PALMERSTON NORTH.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9115, 15 June 1908, Page 3

PALMERSTON NORTH.

(From Our OwnJjCoriespondent)

June 13. Our town has presented a fairly lively appearance during the last week, the the quarterly sittings of the Supreme Court being responsible for bringing a lot of people here. On Tuesday and Wednesday there was a great crowd of jurors in waiting, anxious to know if they were to be called on any of the cases. Many of them were farmers, from the surrounding: districts, all of whom were desirous of getting back to their work, and making good use of the fine weather prevailing. The civil list is a fairly long one, and so far only two of the cases have been heard. In the first case a plumber, named Anderson, f=ued George Seart, publican, for £531 damages for injuries received in a collision through defendant's alleged carelessness. It was stated in evidence that plaintiff was riding his bike along the street, when defendant, who was driving a dog-nart, ran into him, and he received such injurias that necessitated his removal to the hospital, where he lay unconscious for a time. A iter hearing evidence, the jury brought in a verdict fjr defendant with costs on the highest seals. The libel action, Richard E -sex versus E. D. Hoben, created the greatest interest. After a prolonged hearing, extending over a day arid a-half, the jury found for defendant with costs on the highest scale. The next case is one in which Constable Connor claims £I,OOO from William Waugh, for injuries received in an affray which took place some time back, when plaintiff was stabbed in the abdomen. We ha/e had quite a storm in the Rugby football camp, over the fact that the A. and P. Association wished to charge the local Union thirtythree and a third per cent, of the gata takings for the use of its ground for the Anglo-Welsh - Vlanawatu inat°h. It appears the Union has an arrangement by which it pays the A. and P. Association twenty-five per cent, of the gate takings for ordinary matches, but it desired a rebate on tiiH charge for the English match, ami wrote to the A. and P. Association to that effect. The latter body, to the astonishment and dismay of the Union, instead of lowering the price, raised it by eight per cent,, and than the fun began. Dire threats of revenge, columns of newspaper correspondence, and indignation meetings of footballers, were the order of the day. However, all's well that ends well, and a deputation has been appointed to wait upon the A. and P. Association Committee, and I don't doubt the difficulty will be overcome, and an amiable arrangement arrived at, particularly as the committee raised the price under a misapprehension as to what the prices to be charged were, and where the money taken was to go to. An amateur Horticultural Society had been formed here, with a very strong membership. I think I mentioned in a previous letter that a society had been formed, but as the offic3rs appointed at the first meeting were not considered fully represent- • utive and no ladies had been placed i on the committee, it was decided to I commence de novo. A meeting was called, and about a hundred persons attended, fully two-thirds of them baing ladies. The committee just elected decided not to call a fresh | meeting or resign until a hundred: numbers had Dean secured, and when > tha question was asked at the second trusting if this had been attained, one gentleman rather surprised the meeting by producing a list containing the names o£ one hundred and twelve ladies who had paid up their i membership fees. Prom this it will easily bo saen that we have some ] enthusiastic horticulturists among us. The ladies were in a large majority at the meeting, and had they chosen they could have elected a committee composed entirely of ladies, but they were content to select six from among themselves, and nine of the sterner sex. Great preparations are being made to give to the Governor a hearty reception, when he arrived here next Thursday to take u;j his residence in Palmerston. If all those who are invited put in an appearance, there will be a l?rge attendance on the Showgrounds when the official reception takes place. lam told that the secretary of the reception committee has written to no less than seven and twenty school committees asking the teachers and children to take part besides all the local bodies, brass bands, volunteers, etc. An effort is being made to form a River Board to deal with the Manawatu river, but, as in all matters of this kind, there are conflicting interests, with the result that there is just sufficient opposition to the movement to cause delay. There can be no question, but that there is great need of a board, as the river is doing serious damage in many and individual effort to cope with it is worse than useless, and an utter waste of good money. Persistency usually wins the day, and the promoters of the movement mean to "peg away" until they attain their end. The National Dairy Show, which will open on the 23rd, promises to be a great success. The-e is a big increase of entries n a'l classes, and the exhibition shoul;l eclipse all its predecessors. The inducements held out by the Queensland Government to people to take up land has caught another of our settlers in the person of Mr K. M. Bryant, of Tiritea, near this town. Mr Bryant is one of our oldest settlers, and has been long known as the breeder of purebred Romney sheep. He proposes to sell his properties here, and with his sons, proceed to Queensland, anJ take up land there. We can ill afford to lose men of Mr Bryant's stamp. On the 17th inst. the oratorio "Elijah" is to be produced by a chorus of two hundred voices, and an orchestra of fifty instruments, under the baton of Mr Maurice Cohen. The soloists will be Mrs Gower Burns, of Dunedin, Mi"s Caldow and Messrs J. Prouse and E. J. Hill, of Wellington.