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Waikato Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 2931, 28 April 1891, Page 2

Messrs Coates and Metcalfe resumed Work at their Hamilton flax-mill yesterday, the repairs to the engine having been completed on Saturday. Friday next, May Ist, is the opening of the shooting season for imported game. From all sides we hear that pheasants are more plentiful than forborne seasons past, and the Califortiiau quail are getting very thick throughout the district. In the Pirorsjia Road Board Messrs A. U. Wheeler, James McGuirk, and D. Fuilaysnn, sen., have been duly .ilocted to fill the three ordinary vacancicst. .ind Messrs Chepmell, Ifanmcr, and Inrnl,ul! have been elected to the vacancies in tho Waitoa Hoad Board. Wo have heen requested to draw particular attention to the draught of seventy prima steers advertised for sale by Mr J. McXicol at Ohaupo on Tuesday next, oil account of Mr A. Clements. Mmy of the bullocks are already beef, and the others merely want topping up. At Ng-aruawaiiia, on Friday last, the following were elected as the Licensing Committee :—J. lilac*. T. Davis, F Hall, H. .). Saulhrev and I'. Laurie, fiie result of the Local Option poll in tha same district was in favour of an increase of all licenses. As a result of the late native meeting at What iwhatihoe, :» party of Maoris passed down the. Waipa river in canoes last Thursdav, bearing with thorn tho scrapped hones of the departed braves. These will be deposited with some ceremony nt the future resting-place at Fukokawa a native settlement near Mercer. On Sunday evening-, as Mr .lnsepli Karugh, accompanied by his wife wn.i driving with a, pair of horses out or Hamilton, tho horses took fright and collided against Mr '.(Jualtrough's verandah. Lnekjly, hosvevor, no damage was dono to the trap or its occupants, though Mrs Diriif;h was coiuicbrubly frighteued. I

We are glad to £ee the Hamilton Borough I. ouneil are gravolling Victoria Mt.ri-.et, leading >i[> from the. bridge, rvjine time ago this street was re formed but not gravelled, and during the wet, weatho a : llort time back it was in ;v very muddv state. It is to be hop.-d the gravelling will be completed before the wet again sets in.

The usual meeting of the Hamilton branch of the Waikato Farmers' Club was held in The Waikato Times Buildings last nielit. Mr Dyer read a very interesting piper hi "Co-operation ns applied to Farmers,'' which provoked a long and interesting discussion. A full report of the meeting will appear in our next issue.

Crowds of natives still continue to journey to Maogakawa, nn:l every day loads of provisions—ehielly Hour and pigsare to be been going up the hill. We are told that the Parliament House 1 that Tawhiao is to open, is considerably larirur than the Cambridge Public Hall, and that nearly all the timber has been brought from Ohinemuri.

Yet another monster! Mr B. Ruge. of Cambridge, is exhibiting in his shop window a lemon that weighs lib. !3oz. It was grown at Whangarei, and is said to be the heaviest ever grown in that district. Mr Ruge evidently thinks Whangarei can " lick creation " at lemon growing, as the fruit above referred to is labelled "the heaviest in the North Island." Perhaps ho is correct.

The euphoniotts names of New Zealand places bother the Britisher pretty considerably. Mr Sargent, jeweller, of Cambridge, has for a considerable number of years received a trade circular from Eng--1 nnd, and for a year or so it was addressed Cambridge, Waikato. Then Waikato was altered to Waikats ; shortly after it became Waicats, and now it has changed to Markets. We wonder what the next alteration will be'!

Mr D. H. Stewart notifies in this issue that he has taken over from Mr Crowther, the whole of the extensive stuck and plant connected with the "Victoria Stables in Welleslcy Streot East, Auckland, and he hopes that the public will continue to bestow the same patronage on the establishment as formerly. Mr Stewart will endeavour to give satisfaction to all by providing good horses and vehicles and all customers may rely on the utmost civility.

We hear that Captain Gooch, of the Salvation Army, has been called away from Hamilton lor five or six weeks, and that Lieutenant Saunders, one of the Cambridge officers, is to take charge of this station until he returns. The lieutenant is to arrive on Thursday next. Adjutant Bishop is about to organise a musical troop to visit the different stations in the Northern Division, and Captain Gooch is to bo one of that party; hence bis absence from this station.

It is quite as necessary to have a good advocate in the Native Lands Court as in the European, as is exemplified by the following. When the Mangawhero case was heard by Judge Mair, in ISSS, Pepene Eketone appeared for the claimants, against 'L'ui and 32 other.--, and succeeded in eotting them shut out of the block. A re-hearing was applied for, which was granted by the Chief Judge. The case was lately heard by Judges Barton and Von Stunner, Pepene Eketone on this occasion appeard for Tui and his co-claimants, and succeeded in getting the whole of thom reinstated an owners. After that we should think l'epene's terms will be advanced.

Those who contend that Mr Vaile should have turned his attention to the reduction of freights before that of passenger fares, certainly have some grounds for their contention. Not only is tho present tariff oppressive on the local products of tho soil, but it is equally so upon general merchandise, &c., imported into Waikato. As an instance of this, the charge of £1 2s Id upon llcwt. of grocer's goods from Auckland to Frank ton Junction seems scandalous. No district, however favourably situated, can advance under snch conditions, for it must be remembered that heavy freight charges, whether upon imports or exports, has to be borne relatively by every member of the community.

To-morrow and the following evening the members of the Hamilton Amateur Dramatic Club will perform Dion Boucicault's world-renowned play, " The Shaughraun," in the Public Hull, Hamilton. Eor some time past a considerable number of rehearsals have been held, and the various performers are all well up in their parts ; and as the piece will be staged in an elaborate manner—scenery luivine been painted specially for the production— the public may anticipate a real treat. There is every appearance of good weather, and. with a good moon, out-settlers will have a chance of seeing a really good play we'd staged and well acted—a thing that does not occur every day in country districts. The box plan is open at MiManning's, where reserved scats may bo obtained, and tickets for other parts of t.io house may be obtained from the various business places in Hamilton. In order to avoid the crush at the door, it is advisable to procure tickets beforehand.

A homestead leaseholder in what is known as the Hil.ston district, New South Wales, gives a fearful account in the Australian papers of the depredation committed by the rabbits in the interior. Many miles of grazing land are describes as eaten bare of everything green, and the country is likened to a metalled road. Some ot the holdings would be almost given away, and the devastation is so complete that settlement on land is quite defeated The gentleman in question, who is a holder of 30,000 acres under homestead lease, saya the depredations of the vermin aro chiefly confined to runs near the permanent water supply, where rabbits have converged when water became scarce on the plains. Further out on one run, running on either side of the Hay railway line, the owners havo erected 20 miles of wire notting against the railway fence, cutting off tho rabbits from tiio water immediately on the other sido. The scene along the line is described as being remarkable. The rabbits have congregated in millions along the wire netting barrier, and after runing up and down, vainly trying to get through, have eventually died from exhaustion. Thou* snuds upon thousands of dead rabbits lie pilpd one on the top of another along the wire netting, and the stench is so great from the decomposed bodies that it is necessary to close the windows of the railway carriages as the train passes along. The vermin have sought to obtain shelter from the sun's rays, and around every stump and telegraph post barrow loads of these lie dead or in a dying condition. The other day when the train passed along there were largo numbers of the pest still trying to get through the fence, and their numbers seem to be constantly increasing. Very few, if any, have succeeded in getting beyond the netting.