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RANGITIKEI-MANAWATU.

(FROM OCR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) 3lauton, June 14. Ever since, the Government took over the tramway the business people of Palmerston and the outlying settlements have been much annoyed and inconvenienced by the irritating delays experienced in the delivery, or rather forwarding, of their goods. To such a serious pass did this reach, that -several of the storekeepers ran conuijetely out of those articles most largely consumed, such as tea, flour, and sugar. The only answer to their anxious inquiries at the goods-shed was 11 not arrived ; expected by the next trucks.” But the next trucks came, and the next, blit still no goods. Matters wore beginning to look somewhat serious, and so steps were taken to find out the cause of the delays. This, it was ascertained, was the action taken by the agent_ for the steamer and former lessee of the .line, who refused to allow, the goods to go forward until the freight was paid. A requisition was hastily prepared and as speedily signed by consignees in Palmerston, and forwarded to Messrs. Turnbull and Co., of Wei-' lino-ton, the owners of the Napier, stating the fix in which the requisitiouiats found themselves, and praying for Messrs. Turnbull’s intervention in the matter. These gentlemen promptly acceded to the request, and have - appointed an agent at Palmerston,'so that in U future consignees there, and at Fielding and . Sandon, will have their goods forwarded direct from the steamer on its arrival. Freight, will be payable at Palmerston, buf the steamer’s ■ risk . will cease at Foxtou. This judicious action on the part of Messrs. Turnbull and C 6. has allayed an immense amount of irritation, as the consignees find themselves in a better position now than they ever were before. To show to what an extent, this state of - affairs hod reached, I may mention that goods per Ino, which arrived in Foxton on the 31st nit., had failed to reach Palmerston on Thursday, the 10th inst. ‘ The good folks at Foxton have been galvanised, as it were, into spasmodic energy by discovering that the only street they can boast m of, is, according to present plans, to be robbed of its fair proportions by having a railway running along its centre. They have memoralised the Minister for Public Works, praying for a deviation, commencing at the racecourse curve and carried thence by Whyte’s Hotel and' Gray’s Store. The memorial was numerously signed, but no reply had been received up to Thursday. When the superintending engineer was in Foxton, finding that he required the site of the Athenaeum for railway purposes, the members were cjoßj-eued, and an offer made to them of another' piece of land of far less value. One member moved shat the Government should have the site of the Athemeum, provided they removed the building and paid over the difference in the value of the two pieces of land...'This did not meet with Mr. Passmore’s approbation, so, of course, the motion was not seconded. A deputation, however, was appointed to confer with the Government, and very satisfactory terms have been offered —the Government promising £IOO as compensation, and to remove the building. The tramway is in a horrible state of disrepair,- so much so that a rise in the rate of freight seems inevitable, owing to the adcliional horse-draught the state of the line necessitates.

