COUNTRY NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 9453, 26 August 1889, Page 3

COUNTRY NEWS.

[from our own correspondents.] Hamilton, Saturday. _ The number of truant children is so great in Hamilton that the West School Committee have put in force the compulsory attendance clauses of the Act, and written to the East Hamilton School Committee to co-operate with them. ' A telegraphic error occurs in my report of the Railway Commissioners' reply to Mr. Pearson, wherein it is stated that while they decline to reduce the freight of his carbolic sand soap from 32s lOd per ton _ from Hamilton to Auckland, they are willing, if he will transfer his factory to Auckland, to bring the sand required in its manufacture from Hamilton to Auckland for 93 per ton. In Thursday's Herald the price for conveyance of the sand was made to appear 3s instead of 93 per ton. The matter is not going to be allowed to rest where it is. The people of Hamilton are making the cause of Mr. Pearson their own, which it really is, and both Major Jackson and Mr. J. B. Whyte have been telegraphed to at Wellington to move in the matter. The cry throughout the colony is let there be local manufactures established amongst us, and a very good cry too; but then, when some enterprising individual starts some undertaking of the kind, red tape or railway freights, or some such obstacle, strangles it in its birth. Messrs. H. Reynolds and Co. have leased the Hamilton creamery for a term of three years. ' ■ The twenty-fifth anniversary of the town of Hamilton foils on Sunday (to-morrow), and will be celebrated on Monday. A public holiday has been proclaimed. The pioneer settlers, survivors of the 4th regiment, will parade with the volunteers on Sydney Square, at 11 a.m. An oak will be planted by each pioneer, on ground prepared for the purpose, and will then be photographed. At halfpast one, Mrs. Coates, the wife of the Mayor, will entertain the pioneers, volunteers, and invited guests at luncheon. The afternoon will be spent in sports on Sydney Square, when a variety of prizes will be given, and the day will conclude with a free promenade entertainment and dance, wit refreshments, in the Public Hall.

\Y u.i7AWHATA, Saturday. There was some talk of a flaxmill being started between here and jNgaruawahia, by Mr. Corboy and another, but nothing lias eventuated. It is likely, however, that our ilax will be utilised by Messrs. Coates and Metcalf, for their Auckland mill, as their traction engine could take many tons at 'a trip. There is a large extent of land in this district under flax, in patches of 20 to 100 acres, and the sale of the flax on the ground would be a boon to the landholders, besides affording a considerable amount of labour to persons cutting -the green tlax, &c. _ Mr. Coates will find the settlers perfectly willing to treat with him on liberal terms.

[BY TFJ.KGRAPH. —OWN COKRKSI'ON DENTS.] Hamilton, Saturday. There were seven applications for the appointments of two probationary nurses for the Waikato Hospital, Misses Young, Douglas, McDonald, \ ates, t.'hilpott, Sage, and Hart. The appointments will be made at the Board's meeting on Wednesday week. Two tenders were received by the Hospital House Committee to-day for building foundation to the water scheme machinery, viz., Chappell, £12; Steadmau and Evans (accepted), £8 17s Gd. PUKEKARORO. On' Friday, August 16, an accident occurred on the Kaiwaka tramway. Mrs. Thomas -lurid was riding along the tram when, on reaching the middle of one of the highest bridges, her horse became frightened, and rearing up on its hind lost its footing, horse and rider falling a distance of some I"J feet. In the descent Mrs. Judd fortunately i extricated herself from the saddle, and thus escaped being crushed to death. ■As it was J she sprained her ankle very severely, sus- J tabling- painful injuries to her back and neck, i Mrs. .1 udd was assisted to the residence of j Mr. Nicholson, and on the following day was removed to the house of her father (Mr. A. ! Stewart), where, under the treatment of Dr. Mountaine, she is speedily recovering.—[Own Correspondent.] JIANG APAI. Our roads now are a long way worse than they ever were previously. It is very fortunate the flat road to Waikiekie is open, as the mountain road is just now almost impassable. Several drays have tried it recently, but were glad to return to the level road. There is at least treble the amount of traffic to and from Wakieikie this winter than any winter during the last twenty years, and all has gone oil without any bitch or mishap. Mr. (H. Neville, in attempting to go to the mountain road on Wednesday, had his horses and dray capsized, and but for the arrival of timely aid at least one valuable horse would have been killed. Contracts are let for keeping the two main roads in repair, so that dangerous places ar c- tilled lip in such a. way as to prevent accidents. Some people are not content that deep ruts, &c., are filled up, but think the contractor should be compelled to metal the road so as to avoid ad mud. This would be certainly a cheap way of getting good roads. Meantime we can so far find 110 metal in any convenient place where it would be possible to use it for roadmaking. WAIPU. The Maori prediction that August was going to be dry and cold has been so far belied in this district,for it began raining, accompanied by strong easterly winds early last week, and on Sunday, the 11th inst., the water in most of the branches of the river rose higher than it has done for many years. In some of the low-lving paddocks the fencing was completely under water. At the junction, about nine o'clock on Sunday night, the roads for a radius of about a mile were completely submerged. Fortunately no serious damage has been done. The wind has changed to the south, making the weather colder, but Jupiter Plnvius still continues to empty the contents of his watering-pot 0:1 us. The political questions that are of the most importance to the struggling settler are "roads and bridges," and after a deluge, such as we have experienced during the past week, our thoughts naturally revert to those questions. The County .Councils who at present have the care and construction of roads in charge are, from a variety of causes, unable to make roads fit for traffic, and after spending the money granted by Government (as well as the ratepayers' money) in making what are supposed to be metalled roads, enact by-laws to restrict wheeled traffic, and in some cases have compelled timberdrawing teamsters to pay for damage to their improperly-constructed lines of road. If our Government would employ some of their prison labour in Macadamising the main road here in the North, it would.be a greater boon and blessing to the long-suffering Northern settlers than making grants of money to County Councils onlv to be frittered away 011 botch work.— [Own Correspondent.]

