The Waikato Times. Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political Here shall the Press the People's right maintain, Unawed by influence and unbribed by gain. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3 1877.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 723, 3 February 1877, Page 2

The Waikato Times. Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political Here shall the Press the People's right maintain, Unawed by influence and unbribed by gain. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3 1877.

We alluded m our last issue to the inconvenience inflicted on the Waikato public by the closing of .. the Ngaruawahia hospital by the Government, but tliere is another matter m connection with the action "just taken, which calls for out' sympathy and notice, and that is, the peculiarly hard case of the officer m charge, whose summary dismissal follows the closing- of the Institution." The Government cannot but admit the claim to consideration of a man who has spent the prime of his life m the discharge of important and onerous duties, however much they may urge the fact that his position as a -medical officer on'the staS of the Militia^ of the Colony does not entitle him to a pension, when the same services, had he been a civil officer of the Colony, would have enabled him to claim one. Still, there is no rule without an exception, and the case of the'medi-. oal Officer but late m charge of the Ngaruawahia Hospital is just one of these. There is nobasessionpasses but we see the legislature asked, and often notin vain, to recognise exceptional cases of hardship with far less claim to public sympathy than tTiis one. Surely, m dispensing with the services of its public servants, the should makesorne distinction between the case of a man who has sei'ved over a long course of years, till failing health has rendered him unfit to enter again on the struggle of life m the practice of his profession, and those whose- services, per. haps, do not dale back a sixth of th« time. Are both to be placed on the same footing of dismissal"? A moments notice, with thi'ee or four months salary, we are not sure which, as compensation 1 Surely, if m the one case, such compensatior is no more than sufficient, m th( other it falls very far -short of th< mark. And 'this is exactly the cas< with Br Carey and the other medica officers who received their discharg* simultaneously with him. Th< Doctor's service has been a long anc arduous one. He entered th< service of the New Zealand Govern ment, m 1863, as^ssistanb surgeor to. the Ist Battalion of the Aucklanc Milifcia, doiag town duty for awhile and then proceeding to the from with the "Volunteers, serving witt Majoi? Lyon at the .; Galloway re doubt. On return from camp > Di Carey, with Dr Goldsbrough, Organ ised tne Auckland General Milifcis Hospital, of which institution Di Goldsboro and himself were ap pointed medical officers. Up to the time "of Br Carey's appointment as surgeon to the 4th Waikato Regiment, m 1864, his services were ir continual requisition, but, from the date of the latter appointment, they were far more trying, when he became sole medical officei incharge, without assistance ; while to make matters worse it was nol long before the pay of surgeon was reduced, to that of assistant surgeor only, and the surgeons of the 2nc and 3rd Waikato regiments being struck off pay the whole medical work of the disferict devolved upon him. The same services have beer performed by Br Carey to a late date," for when the Colonial Government cut the painter and left the men' of the Waikato regiments tc their own resources it was Dr Carej who was appointed as the most suit able and efficient officer to take medical charge of the Armed Constabulary, while from then till now a large amount of gratuitous medical assistance has been given by hiw to the Government immigrants, since the introduction of the Public Works and Immigration scheme rendered some such assistance necessary m the district. Altogether, we think the past services of Bt Carey since 1863 may claim some further consideration at the, hands ol the Government of the Colony than is afforded m the compensation allotted m the regulation order just issued, which is applied indiscriminately*to One "with a long service claim such as his, and to others whose claims are of less than two years standing. When" an officer m the Civil Service dies, his widow is entitled to a month's pay for every year of her late husband's service, and surely when the Government itself outs, the thread of official life, the victimis entitled to as full a consideration even though the peculiar nature of his office excludes him from the category of "civil servant." . There is an eternal fitness and justice m things which the Government will violate if they make a cast iron rule and abide by it m such matters. Much must depend upon circumstances m dealing with these cases, much must be left to discretion, and there are cases and this is one m the exceptional dealing with which there -is no danger of setting up a precedent which may become a stumbling block m the future.

We are reluctantly compelled to hold over the letters of Vates and our Auckland correspondent's "Town Talk," also the Cambridge Farmers Club report;, the letter of Impisi, - and an article on the Native Question till oar next issue-

