NEWS AND NOTES.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume I, Issue 57, 27 October 1880, Page 2

NEWS AND NOTES.

A telegram was received on Monday evemng from Sir F. Dillon Bell, stating that he had accepted the post of AgentGeneral. It is only a few days ago since we heard that Sir William Fox and the new Agent-General were about to engage a house in New Plymouth, in order that they might be able to bring their work, as a Royal Commission, to a successful close. The announcement that Sir Dillon Bell had succeeded Sir Julius Vogel, has, therefore, caused some little surprise, and we may add, regret also. Few persons will be found to deny his fitness for the new office, but the resident* on this coast may easily be pardoned for wishing that some one else had been temporarily appointed, so as to allow Sir Dillon Bell and Sir William Fox to finish the work which they had so well begun.

Some of the applicants for land complained to us that cash would not be received, and fcLafc they bad t& g6 to the trouble and expense of procuring bank drafts. The Commissioner of Crown Lands, who came to Hawera early on Monday moming,decided, however, to take the deposits either in hard cash or bank drafts, and if there had been a Kelly gang in the vicinity, they might have found it worth their while to bestow a little polite attention upon Mr. Wray. We are informed that he took away to Carlyle nearly £400, exclusive of bank drafts.

A cricket club _ has been formed at Pungarehu, of which Sergeant Cleary has been appointed captain and treasurer, and J. F. Eyan secretary ; the committee consisting of Sergeant Arden, H. Harrison, and H. Twist. It w s decided that a subscription of one shilling per month, together with a contribution in advance, should he paid by each member. Of course, there will also be a cricket club at Cape Egmont, 1 if a suitable piece of ground can only be found. The day our reporter left the camps Major Goring and Captain Fortescue were about setting out on an exploring expedition.

We understand that it is probable the eotta»e that has been occup ed for some time past by Major Parris will be transformed into the new Land Office. Strangers visiting the district cannot help being struck with admiration of the architectural beauty of the government buildings — such aB the police quarters — in Hawera! Could not the department shift the new building at Manutahi to here, which is not occupied, as it was found, soon after the police station was erected in that towuship, that police survaiiWee -was "Wb&U^ YUMV&ttft&SftXy. &&• other 'instance of that unwise expenditure to which we referred' in a previous issue.

We have on several occasions, drawn attention to the loose manner in which contracts are entered into, and money paid away. But warnings appear to be of no avail. Another case of the kind came before the Police Court on Monday, Thomas Quinlivan having charged William Dawson with the larceny of a sum of £8, which was alleged to have been paid to defendant, as agent for Mr. Parrington, solicitor, in satisfaction of a judgment of the Court. No receipt had been given, or apparently asked for, so far as the evidence disclosed. The accused merely tied one of the notes in a knot, and said " This is the way I give a receipt." As the case is still sub judice, we are precluded from commenting on it. But we cannot help once more drawing attention to the loose manner in which business transactions are conducted. In giving judgment on Friday, in the case of Owen versus Walker, the Resident Magistrate. Strongly commented on this subject, to "Whica W© UOW oace more draw attention.

Hundreds are leaving Wellington every week for the Australian colonies, and the outskirts of the city have quite a worn-out goldfield aspect. Property has depreciated from 50 to 200 per cent.' within the past two years. The recent growth of Wellington was unhealthy : it was forced by loan expenditure, and now languishes for want of the stimulant,

Applications for the remaining deferred payment sections may be received by the Land Officer during office hours every day until they are all applied for.

Th case of Elizabeth Hellier v. Robert Plummer, for assault, was heard yesterday. Capt. Wilson and Mr. F. McGuire on the Bench. The case was dismissed.

The sale of deferred payment lands will take place at the Town Hall, at 11 a.m. to-morrow. On the following day, the cash sections will be sold at the same hour.

It has been currently rumored that the Government does not intend to construct the railway line between Hawera and Normanby, but we have been unable to get any reliable information on the subject.

We have received a copy of the circular issued by the Patea Steam Shipping Company (limited), in which the extension of the company is proposed, and applications for 600 additional shares of £10 each invited. Ten shillings is to be paid on application, and 30s. on allotment. Should the required number of shares not be taken up, all application monies will be returned in full.

The monthly inspection parade of the Normanby Rifles, on Saturday afternoon, was, as is usually the case, well attended, and the men went through their course of drill in a very efficient manner. We have been informed that a good deal of dissatisfaction is expressed at the prospect of the capitation allowance being knocked off. It is certainly unfair for the Government to place this district on a similar footing with places where volunteering is a mere pastime, although a commendable one.

