TOWN NEWS.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume II, Issue 55, 18 January 1868, Page 3

TOWN NEWS.

(from our own correspondent.) Since I last wrote to you there has been another meeting (on Thursday, the 9th inst.,) of the Provisional Committee of the Wairarapa Railway. Mr W. B. llodes was in the chair, and after opening the meeting— Mr C. R. Carter stated, for the information of those present, that it was thought advisable, before that meeting took place, that a deputation should wait upon his Honor the Superintendent, in order to ascertain what assistance the Government were disposed to render in this matter. As they were aware, the Provisional Committee had no funds at its disposal, and the time, it was thought, had fairly arrived when the question should be considered in some shape or other. It was also considered that as the Government derived a very large amount of revenue from the Wairarapa, they should afford some little assistance, in ah undertaking of this sort, and also pay for a preliminary survey sufficiently accurate to satisfy parties who might wish to join the company and capitalists residing out of the colony. Mr Wallace, Mr Bunny, Mr O’Neill, and himself therefore waited upon the Superintendent the previous day and asked him if he could make them a sort of grant-in-aid from the £2OOO voted by the Provincial Council for matters connected with the railway, and the Superintendent informed them that the province, at this particular time, was not in a position to allow of such a grant being made—that the revenue, in fact, had fallenoff, and the treasury wanted replenishing. They then asked him if he was willing to aid them to the extent of £250, to which his Honor replied “no,” he could afford them no “money aid whatever. They were somewhat disappointed, but nevertheless, asked if he could render them any assistance at all; and his Honor very courteously replied that the Government were willing to undertake the preliminary survey of the line from Wellington to Featherston by the way of the Rimutaka ranges. The Government were willing to do this by placing at the disposal of the committee one of its ablest surveyors, Mr Stewart. Mr Stewart, however,. cotdd not go on with the survey at once, as he was at present employed in soine work which he could not leave, but the Government would pledge itself that the survey should be commenced- within 'the present month. His Honor could give them no further information on the matter, and they left him with that understanding. It was for the meeting to decide whether they would accept this offer,

which was a valuable one, in the condition in which they were placed. If they decided to accept it, the best plan would be perhaps to appoint a sub-committee, to see that the Government kept their promise, and do what was necessary to insure the success of the undertaking. If this were done, the Government would be enabled, before the winter set in, to finish such a trial survey as would acquaint the committee With the natural difficulties to be overcome and the probable cost of the railway, while they Would also be put in possession of specifications and detailed drawings of such a nature as could be l.„:d before capatilsts and a company formed upon them. There were not a great many members of the original committee present, bat they would be happy to take the names_ of any persons willing to serve on the committee, for it was advisable that those who were elected on the sub-committee, should be members of the general committee. / He thought they were now in a better position than they ever were before, because they had obtained the assistance of the Government, and if the sub-com-mittee would only work hard and Unwearedly they would get such a trial survey as would enable them to state that the. scheme could be carried out. The first thing, however, they had to dp was to secure as many persons as they could to act on the committee. Mr Wallace then stated, in relation to a letter which had appearedfromMrMerchant, claiming a pre-emptive granted in this matter to him by the Superintendent, that the latter denied having made any promise whatever to Mr. Marchant. The correspondence which had taken place, and the implied promise was contained in the following letter, from his Honor to Mr R. M. Marchant:— _ Superintendent’s Office, September 12, 1866. Sib, —Although I have already intimated to you that the Government does not feel itself justified at present in undertaking the construction or-the proposed railway to -he Hutt, still I should feel obliged by your leaving your address at' my office, so that I may be able to communicate with you should the Government, at some future time see its way to the execution of this desirable work. ! I have, &c., (Signed) I. E. FBATHERSTON, Superintendent.

