The Wairarapa Daily. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1882.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 995, 9 February 1882, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1882.

t ■ [Two yeaj's ago wjben Hir^ojriojjtjfJiMjdheafjpd men \vcre appointee! a bivil I BervieeOomf)H«sion aiid inyestigatedthe \ Railway Pepat'tmeftt W their jjrst task, they 'discovered that this hmci) of the public service was very badly )))anaged. The ultimate result of thflit- inquiries wag the retirement of the two officers who presided over the North and Middle Islands respectively, and the appointment' of a new General Manager—a Mr Maxwell, an engineer, who may or may not possess the necessary for the important duties which he jUfl.(^t , ; t i While it is evident tfiat ,quv .are now conducted more economically iJiajj -they formerly were, the pubjie are not quite satisfied that: they (tee lyorked' to'the begt advantage or that they gepitre a maximum of traffic. We cannot very well see how a oivil engineer, however abjo he may be, can-be regarded as an expert. in the management of traffic, and if Mj- %jcj«ell in tliis department of ;his is scarcely eSpient n.o .tggsonabjta blame Kim.; It requires many yeiiw Q? e?R9,ri-: .ene'e, and special qiinlfficfttions, to produce a perfect traffic manager, and it; is almost helpless to expect that any engineer, who has been brought up perhaps to build bridges and measure earthworks, can, by the stroke of a pen, be changed into a traffic mapgty Tjie railway, carrying interests in New ,are now so large that it.is of the first ■ that they should he supervised by ani experienced traffic manager who".Jjas given unmistakable proofs of his capacity, If Buch a man cost the colony thousand pounds a year he would be:cheap at the price.-.lt is possible that the sevviges of such a man are .unobtainable in New inland. I jif.Buph be.the case it would-be wise : to l prbciii;o .a neighboring colony or even if nepespry, import jhim {rom England, it is true tljftt we posset district: managers of more or lesss ability, but! these subordinate officers depend very much; on the General Manager, The time-table on'onr own little line, for example, cannot be altered except by the consent of the General Manager, j»jo4 the alterations which have been thefte so' frequently latterly' indicate a certain amount of indecision, and weakness of judgment which' raiist either result from divided authority w ,incaj)a!!ity.. If the circumstances •

under which railways in a populous country like England would make the experiment of bringing out a home traffic manager a hazardous one, it - would be very easy fofmdaman who' had received a thorough training 'in; the right Kchdol by going to the^TJnitedj States, in America the of railway lines through luted districts';is. better understood than Jin any country in the •world.' .A-; real smart Yankee .traffic -manager. would, if placed in charge of the New Zealand lines,", sodri' make raahy-desir.'" able changes in'them. The -N.ew Zea-j lai]d stuff iilwtys seem afraid lo make any step in. in I vanco ■ till- they*" are" worried into it by the discoiitented public. They do not understand their business, «ml - until outside pressure is brought to bear Upon them they are immoveable. We want managers who willgo-ahead without waitingforreforms to be pointed out. In railway engi neering the. Americans are about twenty years ahead of New Zealand, and in some branches, such as, the construction of wooden bridges, they are decidedly -in advance of English' engineers. If the Government were afraid to ventmre so far. as. to entrust the management of our lines to a Yankee, it would be a good speculation to pay one or two capable men from the States to report upon them and tell' us of their, faults and short-comings.

Membera of the ''Masterton Rechabite Tent meot this evening . i A' meeting "f Wiirnrapii East County will be held mi Tueadhy .next, •

Mr J. Vile of the Masterton grain-store advertises corn sacks for sale at 10s dozen.

The Masterton Voluiiteei's who wuut to the front,, parade tbis evening to. receive the Government kits to which ' they, are 'entitled. , '*

Mr E. E. Evans, .chemist, announces in oiiv advertising columns that he in-i tends opening the shop lately occupied by Mr Coppiiis, as soon as 1 the ildeessary alterations are effected. . v. -T

Farmers,are ta nieet at the .Club Hotel to-night, to discuss, the marketprice of wheal.. We trust the' grow?,' and the' locrtl'millers will-be able to come to terms. A silting of the district court'will be held at Masterton to-morrow. " The only c ise is an action for damages brought, byi Miss Jeans against the Masterton. High-, way Board. ■■■•&

Mr G Beetham, M.ILR., passed tlinmijli Miß'erton to-day on his road to Wellington, He. has been spending the last few weeks in the Hawkea Bay district, diiil I'ioks all the better for his liotiilav.

The ratepayer for the Cartorton District appear to have been so little interested in the now Licensing Act that they neglected .to nominate candidates to serve as members of the Licensing Committed It will therefore be necessary for the Governor to appoint a Licensing Committee for that district, A meeting of the creditors of Eichard J Harman, of Carterton, carpenter, waß con. vened at tho Supreme Court yesterdayTho liabilities are set down at £21417s 3d the principal creditor being Mr Vickerstaff. of Carterton, £'lls 10s (secured).. All the other liabilitiesp small trade debts, contracted chiefly in tho ' The assets are set down at £l?(i 6s, including house and laud £125, secured to Mr Vickerstaff

Wo hear tlia.t Mr BrunskilJ of Featherston has the interest of Mr Faber in the Lipyal Ifqte|, and resigns his. position in the' Constabulary ii> gnjef to enter upon hia new bipjeas. There is not a more popular and obliging resident in Fcatbersfoij tl)ai> Mrßruuaifill, and he i 6 certain to have tlje hearty good wishes of all the members of the community in which he resides for his success in ljis new' enterprise, Wo lidve received a letter signed "Citizen" charging members of the old Masterton Local Board, and the Town Lands Trust with abmirtg tlioif publio position to advance their private interests, Such charges if made at all, should have been brought forward at the time the alleged abuses were committed, and if they must bo made now, let the person who prefers them publish thorn,openly instead of writing under the oover of an anonymous letter to a newspaper,

