Untitled

Patea Mail, Volume II, Issue 155, 4 October 1876, Page 2

Tin; Town Board of Carlyle seem to be in -no inconsiderable difficulty respecting their reserves, and it is very clear that a sort nis mistake has been made in letting them, till they were legally handed over by the General Government. Now it seems that, the leases cannot be registered till the Government have finally notified to the Registrar that they are given over, and this notification has not j'et been received by that officer. The sale took place on the St.li of May last, as nearly as possible eight months ago, and yet the Board’s solicitor, Mr Haramerton, after that time writes to say that as certain legal formalities have not been complied with, he cannot send up tho leases that he has bicn instructed to prepare. It certainly seems odd that-tliat gentleman took five in mtbs or so-to-ascertain the fact, and it does not say much for the business capacity of the Board to find that they allowed so long a

period to bo wasted —only to disc-over at the cud of it that 11 icy had virtually sold leases without being' able to convey the lands so leased. The action 'of Messrs Johnston and McCarthy, the latter a member of the B tard. must painfully remind that laxly, as a whole, of the. laxity of which they have been guilty. These gentleniei! demand the dim execution of their leas -s—a demand which, to say the loa.-.t of it. cannot bo deemed nn-r.'a.-;o:;ahli‘ aider waiting so long, but the Board according to their own .solicitor, c ir.nol, comply with their requests-. In Mr Johnston's cas-’, he wants ,1! 180, though 1m has made every endeavor to bo relieved from the form t for sonic time past, and it is not at all pfob ddo that ho cm recover the hit ter. llj that as it may, however, it must ho apparent that, a grave blunder has hern committed, and that unless the leases duly registered and complete, are supplied immediately, the lessees, one and all, who are desirous of doing s->, can repudiate their bargains, and the reserves will have'to he let over again, when titles can he at once given. In the course ot the discussion on the matter, Mr Hirst quoted a case in point (hat directly boro, on the quest ion, and that was most uncomfortable to his audience. He stated that lie, as agent for some one else, had let: a let a piece of land near Hawcra, but tint some delay in issuing the lease took place, and that"the intending lessee eventually repudiate i his bargain, on the ground of that d day. A flrst-cla -s legal opinion was taken in Christchurch as to tho defaulter's liability, and if. was to the effect that, as Iherv had been procrastination m tin) issue rtf the lease, tho lessee was no longer bound by his agreement, i ins exactly fits the present case, and, .should that opinion he a sound one, absent cs lessees of tin? Town Board from all responsibility. Tho fact that the blame lies with (he General (iovernment, does not atrect. relations hot ween the Town Hoard as lessors and their t-mnits as less ;cs. u ’liner can any .subsequent reparation euro the fault that limy have permitted if not committed, in allowin''’ so long a time to elapse without being able to give a ti l) to properly that they have let. No doubt, on being miornmd of the. circumstances, Major Atkinson will do all in his power to remedy matters, but it would seem as far as things at present appear, that the [own Ixiaid leases arc void or otherwise, as those who purchased thorn may and that the Hoard, being unable to furnish them forthwith, will have to accept-the very unpleasant consequences that anything like the wholesale repudiation turoareneu in connection with them may onlad. A\ c, need hardly sav that, we wisn our local amnoi tty a ha.ony deliverance Ir-nn (heir impending troubles, and possibly their prompt action in communicating through the Olhecr in charge of Confiscated Hands who the Government may aftorel relief to romo extent. As yet only those who have applied for their h-a'-es, and, Ivon nnablo to obtain them can claim remission, and so far those have only numbered two.

We are compelled to bold over the report of the meeting of the Education Loan], the imports per Tonga riro, reduce the meeting of Saturday to skeleton dimensions, omit a large number of telegrams, and otherwise cut our coat according to our cloth in the present issue. All arrears snail be brought up on Saturday. If any advertising omissions appear, wo crave tho indulgence of our friends.

