OUR RANGITIKEI-MANAWATU LETTER.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4482, 31 July 1875, Page 1 (Supplement)

OUR RANGITIKEI-MANAWATU LETTER.

(FEOM OUlt OWN OOKRKSrOSDEST.) Makton, July 2J, NoljSwitstanding our forebodings to tho contraryp there was a very good attendance at the moving of parishioners held at the courthouse hero last evening. Considering that the was most iuelomont, this was most / gratifyin" to those who take an interest in ' church matters. The Rev. A. Towguod prof sided, and the immediate business before the meeting was tho passing of the accounts for the past year, and tho election of officers for the ensuing twelve months. The accounts were react in detail, from which it appeared that there was a deficiency on the 30th Juno last on tho church expenditure account of £i'i 15s. 2d., and on the building account a deficiency of £lO. Prom the estimate of receipts and expenditure during the _ current year there appeared to be a deficiency of £57. Major Willis offered a practical suggestion, which it is to be hoped will be acted upon. It was to this effect: That as tho subscription list had been signed at a period of very great depression, and as tho settlers all around had since done very well, he thought they were now iu a position to augment their subscriptions. He, for one, should be very glad to do so. The suggestion was very well received, and will, no doubt, bear fruit. Tho accounts having been passed, the meeting proceeded to the election of officers, when Major Willis and A. Ross, Esq., were chosen as churchwardens, and the following as vestrymen : —Messrs. Sutcliffe, S. Ingram, Beckett, Cobbe, H. Death, Stewart, Awdry, Retemeycr, Halcombe, and Thorns. Messrs. Oakley and Deighton were elected auditors. On the motion of Mr. Deighton, seconded by Mr. Halcombe, the days on which the stipend subscriptions became due were altered from the last day of June and December to the last day of May and November. The business proper having been disposed of, tho chairman addressed the meeting at great length with regard to the services held m the several portions of this large parochial district. Frorn his remarks it seemed that in addition to the services every Sunday in the church here, he held services at Bull's on two Sundays in the month, and at Sandon on one Sunday in each month. I think the district may very fairly be congratulated on having secured the services of such a hard-working, earnest parish priest—one who knows the advantage of, and puts in practice, thorough house to house visitation. I may mention that the Marton church is only a portion of a grand design—far too grand for the district—of a church with nave, chancel, and transepts. Only that portion which includes the nave and chancel has been erected, and as this has a very high pitch of roof, it has been found necessary to " moor" it to piles driven into the ground, to prevent its being blown over. Four buttresses have, however, been contracted for, and when these are built there will be no danger of such a catastrophe. We have long been suffering from a dearth of labor in this district, especially of the agricultural land. One crying want was noticed in our local journal, and at last our prayer has been answered, after a fashion. On Friday a body of Gorman immigrants were sent to us. But this, I fancy, is very much akin to asking bread and being given a stone. "Until they have learned some little English, or have taught the settlers some little German, they will be practically useless. We arc in the habit of hearing their praises hymned from one end of tho colony to the other, as being frugal, industrious, and sober. From my own experience of country life at Home, however, I venture to think that a more frugal, industrious, and sober race of men than the rural population of the old country it would be difficult to meet with. A man must be all these to bring up a family of five or six children on sixteen shillings a week as they do, and do so respectably, too. One would have thought that no great difficulty would have been experienced during the long "lock-out" that occurred last year in the agricultural Eastern counties at Home, in picking up as many laborers of this class as we in New Zealand could do with, without bringing barbaroustongued foreigners into the colony. Their character, no doubt, is highly to be commended, but still I do not think they are the right kind of immigrants to be introduced when so much more suitable ones might bo had, if it were only properly gone about. The volunteers at Bull's gave an entertainment last night—a soiree dansante —in which singing and dancing were pleasingly alternated. It proved a great success, notwithstanding that the weather was so unpropitious, a large proportion of the bellesjfor miles around gracing the festive scene with their presence. One noticeable feature was that most of tho dance music was composed by the directors or members of the band. We are to have, another large hotel erected at Bull's, nearly opposite that at which the coach now stops. Mr. DalzieL of Napier, has secured two sections immediately adjoining the Messrs. Bull's offices, and intends commencing operations at once.

Not far from this rising township, near_ the spot where the Tutaenui joins the ltangitikei, may be seen the most faultless illustration extant of that much-prized art—" How not to do it." It is our Provincial Government chef tVceutre in that particular line, for though they have turned out many illustrations, none with this for the palm—it is perfect. Its success as an evidence of the wonderful proficiency in this art achieved by our Provincial Government is undoubted, and cannot be gainsaid. To make it intelligible I must premise that the road from Lower llangitikei (or Scott's, as it is generally called) — theportto which thestorekeepersof Bull's, Marton, Sandon, and even Feilding, find it most convenient to have their goods forwarded to —to Bull's and these other townships, is intersected by the Tutaenui, a stream fordable in the summer time, but not during the rainy season. The Provincial Government have built a fine bridge over this stream, high above floodmark ; but they have not constructed the approaches. The end near Bull's is many feet above the road, and the further end abuts on a perpendicular clifE some twenty feet high ! In this state it has been for months. I have heard of goods having been brought from Scott's as far as the Tutaenui, and having to be taken back as many as four and five times, on account of the stream being unfordable. The Provincial Engineer inspected the site of the approaches some weeks ago, and promised that tenders should be called for them at once. But those who have lived long under Provincial Governments know well what a land of promise—" and nothing more"—this is. I Jiavc made inquiries, and find that there is uothing being done in regard of supplying the gap in the line of telegraphic communication between Palmerston and Foxton. I cannot ascertain, however, whether this is attributable to the weather or to another " hitch" with the natives. In the meantime, a telegraph-office might be opened in Sandon in a few days. It is a great pity that the department cannot seo their way to do so, as it would prove a very great convenience. Wo hoar very little of Fcilding just at procont. It must, however, be going ahead, as it is reported that two largo hotels are about to bo erected there. The inquest on the body of the late J. A. Cameron, whose sudden death I reported in my last, resulted in a verdict of " Died of disease of the heart, accelerated by excessive drinking." Palmerston is pretty lively what with one thing and another. The buildings for the banks are rapidly approaching completion. There have boon some lively displays of muscular Christianity between the rival timber producers, one of which was investigated at the Police Court. Among the on, dits current is one that a large fashionable clothing establishment Is about to be erected by one of the local capitalists. If so it will supply a want that is but of recent growth. Drunkenness is sadly on the increase here, owing to many men having been driven into town by the late bad weather. With plenty of money and nothing to do—with no place of rational amusement, with not even a reading-room, the good people of Palmerston cannot bo very much surprised at such a result. Reform with reference to sepulture in Badly needed here, The cemetery

is unenclosed ; a hole is dug in the ground, the coffin placed in it, and the hole filled up again. This is what is called burial in a Christian country in the nineteenth century ! Mr. Wright, clerk at the goods shed, had a paralytic stroke a few days ago. Much sympathy is felt fur him, as very recently his wife died, leaving him with five young children. P.S.—I have omitted to mention that one of the German immigrants noticed above died last evening.