NEWS AND NOTES.

Manawatu Times, Volume IV, Issue 77, 6 October 1880, Page 2

NEWS AND NOTES.

Absent Juror- — Alexander Ferguson, who had- been summoned as a iaror on the inquest on the unfortunate fellow, Irwin, failing to answer when his name was called » fine of £1 was inflicted. ; Professional. —We Lave been requested to inform tho public that Mr. Crosse, .surgeon-dentist, will pay His usual visit to Palmerston on Monday, and inav be consulted upon that day at Mrs. Wakefield's.. The San iFraneisco Mail.— We have been requested to intimale that tho outward English mail, via San Eiancisco, will close at Palmerston on Friday evening, at a quarter to eight o'clock. Persons desirous of corresponding by this mail had better make a note of the fact. The Charge against Dr. RockStrOW. — The charge which bus been laid under the Medical Practitioners' Act of 1569. »gamst Mr. J. P. Rockstrow, will come up for hearing before the Bosident Magistrate at the "Foxton Court to-day. In order to give a full and fair report of the proceedings, we despatched our reporter last night, as the case will open this morning long bef or* the arrival of t he first train. A Slight Difference. — Persons who pay any' attention to the differences which occasionally may be seen m the amount of tenders, np doubt find ample food for instructive contemplation^ At the County Council, tender* were opened for some formation on the Sanson-Jfoxton road, when amongst others were the two following : — Messrs. Monteith and Dore, £74 ; D. and A. Eaing, £227. Tf Monfeith and ; Dove can manage to complete their contract without a heavy loss ; tlieu -certainly the careful Laings left a very respectable margin for profit. The Brethren of the Mystic Tie. — The Masonic br«thr«n of Wanganui appear determined to advance thoir Order m that town,, and energetic steps are being taken to establish a Mai'k Master Mason's Lodge. ■ We have seen the petition, to which a very Jarge number of tho most influential names on the Coast have been attached, and special efforts are being made to have the application for the wairant ready for forwarding by the outgoing mail. JTo doybt all of those qualified m this county would willingly join the new lodge. The Borough Council^— The usual monthly , meeting of the Borough Council takes place this evening, and the business to .transacted is, of more than ordinary importance, inasmuch as it will be the duty of the Council to make the final arrangements for the floating of the £5,000 loan. When these are satisfactorily completed, which wo trust will be m a few days, with the judicious outlay of the money borrowed, we trust to see Palmerston appear m a, new drass, and able to bo.ast not oiily of good pathways in' all its principal streets, but the ratepayers m jback sections provided with proper means fer ingress and egress to their properties. The Gold at Pitzherbert.— One mi. the party of prospectors who has been for some weeks amongst tha ranges searching for gold, came into town on Saturday, and although he was by no. means communicative as to. the prospects, sufficient could be gleaned to warrant the belief that they were by no means disappointed with the rtsulfc. On Monday morning ho again depai'ted, accompanied by two pack-h»ries, heavily -w^U prpY^onji and, o|her re..

