The Waikato Times. "OMNE SOLUM FORTI PATRIA." THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 1873.

Waikato Times, Volume III, Issue 147, 17 April 1873, Page 2

The Waikato Times. "OMNE SOLUM FORTI PATRIA." THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 1873.

We are sorry to learn that the late accident to the punt at Hamilton is likely to terminate in litigation. The facts of the case appear to be as follows : As soon after the accident as possible, the Lite ferryman boriowed a boat from Col. De Quincey, who kindly lent it, otherwise the ferry sen ice would have been stopped. While the fenyman was attending to his duties he was asked by the chairman of the Board, under whose management the ferry service is placed, to assist in getting the punt alloat ; he replied that he could not possibly leave the fei ry. Shortly after the punt arrived, the feirj nun was oulered off it by the chairman, who put another man in charge of it who worked the ferry for a d.iy 01 two, when he was superseded by the m.vi at piescnt m possession. Tließiaul has made several impioyements ami alterations to the punt. ' A considci able amount <>f coiiespontlence lias passed between the Board and the ferrj man's suietics. The latter i otlerul to p.vy h ilf the expenses if the man for whom tliev hid liv uiied liability was teinstated. The Board refused the utlcr. A public meeting of ratepayer w.is held, at ulnch lesolutions were passed condemning the action of , the 15u,ud. The Board paid no attention to public opinion ; thus expiessed, as a bill has since been sened on the , suieties and fen y man for the sum of X'U7 12s 31. All | three intend to abide the lesult of an action. The action . taken by the Board will have the effect of making sureties I very e.woful in l'utiue, - in l.ict it is calculated to render the , futmelettingot the punt impossible. We le.iru that a memorial to his Honor the Superintendent is in course of prep.aiation, praj ing him to take the management of the ferry service out of the hands of the present Board and vest it in those j of the Hamilton East Board, and that they may be bound I to retain all the money lealised fiom its rental as a reserve ' fund in case of accident. A boat is urgently required, as i in the event of accident to the punt there is at present no | means of crossing the ri\er. j Mr Kecvcs, in his recent speech to his constituent*, gives i the following at his reasons for not again joining the Ministry • — " As was stated truly by Mr Watcrhousc and Mr Yogcl, I was pvcbscd to join the Ministry, and I ha\c been frequently asked bj individual electors of this con- i etitueiu'y why, under those circumstances, I refused to go in ' and help them again, I will give you my reasons, and they , are very simple. I saw, hi the way, an article in the Lyltd- j ion Time*, the paper of which Mr Staflord seems to consider I am the sole insphcr, to the effect that a Minister should have no' feelings.' I don't agree with that, nor do I agree ' with everything that appears in the Li/ttelton Time?. I [ truly confess I looked upon the yerdict of the General Assembly as an act of injustice — injustice to me especially — and 1 felt that, aware as 1 y\ns that a gentleman of ccrtainlv more practical experience, andJJI bclieye of quite as great ability as in) self, was prepared to take oflice as Minister of I'ublic Works, there was no reason yyhy I should continue to sacrifice my time, health, and comfort yvhen the sacrifice was bo |little appreciated, and when the party with y\Li' h I yvas acting did not suffer from my place being filled by another equally able to fulfil the dv i"». Still I ■vvaa in doubt whether I yiould go in or not, and I told Mr Vogpl when he usked me that I would take a few hours to consider. In the cour-c of our com creation he had voluntarily lnfornnd me who yyere to be my colleagues. During the same afternoon Mr Ilftll called upon me to try and nulu c me to join, and it fell fiom him that Mr Togel had entered into a pledge with regard to another ministerial appointment of whichhehiidfailedtoinform me Ininysimph ■ay that the pledge was of such ii nature that T could not by any po>-t hditi countenance it, and I al-o objected to wli.it nppeartd to be such an extraordinary w.mt oi candour. 1 at once nuide up mi mind not lo join the Ministry, and wrote to Mr Vogpl and told him so. In making this explanation 1 trust 1 shall not be open to the charge of di>loynlty to the parrj with uhuli I wua lonnctlcd. ] rewired at the "iime time to keep m\ own counsel, and gne the Government a j_"'ne'al -uwort a« u piiialc member, though I wn« not able. »•* I "tnted, to join the Ministry. We haio r ¥ eei\ed from the enteprising Auckland firm, Megsr-i. Heed and Brett, « specimen of ?nusie printed in their establishment Tlii'typi'isni'H.aiideoiwquiMilly vi»rj distine' . indeed it would be difficult for any but an adept, in the art lo discern the ditleionco between it and moat of that which is lithographed. The bilU-r is much more expensive, and requires a considerable amount of talent brought to bear upon it in order It pr>liiLuf> sa' is 'act on reaii't. Messi <. Reed an 1 B ■<•(! h-iv,' hn I Lhoe i wnrr . (<> , n u-r iulo a speculaLion winch is rarely attempted even in more thickly populated Jitio'i ti in tut of \ leMm I, an 1 we theivforc hope thai ardcrs for miuic printiiijj will b<t sullieiontly plentiful to satisfy them tint their end-rpr^e i i 1 trh crcu'unlh to ] rove fi remunerative one. Our local music composers will now be in a position to see the emanation* ol their own brain prmtcp »nd laid si c by side with Ul- compositions of Beethoven and the other great in:i-'cr-> Wio enn tell but that this facility for getting mu-iieiil co 1 irMi-itii»n''>rii|tcil m:i\ tend to develop some bright genius of whom we do ijkl now c\en drcnir Of course there .ire little inueeiir i<»ie-> in fji." eompo=ilion ni the before in, won'd not li.none-urro'l Imd it been W) thing but a specimen ol what they can do in a tip<. graph fa 1 scut. We have ivu-y in.i>-ui lo l> I,u lli.tt, Ii mi uur kuowlodgis of Meisrs. Heel i ml Brett'-, aiTJiigoiueut II .ii-rlm-k. will lie .-..if i f.n lot tlv him dv iiinii

