The Wairarapa Daily. THURSDAY, MAY 26, 1881.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 777, 26 May 1881, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. T, DAY URS H MAY 26, 1881.

If tub history of a road were to be written, the Forty-Mile Busk would furnish ample material for such a compilation. The road through that promised land was begotten by the Provincial Government, bub left an orphan by the demise of its parent. It was then affiliated to tho Masterton Highway Board, bub as that body was hot at all equal to maintaining it the County came forward as a sort of. godfather, and looked after its welfare. In the background has been the Government, which has found the money incidental to its support, The Forty-Mile Busk road has usually' been regarded as a sort'of white'elephant. It is essentially a road of bridges and culverts, and it is unfortuuate for tke reputation of the Provincial Government which constructed these works, that they have subsequently proved to be built out of green sap and inferior timber, to say nothing of suck errors of judgment as putting a £2OO bridge where a £IOO culvert would have sufficed, At one time a journey through this great line was regarded as a sort of Pilgrim's Progress, There were snares and pitfalls in the floors of the bridges, them was a Doubting Castle at the Manawafcu Ferry, and Valleys of Humiliation, and Sloughs of Despond all along tke route, Of course the Masterton Highway Board, though legally constituted its guardian, would not undertake any responsibility with suck a line. Had it done so, all its rates and subsidies for a series of years would have been insufficient to make this highway straight. The County had therefore to come to the rescue, but while it used all its influence to make the road fit for traffic, it from fcke first declined any pecuniary responsibility in connection with it, The Council, with the aid of the representatives in Parliament for this district, was, however, successful in obtaining from eke Legislature substantial votes for its reconstruction, on the ground that tke road was a colonial one, and that the County was neither legally nor morally responsible for it. Bridge after bridge, and culvert after culvert has been replaced by the County Engineer .out of the Government grants till the road promises to bo one nf the most substantial lines in the North Island. Much still, however, remains to be done with the rotten structures which engulph wagons and entrap horses, and further funds from the Colonial Treasurer are indispensable. On Saturday last the County, with a full knowledge of Jts inability, unless aided by the Goveriimenji, tp Jfpen t]ie road open, took it over as a County road, in order to relieve the Masterton Highway Board of the nominal ownership of it. Opinions are divided as to the wisdom of the step which has been taken. Mr Pharazyn considers that it will weaken the position of the County in applying to the Government for further grants, and as lie has on former occasions been mainly instrumental in obtaining supplies from this source his opinion must necessarily carry considerable weight, Other members of (he Council are convinced that the Government must, in any .ease, provide ways and means, as the Council can't an/J won't find them; aud the only alternative—viz,, closing the road—the Government dare not adopt, Whethor the step taken be a wise or an imprudent one, all must admit its boldness, The assumption of the legal control of this road inclioates that Councillors possess more backbone than they have hitherto been credited wit)i. It is aliealthy sign to see them nailing their fag to the mast instead of shirking responabilijies and pursuing a policy of non-intervention. The Council, as now constituted, contains many of tke oldest public men in the district, and there is no reason why it should not assume fully the functions committed to its charge by law, and be the recognised leader of public opinion for this district, Its superior position has hai'/Jly as yet been recognised by the various laea} bodies within its limits, but we do not see .why. without clashing with the latter, or trenching < upon their special missions,it should not ! command their respect and confidence. Between the General Government and the Boards an intermediate body is rer quired. Without such a body our members in the Assembly and the Resident Magistrate, as the local executive officer of the Government, would virtually control our destinies. The Wairarapa as a district would be without any real local self government. Tke County has akady proved itself beneficial to the district, but weij,ntioi ? pate that it will in the future accomplish still moro for us than it has done in the past.

An industry, for the development of which thiii"district, fiffers a fair field, from the quantity aiid cheapness of the raw material available, is being very heavily handicapped by the railway department. We , allude to basket makipg.r Mrl. Arnold, basket-maker, l if this town] has wrijjten to the General Manager of Railways on the matter, but has been. informed in reply that his goods being of a bulky nature/ho reduction in the freight charged canj be made at; present/;:It certainly;

seems.-'that while one branch; of; the] administration is' doing its;. utmost-to ! develops local -industries: by the bonuses, aiiotlior is endeavoring- to; them in the bud by a prohibitive ..railway" tariff. Not* only basketware, but nearly all goods of a light but bulky nature cannot bo'sent-out'oflhT-Talleyata profit to the consignors, and as a consequence thoy aro rarely sent at all; .so that both. the community at large and the railway' department suffer a direct loss. Again, if.a person hires a truck, one would think he could 'put what he chose into it, but this is not so. • He may only put goods of-oneclass-inifc, and-if he wishes-to send goods which come under.another head, he lias to pay additional freight. It is quite time the tariff was revised, so that the' people who- will ultimately afford tho most support to the line should be.enabled to- use it with advantage while their manufactures are in their infancy.

