The Westport Times. FRIDAY, JANUARY 17, 1873.

Westport Times, Volume VII, Issue 1038, 17 January 1873, Page 2

The Westport Times. FRIDAY, JANUARY 17, 1873.

Concurrent with the satisfactory inrfcirnation that the second petition to the General G-ovcrninent praying for tho constitution of Westport as a Municipality, has already received one •hundred and fifty signatures of bona fide householders and that many more will be obtained previous to the despatch of the document to Wellington, we are also enabled to place on record the cheering fact, that notwithstanding the apparent depression of trade during the past twelve months, Westport has not retrograded in commercial importance, but on the contrary has .attained a higher position than in any previous year. Another argument, if argument be needed, in support of the oft reiterated plea that the privileges of Municipal Government and tho incidental expenditure of public moneys under local control, should be granted to Westport, as it has been to other places of far less importance, not as a privilege or favor, but as a just and indefeasible right. By tho return of customs revenue, published in another column of this d3sue, it will bo seen that for the year ending 31st December, 1872, the revenue derived from this port by the General Government has assumed the respectable ' proportion of £26,726 16s. (sd. .Allowing that the consumers of the dutiable articles yielding the greater portion of this revenue are scattered thoroughouL the Buller and

Inangahua Districts, and that J;ho petitioners in favor of a Municipality are but a minority asking primarily for something that will tend to their own immediate advantage, the fact must not be overlooked by the few, who choose still to raise doubts and objections as to the usefulness of municipal rule in Westport, that wbatevor advantages are to be gained by the residents in the chief port of the district, must of necessity, in the common order of events, also tend to the advantage of inland residents; and that Westport municipal councillors will in reality act as factors or agents in obtaining a more fair and prompt expenditure of public revenues, generally throughout the district, while taxing themselves and immediate neighbours for their ewn local requirements. .For instance the General Government has expressed a willingness to expend some £50,000 in Public Workson the South-west 'Goldfields during the next two years, hut :it is not at all 'likely any haste will be made to fulfil such promise unless local influence and authority judiciously spur them-on to action. The chief works urgently needed, and upon which in fact depend, the chances of permanent prosperity being assured to the town and district,! are the protection of the Buller river bank from Bintoul street downwards to the sea beach, the formation of a tramway to Mount Eochfort and Ngakawhau coal mines, and the opening of a dray road to Christie's. Fifty thousand pounds will not accomplish all this work, but it will suffice to made a good commencement, and the impetus to tradewhich would arise from the expenditure of such a sum in the -district, would tend materially to promote the confidence of alike commercial and moneyed men and the government authorities, and thus pave the way for further outlay on works which cannot fail to prove permanently and increasingly reproductive. The first duty of a Municipal Couucil will bo to urge by all constitutional means the initiation of such works, apart from the minor duties of conserving the local interests of the town and environs. It has been a standing grievanco, urged by residents on the Coast, against the Provincial authorities of Nelson, that the individuals empowered to control the destinies of the Province and expand its vast resources, have criminally neglected their duties as public men and made their actions in public matters subservient to their own petty interests as traders. With no ' souls above sixpences,' they have sought individual gain, rather than the general good, and proved a curse rather than a blessing, especially to the South-west Goldfields. It is to be fervently hoped that no counterpart of such action will be repeated here. It will be a subject to be deeply deplored both from a public and social point of view, if the slightest symptoms of a similar unworthy spirit is evinced to retard the movement now on foot to remedy long existing evils. It is a hard matter in any small community to find perfect unanimity prevailing, or to prevent personal motives clashing with and subverting measures for the general good, but the losses already entailed upon this long-suffering com munity, and the near prospect of further misfortune, should be sufficient to impress upon all, claiming ordinary intelligence or enlightened views, that perfect unity of action is the ono and only means whereby to ensure a return of prosperity.

