THE STANDARD. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 1873.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume I, Issue 62, 18 June 1873, Page 2

THE STANDARD.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 1873.

“ We shall sell to no man justice or right: We shall deny to no man justice or right: We shall defer to no man justice or right.”

Courtney' and Young v. Simpson.—The following cases heard in the Resident Magistrate’s Court last Thursday were unavoidably held over from our last. The plaintiffs sued defendant for the following amounts, namely, £lB, contract No. 1; £7 Ils 3d, contract No. 2; £2l 15s, contract No. 3 ; £3O, contract No. 4 ; and £3O, contract No. 5, for work done on the Opotiki road. Contract No. 5 was heard first. Daniel Courtney, sworn, stated: —We took a sub-con-traet from defendant to form a part of the Opotiki road. The agreement was verbal.' It was to make a side cutting of about a mile at 7s a chain. Defendant refused to chain it when the work was completed. He also refused to pay us. By defendant: We agreed to do the work only to our own satisfaction. You did not say that you would not pay for the work until it was passed.—George Young, sworn, stated :— We made a verbal agreement with M‘Coy to do this work. We were to do the side cuttings at 7s a chain, and the flats, that required no cutting, at 4s a chain. We made no agreement as to passing the work when completed. By the plaintiff (Courtney) : The cutting in this contract is as wide as any other cutting on the Opotiki road. By the defendant: We did not agree with M'Coy to do the work to the satisfaction of any inspector or engineer. We contracted to make the cutting 8 feet wide to the best of our own judgment. This No. 5 contract was not mentioned in the written agreement originally made.—Hugh Pearce M'Kerney, sworn, stated : I have been working in the No. 5 contract since the commencement. I asked defendant if he would measure the work. He refused to do so ; also, to lend us a chain to do it ourselves. I expected my money when the work was done. 1 heard defendant refuse to pay Courtney until the work was passed. I have always received payment for any contract that I have taken before, as soon as the work was completed. For the defence Leonard Simpson, sworn, stated : —I let the plaintiffs all these contracts on condition that they should be completed to the satisfaction of the resident Engineer, or his deputy. By the Court: This work in No. 5 contract has not yet been examined by the Engineer. Plaintiffs have never applied to me to have the work examined. I did not authorize M‘Coy to give the plaintiffs contract No. 5. —Michael Carrol, sworn, stated: —l was one of the original sub-contractors for No. 1 contract, also for a portion of Nos. 2 and 3. The terms of 2,3, and 4 contracts, I am under the impression, were the same as No. 1. I understood all these contracts had to be passed by the Engineer before payment was given to the contractors. I don’t know anything about No. 5 contract. Defendant handed the original agreement for contract No. 1, which satisfied the Court that payment could not be demanded until the work

had been passed by the Engineer.-—William Airey Richardson, Sub-Inspector in the Armed Constabulary, Ormond branch, deposed to having been appoii ited by the General Government, to inspect the work done by defendant on the Opotiki road. He had inspected it, and had reported to the Government that he could not pass some of it. Hie Court held that the plaintiffs were premature in bringing their action, aud recorded a nonsuit in order to give them an opportunity to bring their action in another form if it should be found necessary to do so after the passing of the work. The ot her claims were then investigated, which the Court decided were practically determined by the issues of the first one, ind gave a nonsuit in each case. New Firm.—Messrs. Large A Townley have commenced business as Cabinet-makers and Upholsterers, opposite the Music Hall, Gisborne. Gisborne Band.—The Hon. Secretary requests, by advertisement, that the subscriptions promised to the Band fund, may be paid forthwith.

Lands Coubt. —Our advertizing columns contain a notice “ Fixing date of Inquiry by Commission of Judges of the Native Lands Court ” for Tuesday the sth August next. Mb. P. Babbie announces that he invites the Ormond settlers to an inspection of his goods which he opens to day in the building temporarily occupied opposite the site of his new store about to be erected.

Donation.—The Hon. Secretary to the Band fund, desires to acknowledge, with thanks, the receipt of £1 Is, from J. W. Gowing, Esq., of Napier, as a donation to the Gisborne Band fund.

