NEWS AND NOTES.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume I, Issue 90, 23 February 1881, Page 2

NEWS AND NOTES.

Several letters are unavoidably held over till next issue.

Mr. Holdsworth, a gentleman connected with the Treasury Department, arrived by the Wauganui coach yesterday, for the purpose of investigating Mr. Wilkinson's accounts. As it will take some time to thoroughly overhaul everything, it may be necessary to ask for a remand tomorrow. We received the following telegram (wliiela •will, no doubt, be interesting to our lady readers more especially,) from our New Plymouth correspondent, last night:— "The Hon. Major Atkinson's eldest daughter was married this afternoon to Mr. Clement Govett, son of tha Archdeacon. The church was full of Indies. The whole df the Richmond and Atkinson families are here. There were thirteen bridesmaids at the marriage ceremony.

Mr. Denby, whose tenders were accepted for the Waingongoro and Waiokura bridges, intends bringing the timber to the mouth of the Waingongoro, and from thence will cart it to" where the bridges are to be built.

A number of strangers have been up to see the bush land at the back of the n .tive reserve dining the past week.

The goodwill of the lease of 1300 acres of land, ia the occupation of Mr. H. Axup. will lie offered for sale to-day, at Wanganui, by Mr. F. R. Jackson.

Mr. W. Dale will offer for sale to-mor-row, at Prosser's Hotel, 50 acres of land, with cottage aud stockyard; also rural section No. 238, Hawera.

The tenders for the Inaha bridge will close on Monday, and for the NormanbyHaweia permanent way contract on Tuesday next.

Mr. Moore Hunter attended the 1 rge sale at Bulls, which was recently advertised in the Star by Messrs Stevens and Gorton, the auctioneers. He states that there was a large attendance, and good prices were realised.

Messrs. Scott, Nichol, and Co. have disposed of half-a-dozen of their imported Lincoln rams to a local settler at a satisfactory figure. Since they were put up to auction, the purchaser had an opportunity of attending other sales, but he did not come across any better bargains.

A meeting of the shareholders in the Hawera Town Hall Company is advertised to be held on Monday evening. The Committee of the Institute resolved to call a public meeting the same evening. Could not some alteration be made, so as to prevent the two meetings clashing ?

There is a small prospecting party at the Mangaehu, where the quartz was found by Mr. Barclay's survey party. They are subsidised by Mr. Tisch of the Stratford Hotel, Captain Amodeo, of the steamer Rowena, and five or six gentlemen at New Plymouth, who pay £1 a week each.

The Hawera Institute is, we regret to state, in financial trouble, and a meeting of the committee was held on Monday evening, for the purpose of considering what was best to be done. A long discuscion took place, and several propositions were made. It was at length decided that a public meeting should be called on Monday next ; that a sub-com-mittee should canvass for subscriptions ; and that all the English newspapers and magazines should be discontinued as soon as possible. A condensed report will be found elsewhere.

Messrs. R. H. Nolan & Co., auctioneers, have opened offices at the Bank Buildings in Hawera, and will commence business as Commission Agents, Land and Stock Agents, Seed Merchants &c, forthwith. We undrrstand that Mr. Nolan intends erecting sale-yards here shortly, and will then hold periodical salea of stock. He has been for many years in the business in Auckland, in the well-known firm of Hunter, Nolan, and Co., has an excellent and extensive connection throughout that district, and will therefore start in Hawera with every prospect of success.

In reference to the remarks in last Saturday's Star, as to the difficulty of getting summonses served upon members of the A.C. Force, we are informed on reliable authority that it was impossible to have the one taken out by Mr. Gibson served in time. It was brought to Capt. Gudgeon about 10 o'clock, with a request that it should be delivered before 11 o'clock the same morning. The person for whom the summons was intended happened to be working in the bush just then, and it was therefore impossible to have it served within the prescribed time. A little more information, as to when Mr. Gibson took out the summons, and the delay that elapsed before it reached Manaia, would be interesting.

Mr. Barker's first annual ram fair will be held at Patea on Saturday next. The sale comprises about 80 imported Lincoln rams from the well-known flock of H. J. Hall, of Leeston, Canterbury; 1000 full-mouthed long-wool ewes from the flock of Mr. H. Gaisford, of Napier ; 250 Lincoln ewes from the flock ot Mr. John Haudley ; and a number of other sheep. Seeing that there has been a good demand for sheep lately, aud that prices all along the coast have ruled high, we anticipate a good attendance at Mi\ Barker's ewe and ram fair. Being a first attempt to establish a useful custom, and one which in other districts has been well supported, it is to be hoped that the movement will meet with such support that it will become firmly established as an annual fair. Farmers should show that they appreciate the efforts of new arrivals to minister to their wants.

