WE VOTE STRAIGHT.

Manawatu Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 7640, 4 February 1903, Page 2

WE VOTE STRAIGHT.

The Borough Council did emphatically the right thing last night in adopting a plan which, with alterations, will provide the kind of Opera House the people of Palmerston have been looking for for some time. It did emphatically the wrong thing in deciding to erect municipal buildings in connection with the Opera House, It will take quite £9000, possibly a trifle jjiore, to build an Opera House sufficient for the requirements of Palmerston and district te-day, and more important still, for the requirements of Palmerston in the future.' It is not a big ordinary barn that will fill the bill, but a place of public amusement where an intelligent and progressive community can be catered for by the very best talent that visits the Colony ; a building of noble proportions and with some architectural pretensions which we shall not be ashamacl to exhibit in. fcho light of day to the stranger within our gates. Cr. Haydon's motion for the addition of municipal buildings to the scheme cannot be regarded as other than as an insidious but deliberate attempt to defeat the wishes of those who are in favor of the erection of an Opera House on modern lines, and we regret that a majority of the Council was so shortsighted as to fall into the trap. An Opera House plus municipal buildings would be a barn with jumble trimmings—a monument of folly. An Opera House standing alone with a picturesque foreground and with ample room for expansion is what is wanted. There is plenty of accommodation for the municipal officials in existence to suffice for years to come. Meanwhile let no herring be drawn across the scent. We vote for an Opera House, an Opera House, and nothing but an Opera House! On the fourth page of this issne will be found the usual weekly budget of poultry information by "Caekler." During January 46 head of cattle and horaejj y,rerc impounded by the borough ranger, A cabre message from Loridpn yesterday stated that the English y/ofll sales closed dull with large withdrawals. In the drawing in connection with the Palmerston Starr-Bowkett Building Society Mr H. C. Mellsop was the lucky investor, and will receive £300 free of interest. The Holiday Association committee has agreed to ask members of the Association to close their places of business to-day from noon, in order to give employees an opportunity of attending the Woodville Show. At a meeting of the Wainiatc branch of the New Zealand Fanners' Union last week a resolution was carried that the Government be asked to reduce the sheep tax. The B,iijelutha Free Press says that a Jarge contingent pf CJn'nese are working at Jtumip.-thinning on fclje farms jn the Hillend district, and adds jLhat jhis }s not a case of the competition of cheap laboiir, because these Chinese arc receiving the same pay a3 Europeans, Some amusement has been caused iv Wellington by the fact that the city dogcatcher captured a clog belonging to the Premier's household, with a last year's collar on its neck. A man intervened and demanded that the dog should be given up. The dog-catcher, however, stuck to his catch, and told the man he 'would'take the dog if it belonged to the Governor Jiimself.' -The necessity foi? further proceedings was obviated by the i payment of the tax. :

