WAIMEA COUNTY COUNCIL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 37, 12 February 1879, Page 2

WAIMEA COUNTY COUNCIL.

[Toesday, February 11, 187:1. Present, all the members except Mr Dencker. On tbe motion of Mr Shephard, seconded by Mr Well., it was resolved, That the Council keep its account at the Union Bank provided that Bank is willing to engage with the Council on terms similar to those which it has entered into with the Education Board. The Chairman read certain correspondence between himself and the Pelorus Road Board respectiug the joint action of these two bodies iu the re-erection of the Heringa Bridge which stands half in each County.— Ou the motion of Mr Shephard, seconded by Mr Phillips, it waa resolved, That the Council approve of the action of the Cbairmau and the arrangements made by him with the Pelorus Road Board in connection with the re-erectiou of the Heringa Bridge On the motion of Mr Shephard, seconded by Mr Phillips, it was resolved— That the Chairman be Treasurer of the County Council. On the motion of Mr Shephard, sconded by Mr M'Mahon, it was resolved— That the salary of the Chairman be £50 per annum, beginning from the date of bringing the whole of the Counties Act into force. On tbe motion of Mr M'Mahon, seconded by Mr Wells, it was resolved— That when the Conncil sits more than one day, the allowance to each member for each day after the iirst be ten shillings. On the motion of Mr Shephard, seconded by Mr Bird, it was resolved— That the room in thu Government Buildings hitherto occupied by the Council, be the office of the Council and that the office hours be from 10 to la ou the Wednesday and Saturday mornings of each week. On the motion of Mr Shephard, seconded by Mr Phillips, it was resolved— That Mr J. V. Nalder be appointed clerk of the Council at a salary of £40 per annum, to keep the accounts of the Council under the supervision of the Treasurer, to take charge of all correspondence, to prepare the electoral roll from valuation lists supplied to him and generally to perform such clerical work as may be needed. On the motion of Mr Phillips, seconded by Mr M'Mahon, it was resolved— That the Chairman and Mr Shephard be deputed to go to Wellington to confer with the Government on the subject of Hospital management and charitable aid, the railway question, aud other questions largely affecting the interests of the count}'. On the motion of Mr M'Mahon, seconded by Mr Wells, it was resolved— That the several Highway Boards in the county be called on to furnish the Council with a copy of the valuation list of their respective districts, the cost of the copy being defrayed by the county, and that the clerk prepare an electoral roll therefrom as soon as receive. That the Chairman of the Upper Motueka Highway Board be requested to procure for (and at the cost of) this Councifa valuation list for the outlying district near the Roundel!, and the Chairman of the Council be authorised to secure the services of a valuer for the outlying district in the Upper Maitai and Maungatapu. On the motiou of Mr Shephard, seconded by Mr Bird, it was resolved— That the Chairman and Mr Wells, on behalf of the county, invite th.e Chairmen of the respective Highway Districts, or such other persons as the Boards may appoint, to a Conference, with the view" of discussing and securing the most advantageous aud economical mode by whicli the several bodies represented at such Conference may cooperate for the general welfare of the county and of the several Highway Districts therein. To report at the next general meeting of the Council. On the motion of Mr Phillips, seconded by Mr Wells, it was resolved— That the Council meet on the third Thursday of every month at eleven in the morning. On the motion of Mr Wells, seconded by Mr Phillips' it was resolved, Tbat the Chairman apply to the General Government for a map of the County on a sufficieut scale. On the motion of Mr Bird, seconded by Mr Macmahon, it was resolved, That cheques issued by the Council be signed by Mr Shephard and Mr Wells in conjunction with tbe Treasurer. On the motion cf Mr Wells, seconded by Mr Bird, it was resolved, That the by-laws framed and issued by the Resident Magistrate and other Magistrates for the Waimea County be adopted by this Council. On the motion of Mr Wells, seconded by Mr Bird, it was resolved, That licenses in favor of the undermentioned applicants be isaued to slaughter cattle great and small for tbe ensuiug year to December 31st next: — E Fowler, Spring Grove, Hugh 11. Stafford, Stoke, Thomas Hunt, Waimea South, Samuel Carter, Motueka; the whole being renewals of licenses issued last year A letter was read from the Secretary of the Waimea Highway Board, calling the attention of the Council to the need of further protection to the Appleby and Waiiti Bridges. On the motion of Mr Bird, seconded by Mr Phillips, it was resolved, That the Secretary of the Waimea Highway Board be informed that the County revenues have been distributed by resolution of the late Council among the several Road Boards until the 30th June next. The Council then adjourned till eleven o'clock this morning.

