WAIRARAPA.

Manawatu Times, Volume II, Issue 74, 4 July 1877, Page 3

WAIRARAPA.

(From our own Correspondent.) -,>.;■ ; Jijite 27. The polling for- a representative -having been- fixed for the 1 3rd July will have taken place ere this reaches you. • Messrs Duncan and Pharazyn have withdrawn from the contest, alleging that they have not received ttiat support they 'were led to expect. It nqw -leaves only sMr Beethain m the field, and of course he will get in. ' Some of -the Wairarapa electors want Mr Buckley, of Wellington, to come forward, and others want Mr John Martin of the same place to do ,so! .These gentlemen have not yet signified whether it is, their intention to come forward'or not, and if they do, I don't think they have much chance of succeeding, for Mr Beetham has such a host of' supporters in 'every township, that attempts made by other ' candidates would now be futile. I had almost forgotten that we had another candidate for Parliamentaiy honors, - m the person 1 of Mr Silas Pugsley. This gentlemanis the G-rey-town chimneysweep, and nightman, and is considered to be " daft." Some of his admiring friends induced him to come forward* as a candidate (of eo'urse it" was 'only a hoax) and head- <■ dressed <abctut 200 electors m an old auction room on Tuesday m'ght last. The place, was done up for the occasion with raised platform, &c, and at 8. o'clock Silas took his seat. Of course he was all- for the working man, and. -was ' greeted with frantic

applause. Over the place where the orator stood was a kei'osene tin filled witli all the rubbish that could be gathered, which, at a given signal, was pulled by a string and descended m a shower bath over the candidate He was a picture . worth seeing, for he was actually covered with filth, soot, and whitewash. The poor fool even then had not enough of it, but appeared to be m his element, so I suppose he did not mind. the drenching. He still stood speechifying when the platform came down, and he was forced to retreat. I hear that his friends have induced him to go to Featherston to explain his views there It Beems strange that men cannot find something more fitting tlian playing practical jokes on an unfortunate man who has not sense enough to know when he is made a fool of. 1 The thing most talked about "here besides the elections is what people term " Haggerty's lasii fire." As I daresay the news will be interesting to your readers, and as it is my aim to be interesting, I shall relate what facts have come to light concerning this fire. You must know, then, that about a -month' ago Haggerty's property at Carterton known as " Haggerty's accommodation house " was seized under a writ of J? fa. It was a 32-roomed house, having been built with a view for an hotel, but the proprietor though he tried all manner of means to get a license for it always failed. Well as I have said it was seized, and had been advertised for sale by Mr F. H. Wood ! (auctioneer).'. On the day appointed i for the sale, and at. the advertised time, 12 o'clock. Mr- Wood stated to the assembled people that through the conditions of sale not having arrived from "Wellington, he must delay the sale till the, Wellington coach arrived at 2.30. At about 12.15 a telegram -was' received by Mr Wood ,to this effect, " House now Burnirig." It appears that a carpenter workirig opposite saw Haggerty leave the house (the house had been vacant for a considerable time) about half an. hour previous to the' fire breaking out. He saw smoke and immediately smashed'in the door and found a small fire under the stairs. He states that he could have extinguished it if he had had a bucket of water, but while he was gone for water the fire had gained the mastery. Haggerty was arrested and taken before His Worship at Featherston, and on the application of the police remanded until an inquest had been held,, bail ' being allowed. Haggerty was seen , m GreytoWn on Tuesday last, at ' which a well-known storekeeper was so frightened that he had two men employed to watch his store all night for fear of its being burned. He had issued a writ on Haggerty once before, and he thought Haggerty might have, m consequence a grudge against , him. This is the fourth house that has been burned down while f Haggerty has been living m them, ancTrumour says that it is .the. sixth that has been caused by him. I suppose, as the case is still subjudice I .had better not say" any more about it at present. This I do 'know that it would only require a little persuasion to induce a hundred or two men to rise up and^lyneh-Haggerty, as they all ■ say, he richly deserves it. The building burned . . was insured .for £500. | About 4 months ago a belong- , ing to Haggerty was burned down and at the inquest the jury added a; ' rider that m their opinion there was , not sufficient stock m the -building to , cover insurance. j It is a wonder m such a fertile' place as the Wairarapa y alley the scarcity of stock should be so strongly marked. Horses you can buy m plenty, but when you come'to'cattle you most stop. -You cannot buy one solitary head from a calf up to a steer, except at a most exhorbitant figure. To give you an instance — at one of the last cattle sales m Greytown cows fetched from JSS 10s , to £12 10s ; while there was not one entry for stores. •' Horses were sold cheap because at present there is a glut of horses here, and it is tcTbe wondered' at that;some of your large, stock-owners do not' send 4 a few head through the G-orgeT for I am sure they would be "well repaid for their trouble m carrying home to the County of Mauawatu well filled pockets. - . * * , The footpath contract .is progressingin Greytown, and it will be a great boon to the. inhabitants when finished, and besides make the town look a great^deal better." It will be finished m less than another month. I suppose you have - f ootpath.s and all sorts of nice things m your little, city. If you have not, I daresay m time .you .will, for I believe there is a great deal of " go-a-headism "m your township, and when the / railway i thorough here joins- yours it will, I hope, put new life into the district. I notice that Mr Stratton the.

finder of the body of the late F. Whybrow has liberally transferred his claim on the reward offered by the Foresters (£2O) to Mrs Whybrow.