The Mobntno Stab Lodoe of Fbee Templ4Bß was to have met as usual on Wednesday ni^ht noxt, but owing to the concert to be he'd that evening m aid of tin Hamitoii West School funds, the Lodge meeting will takeplacfcdu Monday evening next. Thb Resident Magistrates Court. Hamilton, will be hold on Tuesday instead of Thursday, so as not to clash with the great annual event of the district, the races. There are, however, only a few small debt cases of no interest except to the paties concerned. An accident, we regret to learn,'happened yesterday to tha daughter of (japt. Beere, The little girl ' was' eliml/iog a peach tree, to get at the fruit, when by some aooident t she, JelL to Jihe _ grou nd, dislocating the BKouider. She was brought into, Hamilton J4o Dv Waddington, who, at once raduoed the dislocation and, doubtless, a few. days . quiet and rest will restore her to health ; and strength. ' The N&ARffAWAHiA Punt baa been put into a tictiug state of repair for removal/to Hamilton, and may be expected up on' Monday by the' Eangiriri, when it will bi placed upon .the river as a substitute for that now m use,, which is. altogether too. small for the traffic. We have not heard what is to be done with the old Hamilton pun^, -hilt, probably it might be made available for tho Pukerimu settlers, to whom it wouldbe &bflon.■ DRINKTNG >m Scom2^d. — i_b.e course of a disoussiom m the. Legislative Counoil lately (says the ' Arguß ?) ©n one of the clauses of the Public" houses Bi'l, Mr Reid, one of the .mem»iara for the Nonh-eastern Provincda^aaid there was a great deal of talk about drunkenness prevailing here, but when he was.ia' Scotland, about three .years, jigo, he saw more drunkenueaß m one week m the town of Stirling than he ever;Baw altogether m Australia. ->t . In thb Tuukjsh Cppe. -r A. vcorres-pondent-of the. Lpnclqa i" Daily ■'.Tele-' uraph " writes usfollo^stfrom." the' headquatera of the Turkish •■ army ut NissaJ under date of 12th September. I then* procjeded to look at Hueasin. Pasha's men m the valley. A curiously composed force was that. To say thajt there were no beni fide Turks m it {would parhaps bean exaggeration, for I think there 'were 150 Turkish Cossacks and-bilf a. battalion of regular Oiman i int nitry there. But the foot regiments, of which there 'y»ere. two, close to tne MoravestWi, and within easy gunshot of AlexinatZj -were certainly not Moslems. In uniform they were like their comrades of the liheifiri drill and set-up they were, I fancie i, a little superior to some battalions I had seen. They were, if anything, a little fine.in point ol" stature, handsome.doldferlike'menj and it was only when I came near their com mander's tent, and saw unfolded 'the*' bright red baner, bering like the ereasoent add the cross, that I learned I was. : among the Greek Christiants of ' Constantinople, who had enlisted to save the Porte from the design of Moscow. I had fead somewhere that nob 500 were .ever enlisted, Here were 2,500 as handsome {volunteers .as I ever saw mmy life. "They fight well, too," said a Turkish colossi. "I never saw the Serbs run away so I fast bef jre as when these Giaours , cape down that hill over there after thejfc," b.B added." You see that one," he continued, beckoning a fine light-haired, sharp-featured corporal to him,; "he's a 'Jew. Yesterday we were going over the : hills, and we came across a party of Serbs. : That, fellow ran ■ m and caught v two of ftiem, brought' them m as prisoners,' and is t 0 be decora-, ted for it. He's done; equally good' things before." Saying which he patted the young Hebrew on back; while . the soldier modestly-- smiled^ -made a salute then went away.' is a good many too," added, tbVdjfflcer,: calling 'up another soldier! "He's a Pole,' .-I- believe jat any rate he fights like '.a. lion." To my surprise, the vo'unteer had no sooner saluted than he ta ; q/ "I beg your pardon, sir, but I have been m the English service ; I served m Abyssinia. My time being out, loameherej.but tha difference is that, whereas the ' English gave ua plenty to eat an-.l drliik. and regular pay, we here get scarcely enough J,o live upon, and no money. However, we want to teach those restless Serbs a lesson ; so we don,t tnind much" And off he went to -munch bis bard biscuit and drink, the particularly muddy water of the river. But these were only parts of Hussein Pasha's happy family, the rest were the Circassians; Tales. were told of personal adventure, the prospects of war r debated upon m rude fashion, and so the evening wore on. A fact teetotallers. ■ iNot on«i of those men drink anything jstrongei tii;n coffje j and m this they followed the oustom Of a'l the Circasnans m came. The Hamilton l|AeT Scsool — Elsewhere we publish a letter from Mr Potter which puts plainly before the public the grievances of the people -of the East Hamilton or Kirikiriroa /district m matters connected with their local ■ school. For six months the Hamilton East school has been, dosed up owing 1 tso tbe aotion oT the r Central Board m Auckland, and now that a master and miatfess have arrived m Hamilton to open school after r.he Christ- ■ mas vacation, beholft there is neither schoolhouse for the\n to teach iv, or residence provided for their reception, f The committee have [rented, a house for thair temporary occubation, but that they should have to doV-thia, through the neglect of the CentraJ^Boardjis an unfair tax upon the; public? of the; district and most discreditable to'Uhe Central Baard itself whose officers take three weeks to reply to a simple business corumuuioa'ion, and when they do rep'y only.throw every possible difficulty the^&m in4he way of the local Committee. -t*# ' . / V Accident on the PuNrV-r--Another-^of -thoea-Ha^^fetft^^Hiioh-^are" continually occurring .orf^th'e "Hamilton punt., and which will eotne day end fatally (and then we shall set about getting a bridge m earnest), happened on Thursday. A dray was on the punt and > a siddle horse, from "which foi'tumtely the rider had 'dismounted. Luckily there were no women or ohildren pro ent. The wheel of the dray must have touched the shoulder of the saddle horse when about midstream, for he became suddenly restive, rearing and plunging, flinging himself arouud generally, and kicking out hehind and before m ajinost uproarious manner.; His rider held well on ti the bridle, but m spite of every effort the-now maddened steed backed on to the rear rail, one of which >s placed across either end the punt, and, the treacherous scanrling giving 1 way, plunged into the river. Fortunately his owner was enabled to let go the bridle, and was thus saved being dragged m also. Meantime the horse m the dray gave evident signs of impatience, and was with' difficulty held. We need not point out the utterly inadequate accommodation to "the large traffic of vehicles and horse and foot passengers, crossing *he river at Hamilton, which the .punt affords. With- ; m the last twelve months we have had to chronicle aevoral ecci'dents, and weekly some gross case of inconvenience to' travellers occurs where vehicles are kept ■ waiting BOinetimes half- m- hour for their •turn to cross. As we before said, some ■ terrible accident, ret-U'ting m loss of life, , will occur, and then our local " mayors " l will set about organising an agitation fo a bridge. Had they persistently urged <thii matter as they should hare done the work would have been m pi ogress *ow.

