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Waikato Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1049, 15 March 1879, Page 2

A memorial has been drawn up by certain friends of Mr R. Y. Stokes, of Hamilton, copies of ! which will be circulated m: the various districts of Waikato for signature. The memorial, which asks that Mr Stokes may be recompensed for the losses sustained m cattle destroyed by the railway trains since June last, is addressed to the Hon. the Premier, and sets forth that the case of Mr Stokes is one of great hardship and of an exceptional character — no less than fifteen head of cattle, of which six were milch cows and m calf, have been killed during that period. That the sufferer is a Waikato settler of thirteen years standing, with a family of eleven children, and that, as a dairyman, the cattle destroyed through the proximity of his farm to an unfenced Line of railway, means a deprivation of the livelihood of himself and family, and forms so exceptional a case that the Government should not m equity, whatever may be the law of the case, ignore it. The facts of the case, as they have indeed already appeared m this journal, are as stated by the memorial and we know that there is a very general sympathy for Mr Stokes m his really heavy losses. He is not, it is true, the only sufferer by very many, but he is the only one who has suffered to such an extent as to have his business completely cut up by such loss. That the memorial will be numerously signed we make no doubt, and we trust that it will receive a full and considerate attention at the hands of the Government. Compensation cannot be claimed, but a law of exemption from liability, when it pressos so hardly upon an individual, is more honored m the breach than m the observance. The handicap pigeon match, which takes place on Tuesday at Piako, will not form the least attractive portion of the St. Patrick's Day's Sports. Many who go to the Piako races on Monday will remain to the pigeon match next day, and we have heard the names of most of our best Waikato shots as likely to be present. At first, it was found difficult to obtain pigeons, but Mr John Wood was determined to procure them at any price, and has succeeded m securing as many as 80 strong birds. A children's feast and sports will be held on Monday next, St. Patrick's Day, m the grounds of the' Roman Catholic Church, Hamilton. All friends are invited to attend. Acceptancb Fees, m the case of the Hurdle and Trotting Races, at the Piako meeting, will be received as late as to-day. A Concert, m aid of the Building Fund of the Presbyterian Church, Ngaruawahia, will be held on Monday evening, the 17th inst. There will be targ3t practice for the Cambridge Cavalry Volunteers at the Butts this afternoon, commencing at one o'clock.

