OUR NEWSPAPER. OHAUPO.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 728, 15 February 1877, Page 3

OUR NEWSPAPER.

OHAUPO.

"Wbli, what's m the buster to-day P? • s< £oh', nothing, tiiame as usual tf' is the: invariable reply"'- aB the habitue at Gwynne's throw's tlie paper down on oneside with dibnppointment. "There never : is anything ih that paper J" Eveoso^ and yet the compilation of that same record of : events -is the result of hours oi hard labour and study. And .yet, notwith- ! Btanding the .faot that *" nothing " is m ■ ' the -paper, -its nest issue U eagerly looked '' fjr, and the wet sheet is opened, the same disappointment expressed — day, after day, and week after week, through life. Foolish reader.:- know thyself, that it is thy own lack of knowing what thou ' requ.rest ; that thou hast a strong spice of tbe . old, Adam — despising the present, resolving m the future. Know that it is thine own -emptiness, always hungryj ; yet continually gorging, without masticat- : ing, and crying '• More ! ' yet grinding no ■ meal. ■ Still, I must admit, our newspaper is ' not up to the standard — not what it ought to-be. ;But think, is there hot pltnty of ! •room for improvement m <ill aff lira wit h r ' ' out any cxc ptiori? Has there been^any ' poriion of ..your -existence that you have ' felt satisfied with since you stepped on "• earth? Is there any likelihood that you " { will be satisfied while you remain here ? • Nay, would not life : become monotonous ' if we had nothing to Wish for, nothing *■ to grumble at'? How should we fil up thoee two great wants — are they not* the I Alpha aud Omega of our existence: — are ' stliey not both meat and<drink io us? ( WhVt woiiid^b^the uae of a tongue if we. ' had nothing to grumble at 2 What is the ' 'apparent aim of marriage alter the first ' year, ( and \yhy do we fit up an extra ''-room 1 And entice our mother- in-law to live ' with us ? — Disoontent, discontent. The "\ two* before mentioned great wants seem to be equally as important *td life as is blood. But supposing our newspaper wore to 5 ! stop its iesue. Should -we not be viituall-j '< dead— without a stone- to mark our .whereibouts? It is not probable that we should be blotted ofi" the map of the ■-world, and written off " disappeared about the year .?" What would become of .our local affairs p wbo would take the (trouble* to rise aud propose,' "that—etc".; and how at. election -times we should arrive at the -knowledge that the .country was m da.iger, that a grand 1 • crisis -was approaching, and it behoved the electors to look well to it ? Js it not written m history that although publicly and to all appearances a ; man named George TII ruled the British i' nation, yet privately and m reality, it ' was Samuel Johnson, mem ser of the Fourth Estate — Ragged Samuel, who used : to have his dinner handed to him behind a screen, because 3ie had not sufficient ■ clothes to appear at table. That it was. his reviews, articles, political philippic's, and parliamentary debates that first , .called to life the powerful Fourth Estate, whose girdle now surrounds lhe globe;-! [' rule it, king of kin^s. Truly it has grown- , a grand tree, under whose "branohjes, birds; , 0 1 " various deg: cc and L-abber"*find shelter . , *—-frbm "'the stately Miltonian bird of' paradise, down to the most common b lrn . door sensational -penny-a-liner, that cant not lay a clean egg without cackling, j • There is one objection 1 hold to be good „ against a newspaper, that is the paying - -for it. It ahould be given away gratuij touely— it would then have many more , ; supporters. Any editor that can see his [- way clear to start a newspaper on the B . gratuitous system there is for him worldwide fame, and an immense future before. a him.

[February 14. A meeting of settlers was held immediately after the sale on the 13th, for the purpose of taking steps to connect Ohaupo. with Tamahere by a bridge across the Waikato River '; between Martyh's and Hunt's, such bridge, by its construction, , to connect the whole of this part of the Wiika**9 and Waipa, and be a continuationof the road now forming to connect Waikato, Piako and the Thames. Mr Steele occupied the chair, and called on Mr John Runciman to make an explanation. Mr Runciman sai.i he had visited .the proposed site the previous day m; company with Messrs All wright and Brittan, and measured it. The distance was 83 =feet, allowing 10 feet at each end for foundation;; total length of bridge,,! 103 feet j rough estimate cost, about £600, for *vhich paltry sum two large and important districts are completely isolated. He also informed the meeting that if there was a prospect -of the money beirg obtai ed, Mr Brittan would go on Mith the woi'k at ono, at a price much below what it could be done for at any future time, as he bad a large amounts

plant and material now ab Cambridge, besides expeiicnced workmen. Mr Brittan had promised to make out an estimate aud plans to be approved of by and laid before a meeting of settlers at Tam'iLe-e,*ihe rtsnlt to be for wa dad to Ohaiipi at nice- Mr Runciman felt quite aohfideut there'; would be no d fficulty m t hfl way of obi aii ing ihe required sum— Mr Martyn suiil he was not considered at all a go-ahead fellow m fiet quitb the coti'rnry. but when ho rode this morning sixteen mi'e*. and then looked across the fi t and found he was within a mile of where he started from, even he was not satisfied with this rate i,f progns?. He would be qui'e unable to describe the feeling of anjone who might be m ahurrv, The proposed woik was one that would benefit a very large district, and he felt sir j the settleis on both sides ofthe rjver would co-optrate for their mutual good— Mr Hunt said, as far a", he was personally concerned, .he could walk across (bar a flood), but ss it wpuld be a benefib to so many, ho would propose •.* That a commute be formed to pubßeriptions and obtain a bridge if possible. He said be oould talk to Mr Martyn quite < asy across the river, but if there was an exchange of produce of anj? kind, it was a journey of ne-rly tw«nfy miles ; he would therefore propose That a committee be appointed, to consist of the following : Messrs Fleming Buttle, Edwards, Steele, and Dr Waddington, three to form a quorum. Carried. Resolved, That a subscript ion list be opened, when the handsome sum of £130 'w'mS promised as a start — A vote of thanks to the chairm m was passed. — From a CORRESPONDENT