Another well-defintd seam of coal, twenty feet thick, has been discovered up tho Ngakawhau river, about two and a half miles from the present mine. The coal resembles precisely the Mount Rochfort coal, and is very easily workable. The seam is cut by the Mine Creek, and makes tho fourth well-defined seam found in that locality. The whole Ngahawb.au district is evidently a vast coal bed, of which the measures will be traced until they unite with the Mount Rochfort mine. On Tuesday morning Langdon's Inangahua punt, which had broken «tdrift, sailed down the river and out at the northern channel. As it crossed the bar it was hidden in the breakers, and was supposed to have sunk there, but it was, during the day, discovered by Mr T. Jones near the beach at the fiaxmill, Werita Creek, and with assistance he was able to drag it ashore. The deck fittings and rails were damaged, but the boats forming the hull of the punt were little injured. The Court House in Palmerston street was re-opened for business on Tuesday last, and hereafter tho Resident Magistrates and Warden's Courts will bo held thero on Tuesdays as usual—business commencing at 11 a.m. The receipt and expenditure of money on account of the Christmas Sports and Races was as follows,; Subscriptions received, £7l entrance fees for races and sports, £6O 4s ; gate money, £l7 3s; sale of booths, £lB ss; total, £167 is. Expenditure— Prize money for races, £9 Is 6s; for sports, £3l 15s, printing, advertising, bell-ringing, auction fee, attendants, labor, cartage, compensation, and incidental expenses, £4) 9s Cd; leaving a cash balance of £3 10s 6d, which was handed to the Regatta Committee. The debtor and creditor account o? the Regatta Committee show receipts from race fund, £3 103 6d; subscriptions, £29 17s 6d; entrance fees and sale of cards, £6 4s ; total £39 12s. Tho payments were for prize money, £3l 10s; an.l incidental exponses, £S 2s. The gale on Monday night did some little damage on the terraces by blowing down limbs and branches of trees, and obstructing the water courses. At Giles a largo tree fell across Way and party's fluming, breaking it down for a distance of thirty or forty feet. The great fall of rain «ince Monday last has flooded all the riveis and creek, and made travelling dangerous and difficult. Out-door work has been suspended, and rumours are afloat of various disasters Ii outlying districts. In the direction of Charleston the gale on Monday night was specially severe, and the fluming in many claims has suffered. The heavy sea has

done some good in clearing away the grey sand from the beaches, and leaving a welcome deposit of black sand for the beach coinbers. On the Buller the damago done is trivial. Some land slips have happened on the road to Christie's. The annual meeting of the Westport Volunteer Fire Brigade resulted in the election of the ;f olio wing officers:—Captain John Hughes; Lieutenant. T. Bailie; Foreman'of tho Hose Company, Edward Quigley; Foreman of the Hook and Ladder Company, J. Franks; Foreman of the fire company, James Powell; Engineer, 11. M'Farltme; Treasurer, T. W. Humphrey; Secretary, W. Fagg. The brigade have during the week removed two of the Abyssinian well pipes, and will at their next meeting discuss the question of the best sites for re-sinking them. Another pipe opposite the old Post office site, is so firmly fixed that all efforts to remove it have proved unsuccessful. We call attention to a notice appearing in -this issue cautioning persons against removing drift-wood from the sea beach, in contravention of a proclamation made by the Superintendent, under the harbor laws, in June last. -It is considered, upon the authority of Dr Hector, that the drift-wood, if allowed to accumulate, would form an effectual barrier against furtber sea encroachment, and that much of the disaster experienced has arisen from the reckless manner in which such wood has been carried away and burnt. The police are instructed to keep an eye on all marauders. The committee of management of the lite concert in aid of thefunds-of St. Johns Church, submit, for the information of the public, the financial results of the entertainment : —Receipts, £4l Is; Expenditure, £l6 lis Gd; Net proceeds handed to the Churchwardens, £24 9s 6d. The " frantic bargain " season has fairly commenced among our local soft good's dealers. The proprietors of each establishment are offering unheard of bargains to their patrons and seem determined to " do or die" in their efforts to secure a flow of custom. Competition is the soul of business, -and no materfamilias will object to reduced prices, We call attention to the unreserved sale by auction, at 2 p.m. this day, of the well known Hotel property, J. K. Grant's Star Hotel in Kennedy street. It is seldom such eligible premises are brought in the market. H. E. West has received the appointment of bailiff to the Resident Magistrate and Warden's Courts, Charleston, in the room of S. Ellis, resigned. An important case was heard at the Charleston li.M.'s. Court on Saturday last. Ellis, Bailiff of the Court, was summoned by one Noonan, for the amount of a warrant ■which plaintiff alloged the bailiff had failed in the service of, through negligence, whereby the person—Maloney—upon whom the service should have been made, had been enabled to leave the district, and the judgment unsatisfied. A considerable amount of evidence as to the negligence in attempting to serve the warrant was taken, plaintiff endeavouring to made out that the bailiff had failed in doing his best to effect a service, whilst, on the other hand, the bailiff brought evidence to show that he had thrice made the endeavour, but that on each occasion Maloney had run away from, and evaded his service. The Court taking into consideration that two other parties were concerned in the case, on whom levy could have been made, had it not been against the express desire of the plaintiff, gave judgment for a third of the debt— £7 5s 6d, and costs. Immediate execution to issue. A dividend of 3d per scrip has been paid in Anderson's Company, and the manager expects to clear off present liabilities connected with the mine by April next. Wages men in the Reefton District are still holding out against any reduction in wages, but the mining managers are firm, and will take on no hands except at the reduced rates, Much work will now be done by contract. An accident befel Bishop and Mrs Souter on the 9th instant, at Nelson, on their way from Bishopdale to Suburban North. Uis Lordship was driving a two-wheel vehicle, and at the foot of the hill by Bolton's nursery, the horse fell upon his knees, and both were thrown with violence to the ground. The Bishop fortunately was not seriously hurt, but Mrs Suter's left elbow was dislocated. At the sitting of the Supreme Court at Nelson, a verdict of guilty was recorded against a prisoner for setting five to a breakwater in the Wai-iti river bed, but counsel for the defence contended that the breakwater was not a building within the meaning of the Malicious Injury to Property Act. His Honor Judge Eichmond reserved his verdict, and waived the arrest of the prisoner until the point had been settled by the Court of Appeal. Thus the prisoner's freedom or imprisonment depends not upon whether he did or did not set fire to a certain breakwater against the peace and dignity of our Sovereign Lady the Queen, but upon the far more important point whether or not that breakwater was a "building." If the Chief Justice and Puisne Judges decide that a breakwater is a building, the prisoner goes to gaol; if the contrary, he is a free man. Such is the beautiful simplicity of our laws. In the R.M. Court, at Reefton, held on the Bth instant, Thomas Wilkin son, formerly of Westport. was charged upon an information laid under clause 303 subsection 9 of the Bankruptcy Act, with having fraudulently obtained goods from Messrs Cameron, Schulhof, Alexander, and Wilson, and was committed for trial at the District Court, Reefton, on March 5 th. Bail was applied for and granted, the prisoner in hia own recognizance of £ 100 and two sureties, .£SO each. The nomination of candidates to represent, the district of Inangahua in the Nelson Provincial Council, took place at the Court House, Keefton, on Monday, at noon, Mr Broad acting as Returning Officer. By the retirement of Mr M'Lean, the choice of the electors was limited to Mr Ivess and Mr Carreras. The poll will bo held on Suesday next the 21st instant. HenTy M'Closky, a miner, formerly of Charleston, was taken to the Reefton Hospital on Tuesday last, from Larry's, Buffering from a severe and accidentally selfinflicted wound with an axe by which the big toe had been almost severed from tho left foot. Dr Bulmer found it necessary to at once amputate the toe; but the sufferer is progressing favorably. Crushing for the Invincible Company in Anderson's battery has been postponed until Monday next. Harvest prospects in the Grey Valley are exceptionally good; surpassing both in quality and quantity anything previously experienced by the sttlers. The 'Colonist 'says :—ln the case of fireraising before the Nelson Court on Wednesday, on referring to the numerous counts in the indictment, one of which set forth that the breakwater burned was the property of his Honor the Superintendent; Mr Pitt, for the defence, said that this had not been