Mr Sicely. Government surveyor, started out yesterday* for tho j tirposo of putting in the seel inn pegs of the Opako block, a finishing touch necessary before its sale. Ho is likely to have a long sojourn in the bush, for, after ibat work is done, be is instructed to survey some large blocks along the Tngahnpe to Pukekino, and find road lines through Opako, Pukekino, and across to Kabaroa to meet the track now lacing cut there. Altogether, bis work will bo to survey some thirty or forty thousand acres which will shortly be* open fo r sa lo—a task of no small difficulty, and one that will occupy many months.

Tho late enquiry into the conduct of certain members of the A.C. Force, quartered m tho Immigration Barracks Lore, terminated on Saturday last. The charges wore originally numerous, but wore eventually reduced to allowing civilians in after hours and permitting gambling to bo carried on. The graver part of the accusations wore wholly* disproved, and only a very jtri fling breach of discipline substantiated. The finding; of tho Board of Enquiry has not, of course, been made public, but forwarded to the Commissioner. The above, however, we have every reason to believe, is its substance.

Tho Wesleyan Church at Ilawora is to be completed by the cud of next month. All the timber will bo on the ground this week, and work will actively commence on Monday next. It will be a pretty little building, and an ornament to Hawera, as well as afford necessary accommodation to tho residents of that denomination. The contract for the Kaharoa track was taken by Arthur Gibson and party at os 9d per chain. There wore several other tenderers, and the prices ranged from tho above to 6s. The work is to be completed in six weeks, so the contractors will have no time to waste in order to do it within time. In another column will.be seen a rather novel advertisement with which wc have been favored by Mr. Hirst, in which that gentleman offers for sale a variety, as also to sell or let properties, and to give away what is valuable. Instead of alluring purchasers by offering in all eases to sell cheap lie states plainly that some of the wares he has to offer are dear but goodWe cannot do better than refer our readers to the characteristic advertisement in question.

In the fi.M. Court yesterday Major Turner R.M. and Dr. Croft occupied the Bench. There were no criminal cases for hearing. Two summonses however attracted great attention and drew, in theatrical parlance, -a large attendance. The first of these was a charge of assault by Mr. Felix McCarthy against Mr. William Williams. It appeared by the. evidence that some dispute. in reference to a paddock, had arisen between the parties and that in walking up tho street, defendant had hiistlcd or shoved lire complainant, thus, as Mr. Adams who appeared for the latter, said assaulting him. The. Bench after a '- cry protracted hearing, during which several reminiscences ot o’.d times on both sides were mentioned, considered tho assault proved, but it was of so slight a nature that they lined defendant one shilling only, with costs £2 os. A further charge of abusive language was then heard tho same parties occupying the same positions. Mr. McCarthy complained that air. Williams, o .ving to the dispute in question, came to his shop, called him names, amongst others a“ d d scoundrel and rogue,” and was specially insolent. William Quin, a bootmaker in the employ of Mr. McCarthy, corroborated complainant's evidence as to the use of the language in question by Mr. Williams. On the other hand, Mr. Adams, solicitor, who was said to have heard it, denied that he had done so. Mr, Davis gave similar evidence, and Mr. Williams, in the strongest terms denied lie had over used such language in his life, or that he would .soil his lips with it. The case afforded a good deal of amusement to the public, but tho squabble is 100 petty to report at length. The Dench very briefly dismissed tho ease. A civil case, Gai’lick v Trewock, to recover £5 15s, balance of wages alleged to be due resulted in a verdict for tho plaintiff, it was simply a question as to whether the plaintiff was entitled to 15s or .£1 5s per week, but the evidence of experts swayed judgment to the larger amount. An assault case, Young v Wright resulted disastrously for the complainent. Tho latter, it appeared from tho evidence, had been in the habit of looking round defendant’s residence, and a suspicion of poultry attached to him. Be that as it may, on the morning when (ho alleged assault was committed, Mr. Young was havingpi morning ramble, and Mr. Wright met him, when a difference of opinion arose, and Wright exhibited it by committing the assault complained of. The Bench seemed to think that Young had met with his deserts, and declined to interfere, at the same time warning him in friendly tones that it would be as well for Ins health, at least as far as his liberty was concerned, if lie visited “ fresh fields and pastures new.” This concluded the business, and tho court adjourned.

