The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10 1881. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 351, 10 February 1881, Page 2

The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10 1881. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The usual qu irteily Licensing Court t wil' be held at Ihe Resident Magistrate's 3 Court, Temuka, on' the Ist of March ' next. ' Messrs Maclean and Stewart will sell, at Mr Corbett's sale yards, Geraldine, this day, at 2 p.m., 4000 Merino ewes in the wool.

The Mount Peel Bond Board invite tenders for a number of works. Tenders lo be in by 11 a.m. on Monday nest. A.special meeting of the IV.iuiika Road Board was held at 2 p.m.. on Tuesday, the Bth inst. The whole of the members were present. The Board met for the purpose of receiving applications for the office of Inspector of Works for the Opihi Bridge. There were sixteen applications, and MiGeorge Taylor of Winchester was appointed. This being the only business for which, the Board met, the meeting adj journed. In our issue of Tuesday last, towards the end of the article on the proposed town cluck, an omission was made. It should have read as follows : Before striking the hours the clock always announces it by eight lesser strokes, performed, as it were, two by two, which may be represented by the following words: "Dinndinn,.d : im.-diim, dinn-dinn, dinn-dinn ; then immediately the chief hammer strikes the main bell, and produces the big sound of 'bomm,' which, like a canon report, spreads itself gravely and majestically several miles around." The attention of owners of unregistered dogs is directed tj an advertisement in another column. The cricket match Australians v. Wellington Twenty-two was concluded on Tuesday, and resulted in a win for the Australians by one innings and twentyone runs. A cricket match will be played between the Crusaders (Titnaru) and Teinuka teams (we are sorry we cannot say ■club, Temuka not having one in existence) i.on Saturday next, on the Par.\ ground. |The Temuka team will be chosen from the 'following, viz. :—T. Ollivier, E. Brown, P Carlyon, J. Hay hurst, \L Smith, G. (Smith, J. J. Heap, R. Pinckney, E. C. Smith, S. Burrows, B. Bethune, XV. Austin, Dr Hives, C. Raynei, A. Clinch, and Rice. We hope, for the honor of Temuka, that the above gentlemen will " roll up " for practhe every evening at the usual hour—five o'clock. The last two or three practices have been very poorly attended, only four or five turning up at each. An interesting marriage between Hor 1 Rewi, a South Island Maori, and a. neice of Heneri lvokoro, of Tcnuiki:, look place at the Maori Church, Arowhonr.n, on Tuesday last. The arrangements were strictly in accordance with European fashion. The marriage ceremony was performed by the head native minister of the Chatham Islands. The bride was neatly atlired in a white dress, with wreath of orange blossoms, interspersed with pink, and long white veil. The bridegroom was nicely dressed in a black .-uit. After the marriage ceremony was concluded, the newly wedded couple, with a long retinue of friends, and others, proceeded to the Maori meeting house, where running, jumping, &c, was freely i<:dulyed in. In t lie evening the whole assemblage—some 150, including a number of Kuropeans —sat down to an excellent dinner. The wedding-cake, a two-decker, made, we believe, by Mr Marshall, took up a prominent position on the table. After ample justice had been done to the good things, congratulatory addresses were given, and, judging from the vociferous applause accorded each speaker —particularly to the bride in returning thanks—their remarks were highly appreciated. The festivities came to a conclusion about 3 o'clock the following morning. In the midst of the great events of the war, such incidents as the following were comparatively unnoticed, and left to be long afterward related in print : —Miss Annie Fiekens, daughter of the Governor of South O.dorina, was to be married on 22nd April, 1863, in Uharlestown, to Lieut. Andrew do Ro.helle. The wedding party was assembled in the Pickens' residence and the clergyman was asking the bride if she was ready, whet, a shell from a Cnion gun in the harbor broke iuio the room and burst. Nine persons were hurt, but only Miss Pickens' wound pioved mortal. She bore the pain with wonderful fortitude, and was unmoved when informed she had only an hour or two to live. De Rochville said that he would like to have her die his w f•, .aid the poor girl s:'dlysmiled an as«ent. The guests remem" ber the scene as far mure pitiful than they can describe. The bride lay on the sofa, her white dress dabbled in blood, and her hair dishevelled, while her pallid face was so wrung with agony that her effort* to smile became futile. Ihe ceremony was hurriedly performed though the bride's " ves" wits in a faint, laboured whisper, aiid ln-r lips hardly moved in response to her husband's kiss. She died immediately afterwards. Sir F. Roberts (says the Home New*) ia "an exceptionally fortunate mai," as he may, before he is 48, without he'p e'ther from birth or interest, have obtained, by fighting, a full general's commission, a b'ironetcy, and an appointment —the Madras command —worth £IO,OOO a year, with, of course, the p< s ible reversion of the still richer post, the supreme command in India. But instead of describing him as an exceptionally fortunate man, we should stylo him an exceptionally great general. We also learn that Sir Frederick Roberts is ahrut to have conferred upon him the Grand Cross of the Star of India, and the Parliamentary vote to him will, it is slated be the substantial sum of £25,000. Sir Frederick has accepted an invitation to dine with the Mayor of Liverpool on the 3rd of next month.

