WOODVILLE.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5017, 25 February 1878, Page 2

WOODVILLE.

[from our own correspondent.] H February 181 ■ Having perused a letter in the Herald H from " A Correspondent," in which it was I remarked that not having seen anything H from "Your Own" lately it might be I thought that Woodville had gone under, H I bethought me it was high time to pull I myself together, and by a more regular H effusion to let the public know that Wood- H ville had not gone under. " A Corres- H pondent" also made some remarks about H the men being discharged from the roads, B advising travellers to bring an axe, &c, H to clear trees that may have fallen across ;H but that is not the only danger, .for,H although the largest bridges have beenH replanked, I notice a large culvert, a fewH chains from the Mangautua Bridge, oa tbeH Napier side, is breaking away, and thefreH is already a hole, some two feet long andH six inches wide, rather dangerous, especi-H ally for horsemen at night, and no doubiH there are other culverts in the same con-B dition. It is to be hoped that somethingHj will soon be done which will ensure aflj proper overhauling of the said culvertaH and attention to the roads. J On Saturday, the 2nd instant, a mob ofH about one thousand sheep, the propertjH of D. Hunter, Esq., rerched here, en rqwfcM for Wanganui. The sheep were paddockecHß in Mr Murphy's large paddock for th<9 night, the only one available at presenfl| in the township for sheep. It is rather aH novelty to see a mob of sheep here^^B almost as much so as a mob of elephant™ would be to you of the Plains, that is t<B those whose business does not take then^H outside the Bush. On Tuesday, the 12th instant, in thfl evening, the Rev. J. White preached hiß farewell sermon, in the dining-room o^fl the Woodville Hotel, kindly placed at hill service by Mr Murphy. After hig sermoiM Mr White made a few remarks conceraindH church affairs. He said that as the paY of ministers depended upon voluntar^M contributions, and his salary of 4200 felH short some £30, he hoped those presenH would do what they could to make up th^| deficiency. At the close of the servic^B there was a collection, which was subsfcanH| tially responded to. H Our general agent, Mr P. C. ProtheroeM| has been in attendance at the AccommoHß dation House for the past vreek, for th^H purpose of selling off the household effect^B and stock, in which he has succeeded^H with the exception of a few odds and endslH Satisfactory prices were realised; th^fl majority of the articles went very littl^H below cost price, with the exception o^H some damaged goods. Altogether, th^H parties concerned ought to be thoroughl^H satisfied with the result. Mr Prothero^H deserves great credit for the maiuier i^| "which he conducted his first sale, also fofl| the trouble taken to let everyone kno\^H about it. With the exception of Mflß Protheroe losing his temper once or twic^H when being badgered and tried to b|H beaten down, everything went smoothly^H No doubt, should sufficient inducemeaH| offer, he will be our auctioneer, when great deal of that which I have mei^H tioned will be avoided. .. ~^fl It does not appear that it will be muc^fl longer a novelty to see a mob of sheep, on the afternoon of the 15th another mo^H of about 2000 reached here from Napie^M to Wanganui, and I understand there ar^H more to follow., . I think the majority of settlers hav^H burnt off, and have in most cases got |^l fair burn, more especially those that felleH| everything, and felled it early in thfl| season. '• A Correspondent," in speakin^H about the burning off, says that ther^H ought to be a proper time for burning ofi^H If he means a certain month should b^H agreed upon, for my part I don't see tha^H that would meet the case, as the seasoo^H vary so much that in one year Februar^M would be more suitable and the next yeaH| March ; but, unless we get a long spell c^H fine weather, after two days' and night^H rain, the March burn this season will b^H a failure. It would meet the case bette^H if, after a spell of fine weather, the parti^^H interested were to meet together an^H agree to burn at a certain time, but " A Correspondent " remarked, it is onl^H right that parties about to burn shoulH| give fair warning to their neighbours. IH ' We have our letter-box at last. shall we have a constable stationed He^^| The nearest is some 15 miles away j^M Danevirk, from whom we get a flyin^H visit occasionally — rather a long way t^H fetch one should one be required MR ORMOND'S MEETING. On Tuesday, the 19th inst., in th|H afternoon, Mr Ormond addressed a mee^H ing of his constituents at Woodville, M^H T. F. Fountaine in the chair. The Chairman, in his opening remarks^H stated that he understood it was not th^^H intention of Mr Ormond to make anj^^H thing of a speech, but after touchin^H upon a few things most suitable to th^^| occasion, Mr Ormond would be glad tH| answer any questions that those presei^H might think fit to put to him. WM Mr Ormond, upon rising, bore out thj^fl remarks of the chairman, stating tht^H having at Waipawa and Olive gone full^^| into the several questions of publiMß interest, which had been fully, and iflflj might say fairly reported, it was not h^H intention to deal largely with thos^H matters here, but in the first place h^H would speak about the education questioi^H which he considered was of special interei^H to those present at this moment. H^H might say that Sir George Grey w^Hj going about the country holding meetingMH and making any amount of promises, b^Hj it was yet to be seen whether those pr<^H mises would be carried out. It had beeflß said that the Government of which h^H had the honor of being a member ha^H done nothing for the country, but if the|^H had done nothing else they had got freflH education for the country, which befoiflH that was only free in one provinne. fIH think he said Otago.] The GovernmeiHM of which he had been a member had als^^H been the means of passing the Waatj^H Lands Act, by which a general system <^^| dealing with wastelands had been secure^^H Sir George Grey's platform at present w^^H for a more liberal franchise, but he (MflH Ormond) did not see that a more libernH franchise would be required. Mr OrmonJ^H then made remarks similar to those £^H Waipawa about a man just coming int^^H the country having the same power as th|H man that paid taxes, and also concerninß^H representation according to numbers^H which would give to one city that h&t^H

