The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2225, 12 October 1886, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Hqu.-.l and e\art justue to all men, Ot \vh.itsoe\er st.itc or persuasion, relig-iom or political.

TUESDAY, OCT. 12, ISB6.

The new railway tariff, which was gazetted on the 22nd September, contains a number of alterations, all, we are pleased to notice, in the right direction. The recent agitation has evidently stirred up tho heads of the huge Department to do something to appease the clamour of the country districts. That the concessions should amount to anything very much was not to be expected, of course, but, on the principle of the half-loaf, perhaps we ought to be grateful. The grain rates have been revised with the object of catching the short distance haulage, "which hitherto, owing to the absurdly high freights, has been performed by horse power in ninny of the southern districts. On the southern district railways the effect of this alteration is to reduce the freights to just one half of those charged by the companies formerly owning them. Little change, so far as we can see, has been made in the rates chargeable on cattle and sheep, though 'a reduction in this direction is sorely needed in the face of the low prices now ruling in the stock ' markets. Some reduction in the rates for short distances have also been made in the case of native coal. Goods under class D, which were formerly charged on the Auckland lines as though they belonged to class C, are restored to their proper class, and will be charged for accordingly. This will amount to a reduction of about six shillings a ton between Hamilton and Auckland. The " rate and a quarter " hitherto charged for goods under class E (grain &c), is abolished, and the single rate will be charged in future, the concession amounting to twenty per cent. Under the new regulations live poultry may be sent at goods rates, pigs, sheep, calves, and other small animals may be sent in sacks at parcel rates for actual weight. These are the only alterations worthy of notice. In some cases it will be admitted that substantial reductions have boon made, but, unless wo are much mistaken, the result will be a loss to the revenue rather than a gain to the rural districts. In lowering the tariff no departure from the effete old system of rule of thumb has been made, and the districts remote from the seaboard are not one whit better off, comparatively speaking, than they were before. Regard h:is not been had to the relative value of distance ten miles out of Auckland, and one hundred miles, and not one of the many gross anomalies so bitterly complained of in the past has been remedied. If the revisers of the tariff in Wellington intended to advance the cause of settlement they have blundered most egregiously. No rural industry can flourish under the deadly influence of the present system of railway management. The other day the railway was completed to Lichfield, and it was presumed by people of sanguine temperament that it would be the means of opening up an extensive trade between that district, where there is plenty of timber, and Waikato, where there is very little and that little of a kind whose usefulness is limited. What is the result 1 We find the line is working at a loss. Not because there is a want of sellers at one end or buyers at the other, but because the timber trade has been crippled at the outset and i& threatened with destruction by the high tariff. Take the case of totara fencing posts. To cart them to Lichfield, a distance of twelve miles, costs about £2 per hundred, to convey them to Cambridge, 30s a truck of, say, 160. Add to this the original cost of the timber, the amount expended in wages for splitting, getting them out of the bush and other minor offices, and it will be admitted that at the bush-owner had better allow his trees to stand where they are. This is only one instance. Then, again, the tariff blisters with little anomalies, which puzzle and annoy everybody who has occasion to employ the railways. Not long ago a settler had occasion to get two small boxes of cartridges, measuring when placed together three inches by six inches by five inches and weighing three pounds. The charge upon this parcel from xVuckland to Lichfield was eleven shillings and tenpence, or four shillings por pound, or about three halfpence per cartridge ! We shall be told thil c\; Lridges are explosive, and the r,vtra rate is to compensate fie department for any loss that mi^ht accrue from an accident, but could anything be more ridiculous ? Would the few paltry shillings, which mean something to an individual, go any respectable distance towards covering the damagG caused by the explosion of the cartridges, if such a thing were to happen ? As a precautionary measure the extra rate is a pure

absurdity. Again, the charge for a bag of bran to Hamilton from Auckl'ind has hitherto been two shillings and threepence, but a week or two ago, for some reason or other unexplained, two sacks were charged six shillings and twopence. All this is very stupid and very annoying, but such things are inseparable from the system. What is wanted is a complete, a radical change, and until it is secured the country ought not to rest satisfied.

The postal returns for the year 1885 have just come to hand, and we extract the following items of interest from them. There are thirteen money order and savings bank offices in the Waikalo. The number of money orders issued by these was 5,538 for £15,011 12s lid, and the commission received by the department £217 4s 6d, or an average of about 1.4 per cent. The amount of deposits in the Postal Savings Banks for the same period was £10,854 8s 7d, making an excess over the withdrawals, £6,814 Is Id, of £4,040 7s 6d. These figures may be regarded as affording evidence of a very satisfactory state of things among the wage-earning classes of the district, and as refuting the wholesale charges of extravagance, too often and too recklessly brought against thorn.

