Untitled

Waikato Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1048, 13 March 1879, Page 2

Messrs J. D. & K. Hill will hold their fortnightly live-stock and produce sale, at Cambridge, on Saturday next. Waikato Shots will be glad to learn that, after some little trouble, Mr J. Wood, of the Nottingham Castle Hotel, has succeeded in procuring some eighty pigeons, for the pigeon match to take place at the Piako, on the 18th instant, Tuesday next. The birds were procured at the Thames, and will arrive on Saturday. The Saturday postal service to Whatawhata, has been satisfactorily arranged by the Chief Postmaster, Mr Biss, and will commence this week. The post leaves Whatawhata, and we believe NgahinepoUri also, on Friday, for Hamilton, returning from Hamilton to Whatawhata on the Saturday, closing at 1.30, after arrival of the Auckland and up-country mails. Hamilton Railway Extension.— The tender of Mr Briton, £2,900, for this work, has been . accepted, and the construction of the line into the the town of , Hamilton will be at once proceeded with. Waikato Easter Review. — Major ' Murray, of the Thames, says the Auckland ' Herald,' is in communication with Lieutenant Whitaker, of the Hamilton Cavalry, regarding the advisability of having a review at Hamilton, during the Easter holidays, of the Waikato and Thames Volunteers. As soon as an affirmative reply is received from Mr Whitaker, a meeting of officers commanding corps will be held to arrange matters. It is expected the Government j will pay the cost of transit of the Thames men. j We understand, says the ' Herald,' that ' Mr Goldie, M.H.R. for City West, also telegraphed to Mr Stout about the re- j ported appointment of Mr Clements as immigration agent. A Wellington correspondent, having -made inquiries at j the proper department, has sent the following reply : — " Mr Clements, who is .

