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Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 55, 20 April 1878, Page 2

; In our last issue, in reviewing the Census returns; ype took the liberty of doubting their accuracy, but as we ha,d then no data to produpe, we did so with considerable, diffidenpe. We find, how-r ; ever, tha.t our doubts were shared by • the great majority of the ratepayers, and to such a degree by his Worship. the ; ]V|a.yor, that' he felt it ineujnbent upon him to take some steps in the matter to verify their accuracy or otherwise. I With\that view.he himself rn^de ahousa to house canvass for- the purpose -of , arriving at the number of houses w,ithin the town bpundaries + a,hd he found that there w,ere --^|. inhabitedj 27 uninhabi,ted» ap<i. 38 offices, halls, and wareI houses, or a gross total of' 288* In , that list he did not include stables, no . matter of w,hajb size, and no houae that : hjad a wpodeir; jbhimney.. . Sp safely has ; the return bpen, ina,de. thaj" he will to- : day, before leaving for. Wellington, . make an affidavit a,s. ,to its correctness ; or l'ather that .there are. 288 buildings in the town* not binding liimselE to the .fact- that there are only that nambpr. Since oar last, article, was. written, w.e .know, ofc hajl a* dpa,en of. instances in which up paper had.ibeen left, and consequently no return made, anH are prepared to bjing,- forward abundant evidence, ! that the offipial statement is totally- unre".- --: liable. W,e have been, handed a. little memo, prepared by the. sabrenumerator. ; wiipli speajfs; volumes; In .the first : piape, that officer asserts that he re-/ 1 oQiyed 300. scheclu.les f rom- tlip enujne'ra- '. tor for distribution amongst residents, : anid h^ apoouuts fop them, in thp £ollo,w•ing ingenious w.ay [:—r. Schedules to ; houses inha,bited and uninhabitei 219; spoiled, defaped; and lost, 42 ; returnecl [ to, eniiflaerator-unfilled, 39. ;. making up the. allp^ed; number of 30P. Sp far: so good ; huti thenj in another rctu^rii, he giyes^dwellings inhabited, .199i; Uijlinhabited, 20 :. office.^ halls, w.arehouses. mjlls, and. stables, 45;; total, 26^. W;hat w;e would like to see explained is, if he used 219 in the houses ; spoiled, lpst, aiid defaped 4S, a.nd returned unfilleJ 39»_ w,liere hs got the forms to fill up for the 45offii.'csV &c. P Our space will nob allow ust. to go : in detail into the matter in this isSue, ; butwe tliink the liitle instance we havejus t given is quite sufficient to" show what reliance can be placed; upon tho Census statistics; of $78* ' *

In consequence of yesterday being Good Friday, in order to give the local telegraphist a holiday, we dispensed with our usual supply of late telegrams, Our neighbors across the river appear to , possess peculiar idea3 on the matter of hospitality, but it is only fair to say we do not know if they be general or only common toi'the bachelorit) portion of Rin*itikei. "We Ha^e been shown a printed invitation issued ,by the single, gentlemen of that district which reads as follows :— -'• The Rangitikei bachelors request the pleasuro of Mr Blanks and ladies' company to their Annual . Ball," &c. There is, however, a little postscript attached, which is calculated to destroy the pleasing pioture, to the eifeot that " Tiokets, one guinea each, can be obtained from the Secretary, or any of the Committee." This novel phase of hospitality reminds us forcibly of the lady who was most solicitous for the visit of a friend, but concluded? 'the invitation with, " Yqu know deai 1 , you can come after dinner, and go home before tea." "We will note with curiosity the number of persons who will favor; the Rangitikei bachelors with their company. Some very interesting experiments were made with the telephone on Wednesday evening, between the telegraph oifics3 of Feilding> and Palmerston; The instruments were at work for about two hour3, but the , comrnAnfeation during tho fiivst hour was ver-y 'fault indeed,— :the voices could be heard, but it was impossible to tell a word uttered at either end. After the diaphragm got warmed up, however, there was a remarkable improvement, and before the experiments ended conversation could he carried on with the greatest ease. At the Pal-, merston end "Tis Forty years mj old Friend; John," " The Wonderful Musician," " When other Lips,'-' and other- songs were sung, and heard in Feilding with great distinctness ; while v in response to "Happy he thy Dreams," given by Mr Nicholas in Feilding, there was. a hearty applause in Palmerafcon, and the clapping of hands was plainly heard in the former place. The harmonium was also pjayed, and even tunes whistled in low keys were discernible at both ends. In all ;the foregoing, oases, however, tha sounds were only heard by one person at a time— those, in. possession of -the sounding bell ; b,p,t: before, conclusion the instrument was held up Ah the air, a,nd a qoo-ey given in Feilding which was plainly heard by all in the room at Palmerstdn. We^have, received a letter signed " Henry Knpttj^icontaining a tirade of abuse because. /w,e did not publish a communication forwarded to us on dirty blue paper, and Written in pencil on both sides. If we had wished to. be sarcastic, or severe upon Mr" Henry Knott we should have published the precious iopvimpnbverbctfim.et literatim ; and that .we did not so, should be to him the most covincinsf proof that we are not actuated by either, the malice or animus for which he has given us credit. We are at all tirnes filling to correofc the English ..grammar or orthography of those correspondents who tn,ay .either wish or require it j. but as. tha. whole of our time is not altogether at .their' disposal, we are compelled to draw the line somewhere, and that line has been drawn at transcribing illegibly-pencil-scrawled contributions. Mr Henrj K/nott's comn^unjeatidn, came under that head, an.d as its. contents were not to iw a sufficient recompense for- the trouble of transcription, we were unable to place it in the compositor's hands for composition. Mr Knott ujijust— in fact w.e n\ay say 1 Mr Knott' is untruthful—^wheri." he oharges us wjth: being swayed by party motives ; for/ notwithstanding his very low estimate of our fairness, we will at all times be mo3t* -, happy to: insert communications from, Mr Knott, when the conditions, laid down for correspondents hayek beeq, complied with. Mr Knott has - been!, pleased, to say $hat — what he calls — -pur "exques" is a very lame one with regard to penoil waiting. This" we regret, and if M-r. Henry, Knott is still unsatisfied, we will strairi.a point and in our next issue give both his productions to , tjhe world, pure and undultera.ted. M.ore than that he can,nbjb ask j more than that we cannot dp, ; Not many Europeans find- pleasure- in. the portual: oi Blue-books, Government star tistics, and Gazettes, and" syetijfc appears they are a kind of light literature, indulged in by our dark : skinned brothers. A confiding pjd gentleman, namad Mathew Hamilton, sujed a Maori* called Teira Te Panai, in the local Co'irt on Thursday for the sum of M Is6df, the value of goods supplied,delivered,, and w,e presumed, consumed. When, the: Native, was asked if he admitted having received; the articles, a bland; smile illumined; hicdu^ky countenance, as he replied that he, did,. but that they were gqb in; the year 1367, and as^he had read; in the . the. Government Acts that he should not pay- after, seven yeare, he was anxious to • conform to the. law. After, so delivering r himself, Teira Te Panai; atretched himself ■erect to, receive the. admiring glances bestowed* upoahini by Bench; Bar, Press, and Public in. his endeavor.to, avail hjmself of tl^p Statute, of Limitation.^ The plainfiffj hpweyer, swore distinctly that the dealing took pjape. in the year 1872, and' that he - di&not come, to the district up tit 1870, consequently Teira Te. Panai's ingenious defence was ineffective. That worthy, however, stuck to his statement, and- the case.waa adjourned to allow of proof bit the part of the plaintiff.- • 1 . Storekeepers who, haye rupning accounts' with the. Maoris, experience considerable; difficulty in obtaining" judgment against them, so.. ingenious are the defences set up, but about the. best one we have. heard for' some tiii^ the case of Thomas Nel.3on agaiasb^Mr Wi Te. Maitai. The storekeeper- produced; his day-book and sworeto ti\\o delivery of gopds to the value of £1 19f 3d, but* Wi TeMattvi,nfter kissing \)ie ibiblo, as strongly domed their receipt;.