In reference to the reported gold discovery at Te Aroha, the special reporter of the Thames Star wired as follows to that journal : — " Gold has been found in boulders, but I could obtain no definite information as to whether any has yet been discovered iv reefs," He advises against, a rush as yet. It is stated that the ground is being pegged off for a considerable dissiderable distance, and that the block will be proclaimed a gold-field as soon as a few of the remaining native signatures have been obtained for the'transfer of the land.

On Thursday evening next the first concert Of the season will be given by the Hawera Choral Society. We understand that every effort has been made to render the entertainment an unqualified success. Behearsals have been hoth regular and frequent, and those who ought to know, say that the practice was highly satisfactory. A carefully selected programme is published in full in another column, and the performers will no doubt do lull justice to it on the evening of the sale. It is said that they even hope to be able to " soothe the savage breasts " of the disappointed defer; ed payment selectors, who may have failed to secure at the auction the sections they applied for.

Whether from the fact of the Bachelors' Ball having been held on the previous night, or from some pther cause that we wot not of, bufc the fact remains that one of the poorest musters,- of all the poor musters for which the Hawera Light Horse is remarkable, was the result of the call to arms on Saturday. Major Noake has learnt the virtue of patience, or he might have resorted to that sometimes pardonable folly which hot-headed mil - tary commanders are popularly supposed to indulge in — namely, the distribution of adjectives. It is to be hoped that there will be a good attendance at the parade which is to take place on Friday afternoon.

Some time ago, at a meeting of the Church of England congregation, it was decided that the church should be built upon the site belonging to the denomination, near the place marked out for the railway station. A good many residents in the town did not relish tbe id a of having to walk through the muddy road which forms the continuation of Princes street, and some dissatisfaction has been expressed that a more suitable site had not been selected. In consequence, a meeting of the congregation took place last week ; but those present did not consider that the wording of the advertisement had been sufficiently explicit, and it was decided to adjourn the meeting until four o'clock this afternoon, at Mr. Wanklyn's office. There are two other Site.B under oilier — one in Princes street, and one in Regent street ; and as the final selection will probably be decided upon to-day, those belonging to the congregation ought either to come to the meeting or else agree to what is done by the majority of those present. Delays are proverbially supposed to be dangerous, and if something definite is not shortly done, in the way of. commencing to build the church, it is quite within the range of probability, that some of the subscribers may get disgusted, and the result may be a diminution, instead of an increase, of the amount already promised.

William Dawson, law clerk, was charged on Monday, before Captain Wilson and F. McGuire, Esq., J.P.s, with the larceny as a bailee of the sum of £8, which Thomas Quinlivan alleged he had paid to the accused, as agenb $or Mr. P&m»«t&», solicitor. It appeared tcom the evidence that the money was paid to the accused, in the evening, at Lloyd's hotel, and there appeared to be some doubt as to whether the £8 had passed from Quinlivan to Dawson. Henry Roberts Parrington stated that he saw the accused playing a game of billiards for £5 later in the evening, and he believed the money had been spent in that way. He refused to recognise a claim put in by Quinlivan's solicitor, demanding the .£B, as the money had been paid in a hotel, a»d not in his office. Charles Tait said he saw Quinlivan hand the money over to Dawson, but could not say what the amount was. No ' mention was made at the time as to what the money was for, but the witness believedit was in connection with a law case that Quinlivan had with Hone Pihama. After hearing the defence of the accused — during which he stated that he had been informed that the case would be merely called on, and afterwards adjourned, in consequence of which he had allowed BQBJf) Of his Witnesses to go away, ana t>ad not engaged Che services of a, counsel — the Bench committed him to take his trial at the next District Court at Carlyle. 3dil would be allowed — himself in i>2s, and two sureties in £12 10s. each. The accused stated that Messrs. A. Nathan and H. B. Cockburn were willing to act as sureties, but after some time it was found that Mr. Nathan had gone to New Plymouth, and tbe accused was taken to the lock-up.

"A Lower Ngaire Settler's" letter and " Straight Tip's " will appear in next issue.

The rules and regulations of the Carlyle cemetery have been gazetted.

Last year Queensland exported 12,000 tons of sugar grown within that colony*

Mr. E. C. Wilkinson is gazetted Land Officer and a Beeeiver of Land Revenue at Hawera.

The usual monthly meeting of the Hawera Masonic Lodge will be held on Monday evening.

A troop parade of the Hawera Light Horse will be held on Friday afternoon, at half-past four o'clock.

Sections in and around Okaiawa will be open for application on Monday next; some particulars will be found in our advertising columns.

Mr. F. C. H. S. Baddeley is gazetted Receiver of Land Revenue, and Mr. G. F. Robinson Crown Lands Ranger, under the West Coast Settlement Act, 1860.

On Friday morning, an hour before the Government land sale, Mr. W. Cowera will offer for sale at Lloyd's hotel building sections in Hawera.