Mr Wallace continued As to the importance of railway communication with Wairarapa, there was only one mind about it; but it was necessary to exert themselves in the matter, for, although the the Superintendent might place the services of Mr Stewart—who, he supposed, would also be accompanied by a staff—at their disposal, yet the real action they had to take in the matter was to get parties to put their names down—and no doubt a very large number would do so, lor the preliminary expenses than would be incurred, and also appoint a sub-committee that evening. He would suggest that those who subscribed towards these expenses should, whenever the matter was brought inro proper shape, be credited, if they desired to take shares in the company, with tie amount of their subscriptions. He did p :;t doubt that a share list would be opened, for, from the report of the engineers, there seemed to be nothing impossible in the way of carrying out the undertaking ; indeed, theydiad shown that the scheme was perfectly practicable, and pointed out exactly what ought to be done. But these preliminary expenses must be raised ; and he thought the proper plan would be to open a list to provide for them, and credit the subscribers as he had suggested. He believed a very large number of persons, both in Wellington and in the Wairarapa, had considerable faith in the undertaking, and would therefore move “ That the following gentlemen do act as a sub-committee to prepare the necessary details for the preliminary survey, and to make such arrangements as may be likely to ensure the successful carrying out of the proposed construction of a railway from Wellington to Wairarapa.” He had not put down any names, because it might be invidious to do so. After some short remarks from Messrs O’Neill and Smith, Mr Bunny saidhe could not but express his deep regret that the finances of the province were in such a deplorable state that in an undertaking of this nature, advantageous to the province and to the colony, they could not get a small grant of £230 to enable them to forward an actual survey at as early a period as possible, especially when a vote of the Council had been passed for this special object. When such large amounts had been laid out in public works in other parts of the province, it did seem to him a matter of regret that they could not get this small sum from the Provincial Government. They would try all they could do to carry the matter to a successful issue ; and if Mr Marchant, or Messrs O’Neill and Smith had claims in the matter, they need not let that question take up their attention at the present moment; their business was tp forward the undertaking 'by every possible means, and if they chose to put their hands in their pockets to assist in getting the surveys done as soon as possible, that was a matter in which a sub-committee could assist. One great reason for getting the survey done at once was that this was the period of the year for doing it in, and if they could not obtain the services of the Government surveyor immediately, they would not be able to get it done until next season. Further, Mr Morrison, the London agent of the Government, was now in the country, but would return, he believed, in April. If he could take back with him the result of these surveys, he would be able to let them know very 'soon whether capitalists in . England were prepared to support the undertaking with a Government guarantee of 7 per cent. As they could not get anything from the Government towards the survey, they ought to see it they could not raise the necessary sum amongst themselves. It was not a very large amount that was wanted—some £2OO or £3OO. If Mr Stewart could not commence the work for a fortnight, he would not be able to get it done by April, and they ought to show that they themselves had faith in an undertaking which would tend very much to the welfare of the province by subscribing'towards the survey. Everyone must see that if they had a large amount of English capital spent amongst them, even if they had to pay 7 per cent, for it, all classes would be benefltted; and he therefore did trust that the people of, Whirarapa would not object to ptat their hands into their pockets in order that the work might be commenced immediately. He was afraid that if they left the matter entirely to the Provincial Government, who had never Shown much earnestness in the matter, they leaned upon a broken reed. Mr W. Allen suggested raising a subscription for the preliminary expenses without relation to shares, which he thought could be easily done. It appeared to him that the stipulation of the Superintendent was to make a survey along the line Over the ( Rimutaka. This was but one line ; while the report of the engineers pointed out another line—Captain Smith’s line —and according to an article which lately appeared in the paper, there was a third line proposed, though he did not thihk much of this .third line, haying travelled the country, and ‘being unable to see much advantage in the const route. The main difficulty they had to consider, was how to set to work, which they could not do without means. Whatever they did must be done quite apart from personal considerations, which always thrust themselves forward in public undertakings of this kind. He understood, from the Chairman, that 112 or 114 persons had attached themselves to the Provisional Committee. Now, would everyone of those persons put their hands in their pockets without whichthcre was no responsibility.

After some further discussion Mr Wallace’s motion, which was seconded by MrO. E. Carter, was altered to read aa follows, and 'carried unanimously:—

"That the parties interested in the construction of a railway from Wellington to Wairarapa be requested to subscribe towards the preliminary expenses attending the surveys and the details necessary for ensuring the carrying but of the undertaking, and that the expendi-

