LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXIV, Issue 9662, 8 November 1882, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

To-morrow being the Prince of Wales' Birthday, the Chronicle will not be published. Masonic. — The St. Andrew Kilwinning Lodge will hold its regular meeting to-night instead of to-morrow, which, is the Prince of Wales' Birthday. Unlucky Again. — Mr James Tawse, the well-known contractor, is unfortunate with his timber. The wind blew a collection over on the wharf a little while ago, and yesterday afternoon a stack on Taupo Quay toppled on to the pavement carrying away a part of the fence with it. Eclipse of the Sun. — There will be an annular eclipse of the sun on Sunday next, visible here about half-past 10 in the morning as a partial eclipse. Its central line strikes the earth from the east of Australia curving northwards round to Cape Horn. It is total nowhere on the earth's surface. Cricket. — The following team has been chosen to represent Wanganui in the cricket match against Palmerston to be played there to-morrow : — Messrs Kennedy, Fry, White, Marshall, Cross, Sunley, E. Lockett, J. Lockett, Bruce, Moore, Aamodt, Gray. Players are requested to be at the railway station this afternoon in ample time for the 4.15 train. The team return to Wanganui to-morrow night. Farm at Whenuakura. — Pine Tree Hill Farm, at Whenuakura, the property of William Derrett, Esq., has been leased to Mr Jardine, at present in occupation of Messrs Napier and Mitchell's farm, at Kakaramea. Possession will be taken in January. Mr Derrett will retain the principal residence and ornamental shrubbery, together with a portion of the farm having frontage to the main road. This is one of the best quality and best kept farms in the district. Street Grading. — The grading of Bed-ford-street at Patea, the principal work out of loan expenditure, is being proceeded with apace. Between Miller's hotel and the bridge the centre line of metalling has been broken up, thus throwing all the traffic over newly-laid sand, making the passage of heavy loads with but average horse power very tedious. It was understood that the line of metal would be retained till the newly-made parts had been hardened. Hence carters are disposed to growl. Some Wellington gentlemen travelling through the district in a buggy got stuck in the soft formation, and, not receiving that sympathy and help from the contractor which they considered their mishap deserved, threatened to take solicitor's advice, with a view to law proceedings. The contractors have now commenced to lay the clay according to the conditions in contract.

Postal Arrangements. — The post office will be open to-night from 7 to 8 o'clock for the delivery of letters, but it will be closed entirely to-morrow being a public holiday. Shipping Return.— During the month of October 40 vessels, with an aggregate of 3661 tons, entered inwards, and 38 vessels, of 3429 tons, entered outwards, at this port. Tenders for Gravel. — The Borough Council meets at 11 o'clock this morning to sample the specimens of gravel now in the Corporation yard, and to open the tenders which accompanied them. Hospital Committee. — The regular quarterly meeting of the general Hospital Committee, which is made up of representatives of the Borough Council, and the County Councils of Wanganui, Rangitikei, and Manawatu, will meet this afternoon at 2 o'clock. The business is likely to be very important. Wife Desertion. — Thomas Ewart who was arrested on Saturday last by Detective Benjamin on a charge of deserting his wife and three children, was brought up yesterday before Mr Ward R.M., and remanded to Hastings, near Napier. The defendant denied that he had deserted his family, and stated that he remitted several sums to his wife by post. Infant School. — We are requested by the School Committee to state that such of the Infant School children as are to be presented in the 1st Standard, are to attend in their schoolroom to-morrow (Thursday), at 9 o'clock, for a few hours for the purpose of being examined. The inspector, Mr Foulis, has been compelled to select to-morrow (although a public holiday) as he has so many schools to dispose of before Christmas, that his time is fully occupied. Mischievous or Malicious. — Thoughtless or maliciously disposed persons have on several occasions recently cast adrift from their moorings small rafts of piles of timber from Messrs Mace and Bassett's riverside railway contract near the Patea station. It is with difficulty some have been saved from drifting out to sea. Quite apart from the expense of recovering these cast-adrift rafts, there is danger, should they stick in the channel or drift out to sea, of damage to incoming vessels. Furious Riding. — The discussion last night at the Borough Council upon the bylaw controlling the performances of butchers' boys and indifferent horsemen, brought out the fact that there is a good deal of furious driving round corners and across footpaths in Wanganui. Much stress was laid upon this matter, and justly too ; but equal importance should have been attached to the performances of the equestrians who (particularly on dusty Sundays) gallop about the town, to the imminent danger of quietly disposed passers by. These people witch the world with horsemanship that would be ridiculous if it were not dangerous. It may be, as Cr Ward sagely observed, that