Kaipara-Puniu Railway.

Waikato Times, Issue 860, 20 December 1877, Page 2

Kaipara-Puniu Railway.

OPENING OP TEE NEWCAS ■ TL%*■ dA.vilLi.'o.'. BX^jflNl*Hß day broke clear and fine, a gl.«npu-i !New Zealaud summers day, for the long looked for holiday and demonstration in celebration of the opening of another link in the iron unain of the ma.n trunk railway ot the North wuicu is destined before long we trust to uuite the districts north of Auckland with the capital it Wellington. And when we look 1 back a duzun years or more a.ud reflect how far iu the di.u future, not merely was a railway into the heart of Waikato, but the Eu opeau possession and settlement evenof .he district at- ad, aiid 1.6k again ac tho long scridfis which clonisatioix tias since uitw ; o we are wai rained in • lopiuo- ..bat bur. a shoiv time will elapse—and passing' even-a seem to

point 'iii 'tlnl)t tho p 'osenib; line ; mtB v .,))t> exjieadetl uoo bh y to IVAwamutu.but to Tara'.iuki igljlif: | J';- £ : ;j|£v fo * we j h&veyibj do, ' £n,( the par:s of the Waikato sue ne i f.ily thankful for a nailer tnero.e , a.id to "* ip'^clltti^ has even now camel in 6' Vher very heart of the district, ihe town narly morning ynsterdav win "iss bu 1 1 tin # - and;'' Koliday - dlease ji uuabitauts ; iiid as, the.suHmer-aiuL oouvey jnces arrived from Cauioriig fnid other' partsy the stree.s, beuim.' giy wijjh'visitors. - .Tile- jridglv Reed band- aVri'Vetl 'in the ; -to.wushtJT' before 11 o'clock; and its. enlivening strains must have attuned 6veu those to holiday thottghts—if there wi=re any such—who -had not.■-. bef'ire iiiteudel to take parj/ in the days proceedings.-, 7/.: The Sunday a/hd da/ schools yalke-i in procession' to the railway sbutfoii and >bh& road with , hpr«otne}i U carriages.'.''' vehicles of, every kind lojig ;before the tiiae a|ipoV.o,ijed for the arr val': of the'excursion iraih, 12.43 ; p;rnPuiictually to time, 12.43, tHtexcursion train, consis in^'.of tif ee. carriages' drew ;up to , tire—station.- There a large tm üb'er b'f Ngaruawalriaf p opie on jbpard and a fair spriuking of Aiicklanders, tne holding ii the reception given to Sir Georg ie y yesterday interfering largei., \ with tha Visit of Auckland pe >pie in this direction. The grouud adjacent /to tne Station, already crowded, with carriages, horsemen, a.id ppoole on foot, soon began tu clear, jl.rge numbers wending thenway to the township of Hamilton. The pamoridge 'baud unfortunately was lup»n Garter's large coach, Which got stuck at the entrance to Mr jolly's paddooks, so that -the. band wus not on the spot to reccUiv. the excursioniss but ihey made up or this in the iatti-r •arc of the day, contributing very larg-tf yy both at the luticjieon and rilsewhere, io the generaJLenjpyineii . Wnen the bu k of t'bS' 1 people leii .he station for Haniiitori, the ehiidieu, by hundreds, remained U/On ihe ground, and enjoyed, themselves with sports Of various kinds, and were served with refreshments ty iue Celebratiou Oommitiee. Mifopham also kmdty. gayy ohern ; u r.rip in the carriages somj four miies down the. line and back. Tney in fact, the last to leave the ground, and, when Carter's largtcoach after taking- the I.uji baton of excusibhisGs from cue town ship to the return train at 4 p.-m;,' i c*me back to Hamilton loa.iewioii oh.idren.-p- young il.uiimubeiug packed inside like; i a tin, arid swarming dhJtheC«o f»A«Usides like Hies up >u : ia lxoAty.-piJt. / . ■:: ' y ,"''.'A' " '' ■<■ ■