Monday, the 18th inst., being the 25th anniversary of the Bank of New Zealand, will be observed as a special holiday at all the offices of that bank. The twenty- third annual Alexandra sports will be held on next BoxingDay. The programme will appear in a future issue. Mr J- J. OBrien is getting more boats built at Alexandra for conveying his material, stores, etc., from Otorohanga to Te Kuiti. The polling of the election for a member of the Cambridge Borough Council yesterday resulted in the return of Mr James H,\lley, who secured 98 votes to Mr Johnson's 93. The Hamilton Choral Society will meet for practice in the Public Hall this e\ ening at 7.30 sharp. A full attendance is requested. The first meeting of the creditors of Chas. Hall, Hamilton, blacksmith, convened for yesterday morning, was adjourned until this morning, only one creditor putting in an appearance. W. H. Jones, who was committed for trial at the Aroha on several charges of obtaining money under false pretences proceeded to Auckland yesterday in charge of Constable Wild. Mr John Parr has been appointed secretary of the Waikato Dairy Company, (late Waikato Cheese and Bacon Factory Company), and the company's office is at his store, corner of Victoria and Hoodstreets. Hamilton. Mr Rathborne, of Ngaruawahia, met with a serious accident on Sunday. He was riding a young horse, and was thrown violently to the ground, sustaining a fracture of the collar-bone on the left side. Mr Rathborne came into Hamilton, and was promptly attended to by Dr. Murch, and is now doing well. On Saturday at Cambridge. Messrs Alfied Buckland and Co., sold the privileges of the Waikato Hunt Meeting, and following prices were realized : — Grand Stand Bar and Dining room, £9 10s, E. L. Smith, of the Royal Hotel, Hamilton ; Temperance Booth, £2 ss, Mrs Jones ; Gate., £21, A. Bach; Cards, £2, Mr G. W. Russell ; Horse paddock, £1 15s ; D. Stewart. The total proceeds amounted to £3(5 105. The native school house and schiiol te ichor's residence lit Waotu were Hni-hod on Thmsd iy last, and taken o\or by the Public Woi Us Inspector, Mr Chalmers. The sfh.iol is provided with dcbk accoinodation for 30 pwpils, and both that and the te.ic',ol '-> icsidence are neat and \voil-fjiii-.l»ocl buildings. The contractors ha\e performed their wark in a manner highly oidiifcable to themselves and to the Government. We understand that Mrs Hazard, late of the Wairoa, who underwent .such terrible experiences at the time of the eruption, will be appointed teacher of this school. The native school and teacher's house at Tapapa are also in a forward state, and will shortly be handed over. At the criminal sittings of the Supreme Court at Auckland on Saturday, J. L. Martin, c mvicted of the larceny of £5, with menaces, from a French nrnu named Pierre Guegnicr, was sentenced to two year's imprisonment with hard labour. Two other indictment* against the prisoner, arising out of the same set of circumstances, were withdrawn. William Reid was charged with indecently assaulting a child under eleven years of age, named Jessie Fretwell, but as the child was unable to answer the judge's question as to the nature of an o.ith, the prosecution were unable to procoed,and by the direction of His Honour the jury returned a verdict of not guilty, and the prisoner was discharged. John Colly and Henry Jones, two youths of about eighteen and nineteen years of age, wore convicted of burglary, and were each sentenced to three years' penal servitude ; and Chiistian Johnsen, a foreigner, who was convicted of indecent assault on his own daughter (a child of eleven years of age), at Port Albert, was sentenced to five years' penal servitude and two floggings of twenty-five lashes each. Doctored whisky is no longer the sole enemy of the Maori. He now suffers from dental surgery. " Long pig" was erstwhile his simple dentifrice, and even when he gave up this toothsome food the utmost efforts of Cameron, McDonnell and Yon Tempsky and Co. failed to completely draw his teeth. What these gallant warliois failed to accomplish, the progress of civilisation has enabled Mr R. F. Sandes to succeed in, whether with the help of laughing ga*, the Abracadabra or other less legitimate means, we know not. The Maoris' teeth are.henceforth doomed, and instead of the glistening ivory of Nature which have hitherto flashed from their dusky faces, their civilised countenances will be for the future em--bellished with the artificial allurements of vulcanite. Some months ago Mr Sandes provided a native chief with a set of patent masticators, and his too successful onslaughts or dried shark and kumaras have roused the envy of a brother chieftain and rival masticationist who, net to be out* done, has also been made beautiful and sharkivorous for ever. The ordinary meeting of the Newcastle Read Board was held at the school-house, Whatawhata, on Saturday. Present : Messrs Corboy (chairman), Iverson, Crawford and Shephard. Several letters were road. Mr E. Guest wrote regarding compensation for the loss of a cow on a public road. It was resolved that Mr Guest be informed that the Amendment Act of 1884 of the Public Works Act, 1882, imposes a penalty of £5 for allowing cattle to wander on any public} road, and that the board therefore deny all responsibility in the matter. The chairman reported that Mr Esh consents to give a half-chain wide of land for a road to Skeates' bridge. The board resolved that Mr Esh's offer be accepted, and that the board take the necessary stops to carry this and the previous offer made by Mr Skeates into effect, and that Mr Charlton be informed of this. Only two tenders were received for the work on the HamiltonWhatawhata old road, namely, that of Thomas Jones, £1 0* per chain, and that of Alexander Kennedy, £0, lump sum. It was resolved that Alexander Kennedy's tender for t(>, being the lowest, be accepted. Mr [weison having consented to rescind the resolution passed at a special meeting held on Saturday, 21th July last, accepting Mr McCutcheon's tender for draining, fascining and erecting a culvert on the road by Crawfords farm, the clerk's action in notifying Jas. Kennedy of his tender for thin contract being accepted was confirmed. No tender havin? been received for the Pukettt railway station road and for the Tuhikaramea Road, the chairman recommended th'it the time for receiving tender-, for the contract on the Pukete railway .station road being extended until the ne.\t meeting 1 of the board, and that the works on the Tuhikaiamea Road be not douo at

present, on the ground that the work not being badly needed, and that portion of tho district having already obtained more than thoir share of the board's expenditure for the prosent year, particularly in view of the numerous applications for woiks in other parts of the district hitherto neglected. This was adopted. It was resolved that the chairman and one member of the board be authorised to sign the documents relative to closing roads through Knorpps 1 property as requested by Mr Sandes. It was also resolved that as Mr Hay had not replied to the letter of tho 15th September last, the consideration of his account be deferred until his reply is sent in. The board then roso.