The Wairarapa Daily. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1887. MR J. R. GEORGE'S REPORT.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2529, 19 February 1887, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1887. MR J. R. GEORGE'S REPORT.

We publishedin o'xtensojyeaterday, Mr J. Ri George's report on tlie Gas Workß. It maybe sa|<K4o* confirm all the doubts and suspicions which have been so freely expressed during the past three months. It is evident that the Borough .Council before' the works axe efficient will have to expand a sum which will probably amount to at least £500.. About .ose thirdofth,is amount is required to put s},o. tank right, another third to provide a^futer resideijse, This expenditure becomes a serious t qiptpi, as 'the Council has; to a very already exhausted! its financial ffee i?ain; point in Mr .George's report |sj hopelessly bud work, and that to m&fe it efficient, gas will have to suspended in Masterton for a month, or a

temporary gasometer erected at a cost which is hot specified. We also loam that gas is now being made at an expense which is capable of being materially reduced-;; a Every line George's report points to the fact'that the Engineer to whom the Borough Council entrusted the expenditure of some £B,OOO of /public money has not realised the expectations that were, originally .formed of his professional ability. Much of work done under hie supervision' is undoubtedly good, but still it is evident

•that" in many - respects there are spriouß shortcomings. We may, per- , haps;fairly assume that the Engineer has done his best for the town, but if his experience and professional attainments are insufficient to have enabled him to give entire satisfaction, the blame rather lies on the Borough Council for not ascertaining in the

first instance that the' officer they were , engaging was ablo to fulfil all their re- j quirements. That a bad tank, has j been constructed is proved almost j beyond a doubt and the responsibility ( for this defective work must rest on 1 the Engineer and the Borough Council. It is perhaps possible that tlio Engineer may yet be ablo to produce' evidence to show that the tank is a good .one and if he is prepared to do this it wil ! . be only right to suspend judgment upon his work in the interim. Unless, 'however, he is prepared to do this by . the evidence of an'expert whose professional status is equal to that of Mr George, the .popular verdiofc will be dead against him. The Council no doubt will, now that it has found out exactly what is wrong, do its best to put matters right, and we trust the public will support it heartily on the somewhat onerous task which has devolved upon it. After reading Mr

George s report one has the consolation of observing that although things are bad tlioy might have been worse, and that though Masterton is paying very heavily for the gas supply, it may be possible to retrieve the position by prudent and economical administration. Masterton has bought its experience in gas malting somewhat dearly, but if it profits by the experience it has now gained, it may eventually be able to make the enterprise a success, ■ ut • 1 [Since the above was in type we hear that an opinion from a second Engineering expert is about to lie obtained' in ..contravention 'of Mr ' George's report. 'We are well satisfied • that suck should be the case,, and will be quite willing to re-consider the ..opinions we have expressed if further I evidenco thiws any' hew light' 'upon the question.—Ed. W.D.]

Mr J. Sillarß, who was burnt but yesterday says the New Zealand' Times, is a gentleman who has earned somo local celebrityasapoet. MrSillars haswooedthe mußcsto the extentofseveral volumes, and some of hiß productions are considerably over the average standard of merit of the amateur versifier. :