The Scientific American, describing a steam tricycle says:— ln one of the railway material annexes at Paris is a steam tricycle, having the boiler under the rider's seat, the hind wheels being driven by a cord from the crank shaft pulley. The engine is a tiny cylinder, iucliued about 45 deg. The position of the boiier, which by the way, is of a rather complicated and inexplicable type, commends Uself for wiute. use. "Snvder," the editor, of the j.overty Bay Ffvrald, comtUehced w ritihg a ieiider on the morning df the race day. He got along for a half.colutpn very well-^descanting on the absurdity of editors writing "leaders" on race^ days. . Then lib giv.. vent rte follow. :— " The Tress is a power which the greatest hrir.g statesmen of the day dare not iirnore or cast on oue side. The great Lord Palmerston, when Minister of Foreign Affairs, ouce aaid -'lf you please, sir, the trap is waiting outside for ihe faces, and the uiaq says lie won't wait, and that if you d.irfc com. iiQw ,-. yon can stop where you are.'— And ttiis is why we have been compelled to bring oiir leader to <i do . S6 abruptly. We are quite sure it would have beeii a ve.y powerful On.; and probably such as would have Caused the n.esehfc Ministry to have sent in their resignations; but such is newspaper life -and who can help it?" So " Snyder " went to the races. The cohiuiiSsariat department on the Wellington racecourse appear, to bave been managen in a somewhat slovenly manner, according to the Chronicle correspondent, who says :— My next complaint is with regard to the management of the refreshment booths It was simply scandalous. The | grand staud luncheon room one might fairly have expected to see properly attended to ; but when I went in there, about half-past one, there was not a plate, a knife, hor a fork to be got, and the only attendont who showed up was a man at the door, who stood to take the money. I saw one honorable gentleman eating a junk of tongue with his pen-knife, ou a piece of bread, and a second local dignitary munching a leg of a fowl in his fingers, others were unable to get even a piece of bread. This was scandalous mismanagement. The bar was little better attended, for one had to wait at least flve minutes, and then to beg and pray for a driuk before he got it. The other booths were better officered at the bars, but the " feeding" at the rear of the bars was an unseemingly scramble for anything that one could lay his bonds on. In fact the scene reminded me more of the day when I was a farm hand, and had to eed a hungry pen of pigs. . The gullibility of some people (says the Wellington Chronicle) is remarkable. Yesterday on tbe racecourse a 'cute Yankee made a haul by selliug a twopenny purse with three half-crowns in it for two and-six. He mounted a box, produced three halfcrowns, and flipping them individually in the air, caught each of them in the purse as they fell. Then he " gagged " a bit, telling his audience how he had been sent on earth to benefit mankind and give them a chance to buy up sections in Stratford at Sidey's sale to-morrow. He would, he said, only sell the purse, tbe contents went with it. There was an immediate rush of hands with halfcrowns. Handing the purse to the nearest person, and pocketing his silver, he told the purchaser not to break the rules and show it to any one. With a face beaming with expectation, the " lucky " man sneaked behind the booth, and then opening tbe purse cautiously— his " chops " dropped. The three half-crowns had become metamorphosed into three pennies. The " sold " one did not care to return and explain, so the game went merrily on until the Yankee got rid of some thirty half-crowns' worth of purses and pennies, A confederate was at hand who occasionally bought a purse, showing to admiring crowds his three real half-crowns. There was always a fresh rush for halfcrown's worth immediately after this. Each " gull " took it very good naturedly. Cetawayo, King of the Zulus, whose surrender has been demanded by the Cape Government, is described as a ferocious savage, addicted to brutal superstitious observances, involving the sacrifice of human life. On a recent occasion he held what is called " the feast of the first fruits," and commanded all his subjects to pay their repects to him. Fifteen Kraels, or villagers, under the chief Mapita, absented themselves from the feast on account of the death of Mapita's son, were upou Cetawayo instructed his medicine men to "smell out " the guilty persons and condemn them to death, which was followed by the indiscriminate massacre of 300 souls, men, women, and children-even the dogs and fowls being destroyed. When not overcome by what tlie Zulus call his *' murdering fits," Cetawayo is said to