Messrs J. D. & K. Hill will hold their fortnightly sale of stock and produce, at Cambridge, to-day. A Grand Concert and Neoro Entertainment, to the assistance of which the Doran Brothers and several well known amateurs from Auckland have promised to contribute, will be held on the^ev^rring or St; ; Patrick's Day^in the Volunteer and Public gall, Cambridge. "The proceeds of the will be devoted to the Cambridge Catholic Church Building Fundi;£iA select _ quadrille; party will bring the' evening's amusement to a close. Steamers will run from Whatawhata, Cambridge and Hamilton, to the .Ngaruawahia Races, on Monday. Tickets issued at single fares, will be available from any station to any station, on that day, on the Auckland and Ohaupo railway. Whatawhata Hotel. — My G. T. M. ■ Kellowj late providore for the steamer Rangiriri has, it will be seen, entered upon the occupation of the above hotel, as proprietor, and with his experience m catering for the, public, and the ; conveniences afforded by the late additions and alterations to the establishment, will, 1 no doubt, receive a full shareof patronage from the travelling public. Mr Bernard, the late proprietor, who; was popularly known as an attentive and enterprising host, goes South, we understand, andwiU carry with him the good wishes of all those who, during his residence m Waikato, have been brought m contact with him, either socially or m business . matters. ' A clerical error occurs m the letter of the the. Rey. Father Golden, m our issue of Thursday last. The sentence, " I have yet to learn that the Marquis of Rtpon.or any converts from Catholicity," should read, . "or any converts to Catholicity, &c. Mr Alfred Bttokland will offer for sale, at the Haymarkot, Queen street, Auckland, on Tuesday next, at noon, some valuable landed properties — the one, the Waifcangi Estate of 9385 acres, at the Bay of Islands, another a farm of 1356 acres within five miles of the Dury Station, the third, Mr Dunn's first-classfarm of: 102 acres at Panmure, and the fourth, a farm of 35 acres, at One-tree-Hill, rich volcanic soil. Tahob Trout.— lt was stated, at Thursday's meeting of. the Acclimatisation Society, that the Society had to express their indebtedness to Mr Russell, C.M.G., for two shipments of ova 6f this species, ;said to be one of the best of the numerous kinds of lake trout found m western North America. In all 30,000 ova were forwarded, but a large proportion were dead on arrival, notwithstanding:, that they were carefully attended to during the voyage. About 3000 young fish were hatched, but they proved to be difficult to rear, dying m large numbers before the absorption of the sac, and about 1000 were all that reached an age suitable for liberation. A part have bsen forwarded to lake Omapere, at the request of Mr W. Earl, and the remainder have been turned out m Lake Waikare, with the exception of a few placed as an experiment m the Onehunga Springs. As there is an outlet from the Waikare lake, into the Waikato river, the trout will, doubtless, soon find their way into the latter. Perhaps, ho fish would thrive better, or be more valuable for the Waikato river, than the Murray cod. If more of our settlers were subscribers to the Society, it is just possible our lakes and streams would receive more attention than they do at its hands. This Kelly (says an Australian exchange) has a sense of humor, too, combined with his dare-devil qualities. The enterprise of sticking up the town of : Jerilderie was quite equal to the raid on j Euroa m its generalship, and, m addition, I it exhibited a grotesqueness of audacity which is not wanting m the ludicrous. The incident of the bushrangers taking out one of the constables about town with them, to quiet suspicion, is one of the most comic that ever . occurred m the history of bushranging m Australia. Then there is the other one of the bush-, rangers getting a policeman to introduce' them, as " the Kelly's," to the manager of the bank they were about to rob. What a sense of superiority these scoundrels must possess; how profound must be their contempt for the police and the people over whom they terrorise with such ease. And yet a shot fired, or the bold rush of a few men, and the spell would be broken, and the bushrangers would be overpowered m a moment ,by a crowd of those who, a few minutes before, were passive as sheep m their hands. This easy-going contempt these desperadoes show for the police and the public is, perhaps, the most irritating thing about their misdeeds. A meeting of the Sir George Grey Reception Committee was held at Gwynne's Hamilton Hotel, On Thursday evening last, when it was arranged that the chairmen of the Waipa and Waikato County Councils and the Mayor of Hamilton shohld form a deputation to meet the Premier , on arrival at the Hamilton Station, and convey him to town, on the occasion of his visiting the districS for the purpose of turning the first sod of the Thames- Waikato Rail way at the Hamilton end of the line. It was also resolved that the two County Councils should be asked to co-operate m the matter of the reception, and to enable them to do so the meeting was 'adjourned until 3 p.m. on Friday the 21st instant, the monthly meeting of the Waikato County Council, taking place on the forenoon of that day. The spot proposed as that on which the first sod shall be turned'is at " The Pah," on Mr Claude's land, the spot itself forming an excellent amphitheatre from which the ceremony may be witnessed by the people. Nativb Game. — At the maeting of c Acclimatisation Society, held m Auckland on Tuesday, on the motion of Mr S. Morrin, seconded by Mr J. M. Clark it was agreeed that the season for shooting wild ducks, teal, pied stilted plover, black stilted piover, and bittern, commence on the lst April and terminate on 3 1st July On the motion of Mr S. Morria, seconded by Mr G. M. Clark, it was agreed that curlew, and dotrill be shot from lst December to 3ist March, Signs of the TrMBS.— It is stated that £92,000 have been paid by the Insurance Offices sinoa the beginning of the year. Immigration to Otago— "What ab vv Auckland?— The Immigration Officer of Duuedin has been advised that 575 more immigrants have been ordered to be sent to Port Chalmers from Great Britain. About 2,5 10 immigrants were landed at Port Chalmers since September, 1878. Hamilton Extension Railway Line. — We understand that the contract time for the construction of this line, including buildings, is four months from the date of signing the contract. Members of the Cambridge Troop of Waikato Volunteer Cavalry are reminded that the competition firing for the district prizes will take place at the target, Cambridge, on Thursday next, commencing at JO a.m. Mr John Knox will hold, at Te Awamutu, a clearing out sale, on Saturday, the 22nd inst., of oattle, comprising quiet dairy cows, young stock, and horses, the property of Mr T. Slater ; also, household furniture, hay, jewellery, growing'crop, and the lease of a centrally situated . valuable property, at Te Awamutu.

The Chairman of the householders' meeting for the election of a school committee at Te Awamutu desires us to contradict the statement, contained m the report of the meeting of the Board of Education published by the 'Herald' and copied into this journal — that a requisition had been sent tp him, as Chairman of the householders' meeting, to .tho effect " that the Chairman of the late school committee be not allowed to take any part m the conduct of the sohool/' Mr Winstone states that no such requisition 'was sent ; neither had he any communication with the Board respecting the appointment of Commissioners beyond forwarding a verbatim copy of the resolution carried at the householders' meeting.