about visiting the mother country, was strongly recommended as a suitable person to aid in promoting emigration during: his stay at home, and a ietter of introduction, signed by the Hon. Mr Stout, was forwarded to him for presentation to the Agent-General, Sir Julius Vogel, on his arrival.. Neither salary nor allowances were ? • authorised. Other ' alarming ' reports ? respecting . various alleged appointments telegraphed from 1 Auckland to sotno of the papers have been ascertained to. have no other basis than the fertile imagination of some Auckland' telegraphic ' correspondent wjio was anxious to flash something - special ' during the election excitement." Aii-umno to the obstruction of Tukukino, at Ohinemuri, the - Herald ' says : — " No further steps has yet been taken in the aotion of Tukukino and the others in stopping works and surveys in the Ohinemuri district. It cannot be sxid that Tukukino has acted in ignorance of the consequences of his proceedings. The native owners of the land on which the ends of the bridge over the Ohinemuri stream were to rest, have, we believe, given their consent, while the road between the Puke and Paeroa passes for a considerable space over land which has recently been acquired by Europeans. On the occasion of his last visit to the Upper Thames, Mr Sheehan emphatically warned Tukukino that if he broke the law by obstructing a survey by acts of violence, he would have to stand the consequences. Tukukino has, therefore, not acted in ignorance, but with full knowledge, and after repeated warnings, extending over several years. Perhaps, indeed, he may have had too many warnings. This is not the first time he has resorted to acts of violence, and hitherto he has done so with impunity. As for his companions, Tinipoaka and Hata Paka, they certainly ought to know better. An information has been laid under a clause of the Public Works' Act, by the Chairman of the Thames County Council, but probably the police will not serve it till they receive direct instructions from the Native Minister. In all likelihood Tukukino would pay no attention to a summons, so that ib would be necessary, if he were to be brought to book at all, to arrest him. This might be done probably by a few of the Constabulary, but then Tukukino and the othors would possibly take it into their heads, before the arrival of the constables, to pay a visit to Tawhiao at Hikurangi, thus defeating the law, and strengthening the utterly obstinate party around the Maori King. A SELECT QUADRILLE PARTY will be held in the Victoria Hall on Monday evening. Destruction op Cattle bv Railway Trains.— We lately referred to the fact that Mr Stokes, of Hamilton, had lost a couple more cows, on Monday week last, on the railway, having had in all some 15 head of cattle killed by passing trains since June last. On Tuesday night, Mr T. Jolly had a valuable cow and calf killed on the railway, where it crosses his property. Looked at from this point of view, railways have not been an unmixed blessing to the settlers through whose property, or near whose property they pass. All along the line, from Auckland to Waikato, the same wrong has been suffered to an extent of which the public can be scarcely aware. Struggling settlers have scraped money together to purchase- cattle, as a means of livelihood, and for the accumulation of stock, but have scarce begun to realise a profit on them, before they were destroyed. A return of cattle killed on the AucklandWaikato line, if a correct one could be obtained, would, indeed, be of a startling oharacter. Take the case of Mr Stokes. It may be an exceptional one, but it shows how large the destruction of cattle must be. It is time that an end was pub to this state of things, that the Government should bo compelled to fence the line3, whatever the cost may be. The matter is one that needs to be taken up by the Assembly, and we believe that an enquiry will be made, and action taken in the matter. In the meantime, we cannot but think that so exceptional a case as that of Mr Stokes is deserving of special consideration, and should enlist the sympathies of his fellow-settlers. It simply means ruin to a struggling settler. It has been suggested that a memorial should be drawn up and extensively signed, asking the Government to deal specially with this case, and make some restitution from the public funds for a wrong that presses so hard upon one individual. We have no doubt but that a memorial of this kind would be extensively signed. In the case of Mr Jolly's cow and calf killed on Tuesday, there was a thick fog ab the time, and probably the engine-driver could not see the animal. The Canterbury Ram Fair, to which a recent telegram referred a3 having been a most unsuccessful affair, is thus further alluded to : — " The Canterbury Ram Fair of Thursday, the Gth instant, was a perfect farce, so far as the quality of the majority of the stock was concerned. The choicest pens were shown by the Hon. Mr Holmes, the New Zealand aud Australian Land Company, and J. Patton Gibson, Tasmania. AU the good lots were passed. Some Canterbury entries, designated by the auctioneer splendid animals, fetched los, and were bought by butchers. It has been suggested that, if the Canterbury Fair does not degenerate into an ordinary auction sale, the Agricultural Association must receive no entry on which there is not a minimum reserve of three guineas." The 'Bay of Plenty Times' says that Captain Turner has been obstructed by the Ngatipikiao natives whilst surveying the Maketu-Rotorua road, for which Captain Way recently obtained a grant of £200 from the County Council. A subscription list in aid of the Kaitangata Relief Fund is lying at the present time at the Hamilton Borough Council Chambers. Speaking of the late Mr James Hopcraft, editor of the Thames * Star,' who died on Monday last, the • Herald' says : — " Mr Hopcraft (who is a son-in-law of Mr Vialou, of Hamilton), although a comparatively young man, is an old colonist. He served for some time as lieutenant in the 3rd Waikato Militia in the Waikato war, and saw service on several occasions. Soon after the opening of the Thames Goldfield, he, in company with Mr McCullough, the present proprietor of the • Star ' and Mayor of the Borough of Thames, decided to try their luck, and took up the John Butt claim, in Tararu. Their success was not good, and both entered the employment of Mr Shaw, then I proprietor of the Thames ' Times,' which . was started in''opposition to the ' Advertiser.' Finally, the ' Times ' ceased to I exist, but its offshoot, the ' Star,' became ! the property of Messrs Hopcraft, McCullough, and Radford. The latter gentleman parted with his interest to the othor two, and finally Vlr Hopcraft also sold out to his partner, but was still retained j as e litor of the paper. He continued at ! his duties until a few days ago, although for some time he had been suffering from rheumatism, and he died yenterday afternoon from congestion of the brain." We hear that a goodly number of names have been handed over to tho solicitors of the Kirikiriroa Board for the recovery of rates due, the object being to get rates in before the end of the month, as the subsidy of BI for £1 will be lost to the Board on all rates not then received. | Sub-Lieut. C. Johnston, of the Hamilton Cavalry Volunteers, is one of the winners in the Consolation match, having made a scoro of 64 points.

Ngaruawahia Races. — The Waikato Steam Navigation Company will run steamers from Whatawhata, Hamilton, and Cambridge, to the racecourse, on Monday next.