human nature is the same all the world over, but in this respect we candidly confess that we wish Wanganui were an exception. Harbour Ways and Means. — At a meeting of principal residents and country settlers at Patea three weeks ago, no practicable proposals being then submitted, it was resolved to await proposals for continuing river improvements and raiisng ways and means to carry out the works at the Patea Heads which the Mayor (Mr G. F. Sherwood) had in preparation. These proposals will be submitted on Friday. If approved, and a workable committee can be formed, the scheme will be laid before a public meeting before further steps are taken. The matter being of vital consequence to both town and country, harmony is above all things necessary to ensure success. It was reported by Press Association's telegram that the Mayor was devising a scheme of works, whereas his scheme was for raising money for carrying out works on the lines and in accordance with the latest recommendations of Sir John Coode. A Collection of Curios. — The Harbour Board's engineer has, during the progress of the works at the Heads, collected a number of curiosities exhumed from the sand hills and the lower flats. Amongst the articles, are the back of a human skull, and a thigh bone (both supposed to have belonged to a defunct Maori), a stone axe head, and a 15 pounder Armstrong shot. The latter is supposed to have been fired from the racecourse, right over Mr Abbot's house at the last Easter Review, but of this, there is insufficient evidence. Besides all these articles, a choice collection of propellis blades have been taken out of the river, and many more are still lying on its bed. It has been suggested that the Harbour Board should establish a museum for these curios, and locate it at the Heads, so as to give the township of Castlecliff a fair start. Patea Borough Loan. — Several months have elapsed since a public vote was recorded in favour of borrowing £10,000 for improvements in the Borough of Patea. At nearly every meeting of the Council since that time the question of how the money shall be raised has been under consideration, and the problem is not yet solved. Extensive contracts have been let on the strength of the proposed loan, and the bank overdraft is becoming an item of considerable dimensions. The Council appears to be composed of extremely unworkable elements. Heavy bank overdraft in private trading leaves the borrower but limited power of independent action, and what is known as the "screw" is not always pleasant or profitable to the party feeling pressure. The unreasonable delay in raising the Patea loan, seeing that progress payments on contracts must be met, is likely to lead to financial pressure and possible wreck of credit. The Two Councils. — The meeting of the Rangitikei and Wanganui County Councils (particulars of which are fully reported in another column) was, to say tho least, wanting in that neighbourly affection which such distinguished bodies might be expected to exhibit. Wanganui did not expect Rangitikei, at any rate in such overwhelming force, and consequently no preparations had been made, and the visitors had to sadly depart without even the fleeting satisfaction of a row. Seriously speaking, the misunderstanding between the two Councils was decidedly unpleasant, and it is impossible to acquit our own councillors of grave blame in the matter. It was hardly courteous to allow the Rangitikei men to go away without the slightest discussion of the Wangaehu bridge business which brought them down. But the worst of the tale has yet to be told. The Council meets at Mr Liffiton's offices, and in anticipation of so many visitors that gentleman sent round the town and collected an extra supply of chairs. But there was one short, and a distinguished Rangitikei Councillor was compelled to sit down on a coil of barbed fencing wire. That gentleman now has an additional grievance, and talks of sending in his tailor's bill to the Wanganui Council. The Whenuakura Railway Bridge, now in course of erection, consists of nine spans of twenty feet each and two spans of sixty feet each. The lesser spans are in the nature of approaches to the main piers, resting on piles out of reach of the water, six on the Wanganui side, and three on the Patea side of the river. The main piers rise forty feet from the ordinary river level, and rest on piles, thirty to thirty-five feet length, driven into the river bed. The approaches and the main piers on each side of the river are completed. The pilot for the centre pier are also driven, and the erection of the pier itself commenced on Monday morning. If all goes well this should be finished early next week, when the heavy timbers forming the bed of the railway track will be laid across. Each of the main piers, exclusive of the piling contains over seventy-one thousand feet of timber. Through the stoppage of timber supplies by the accident to Rangitikei Bridge, and again through the hypercritical particularity of the Government inspector of timber, serious delays have occurred on this contract. All the timber is now delivered and has passed inspection, so a continuance of fine weather will soon see the work out of hand. The bridge is threehundred feet long, and of the usual single line-of-rail width. The contractors are Messrs Mace and Bassett, of Patea, the former superintending the construction.