Palmerston has come prominently into notice latterly in a way that is extremely undesirable. Deaths from excessive drinking are far too frequent. 'Within the last fortnight inquests have been held on two victims of intemperance, and I hear that on Friday morning twO more bodies —those of a white man and native woman—were found huddled together by the roadside, about a quarter of a mile below the Palmerston Hotel In addition to these, a man named Samuel Davey was on Friday bound over to keep the peace towards his wife for six months, himself in .£SO, and two sureties in £25 each; in default, to go to gaol for a similar, period. Then again, there was a charge of assault and battery against a woman named Fast heard at the Resident Magistrate’s Court on Thursday. The complainant, in the discharge of his duty as a juror, had, through the coroner, asked the defendant, who was a witnesiT'af one of the inquests referred to, a question she did not like, and passing him on the previous-Saturday "night, she recognised him and turned back and spat in his face, which she afterwards slapped with her open hand. " The Bench, to show their desire to protect jurors in the execution of their duty, inflicted a fine of £5 and costs, or fourteen days’ hard labor. All this shows that a highly objectionable tone of morality obtains in Palmerston. Th& long and short of it is that there is in this township a set of old. swipers—both men and women—that cannot be matched in the colony, I believe. A man named John Johnston committed suicide at Palmerston on Friday morning in a most determined manner. It appears that the suicide, who at one time was second cook at the Empire, in Wellington, • had engaged as cook at the Clarendon Hotel, where he went on-Sunday week last. He had been ailing for some time, and while at the Clarendon was so ill that he was obliged to leave on the Tuesday. He was staying with Mr. Green, the butcher, who had known him when cook at the Eoyal. On Thursday night, Mr. Green • noticing that he wandered in his mind, advised him to go to bed, which he did. He .got up as usual about seven o’clock on Friday morning, and about half-past seven one of Mr. Green’s boys informed him that something was wrong with J obnston, who was lying down on the- closet floor. Mr. Green went there and found him weltering in blood, with his throat cut from ear to ear, and his windpipe nearly severed. The Colonial Bank opened a branch establishment at Palmerston on the 26th ult., and last week the Bank of Australasia followed suit, so that one of the great drawbacks that business people suffered from has been removed. ' Mr. Steward’s contract on the railway line to FeUding is drawing towards completion. The rails are laid all hut about twenty chains, and for this the line is all ready for there being laid, with the exception of about three chains. An accident to the locomotive, whereby one of the small wheels was broken last week, will slightly retard the progress of the works. _ . The Palmerston people are anxiously looking out for steps to be taken to give effect to the votes for this district which were passed in the last session of the Provincial Council. Altogether the sum of £13,000 was voted for works which, when completed, cannot fail to promote very materially the prosperity of this portion

of the province. The Licensing Bench sat at Palmerston on Thursday. The Commissioners were —Major Willis, E.M. ; J. T. Dalrymple, Esq., J.P- ; J. T. Stewart, Esq., J. P.; and V. Monrad, Esq., J.P. The renewals were all granted, and there was only one application for a new license. This was for an hotel at the Oroua bridge, and the grounds upon which it was refused —that the house was not needed took most of those present by Surprise. There has long been expressed great dissatisfaction at there being no house of accommodation or refreshment between Eoxton and Palmerston. The general opinion seemed to be that there was some ulterior reason that it was not deemed prudent to disclose. Mr. Maclean, counsel for the applicant, elicited, however, from the Bench the assurance that that was the only reason why they thought the license* should not be granted. I am reliably informed there is a large amount of sly-grog selling by the natives going on in the immediate neighborhood, and that travellers have had drink offered to them for sale on the roadside. At Bull’s matters are very quiet. Building is still the order of the day, one enterprising individual having no less than a dozen cottages going up at the present time. Sickness is not quite so rife as it was. X heai' that Mr. Donaldson, ' late medical officer of the Xlindostan, contemplates settling down here, and commencing practice. If so, • it will materially relieve the over-wrought medical men of the district. • There is a great outcry about the absence of facilities for telegraphic communication throughout the district. The Eoxton ‘and Palmerston people are rather sore about it, Beeing that they were led to believe that they

would enjoy communication with the outer world by Christmas last. '• If, as I believe, the opening of this particular line depends upon the Native Minister being interviewed by the obstructive natives, there is very little chance of its being an accomplished fact until after the session. In this event, the opening of an office at Sandon, as prayed for. in the memorial of the settlers in that district, w-ould be no small boon. It is not often that vessels' seek the shelter of the Mauawatu, and still less so that they bring shipwrecked survivors to our port. But yesterday the Hannah Barratt put in through stress of weather, having on board the captain of the William and Mary, which vessel was found bottom upwards by the Hannah Barratt, twenty-five miles south-west of Opunaki. The captain had managed to get on to the keel and was rescued, but the mace and four others were drowned. The weather seemed very dirty outside yesterday, and I fear we shall hear of more disasters. We felt little or nothing of the gale that raged so furiously on the East Coast during Saturday, Sunday, and Monday last. At Palmerston it was very severe and did no small amount of damage. We had sharp frosts here on Thursday and Friday, which were succeeded by rain that has continued to fall at intervals ever since.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTIM18750705.2.46

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4459, 5 July 1875, Page 7

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,661

RANGITIKEI-MANAWATU. New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4459, 5 July 1875, Page 7

RANGITIKEI-MANAWATU. New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4459, 5 July 1875, Page 7

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