proved, in fact, said he, "There is no evidence that there i 3 a Superintendent."— Philistine, in Court, Uotto voce): " Hear, hear." The 'Wellington Independent,' of.the Bth instant, has an article relative to the formation of tho Wellington Company to work the Brunner coal-mine. It says that O'Neill, M.H.E., waited upon the Superintendent of Nelson to ascertain the terms upon which he would (Miff- a -lease for the mine. O'Neill was leu to believe tho proposal waa favuicvtij- entertained, but was informed it was necessary to lay the matter before the Waste Lands Bo.ird. Since then no definite reply has been received. It expects 'that the consideration of the matter is postponed. The 'lndependent' says the reason for delay i 3 that Mr Curtis became alarmed lest Wellington enterprise should develop the mine he so long tinkered with, and called a private meeting of Nelson gentlemen to induce them to develop the mine; but thongh there was a great deal of talking, there was no chance of sufficient capital being raised. The 'lndependent' says the only chance for developing the mine is taking it out of Mr Curtis* s incompetent hands, and making it a colonial property. The members of the Schoolmaster's Association in Dunedia are about to abolish the custom of giving prizes to school children. We are quite aware of own knowledge that many parents who value the educational and moial advancement of their children, feel it is mistaken kindness to the little ones to encourage the present system. School prizes are seldom awarded to children upon their real merits. A sharp clear brained lad may keep the top of his class without any mental effort, while another, duller of conrprehension, or with a treacherous memory, may exhaust his young energies to save himself from being placed lower down among the school classes. As a general rule, too, the boys and girls of well off well-to-do parents and guardians carry off the best prizes. Young people are very sensitive to any injustice, and we believe with the Dunedin schoolmasters that the system is fraught with evil. Tfc is a custom more honored in the breach than the observance.