now only 8 members 22, by which the outlying districts would be robbed, as it was not proposed to increase the number of representatives. After a few remarks about taxation to the same purport as in his speech at Waipawa, Mr Ormond said he would be glad to answer any questions. Mr Gregory asked, did Mr Ormond think there was any chance of getting the telegraph extended to hero, as having only two mails a week it was very inconvenient in case of accident or sickness, and he thought the fast increasing population demanded it and it would pay for itself. Mr Ormond thought it could be done. He believed Palmerston was the nearest. He would do all he could to- get it through. Mr Gregory then made more remarks about some hard fighting that occurred at Waipawa and Waipukurau, and then he spoke concerning the bad state of the settlement roads, and enquired if there was a chance to get, say £100, from the Waste Lands Board to assist in improving j the roads. Mr Ormond thought they might get 25 per cent, of the proceeds of land sales returned, but he had not the Act with him. He would see into it ; but he might, however, inform them that as the proceeds of the land sold went into the general fund, the Waste Lands Board had no power to return any money. Concerning the main road from Napier, he understood from Some' of the members of the County Counfctf tliat the General Government would 1 , give £1000 towards the maintenance of the road, but there was nothing certain at present on account of the war. He had heard that the County Council would return a portion of the rates levied for the settlement roads, but not being a member of that body he could not say for certain. Mr Sowry : Can you give us your opinion upon the following, concerning the value of rateable property 1 ? If a person owns a certain quantity of land, and another person alongside with the same as the first person improves his land so that he has to pay some taxes that the one who does not improve his land, is it right that it should be so 1 Mr Ormond : I admit that taxation is in a very unsatisfactory state ; in fact, all are agreed upon that, but no doubt it will be remedied in the future. Mr Ormond then made a statement to the effect that certain accusations had at different times been made against liim concerning the Pourerere Block. He thought he had explained that to the satisfaction of those that he had addressed elsewhere, also to the satisfaction of the local press. In reference to a local matter, the dividing the Woodville district, he would explain that, when the Sowry Block was about to be opened, some correspondence took place between himself and Mr Sowry concerning the boundary. It was at first proposed to make the main road the boundary, but upon referring the matter to Mr Weber, he said that by that one-half of the township would be in the one district, and he proposed the Mangautau river as a boundary. It was not done for any personal motive. He was quite willing the two districts should be made one. If there had been no road board for East Woodville, he blamed those in it for not making one. •Mr Sowry : Would you support an amendment in the present Act concerning burning off, for the benefit of this district ? Mr Ormond : Yes, if it will meet the views of the settlers. Mr Sowry : It is the wish of the settlers. Mr Sowry went on to say that he thought the amendment should be to the effect that no person shall set fire to or burn off bush from the Ist of October to 10th February, which wa3 thought would meet the case, as several settlers proposed putting in a small crop, and by the 10th of February it would be gathered. Mr Sowry then asked Mr Ormond — Will you give us your opinion concerning road boards and county councils ? Mr Ormond did not think that things were working so satisfactorily as might be wished. It was thought in Canterbury and Otago that it would be better to have two or three counties in each provincial district, but his own opinion was in favor of ridings. Mr Horrocks said that he was sorry that he had arrived too late to hear Mr Ormond's remarks, but he thought that the electors ought to have the greatest confidence in him. He would therefore move to the effect, " That the electors of Woodville have confidence in Mr Ormond as their representative. " Upon a show of hands, all present responded. Mr Ormond thanked those present for the confidence they placed in him. He promised to do all he could for the district. A vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the proceedings.