WAIROA.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XX, Issue 3894, 10 April 1877, Page 2

WAIROA.

[from otjr own correspondent.] Clyde, April 7. Some said, " John, print it ;" others said, " Not so." Some said, "It might do good :" others said, " 3S T o." It is rumored we are soon to have a paper started here, managed by a local company of speculators. The name of the organ that shall " waken the echoes of the land" with its voice has not yet transpired, though I am informed that " the plant is on the way." Some here are of opinion that such a tiling as a local paper would be the means of doing a great deal of good, siipprossing a vast amount of scandal and gossip ; on the other hand, there are those who say it will do no good, whatever side it takes. The day the first copy is issued will, no doubt, be observed as a general holiday, and not till then will we all believe in the fact that we have a free and independent press of our own. It is a significant sign of the times to see "Wairoa putting' forward her claims through her own press. I cannot vouch for the truth of the report, but I have every reason to take it for a fact, else why should our embryo councillors and other would-be politicians shake in their shoes, as the saying is, as to how their speeches would look in print, taken down verbatim. People who are in the habit of flooding the Hawke's Bay press with letters will no doubt give us a chance ; also, it will help to sell the paper, if nothing else. The Wairoa County Council, at the last sitting of the Resident Magistrate's Court, summoned two men for unlawfully making use of the landing-place at the Wairoa ferry, by ferrying themselves and others across the river, causing a loss of revenue to the Council by evading the usual ferry charges. Mr Burton did not press the charge, as lie believed it was done in ignorance, at least of the penalty; but lie wished to make an example of the first case that occurred. He read a clause in the Counties Act, breach of which entails for every such offence a penalty of five pounds. People possessing plenty of floating conveyances would do well to bear this in mind, for though no money is passed, using the landing-place is quite sufficient warrant to enforce the penalty. The p.s. Manaia had a narrow escape when crossing the Wairoa bar on last Thursday, when leaving for Napier. A heavy sea struck her and twisted her right round, insomuch that the captain (T. Smith) deemed it necessary to cross the bar full steam stern ways. As the. water was very shallow, the seas poured in amidships, and the vessel grated over the bar. The passengers speak in the highest terms of the presence of mind of the captain, for by no other means conld ho have saved the vessel.