It appears that Mr Thomas Russell, is going to England, and who was, we believe, the professional man vv ho prepared the San Francisco mail contract, has undertaken, [gratuitously, ! the task of enforcing the penalties against Mr Webb for , broach of contract, and for making inquiries as to the prospects of continuing the service by that route. The lion Sir Vogel is on his way to Auckland to confer with Mr Russell on the subject. — Cross. A full bench of magistrates sat on Tuesday at Hamilton for » the purpose of renew ing, granting, or refusing licenses for the next y car. All the licenses in the district vv ere renewed with ' j I he exception of .Mr Driller, at Te Awamutu. An application ■ from MrLou'll, for a license lo .l house situated at Taupiri, • ! win refused on the ground thai, at present, there was no ne- | cecity for further aecominod.il am on the road. Mr Assmus ! got a licence for his house at Aleviudra, subject to its comi piction. The bench called atieutum to certain defects in the ! management or construction of the houses that have been ' I brought under their notice. In every case reform w as proI iiiisi-d. It is creditable to t!ici-e who keep houses in this I district, that we are able, with \riy lew exceptions, to record j the Inet that they compare \er\ f.ivoi ably with those in any j otlier countr) district in >"ew Zealand. A tea meeting was held on Mon \n v\ cning in the Wes- > | li-jan chapel, Rnglan. The trays were provided by Mrs ! Liilnieur, the Misses llarwint, Alo»danu»s Mitchell and ' ."SL-nackenberg. The chapel had been decorated with ferns, | &<• . by Messrs. Dunn and Tli'lips, who seemed by the prol.i- m of their artistic display to be ashamed of the ugliness of I lie unlincd walls of the chapel. After the tables had been cleared away a public meeting was held. The Rev. 0. H. I Schnackenberg in the chair. Addresses and readings were gi\en by Messrs. Duncan, Holmes, La Trobe, and Wallis, I and se\eral natives spoke ; — the latter appear to have a keen appreciation of the benefits of tea meetings. Mr Bush returned thanks to the ladies who hud so liberally provided I I the creature comforts, and he hoped soon to see the bar' j monium now used replaced by one from which real music 1 | could be obtained. During the evening the choir sang several j selections of sacred music, Mrs Sehnackeubcrg ably presiding jat the harmonium. The total proceeds ol the e\ening were , about £'J, which will go toward-, painting and repairing the chapel. On Saturday the 12th ni^t. the usual monthly inspection parade of the Waiknto Rillc Volunteers took place in the \ olimtecr Hall, Hamilton Lieut. McDonald in command. There was a good muster of the corps; the band, which is improving very much, played during the inspection. After , the inspection a meeting of the corps was held in the Royal Hotel for the purpose of electing officers. Mr Shanaghan occupied the chair, and called upon the members to elect a a captain. Lieut. McDonald was unanimously elected to the post. The chairman afterward-, introduced the ucvvlyelcctod captain to the members, and congratulated him on his promotion. The captain elect returned thanks for the honor conferred upon him, and stated that he would, as hitherto, do his utmost to promote the welfare of the corpsi He trusted that it would shortly become a strong company, i which, Irom itb proficiency, would prove a credit to the dis1 triot. He then took his scat as chairman. The election of a lieutenant and sub-liettlenant was then proceeded with. 1 Kns gu "Williamson was elected to the former post, and Volunteer Deegan to the latter. Volunteers Sinter and Low were eletted members of committee, five Sergeant Mullins and i Volunteer Neilson resigned. A vote of thanks to the chair- | man concluded the proceedings. | Amongst the -various districts in this province where a i good quality of fire-clay is found, is the Waikato district— I the Taupiri coal mines. By the annual report of the Colonial i Museum and Laboratory recently issued, we observe that , Colonel St. John has forwarded a sample of f'ue-clav from this district to the Colonial Laboratory for analysing by Mr i Skey. Of the simple sent Mr Skey reports that it has the j composition of kaolin, is of a white colour, and is unchanged In burning. It is also possessed of considerable plasticity , " lv the blowpipe flame, cold blast, it is with some difficulty ' vitrified, and there is no decided reaction of either potash or soda,. From these qualities the adaptability of this clay 1 for lire bricks and certain kinds of pottery is evident." It is ' reported that Mr WJthew, the proprietor of the Auckland glass-works, has tried this clay for the crucibles used in his establishment, and that it resists