The Stonehenge Lodge, A.O.D. meets at the Empire Hotel this evening, Prince Leopold has been created Duke of Albany. The Masterton Borough Council meets this evening, ..; "," Water is again becoming ominously low in the Wellington reservoir. To-day beiiig Ascension' day there will bo a special morning service in St Matthew's church, Masterton. The Masterton Public Library is in receipt of a muck-needed acquisition, to its shelves, in the shape of a number of new books.

Archdeacon Stock reports a bright comet visible, to the naked eye in the .western heavens, It is provided with a faintly, luminous, tail,. It is rumoured that Mr A, Deßatk Braudon, M.H.R, for Porirua for the last generation, is to bo called to the Upper Houso. No one will question such an appointment 1

The Greytown public school will assemble in the Town: Hall during the progress of the alterations in the present School buildings,

An anonymous correspondent of a paper in this district, lias referred to Mr Charles B. O. Rees Mogg of Featherston. That gentleman desires us to state that he declines noticing anonymous letters, and that when he offers matters for insertion in a newspaper he invariably subjoins his name to them.

The fourth programme of the St Matthew's winter evening entertainment Committee, will be given in the school room this evening. It will, as may be anticipated from the previous ones, be both attractive and varied. The programme fur this evening includes instrumental music, in which a clarionet solo will be a now feature, songs, duets, glees, and readings. We hear that an application is to be sent in to the Borough Council at its meeting to-morrow night, with reference to the state of Upper Queen st. No doubt the Council will see that this matter is attended to.

Judges Brookfield and Puckey opened tho Native Land Court at Masterton yesterday .morning, Mr Hamlin acting as interpreter, and Mr J, J,- Freeth as secretary, Noun of the litigants, however, put in an appearance, and-the court was therefore adjourned till JO a.m. tin's morning.

Messrs F. H. Wood and & Go. announce a horse and cattle sale at Waihenga for Thursday the 9th of June which is to be the first of a series of sales, If settlers' in the Lower Valley display as much spirit and enterprise as the uuutiuiicer who is again endeavoring to revive a liiual market in that neighborhood, the series will be successful. News has haon received that among those who perished at the burning of tke Opera House at Nice, were three members of the well-known Kennedy family. Their names were—James Kennedy, aged 23; Kate Kennedy, 19; Lizzie Kennedy,, 17— all being children of Mr David Kennedy, the Scotch, vocalist, who with his family gome time since mado a professional tour of tho. colpiiies,

Dr. Walks, during his address to Cjty West oleclors (speaking of tho Chinese), said there was one subject in which he took great interest, and that was the question of Chinese immigration. He was acquainted with the Chinese. Hehad lived for seven years In the East Indies, and had rather a liking for them, The country should, he open to immigration' from all natiqris,'but not to an invasion of Chinese. Let tke Chinese cultivate' flieir own waste lands. At the same time after seven years exporiuce of them,'ke had only good to say of them. If tke Chinese were ever to be kept gut of the country because of their diligence and Industry fcljen. they had better keep the Scotch out, Owing to the good folks of the Valley being spread far a-field, and the attendance being small, the conference of the Sunday School teachers of tke Wesleyan persuasion which was to have taken place at Carterton, at 3 o'clock oh Tuesday afternoon, lapsed. At 5 o'clock the tea meeting in aid of the circuit fund took place, the proceeds of tke evening amounting to 4-8 18 os. After tea was disposed of, aboiit t(]Q being present, and Mr Udy, Son., having been vqted to 'the Chair, addresses wore delivered by Ifessrs S, Hart and..flaulton,. and the Rev Mr Thomas, The subjects dealt. w(th, were the education of children in Sunday schools, aed the question of enlarging the present church, or rather of arooting another on a site which had been given to the denomination iu a more central position near the English Church. Mr Hart especially dwelt on the duties of parents, and,' of every Christian man,and woman, doing tijejr' utnjost to train up their children in the way tijey'should go, that in after years they should become ' good and useful members of society. He also referred to the installation o' Sunday Schouls by Raikis, and the goo d work they had done. In tho course of the evening some vocalisation was given by tho vory efficient choir attached to the Church, Miss Ohallis presiding most ablv at the harmonium. A very sociable and iiistruciiye'ineeting finally fyoke up about nine o'clock. '.'•"' "' ' '

