TELEGRAPHIC.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 5, Issue 1521, 29 October 1883, Page 2

TELEGRAPHIC.

Press Association. Auckland, Monday. At Te Awarautu on Saturday Trooper James Weal while marking at a rifle range was accidentally shot by Trooper Alexander, who was firing at the 400 yards' range. The bullet struck Weal near _ the joint of the right shoulder, crossing Ihe body, and is supposed to be lodged in the left lung, as no point of exit is visible, Weal incautiously camo out of the butts just as Alexander pulled the trigger. There are but slight hopes of his recovery, Curiously enough Mr Weal, the father himself, a member of th 9 corps, was accidentally Bbot at target practice some time ago. Mr Whitaker will in all probability leave for Sydney to attend Conference by steamer on the 12th inat. The use of the race course has at last been obtained for tho Rifle Association, MASTERTON ROAD BOARD. » The Board met on Saturday last. Present—Messrs Beetham (in the chair), Chamberlain, and Dagg, The minutes of the previous meeting wero read and confirmed. CORRESPONDENCE. From tho Castlepoint district enclosing returns of rates collected and sums expended on the properties referred to in the Board's letter of the lstinst. • From E. Petersen, roadman in No. 5 Ward, reporting on his operations for, the past four months, On the motion of Mr Dagg, seconded by Mr Chamberlain, it was resolved that the roadman' in future berequired to furnish monthly reports. A letter was received from Mr Tatliam stating that lie had been misled respecting the amount of fencing to be done on the Uriti road, and that instead of thirty chains as tendered for, seventy-one chains had to be erected, Also that it would be be necessary to construct the bridge over the Waironga before the timber could be brought to the ground, Mr E. Meredith junior, confirmed Mr Tatlmm's statement, and as the amount available would not meet the extra fencing it was decided to again consult the settlers interested, From Beard and Gray, re cost of taking roads under the Public Works Act, recommending the Board in all cases to arrange with the parties if possible. From J. Rutherford, re Bideford main road suggesting that it would be of little, use to settlers unless certain vallies were opened .up. The consideration of the letter was deferred for a fuller meeting. DEPUTATIONS, Mr Stuckey waited on the Board to ask that the road to his property at Rangitumau be proceeded with at once, as Mr McLachlan threatened to stop the through traffic. It was stated that no reply had been received from tho Public Works Department as to whether tho road would be sanctioned, but the Board promised to do what it could, ' Rahuruhe and Himeona waited on tho Board, and demanded the payment of £3O for the gravel at Te Ore Ore used for the Weraiti road. Mr Beetham acted as interpreter, and after considerable bargaining the claim was reduced to £5 10s> andsettled to tho satisfaction of all par-1 ties. Mr S. Wickenden waitad on the Board, claiming £1 for damage done to' a fence and ornamental tree by a raatai tree which fell durring tlielate storm. It was decided to pay the sum claimed. A letter was read from A. Anderson, Eketahuna, applying for a road to section 27.—Left over for Mr Macquarie's report. Mr Cox, of Woodlands, waited on the Board, and requested a road to his section, The cost was estimated at £4O, but as the applicant's rates only amounted to £2 per annum the Board did not see its way clear to accede to tho request, Mr James Millar, of the Upper Taueru, applied for £lO to clear away slips, It was decided to communicate with reference to this- matter with the § Castlepoint Road Board, engineer's report. Sir,—l have the honor to lay before' you my report for the month on the works within the district. No 1 Ward.—ln company with Mr John Rutherford I made a tour of iuspoction along Ihe Bideford to Alfredton road, and carefully examined the various seotions of work exeonted by him, and for which he has preferred a claim bJ'llQ: I will lay before the Board a schedule giy.

