The Waikato Times. AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1566, 18 July 1882, Page 2

The Waikato Times. AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatsoever st.ite or persuasion, religious or political. Here shall the Press the People's light in.iiiil.iin, Unawedby influence and unbnbcd by (f.nn.

TUESDAY, JULY 18, 18S2.

For some time past indications have not been wanting of the existence of a very deep-seated feeling of dissatisfaction among stock-raisers in Waikato, in regard to the prices lately ruling for meat in the Auckland market. A determination to, as far as possible, remove some of the disabilities under which they suffer has also been manifested, and to-day we find by an advertisement in another column, matters have been bi'ought to something like a practical issue. A meeting of those interested in floating a slaughtering and butchering company for Waikato will be held at Ohaupo on the 25th inst., after the arrival of the down train. The notice is signed by several prominent settlers in Wai pa county, and we doubt not that many others, whoso names do not appear, heartily sympathise with thorn. What the precise object of the promoters is we cannot determine ; possibly much will depend on the generally expressed opinion of the meeting, but we may take it for granted that the main purpose kept in view is the more satisfactory disposal of the beef and mutton grown in the district, and the devising means whereby the enormous profit which finds its way into the pockets of the middleman may be more evenly divided. The step proposed to be taken is a most important one. It cannot be disguised that there are serious obstacles in the way, but none, we think, of so serious a nature as to bo insuperable when opposed by energetic and united action. Among these obstacles is the difficulty of rending the meat in Auckland, but this difficulty i« great only in proportion as the undertaking is small ; given a powerful combination of producers it would disappear. Whatever may result from the meeting, we trust the matter brought forward will be thoroughly ventilated, so that information may be gleaned which may be available at some future time, provided the object sought be not attained just now.

The International Juvenile Industrial Exhibition, which will open in Sydney on the 9th November next, is an undertaking which richly deserves public support. Its tendency is to create a wholesome spirit of emulation in the minds of the rising generation, and as such it cannot fail to prove a valuable educational agency. We a-re in receipt of the regulations, table of classification and prize schedule, from which we gather that exhibitors are to be divided into eight sections, "A" including children under 10 years, "B" under 11, and so on, none to be over 21 except those in section "H," who arc non-coinpetitivc exhibitors. The exhibits will be divided into 23 groups, and are to include exhibits in writing, ornamental penmanship, drawing, needlework, fancy work in paper, fea.tb.ers, wool or leather, articles of food, wood-work, basketware, works in stone, marble, cement &c., works in metal, works in leather, clothing, glassware, pottery, book-binding, printing, machinery, boat-building, painting and graining, collections of natural and artificial products, the fine arts, &c. The range is a wide one, and the result will, we hope, be gratifying. The list of patrons is a most imposing one, and int'hules the names of the most prominent btattsmen throughout the Australasian colonies, that of Sir John Hall, late IVieinier of New Zealand, being amongst the number. What, however, is wanted to cicate a success is not so much a ioll of illustrious patrons as a well filled list of exhibitors, and with a view to secure that end we willingly render what assistance we can. It is to be rcgiotted perhaps that such undertakings are not resorted to in this colony, but the surest means of obtaining them is to contribute to the advancement of our neighbors'. There arc numerous branches, in thclist given, but especially in woodwork and in collections of natural products in which the youth of our own district might exhibit with a certainty of succeeding. Parents ought to interest themselves in this matter. Their efforts would result, not only in encouraging their children, but also in carrying abroad the fame of the district in which they have cast their lot. For their information we will add that applications for space must be made before the 30th of September next, and that exhibits must be shipped from New Zealand before the 20th of October. We shall bo glad to afford any further information in our possession.

The Rev. P. Walsh took the services at S. Peter's, Hamilton, on Sunday. In the evening he preached from the text Psalm 90, verso 12, and made reference to the death of the Veil. Archdeacon Lush in affecting terms.

The following gentlemen were elected as trustees for the Te Awatmitu I'ublic Hall at a public meeting held in the hall on Saturday evening last: — Messrs Sloane, Rutherford, Wilkinson, Robt. ]Jruce, and Siblcy.

Some of the new peal of bells for S. Andrew's Church, Cambridge, hate been placed in position in the tower, and were, for the fhv>t time, rung yesterday before the morning and evening sorvicus.

The Royal Australian Circus did aot perform in Hamilton on Saturday, as advertised, owing to !}he wet. On Suupay the show proceeded to Te Aroha.

The earthwork portion of the Ewen's hill contract, Cambridge-Hamil-ton road, has bqcu well advanced during the past week, and by'the time this issue is in the hands of ou«r readers we believe it will be possible, to drive over the culvert.

A young girl named Julia Gumby has been reported >to the central police office, Auckland, as missing. The girl rehided with her parents in Edwin-atreet, Auckland, and left homo a,t six .o'clock on the evening of the 14th to MW$ a Band of Hope meeting, and did not return^ She Has not since been (heard .of: 'The missing girl recently resided with' her family at Cambridge. , * ; ,/,«>

A waiting-room for witnesses is?. urgently required at the Resident Magis-, trates' Court, Hamilton, and, indeed, at

"other court-houses in the district. During the luul weather which we have experienced recently, the ease of witnesses who have had, in compliance with the order, " to remain out of the court,,", has been truly pitiable. At ths annual meeting of the ratepayers ot the Waitoa "ighway District, on Saturday, the following ratepayers were elected trustees :— Messrs Chepmell, Turnbull, Gould, Smale, and S. Seddon. At a meeting of the new board held subsequently, Mr Chepmell was re-elected chairman.