The Honorable the Native Ministeb left Cambridge on Thursday night for. Hamilton, where he remained yesterday, and proceeds this morning to Kiliikihi. While at Alexandra, he received a deputation of settlers, who, were iatroduoed by Mnjir Drummond Hay,- who .interviewed him on the question of the closing of the Ngaruawahia Hospital. The Native Minister pointel out that the option of continuing on the Hospital, whfoh wag not a duty of the Colonial Government, rested with' the counties, but that at the sam<* time the Colonial Government would offer every facility m their power to the Counties m the transference of the Hospital building and appliances. tfhouM the^atter decide to o irry on the Institution. : We are glad to notice that the Phonetic Society of Great Britain and Ire'and, of which Mr isaao Pitman, of Batb, is secretary, hat just received an .accession of two new members, both residing m the Waikato. They are Mr C. J. Ashwell, of Ctirmbridge, and Mr Sydney E. Smith, Hautapu. By virtue of their position, as members, they arc -also duly qualified teachers of .Phonography or Phonetic Shorthand, and are prepared to oorrect the exercises of learnpis gratuitously, through the post, and willalao furnish tracts, &c, connected with the spelling reform, to • any one interested m the matter on receipt of stamp for same. The 'above" named gentlemen received their instruction from the Rev. S J Neill, of Cambridge who is a prominent mem*ber of the same Society. Auckland Visitors to thb Waikato Racks are reminded that the railway authoiities will issue tickets at half fares between the sth and lOfeh instant, and that the Waikato Steam Navigation Company finishes the journey (from Mercer to Hmilton, on the same terms. At Hamilton, which is only six mites frbm the racecourse, -well conducted Hotels and smiling landlords are waiting to receive them, and the mighty Cobb,; the king of tin road, hai coaches starting from and returning to the racacourse each day. The races themselves will be , the most attractive event of the season,' and the present is a splendid time of the year for visitors to make the tour of the Waikato sett'ementß arid themselves acquainted with the largest, the mist important, the most fertile, the most beautiful, and the most historically interesting of all the cum ry districts of the North < Island of New Zealand. Ngakuawahia Chukoh Meeting.— The Annual meeting of tbe Ngaruawahia members of the Church of England was: held m the Churoh, on Thursday the Ist inst the Key W Calder presiding. The , secretary read the report for the past year. 'On the motion of Hr Bjron, it was adopted. After a good deal o( o mvcreatton ab jub -letting seats, it was resolved, that persons m the h ibit of attending the churoh should have their seats re-' served for them until after the exhortation. Many other matters affecting, the welfare of the church were ulso discussed. Mr Calder nominated Mr Sear« anoke as 'minister's warden, Messrs Byron and Giffney, were re elected bj the Parish - oners. A cordial and hearty vote of thanks waj accorded to the Jttev. B": Ashwell for hs constant attendance to the wants of the people, and his regularity m holding morning services m this church. Thanks were also Toted to the! 1 ly-readers, 1 Messrs Searancke and Niohols, to Mrs' Searancke, Mr Willoughby, and choir, and also to the Sunday School Teachers. , , f