Tenders for the gravelling contracts on the Mountain road will close to-morrow, at noon. We were in error in stating that the tenders closed last week.

The secretary of tbe Wanganui Acclimatisation Society announces that settlers who have suitable places will be supplied with young trout by the society.

There have been no maps of the Plains, ejther at Hawera or Carlyle, for the past three weeks. At the eleventh hour, a supply has been sent to Mr. Wilkinson, local Receiver of Land Revenue.

Mr. A. J. Whittaker was the only candidate nominated yesterday for the vacancy on the Town Board, and he has been declared duly elected by the returning officer.

Seven tenders were sent in to Messrs. Websters and McKellar for the construction of the water-race from Masop's Falls to the flour-mill. The prices varied considerably. The work has been given to a party of men at New Plymouth.

Lloyd's hotel has changed hands. It has been leased to Mr. Cook, formerly lease Of the Star hotel, Wellington. Mr. Lloyd intends going into farming pursuits, and has applied for some of the land on the Waimate Plains.

A preliminary meeting of settlers desirous of joining a Farmers' Co-operative Association has been convened on Friday evening next, at 7 p.m., at Mr. Owen's hotel, Hawera. Intending settlers on the Plains are especially invited.

Several sections of land have been set apart for sale at the Opunake Village Settlement. The present .occupants of sections at Opunake, who obtained permission to " squat" upon land there, have received one month's notice to quit.

In Thursday's Gazette, the Hawera Local Land District is declared to be constituted. It extends from the Stoney river down to the Tongahoe along the coast, and inland as far as the summit of Mount Egmont, and to the southern boundary o£ block X., Ngaire survey district.

Tenders are called for bush felling by the Commissioner of Crown Lands, Taranaki. They must be in by Saturday next. -Specifications can be seen at Mr. Beresford's, Normanby; at Messrs. Curtis Bros.,' Stratford; at the Post Office, Hawera ; and afc the .Land Office, Carljh.

To-day, at 2 o'clock, Mr. W. Murray Thomson ' will offer for sale the lease of eight sections, comprising the Town Acre, fronting Princes and High streets, for a term of twenty-one years. These are valuable building sites, and should command good, prices. Mr. Thomson will afterwards put up to public competition building sit s and proper ties in Normanby and Hawera.

A gentleman, who returned from Parihaka on Monday night, informed us that Te Whiti is in bad health. In addition to the sufferings caused through th bite from the dog, he has been laid up with a severe cold, which appears to have caused an attack of asthaaa. Our informant states that there is still a good deal of sickness prevailing at Parihakw, notwithstanding the reports to the contrary.

Some pure-bred bulls will be sold tomorrow by Mr. Freeman R. Jackson, on the Wanganui Bace-course, immediately after the Pastoral and Agricultural Show, which will be held on that day. The stock on the Fordali estate will be sold on Friday, and also the household furniture, farming implements, &c. The Waverley sale will be held next Saturday, and not on the Friday, as has generally been the case heretofore.

Hugh Owen was charged, on Monday, by Thomas Walkor, late lessee of the Egmont Hotel stables, with having assaulted him on the 21st instant, in the yard at the rear of the Egmont Hotel/ After hearing the evidence of complainant, Charles, Burns, Henry Owen, and Henry Christopher Stafford, the Bench dismissed th. case, as the evidence W&B B? ftttftll ft. contradictory nature that fcheir worships could not say who struck the first blow. Captain Wilson arid F. McGuire, Esq., J.P., were the presiding justices.

Indefatigable as the secretary of the Patea Agricultural and Pastoral Association has proved himself, he has been unable to evoke any enthusiasm amongst the farmers at this end of the county. There are about forty Normanby and Hawera settlers members of the society ; but although Mr. Eyton came expressly from Carlyie on Monday, for the purpose of receiving entries, only one form was filled in. Another was applied for at our office the following day, and that is all, as far as we are aware, from this part of the county. This is not creditable to our farmers. People sometimes sneer at the way things are carried on in Taranaki, but they take a greater interest in agricultural shows than we do here. Entries will close to-morrow.

A fine chance for those who wish to make money quickly is offered in an advßrtisement in the Dunediu Evening star, which runs as follows: — "To whom it may concern. A lady, whilst in a semimesmeric state, saw the race and the winner of the next Melbourne Cup as plainly as if witnessed in a Cameraobscura. The horse is now at 33 to 1. What she saw, and who won the race, will be sent you on receipt of ss. in stamps and ons for reply. . Address, ' Inspiration,' 17, Mense-atreet, Dunedin."

A map, showing the boundaries of the land liable to be rated for harbor purposes at N^w Plymouth, can be seen at our office. It would be as well that all intending purchasers on the Waimate Plains should see for themselves.