The Wairarapa Daily. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 1883. BOROUGH PROGRESS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 5, Issue 1350, 11 April 1883, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 1883. BOROUGH PROGRESS.

The Borough of Masterton like many other municipalities is drifting slowly along, clogged with financial difficulties, A great amount of road making requires to be done, but as there is no money available, pur Borough Council no doubt feels that it is relieved from all responsibility with respect to it, 'J he civic fathers do nob attempt to : fuse the financial difficulty, and their duties are consequently exceedingly light and unembarrassing. Last year they made an effort to float a loan, but their proposal was rejected in a great measure because they differed so much among themselves on matters of detail. We still believe a loan to be the; best • and most economical method of forming the streets which require to be constructed, but if this alternative is not available, another one might be re sorted to. We have streets, which have been in existence on paper lor years, which ought by all law and equity to be constructed, but as things are now going on, the prospect of them being undertaken is very remote. Some people look to the Government to give in the future that substantial aid which was granted in the past, but there is little chance of help coming from -this source, and it would be better forVatepa'yers to depend upon themselves for ways and means rather than to wait for a windfall. The alternative remedy .we suggest-in the event of a general loan being considered impracticable—is that any portion of the Borough desiring some special work to be constructed should provide funds by means of a special rate extending over such a period of years as would liquidate ; the cost of the work. The, Municipal Act as it stands at present does not give a power to levy aseparate rate for more than one year, but, as the Borough Clerk recently pointed out, an amendment of the rating powers of tho Act might ; be". readily obtained if'concerted action were taken by municipalities in this -direction; Supposing that a concession were, obtained to enable municipalities tollevy separate ra'ies over a series of years there would still be a.difficulty in securing an advance of funds in the first instance to construct the' works, It has. been suggested that the Government might lend money to boroughs for such a purpose, hut the "prospect of this is a poor one. Still this difficulty might be surmounted if additional facilities were given to Boroughs to borrow money for such purposes in the open market on the scarcity of separate rates. The assembly has demoralised local bodies to a considerable extent by the multiplicity of grants, endowments, and subsidies they have given them in past years, and it is a pity that the painter could not be cut between thorn and the Colonial Treasury for ever. The provision now made for Counties and Road Boards is a satisfactory one the only doubt being as to tho permanence of it. Municipalities are out in the cold, and it is questionable whether in many instances they can carry out the functions for which they have been constituted. Perhaps some day a liberal'minded Government will give the Property Tax as a permanent endowment to local bodies generally. This could be done without much prejudice to the colonial balance sheet if all-responsibility ceased on the part of the Government to find money for local, purposes, ;

The Customs returns for the colony for the financial year ending March 31st have now been made public,.., The total amount of revenue was £1,496,948 2s lid, being a deficiency of £3,051 17s Id on the Colonial Treasurer's estimate of £1,500,000. : the highest amount collected in any one month was in September last, ■. when it reached £140,0891458 d. The i0we5t,£109,363 13s 3d, was collected in April, 1882. The beer; duty for: last; year, was £62,664 ; 65 ; 6d, being: a. surplus of £2j664 6s; 6d over the Treasurer's estimate, and this being deducted from the deficiency oa the customs revenue leaves the total deficiency for the;year : from this branch of £387 lOsjd, which is customs: -'ra>enue : '*'?({r^neHii6% ; ;for'.' last was corresponding! month;last year;;was'"!

£150,802 Os 3d. The returns from principal places are as follows :-Auck- , land £26,786, Wellington £19,452, j Lyttelton and Christehurch £19,883, Dunedin £34,588. At each of these i a defieienoy is shown on the 'amount returned for 1883. The beer duty for last month was £564512s 4d, awl for corresponding month last year £4657 3s Bd.