ele«aat and well a, !p;>inM repHSt'waij' set out by host G.vynn; of'th' Hamilton hotel in MUsr V alou and Qo.'s workshop., The room was tas . ©fully decorated, greenery and deppra i.ions c.>in,pjetaiy, disguising, the bonify .character a.f the buUditVgt ■jfuere were three Jong lajjlea. My te leßfftft each. <• ', • oae end of the room »vhS the m >ttp—" Advance . VVaikato," at the other " Cead Milk Failtha," alii over the presi leuc's cliair, "Peaeeand Plenty," the letters pricked out with the flowers of red cl <y<i pinks on a white gr »und with a border.of laurel leaves, having «• really beautiful and ehgant appearauce. The luncheon 'itself, as ,we have said, was excellent both in quality and quantity, well set on and [ served, and the- wuole scene when the guests took their seats was a \ ery pretty one, the nicely decorated I room, the tables laden with good things, the sparkling glass and plate, .and above all, the vari-coloured dresses, and smiling faces of the Waikato ladies, who formed a large proportion- of the company, and

tided' to' the general effect and enj >ymeut by the«r presence. In due course the good things before them having been done justice to by the guests,, the usual loyal toasts, were duly proposed by the Chairman, Alfred Cox, Esq., M.fJ.R., and responded to by those present, Mr Cox in ' then proposing His Excel,'H« 's Advisers, said' it seemed quite m rule that the toast to follbvv th>se. already should be that of His excellency's Advisers, the Ministry of/th|. y day. Taey had already drunk J;he pealth of Her Majesty,;' of HisJEScellehraßt the Governor}, the tween the Colony aniF-''the '6l& country, and it them to acknowledge present Ministry. They and parcel of the Government uountry, and outside of party politics ought on all public occasions, such as the present, to be formal y toastetl. He then proposed His Excellency's Advisers. The Vice-Chairman, Mr. Vialou, proposed the Army, Navy and Volunteers. With re-pect to the latter, the proposer said ho lelfc sure he need only mention the names of Aixon, H .liter, and Von Teuipsley to call forth their warmest, dnnn'ation and regard.. I Colouel s*id, as tho onlost member of the array present ic fell to Ins lot to ro's oud. Tne iiritish . army comnaioi wi.'h tliose 6t other • nations was numerically smai, but what it lacked in uuinwevs it ip^de

up i'ov iu pluck, a/iii if in the state of alfttUM in Europe it should* happen that England was druphi iiit'j thec-JufticfciiSMr racing Kusua and H it^y„ ;s ,\\n fell Jerhatrr that every man in found doia* his Y dufcy, jafiiid tfaftt British, eaecjpy \^iii ;i 'spiili^ v 'i'w^tild. in-iint-aiti for in Cher prou 1 •p.oaijioa'vjo'' ever held amongst tue nitions' of Europe. As to.the navy, that' was ftiFpide'^ any t.i ne i tax whtcu the British taxtuiye sota ribnte I with cheerfulness ifc.was r.hat; ; ;jL'ect4icftd:for of die iavy. The Hyate nor fiii'fi 'night- liave ; tflteVed tfrrfh ; -the divs of bid when England swept • lie s«as, bub we had only ch mged •llirj tr's* of oak ipV,hearts of iro1?; v fau(f the British sjamen would be to find no w as then ever ready to anticV pate siif aal , r bf, JNelson.—. "■ Bij'ifla^id ! - explpfcjj that' eVety man this day will do his., duty ! M With •egird to the. Volunteers, he saw ma iy now before ; hi wh> had done their duty manfully in the field, and who were ready to do it again' if called upon..' .. He had conari

I tiande 1 Volunteers in the field.over \ t Qiuy vears, in New Zedand, aud had i tver -fouid them to flinch [from fUß.i' duty j on the contrary i oiiey were always ready and' prewired. ' (Cneersl) '' '•> >' '■;