The friends of the native Mikaere, lately sentenced to penal servitude for life for the manslaughter of Hone Te Kerci, have been exerting themselves on his behalf. A petition praying for his release, or for a mitigation of the sentence, has been largely signed by the various tribes throughout the country, and, we believe, forwarded to the Government.

Mr John Kirkwood, formerly a partner in the firm of Messrs Cruikshank ! aud Co., the well-known wine and spirt merchants of Auckland, notifies that ho has purchased the stock-in-trade, and has commenced business on his own account. The reputation which fhe old firm has enjoyed for so many years will, we are sure, be fuliy maintained by Mr Kirkwood.

The chairman of the Ngaraawahia Domain Board invites tenders for leasing the domain reserve, nenr the township. The land is situated between the river Waikato and the main road, and lias several times been recommended as a site for a racecourse. Tenders must be in by the 22nd inst.

The " North Otago Times " warmly supports Mr Rolleston's new Land Bill. An article in a recent issue concludes thus : — Of the justness and wisdom of the general principle there can scarcely be much doubt in any reflective mind, and if Mr Rolleston's bill becomes law, we may reasonably expect it, with intelligent administration, to lead to the settlement of a very desirable class of people on the unsold Crown lands of the country, on terms extremely favorable to the settlers and quite safe to the State.

The annual meeting of the ratepayers of the Hamilton Highway District was held at the Railway Hotel, Prankton, on Saturday. The annual statement of accounts having been read, the following ratepayers were elected trustees : — Messrs Steele, Atkinson, Ridler, E. Way, and J. Goodwin. Messrs Jones and Raynes were elected auditors, and Messrs Dinsdale and Excelby, fence viewers. At a meeting of the new board held afterwards, Mr Steele was re elected chairman. Mr J. S. Edgecumbe was appointed secretary, and it was agreed to call for applications for the office of valuator and collector. It was also agreed to write to the member for the district re arrears of rates.

The Tamahere Highway Board seems to have persistently neglected the main road which runs through their district from Crawfords old farm to the creek crossing near Broadmeadows, and the consequence is that this thoroughfare which might easily be made one of the best in the Waikato, is one of the worst. At the lower end especially it is in a very bad condition, for the most part under water, so that drays and vehicles during the late rainy weather have been almost submerged in passing. Within a few chains there is an excellent outfall, and it the water were removed a great improvement would be effected. We trust that the board, now they have a respectable balance in hand and a prospect of the Government improving the central road, will devote a few pounds to the rd'ad under notice.

Our Raglan correspondent writes : — " Petitions are the order of the day here juat now. The petition of the Raglan Rifle Club, to the House of Representatives, praying to be supplied with new rifles has been duly circulated and forwarded to our member for presentation. A petition from the Kavioi, Whaingaroa, and town of Raglan Road Boards has also been sent to the same gentleman for presentation to the House of Representatives, praying them to make a grant of money to still further improve the Raglan- Waipa road. This road is in a very bad state at the present time, and does most certainly require almost immediate attention. During the many winters that I have lived in this district, I can honestly assert that I usver saw the roads in a worse state with mud than now ; so much wet weather is, of course, the chief cause of this. With finer weather they will rapidly improve."

We are informed by our Aotea correspondent, "That Sullivan's murilerer, who lives in Kawhia, has been so much frightened at the capture of Winiata by Barlow, that he has actually been trying to induce the Maori chief to take steps to prohibit any half-castes from coming to Kawhia. Th^y, however, turn a deaf ear to all his pleadings. This is the only murderer now at large here or in Kawhia ; the native who murdered Mr Todd being dead." "All information regarding what is being clone with Winiata, is (says our correspondent) eagerly sought for by the natives. It is at the present time the all-absorbing topic of conversation amongst them. The general opinion in the Maori mind is that he will not be convicted. How they have arrived at this idea lam however unable to tell. It has probably been found from his owii assertions in regard to the murd«r for which he has been arrested."

The following story about Winiata has been communicated to us by a gentleman living up-country, who received it from the natives themselves. In 1861, Wiuiata, who belongs to the Ngotipare, an off-shoot of the Ngatimahutu tribe, of which Tawhiao is a member, was living at Kowhai on the Waipa. There he became enamoured of a girl named Wana, of his own tribe. He wanted to marry her, but finding her parents bitterly opposed to the match, he left the district and went to Napier, where he knocked about amoug the Europeans, obtaining a knowledge of the English language which he speaks fluently. After some time he married a girl of the Ngatikoko tribe, the original owners of land about Orakau, and he returned with her to the Waikato in 1873 or 187-1. He boasted to his friends that while in Napier he lhad murdered and robbed a pakeha. Having lived so long among the Europeans a Hauhau life did not suit Winiata, so he removed his quarters to Waahi, a settlement on the Waikato river opposite Himtley, taking his wife with him. They had not long been there when the two quarrelled, and in a squabble .which they had the woman was nearly killed. She bears tlie marks of the ill-treatment she received down to' the present. Her brothers hearing of the affair went down to Waahi and took her away, and Winiata went ,to Auckland.' Thence up to the time of his escape, after the murder of poor Packer the' Maoris' heard nothing of him. , ,

-A, meeting of v those interested in floatinff,a.slaughterinfr and, butchering company in. Waikato, will be held at Ohaupo.^on^tne^th alter the arrival of tbVdown frairil ■. ' t *-•■>■ Stubbing)) fea'mbHdge.i re-/ /quests the friend whq^borrowed v^.book^aiids square to rbturn-same'.j ' < *> j, \\,\ f*'P> .', i'Npjaqe js givjejr > ihh&^i&e , jPukek^ifav Hi|nway"Board intend* at a 'meeting: Vto Ijtfnold^ on Wednesday, 2nd August, to stnko>«Trate^of* ' one shilling in the'^. . -"V / . >&&l -iV ?