The Wairarapa Daily. MONDAY, MARCH 24, 1879.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 116, 24 March 1879, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. MONDA Y, MARCH 24, 1879.

Tim result of the meeting held atGrevtown on Thursday last to construct'a light railway to Waihenga, justifies the doubt we expressed as to the manner in which the movement was being inaugurated. A sum of .£13,620 lias been named as the probable cost of the undertaking, but we feel tolerably well convinced that £20,000 would he a fairer estimate, The larger sum would not be an unreasonable amount to pay for the manifest advantages which would follow construction of tinline.; -No one can-dpubt but that with railway communication the Huanganta' Estate will be enhanced in value to a similar amount, and that if the., Hon., John Martin found tho whole of 'the money the speculation would be a good one, He has a perfect right to expect Greytown to contribute a lair share to aschemewhichwill benefit itniaterially; but what puzzles us, and must, we think, pimle the public too, is that when a sum of £l5O is required for preliminary expenses the Hon. John Martin subscribes thereto £25, or a one-sixth share only. Why, too, should Mr Duncan, wlio lias but an indirect interest in the speculation, put his name down for one half of the said £l5O. The only conclusion we can come to is that the Hon. John Martin wants a railway to be built not out of his own means but out of other peoples, and looking at the fact that Mr Martin will benefit irore largely than any other person or body of persons by its construction, he is certainly not making a liberal offer—indeed, hardly a fair one. A railway is probably a sine que npn tq secure the profitable, settlement of tile Huangarmi property. As a man of business Mr Martin is quite justified in getting one without paying for it, if lie can manage to do so, but tin result of the late meeting indicates th it he cannot, and we should not be suvpiised if the Mr Martin terminated the little

comedy now being played -by. putting Ilia hands into his pocket, not for £25, but for several hundred times that aipount. The present juncture is a very unfavorable one for bringing forward a proposal to float a company. The depression in money matters is now so general tlmt it is almost useless to try and float railway shares, We howev> r presume that it is to suit MiMartin's views that the subject is now broached, and the onus of the affair | rests on his shoulders almost entirely. We sincerely trust that Mr Martin may succeed in iioating n railway, and we have faith in the soundness of tin proposed investment of capital. Still, as wo have before said, it is only reasonable to expect Mr Martin to contribute a large portion of the money, or if that course be not convenient to him, to give shareholders a special interest of soino kind or other in the Huangarua block. Mr Martin must not expect to get all the profits and escape all the risk in such a venture. If wo have misunderstood Mr Martin's intentions in the matter we should be very sorry, but wo cau only judge him from what he has teen pleased to say and do pub licly, and from this point of view ho would appear to have been trying to make his game off other peoples' bate.

Tho K,M. Court holds a sitting at Tinui this day.

Sir George Grey is reported to be in indifferent health, The promenade concert for the benefit of the Mastcrton String Bund takes place this evening in the Town Hall,

It is proposed to increase tlie Mayor of We'lington's salary from £2OO per annum to £3O).

Tli2 now nuster of tlio Greytowu piblie school, the llev. T. Purritt, li.is tailed a meeting of his creditors.

Mr D. Walton has been appointed Deputy Registrar of Marriages, Ac., at Mastertiui.

Best wheat at Christchurch now stands at 3s 3d to 33 4d ; oats, 2s 9d to 2s lOd ; ll.nu-, £S to £!),

Bread is bejng delivered in Wellington at 3d the 21b loaf. Flour is obtainable there at £9loa the ton. Messrs lorns and Forgusson are instructed to soil some vuluaUe building allotments with frontages to Queen street in the estate of the late Mr 0, Dixon.

The Volunteer;., Arinod Constabulary, Friendly Societies, and schools are to take part in toe reception to be accorded to Sir Hercules Robinson. At a meeting of the creditors of James Moran, shoemaker, of Carterton, held on Fi'iday last, Mr Berry was elictod trustee. The assets are set down at £217, and the liabilities at £'loo.

Tlio dismissal of Mr Henry Jackson from his position as Chief Surveyor of the Wellington District is gazetted. Mr. J. W, Allman Marchant is gazetted as Deputy Inspector of Surveys for the purposes of the "Native Land Act, 1873," fur the Provincial District of Wellington.

We call the attention of ritnholders and farmers, to Messrs Wood's sale of llomney Marsh rams, from Messrs Braitlnvaite's celebrated flock, to take place at Ray's yards Taratahi next Friday at 2 o'clock, We hope to hear of a. large attendance of buyei'3 and good prices being given.

The watchman of the Club Hotel at 1 a.m. this morning found sparks blowing about the road from the debris which mark the site of the late fire, and which are yet mure or less dangerous. Water had to be thrown on the ignited rubbish to prevent mischief, as a strong breeze prevailed at the time. F. H. Wood and Co, announces the follow ng siles, On Wednesday next, horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs,'at the Feiitherston sale yards. On Friday next, at Bay's, Taratahi, Romney Marsh rams, horses, cattle Ac.; ar.d on h'aturday next general Merchandise at their auction-room Greytown. At the latter sale will be offered the well-known butchering premises of Mr Eli Sirawbridge situated in Main-st Grey town, The best test of the dulness writes the Times now existing in the land speculating bus ness m Wellington is the stat'e of allaivs at the Lands Registry Office. For the past three years the work has always been months in arreav, and it was an unusual thing to get deeds registered quickly. However, this has all changed witl|iu..,the past few months. Arrears havMlj been brought up, aid if a deed is left foi 1 registration one day it can generally ' b'e/obtaiue'd next day all complete. This is a, fyctlliat speaks for itself.

