WOOVILLE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 870, 2 November 1888, Page 15

WOOVILLE.

(FROM OUR own CORRESPONDENT.) J October 25,

The earth Bhake was felt here pretty sharply last Tuesday night. Rev J. Wrigley was conducting a week-night service in the Methodist Church at the time, and was just reading a line in a hymn, “ Then let the winds come, or .thunders roar,” and the shake came and made the whole building rattle. He h»d just been preaching about Elijah in hiding, and the voice of the Lord being not in the earthquake. About four or five years ago a man named Norman G. Hall was appointed clerk to the Kameroa Road Board. About two years ago he was convicted of forgery and imprisoned, and it was then found out that he had been embezzling the, funds of the Board. The balance-sheets bad always been returned as irregular by the provincial district auditor, but this year one was passed by the AuditorGeneral. A’ general meeting of the ratepayers was held last Saturday to consider this balance-sheet, and was rather excited, Besides going for the Board for letting contracts to the lowest tenderer, at rates men could not make tucker out of, tho ratepayers appointed a committee to get up a petition for a special audit with a view to recovering the amount of Hall’s embezzlements, from the members of the Board during his term of office. Huru, the chief of Nga-awapurua Pah, has been paid by the Government for the land it requires for the bridge protection works, and Mr Peebles will now be able to go on all right. The price paid for the land is L 25 per acre for 18 acres and L 5 for some other. October 27. A case of some interest was heard by Messrs Hall and Lowry, J.P.’s, here last Thursday. A man named Whitehead, in the Kumeroa, sued two others named Day and Fernandez for meat supplied to them. It appeared that the defendants were in a survey camp out there, the surveyor being a man named Mr Cartie, and they pleaded that they were not liable, as the purchaser of the meat was McCartie, who employed them, and deducted their share of the cost of living in the camp from their pay. This i 3 the usual arrangement in such camps, I believe. However, the justices decided against them, with costs. This case was the complement of one heard by the Resident Magistrate when here last, in which Day sued Whitehead for the recovery of certain articles belong- : ing to him which Whitehead had possession of and held*as security for his account. Day gained that case, and Whitehead waß ordered to give up the articles.

Now ho asked for immediate execution on Day’s goods and chattels, which was refused him. i .

Captain Preece, of Napier, is to take the next sitting of the Resident Magistrate’s Court here, but what the whole arrangement is, or how other places will be worked, I cannot say. The Mangaatui Road Board has been, applying to the Waste Lands Board that when the latter leases the reserves along the banks of- the Manawatu River it should reserve rights of access to the river bed for the publio. These reserves are mostly long narrow strips alongside tho river, and as the fords in the latter are constantly shifting it is desirable that the public should be able to cross the reserves to get to the fords.