THE AFGHAN FRONTIER QUESTION

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 1961, 10 April 1885, Page 2

THE AFGHAN FRONTIER QUESTION

A cable message, which reached us shortly before going to press, conveys the startling information that active hostilities have already taken place betewen th e Russian and Afghan troops, a battle having been fought as long ago as the 30th March, on the banks of the Khusk river, in which the Afghan troops were defeated with a loss of 500 men, There seems to be no doubt as to the facts, for news of the encounter has readied the British and Russian Governments, astfell asthe Times, How this occurrence will affect the negotiations which have been going on bstweon tho two Govom&mj it In as yet had to any, A pat tal will, fif pMi depend upon ths pitlon-' wHefchoj? tlio RraiiUM pretext jm malting ||o flttogk will pravg & jtoiblo quo j but! judging by tacticß by ..-Russia on many- forme* Qccjuriqns, when sho lacked a good motion' for'eom'mejjjing Jjqsfjljjjes, there'is only too much reason to fear thajb war ijj njjw unavoidable. ThernqnthlvraeelTngpf theMagtorjtqn Road Board $;Jj be Ijela tq-mprrow.'' Tenders for leasing a %m qf 708 acres on the Opaki close to-morrow. Messrs lipweg and lorns sell at their rooms at 2 p, m, to'morrow> clothing, drapery, groceries etc, Mr F. H, Wood will offer an extensive consignment of merchandise at his rooms, without reserve, at 2 p, m, to-muajow. Contractors .are that tenders for mefalling a portion' ,o,f th,e Maneakuta road, and fpr felling 110 acjespf bush on the Mangaone Plflcjc, close to-morrpw" Tauranga boys are fpiops swimmers, The local paper gives a list of good prjzes which they have carried off during the past summer at Wellington and Auckland.

Mrs Nicholson has opened a school for young ladies at Karori, a healthy suburb of Wellington, and is now prepared to receive pupils. An pdvertisement appears in another column. Messrs Lowes and lorns held a successful sale of slw.ep at Maryborough qn Wpcjhes; day last,'all lines offered selling under the hammer, The figures mn not Mgfo, but tho sheep were in very low condition, %t following are prices obtained:—9oo halfbred lambs in tho wool, 4s; 150 half-bred lambs, culled, Is 4d; 800 old Merino ewes, Is 9d; 10 old rams b's 6d. News has been received that Messrs Be'etjjara's wpolshed atParai, Brancepeth, was burnt toilxe ground yesterday morning. No particulars hiye as' yet qopie to hand, except that the origin of not known, Til? shed was ti|e principal mm on Uio Ration, and probably the largr est in the district, The 1 0S3 | n building and plant is estimated at about The insurances wero offected in Welling, ton offices.

_ The following team will represent the single men in the match married v single to be played on the Opaki racecourse tomorrow:—G. H. Welch, • (Captain), G Day, F. Day, W. Dav, C. Holmwood, G. Ronton, C.B.Bali, ft. Welch, E. Welch, Herbert Welch, J. Martin. EmergencyErnest W<4

( Messrs Lowes & Iprns makp some add!-. tions to their sale fortp-morrpw. The list will embrace, mossiel suits,'' and vests, riding trousers, 60 pairs jieayy blankets, macintosh coats, hosiery tabling, sheeting, clocks, lamps, jewelry, e,p, ware, cutlery, furniture, tea, soap, candles, wheat, oats, potatoes, poultry, and sundries, and being bankrupt stock ■ in trade, will bo sold at any sacrifice. Messrs Dean & Son of South Australia have just made up tho ayejago weights of wool cut from Merino slieepi'brod at the Wellington estate, on the Lower Murray the property of Sir W, Jeryojs. . Out of a flock of 610 ranis 350 two-tooths cut the average of 151b 4ozs clean wool—oneshearing 161b Bozs,' A flock of 1248 sistooth ewes, with lambs at foot, averaged lOlbs lOozs, and 10G0 ewes, all age, with 98 per cent of lambs at foot, averaged 91b 2j|osb of wool; while 1678 full-mouthed ewes averaged 81b 120z5., and 4,388 lambs cut 3Jb oj[ ozs. .The above splendid avorages havo been '.obtained by very careful culling of the flock for some years, the absolutely puro merino strain being kept. On the question of the purohase of tho Mangatainoke block, Mr G. Beetham writes as follows to tho Woodville Examiner :—I notice in your issue of March 31st a paragraph that contains what appears to be a quotation from a letter of mino tp the Daily re the Mangatainoke purchase. J.have not the copy of the letter I wrote witli me, but this I am sure of-Ihave never wished to accuse Mr Ballance of lukewarmness in the matter. What I complain of is, that the Land Purchase department should bring in an outsider to arrange the purchase when there are to my own knowledge two or three men in the department with local knowledge of the natives, who would be able expeditiously to complete the purchase. _ sJpw, sir, the paragraph contains a question to me which I shall be glad of an opportunity to answer, viz., "Is Mr Beetham really not aware that a men)b,er of his family is doing all he can to prevent the Government acquiring the block in question." To this interrogation my answer is unhesitatingly given—That no member of my family has ever in any way endeavored to acquire any part of the block in question, Such a course would have been worse than useless, it'would have been mischievous, and could have done no good, because the Government have had a lien over the land for years, and while that existed no private purchaser could possibly have made successful arrangements with the natives. I am sure, sir, that you have been misinfonned on this question, and that you will gladly give me an opportunity for placing, the true state of the case beforfi your readers.