The deferred payment bush land will be open for application on , Saturday aud sections for which there are more than one applicant will be submitted to auction on Monday next. The upset price is £2 per acre. Sections unapplied for on Saturday may be taken up on Monday morning. At all events, that has been the practice hitherto. Intending selectors have also been allowed to amend their applications, by withdrawing, and then applying for other sections. We are not aware that this practice will be sanctioned on the present occasion, but, in the public interest, some official notification would not be out of place. Those who were possessed of special knowledge on previous occasions were able to tv n it to good account, but what we suggest would place the general public on a more equal footing. The cash land will also be sold on Monday next. The upset prices are £1 10s and £2 respectively.

Messrs. G. V. Bate and M. D. King made a canvass of the town yesterday for subscriptions in aid of the Institute, and succeeded in collecting over .£lO. Messrs Bate and King report that thot>e who are in the habit of using the Institute night after night, and month after month, were the most ready to refuse ; whilst citizens who seldom go inside the building contributed handsomely. It may be that the former class cannot afford to pay much, but surely they could contribute a little at a time like the present, when work is plentiful, and wages pretty good. The following is tlie list of those wrho sul>seribed yesterday : — Messrs. Murray, Hampton, Fraser, Nichol, McKenzie, Bate, King, Pitcher. Bowling, Langley, Nodder, Henderson, Foy, Noble, Parkinson, Adams, Prichard, Watts, O'Neill, Smaile, Armstrong, Burton, Parrington, Cook, Dingle, Bowman, Syme, Galvin and Co. Messrs. White and Riddiford will be the next canvassers, and we have reason to believe that they wi '.be even more successful than Messrs. Bate and King. This is only as it ought to be. There is not a citizen in Hawera who should not feel proud in having such a building as the Institute.

Mata bas b.on sold in Melbourne for 500 guineas.

A petition in favor of opening a post office ot Manaia id now in circulation among the settlers on the Waimate.

Home correspondence, via San Francisco, will rezuire to be posted along this coast to-morrow. The mail will close at Hawera at noon.

The result of the tenders for the Hawera and Normauby station buildings contract has not yet been announced, but we have reason to believe that Mr. Walton Pell's is likely to be accepted.

The Hawera Acclimatisatiou Society want some money to pay their present liabilities. There are about 30 members still in arrear with their subscription, and it would be as well if they paid up as qiuckly as possible. The last consignm nt of trout fry has not yet been paid for, and there is only ;£2O on hand.

Mr. McCutchan, secretary of the Ngaire Road Board, received the following telegram yesterday from Mr. C. D. Whitcombe, Commissioner of Crown Lands : — 11 Plan of proposed expenditure deferred payment monies Ngaire district will pass the Board on Monday, and notice of approval will be forwarded to Wellington."

Our Patea and Taranaki contemporaries have commented on the arrest of Mr. E. C. Wilkinson, in a style which shows that they have condemned him unheard, and assume him to be guilty. It is surely wissr, as well as more in accordance with journalistic etiquette, to refrain from arriving at conclusions while a cassis still sub judice.

A cricket match will be played on Saturday next at Opunake between an eleven of the Hawera C.C. and an equal number from the A.C. station. The following play rs will represent Hawera : — F. Bayly, G. Bayly, Beresford, Fowler, Flint, Jacomb, Lysaght, Mason, Riddiford, Southey, Wanklyn. Emergeney — King and Innes.

The chairman of the County Council and the engineer will visit the Waimate Plains to-day. In our last issue it was stated that they would do so on Monday : the mistake was owing to some error in the telegram forwarded to us from Mr. Dale, who has since informed us that Wednesday, and not Monday, was the date fixed for the visit.

The Evening Post states that Major Atkinson will be unabl to address hiß constituents in consequence of continued lameness. A correspondence suggests that " the honorable and gallant gentleman might come as far as Hawera, where a chair could be placed on a table, and the much-longed-for address could be delivered without at all inconveniencing the Major or adding to his illness."

Mr. and Mrs. Hart will appear at th Town Hall, Hawera, on Friday, Saturday, and Monday next, and Mr. Kerby, the agent, informs us that new pieces wiu be produced each evening. The " Happy Hours" entertainment was very good, but it had been given too frequently, and it is satisfactory to know that we shall have the pleasure of seeing Mr. and Mrs. Hart in something new, as they are certainly very clever and amusing.

It is understood that a number of speculators had determined to buy up the Paribaka land as a run. They were afraid to bid lest some one should compete against them, and therefore stood out, hoping to secure the land at the upset price on application after the sale. However, it is quite likely that they will be nisappointod in this matter, as the land has not yet been declared open for sale at the upset, and it may be held back and again put up at a later date ; but we hope to see it all thrown open lor selection on deferred payment.