A coltago belonging to Mrs Russell was burned down at Grey town this morning. It was uninhabited and'was insuiedin the New Zealand Office for [ £65. i Tenders are required by Mr Robert ) Donald'for laying 60 chains more or less of wooden tramway. The advertisement will be found in another column. . Mr Stone, the well-known nurseryman, sent to our office tlm morning a sample of ripe apricot peaches, whiohare, we . believe, the last of the peach tribe for the presont season, and which for.hppearanco and flavor, vie with any of theirnumerous , predecessors. . The Masterton Borough Counoil has passed a resolution asking the Minister of Justice nut to give released prisoners free passes .to the VYairnrapa, as the district: ! is tod large to .enable them to be watched by. the existing looalipolioe ■ staff. >•-;■ P ..■*. . There was a meeting of the vestry of ■ St. Mark's Church, Carterton, on Monday { evening, io considqr the letter from the J Synod on the reduced l stipend agreed to be accepted by the Rev. W. T. Western. 1 After Borne discussion the meeting was' adjourned for a fortnight to ascertain the exact amount collected, and whether the , stipend could be provided for or not. • This is how. the' Sydney Bulletin puts it:- Andrea Navarro and Signor Tram- ! aglia have organised themselves into a company, and are giving concerts, This , is how they do it: While Andrea sings, Tramaglia plays the piano; Tramaglia plays the, fiddle, Navarro plays t the piano. It is very interesting. Great amusement was caused in Dunedin by.Jhe manner in which many persons were .'.'fooled" on the Ist. On f Saturday night a paragraph appeared in , tho Evening Star stating that a sperm w.hale, 70 feet long, had been washed on shore at Ocean Beach. Hundreds of . people went out to see it on Sunday and returned remembering the day. On Thursday night (says the Lyttelton ■ Times) there were no less than 665 rail way waggons standing in Lyttelton, 409 in ' Chiisichuvoh,andll3atAddington, The ■ railway authorities have issued instriic- - tions to station'masters, when loading 3 grain at country Btations, to give the pre- . ference as far bb possible to grain conI signed' to a ship ready to receive it. It will be noticed that thenumber of waggons in UBe —1180—ia very large, and that the ' department is giving all possible attention f to the quick forwarding of grain. , The monthly meeting of the Master. ; ton Hospital wa3 hold yesterday. Present ' —Messrs Boddington (chairman), Fannin, 6 lorns, Bish, Smith, Perry, and Payton. The. minutes of the previous meeting haying been read and coufirmed, the i treasurer reported a credit balance of £lB , lis 3d. He stated that the liabilities to [ date amounted to £SO, but that agoverh- . ment subsidy of £63 would be receivable ' month. Four applications were received for the secretaryship, and the appointment was given to Mr Sellar. The • chairman suggested that instead of giving their secretary LlO per annum for clerical work and 7}- per cent on subscriptions collected, it would be better to give him LlO for clerioal duties and 10 por cent, on collections. It, was, however, decided' that it was notexpedientat present to make any alteration in the existing arrangement,' Mr Feist having been appointed next visiting mtmber the meeting adjourned.. The Finance Committee of the Masterton Fire Brig .de meet at the Temple Chambers this evening. . We notice, that the Rev J. MoKee formerly of Masterton, occupies the posi' tion of: Chairman of the Waimate Schoo' Committee, At a recent meeting of ' iha l body he succeeded in carrying the following resolution ;-<■ That/this Committee grant the use of the School-building to all clergyman for thereligiousinstruction of children wh'o'se parents are in connection with their respective churches, on the following conditions; 1, The instruction to be given outside the ordinary School hours. 