The following lettor was read at the late meeting pf the Cpunty WesfrGouncii; —•"To tlje Qlfainnan,' %^ r e take the liberty pf addressing ypu piji tlf'e subJGot pf boring. We are about to, import expeu : sive machinery for this purppse, and wili bo in a position to. boro to the depth, qf 1000 ft or more. Looking on this* as a public matter, we have ventured to write to see if your Council would be prepared' to entertain the matter of boring, either by having a bore put down or subsidising a priyaI*} 1 *} company; As tubing would have fp be obtained fronj England or Anieriea, a considerable time must neojjs r sadly elapse after arrangements are made before operations could be comripcgfj. If is quite unneoessaryfo*.' us to explain tl>e advantage a district .might obtain by boring, as untold wealth might be lying underfoot only; awaiting development.. We are prepared to operate on the "no cure no pay" system, that is to say, if we agree to bore to a certain depth we'dp'sb. or get no,pay, The. bores can .be made' from three holies tq Yj inches in diame-i ter, according to aiTa'ngement.— We are, 1 &c.; G.',T.^,;Stevens ; &: ty., .Machinjf' sjj*e^ijn^^

! ■ A cishimittee meeting of the Wamirapa : Pastoral! Society, takes place to-day to ; make preliminary arrangements, for the spring programme. ..... ,:-....

--•.We hear that a Ladies' Work Society is being organised in connection with St. ..Hattl^ We notice that among the exhibits atthe Wellington Industrial Exhibition the. basket ware : -of Mr ; E.' , -Aruoid ;: of : 'Master'? ton is well spoken of.

Mr E, S. Maunsell will, as agent for the Government, apply for an adjournment of the Native Land (Jourt from %• terton to Grejtown, in order;that.'the Wairarapa Luke case riiay be heard in the latter township.'"" ThT'gfound' of "the"! application is, we believe, the ..personal convenience of many witnesses.

The treasurer of the Masterton Hospital requests us to acknowledge the receipt of a station list, with cheque from the Kaumingistation for 16 13s! ■' ; '-' ■■ The Rev Mr West visited the Master-,

ton public school yesterday, accompanied by. Mr McOardlea visiting member, of,the school committee.: ', ' ■'. '<': \', .'. "•■ )

The last two practices of the;Masterton. Fire Brigade have been failures,' 1 ' When a year or two ago the members turned:outin their ordinary garments they musteredbetter than they do now that they have'uniforms, helmets, axe,?,, and almost. every, other eq'uipmont ofajwell appointed -brigade. ■'.'■•■.■:. I. 1 .::J.i.'..l h.i:< \ ' ■

Notice is given _by.. Sheep. Inspector. Sutton that the sheep kept upon the runs of Mr 111 Meredith, Beaumavis, and'Mr Thomas 'Stillborn,' -Burton' Field, ; Nrirth Wairarapa, are infected sheep, within; the meaning'of the' Act.' v. ■■■'-•;,, ■". /„'.. , ■/

It is satisfactory-to- find that a -Master-' ton-builder is the successful contractor for' the new school buildings, It had- been feared among the trade that some Wei-' lington' man might carry off 1 the'lienor'' of erecting'this fine structure. Yesterday afternoon we received a telegram that Messrs Williams and Barker,; were the lucky tenders, and weiuehabled.to set!at rest the anxiety which had been .manifested on this score, The site for the new building, which is an exceptionally good one, was inspected yesterday by several members of the' Masterton "School Com'-' mittee, they having been.cohsulte'd r'e-the arrangementsforsub-dividing the grounds, M. .■:.;.:■. ::-/y, y,)\AA!\. .'\ .*'. The Wellington Education Board met . yesterday. Excepting Mr Beetham, all the Wairarapa members were present, Alter a squabble over the Chairmanship, the Hon Mr Pharazyn was allowed undisputed possession nf it. The Board', agreed ito allow ten shillings a week rent at Carterton for a temporary building during the erection of the new wing to the schoolhouse. An application froni' Eaiwaiwai for additions to teacher's residence was referred to the Committee fir an estimate, Mr James.Hannah's tender was. accepted for fencing the'school, ground at Park Vale, and Messrs Williams and Barker's for the erection of tho new school buildings at Masterton. It was resolved that the Inspector's annual report should bo discussed at the next meeting. The business was concluded by the Board reducing the capitation allowances to local committees by one half, Mr Bunny pointing out that this reduction would save the Board £1,250 a year, ■ •