; Captain ftuuciman, in r returning oiiauks, said he"'trusted the time |vo dd npt .return when, fcjieir services would bo again caHed'fbr, ba«' is surely as they were wanted so purely would the Volunteers be ready to start forward at tliercallot Quiy. . """""'". " " : "' ■ • Mr Cox then i f rose\ .'and said, he

tad the toasc. of'the diy to tjive hem, that Of Mfc'J?opham,;bhe;courictor. (Loud cheers.); The •res.nt Was not an anfi.tiug , ; me to tlie<hist,pry or eul way in New Zealand. -To one 1 nan was due the .conception of the scheme of railway communisation in New Zealand, of proposing ivtf to Parliament, and initiating and it. That credit was due o S.r Julius V!ogel, and it was but

ui act of justice to acknowledge hit to him primarily was due r.he . success of the Railway system in , the colony. L<>okig ahead, everyone must see t nit a com lete system of railway oommuuication wpuid before very long be working, the oolpny, and successfully, and this brought him o the.subject'of the toast, Mr To;juaol,' who had' performed his part >f the wor& with'satisfaction to all joncerued <li any; member of the or ivemment had , been there, he hould have JifotT to have given :'li:-im a hint, and would have sugthat th, i y shiii d now get on is quicdy as possible with tho line "'■> Ojadjio and Te Awa'nutu; He present at a similar ceie r ..vatioii —f;hat of opening the radvr »y > A.watriitfa; 1 ' iVli* I'ophatn i\i ce-araing. thaok-a

•* •i I were more -•- • % | than tatkvugf" l ,o#.i. , tiem. wfHjH vva,u,te.l mow was to pus!} on, tfye. l»ins to, 'lfe \wauu\tu. |t a.lap, fleeced hit fcHe T/hurneSrWalkatQ ..Void* He hoped •efare orn , workß woa i d •w « a >7 talsell> W.th resp«ct to „oe piece of line completed it was; but jusb in him to say thit.be could not have got on with the wo ik as iie had done; bub for the facilities SovdU by Mr.Sewart,the District dugiiieer and his 'staff. He had oeen quick wivh the piece of line between Ngaruawahiio and tfarailnon, but he expected to be quicker with that between Hamilton and ~>haupo, and in the course of four or five weeks he. hoped to have the ranniug t» that place. It would be for the authorities then to cake steps for providing branch lines t-i Cambridge and 01 her settlements. (Cheers.) Cipb. Beere proposed the heaUh of Mr Stewart, C.E., and thd members of his stuff. .

Mr Stewart, in reply, said, as time was prßSsiiig,' he would say but little. He thanked the company for ; the .uanner in which his own health had b.jen drank, and especially was he gratified that the health of the members of his- staff had been included in the toast. He gave great credic to Mr Topham'for relieving them of much of the trouble and anxiety inseperable from the supervision of railway making. Mr Topham's system of work came nearer the English systen than any he ha I seen in the olpny. He had indeed seen' little, work of the.kind that could compare with it as regards quickness of execution and excellence. The work just complete I between Hamilton was a credit to Mr as a con: r »cto/ and he Tophani would be the for other portions'^|iii^MKlway when they were callteasprc«|l|B j, ? Mr. Seageji|l^4nd, iQ proposing the ladies, said lie that this rather was the toast ot the day than any which had proceeded it. Mr. Ke nedy Hill replied in a few happy remarks, ind a vote of thanks to the chairmin, proposed by Mr. F. A. Whita.<Gr, and carried with three cheers, terminated the proceedings.

A.fter the Luncheon, a large number of persons assemblnd outside Mssaiy. J. D. and K. Hill's new prem.sjs for the .Sale of the village of Frank ton, adj >iuiug the Railway JSbrtiion. The Ht-sb lot offered was about an acre, and whs knocked down to the Waikato Steam JMavtgatiou Company for £BO, The

Al^ m spirited throughof lot 3 were ptpcea. T?e |||e <? &h6wS unmistakably »he value pjg property in the neighborhood of£:Harn()|Qji, and anre especial lof as indicating what oaii of our swamp*, large a portion of the land of the district. The 1 »nd sold yesterday at the Railway station is v^eoiaimed^ a quaking bo< when Mr. Jolly took it in hand, Ig, is hundred^2w(h T 6~ visited.it.jes.rerday could'see, as, rich ana well grassed meafovr as one need wish to own. . Ajlar'ge portion of the -township, as we havg said, was sold_ yesterdßyy and doubtless thd balance willjfbs ~quickly taken. up ( privately, indeed we-'have hnard of one acre secured for a sum of £4O.