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Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 71, 15 June 1878, Page 2

! We regret to state that up to the time of our going to press, the body . of Mr ! . Jackson had not been recovered, but -we understand that a party of Maoris hare been offered a reward, and that they have been engaged m a searoh of the river. ' As the unfortunate-man will be ten days missing on Monday, there is a possibility of the body coming to the surface about that l time, if /We understand that it ; is contemplated by the owner, of a block of land comprising almost two hundred aores, situated within the town boundary, to ha,ve the same cut up into acre seotions, with the view of offering them for 6ale. We have seen the proposed plan which gives a street frontage to every section. The locality is the Terrace End, at the railway crossing of the Napier roi*d.

A fire occurred on Tuesday night on the farm of Mr Akers, Riverdale, whereby a valuable wheat stack wa. entirely consumed. Ie appears'that the family went to bed early, and at about eleven o'clock were awakened by shouts, and the blowing of a horn on the other side of the river. On rushing out they found that the noise had been made by Mr Monrad, and some others wishing to attract attention to the wheat stack being on fire. Although, there were two other stacks, luckily they were" separated by some distance, and so escaped destruction. As the house is situated at least four hundred yards from the scene of tho fire, it is impossible a spark from the chimney could have been the cause of the disaster. Mr Aker's brother passed -within twenty yards of the stack early m the evening when all was right, and as he was the last person m the paddock, the origin of the fire is enveloped m mystery. The meeting called by his Worship the Mayor, took place on Wednesday, and was very largely attended. Elsewhere a report of the proceedings appears, and although it is somewhat lengthy, we regret that to bring it within range of publication, we had to curtail it considerably. We rather think a mistake was made m trying to grapple with so many questions at the one time, and the consequenoe is, that we are unable to do more than note the passing of many of the resolutions. Had we given m full the notes taken at the meeting, they woidd have occupied at least eight columns, and that is more than we oan afford to devote to any one gathering. Mr C. J. Chester must be either the soul of particularity, or he must have an insane desire to see the name Jof *0. J. Chester figuring m print. Scarcely had the ink been dry on our last issue when we had a visit from that gentleman, who informed us he wished to oorrect some] mistakes with regard to the disappearance of Mr Jackson. He then proceeded to tell us that it was on Friday, and not Thursday, that the missing man attempted to cross the river. We acknowledged the error, and promised to rectify it, when that information was supplemented by the statement that " Mr Jackson was not an expert swimmer," that " the bow of the boat was m the same condition as it was a month ago," and that " no pocketbook could have been found, as it was impossible it could have been lost, for the last thing he saw Mr Jackson do before leaving, was to button the flap of his inside breastpocket down over the book." Since then, we have received a written document from Mr Chester repeating most of his assertions, but stating that Mr Jackson had no pocketbook with him," afclc. winding up with abusing our informant. After tlie evident contradiction between the two statements of Mr Chester, we profer to accept our first information, unless as to the matter of date. The absurdity of the corrections are so patent that we would not trouble to publish them were it not that we wish to give Mr Chester that prominence he desires. Had he come m the first instance and given us the benefit of that mass of information of which he has since unbosomed himself, he would have received our thanks. However, as Mr Chester appears to be far from correct himself, perhaps we have gained rather thaii lost by the omission. '* The cry is still they come ." Eaoli day sees some stranger m town seeking investment for spare cash, but the purchasing would appear not to be confined to outsiders, as several transactions have taken place of late between residents of the town. A few days since Mr. Waldegrave disposed of his quarter-acre seotiou on the corner of . rhe Square for £500, to. the Bank of New Zealand; and yesterday MrA Ferguson became the owner of the store and land, pre- ■ viously rented from Mr. Snelson, the latter receiving a very respectable consideration. Mr. Robert Linton is just now negotiating for tho disposal of his magnificent property of 1000 acres, at Halcombe, to Mr. Reay, a Southern capitalist, at a figure considerably over £11. pes acre; while Mr Whisker, of Feilding has refused an offer of : £20 an acre for his land. We would draw especial attention to a sale of property m the townships of Palmerston, Masterton, and Upper and Lower Hutti which will take place on next Thursday, at the Land Mart of Mr J. H. Wallaoe, Hunter street, Wellington. The property is a portion of the insolvent ostate of E. & W. H. Brightwell, of this town, and will be disposed of without reserve.