Only ten monikers of the Masterton Football Club turned out for practice yesterday afternoon, but those present had a good, fast game. If the Club is. to hold its own against the'other townships, playei'3 must praotipe more diligently.. The following fifteen will play all qomers on Saturday nest in Mr Drumnjond's paddock, when we hope to.se.e every member of the Club do battle;— Messrs' W. McKenzie, W, Wardell, M; Meredith, F. M, O'Connor, P, Cowan, C. Morison, E, J. Allen, Herbert Jones, A, Smith, W. Perry, B. Perry, W. Andrews, P. Smith, and T. James. The ball will be kicked off at 3 o'clock, We understand that the Wellington Athletic Club contemplate shortly visiting Masterton with a first and. second fifteen, so that we strongly advise our Masterton players to go in for Borne good hard practice. After the match on Saturday next two fifteens will bo elected, and it is particularly requested that all interested in the game will roll up. Mr R. RyEllictle, of the White Hart Hotel, 'Oartpr'tqn, Jjak procured a spring ball trap with a plentiful supply of glass balls. The machine is that patented: by Captain Booardus, and recently used in the champion match of a thousand balls up betwoen Mr Scott and Dr Carver, the celebrated English shot,. Tolbvers'ofgun practice in the district this importation wjll be a boon, as pigeons-are -not readily procured,, and, even if qbtaiiiable, can only be so at a cost of squje two or three times that which this substitute provides. The first trial toolr. place on the show ground of. the ..Pastoral Society, on tl(o anniversary of, Her'Majosty's birthday among some gentlenjan,, two of whom tied at si? consecutive sl)ots,'and on firing oft' thejie at. a, brace,of balls each they retired,''all friuV Being-broken. Although the first...shooting' has taken place in Carterton, Mr'Elliotte, we understand, does not merely want the maohineto provo a draw to his-house, but is willing to let it travel to the other townships if satisfactory matches can be arranged The -machine furnishes the means for making good,; firjng, while it does away with the'erujity 'of destroying harmless little animals, for an afternoqn'f anjusement, The balls furnish/a less obieot than' the pigeon to fire a-quid pro quo, there, is ijq...ganger,qf I'bjcd out of bounds" being called,

Santa Rita, near Loupe, a peaceable community, is terribly excited over the brutal murder,' by an Indian herder, of the wife of John H: Sargent, and the daughter of E. 0. Kelly, of the Santa Rita. She started oh a gentle horse to a neighbor's about noon, Not returning towards dark her Imsband went to look up the road 'ariolsaw jjer- Jiorse.j jun}ped on its back ani went to the neighbor's who had not seen her, Tlje news spread arjd the Santa Rita people .tijrued out nobly, scearohing all night. Sunday morning a body lightly oovqred with sand and bush was discovered An Indian herder whose camp was close by, -was arrested, and said that ho saw an unknown Mexican kill her and ride off,' and lia buried her out of oornpasp|qn and hid her things to avoid sußbjcion,. She.was evidently dragged off heihorse' with' a lariat"and the" sjfull smashed,. His shoes fitted tKo jtr'abka'exactly, It is/ not supposed that robbery, but tljaj; a' njore fiendish purpose 'was the nmtiye, ISvjiJence jyaj), .50 conclusive fliat he was l>ung tq a tree near 'thje" spot, ai)'d left hanging, by a of.growd neafly 10() citizens. ''" : ' ' ' '

In the good old days of Mas' storekeepers were scarce and money was plentiful, large _ profits and exorbitant prices were obtained, but now times are different, nioney is.scarce, and storekeepersare, plentiful.-;' Schroder, Hooper, & Gp., Hal} of Opinmevcej liaye' taken this into l)aye cuftheprjcgs and profits dpwn ; tp'suoh; an extent that tljevi-completely !i,baffle alj cpmpefitiqnl Their atPßk.is:velyilftr ; ge,.ai)d beautifully/ assorted in every dapavtoent,'witU' allt|}e latest fashions'fciwintei'A.wear/Ji Orders' from the cdunti7are'»exeouted ; 'With.desr: patch, and,as-careftdly as''if : 6eleefe^in" person; Purchasers of drapeiyiandoloth-' ing "will" do well-to ihspeot:theiristook. Their "adyerdsemeni;TO!be-'fcimd?on ; .th'e' front page of tlmipaperf anddeserves c'on : ; , ;Biderispn£^

_ Mr D. Crewe invheV[tekdew]fo'ftßplitting .40 cords of s|| [$ \ Mr Jas. Maeara notifies date the coaches for Palmeraton and" NapieMill leaye the.Olub B otel at 1.15 ■ p.m. instead of 1.30 p.m. as hitherloTV.^ "Mr"" T;-ErPrice7-of ~ the" 'Educationai Depository, has on view and for sale at his. establishment, a very, attractive ptppt of fancy'articles,'"mwiy r of' "which'afemosT elegant and novel. He also has a supply of new music, and has for sale a handsome piano by Bord, In addition to his statiqnerytiade, Mr Price, as is well-known, does art extensive business in his photographic studio", attached, and has the best assortment of "Maori photographs to be found in New Zealand.