Tho Chronicle chants as follows The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, who, as the children's lhyme says, jumped out of a rotten potato, must have found a habitation in "Wellington, and appear to have taken up lodgings in Mr Wilmer's office in the Supreme Court buildings. During this week wo have been favored with invitations from no less than eight different gentlemen to attend meetings of their creditors; included in this list is a grocer, a saddlnr, a hotel-keeper, a bricklayer, a billsticker, and a parson. We are waiting .anxiously to a call from our

(sajs, a, that Colonel MitviiiU' H3mVstabl o Bashford arrested sor not saluting him as a J, P. The poor gentleman did not know tho Colonel at all, and lie had not tho remotest notion lie was a J.P., yet the Colonel had him arrested, and told him hew\feld'Jiavehim "kicked him out of the force," The Colonel roared and and stormed like a Bengal tiger, Would it not be well for J.P.'s to be compelled to wear a badge informing the public of iheir J.P-ship'/ A constable can't be expected to recognise a J,P. by the " cut of his jib," nor lias a J.P. any particular smell by which the unfortunate " bobby" might detect his presence, Yet Constable Bashford was fined £1 for not knowing his wondrous J.P. by intuition. What next 1

By the Albion, says the New Zealander, one of the finest cows that whs ever bred or landed in New Zealand arrived to the order of Simpson and Co., of Bainesse, in the Miinawatu district. This splendid animal, a shorthorn, red and white in color, is named Maid of Oxford. She was purchased for her present owner from the celebrated Colac herd of Mr Robertson, and is by Oxford Cherry Duke, from Fanny the 10th, by Royal Butterfly, and l|er pedigree is stainless. She dropped a fine red heifor calf on the 15th February to the Duke of Derrimut. It is a pity that more stock of the kind is not 'ij|jr ported into New Zealand, for fanners and. graziers would find it to their advantage to introduce it, Perhaps the examplo sot by Simpson & Co, will be followed—as it may be profitably—by others,

. At..the inquest held 011 Saturday lust lit Qreytown on A. Jlamsay, .the verdict waa, " That it is tl:o opiuion of.tlje jury that A. Ramsay, diod of disease of the heart, brov ;>■ oivty.the excessive indulgence in alcoholic lii£vioi'a. '

It is reported that money" which was obtainable at 12 per cent ili Dunedin a few days ago is now abundant at 10. The tide is turning and the pressure lately felt from the bank screw may be expected to be slowly but securely relaxed.

Tlie local paper says:—"A Mormon emissary baa been promulgating the doctrines or the faithful throughout the townships of the Manawatu. We have not learnt that he succeeded in making many converts. He promises, to, return, and hopes a warm reception will' be accordedto him. Wo liopo so, too ; both warm and moist.

On the Waineno estate, the property of Mr Studholine, which is situated near the Waimate Junction, there has (says the Waimate paper) been cropped this season no less than 2000 aeries of wheat and 1000 acres of oats, the thrashing mills returns giving an average of 35 bushels to the acre of saleable wheat and 45 bushels of oats, although the high winds since shook the crops a great deal.

An "Old-Fashioned Vicar" writes thus to the London Times respecting "The Curate of the Period":—" To the Editor.—Sir—l am in search of a curate. But what the young curates are coming to I do not know. Will you listen to a specimen or two from their letters? No 1 is a very young man, born long after I took orders—too young to be ordained at present. He comes to see me. A day or two afterwards he writes that he much disapproves the surplice in the pulpit, as being the first step towards ritualism; that h'i is willing ' to overlook' this ifl preach a certain special doctrine which h" lays down ; and that he will be glad if I will send him one of my sermons, that he may judge if I am " a thorough Evangelical. No 2 answers an advertisement in the Guardian, He will be glad to correspond with me about the curacy if I can satisfy him on certain points, numbered 1,2, 0, ik Questions 4 and 5 are these: — 1 Aro you very particular to use none but the purest wine at the Holy Sacrament! . Among pure wines I do no! include either tent or port,' 'Do you make a conscience of carefully rinsing the sacred cup after Holy Communion, and of yourself drinking the contents before leaving the altar!' No 3 (a really good and clever fellow), besides sending me his portrait, writes: 'I am ready to undertake to preach a thoughtful sermon in the morning, a children's sermon in the airevnoon, and a popular sermon in tluevening.' Can theso be instances of what has been spokon of lately as the 'sublime conceit of some of our young curates.'" Subsequently the curate's side of the question was then given. "To the Editor.— Sir, A correspondent gives us some specimens of eccentric letters received by him when seeking for urates. Suffer a poor curate to ask whether incumbents on their part do not ask equally eccentric questions of their curates. Two years ago I was seeking a curacy I was almost appointed- 1 almost' lam thankful to say, for I was not caught just then. Of course I gave the names of friends, &c. , who would speak for me, A list'of questions was sent for one of my great friends to answer. One was thisls he likely to get into any scrapes, amatory or pecuniary!" Need I give the sequel! lam, (Sir, yonrs obediently, A. H B."