Cr Goodger gave notice of motion at the Borough Council last evening that the tarring and sanding of the footpath on the nortli side of Church street from Princess street to Alexandra street, be completed at once. It is anticipated that there will be a largo attendance at the Bowlmg Green to-morrow, the occasion being the play off of the last games in the second rsund of the club matches. Players are reminded that all unpliiyed games will be struck out or byes given. After wearily protesting year after year against the existence of the nuisance created by " plague" creek, on the Terrace watercourse, residents in the neigbourhood are at last experiencing the satisfaction of knowing that the local authorities have arisen to a sense of their responsibility in the matter. The creek is being cleaned out. The Sluggish Elver Drainage Board considered at their usual meeting yesterday the classification of the subdivisions of the drainage districts, and it was decided that at the next meeting public notification of the classification lists should be made. At the Borough Council last evening Cr Haydon gave notice of motion that the resolution carried at the last meeting re discontinuing all negoti itions with the National Mortgage Company be expunged from the minutes on accoxint of its being ultra vires, as a resolution standing on the minutes delegating the Council's powers to the Freezing Company has not been rescinded. Reporting to the Council last evening the borough inspector pointed out that it would be necessary to take steps to prevent the water pipes on the temporary span at the Manawatu bridge being carried away by floods. He suggested that they should be again laid in the ded of the river, but was afraid that another flood woukVjprobably break them where they rose at the bank. This, however, could not be obviated, and b> adopting Mr Holmes' suggestion such a break could be repaired at small expense of time and money. The Council decided that the inspector should be empowered to have the work done. A most enjoyable outing was provided for the pupils of the Taikorea school on the occasion of their annual picnic on Friday last. The weather was fine, the location (Mr Hopping's bush) was picturesque and the arrangements excellent. During the' day the prizes won during the year (a J-10 collection of fine books from Mr Bennett's warehouse) were presented. Every pupil received something, and special prizes were awarded Beatrice Sexton (popular girl), Rangi Marumaru (popular boy), Rangi j Maruma.ru (writing), and Hilda Hopping and Kate Richmond (good conduct). The Hoii. T. V. O'Loughlin, who is reporting on agriculture and dairying, as conducted in this colony, to* the Sotith Australian Government, passed through Palmerston to-day on his way north. Mr O'Loughlin, who is Colonial Secretary of the South Australian Government, is combining business with pleasure. After a brief visit to Taranaki, he will gj to Auckland and the Hot Lakes Country, returning south by way of the King Country and the Wanganui river. From what he has already seen of the country, Mr O'Loughlin has formed a very flattering opinion of it. In his own words to a representative of the Manawatu Daily Times, "You have a very beautiful country, and I am delighted with it." Before Mi Greenfield, S.M., yesterday judgment was given for the plaintiff in the following undefended cases :—Dunk and Pringle v. E. Christensen, claim £1 3s lid, costs los ; J. Smith v. J. M. MeKerras, claim £5 Bs, costs 25s 6d ; L. Bittlemeyer v. Chas. Young, claim £6 6s 2d, costs 26s 6d; H. B. Tucker v. J. A. Goodson, claim £6 12s, costs 23s 6d ; J. P. limes v. A. Smith ana S. M. Smith, claim £13 7s lOd, costs 18s ; P. J. Shea v. T. Woods, claim £12 4s and possession of tenement, possession by February 6th, with costs £2 3s. Evidence was taken in a case in which B. F. Howard claimed £150 from J. Curran, the claim being for the return of £50 deposit and damages in connection with the non-completion of the sale of the Albion Hotel, Shannon, from defendant to plaintiff. Judgment was reserved. Some time ago the Palmerston Chamber of Commerce represented to the Superintendent of Telegraphs that it would be a great convenience to the people of Rongotea if telephonic communication between the two places could be maintained during tho hours at which the Pahnerston office was kept open. The difficulty in the way of the arrangement was that the messages came through the Feildmg bureau, which closes at 8 o'clock each night. Xt -was suggested that it would be a good arrangement if the officer in charge of the Feilding bureau would, before leaving each evening, connect Rongotea with Palmerston North. Mr G.'Hirsch,! secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, yesterday received intimation that the arrangement had been agreed to and instructions issued accordingly. "Rongotea residents will be glad to know that, in case of illness or other emergency, they can now keep in telephonic touch with Palmerston until midnight— a dispensation for which they shoultL be ! truly grateful both to the Department and the Pftlrnerston Chamber of Commerce. A trial of considerable interest to all those interested in the flax industry was held at a Southbrook (Canterbury) mill the other day. The machine tried was Anderson's new patent stripper. All the conditions for testing the stripper were not favourable (says the Lyttelton Times), but notwithstanding this the trial-was a decided success. As fast as the feeder could put the flax through the stripper did the work. It was noticed that tho blade was stripped cleaner and nearer the point than any stripper has yet succeeded in reaching. Some of those who have been in the trade for a long time have always been of opinion that a stripper must sacrifice quality when large quantities of blade are put through. The Anderson stripper disproves this, and the quality was all that could be desired, and the machine was taking in at the rate of 25cwt per hour, ' Colonel" Lynch mighi appeal to the gospel according to Ibsen, and as-1 cribe to the workings of the law of heredity* any martial indsicretions he may recently have committed in South Africa. His father, Mr John Lynch, was one of the pioneers of Ballarat, and when the j gold diggers there rp.se iv rebellion in j December, 1854, fought as a captain in the defence of the "Eureka stockade," the rude, hastily-erected fort where the insurgent leaders established their headquarters. The stockade was carried by storm on a Sunday morning by the 12th and 40th Regiments, which were stationed at that time in Melbourne, under the command of one of Wellington's officers, Major-General Sir Robert Nickle. Jit Lynch survived the assault, and, after the amnesty was proclaimed, was appointed mining registrar at Smythesdale, near Ballarat, where he became the father of the " Colonel" who is now an interesting personality. The anniversary of the "Eureka" engagement was celebrated for many years in French fashion by a procession of the Ballarat diggers to the graves of their comcados whq had ffillon in |he fight, and on these occasions jjr Lynch, senior, was always the orator-in-chief. Messrs Ross and Co., of The Bon Marchc, announce being in the last few days of their clearance of stock sale, and special inducements arc offered to quit the balance o£ suimijpr stock and showroom goo.dsj so as to effect a complete clearance, —Advt. '