FEILDING.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 772, 17 December 1886, Page 17

FEILDING.

[FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.]

On the Ist instant the annual spring show of the Manchester Horticultural and Pastoral Society was held in the Town Hall. Owing to the inclement season, some of the exhibits, especially in vegetables, were not so numerous or fine as on most former occasions. The pot plants, cut flowers, rosea, colceolarias, pelargoniums, and . foliage plants were, however, well up to, if not beyond the average, and the same may be said of the bridal, hand, and table bouquets. There were Borne pretty baskets of native flowers and some floral devices, all of which were much admired. Some very neat specimens of chrystolium and Poonah painting > were a special attraction. A local firm of enterprising apiarians exhibited some splendid samples of beeswax, also some drone traps, comb foundation, and other things pertaining to scientific apiculture. The pastoral department was not on the whole so well represented as it might have been,.though there was some first-, class ham and bacon, while the quality of some of the butter could scarcely be beaten anywhere. Cheese was conspicuous by its absence, which was rather strange, as the district is well adapted for its production, and a special prize was offered for this article. There was a good attendance of the public, and on the whole the show was a success.

I am sorry to have to report a fatal accident which happened a few days ago to a bushfeller named John He and his son were working together, and were standing waiting for a tree they had scarped to fall, when it struck.a dead tree which fell on the deceased. An inquest was held, at which a verdict of accidental death was recorded. The contract on which this unfortunate man was working has been a most unlucky one, as this is the second fatal accident it has resulted in, beside serious injuries to three other men.

The Borough Council having proposed to raise the sum of £IOOO under the Loans to Public Bodies Act for the purpose of part construction of a bridge over the Oroua River at Aorangi, a public meeting of the burgesses to discuss the subject was held the other evening, convened by the Mayor, whq presided. Mr Fowles, a member of the Council, moved a resolution to the effect that the. meeting approved the proposal, and pledged itself to assist in carrying the vote on the polling day. MrMacarthur,M.H.R., seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously. This part of the business being over, Mr Macarthur said the meeting might take into consideration the present railway timetable. The whole of the local traffic was sacrificed for the sake of a few passengers from Wellington to Taranaki. He instanced the Dunedin-Christchurch through passenger traffic as being so remarkably small even where the population was much greater than in Wellington. It was absurd that the convenience of the whole of the people of this coast should be sacrificed for the benefit of a few. He then proposed the following resolution : “ That this meeting protests most strongly against the present timetable on the Foxton-New Plymouth Railway, which sacrifices the whole of the wayside traffic along the line in order to enable a few through travellers to reach Wellington or New Plymouth an hour or so earlier, and that the Chairman forward a copy of this resolution to the Government.” In supporting the resolution he said not a single newspaper on the line was in favor of it, with the, exception of the N. Z. Times, which only took a Wellington view of the inconvenient trains running on different days of the week. It was also an inconvenience to settlers on the side of the line that the trains did not stop at the flag stations. He considered the milage run by the Government engines was now greater than before the Wellington-Mana-watu Line was opened. The new Mayorelect, Mr S. Goodbehere, seconded the resolution. He said he had already experienced loss and inconvenience by the new arrangement. The resolution was carried unanimously. As there are about seven stations on the Manchester block, and the trains only stop at two of these, it may easily be seen what inconvenience and loss are caused to a large number of settlers, who are debarred ‘

from coming into town for goods, and sending their produce to market. In fact ,what may be termed local traffic is at au end, so far as the railway is concerned, so that the sooner some change is made in the train arrangements the better for all. : •

The Manchester and Feilding Acclimatisation Society are making good progress. A suitable site for fish-jbreeding ponds, possessing all the necessary qualifications, lias been placed at the disposal of the Society by Mr C. Bull, on his estate at Aorangi, and within a hundred yards of a flag statiom There being i. ample funds at disposal, the work is to be proceeded with. • The Society has just ordered another lot of young fish from Maßterton for placing in the Streams running through the district/. Some very fine specimens of trout, the result of former consignments, may now be seen, and it is confidently hoped that the time,will soon come when the most enthusiastic disciples of Izak Walton will be able to sally fprfch with reasonable expectations of a good day’s sport. ‘ Our local Blue Ribbon Army, the outcome of Mr Burnett’s temperance mission, is progressing, and holds periodical public meetings, which are well attended. While there is any demand at_ all foe fermented liquors I suppose there will ever be found a supply. The latest addition to our local industries is a brewery, which has just been started. It is only fair to say that the article produced is pronounced to be sound and genuine ; in fact, equal to any, and better than some, of those imported. '