Mcbbvs Lowes and lovns kvo rooeiyed , from Canterbury, 011 account of Mosßra \ Elder and Co;, of Lsngdnle, 30 Lincoln ( rams and one each bull and hoifor of tho ; Polled Angus breed. I Tho Ago concludes an article on Ton- ' gan affairs thou" It is a sad and eorioua reflection that people who as eavagea were ; noted for their friendly disposition should, ; as Christians, be found squabbling and -j fighting with a zeal and fervor which both : sides insist on designating aa roligioua." ; During the first two days of tl\o recent fog in London th» receipts' of orio company wore increased by £IO,OOO, and it was shown that a fog of twenty-four' hours' duration necessitated an increased supply of gas by the Gaslight and Coke Company of 37 pof cent,, or ovor 35,000,000 foet! It is ostimated that twenty-four hours' fog in London increases the,consumption of coal by one pas company alone to tho extent of 3500 ttm We have spont considerable time in raising fowls since coming here, says tho Pahiatua Star, with tho object of ono day running a poultry farm instead of a.newspaper. But notwithstanding the bull-dog on the premiaes, tho fowls disappear one by one in the most mysterious manner; they don't even leave a. feather bohirtd. Now, if anyone thinks fchoy have abetter right'to the poultry than we have, by all means como along and take the whole consignment at once. We object to being kept in suspense as to which will bo the next to depart, The conclusion we have come to' is that tho early bird in trying to. catch tho worm catches something eke, We hope the next one that.dißappears will be the means of bringing about a coronor's inquest. Something like a Jubilee celebration ! Twenty-five thousand prisoners in India released in honor of the Queen's Jubilee! Rather Rough on Society, I should say, to turn all these ruffians lpose upon them j Oh. but most of themare not ruffians at all 1 They liavp been put in prison for political offences or breaches of, the law which would not b<v considered crime at all in othor countries I Their release will be immensely popular .without, creating any danger to Society I It does'nt say much for tho humanity of British rule in India that 25,000 porsons who are lit to enjoy thoir liberty should havo been shut . ,iip in prison I No, it certainly does not, • at'first flistht! But British rule in liidia , has had to.be an ironrulej if ; it were to exist at all, and, as a fact, it is a marvel of justice and humanity under " the circumstances j-Press Puffs. , Tlio Post is responsible for the following During the approaching session Sir Julius, Vogel or Mr Ballanco will bring, down a Bill to. enfranchise women ! for the'returri of members to Parliament. Sir Julius Vogel is strongly in favor ot • tho oxtenßion of the franchise to women, and it is probable he will take charge of a Bill to give effoot to his viows; but if ho , does not do so, MrEallance will. It will • be a question for Cabinet consideration as to whether-the Bill be . taken up as a : Government measure, but in any case the House will be afforded an opportunity of discussing the matter. 'The 'Premier 1 has frequently declared himself in favor i of giving tho franohise to women, and. i there is a fair chance -of the Bill passing j through the Representative (]bamber. [ Its danger will probably be in the j " Lords,", who are somewhat conservative l in regkrd to questions of this advanced 1 kind, ) ; j About that £35 to be given away,— t To theliJitorr-Sir, Will you jallow me .through your columns to let the people of Hie'\Vairarapa know that I am going to 3 s.ell jill $y stock, consisting of men's, 3 youth's, and coye' clothing, shirts, hats, 31 hosiery, Ac., at'a 1? .up till the end of .fjoyear] and sbo£o i', remind them that every ot\e #o p.uys jl) godds to title value .piE 2s gets a ticket f- in my £3{> competition. Think of tha,t J By smdmg 2a ,6d .with me, you may win 3 mpn^y'.Moijgli jto carry you for a trip round New %land,—John Thobburn, I Clothier, &«„ Willis ct,,WolHnfton.

The nominations for the Licensing Com-1 mittees of the Masterton, Oaatlepoint, and Alfredton districts close at 'hoon on Monday next. ' . ; \ The half yearly meeting .of the Mastei ton-Opaki Jockey Club takes place tliio evening at the Club Hotel. The Kuripuni Sunday 1 school anniversary services;.,.will be held .tomorrow afternoon arid eveixihg at three arid seven o'clock respectively; -" . x '' The Fisk * J übilee Siiigerd, iwlio have juat concluded,a very successful season in Wellington, will give one of their popular concerts on Tuesday'evening next in:Mawterton;.' —" ; ' '

. A New Plymouth paper states that the drunkeneßS there ,is almost entirely confined to the. Maoris. They are the oiily

people who can afford it. The Parkville Special Settlement Asaooiation haveaccopted the tenderof Messrs Caselberg & (Jo, for the supply of Rye Grass Seed.

We understand that Mr Smith, the Borough Gas Engineer, has obtained tho services of Mr Hooker (the patonteo of the now gas bearing that name, to inspect tho Masterton gas works, and that a counter report will bo presented to the Council on Tuosday evening next. A clergyman at Bath' took ; strong measures on a reoent Sunday to stop the practice of,constant coughing and sneezing, in which bo many- peoplo indulge wliou they are in church. The preacher, 'finding himself interrupted as soon as he commenced his Bormoh byi perfect chorus of hacking'coughs, shut up hiß book, observing, " I am sorry to see that so many of you are suffering from coughs which you cannot restrain. The subject which I have,chosen demands, close attention, whicli noifclier you nor I can give to it owing.to your devere colds," and then he closed the service and deccnded from the pulpit.—Truth.