Soiree.—The Soiree, which had been duly announced, came off in the Music Hall on Monday evening last. It was a great success ; and we regret being compelled to defer an extended notice of it until Saturday. We observe that Captain W. R. Robinson (of the New Zealand Militia,) late commanding the Napier Rifle Vounteers has been appointed Lieutenant to No. 1 company Auckland Rifle Volunteers. Gisborne Dramatic and Minstrel Society —The management of this Society have determined on giving another entertainment next Monday evening. We hope the loss sustained on the last occasion ■will be made up by a bumper house. To Advertisers and Subscribers. — The third quarter of the publication of the Standard ends on the 28ih June. Any of our friends requiring alteration in their standing advertisements, or to insert new ones, will please communicate their wishes not later than Tuesday, the 24th inst.

Quadrille Party.—We learn with pleasure that the settlers around Ormond have joined with the members of the Constabulary Force stationed there, and purpose giving a series of Quadrille Parties, in their theatre, during the Winter months. The first, we believe, takes place during the present week. These entertainments cannot be too much encouraged, as they have a tendency to make life, and its amusements, ut once social, innocent, and agreeable.

New Zealand Land and Coal Company. —Telegraphic intelligence under the head of Auckland announces that this Company “ invite local applications for shares.” As the mountain can’t go to Mahomet, we would advise Mahomet to consider the advisability of coming to the mountain. We believe shares would be taken up in this district if the people knew anything about the matter in detail.

Postal Service. —We cannot designate the conduct of the postal authorities, with respect to their treatment of this Port in the matter of mail conveyance, but as mean in the extreme. The Ibcal Postmaster here has offered (we suppose by instructions) the munificent sum of £lO per annum for the land and water transit of mails, to and from the ship and post-office, respectively, to anyone who will undertake the duty. Messrs. Park and Siddons have refused the tempting offer, and, we believe, no one else is likely to take it up. Obscene Language. — Yesterday morning, two men named Daniel Sullivan and James Murphy, seamen on board the schooner Opotiki, were brought before the Resident Magistrate, and charged by Sergeant Shirley with using obscene language in the public streets. They admitted the offence and were fined 20s each. We are glad to find that the vigilance of the police is likely to uproot another of the social pests, which, we regret to say, are rather the rule than the exception.

Laborers for the Vineyard.—The rate at which progress is being made in Poverty Bay, requires attention to be directed towards the introduction of labor into the district. Issue after issue of the Standard announces the fact that there is plenty of Work on hand to absorb some dozens of various trades and occupations. Tenders are called for without response to many of them, and in some cases only one person considers it worth his while to trouble about the matter. The Road Board have advertized twice, without effect, for tenders to improve the approaches to the Ferry at the Big river. We believe there was only one tender for the erection of the Telegraph and Post Office. Napier and Auckland have to send down their own material and labor

to erect the buildings here in which persons resident in those towns are interested. Pick and shovel men are out of all proportion to the demand. Farm and general servants, male and female, are in great request, and still the cry is anti-Shaksperian — they do not come! We observe that the Hon. Dr. Pollen is at Tauranga “respecting the location of Immigrants, and opening up the lands.” We have a Government Agent within twelve hours* steam of us, whose services are supposed to be employed here as a part of the East Coast; but' we hear nothing of any endeavor being made by either to give us a modicum of benefit under the great “scheme.” Surely by absolutely begging we may get, say, a modest dozen or two, of the “eight or ten thousand ” Dr. Featherston is shipping from England’

, A Regulation is published under the Militia Act, by which every officer commanding a battalion or independent company is to collect all fines, and when they amount to £2, to give same as rifle prizes. Threatening Language.—On Monday last Captain G. E. Read laid an information on oath against William Benson for having threatened to shoot him, and to do him other grievous bodily harm. The Resident Magistrate bound Benson over to keep the peace for six months, himself in £lOO and two sureties, Messrs. Wyllie and Dalziell,, in Geography Improved.—Our friends down south seem to be at sea without! a chart-: Their knowledge of the country ih which they live cannot be said to be either perfect or extensive. A southern paper, to hand the other day, alludes to Wanganui as being in’ the province of Taranaki! It is also doubtful in the minds of many as to whether Wairoa is in this province or that of Hawke’s Bay ; while Poverty Bay is such a terra incognita, that we are as often addressed as belonging to the town of Napier as to the province of Auckland. The above-are certainly o’ertopped by a/pieee of astounding information we saw some time since in a book of geography used in a local school which described the magnetic needle in the Northern Hemisphere as inflecting to the North, whereas in the Southern Hemisphere it inflects to th (5 South!