reference to the dpera.tions pf the Wellington Board of Education m this" district :— Tenders^are-tb^beiim-A mediately invited for converting the .old 'a school-house m. Palmerston into a master's a residence, and' for fencing ' and subdividing r into . playgrounds the section upon which the school buildings stand. Tenders are also to be; called" at' once 'for- the'. 'erection of a school-house a'tAStbney "Citeek. The building of the Taonui'.;schoot near^Mr McNeil's " .residence, ; Bangitikei • Line- is ♦ awaiting a reply from" the Government to . the application of the sbttlers i m that district for a school reserve. T^eerectidri of ; the AwahiM school 'will also", be proceeded with, as soon as the grant of a site has been acquired. '*'* XXX ■ '■'■''''■ ~L A Masterton , resident who lately-prb-ceeded through .the Forty Mile BriS^ sends us the following interesting itwfis^jiWSjK»n after leaving the ScandinarianLj^^^ j (a--name which, by ..the.^.^y^.'sjw^^beabolished now), the road assumes quite a lively appearance. : Every two or A three miles a gang of .Asome (thirty, or. 'forty. lifen: miay be seen ;atLwprk, : spmer in. gravel pits, others on the road jAaridin 'places' it is veryhard foir tlie 'coach 'to' proceed on. account of, the road 'metal that has been put::dn. • We passed some . strings of horses- and -drays, - and not always m the best places. On one . part of f the road a number of -Chinamen axe wbrjqng f a_d they appeared to be 'V wiring m "properly. I; also noticed a number of Maoris at work 'm "one of -the: pits; ..The metalling seems to be progressing at a good rate on Mr Oake's ; contract, as well as 1 Mr Nathan's ; but I think both will have quite enough tpLdp to finish before 'tlie wet weather sets - iiu If" the* metalling ls'hdt . completed some parts of the road Tfill be very bad m - winter; as" the' mud "from last winter,- rifever -dried thoroughlyL At' the second crossing of the Manawatu river, •coming from Masterton, , ,two,,.,punts, are . being builtj one of X 'them, being nearly ifihishedl-^' News : i^ttCT-" " : A ; ; ; ' The Wellington" Argus" of Saturday last says andLWHson were plaintiffs m a case heard tins' morning -in the R.M. Co*urt m which Mi* Travers. was .sued foi?_!s, being the balance due for work and • labor done. : _For£23 the plaintiffs'"undertook to clear all the ti-tree and gorse off eleven acres of town belt reserve at presentheld under lease by Mr Travers. .The agreement, according to Perry's- 'version, was" that all; the big roots; were to Lbe , taken up ' and grubbed tf. dep'thAof -s-_:'.4nehes. Upon this, understanding^ they proceeded •withfjihe arid we're riot interrupted .until one.day.Mr Travel's coachman, milkman, ploughman, or something of that sort up and said that the ground was to be ~ properly cleared of all the small roots. "I says to him ' It's nothink'to do with you ; I've agreed with -Mr Travers about this 7 job.x-If he wants them .ere small roots took up he'll have to put us on day work, 'cos it'll take six ••months'. We was told to /stop, jand I went down to Mr Travers' office.; When we see him he gets into a fluster, and he. ses,. 'What d'you want ? ' I ses, •' We airit a goin' to clear away them small ; roots,' and he ses, ' You belongs lib a class x _ripWn m; : WeUirigtpii ,m LE* ses, , ';' D'you- include hus' ? arid, he ses,''Hundoubtedly.'-„. I asked him. to meet! us on the ground and. lie agreed.-: When- .'we got there we saw him flying round with • a _hpe.% m his '; hand arid k'nbcMn, c tlie roots abput tremendous. He was a bit flurried, as .usual," and as we could come -to no '-agreement, -£i^.tbld one ,tb go- to his office for the. r money." :* When; .-^e got there. . he ;was. angry as' usual, arid wben j; asked 'Mm ..for the that was ' duejLheAsaid ;he wb*uid'rit give *U8 r ,'a A.X. ... X6L periny;mbri^ri £3, take." Being'crbss^e^mine^ Perry, insisted that hb had cleared['.lJSVacreajalthough 'Mr Travers informed the Court that the sections only measured- 1_ acres* on. the * Government plan. Mr Travers gave evidence . himself,-:: arid called ---Mr Brairiley 3S^^Xy_y McNab,' gardeners, .to prove'that the ""' was not, properly cleared. Mr. Crai^fpifd L eventually adjourned the case for a week m Order that he might personally inspect the wprkL y; _ The| "Lyttelton Times " has attegM that L an : M.H.R., who recently joined a tornmercial professiPn/ls/tiaveiKng "priji"ailwSys A free, m his business" capacity, by means of the free pass whiehf he holds as member of. the Assembly. He is not a Canterbury man. VL Aicbiresponderit of the "Nelsori Evening", -fail" writes as follows pnm l^moriyim" '-. der date March "21 :^— rThere is nothing new tp report from these diggings. All the holes put down Pn the supposed lead on the Aflat have hitherto turned out duffers. One! party near the front are down twenty-five . ' feetj. and 'they intend trying to 'bottom, but '■ have a good deal of water to contend against; they, will have a Californian pump at. work- ** shortly, which will enable them to get on • better, and it is to be hoped they will be successful, as they, certainly deserve some- A thing fpr their trouble. _ Another party., have taken a cut Jn, but have not begun to tsink 5 both are working m a systematic .- mariner. Wwo of .Perrotta's mates have sold. out, one for £30, arid the pther for £22. A share m Pahl's sold for £10, and one .below.White's claim for £15. ' A few'men have gone up the river prospecting/ and many have left the place. The following relation contained m the "Ne*w York Letter J ' should be taken posses- A sion of by the spiritualists. It is a pity such a Btory should appear in* print under ithe head,." A Mother's hallucination "when the spiritualists could have worked it up to the true, sensational pressure under a title such as -"Spirit Life on Earch " ..Thus runs , ! the story:—T here dwells m New York <aty . a lady who m all respects seems a sane and -sensible woman.. Shelost fiye years. ago an ■'... only daughter r.pfcgtWßt' promise, seventeen yeaftH owi HBs_i'>wie^bl V of Lbhe - mptherJ