2. That the clergymen so using the School building will be responsible fi<r any damage, 3. That no child be compelled to attend suolunßtruotion." Last evening Or Caselberg referred in eulogistio terms to the improved position of the Masterton Institute, but inadvertantly no doubt misled his hearers as to the exact measure of progress which has been attained. lii comparing the two balance sheets he omitted to notice that whereas the former covered twelve months the latter extended over a period of fifteen months. The amounts ho gave for books, papers, and periodicals for the respective periods was shghilv in error, viz., £l4 for the former and £BO for the latter, as the former sum should have been £2O 6s. The amount of new books purchased m 1871 was £ls lis 6d, and in 1881-83 £3617s lOd. Of course-there is a considerable advance apparent here, but with all due respect to Or.Caselberg we cannot help thinking that an Institute with an income of £3OO has little to be proud of in setting apart only £36 for the purchase of new books. We'still regard a deficiency of new works as the wak point of this establishment. . The following record of the minutes of a late meetinj> has been picked, up in the room whore 1 a certain Debating Society is wont to gather:-" The members.' all forgot to. come; the President was buay ; ; the. Seoretary then went home (or went to see his lassie.)" The Princess of Wales is looking scarcely a_ day holder than when on March 10, nineteen years ago, she stood at the altar by the side of her young Imsdahd.' Nor ; do'advancing years change, save to deepen and strengthen, the regard and affection in which she is held by the people of England. : By common consent she is plaoedi beyond the region of criticism, "What the Prince does" is the topic of • free discussion—praise or blame—every ] night at the aooro of clubs, and in the ) drawing-rooms innumerable. Bat the i good taste of" what the Princess does" is | never for a moment, called into question. 1 Information has been received, via < Havannah, of the frightful death of two ' overdaring aeronauts in Madrid. Capt. : Marfit and his assistant ascended in a < balloon in that city before an immense ( orowd of people. When the balloon wae. ' 1000 ft up, Capt, Marfit got out on a " trapeze suspended from the basket, and began his performance. Suddenly cries of horror were heard. The trapeze rope was seen' to part,'and the intrepid:,Capt, fell from a fearful -height, turning over andoverVuhtil he-struck' the pavement, " A'moment later another shout went up from/the, people.. The balloon containing ' the other pecypant, was then descending with meteoric rapidity. It crashed against a projecting eave ot a hiiuse, hurling the remaining ocoupauttpthe ground, and he .died mbmenfsj; /-»Both persons r were under lengagemehtv ;to' BarnumV - Bailey, and Hutohinson, and were to have < appeareolra^NewiyortL -;-:0\ ]

i The Carterton Kiflea hold an inapeotion . parade this e/ening. ,/ i /'^» , Mr B. Stout'will deliver! o ! public , address in critioism of Major Atkinsphjs , scheme this week, probably on Thursday 1 ; • and Mr Fish, M.H.R., wilfgiveVm's , spoeoh On the same subject probably next Monday evoning. The Manawatn County Council appears to be liberal in its engineering "experidi* ture, It is inviting applications for two officers, each at 4350 per annum. 1 Mr"F. H. Wood's next stock sale at the Pastoral Society's yards takes place on April 26th. An abridged prospectus of J. Kitchen & Sons and MoLeod Bros 1 , well known company will be found in our advertising columns. " l ' We hear that Mr D. Crowe of Masterton is about to. establish a cheese factory \ atPahialua.K; , On Tuesday morning all the children of i the Carterton sohool attended in the big ( room at the play hour jand;, Mr.and Mrs j Samuel, who f had;ljeeri speoially invited to attend, were ( presented by MrDempsey the assistant master,' on behalf of the » teaohing.slaff and children, with a hand- ' some china tea service. Mr Dempsey | made a neat little oongratnlatory speech, «■' to which Mr Samuel duly responded. 5 Three cheers were given by the children J for the; howljf; parried ; cqaplef. and.an extra half hour's recreation was granted ! to the children.; ', 1 ' Messrs Lowes &. lornsadd to their stock sale, (ir Lincoln rams, and a horse, cart, '''^••^ 3 Mr Stout speakß at Dunedin ou Friday } next ou the pauperism question, i The Dunedin Mosgiel Woollen Co. has declared an interim dividend of ,ten per j 'cent.;/ I .•>■;■.•;■!•;, I ; i;,il '..' •'■.