A special meeting of the' Masterton Library Committee was held yesterday, afternoon to adopt a report for presentation to the Borough Council at its next meeiing, The members present were Messrs Feist (Chairman), Sellar, McGregor, Boddington, McCardle, and Payton;'' lifie report having been agreed to, 'ofter passing on. the motion of Mi' Knihliif^ioii', I 'seconded by Mr McGregor, a ?ordinl Vfjte ofthinks j to. the Hon. Secretary, Mr Si'llai', for liis I servjjps |]i|i'iijs» ypiji %-chair-: man ill puni/in pesolufion, bore testimony to |}l3 y.ilualijp asdstape he had received Irm the freely i|j tlie conduct of the business of- the Institute. The whole of the business centre Of Carterton had a narrow escape of'being reduced to ashes ibis morning,. Mr Hunter woke-tKia morning between-1.30 and 2 o'clook, .and noticed a reflection as of a fire on tho Hotel (Marquis of. Nor jnanby), through his bedroom window, not out of-bed and lifted the blind up, and then ran out to, tho:back door, and found ijia coach house and loft at the bac|i of the shop: in flames.. He ran dosv#. hi|"Biipk yanf i|ij<J gut the', firo I# rising, and I" » niiputesi after - tha t?ir? - ®rii;nf},o an.d $ large number of the piihiig lfgre pn the ] ground, To attempt to save the building I in which tho fire had originated was useless, and for over an hour and a half all. the efforts of those present wore turned to' sayinir the public hall which was kept deluded pjtji water Theheat, however, was go U}te)i£Q Messrs Hume and Church pre o.bh'.jeij to' jiava a blanket over them w}ijl,e wprkine 'at"tha branch., After ahmi't three hours \vork—aijijl all j worked thoroughly poll—tj)e danger was | averted, bnt it was the ..iiarFpyiigt squeak the township lias ever had of a tefrifio conflagration, A somewhat strange ocoiirronco is. recorded in the Marlborough papers as having happened a few days ago, The driver of a conveyance travelling between £istse and Blenheim discovered the body pf» ,%eppar.d,, an ex-Civil servant, formerly ott})e jkijdjt Office, lying unconscious by (he his j head badly cat, ft'deep dentin the skull,' a bad black-eye,,and.his ear snrrouijded by a black-and -blue contused patoh. "It appears Mr Slieppard was at Blenhoim in the evening for the Awatere on some busi-' ness GQfln&cted with the Bond Board, and accompanied 'by tp. men. Later on these men armed at • Peon's Accommodatier House without' Mr 'Shepparibut leading bis horse, and,' in answer to inquiries, snid he had beconie'intbxicated: ana fallen off, but wQuld sodu' p.ick him-., self up and bo there. ft appear?,'however i that he did not turn up end was found as stated ne xt morning lying utjooneoitMß. He was taken to. the hospital, and-for some'days was insensible. The ".Express" of Monday liist says that though now conscious he has nut. recovered his power of speech, and-thus no. explanation of. the teal circumßtancee attending his'disastercan yet b? pljJaiijed,

I The following" were nominated to-day as a Licensing Committee for the Borough of Maßterton, viz. :-Alfred Bish,T. E, ■Chamberliun, R, W.Dagg, E, Hare, Jafl. [Harvey, ju'nr., D, MoGregor, Waltor ;Perry| T.E. Price, and Job Vile. ;The ppll for the election of.five of these caridir (Ijjtflfl will ba token on-Thiirsday. next. |',Mebrs F. H. Wood & Co.'» sale of tftajber. at Woqdaide jefltefdny was well intended. Some'of the;Maisterton buyers down to it complain that Mr Oo.tterrthe vendor, bid against them for srime of the better qualities of timber w.hich_.wer.o included -in the - catalogue, which "tended to mar the success of the sale.

;..,Afc,tho,uaualfofthightly'meetitigof the Maßterton Fire Brigade last evening, Branchman Hounslow .was elected Lieutenant and Messrs W.Langley, W.Dixon,' G. 0. Palmer, and H. Brown were nominated as branchmen. A new member, Mr D. Heegie, was olected, It was suggested that the attention of the Borough Council should be called to the unfinished state of the fire-plug in Ban* nißter-Btreet and the want of water in Queen-street between the Prince of WalesHotel and Mr Feist's store. :We understand that Mr T. 0. Williams has purchased tour hundred acres of land on the Ruamahunga near Masterton from Mr Tyer, and intends, in "conjunction with Messrs Beetham &Co„ Brancepeth, to establish there a tinned must preserving establishment. This local enterprise will be of great benefit to the district, more especially as it is. likely to be on a large scale, and to furnish employment to a considerable number of hiinds.

Special attention is called to Rapp and Hare's price list, 'which will be found on our frontpage. For clothing, boots, ironmongery, and grocery, they will be found the cheapest and beßt house in the trade.-ADVT.

.Carterton v Mastorton.—Ab a proo of who am tlio cheapest storekeepers in the Wairarapa we wish to draw our readers' special attention to B, A, Gardener & Son's advertisement on our front pago. This firm is determined to keep up thoir reputation. From the time of their commencing business in Carterton,they have repeatgdiy proved 't{iaVvtks cahVlwitlistand 'competition, no matter hoiv strong, It is therefore ridiculous for another storekeeper from a neighboring township to post price lists to their customors and prstcad to sell at wholesale prices,, when; foUiilie quantities B. A,' Gardener & Son supply goods in almost every instance 10 Jo 15 per cent cheaper, and in large quantities still further coaces sioas are m»de.—/Advt .. .