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Poverty Bay Standard, Volume III, Issue 299, 18 August 1875, Page 2

Agbicultubal Society.—A meeting of settlers and others interested’ftr'tHe'fotiimtion of an Agricultural and sSociety is announced to Cake place at the Makaraka hotel on Tuesday August 80th at 2 pup. ,'f ft Freemasons’ Hall Company.—A call has been made in this Company, of ten shillings a share payable on the 6th September next. Petroleum Company-.—Ths annual gbiWSal meeting of this Company is to take place in the Freemasons’ Hall Gisborne, on Wednesday the 25th inst. at 7 p.m. East Coast Electorate.—The petition “to Parliament praying for an addiLjqnilpianiber being given to the East Coast’ in the General Assembly, was forwarded to W<4hngt»U‘ by ihe Rangatira last week. It was signed by upwards of 250 electors and others, Road Board. —At the usual fortnightly meeting on Monday lost there werelbut three members present, owing, doubtless, to the inclemency of the weather. Nothing of importance was transacted beyond .itfhat is’ conveyed in the Board’s advertisements in this issue. n y-rfiirnci Mr. W. Fabkbb, we learn with regret, has determined on taking a final leave a! Poteity Bay, having sold his homestead Major Westrup. Mr. Parker was one of the earliest settlers in tho Bay ; and although his recollections of past troubles during the msssicAi are none of the brightest of his life, he will, doubtless, take with him the warm sympathy of many friends. We can ill afford to spare men of his genuine stamp, and we wish him God speed wherever he goes. Mr. Parker intends to resettle in Napier. Governmentßills.—We observe that some of our contemporaries have been supplied with copies of the Abolition and Local Government Bills now before the House. We areirioti aware what constitutes a right to receive these, or on what principle of preference the Government proceeds in dispensing their favors but it places ns at a great disadvantage in not being put on a par with other papers.. As it is we can only place before our readers' the Abolition Bill this morning as we find ii r in our exchanges, the errors in which wo arehot liable for having no means at our disposal for correcting them. Inquest. —An inquest was held at the Albion Hotel en Saturday last, on the body of William Murphy, the recovery of whose body we announced in our Inst issue. Constable Dudley deposed to finding the body, and Kenneth Nasmith and Archibald Munn identified it as that of the late William Murphy. Dr. Goold found no marks ■of violence on the person, and gave hie opinion that deceased came to his death by drowning. The jury, of which Mr. Meldrum was foreman, gave a verdict in accordance therewith.

The Court Housb. —At the risk of giving 1 offence —certainly we intend uone—we con- ■ ceive it our duty to again call attention to the : state of the interior of the Court-house building. To reiterate that it is a disgrace to l the township is a mild form of expressing the I opinion of all who are compelled to transact I business in any of the offices there. If, however, it is not possible to shame the Government, or those who have charge of the building, into habits of ordinary cleanliness, ' we trust that the landlord will conceive it to • be his duty to move in the matter as a precautionary measure against fire. Accumulations of filth and waste paper meet one at ■ every turn, sufficient to endanger the safety i not only of that building, but also of much * other valuable property. Should a fire occur 1 through this culpable negligence, the Governi ment will be morally, if not legally, liable for I the consequences. Captain Porter and Mr. J. T. Large returned from Waiapu last Thursday. Captain Porter has succeeded in negotiating the purchase of several large blocks of land from i the Ngatiporou after the usual amount of I trouble inseparable from transactions of this . Lind. Now that the ice is broken we trust that this gentleman (whose influence amongst the Ngatiporou natives is proverbial) will be • able to acquire a valuable estate for the crown in this district. The lease of the “Rotokautuku Block” is in a forward state of completion so that the Government will probably in a short time be able to test these famous oilsprings. The whaling season • has nearly terminated, operations have not I been very successful this year, onlyHwo whales having been caught hitherto. The coast road, at least the made part of it, these gentlemen report as being in a bad state, the cuttings are knee deep in mire, through which horses flounder at the risk of being bogged. The bad places on the Tawhiti hill have been patched up so that there is now little danger for a horse ; many of the bridges and culverts on other parts of the coast are stated to be in a very unsafe condition. '