The' Wairarapa' saw mill industry, which continues'to increase daily, has just received a valuable addition to its already extensive list of machinery, Tho Post says "Messrs Lulto and Sons, of Te Aro Foundry, forwarded to tho Wairarapa yesterday, the large engine and boiler which was ordered by Messrs Udy and Gallon, of the Matafawa sawmill, some time ago. The engine is a horizontal one of 25 horse power, and it and the boiler have been faithfully constructed. The fly wheel is 10 feet in diameter, and weighs 3£ tons, and was turned in the firm's large lathe, a feat which Messrs Luke and Sons are somewhat proud of accomplishing. The engine bed weighs 30cwt, > The following contemptible fraud ivaS' reported in yesterday's Times :—An. elderly man named Edward Elton, alias Edmonds, appeared at the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday morning in answer to a charge of a most dishonest and despicable nature. Inspector Browne, who conducted the prosecution, informed the Bench that the accused had been going round collecting money in aid of . the mother of the'youn? man Duncan Craig (who was accidentally killed atTe Aro House last week), without any authority for so doing, and had collected

the sum of £l7s 6d, which he had spent in drink, by means of his imposture. The prisoner admitted the charge, and; had nothing to say in extenuation of hisoffence. In dealing with the case, his Worship said the accused had pleaded guilty to a eliargo which, to his mind, called for a severe , punishment. ; Tho accused had recourse to a mode bf raising money for his own selfish endß by imposing upon the charitable feelings of thoso who were evor ready and willing to assist m cases of distress, Ho seiitenceiJj tho prisoner to six months' imprisonment with hard labor. "I

The Rev, H, T, Kqbjohns, 8.A., NevM Zoaland agent of the British and Foreign® Biblo Society, delivored-4.' looturo' laeSß evening in the Wesleyan ChapeVik.'®H Bible Wonders" of last year." There waS a very email attendance, the countoH attraction of. tho "Soroorer" no doubM proving irresistible. The meeting waH opened by hymn and prayer, after whioH the Rev,. J,, N; Buttle introduced thfl locturer. .Mr Eobjohns,- in eloquenH language, described the manner of thS formation of the Bible.Society,i.aiiH illustrated'the great difficulty of"transH lating the scriptures into foreign toflguijsH Ho atated.that they were.now printed itn 300 languages,/ and, out of toe thH British and Foreign Bible Society hain translated 278. The work was by nfl means done yet, however, for no loss than 3000 spoken Since the formation of the Society® 108,000,000 copies of the scriptures ha« been sent out, . The lecturer concludefl by asking them to. pass a resolution; 'fqrtliß ing a branch of.the Society in MastertonH and also to establish a depot for the'' aall of their books, .Mr Buttle moved, "ThaH this meeting sympathise with the onm great object of tho British and Poreigiß Bible Society, aiflsl does hereby form M branch of the Society, to be called th'fl Masterton Branch ot the 'Wellington Auxiliary of the Bible Society, and than the following be the provisional commits teo for the ensuing yearJß,evs., Paigeß Fulton, and Buttle, and Messrs Feist, Dl McGregor, Galloway, and J. Elliott, witlfi power to add to their number." Thm Rev! D, Fulton, in seconding the motion J proposed to add tho .Mr JohiS Graham to the Committee. ' He.'hopoffl good fruit would result from the evening'® •meeting, andJalso.that a large sum woulci be forthcoming 'from this neighborhood next year to aid tho Societyrin its works ' The motion was then put to the meeting! and carried unanimously. Votes of tlianki to the Chairman (Mr Buttle), the lecture) and the choir were carried by acclama tion, and the meeting terminated witl the Benediction. The Manawatu Herald states that at a 'sitting of the Otaki Court recently, Messrs. J. Davis and Kebbell were sued by & rato-l payer of'the Horowhenua County for the;' sum of £2 2s, an amount alleped to have •been illegally paid to one W. Jenkins for obtaning signatures to ; a petition., Mr Wardell, R, M., held that the expenditure was-not ono which could bo lawfully charged against the funds of tho county,' and gave judgment against the .defend-' ants. As there are four who voted for the motion,'to Bhare the lusb. the amounts the defendants will individually have to pay will be very small. These aro some of the privileges-men who occupy public positions have occasionally to experience, ' 'The Almighty has done nearly every- . thins tor Auckland that was calculated to , make it'the great entrepot of 'the South , Seas, except in planting it with tho laziest least enterprising .mercantile class to be found perhaps in tho Southern ' Hemisphere, Tho first founders of the , place,' unliko the founders of any other i city in tho Colonies, were just logs of wood [ rolled up on the beach by the tido, and have grown into life from the nutriment of the mud that lay roundthem; and • that have come after, seem with a very i few exceptions, to have inherited' the t traditions, and imbibed the spirit of the ) place,—Bell. 1 A WQNDEUim HENN.-Many are the ini stances' cited of the astonishing fecundity of i' the .various species' of 'domesticated fowl; but I theblebra'ted JVelljngtohlfENS (whiih', strange j i to say, js of tho masculine gender) has a soul t- Theqimijt'r ' initech he tiirnS ouf Venetian "Blinds, efcri'is I the wonder and admiration of everyfjocjy from l the Governor down&atSs," Jhi ntafo 1 of' this ) wonderful bird is R, and hiV well .known fowl-houße is thoPoneko'Steahi Window 1 Blind Factory, Moleaworth-street, IVelllartou, -UK •