GER'.LDINE COUNTY" COUNCIL, j

The or'iuary meeting of the Geraldine ■County CouiiCil for ihe month was held on Tuesday. Present—Mr C. G. Tripp (Chairm-in), Messrs H. J. Sealy, •>, M.endelson, E A ton. G- E. C ulee, and A. Wilson. MI^UTKS. TII3 minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. THE HOSI'ITAL. A letter whs read from the Colonial Treasurer, with reference to an inquiry respecting a sum of £lsl, paid into the Public Account by the Timaiu Hospital Commissioners, being receipts from patients. The letter staled tli it the sums to be deducted on account of Hospital maintenance from the subsidies payable to lucid bodies wero determined in the Colonial Secretary's D.-p a-tuunt, and the Treasury was in forme I that the moneys received fiom patients was taken into account in making the deduction. Toe Council did not think Ihe letter very explicit, and it was determined In send a copy of the letter to the Colonial Secretary's Department, asking for more definite infortunium. SLA JJ(>HTEH.HOI/SISS. The report of ihe Inspector of Slaughterhouses on the state of slaughterhouse premis'S was read. He had inspected the several premises in the district during the past quarter, and found Uiem generally in an improved condition. The report of a. Committee appointed lo examine into the grounds of a coniplaii t received from Mr Tate respecting the slaughtering premises of Mr Johnson was read. It recommended that the license be granted to Mr Johnson on condition that the p'gstyes were moved some distance from the slaughteihouse. Mr Acton drew attention to clause 13 of ihe Slaughterhouses A'-t 1877 Amendment Act 1879, which would require a wouldbe licensee to obtain tli • consent of the local governing body (Road Board, etc.) within whose district the premises to be licensed are situated. Hitherto thi Council had been granting licenses in ignorance of tin's provision. It was decided that in future the law must be complied with. ELECTORAL KOLL. Moved by Mr Clulee, seconded by Mr Wiison, and carried —" That the Clerk take the same steps to procure copies of the following rolls as were taken last year, viz , Temuka, Ger.ddine, Mount Peel and Mount Cook ; and that he make a copy of the Levels roll himself." RANGITATA BRIDGE. Mr YV. C. Walker, Chairman of (lie Asburton County Council, and Mr E. G. Wright, a member of the Council, waited upon this Council with reference to th e extension of the Upper Rangitata bridge Mr Walker stated briefly what had been done by the Ashburton Council with resoect to this work. Several phi s Lad been submitted by Mr Higginsou, C.E., and of the Council had chosen one, in which it was proposed to use wrought iron piles, 6 inches in diameter, for the sake of economy and efficiency combined, the estimated cost of the structure being about £6OOO. The piles had been ordered and received, and a trial of them made. Three had been properly driven, but three others had broken in the attempt, owing to flaws which ought not to have existed. It was exolained that the order had been given to a manufacturing firm at Home, but after receiving it the firm became bankrupt, and the trustees executed the order with less attention and care than ought to have been exercise. l , probably using iron in stock, and welding pieces together, instead of roiling out whole bars. The Ashburton County Cuiincil had endeavored to open communications on the subject with the Geraldine Council before commencing the work, but owing to the Act not being in force ia the Ge'aldine County, nothiug came of the negotiations, and communications with the Road Boards whose districts were nearest the bridg: were equally resultless. Had the Act been in force, half the cost could be recovered from the Geraldine County, but the reverse being the case, and Government having no power to deduct from the moneys payable to the Road Boards auy part of the cost, the whole would have to be borne by the Asbburtou County, had that Council carried out the work. It being competent to them to do so, the Ashburton Council threw the work into the hands of the Government to carry out, as the the latter could then recover the outlay from the two Counties. The Government Engineer, however, was not in favor of the plan adopted by the Ashbin ton Council, but proposed to extend the bridge on iron cylinders, a plan which would cost about twice as much as the one adopted by the Council, and would also render the expenditure already incurred for the piles on the ground useless, and possibly a dead loss The Ashburton Council being directly interested in the expenditure, "seeing that the County would, in one way or another, be made to pay half the cost, thought it would be better, now that the Act had been brought into force in the Geraldine County, to come to terms with this Council, and resume (barge of the work, provided an amicable arrangement could be come to whereby the latter would undertake to pay half the cost. The Ashburton Council had already expended some £2600 in obtaining material and plans, and making trials, &c, and were not disposed to go any further until an agreement had been come to between the two Councils. When the plans were prepared about half the river was running where the extension would be placed, but it had since shifted under the old bridge, and