i mg roughly the-lenfitlifl tad n&tuve of the different wqrfaap'erforniedj and ttfwbioM I IJiavo attached what appears to me to bo'l a fair'value for them. It will be seen by j this that;according to ray estimate thej actual return is below .what is claimed by Mr Rutherford, but I am nevertheless of I opinion that it may quite well have cost Mr Rutherford the amount he clafcis, owing to. his.; having ..been unable, to gecrire the letting of thework by contract for so small an amount. I will therefore recommend that his account be passed for payment. "While Tn" the locality I also 'examined-.the. road- leading from" the termination of the Masterton to.Bideford main road, to Mr James Miller's homestead, and feel satisfied that Mr Miller -is Board a reasonable proposal in offering to clear and maintain this section for £lO. I will therefore advise that his offer he accepted., No 2 Iwd.-The To Ore Ore road again demands attention, The metal is becoming worn through in many places,, both on the eastern and western side of the Te Ore Ore bridge, and some of the small bridges on the Whangaehu flats are assuming a very dereliot appearanoe. ;,Sawn material lnust also b'e provided further' along the line where the covering of many of the old culverts.is.beginning to fail rapidly. In addition to these I must again advise the Board as to the dangerous state of one or two of the small bridges on the Taueru road and more especially to that which is situated in what is known as O'Connor's bend j not only is the bridge itself unsafe but the curves of the formation approaching it being'extremely sharp it is difficult with safety to oontrol long teams of horses or bullocks at this point, such as constantly travel this line. I will suggest that the bridge be removed and a small culvert with filling substituted for it, in the execution of which the curves can be greatly modified. Weraitlroad.—The contractors on this line have resumed work, but so far have made but little* progress. Upon the Upper Plain road one of the culverts has become decayed,"and although temporary repaired will have I 'to be replaced by a new one, It might also be advisable to suggest to Messrs MoGregor thai the Board would prefer that they retained their spare sawdust within the limits of their own properly, as by conveying it along the water channels of tho road the culvertsana channels we becoming com pletely choked up. In boisterous dry weather it is also an inconvenience to the public, The bush upon the lino of road leading to Mr Cave's property has been reported as finished, but upon a recent examina lion by the inspector there were small defects requiring romedy before the money oan.be passer) by the Board. No; 3 Ward.-Miki Miki Valley Road. —This work is proceeding satisfactorily, and will, I think, be comploted in tho course of a fortnight. Fair progress is oko being made with the construction of the Miki Miki road, All but a load or so of tho timber and the whole of the iron work has been delivered on the Bito of the works,'thelpier flunk and piles driven. The construction of .the first truss is now proceeding, and.weather permitting, it is anticipated the bridge will be open for traffic in about five weeks, The fencing contract upon the Opaki loop line has been faithfully porformed according to specification, In order to meet the wishes of the owners of properly through which tho lino passes 1 will recommend, however, that a barb wire be added to the fence to, ensure it against destruction by cattle and other stook in their endeavors to break through the fence from the adjacent paddocks in Boaroli of, food. ~;.. " : 'No. 4 Ward.—Of the works in this Ward consisting of the Weatmere and "Waipawa Valley Roads formation, and the Whakataraahine Bridge Construction the two formor havo made slow progress during; the past month. No doubt to some extent this is due to the very broken- weather .experienced lately,, coupled : with the fact that shoarihg having begun, labor has tor the time' beooine largely diverted in that direction. Good progress is being made I understand with the timber for the bridges. The materials for the roadman's whare have been delivered on the site of the proposed work, and the building will I hope bo shortly erected, . Tenders .will be laid before the Board this day for the Fernridge and Waiuuioru works, PJans to, have also been prepared for certain sections of work on the Upper' Opaki road. lam, &c„ C. E. Bmmkee. The Engineer was instructed to get bridges repaired on tho Taueru road, and ajulvert, repaired, on the Upper Plain road. The Clerk was instructed to request Messrs McGregor Bros not to allow sawdust to block up creeks. It,', was resolved—That .Mr D. McPhee be allowed a bonus of £8 on his contract; also, That Mr Elkins be again requested to erect gates on the road through his land to Mr Donovan's property. . The Engineer was instructed to define the line of road to this property. Tho Engineer was authorised to 1 paint Bannister's bridge, and call for tenders for formation on tho Upper Opaki line of road. TENDERS. The following tenders were opened: —Fernridge Road.—J, Rassmussen, £298 (accepted); T. P. Girdwood, MO ; Osborne & Co., £390 ; Burgess .and son, £388145; Wyeth k Rassett, £415. Wainuioru Bridge,—John McDonald, £Bl5 (declined); Resse and Dawson, £754 (accepted.) ACCOUNTS, Tke following accounts were passed for payment:—J. O'Connor, £8 8s; C. Reeball,£B 8s; E. Pedersen, £8 158;C.Carswell,£7;M. McKenzie, £l2;G.Bland,£BlsjC.Pinkerton ) £5 8s j H. Doveton, £2 ss. J. Wingate, £2 10s; sundries, £3 9s 3d; D. McPhee, £ll lis 6d; Government transfer, £1 Is Gd j Cormack, £l2 }O. E. Bremner, £26 18s 4d; Reese and Dawson, £200.; T. Wyeth, £75; G. Fannin,.£l lis 6d; J. Rutherford, £10; J. Garrard, £2;' Smith & Hogg, £ll3s'9d;W. Richards, £5 Is; H. Thompson, £25 6s 2d, D. McPhee, £5. Parker k Co., £3l 16s; Daniel and Co., £67185. The Board then, adjourned.