be a very amiable savage and is even capable of expressing refined sentiment ; but it is suspected that these are but the gilding which covers the vice beneath. His followers are well armed, and inhabit a difficult couutry, but are no match for British tactics and weapons of precision. The men in the employment of Messrs Collie, Wilkinson, and Scott, have (says the 1 Wanganui Chronicle) turned out on strike. They have a grievance, as the truck system is favored by the contractors, and the wages, j 8s per day, leaves no great margin for those who have wives and families to provide for, after paying their store account. In the case of those who have the pleasure of " knocking down" their monthly balance, the spree is so soou over that if only serves to give them the excuse that they have nothing worth putting by for the often mentioned rainy day. It is a pity that auch strikes should happen, as they cause los3 to the men, and great inconvenience to the contractors. We have heard that one of the firm has said that he would readily give 9s per day to good men, but that some were too well paid at Bs. We believe that the system of contractors supplying stores is at the bottom of the quarrel, and this could be avoided by grocers, bakers, and butchers being allowed to go along the line supplying the wants of the men— thus taking offi the supposed veto placed upon such traders. Recent telegrams announced the failure of Albert Grant, better known as Baron Grant. His name has been associated for years with various unsuccesful joiut-stock speculations of a somewhat daring character. Twenty years ago be was a humble clerk in a London office, but before long he found scope for his talents on the Stock Exchange. His connection with tbe notorious Emma Mine Company, the Lisbon Tramway Company, the East London Railway Company, Bagnall and Sons, Limited, made his name familiar to a large section of the Engiish public. Recently, in connection with his brother, he has been conducting a banking institution in Lombard street, which how- | ever has been obliged to close its doors. The financial position of the "Baron" must of late have been somewhat erubrassed, as some months age a judgment summons for £300 was registered against him. Another failure is also announced, tbat of the Union Bank of Helstone. Known by the title of the Union Bank of Helstone, the business was that of a small private firm (Messrs V ivan and Co.), having a very limited note calculation, about £ 17,000, and the failure can doubtless be attributed to the disastrous condition of Cornish mining. The liabilities cannot be very heavy— propably £100,000 will cover them -hut the stoppage of a bank carrying on a business even of this limited character, cannot but be productive of much distress among a hardworking and industrious population. There are only \ two parties in the bank, the one a widow, and the other a London merchant. Thia failure is another illustration of the gradual ( decay of private banking in England,

A large number of gentlemen assembled at the official residence of Lord Beaconsfield, in Downing street, on 14th December, for tbe purpose of presenting to the noble earl an aldress, iu a silver and gold casket, from tbe British residents in California ; but the proceedings were painfully interrupted and postponed owing to the announcement of the death of the Princess Alice. After waiting about half an hour, Mr Harrison read, amid breathless silence, the followiug letter, which he bad ju.t received from Lord Beaconsfield : — "Dear Sir — A tetrible calamity has fallen upon the country. An J/ugliah Princess, one of tbe riiosfc noble minded and gifted of woriieu) endeared to the people of this country by ber rich intelligence and ber life of perfect domestic bliss and piety, has fallen a victim to the terrible disease which had already ravished her health, and which she met by her devotion to her children. I had looked forward to this morning with great pleasure, as an event whicb would form a Contrast to the cares and struggles of political life; but all te changed, and although I may be entailing inconvenience upon some of my friends this morning, I must ask you to postpone onr meeting for a while — a meeting by which I should have been so honored aud gratified.