the piles (onld all be driven on dry land if the work were carried out before the river shifted again. It had been suggested that as Ihe river had left that p-'irt of the bed a solid embankment should be made, but Mr Wright thought no one who knew the history of the bridge would he in favor of that course ; the bridge had cost £22.500, and about £17,0C0 had since been wasted in vainly trying to keep the water under it. Manifestly the proper way to deal with it was to extend the bridge. The existing bridge was 660 feet long, and it was proposed to extend it 800 feet, arsd piles for 880 feet had been provided in order that a few might be kept in hand. The Ashbmtcn County Council did not wish to do anything not •'n accordance with I lie views of the Geniidine Council, but they hoped the question would be favorably considered, as the extension of the bridge was an important work, and one of more than mere local interest, and it was-, if anything, of more importance to the Geraldiue than to the Aaliburton County,

The deputation having slated their views. Mr Tripp explained that by undertaking to extend the Opihi bridge the Council had exhausted their funds.

Mr Acton pointed out that it was not a question of funds at all, but a question of responsibility. Under section J 5 0? the Public Works Act, the Ashburton Council, if they chose, could proceed with the work, and compel the Geraldine County to pay half the cost.

Mr Mendelson was not inclined to accept tnat vi'jw. He had an idea that the Go\eminent had deducted the Geraldice County's share from the subsidies already; and why did the Ashburtou Council undertake the work without seeing how they were to avoid paying the whole cost 1 Mr Wright said they did so, believing they would have gentlemen to deal with who would take a liberal view of the matter, and they ordered the material before they found that Government had not authority tc deduct a moiety of ihe cost from ihe lioad Board's subsidies. Mr Walker reminded, the Council that every endeavor had been made to obtain united action before the work was proceedeu with. Whatever the Aahburton Council had done wasperfectly within their powers.

Mr Tripp asked if the Ashburton Council would be willing- to deal with the Geraldnie Council as the Temuka Eoad Board had offered to do in connection with the Opihi Bridge, viz., to carry out the whole work, this Council's share of the cost to be paid as soon as possible. Mr Walker said the deputation could not go beyond its instructions, and they had no authority to give a pledge to that effect

Mr Wright suggested that the Eoad Boards should he asked to contribute from their accumulated hinds.