qusites. It was freely rumored tbat payable gold had been found, but whether such was the case or not, considerable reticence was observed about the matter by those interested. The Xate, Storm.— The high wind experienced on Friday last, and which caused the destruction of the School-house chimney, also blew down the chimney at Bull's Mill, Aorangi, but fortunately falling clean of the roof, did no further, damage. Oonsiderjnjrthe alixiost hurricane which was experienced, the fact that not a shingle was disturbed at Messrs Duigan and Lloyd's | must be taken as a very high tribute to' the workmanship of Messrs "Meyriok and Perrin. The building is four stories high, and its peculiar shape should make it an easy prey to destruction, if not weighted with good strong substantial work. ' The Action of a True Man. — Mr D. M'Ewen, of Karere, has sent us tne following letter for publication, which we need hardly say we publish with sincere pleasure : — " Karere, 4th October, 1880. — The Editor of The Manawattt TlMBS.^— Sir, — At the meeting of the Manawatu Highway Board, on Thursday, the 30tli ult. the Chairman stated he thought that an apology should be mado to Mr Jackson, re the audit. of the Board's accounts. After seeing the action of Mr Jackson m his letter and the explanation of Mr Farmer, I hereby apologise to Mr Jackson for the words used by me regarding him, — I am, &c, D; M'Ewen-." ; An Unkind Rebuff.— Times must be very hard with the Marton print when it has to s»nd its touters out into the highways* and bye-ways to solicit support even m the street. • We know of one professional gentleman from Palmerston, who was thus accosted by its supplicating touter, who by way of trap asserted that it was the representative journal of the West Coast. Judge of the boaster's , chagrin to be answered m turn, " Well, if such be the case, then evidently Palmergton i» not on the West Coast, for the so-called representative .organ is most conspicuous by its absence." A specimen ccpy was then produced, but 'an inspection had no better effect, and the chap-fallen Advocates advocate retired to way-lay a victim who would not be quite so well informed. The Horowhenua Road.— The Horowhenua Natives yesterday carried their threat regarding the stoppage of the inland road into effect. In the afternoon one of the road contractors — W. J. Thomp; n — arrived m Foxf-on, and stated that early yesterday morning several Natives, headdd by a half-caste named Ben Stickles, ' came upon the road and cleared his party off, giving as a reason that the County Council had not answered their claim to compensation. Stickles, who acted as interpreter, said the whole of the.' -road" parties, would He cleared off by Wednesday. It is not pi'ebable the Council will take any action, m the matter, so far as the Natives are concerned. The Engineer will probably visit c the road line, take over the work aheady done, and pay the man. The inland road is therefore likely to stop for the present. — Herald. The Tables Turned.— A decided case of the mockers mocked, took place at the County Cauncil on Monday. The question of the payment of rates by a half-caste, Roach, -was before the meeting, when C6iin- ; cillorKebbell stated; that at the time the rates were ln'cttrred, "Itoach waß a half-caste, but 'now he was not. The announcement was received with a regular burst of laughter, which whs both loud and prolonged,, during'tha indulgence of which Councillor Eebbell resumed --h is seat.- When the merriment had ceased he again rose, and. put bis scoffers .-to shame by imformmg 'them .that as long aaa half-caste lived- with his tribe he could not be sued for rates upon any property he might own, but the moment iiecouformed toEuropenn usages, and followed Pakeha practices the exemption ceased, and that Ihe case of Roach was one m jioint. When the explanation "-as made, there was only one broad grin upon all the countenance? m the assemblage, and Councillor Kebbell had a great deal to do with that. The Christmas Sports. — Last year, when two or three gentlemen took the initiative m collecting subscriptions, there wer,e a few who considered tlie step unwarranted, asserting thatapublic meeting should hare been called to grant the necessary authority. -We mnke this statement, so that gentlemen who are of the opinion that that is the proper course should move m the matter. There are now somewhat less than three months -in which to carry out the arrangements, and unless the annual sports are to fall through, no time should be lost. It will be. reopllected that on account of the unpropit.ious weather experienced last year, the Sports resulted m a considei-able loss, but the deficit was generously made good out of the pockets of the Committee. Considering that sooner than break faith with the publio by curtailing the programme, the Committee preferred to supplement their donations by a levy of £5 each, we feel sure they can build upon tlie matter meeting with hearty support this year. The County Council. — The monthly meeting of the Manawatu County Council ou Monday, was a particularly short one, the actual business being finished by four o'clock. A portion of the Council, however, met again at seven o'clock to hear Mr. Hawkins on behalf of lhe Natives who objec); to the Foxton Beach Road. From our contemporary we leai'n that Mr. Hawkins went over the objections he had previously furnished seriaii.n, and at the close of his address said that though he had previously asked for £800, he was prepared to consider favorably any reasonable offer, however small, by which fcho matter would be prevented from going to the Compensation Court. The reply was that no claimjfor compensation could be made until the road had been proclaimed. This had not been done and it_was uncertain whether it would, be. Mr. Hawkins thought this would be an injustice to the native owners, but the Chairman replied that as the road had been hi existence for nearly 4.3 years it could riot be an injustice for thn matter to remain m abeyance another month. The Council re.solved to consider Mr. Hawkins' objections at next sitting, when it is probable there will be a full meeting. Only five members were present last night. An Eventfal Trip.— it may be re. numbered that on Saturday, the 18th of September, Mr. Mitford and family left Palmerston to catch the Oreti at Wanganui, which was to sail for Auckland that night. Circumstances occurred which prevented the vessel from leaving the wharf until the following Tuesday, but on tbat day steam was got up, and she proceeded, on her voyage, but upon reaching the bar of the river, it waa found impossible to get qut'to iea, and there sha lay for tight days, to the intense disgust of her imprisoned passengers. On the 29th, the captain determined to make a, bold dash for it, and succeeded m escaping from che river, but soon found to his cost that he. had jumned out of the "frying-pan into the fire." The little steamer managed to crawl aleng until Opunaki was reached, when a gale was encountered which, threatened, Gq se.nci ifc on-