ture of the amount subscribed be entrusted to a sub-committee to consist of the following gentlemen ” Messrs W. B. Rhodes, J. Bunny, 0. R.'Carter, S. Eevans, J. Martin, J. Warm’oll, J. H. Wallace, J. Tully, G. Crawford. • ■ ■ Mr, R. Pharazin was also duly proposed and seconded, but declined; to act, on the grounds that the conduct of the Provincial Government was perfectly disgraceful in leaving a work of' this magnitude to be executed by a few individuals, especially after the Council had voted a sum' for making a preliminary survey ;■ that it seemed very doubtful after the action of the' General Assembly last session, if the Provincial Government possessed the power _to give a guarantee, and therefore ail preliminary expenses that were incurred by the present committee might be a mere waste of money ; that the'data which had been furnished them was of very little value ; and that Mr Marcbant’s offer had been before the public for some time, and if Mr Marchant were prepared do act up to it, it was a very favorable one. For three reasons be could not work with the pfesent committee, and had only attended that' evening 'as one of the public to see what was going on. A subscription list Was then opened, and £46 6s promised. After some farther discussion the meeting separated. I have quoted a great part of this report from the “Wellington Independent. , - Beyond this one subject of the Wairarapa Railway lamat a loss for news to send you ; I will however put together what few items I have collected. News has been received by , telegraph from Dunedin of the total loss, of the American Ship General Grant of Boston £I2OO, tons, Captain Loughlan, which sailed from Melbourne on the 4th May 1166. for London, With a cargo of wool and six boxes of gold, she sighted the Auckland Islands on the 13th. The weather was thick hut fell calm. Ship was close to the land with a strong current -ting her towards the shore at 1.30 a.tn. Qn . :s 14th, ship struck against perpendicular rocks, higher than the ship’s mast on the west of the island. At every roll of the sea large pieces Of rock fell on the deck. The yards and masts fell with a-crash. The ship was firmly embedded between two high overhanging headlands, and the crew Were compelled to launch the boats over the stern. The wind and sea at daylight increased fearfhlly. The boats were got out, and filled With passengers and crew, but they disappeared in the boiling surf and were lost. Sixteen out of eightythree souls succeeded in landing on the island after three days and nights in open boats. On 22nd January, 1867, the chief officer and three of the crew left in a boat and endeavoured to reach New Zealand. Nine men and thestewardess were taken off by the whaling;brig Amherst on the 21st November, 1867, and landed at the Bluff Harbour last night; An offic' 1 inquiry is now being held by the Sub-Collector of Customs, the Resident Magistrate, and Opt Waldron, into the cause of the wreck. The names of the passengers saved are—James Teer, Patrick Coughey, Nicholas Allen, and David Ashworth. Those of the crew alive are—Mary Ann Jewel (stewardess), Cornelius, Drew, William Ferguson, Aaron HaipMn, A, M. Sagguilly, and Joseph Jewel. Thursday Morning. I have no further news to send you except the result of the anterbury Races which was telegraphed last evening and 'which will, I believe, prove interesting to many of your readers.

Christchurch, Wednesday, 7.58 p.m. The following were the winners of the events yesterday;— SlAlliEN PLATE. Slander ... ... ... 1 Ake Ake 2 Tom King 3 LOTTERY PLATE. Virginia 1 Omen 2 CANTERBURY CUP. Knottingly 1 Backbiter 2 Magenta ... 3 CRITERION STAKES. Virginia ... 1 Nebula ... ... ... 2 Jeu d’Esprit 3 The'result of to-day’s racing is as follows— DERBY STAKES. A walk over by Flying Jib. CHRISTCHURCH PLATE. Scandal 1 Belle of the Isle 2 KnOttihgly ... ... ... 3 GRAND STAND HANICAP. Omen 1 Lochinvar ... 2 Stonechatter ... 3 ilam stakes. Bobby Burns 1 Discretion 2 Lady of the Lake 3 tyro stakes. This race resulted in a dead heat between Backbiter and Abbess. In the second heat the Abbess walked over the course. Thursday Morning. Postscript.—l forgot to mention in my former letter that Brown, who prosecuted Rogers for perjury, has been himself also committed to take his trial at the next Criminal Sessions for the same offence. We'may expect to hear some curious revelations in this case.

A man of thename of Geary, of the Makara prospecting party, was reported as missing a short time ago, but has turned up again all right. It appears he had lost his way in the bush for some days. Extensive preparations are being made for celebrating the the Anniversary day with a regatta and rural sports. It is in contemplation in Dunedin to send a steamer to the Auckland Islands, for the purpose of recovering the cargo of the General Grant. The “ Otago Times” recommends a thorough examination of the islands, and the establishment of a permanent station thereon.

A sitting of the District Court will take place on Saturday next. .. The “ Evening Post,” of Wednesday the 15th, says:—

Mr J. 11. Wallace's great land sale took .place to-day, and was well, attended. The first five or six lots put up were knocked down at but a slight advance on the upset price, and afterwards a keen competition set in, ,ancl a considerable advance was. maintained till the close if the sale of lots ih the township of Wallaccyille, in the Mungaroa Valley, Upper Hurt. Among the purchasers were Captain Rhodes,. Messrs Martin, Dransfield, Owen, Reeves, Vennell,Moeller, Captain Bishop, &c,, &c. The, suburban and country sections were immediately brought to the. hammer, and realised high prices.,... Mr W. Bahriister’s pro* perty in Oriental Bay, sold by order of the Town Board for £3OO- Mr Duncan’s property in Boulcott street was withdrawn, and no instructions having been received from Mr Brandon, _ the lease of the Nelson Hotel was not submitted t6 Competition,