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Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 96, 11 September 1878, Page 2

Our Foxton contemporary of yesterday contains the following — " Hitting Below the Belt.— lt is said than when Mr Yince<ifc Pyke tabled his motion re free passes ; on the railways, a Manawatu resident sent down a private letter td that gentleman enlarging on the iniquitous management of the district line, and the number of free passes wrongly given. This letter was, it is said, handed to the Government, and by them forwarded to the General Manager. It is probable the letter will be appended to the official document, and printod for tho House ; and we are waiting anxiously to see who the gentleman was.'* We will relieve the suspense by which the " Herald " is agitated, and inform it that the leader published m our last issue was written by the same hand which penned the letter to Mr Pyke j that the charges contained m each were substantially the same ; and what is more, that the writer of tho leader and i the letter is prepared to substantiate his statements. That the author of both was not afraid to declare publicly w % hat he had written privately has already been shown. The name of the writer was appended to the letter ; thp identity of the writer of the leader is very generally known io the district, and we cart afford to smile at tlie groundless insinuation of " hitting below the belt." The remains of the unfortunate man, Jonathan Jackson, was conveyed tlieir last resting-place on Saturday. It had been arranged that the body should be buried on Saturday imtnediatly after the holding of the inquest, but Mrs Jackson naturally objected to have the funeral take place at a time when few would be able to follow it, or tohave the 'coffin, carried to the grave on a dray, accordingly it was left at the blacksmith's shop all night, and at 2 o'clock on Sunday it was taken to the Cemetery m Goodisson's cab. A large number of persons followed the body on foot, beside horsemen, and on the way to the grave it was increased by persons who joined at the several crossngs. The Rev. Mr Parks, of Sandon, attended at tho grave, ancl conducted the funeral service. It is somewhat a coincidence that Sunday, the day upon which poor Mr Jackson was committed to the grave, was his thirty-ihird birthday. We have to congratulate the much-neg-lected residents of Fitzherbert upon the prospect of their having something at last, done m their district. As will be seen from the report of the County Council proceedings, the Government have given a refund to the County from the land revenue of £1,539 6s Bd. Out of that amount tlie Councillors for the Taonui Riding have received the sura of f£-'lsl for expenditure, i £192 ot which is to be spent on roads "from the Manawatu Bridge to the Fitzherberton clearing, and £159- on the main road from Tiakatahnna to Palmerston. Although neither sums will do a very great deal for their respective purposes, still, on tho prin- : ciple that " half a loaf is bet ter than no j bread," we suppose they should be thankful. Mr James Patterson, who has been employed.for some years by the Public Works Department as Inspector of Works on the Manawatu Section of Railway, has we understand been transferred to Wanganui, with the idea of utilising his services towards the construction of new linos m that district. One by oiie the officers who were located m m Manawatu* are being drawn away, 'to complete that system of centralisation at Wanganui initiated since the junction ofthe two sections. \ As will be seen by advertisement elsewhere Palmerston is to havo a visit from Professor and Madame De Chille, the American Wizards, who will exhibit some feats m magic and conjuring. It is announced that the lady will also perform the wonderful Arabian Bos. Mystery. They appear m the Foresters' Hall, Palmerston, on' Saturday, and at Feilding on Monday nights. The sitting of the Manawatu County Council on Thursday was an extremely lengthy one, occupying pretty well from midday to midnight, a certain portion of which was of ati extremely Btormy nature. We are given to understand tliat after tlie reporters had withdrawn, a most unseemly discussion ensued, m which vituperation and personality were freely interchanged. As, however, there was no recording scribe, those concerned have escaped with no greater punishment than tlie share of odium which attaches to the body generally for such unseemly exhibitions ; still it is .to be regretted that the whole should suffer for the few. We notice- that last Thursday's Gazette contains the proclamation of the new division of wards for the Manawatu Highways Board, and their respective boundaries. No time wilt be lost by the Reluming Officer, Mr James Linton, m taking the necessary steps for tlie election. The next ordinary meeting of the Board will be held on Friday, the 20th inst., but no doubt a special meeting will be called before that time. As several correspondents havo desired m,- , formation as to the method m which charges are to be made 'for 'are from passengers at sidings, for which no tickets are issued, we have made inquiries about the matter, and the following is tho result. Persons have tickets issued to the station nearest to the platform at which they wish to a light, and then the excess distance is charged by the travelling clerk. For instance a traveller wishing to go to Tiakatahunn takes a ticket before starling for Karere, as the nearest station, and afterwards pays to the clerk tlie mileage between that place and his destination. In consequence of the length of the report of the County Council, ye are compelled to curtail our local items. The coaoh from Wellington to Foxton did not arrive m time to catch tlie train last evening, and up to a late hour at night wo could not. learn for certain the cause of the delay. It was reported, however, that, the detention was caused by a large land slip m tlie Ngiihauraiigft Goi'<?e, and that the coach had returned to Wellington. j