the rocks, the cable which was put out snapping across like a carrot. The scene on board waMsKti«'c\iing. terrible, seren head of cattle wrc:/ so knocked about that the life wa9 beaten out of them, and * score (^unfortunate' sheep were left a lif •less, crusiieG^Qiass. Under these circumstances, the captain 1 ' had no other alternative than to 'bout ship anvil run back to Wunganui, arriving there on morning last. On Monday evening Mr. Mitford and family-were still m Wanganui, but m hopes —if they have luck — tbat they will reach Auckland before Christmas. Rifle Match. — The rifle match between the officers and non-commissioned officers on the one side, and the members of the Palmerston RiSe Corps on the other, came off at the Butts on Saturday, which resulted m a victory for the former by six; The following are the scores :— . '

Tolunteer Chester had 'constructed a very comfortable "rest" upon which to stretch when firing at tha long ranges, which certainly proved an agreeable change to posing on the boulders and stones. Ifessrs. Slade, and Haybittle volunteered to mark during the match, and succeeded m giring the greatest satisfaction to both sidss. ■ The Working-men's Dramatic' Entertainment. — The entertainment generously given by the W"orkingmen's Dramatic. Club- in aid of .the Organ Fund of St. Patrick's Church, came off on Friday evening, arid succeeded in' drawing a large and appreciative audience. The pieces'selected vrere "The Momentous Question ■""■ and "Mad as a Hatter," and considering that the same ladies: and gentlemen .took part m the two performances they 'were" most surprisingly letter perfect, the .total absence of the prompter's , voice being a most pleasing feature during the evening. Although we have seen both the pieces on more occasions than one, m tha absence of programmes we are unable to recall the names of the characters to memory, and therefore will not attempt to criticise the various personations, which, we are compelled V: say •: were m,ost creditably sustained, particularly those undertaken by Mrs. Woods, Miss Richardson, and the Messrs. Lane, Mr. Samuel Lane being Jespecially worthy of mention^or;;the spirit and humor which he infused into his characters. The Club deserves the greatest praise for the v«ry large amount of trouble to which they must have gone 'to put the pieces properly upon the staged a, number of appropropfiate drop and shift scenes having been exprsssly painted- for the occasion. We have not heard the proceeds of the entertainment, but judging from the crowded state of the Hall, they should be something substantial. -

300 400 500 • ydß. yds, yds. :Tl. Sttfc-Tit. Pinmi ... ... 14 17 11 —42 S&vgb. Stevenson 15 11. ,15 — 41 Lt. Marsh ... 16. 14 19 —39 Corpl. Ealf ... .... ... 12 17 ,10— 39 Col.-Serjjfc. Carroll ... ... 11 14 9— 34 Sergfc. Batchelar ... ... 12 4 9— 25 Corpl. Hampsoii ... ■ ... 8 8 5— 21 241 Vol. Snow ... 17 17 13 — 47. „ Chester ... 15 17 14 —44 ■ „' Dillon ... ... ;.. 16 14 8— 38 „ IVlacraanaway ... ... 11 11 12 —34 „ Collins ... 6 14 10 —30 " Kusn ... ... ... -life 10 7— 28 „ Bxyont ... ... ... 5 5 3— 14 : ' - ; . "•"'" . ' : - ' '■ "." '■'.. 235