A meeting of the Town Lands Trustees will bo held tliis evening. . Tlio first qiifidrillo assembly under the management of Messrs Foley and Berkley, takes place to-night. A man mimed Lucas has been arrested atTimaru on a charge of'stabbing his wife shortly after childbirth, The appointment of Mr J, D. Cameron as Lieutenant of the Masterton Rifle Volunteers, is notified in the Gazette. The Hutt Park Railway Company fur-, nishes an excellent example'of how the cart may be put before the horse. Having constructed a railway, they now announce that it is their intention to do the work, The following Registrars of births, deaths, and marriages have been appointed:—J. E, I. Boys, for the district of Greytown', and J. T, W. Stevenson for that of Featherston,

The net proceeds of the tea-meeting in celebration of the anniversary of the Masterton Wesleyan Church are £l7, which sum will be added to the trust and building funds. The sale of work yesterday afternoon and evening realized a further sum of £ls. : • The interest in football this season seems very slack, but it is to be hoped that a better spirit will be displayed at tho adjourned general meeting at the Empire Hotel to-morrow evening. We are indebted to Mr Bagge, Registrar, for the following returns showing the number of births, deaths, and marriages registered in Masterton for the March quarter, 1885, with gorresppnding quarter of 1884. Births—lßßs, 51; 1884, 56, Deaths—lßßs,l3; 1884, IQ, Mar-riages-188o,ll;1884,8, Mr H, A,' Stratford, who suceeeijs Mr Wardell in the Resident Magistracy of the district, has already arrived in Masterton, and it is expected that he will occupy the bench for the first time on Monday next. Mr Stratford was formerly Goldsflelds Warden and Resident Magistrate at Greymouth, and subsequently at Naseby,

The following appointments of postmasters aro gazetted;— Gladstone, J. Holmeij Tawa Flat, A,M, Taylor; Kurilpuni, T, l\ Mn,

Tho Hov J&aifth Ward pwhod lib inaugui'Al B&t'iuon in tho Woslsyfin Olmpl) Ofli'tortiin, last nighty tiildiW lot 1 Ills l«t jilifi mm mm of tho 20tfi Psalm, from piiirljo gayo a ycry Improsslvo dliioimi'so. TOfe'rai!; W SfPfl audience for a week-day' sepmed to listen to tho somwn w\ fipl a|lpntfjcjn.

Prominent on the programme pf JJessrs Foley & Berkley's entertainment A)] "Mjwdw will be the clevre comedy, "Trifles Lights Air,"'by Theo Smith, a burlesque on the"-' Sjlfatigiy Ajmy, a 'Hib'ernian sketchy '■' a skating song"'and |ajjoing' on skates. ■ -'■-

fjie"Ggyernm.ejjt have received from th 4 "'Agejifc-jGrejiexW a' ',eable|r<un' stating that a conflict had taken' between a)jd Afgjiaii troops'ih the vicinity of tlje Murgliab «jvgrfl')i2Sjth'March. 1 The Afghans sjinepect wyeye'-jpsji

T/i)p gpyern/nenj; have receiyeji a reply from (Mpnej jigwjtt defmjtely accepting the position of ?? ew Zealand volunteers. It 1b understood 1$ will leave for New Zealand almost immediately. It has been decided to connect the defence works with the town by telephone, A bazaar for the sale of needlework and fancy goods, was held in jilje Wesleyan Supday yesterday afjteppon and pyenjiig., T|)e proceedings' were enlivened during the evening by singing and instrumental music, Mesdamep Isitt, Hoar, Redman, Kibblewhite, Westhi, and Miss Caverhill presided at tho various tables, and the buying and selling went onina vory spirited manner. All the unsold goods at 9 o'clock were auctioned by Mr lorns, who quickly got through his p|eajßan|li dufy. The days proceedings adile'd' spnw £JLq to ,the jOhurch funds.

A picnjc was -Jb'eld yesjerday $ .Wangaejiji $9 gejebratp the highly successful result pf the ajinp} gpmjnatipn of the school, and in ponnectipn with, tlie djstribution of, prizes to the roost successful pupils. At 11 a.m. the children with their parents and friends gathered in the school-room, when the prizes were distributed by the Rev D, Fulton, who took ppbagjon, in a short address, to eulogise the teacher, Mips McKenzie, for her zeal and abjlity, and tp praise the pupils for their diligence and attenjtiqn to, their lessons, so as to secure 100 pur cent of passes at titpit sxainilittt'ion. This, Mr Fulton said, was all tlje more creditable, bojh to Miss McKenzie and the scholars, >vj|en it Wftß considered that it was only twelve months sinco the school was opened. Such was the progress made slnoe then, that several scholars who then began with the alphabet had successfully passed into the second Standard. Mr Fulton urged the children to continued diligence and attention,and concluded by calling.for three cheers' •• fcr the teacher, '"'Miss' McKenzie. The children and their frieuds then proceeded to an adjoining paddock tq partake pf the good things abundantly prp'yuleiJ fpp thpjii, and to indulge in va'riqus pastimes,"' W'HUiMJ.I! Hi lIW