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Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 731, 22 February 1877, Page 2

Fat Cattle.— We understand that Mr Wm. Qualtrough started from Te Awamutu yesterday, with forty net d of fat cattle for Mr Buokland's sale.

At the Bbidqb Meeting held last night, at the schoolroom, Hamilton West, many persons .- from ilness and other causes were unavoidably absent, and the chair been formally taken by Mr Knox, it was resolved that the meeting be postponed for another three weeks or a month. :

EEWI AMD THE NATIVE MINISTER.— We notice a very important mistake in the report of Eewi'a interview with the Native Minister at Alexandra, on Thursday, as telegraphed, to the "Thames ,Star." It was Te Ngakau, and not Eewi who taunted the Native Minister with the fact that the Waitara dispute was not referred to to the courts for settlement. Such a speeoh being made to come from Eewi, instead of from a mere hauhau nobody as Te Ngakau, gives a significance to the remarks which it does not possess, is in fact, inconsistent with the whole tenor of Eewi's conversation.

Presence oe Mind. — Yesterday a married couple were attacked in Victoria street, Hamilton, nearly opposite the English Church, by a dog. The wife screamed and tried to run, but her husband cought her by the shoulders aud held her fivmly .between the infuriated beast and his person, while he whispered in a horse voice,— -'Don't you dare let go of me, darling, I'll stand by you eve i if he doe bite.' Never losing his presence o mind for an instant, the daring man baffled every effort of the fieroebrute to get at him. The owner of the dog interfered, and as the couple moved off, the husband waa hard to say, ' If you had only let that dog bite you, I might have Bued— for £1000 damages. But you never have much sense.

SHOBTHORN Bull, — Yesterdays 11 Herald" says: Gradually our settlers are taking measures that will ensure a great improvement in our flocks and herds at no distant day. On several occasions lately attention has been drawn to the arrival from England of highly bred sheep, . for the purpose of improving the flocks in this province. In several districts additions have been made to the herds by the importation of pure-bred shorthorn and Hereford bulls. The latest addition in this respect was a splendid shorthor 3 bull from Australia by the Hero, and is now in Mr Buck land's Yard, at the Haymarket. He is pure-bred animal, rising four years, old and is from the herd of Mr McDougal of Victoria. He is an excellent addition to our live stock, roan color, and comes to the order of Mr E B Walker, of Mo nevale, Waikato. The animal was ex: li ned yesterday by several interested

in agricitural malt stb, .and greatly admired by all who saw him. He is to be .taken up to Mercer in a day or two, to be thence sent up the river by steamboat to his owner's farm in the neighbourhood of Cambridge. Registered Letter Stealing. — A singular discovery was made the other day. at Blenheim. A int.n, named Messiter, was arrested on a charge of stealing Poab-letters, and sent to Christohurc 1 !. When discharge! from his situation as post.master and telegraphist, being indebted to.the Jo.al hotel-keeper for toard, his boxes were detained and were opened when it was found they contained upwards of two hundred registered letters addressed from and to England. The presumption of course is that they contained money which has boen abstracted, However that a man should- be able to steal registered letters and escape detection ' for a twelvemonitbj then only being found out by accident, is a matter which deserves the serious' attention of ; the postal authorities. ■ The Railway; and Swamp Bubning. — We have been asked to request private | individuals to desist from burning off the l Swamp in the vicinity of the Eailway near Hamilton, at least for a few days until the Government can get the ground systematically burnt on either side the line. ■ During the last two days some persons' have set tire to the Swamp to windward of the railway Hue, and tlie consequence li*. that some twenty-four, chains of the ine have been. burnt to the depth, of four inches, ond had the ground, been drier great injury would havo been done to the works. When once the railway staff have burned a scrip on either side the line to cut off the approach of fire from outside, the burning of the swamp generally will ceise to be dangerous to the line. • • The County and Boad BoabdSubsi dies.— Amongst other flaws and omissions, in the gnu : of Bills wlich refer to the waking of the system of local selfgovernment' is the absence of any pro vision fixing a° date or dates pn which the subsidies, in any year, due to the county councils or road boards should be payable to those bodie3. Under previous arrangements, subidies; or payments, from the Colonial Governments to the several Provincial Government, were, when paid, made monthly, but as far as the Financial arrangements Actaud other Acts read with it go, the Government will have done all that is required of them' if they pay the subsidies over during any part of the year. Under these circumstances it is gratifying to read the following in the "Herald" of Tuesday.: "Mr J A Tole, Chairman of the Ponsonby Highway Board, has received .official information from Wellington .that the amount of subsidy coming : to his district will be lodged to the Board's credit at the bank where their highway account is kept. We believe that the City officers have not received any intimation as to when their share is coming..

