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Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 48, 27 March 1878, Page 2

It. will be seen that at the last meeting of the Borough Council a committee waa formed to urge upon the Government the necessity of making roads through the 8009 acre?, now being surveyed in the Karere Block fbVsettlers on the deferred payment principle.-- The reasons which can be adduced for the carrying out of the request are so} strong, and so thoroughly to the in l ere3t of the G-oveimment, that there can hi Httle doubt small pressure will -be neces-' sa"y to have it granted. • If, as may be supposed, the land in its normal state be worth £1 per acre, and by the formation of two roads through the block be so enhanced in value as to be worth £2 per acre, or £L6,000 for the whole, while the necessary work can be accomplished by an outlay of say £1,000, the Groverhrrient not only makes £1.000 by the arrangement, but throws the land open for settlement at once. By constructing one road to tap the Palmerston and Wangariui road, and another the Foxton and Palmer3tdn railway, easy acce3s could be obtained to the land, and thoroughdrainage effected. Indeed we are somewhat surprised that the above is not the rule in placing land in the market, feeling confident that if it were acted upon, it would give a great spur to settlement. It 13 notoften a paripitetic conflagration oan be witnessed in Palmarston or elsewhere, but such a :sight was actually presented on Saturday evening at the corner of the ■ Square and^Bang'ittkei road^-^fitriTATii^T'M, '"' --Jf?fea4lsd^W!«!ltl'i'"''inidulged in nicotian enjoyment, were jogging along together, when their attention wis attracted by violent gesticulations from a crowd in frotlt^and, on turning round, they found th3m'3elve3 enveloped, in a cloud of smoke, evidently, issuing from the coat-tails of one of the" two. Very little difficulty was experienced in discovering the person mo3t interested, as, smarting under the calorifie influence ap--plied.a littlg-below his waistband, he parforoied what might pa3S for an improvised : waivdance or fandango. After some trouble hi3 companion succeeded in freeing him from the b if rriing coat, but it wa3 not until conviiiced by personal examination, that he appeared satisfied that it was the o»?y garment which had suffered. There oan be little doubt that when tTlat Maori smokes the dalumet again, he will bestow a little niore care to its burning ash. , Amongst the returns laid upon the table of the House during the past Session there are several of considerable interest, to which we intend to refer when Bpaoe will permit. There is one, however, which was asked for rby Mr Lumsderi; a Southland member, to which we will briefly draw attention. It is a statement showing the mileage, and receipts and expenditure, for the year endmg 30th June/ 1877, and from which we learn that while the Wanganui line, which, at the date: of the return had been open for only six weeks, exhibited a loss of £237 43 lOd, the Foxton section returned a profit on the year of £985 19s Od, or close upon £1009^ ! "We do not wi3h to make invidious comparisons. We have need only to give the above statistics; the fap^ speak for themselves, and our readei % 3 oan^rawttheir own conclusions. At the meeting of the Manawatu Highways Board on last Friday, six applications were, rceived for the office of clerk, vacant by the resignation of Mr Japries Linfcon. Two of the tenders, being informal, ware not received, two were at the rate of £100 per year^and two at £73. The choice fell upon Mr. Thomas Hoe, whose tender was at the latter sum. Mr Linton di3eharg33 the duties until ;the clo3e oE the mxith, wlien his successor takes chirgs of the oifieo. The Board with l-eliiotanee sever connection with Mr Linton, who has been identified with the Highways Board since its initiation, and by his 'application and industry has contributed not a little in smoothing the work for its various wardens. •.■ The ; Rev.,- T. &» Hammond gnve the children of the Public School, Pnlmerston, a rich treat-on Monday, in: the.sHape of an .instructive lppture on tho geogrjiphy of the West Const |>f the Island, interpersed with interesting anecdotes of the late Taranaki War. The- lecluve was lisfened to with interest and' attention .by' the young folk, those incidents relating to the Maori struggle -.'with his white opponent being graphically described and enthusiastically received. We have been asked by Mr Collihs to tender his thanks to the rev. gentlemen for his kindnos3. The Kative Lnnds Court still drags out its dreary sittings. On Saturday the Court