WHANG ARE.L HEADS. A meeting of the ratepayers of this district was held in the schoolhouse on Saturday, July 27, to consider what steps should be taken to merge the Road Board in the county. The attendance was poor, only seven ratepayers being present. Mr. J. A. McLeod occupied the air. The report of the deputation appointed to wait on the County' Council on the matter was received. 1 Thereafter Mr. 1). McGregor moved and the chairman seconded, "That a petition begot up and the district canvassed for merging in the county." This motion was carried; two declining to vote. The retirement of the clerk was then dealt with, and during a discussion on his salary and fees a little "feeling" was displayed, spiced with a sprinkling of what might be termed by some as rather unparliamentary language. This being all the business, the meeting closed. I understand the district is now being canvassed for signatures to the petition for merging, and it is probable that some of the ratepayers who are opposed to this step will send in a counter petition. After an interval of about a week of somewhat fair weather, we had a retain of the stormy weather of the last two months. On Thursday evening, the Bth inst., the wind suddenly changed to the N K., blowing a gale, with occasional showers, till the 10t.h, when it moderated and the rain began to descend in torrents, continuing with little intermission till Monday morning. It then ceased, and the day, rather suddenly to last long, turned out fine. The wind is still changeable, and the whole week with the exception of yesterday was squally and showery. The rainfall must have been as great in proportion, if not indeed greater, than any of the days of the i previous storm. The tides of Sunday night and Monday morning were the highest seen here for a number of # years. No accidents beyond a slight landslip are as yet reported in the district. —[A Correspondent.]

STRATFORD. Some eighteen sections, comprising about 4000 acres of the well-known Toko Block, were offered at auction by Mr. Newton King in the Town Hall on Wednesday last. About 200 persons were present, attracted for the most part by curiosity, and the excellent free lunch provided by the vendor, Mr. T. Bayly, at Caldwell's Hotel. , The bidding opened spiritedly, the first lot running up from 255, the upset, to 400 per acre. The next few lots, with frontages to the main road, also sold well, but the back sections were hard to quit, five being passed in. The 1000-acre clearing and homestead, occupied by Mr. Bayly's sons, was then put ud. but failed to

elicit a bid. About 1200 acres of Toko ts Block found a purchaser at 21s per acre in , Mr. Aiken, who already owns some 5009 acres adjoining. The result of the sale is disappointing, in that it will bring few new settlers into the district, most of the land having fallen into the hands of speculators. Bona fide intending settlers, a number of whom were present, appear to have preferred waiting for the Government land, of which some MOO acres, adjoining the Toko Block, are now ready for sale. I am disposed to think that the way the first lot was run up tended to make intending purchasers shy, especially those who noticed the arrival of the special train from New Plymouth with a horde of lawyers, bankers, financial agents, etc. " Where the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together." , . Taking advantage of the number of visitors in the township, the Dramatic Club gave an entertainment in the evening after the land sale, and had a fair house, considering the utterly abominable state of the weather. The pieces selected were the old favourites, " Box and Cox" and " Boots at the Swan," and were played in the high-class manner for which the club has gained a reputation. The immortal trio, Box, Cox, and Mrs. Bouncer, were represented by Messrs. T. H. and C. Penn, and Mrs. Curtis; and the cast for " Boots at the Swan " was as follows : Higgins, Mr. Malone; Frisk ly, Mr. Penn; Jacob, Mr. Arden; Pippin, Mr. Vicary ; Miss Moonshine, Miss Monkhouse ; Emily, Mrs. Arden; Sally, Mrs. Curtis; Betty. Miss Panto. An enjoyable little dance wound up the evening. TAHEKE. Since my last letter we have been visited with very heavy rains, and the Punakitere has, I am told, been higher than the record of the " oldest inhabitant." A few weeks of line weather, following the rain, have been utilised by many of the settlers to got their ground in order for sowing spring wheat. It is probable that most of them will have in a patch this year, as they hope thereby to reduce considerably the outlay for flour. One settler, Mr. Gordon-Jones, has imported a mill with which he is now grinding by hand wheat and maize in small quantities. He hopes very soon to apply water-power, and should then be able to meet all the requirements of the settlement. A meeting of the settlers was held at the school to-day, at which it was resolved to take united action against the sparrows, and arrangements were made to destroy as many of them as possible. Another _ important matter discussed was the question of the valuation of the land. The value of the separate allotments is very unequal. Some might be worth the upset price of 203, but not many. None are worth the 25s charged on the Parnell endowment. The Minister of Lands when here said that no reduction could be made in the latter case, as the land did not belong to the Crown. I see, however, that a number of allotments are' offered iu the Gazette of January 17 at 20s. On the other endowuments land is offered on deferred payment at 10s per acre. There is a screw loose somewhere. The meeting ordered a petition to be forwarded to the House, through Mr. Hobbs, on the subject. I am sorry to say that our parents and guardians do not seem to be alive to the advantage of education. Owing to the falling off in attendance of scholars, the pupil teacher has been removed. Mr. Anniston, our late head-teacher, has been promoted, and Mr. Selby takes his place; but during the few weeks since his arrival, the attendance lias been anything but encouraging. Education is- too cheap, or "rather its cost is not made obvious, and the difficulty of compelling attendance in an out-of-the-way place like this is great. Preparations are being made, I believe, for commencing work on the road that is to connect this district with the Wairoa. There should be some employment for all hands for a time, but it is to be hoped the authorities will not press it forward until the crops are in.—[Own Correspondent.]