It was then oath against oath, and " honors easy," but when Mr Nelson said that he could produce two or three who witnessed the delivery, the Maori's case looked shaky, and an adverse verdict wa3 almost a foregone conclusion. •Wi Ti Matai was not beaten, however, for rising with the occasion, he rotortol, <( Well all vight, J bring ten witnesses to ' swear. the.y did not see things delivered." Mistaking the roir of laughter which greeted his speech, he turned to the Bench with a look of -triumph, only to hear '"'judgment for amount, with costs," Mr Ward, evidently holding this last test at its proper value, Up to that stage the case had been conducted through an interpreter, but now fully realising the position,-*. Wi Te Matai scorned such a medium for the conveyance of his wrath, and poured forth a volume of eloquence which was made intelligible to European euro by a few expletive3 in {English, rarely heard within the sacred precincts of a court. The proprietor of this journal has handed us a private letter— written in : f what we presume is intended to be a sarcastic tone— received by him from Mr. •J. Ei Gilbert, the sub j act matter of which refers to some; thing which has appeared in our columns. Weave surprised, that Mr. Gilbert, who is so very fond of airing his supposed grie-. vance3 through the columns of a newspaper, should be so thoroughly ignorant of the courtesy to be paid to its responsible head, as to forward his communication to the proprietor; and in order riot to do him, an injustice in rashly assuming he did so in ignorance, we fall back upon the other- only and more probahle reason—^impudence. We do not know whether Mr. Gilbert- expected that his p3eudo-.saroastic note, would he published i if sp, we regret that heshou^d be disappointed,, .ai\d beg to. inform, him, that we distinctly ignore any communication which does not.;reach us addressed to the Editor. If Mr. Gilbert is ■ particularly, anxious to have it, published, we .shall only be too glad to oblige him when we have been paid that courtesy, to which we are eutifiled, .arid ojE-which MrV Gilbert appears so ignorant. . The congregation of "the Church of England in this town have been .very busy lately in decorafcin g. the. interior of theiv place of worsliip for .Ea.ster Sunday, on which day there will be\two services ; one at 11 a.m., and the other ats. 7 : . p.m.. With regard to the permanent internal improveme'its, we notice a handsome embroidered scarlet altar cloth, a tasteful carpet for the chancel, cocoamit matting, for., the aisle, . a neat chandelier in the cen,tre of : the. ohurch, an,d pfc.her presents from nieinjjers of tha congregation, too numerous "to "inentibn. We understand also that one of the congregation has been for some time pa9t^em ployed in. carving a stone font for presentation to the church. In addition to this, the edifice will be taajbef idly decorated , with flowers,, leaves, and ferns ; and we" think that on Easter Sundays the interior, of ouiv jlittle church will be as pretty as any iu the colony. : , ■■:.-" "■■•— His Worship the Mayor and CouncillorLinton will visit Wellington on Monday a3 a deputation from the- Palmerston •Bprough : Council, to urge upon, the Gpvern-,. "mentthe necessity of making u survey on the West Const, for: the Hutt-Waikanae line. We understand from his Worship that the deputation ; will 'seek- no promise from the Ministry as.: to where the line will tap the West Coast. AH they require is, that a survey may be niade with the greatest possible despatch, for they rest quite satisfied that when that is done, the au.jjeriorijjy of the route to Palmers! on will be so apparent, as to recommend, itself- beyond all others, and Obviate .the necessity of any pledges. - r [ :■ " ; ":■■• Qontraotow would dp welt ta bear in mind that next Wednesday at noon, is the .latest time at whieh they can tender- for- the : 50,000 sleepers forthe Wellington and Masterton. Railway. The conditions and particulars are. Bet forth in our advertising columns, At the . E,e3ident Magistrate's Court, ; Palmerston, on Thursday- three. of the late employes of Nathan and- Wilkie appeared' as plaintiffs for ihe recovery of arrears of wages, varying in amounts from. £40 to £6.0.' ! *There was no return of the affidavit, and ; consequently the cases could not be pro- ; ceeded with, but Mr Ward, who. sympathised heartily with the men, xecommerided^hange of venue to Martori, at which place the cases will be heard this morning. Palmerston has lately been visited by ■ spine very 'undesirable strangers, who before leaving Beleci&d some unconsidered trifles by way of mementoes of: the place. On Wednesday morning when Mr Malcolm, wheelriglit, was about to. commence work, he found tliat his, cJusel was missing, and while hunting for the tool discovered : that a valuable square had- also been removed. H[e immedia' ely gave notice of the; theft to | ! Constable Gillespie, .and that officer succeeded in arresting two nien who. were seen about Mr Malcolm's workshop. Both were locked up, but no trace of the missing articles was found. It is reported' that a man,, named G,reen, who lias^ lately done a •sentence of three months, was>-seen hanging about tlie place on Tuesday night, hut he evidently had cleaved out of town the fir^t thing on Wednesday morning. The "District Constable sent; telegrams to both Feilding. and, Fo y \ton, giving description of the fellow," but it is, evident he took another road, not having passed through either^ places. The value of the. tools were' about 30s, but that is nothing compared to the inconvenience experinped by,,the\c loss. The Rev. F,_ Charles Dews'bury, who has been appointed to succeed the. Rev. Mr Hammond, in. the pastorate; of the Wesleyan Church, Palmerston, arrived by the. ■ afternoon; train, yesterday. The rev. gentleman will officiate to-morrow for the first . time. ; ! "-i'i\.A - V I .fy . ■ : We have been raquested to npfcify that the special general meeting of the Manawatu ! Permanent »Equitable Building and Investment Sopiety, which : w,asv advertised to take place on. Saturday, the, 27th, has been post--poned until. Saturday, 11th May. Although we are -to have no regular programme of sports-oa Monday, we notice ' he Newm,irket recreation grounds are to be itpen for picnic parties, and. those- wishing :oo improviße»improin^u*sports will have an toppprtunity of doih|; so, as it announced that the grounds will be free. to. all.