- • The N.Z, Loan and Mercantile Agenoy i Company (Limited) have been appointed ' agents for the celebrated " Garidy'B patent i cotton belting" for maohinery. Samples J are to be, seen at the office of the local 1 agent ; ; ■■• '•; ••'-'-• '-'■ ■■■-■ ■'■■■-• . t Before, commencing business in the Supreme Court this morning Judge Bichmond referred in "most feeling terms to' the memory of SicJGeorga Arney, -late 1 Chief Justice of New Zealand, and whose 1 death is announced by cable this morning. ' Ten members of bar were present. Judge Richmond said the sad news had caused 1 quite a shook to him, though he had known for some time of deceased's illi neas. He mentioned that his connection i with Sir George had been of a most i pleasant nature. In referring to the i many admirable qualities possessed by • Sir George, Judge Richmond said they [ sustained a great loss by his death, Mr ■ Trav.ew, Sen. on behalf of the bur cm- • curred with the remarks which had fallen : from His Honor. •',: J 'The Badische Tagblatt gives a glow- [ ing account of a children's festival, which was held on Christmas : Day at Rheinfelden,/ in -Aragan, the pictur- ' esque and medisevai-looking. old town on the. Rhine to which so many 1 strangers resort in summer and autumn for its famous salt baths. . The Old i Catholic priest, Pfarrer Schroter, and the ovangolican pastor, Pfarrer Simons, agreed to celebrate "a npn-confessional or, we should say, a non-denominational Christmas Evening." On the evening of the great festival of peace and goodwill the stately parish church was brilliantly lighted, and all the children of the parish, to-whatever church they belonged,'were invited to take'part in a /common -and united '/ Christhauin- • feier," or Ghristmas-treo celebration. It was feared at first the Roman Catho- ■ He priest 'might .hesitate to allow the Roman Catholic children to join in a common Christmas rejoicing with Old Catholics ana Protestants, especially in achurch. '• Thefear; 'proved Wildi, 'the. BtpiwnCatholic priest, jiaidthat he thought such .a celebration to ! be peculiarly suited ; to;the (time., There remained, difficult question; with ifegard -to the children of ifbiirth religious botly/.tlio Jews. It was feared that ; the Jewish parents might regard-the: invitation of their children as a covert insult to their religion, or even as an indirect attempt to convert them. : ■■ • The'''-Wo ■' pastors, however, recollecting that the Master whose ■. birth ; they were : celebrating was Himself a' Jew; determined, to offer, their friendly'; hospitality, in His name to.his kindred after the flesh. They went boldly to work,' and were rewarded by finding:-that every Jewish parent accepted the kindly/invitation. ' Probably no such scene was witnessed'in any other Church in Christendom last Christmas Day evening. The children of Roman Catholics, Old Catholics, Protestants, and Jews, as tho fellow-members, of one of the same civil community, all met and rejoiced together in the celebration of the birth of Christ. The assembled children 1 and the parents were addressed in turn by the Old Catholic. priest and the evengelical pastor, who explained the significance of Christmas day, with a very happy avoidence of .every controversial topic. 1 The journalist who has reported the scene observes, at the close of his description, that it struck him as an altogether unique illustration ] of the saying of Jesus, "There will J be one foldandoneshepherd."—London ' Mo. .'./.i .:;..■. '.:■■■■.. , After a very long dry and warm stretch of ' summer weather,:it is but reasonable to expect a somewhat severe winter. The ■ "oldest inhabitant "prognosticates it, and J the unusual severity of the last winter in iutbe Old Country.leav.es no doubt.but that our turn will come next. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. Don't' forget your blankets. We can supply you well, as ' we hold one of the largest stocks in.Welling- ( ton, imported direct' from' the manufacturers ] We cannot only give laige variety, but < excellent value.no one, better, if so woll. ! Whatever make you want (and we' keep all the best) we can give you first-class value in (English, German, KoBlyn; and Kaiapoi j Manufacture, and in sizes to.suit the cotof t the infant, the swag of the ibnshman, the , single bed of the bachelor, the double ono of the benedict, and some that might almost be c large enough' for the Qreat.M) of r.Ware. a We have also a very large range j varying according to «iza.:and quality; from. 7s 6d to 50f. per pair, Customers will find J a great advantage in'.purchasingfrom an n extensive, well-seleoted, anidirestlyimpbr"': ■; ted stock of blankets, isnch as they will see at James Smith's Te" Wellington... ; , -Advt.-.';' •>-■'!■ •''''■)''''; .:•'•'■"•': -•■