The Eajlway Commission. — The principal work of the Ooniurisaion at the meeting on Monday,, was to receive from Messrs Paosmore and McDonald information of vaiious kinds on the subject of the working of the line. The particulars were elicited in a conversational manner. Only one geatleL/an came forward to advocate the cause of the public The Hon Mr Chamberlain, M.L.0., attended before the Oommisaicn, and stated his conviclion that the rates, both for passengers and goods traffic, were too high,, and that if they were lowered the line would be better patronised. He cited as an instance of the way the public U3ed the road instead of the rail, that whereas there wee 3,000 sheep at Buckknd's Fair the other day, only about 1,000 were conveyed by the railway. Be a'flo condemned the present tariff for Bmall parcels. He said he had friends on the G-reath South Road at Bombay, who always sent in their goods by carrier. The farmers about that settlement preferred to ride and drive into town because of the high charges of the rail. The same fault was to be found ' with the season ticket charges. Then again, why did so many empty trucks return from Mercer when there was coal to fill them if it co ulrl: be conveyed at reasonable charges? Mr Chamberlin said he was snre that if the railway were ran at such 1 w prices that a loss was sustainnd for a year or two it would be better in the end. • The -Commission was to sit again yesterday.

The Kinghtjss and Eacing.— Within the last few days, says yesterdays 11 Herald." a prominent man among the Kingites haß made a proposal wbich some are sanguine enough to think may lead to the re-establishment of the entente cordiale between the races. Before the war Mr Henry Hardington had a good deal of conversation with prominent men amongst the Waikato 3 about establishing a grand race for Maori horses at Eangiawhia, and within the last fewjdays Weremu jToitoi, a promi. nent man amongst the Eingites, has written, re-opening the subject. It is thought that if a race meeting were established, at which eapecialprizes should be awarded to Maori horses, the Kingites would come in and compete, that an interest would be excited, and that by-andby all differences between will vanish. On this point, we can hardly profess to|speak, but, if there is any hope, £100, for a prize would be well spent. Wiremu Toitoi, who makes the proposal, has a somewhat remarkable history. He made the acquaintance of some of the officers of the Austrian frigate Novara in 1859, and in that vessel went to Europe, with another Waikato chief. In Vienna) Wiremu made the acquaintance of the Archeduke Maximilian, the prince whose melancholy career in Mex'co caused such deep pity throughout the world. Maximilian asked Toitoi what he would like to take back to New Zealand with bim, and he said, "a printing-press and types-" We need not repeat the story of the mischief which that printing, press did. However, it would seem that Wiremu ■ desires to heal the breach through horse racing.

A fire, the undoubted work of an incandiary, took place at Piako on Monday evening, in the building adjoining the new school-house. It would seem that a sawyer, a man named Thos. Boyle, was loafing about the hotel in a state of semi intoxication, lnakiig himself a nuisance to persons using the bar. Mr Crawford refused to supply him with liquor, and at last he got so insulting and noisy that he .was taken out and laid on the floor of a small building unconnected .nth, but close' to the school-house. Some little time afterwards, a cry was heard in the roam in which the prisoner was confined, and on opening the door, it was found to be on fire. In the confusion, Boyle made off, running underneath the hotel building, and it waa thought by several that he intended to fire the Hotel itself. Mr Hill, of Hamilton, working on Mr Wood's new building together with a settler in the neighborhood, named Mann we believe, made a rush for him, and on coming up with him, Boyle seized Hill by the beard, and made a savage attempt to free himself. His hands were, however, tied, and as it was late, they laid him in the bar, thinking he would be secure there till morning arrived, and he could be brought into Hamilton, but in the morning the bird was flow. . Boyle

managed e omohcw to get out in the night As soon as missed, bo was followed up. and Hill hearing a low csey, wont to the spot, and found him hiding. Boyle asked him to let th.9 matter side, and he would go quiety. He was then coaxed back to the hotel, and pinioned, and brought down in Mr Woolley's van. We should state .that, at the time the fire was first seen, there were a number of persons about, and by working hard, it was got. under without any very serious damage, the school itself altogether escaping. We cannot conclude our no rice of the abjve event without drawing attention to the manner in which the people of ffiako aie left:- -without a, - solitary , t coustable stationed in the district. Where there is even a single public house, and in allprobability there will shortly be two, the inhabit, ntsmay fairly claim tbe protection which the presence of these houses is sure a at times to render necessary! Id is hardly fair that private settlers and ethers should be called upon to apprehend half-mad drunkards, and perform the ordinary functions of a police constable for the public benefit. All credit to them when, as in the. case of Mr Mann aud Mr Hill, they do so, bub it is asking a little too much. The increasing- population and , prosperity of the Piako render such an appointment not only desirable but necessary.