Importing Oats. — Though it may have been gratifying, from a business point of view, to see 450 bags of oats landed from the Manawatu yesterday, consigned from Wellington to Messrs Walker and Hatrick, there are certain reflections connected with such an importation winch are not so particularly pleasant. Many persons, for example, will ask why such grain cannot be produced on a coast like this, large districts of which have a reputation for being thoroughly oat-growing country. Mrs Hampson's Tea Meeting. — Preparations on an extensive scale have been made for the farewell tea meeting, which is to be held in the Drill Hall at 6.30 to-night. We observe that the following note has been appended to the advertisement :— "As it is expected that the theatre, in which the public meeting is to be held, may not be large enough to admit all the ticket-holders, the committee reserve to themselves the right to exclude children if necessary." Sailors on Horseback.— Why do sailors almost invariably cut a peculiar figure on horseback, and frequently come to grief over it? Yesterday afternoon the worthy skippers of two of the steamers trading to this port sallied forth on their noble steeds, one mounted on a grey and the other on a somewhat attenuated chestnut. Though occasionally shifting ballast too much from one side to the other, the two horsemen went up Ridgway-street at a discreet and funereal-like pace, until St. Hill-street was reached, when the grey horse, probably recognizing an old friend in the distance, bolted so suddenly as to deposit its seafaring rider on the roadway. The chestnut followed suit, and a picture more suggestive of Johnny Gilpin's ride it would be difficult to find anywhere. Both horses came at lost to a standstill, and the riders judiciously tacked and mode for the stables whence they came. A New Township. — The Harbour Board's projected township at the Heads was yesterday named Castlecliff, a grand name of which we trust the 100 sections will some day be thoroughly worthy. Mr Hassell, the Board's engineer, has laid the township out in streets and terraces, so that, on paper at any rate, there is some resemblance between these barren sandhills and Martin Chuzzlewitt's City of Eden. Mr Hassel's nomenclature of the streets seems particularly happy, and in some instances discloses considerable ingenuity. Besides the names of the present chairman and members of the Board, former members such as Messrs Peat, Sommerville, Laird, Tod, Duthie, Woon, and Bryce, are duly commemorated in the thoroughfares. Appropriately enough, the godfather of this youthful township has placed Freeman Jackson and Cross streets close to the reserve set apart for the meat freezing business. Reservoir. — In connection with the Patea railway station, a reservoir to hold three hundred thousand gallons of water has been excavated, the site selected being a depression in the high cliffs which bound what was formerly known as the swamp, but which, though soft in places, is now rich grazing land. The water basin is almost square, bottom and side measurements being nearly equal. The slope of the sides is so small as to be scarcely perceptible, and the colour of the papa rock, in which the basin is formed, gives the work the appearance of solid masonry. In the out-let face of the basin a three-foot brick wall of concrete is in process of being built up. Pipes and appliances for regulating the pressure and, where necessary, for letting off all the water have been fixed in the concrete. Horizontal veins or fissures show at intervals of a few feet from the bottom of the basin, from which the clearest water trickles in sufficient supply to more than serve requirements. A track to connect with the engine-shed at the railway station has been excavated, and the cast-iron pipes are on the ground ready for laying. The work is being carried out by Government under the direction of the resident engineer. As a water-supply for the town of Patea will soon become of pressing urgency, it is a pity but some similarly excellent and elevated site for a reservoir, with water of equal quality, could be found on the town side of the river. The temperance crusade, like all other aggressive movements, goes beyond the bounds of reason and common sense. Once these pales overstepped and it assumes the form of fanaticism. A great physiologist has said, that whilst the use of alcohol is, on general principles, more injurious than beneficial, great benefit may be derived from its use, medicinally administered, in appropriate cases. In these cases, he adds, it is a powerful remedial agent. Hence the indorsement of Udolpho Wolfe's Schiedam Aromatic Schnapps. — Advt.