opened for tha despatch of business, but closed for the day shortly after noon. Although there could nob have been les3 than from two hundred to three hundred Maorie's in town, and bibulous propensities wore in the ascendant, but one rotary .at the [shrine of Bacchus, in the person of a Maori boy, named Tawlmo from Omoa, called for the iuterference of the law. As lie, however, was likely to injure himself, Constable G-illespie took him under his charge, and provided him with sale keeping until Monday morning, when his Worship the Mayor inflicted, a penalty of five shillings. It has often been our lot to chronicle a series of accidents which have followed one another in quick succession, but rarely have we heard of such a catalogue of blunders as the following. A well-known member of the" "Devil's Brigade" — but who shall be nameless — had occasion to borrow a horse on Sunday, and arriving back in town after dark, thought, he would put the animal into the Polifd and Survey Paddock until he had slipped. When the inner man had been refreshed, accompanied by two friends herepaired to the camp for the purpose of removing the bea?fc to Ms '.'-proper.. .quarters. Having with some difficulty captured the animal, to his surprise he discovered that it would not budge an inch from its feeding ground! However, by the application of. a bandage over ifc3 eye3> and the gentle suasion of a rope round- its neck with, three-man-power at the end, ib was induced to make a start, which it did with such riglit good will as to upset one of its captors on to the stump of a tree. When about half way on its destination, it seemed to suddenly change its mind, and regaining its liberty, led tlie unfortunate trip a nice dance before its recapture. However, all things must have an end, and, 'as? they fondly imigined, haying ciged the right horse, the three returned to town to relate' the obstinacy of the brute. Next morning upon the local Constable, visiting his steed he found a stranger in its stead, bub upon re-r coiving- the key to the mystery from the lender of the intruding animal, he smiled benignantly, and taking the animal down to its proper paddock, prepared to vtiake the exchange. Judge of his surprise, however, to find instead of his own bay, an iron-grey quietly "grazing" in its plaoe. Being un- : acquainted with the escape and recapture episode on the road, he of course was wholly unable to solve the fresh mystery, but upon seeking an- elucidation from-one of the three worthies, was cooly greeted with: "By Jove, I have it. Your horse must have escaped into the bush, you know ; and — and — by Jove, we must have collared a •wrong horse — :y°u know— - by Jove." The Constable 'was anything but satisfied with the explanation, but expressed himself as proud of a beast who would not be taken prisoner by any but himself. Last Thursdays " G-overnment G-azebte " notifies that a sale of 603 sections of surveyed Crown lands will ;take place in the Council Hall, Wellington, on the 23rd of April. The lots to be submitted include 175 ono-rood sections in the township of Carnarvon, at an upset price of £7 10s ; and about forty seven-acre sections at an upset of £-3 psr acre. The town sections in Palmei'aton are about thirty in number, tworoods in size, with an average upset of about £24 each : while the suburban lots of 4a! 2iv 23p.- will start at £25. Tlie township of Bunny thorps will also be disposed of at upset prices considerably- below those for Palmei'ston sections, or somewhere at the rate of £7 30s per rood for town lots. The same numberof the " G-azette " gives the traffic returnsof the New Zealand Railways for tlie four weekseuding February. 9th 187"8*frdm. j^iah^^^i "l^iaill^vthejipllojy parison for the same time of last year, on the Foxton line : Passengers : 1377—1269; 1878—1123. Goods: 1877—337 tons; 1878—820 tons. Live stock :— 1877— 3 ; 1878—510. Revenue :— 1377— £500, 354>d; 1878— £84,163 lid. - The' Marton ooaoh was abqut three hours beyond its time on Monday night, the tfelay being caused by an accident to the engine about four niiles from Wanganui. By some means the points were not sufficienrly closed, the wheel of the engine becoming jammed, the result being a compulsory stoppage -'Jor the time mentioned. Some horsemen rode back to town, and assistance and a Fairlie engine having been despatched to the scene; the difficulty was soon got over, without arty thing worse than the delsiy. ' We have; received a letter signed "|C. J.C," bub as the writer ha3 failed to furnish us with his name in full, we must decline to give it insertion until that important con-, dition has been complied : with. -We are also in receipt of correspondence from " Foxton," and "Settler," which,. with- Mr Collins' letter, we are com palled to hoW over. *~|TJie late hour at which we reeeivdtl our Boston, correspondence nscessifcafrel similar action with regard to a" lengthy report of tlio County Council. The business at the Feilding Police Court on Friday was of a lrjht character, the only ca3e— excepting a few trivial civil c»3e3~ being a charge preferred again3fc William Whisker, : for illegally rtjscuing from the pound As, however, the charge, had been laid against William Whisker, instead of . his son, who was : the defendant, it waslidismissed. Mr Staite appeared for tho'defence. r ! We are given to understand that Mr Maclean, of- Bulls, .has been retained to defend Berqurist, on the charge of sheep stealing, for which he wa3 committed for trial some few weska i; since at Feilding. The fee to be received for his ' services is a mo3t substantial one, anil Mr Maclean will leave for Wellington in a feVdaysrto conduct the case. .-■ - . ■"'.'■; '"/' " . ■ It is intimated by a notification in our advertising columns that all parsons having claims against, orj indebted to, the estate of John Crilverb Auberb, are to forward the same to Mr J. Woodward, Pu'ilio Trustee, on or before Tuesday, the 9b!i proximo. ' Qur readsra would do wall to bear in mind that the English and. Sin Fr.inci3co mails will close at the; post- office, Pdlmsfston, on to-morrow evening at 8.30. We would draw especial attention to the fact that Air G:3org<s Saslsou will offer by auction to-day at noon, the pUnt and saw mill at To Matai, together witli the right of cutting upwards of 500,000 feet of timber comprising, totara, inataiA rimu, and white pine. '.' ■' At tlie meeting of the Manawatu County . Council on Monday, si xtean applications were received for the offloe ofclerls Tuere were eight members present, and. the voting for the . candidates was a3 follows : — Mr McCulloch; 5: Mr Rnok, 2; Mr Donald, 1." Mr McCullpoh, vva.3 there-fore declared elected. The tender for the Lower G-orije Ferry, of G\ B).vd, afc £70, was accepte;! ; as was thvb of j. Hillary, (£10,3), for theFoxton Ferry. . Tas usual MiMithlv mseting of the Palmerjton DramiHc ClaV was held. yesterday afternoon in Ihe PuMtc Hall. -The prineipil busino33 tn«i3at'ied was the election of olGae-baarers, which rssultod jvs follows.: Acting manager, Mr George Snelson ; stage manager, Mr Pier3 Warburtpn ",; treasureF Mr : B; L,. Pirani. The balance-slieefc

sliowod the funds the of Club to be in a flourishing condition, the new treasurer having a respectable balance in land. .