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Poverty Bay Standard, Volume I, Issue 47, 26 April 1873, Page 2

Rifle Contest. —0n Thursday next, the Ist of May, a friendly. contest arising from a challenge the Gisborne Rifle Volunteers have sent to the Armed Constabulary stationed at Ormond, will take place the corps, at the Gisborne butts. The A.C.’s are good shootists; and as it is plucky on the part of the G.R.V.’s, we trust to see them maintain their prestige. We think it is not generally known that Sergeant-Major Bennett of our local A.C. detachment was the winner of the £lO prize, against all the mounted force in the North Island in February last. This gallant little gentleman came off with a score of 47 out of a possible 60, and we congratulate him on this newly-acquired honor. Money prizes are, however,’we think, held in less estimation, than a badge of victory would be, Which could be kept with.confidence and referred to with pleasure.

Ouii Thoroughfares.—We desire to draw the attention of the Road Board, and-others interested in the matter to the general state of the arterial and branch roads of the district. It is quite possible that an affected indifference may be shown by some of the members for an opinion expressed- by -ourselves, but -that will not turn us from the performance of an obvious duty. The ratepayers will do well also to consider, whether at the annual election it would not be wise to ventilate some of the questions pertaining to Road Board economy and administration, which in the meantime should engage their thoughtful attention. Between

■this and the 30th of June—the end of the financial year —we shall have other opportunity*® of dismissing several items connected with the the development of our forms of government ; but in the meantime we feel that we do but express the universal sentiment when we say that the Board, as at present constituted, are not equal to the task devolving upon them. We protest, in the -interest of economy to a continuance of the most absurd of ull the absurd contracts they have entered into, and those are the maintenance of roads. Tlie three contracts from Matawhero crossing to Ormond cost £1544 a-year, and for what ? Anyone passing ulong these lines ojow after the recent rains are convinced of the absurdity of employing men to throw mud from water tables on to the crown of the road, only to increase the difficulty of -.travelling, and to be washed down agtnn. Considering the eost., the state of our main roods is simply shameful, and decidedly in no better condition than if what is being done were left undone. We are not blaming the contractors, they are honestly performing their work, but it is useless. Where the mitre drains are open, the ditches are full of either mud or water, but there are very few, along the whole line that are not dammed up by traffic of some kind. We have always strongly protested against forming a road and then leaving it in a state far worse than its primitive condition. Mr. Winter, the late engineer, objected to the formation of the road between Colebrook’s Hotel and Ormond, and, although it is made imperative that the General Government votes shall be expended on the formation of “new roads,” much of the Board’s own revenue could be devoted to making a portion of those roads travellable, by metalling and otherwise ; and the sum now spent in maintaining them in a disreputable state, would go some profitable distance towards the furtherance of that object.

Government Advertising. —On two or three occasions lately, we have had good reason, us we thought, for complaining of being slighted in the mutter of Government advertisements pertaining to matters of great importance and interest to the settlers of this district. Some of these complaints have been answered but in what wo take to be an extremely unsatisfactory manner. A notice has been standing for some time in the Provincial Government Gazette notifying that under a Writ of fi fa. G. E. Read v. Wi Harongu, the Sheriff, H. C. Balneavis will cause to be sold two blocks of land situated in Poverty Bay on the 30th of April. One would think it would be desirable to publish such information as locally as possible, but the answer we received on enquiry was curt, official, and polite, as follows: — “ I have conformed with the requirement of the Act by advertising in one paper.” So we gave that up as hopeless. By the mail to hand yesterday by the Colonist, we received a long-advertisement from 'Judge Rogan postponing the sitting of the Commission at Gisborne, sine die (which has glared before our eyes in several other papers) with instructions to give it two insertions in the .’Standard before the loth of April! It is no fault of the sender that the imperfect state of our mail-ser-vice has put it out of our power to comply with the conditions of the favor conferred ; but considering that his communication is dated from a little place called Foxton, quite as isolated as ourselves, ®n the 31st March, and-had to travel some hundreds of miles by sea and land—to say nothing of the time required in other processes—before it could be presented twice to our readers; and considering also that this district should have had the first intimation of the change—we think it -extremelyinadvisable to run the chances of failure so close. Again we beg to remind the Government that we received no notice whatever of the original sitting of the'Commission of which the advertisement to hand is the postponement.