SANDON.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5118, 18 August 1877, Page 1 (Supplement)

SANDON.

! O'UOJI OUU OWN CORRESPONDENT.) August 13. From information received from Wellington by one of the Vigilance Committee, in connection with the Foxton and Sandon line of railway, a meeting was hurriedly called at the sehoolhouse last Monday ; and although the weather was exceedingly wet, it did not deter a goodly number of settlers from turning out. Mr. A. Bailey was voted to the chair, and stated that the object of the meeting was to consider the advisability of sending a deputation to the Government previous to the Public Works Statement being brought forward in the House, to ascertain if any sum was to be placed on the Estimates to make the branch line of railway to this place, and to give the Government any information they might require. Mr. Gower, of Carnarvon, made a good if not the best speech on the subject ever made in Sandon. He said when the railway was first talked about between Foxton and Sandon, the people were called fanatics, and that the neighboring townships said Sandon was composed of a cheeky lot of people ; but through the unity that existed and the perseverance which prevailed among the settlers, how much better a position they were in now than they were two years ago when the railway was first talked of. It was now known throughout the length and breadth of New Zealand that this was ono of the first and one of the most important branch lines of railway that the Government could tmdertake. He believed the Hon. Blr. Fox, the Hon. Mr. Campbell, and our West Coast members, Messrs. Johnston, Ballance, and Bryce, would all give this line their support. There was not another branch line of railway in the colony that could be more easily or more cheaply made. There was plenty of rolling stock in Foxton, and no station would*have to be built there. It would only require an extra official or two to work this line in conjunction with the Palmerston line ;,and while none of the main lines were paying more than 5 per cent., he believed this feeding line would pay 10 per cent. He said it was impossible for the Douglas Company to carry out their settlement scheme and locate seventy families on the block unless the line was made. It was well known that for four months in a year a man could only walk his horse on the present line of road, and then the animal was often up to his knees in mud. These people, if they were put upon their land, must have provisions, tea, sugar, flour, &c., and it was almost an impossibility to cart these things to them. You could stand and look ten miles in one direction and ten miles in the other, or over 100 square miles of laud, which the Government had sold at an average price of £1 per acre; and what roads had they made ? It was a great shame, and the Government had done a great injustice to these districts, for they had only spent on them a very small moiety of the money they had received. He advised them to be true to themselves and stick together, and then he was quite sure that ere long they would have the railway. (Applause.). Mr. Tompkins proposed,—That Messrs. Sanson and Gower. compose the deputation," as they were well acquainted with the wants of the districts, and that the meeting should guarantee their expenses. This was unanimously carried. It is not often in our comparatively quiet district that we are troubled with any of those young gentlemen who out their wisdom teeth before they leave the old country ; but within the last month or two several of them have tried to settle down here, or rather have tried to make it appear that they would do so. One young man was entrusted with a team of horses and a cheque to pay for some wheat for his employer. He got his cheque cashed, put the horses up at a livery stable, bolted, and has not since been heard of. . I believe he is pretty well known by the police, and I expect they will have him before long. Last week another young gentleman of the same stamp, and who had been here for a short time only, found a friend who would lend him a horse occasionally, and another who would lend him a saddle and bridle. One night last week this hopeful youth disappeared, and so did the horse, the saddle and bridle of his friends. The disappearance of these two in one night is not yet accounted for, but perhaps soon will be. What was very nearly a very serious accident, if not a fatal one, happened- to Mr. Thomas Harris last week. He was getting off his horse, when one foot hung in the stirrup, and he was dragged for some distance, recei v-: ing a severe kick in the face. He was quite unconscious for a considerable time, but is now, I am glad to say, recovering.