We remind members of the Masonic order that the usual monthly meeting, - of tlio Patea Kilwinning Lodge will take place this evening at 7.80 at the Town Hall. Amongst other business will be the nomination of officers for the ensuing year, about which considerable interest is felt. Our readers are reminded that a sale of blacksmith’s tools and plant, will take place here to-morrow, the auctioneer being Mr W. Cowcrn.

The growth of thistles and the method of exterminating them have been topics often discussed by settlers. The fol lowing is a piece of information on the subject which, if proved to be founded on fact, will help to settle the difficulty. The Berlin correspondent of Land and Water writes :—“ Who ever know of two plants being so inimical to one another as to kill the other by a mere touch? This, however, seems to bo the case when rape grows near the thistle. If a field is infested by thistles, give it a turn of rape seed, and this plant will altogether starve, suffocate, and chill the thistle out of existence. A trial was made with different varieties of rape seed in square plots, when it was found that the whole ground was full of thistles, and nobody believed the rape was having a fair run. But it had, and as the rape grew, the thistles vanished, faded, turned grey, and dried up as soon as the rape loaves began to ton oh them. Other trials wore then made in flower-pots and garden beds, and the thistle always had to give in, and was altogether annihilated, whether old and fully developed or young and tender.

A votary of whisky told the “ Funny Man 1 ’ of the Otago Licensed Victualler’s Gazette the following extraordinary tale of his wife. lie said, “ Julia possesses a greater olfactory power than any woman in Dunedin. Keturning the other morning from a protracted committee mooting) after landing in one of those big mud pies th« Corporation decorate tho streets with, I stole, as quietly as possible, up to bed; and, knowing my frau’s objection to tho odour of Glonlivat, turned my hack upon tho object most beloved on earth, when a felt her gentle hand on my shoulder, whilst she remarked, “ It’s no use, Harry, I can smell the whiskey through your back .” This is a fact.” A Melbourne chemist lias prepared lozenges containing the valuable properties which the blue gum tree (Hucalypttis globulus) contains, and is finding a considerable demand for thorn. The odor of the peculiar aromatic oil which the blue gum contains is distinctly traceable in tho lozenges. lie has also manufactured Kuoalyptus soap.

Some disclosures respecting the inner working of the Post Office department were made at the Police Court, Dunedin* recently, during the hearing of a charge against one of the officials of purloining newspapers. In the courso/rf prosecution, Mr. Barr (the Chief Postmaster) and Mr. Price (Superintendent of the mail room), deposed to four papers~'(addressed and posted) being found wrapped up with a pair of slippers belonging to accused. This led to a search warrant being taken out, and a complete file of the Illustrated London News for two months being found at his house. A peculiarity about tbern was (bat the covers on which addresses had evidently been written were torn otf. With regard to other papers found in his possession, accuse;! said he had taken them home from the Post Office to read, and intended to return them. This led to his arrest. The cross-examination of counsel for the defence, backed up by witnesses, put a different complexion on the case. One said that he had seen the clerks and others tear otf addresses and take papers homo, there being one papier —the New Zealand Sun —ho remembered as being in great demand among them. Another described tha process by which papers (unclaimed) were disposed of. They were consigned ,'l° a box for detained papers, and after lying there a time ultimately found their way into the Dead Letter Box* when they became common property, being used for wrapping up mails or taken away by the employes. The Bench, without expressing an opinion upon the evidence adduced, acquitted accused. This is Bret llartc’s opinion of newspaper men “ I have a theory resembling Ben Battler’s. I would trust most of them with cash ; hut anything that could, by the remotest possibility, be tortured into news, I would guard as carefully from them as 1 would my watch from pickpockets.”