the action of the intense heat equal to the best imported fire-clays. This is another 'of the natural resources of. this province which should bo developo.l to some extent without delay. The number of fire bricks annually roquired in the colony should be proi dueed from our own beds of fire-clay by our own workmen, even if no effort were made to produce a surplus for evporl. I — Cftwy. ) The practice of qualifying gentlemen, by the prescntaj tion of shares, as directors for the puipo3e of using their ■ names to accomplish the floating of companies, has elicited ! a judicial opinion that such proceedings are illegal. In calling attention to a case recently before the law courts of England, the London Keononti&t, of the 21st of December, repoits that during the piogrt&sof the trial icf erred to, | Baron Mai tin, the picsiding judge, asked : — " Am I to nnj dcrataud that none of diicetors of this company paid i for their own shares ? Hayes : The great bulk did not, ]my Loid. Baron Mai tin : Then all I can say is that they ! ought to lie indicted." In summing up his Honor told the jury that if the directois had induced the public "tobe- | lieve that they had invested their capital in the concern, ! whereas in truth they lav no i isle whatever in respect to it such conduct was contraiy to law and morality." Oncol the locomotives on the railway line ran yesterday from Newmarket to Mount S.nirt, within one mile of Onehunga, and returned with two loaded ballast trucks. Messrs Lackland and Stewart and l)r Cloldsbro' were passengers, and, fortunately, the entire distance was travelled in safety, so that the skilled attention of the last-named gentleman was not called into requisition. The running was not made at a very great puce, in fact, a stoppage of some minutes took place at Ellerlisle, to w itness one of the horse races. It is extremely satiifietory to know tliit the line is so fir completed as to allow of so near .in approach to the Manukau, and it is to be hoped in a few short weeks wo may be called upon to chronicle the fact that the remaining mile is completed, and that Auckland is at last connected by rail with Onehunga. When this is efli-cted there will be more villa residences on the Manukau Road than at present exist. — The New Zealand Herald, commenting upon the future •ipp.onclmig elections '••ays. • — " We understand thnt a very large addition is likely to be made to the electoral roll of the province. The new claims to register must aggregate nearly one thousand. This in it«clf "hows that the people arc becoming alive to the necessity for taking nn active part in polities ; but we very much fear that the same degree of energy is not likely to be manifested in the purgation of the electoral roll. There are several hundred names on the list of voters of this province which have no legal right to be there; names of peisons who have lelL the province, or arc dead, oi who have parted with their property and aretherebv disqualified, or who nev er w ere possessed of any qualification, ft is therefore quite clear that it. is possible, at the approaching election, foi an unscrupulous political combination to u«e theso fictitious voles in such a way as to swamp the bona fide electors. And past experience in election matters in thi> province justify us in assuming that an attempt will be iiinilein this direction, and that the "dead votes" will turn the icnle agnmsl the living one-. ruder those cireumhtancos vve think it is thebounden duty of resident electors in cnch district lo lodge objections in all cases where the i|ii ilifiealion is known to be bad or doubtful." The following article upon the opening of Ohlncmuri appears in the I). S. Cross: — "Once more Ohinemuri comes !o t ho front, and last night, with 'immense enthusiasm,' a l.iriri' meet ing at the Thames hailed the promised opening of the country, and the is*ue of one or two permits to miners lij a leading chief ol Ihe district. ' Oneof the speakers, 1 Bays I lie k'lcgriw*, 'plodded liinisi'll that the count vy \wis virtually opened.' Very well, «o mole it be! It h;is been so oficn either in that condition, or ."bout to be so, that we uiii.t hope in a few days to pet still clearer proofs in the shape ol Imllur mining permit-., which aie at present an ciito'iiajinu delimit in the busline."

'Jhe Ki'Milm! M );;i-li.i*i''-. Court at Raglan on Tuoiiluy ) i-.t lor tin 1 pin j)o-i> i)| oohmili iini; duplications for licoii-fs Tlumv wimo no ni'w :i])|)!icitii)iH Mi'ssi'*. (.S-mlmni and Moon .ipjjheil iur lonew.ils ; Ijiil lln»u» hi'im; no Jmtiwri of tin* IV.iii )iu'>i"iit othor th. in tin- lu?i(li'iit \[ngi^ti'jti<, it «»i (loi'inul nee i'—ii \ to lolVr tin- .i|)])lkMtiun o( tlioc gi-nt li'ini'n to his iLonoi Uk- Miju'iMitonilt'iit