— Yours faithfully, Beaconsfield." The Melbourne correspondent of tbe N.Z. Times writes ;'— T he squatters are having a lively time of it la tbis coiony. Added to the shortness of their tenure, (all leases expire in 1880), there is the special land tax, the drotight, almost universal, and in some districts the rUlcons rabbit nuisance. I was shown over one^ staticn at Christmas, and tha rabbits in some parts of il swarmed like ants ou an ant hill. Upwards or a thousand I a week were sent into the Melbourne market. In many places acres of hill sides were as bare as a billiard ball, and the overseer informed ttie that the station carried ten thousand sheep less thau it would if clear of the pest. A feeble attempt is beiug made by the Government to cope with the evil, but it is too much to expect anything like vigorous and systematic effort for such a sublunary object as the extermination of this pest, whilst the Constitution has to be amended. Let us reform the Upper House, and rabbits will disappear of themselves. A contemporary writing' in reference to the London Post-office says :— Eight hundred young women at work, all of ttem in one j room, all looking comfortable, most of them looking pretty, earning fair wages at easy work, work fit for women to do ; work at whicb they can sit and rest, and not be weary, with a kitchen at hand and a hot dinner in the middle of the day, wi'h a leave of absence with stoppage of pay, eTery year, with a doctor fof sickness and a pension for old age, for the young women as jears roll ou will become old— with only eight hours of work, never before eight in the morning and never after eight at night, with female snperintendents, and the chance of rising to be a superintendent is open to each girl. This is a Government office under Government surveillance, all this has sprung into existence during the last eight years. A beautiful Hebe, who had turned the heads of half the swell customers iu a leading hotel at Wellington, was a few weeks ago wooed and won by a stranger who was reputed to be as rich as a Jew. She married him after an acquaintance of only two days. The young bride soon discovered she had wedded a bankrupt, and to complete the reveoge of her numerous jilted admirers, her husband has ju9t been arrested for forgery. — G. li. Argus. The population of New Zealand seems likely to be increased shortly by the arrival of some undesirable immigrants. We learn from the European Mail that a meeting for the public examination of Mr William Enson, wine merchant, of Guildford, was held on the 12th December, before Mr Registrar Brougham. The bankrupt had absconded, and no accounts were filed. At tbe first meeting debts amouutlng to £522 were proved, and a trustee appointed. Mr F. C. Willis appeared for the trustee, and said tbat the bankrupt was not in attendance, having taken a passage to New Zealand. His Honor ordered the usual memorandum to be entered. Mr Stebbings, late secretary of the Lincoln Dispensary, and clerk to Mr J. W. Danby, solicitor, has also made good his escape to New Zealand, but one of the Lincolm detective police (Hockney) has been sent after him to bring him back to answer charges of forgery and embezzlement. At a meeting of the vestry of St. Paul's, Wellington, the question of having a surpliced choir of boys in St. Paul's Church was discussed at considerable length. Mr Parker, tbe organist, stated tbat he had trained a choir of boys, who were rapidly acquiring efficiency, and he proposed that they should be introduced for the first time at the Easter Services. Some slight objection was raised to tbe use of surplices, as an innovation, but it was pointed out that the object was solely to secure a decent and orderly uniformity of appearance, and the objection was not pressed, the proposal to have a surpliced choir being agreed to. It is to be hoped (says the Past) that the good example set by St. Paul's will be followed by the other city churches. Some 200 men (says " Atticus") in the Melbourne Leader are employed in trying to capture the four youthful bushrangers, and still they are at large. . I don't want to inquire whether the police and detectives are inefficient, or whether the Kelly gang are too clever for them, but rather to contemplate the matter from a purely business aspect. "It is an ill wind that blows nobody good," and certainly the endeavors to capture the outlaws has financially benefited the district in wbich tbey are located. Money was circulated freely, and an impetus has been given to the trade of up-country sleeepy hollows. Of course, on the score of morality, the inhabitants of Benalla and Mansfield bave no sympathy with the evil deeds of the Kelly's, but while attempts to take the bushrangers are accompanied by such an openbanded expenditure of Government money, from a business point of view, tbey would not object to the presence of a couple of despadoes iu their midst ali the year round. " Who made you?" was asked of a small girl. She replied: " God made me that length," indicating with her two hands the ordinary size of a new born infant, " and I gro wed the rest myself." This was before Topsy's time, and is wittier than even " 'Spects I growed."