Tenders are invited by Mr G. Fannin for-.the erection of a residence in Worksop Road for Mr M. Caselberp; Captain Fostor has arrived in Masterton, and will open fire at the' Salvation Army Barracks to-morrow, ( i A man named Thomas Smith was i fined five shillings or twentv-four hours imprisonment at the Mastertdn Court this morning. This being pay-day on the railway construction works, Serpt. Price has.dispatched Constablo O'Connor to Eketahuna in case any disturbance should ' occur there. . .. The Treasurer of the Masterton Hospital acknowledges receipt of £4 7b 9d from Messrs Cock burn 'Hood and , Walker's employees, £1 from MrJ. W, Baker, and £1 3s 9:1 from Prince of Wales Hotel box.

MrG. Boetham, M.H.R,, has,inter-., viewed Sir Julius Vogel ro the alterations in tho Tenui post and telegraph office Btaff. Sir Julius stated that he intends to boo how the now arrangements 'will work, and if any inconvenience occurs a cadet will be appointed to the office... Wo notice that among tho prize winners at the Wellington Rifle ABsooiation meeting are Lieut. Benton and ; Private Tockov, Featherston, Sergt. Fairbrother, Carterton, and Lieut. Thompson, Maatorton. The low scoring at the meeting yesterday has boen the Bubjoct of a good deal of comment, the total of the prizowinners being much lower than the •coring last yoar. The. Volunteers who took part in yesterday's toatch, attribute the low scoring to tho Kynock' ammunition , .

. --■., , . p A brake accident occqrrod near the r Rorokoko Bridge on Thursday nieht about nine o'clock, by which Mr T, Carswell received a severe shaking, the loss of a light draught horse, and hia 1 brako considerably smashed, Tho night 1 whs very dark, and Mr Carswell, who was j driving in the brake a pair of horses, got c off the road, and tho vehicle was precipi- t tated over the embankment on the north t Bide of the .bridge, with the results as stated above. c

The land-lady of a public-houao has , adopted a novel plan of serving a sum- ' rriona oil a debtor. Sho got hor potman I to present him with a box of cigars, on- <■ closed in which was the 'summons. The i man, however, " smelling a rat," refused . to accept it. The potman notwithatand- ■ ing this, sworo that the summons was j duly served, and tho victim was sent for contempt to durance' vile for thirty dayß, 1 After serving eight days he obtained a re-hearing and,was released, and tho costs Wei'o taken off the debt, the MagiaBtratoi Remarking 'that the landlady had laid'lierielf opon for ah action at law; also that she no longer had any claim. Why Australia has missed seeing Mrs Langlij!L..is,thuß explained by the New Yofk Herald" Mrs Langtry'a answer in the suit -brought against her for damages for failure--to play an engageriient in Australia has been filed in tho United States Circuit Oouit by her lawyers, Messrs-Piatt and Bowers, The suit is brought by A. flayinon, accillary administrator uudor the will of Morris Green- 1 wall deceased. Sh'o admits that she entered into a contract with Mr Greenwall to act for sixteen wooka in Austrlia -in4|B4, but saysthat without her knowledge and consent Mr Greeiiwall. transform red tho contract to .Williamson, Garner, which transfer, Bheolaims, annulled the Agreement, Further, it is dlaimed", ibwaj stipulated that in case of defendant's illness, the contract should bo null and vuid. In tlie-Sprinp'of 1884,