Mr Mendelson said that was impossible. The Rcmd Boards could net expend a shilling outside tlieir respective districts. Mr Wilson was not surprised at the Council being placed in such a dilemma. He had from the first foreseen that the Geraldine County would be called upon to pay a share of the cost of extending the bridge, but two years ago, when the Ashburton Council invited communication on the subject, the idea was pooh-poohed, because the Act was not in force. They waited till nil the money was handed over to the Road Boards, and thou brought the Act into force, and the unpleasant predicament they were now in was the result of the refusal to adopt the Act in the first instance.

In reply to Mr Acton, Mr Walker said men could not command success, but he had not the slightest doubt that Mr Higginson's plan could be successfully carried out, and Mr Wright also expressed the same opinion.

The deputation then withdrew, and the Council proceeded to consider what course they should take. After some consideration it was resolved on the motion of Mr Acton, seconded bj Mr Mendelson—" That this Council, in reply to the deputation from the Ashburton County Council, desires to acknowledge its responsibility in reference to the Ka gitata bridge." The deputation then returned, and w?re informed of the decision the Council had arrived at.

Mr Walker thanked the Council on behalf pf the Ashburton Council, and expressed a hope that the work would be satisfactorily conducted as far as both Counties were concerned. He could assure them that the Ashburton Couucil would take every care to carry out the work cheaply and efficiently. The deputation then withdrew.

Mr Sealy then moved Council has accepted the responsibility of ■paying half the cost of the Rangitata bridge extension, and whereas the Council has no funds in hand available for the purpose, the Geraldine and Mount Peel R,oad Boards, as the representatives of the d'stricts most interested, be asked to contribute £IOOO each towards that work failing which, the County Council wil proceed to strike a rate of sixpence in the £ for that purpose over the whole County" It was necessary, Mr Sealy thought, to take steps to provide funds at once to meet the liability. There was no doubt that the Ashburton Council would couBider themselves entitled, after receiving such an answer as had been given them, to proceed with the bridge at once, and it

would not do to wait until they were called upon to pay before taking measures to raise the money required. Mr Wilson seconded the motion. He thought that if it was fair for the Temuka Board (o give £I.OOO towards the extension of the Opihi bridge, it would be only fair for the Geraldine and Mount Peel Boards to act similarly with respect to the Rangitata bridge. The Chairman, Mr Mendelson, and Mr Acton, said the Road Boards could not comply with such a request. They had no power to contribute sixpence towards works outside thoir districts.

Mr Seal} argued that the bridge must bj considered as a whole. If the Chairman's objection was good as far as the Mount Peel Board was concerned, the Temuka Bo:ird had done wrong in granting £IOOO towards the extension of the Opihi, because the work was on the Level side of the river. He did not see how the Bo.irds named could do less than volunteer such ad varices, as the funds of the County before the Act was brought into force were distributed with the view to the carrying out of this work devolving upon them in the future.

Mr Clulee proposed an amendment to the effect that the different road districts should be rated as follows :—Mou:;t Peel and Geraldine, one shilling in the £ ; Temuka, ninepence in the £ ; Mount Cook and Levels, sixpence in the £, with a proviso that in case the revmue derivable from such rates would exceeed the amount required, the rates should be reduced in like proportion. He considered it would be most unfair to rate the whole County equally for such a work. The Chairman declined to receive the amendment, and Mr Sealy's motion was carried, Mr Clulee voting against it. CONDUCT OIT BUSINESS. It was resolved that the Council should meet quarterly iu future instead of every month. DOG REGISTRATION. With a view to bringing further pressure to bear upon the owners of unregistered dogs, it was resolved to authorise, under clause 13 of the Dog Registration Ai.-t, 1880, the various Registrars of Dogs in the county to destroy unregisted dogs, and to advertise the clause for the information of the public. ACCOUNTS. Accounts amounting to £94 2s 7d were passed for payment, and the Council ad journed till Tuesday, May 10