MASTERTON.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1204, 29 March 1895, Page 14

MASTERTON.

Masterton", March 20. In reply to Mr A. W. Hogg, M.H.R., the Minister for Railways states that a portion of the improvements he has suggested at the approaches to the Masterton station will be made, but that others are not considered necessary. A man named Patrick O'Donnell, the possessor of several aliases, was arrested last night on a charge of attempting .to utter a valueless cheque upon the licensee of the Empire Hotel. The case has been remanded, to enable evidence to be pro-: cured from Featherston, where the man stated that he had a banking account. Mr A. W. Hogg, M.H.R., received a letter from the Pahiatua Assembly of the Knights of Labour the other day, complaining that whilst numerous men were out of employment at Pahiatua, men*were being sent up to the co-operative railway works from Wellington. The letter was accompanied by a list of 52 unemployed men. Mr Hogg at once made representations to the Minister of Labour on the subject, and on Tuesday night received a telegram from the Premier stating that an additional sum of <£3ooo had just been authorised for expenditure on the Eke-tahuna-Woodville line.

The valuations just made of the properties in the Wairarapa North county are as follow :—Eketahuna road district,£243,3o9; Alfredton outlying district, .£121,943; Upper Taueru road district, ' .£99,784 ; Mauriceville road district, .£152,259; Masterton road district, .£753,810; Akitio road district, .£316,593; Castle Ppint road district, Whareama outlying district, .£169,254: total, .£2,180,327. The total valuation at the last triennial valuation was .£1,627,304. The increase is due in a large measure to the valuation this j ear of Crown lands. The case in which the Rev J. C. Andrew, of lea, appealed against an order of the Inspector of Factories that he should provide better accommodation for his Bhearera has been adjourned. The North Wairarapa Liberal Association has passed a resolution drawing the attention of the Wellington Education Board to the fact that two years ago the Masterton School Committee requested that the annual meeting of householders be held in the Drill Hall, itself offering to bear the expense; that the school is not large enough for the meetings, especially as several important questions—suck as

* ; —r reliffious instruction in schools—are agitating the minds oi householders, and urging that the next annual meeting be held in the Drill Hall. - . _ Guard John Turner leaves Wellington for his uew quarters at Auckland on Saturday next. Masteeton, March 21. The Masterton Borough Council is considering the advisableness of abandoning native coal for Newcastle coal for use at the gasworks. The latter can be procured for 2s a ton less than the former, owing to the Railway Department making no difference on the Wairarapa line in the freight tor native and imported coal. . Under the classification appearing in the Gazette the freight on native coal should be 2s bd per ton less than on the imported article, but for some reason or other the native coal brought to the Wairarapa has been charged the same rates as the imported

/Detective Gantley has been hvMasterton for the past couple of days. ~,_ 'Heavy rain fell here to-day. It Jill have -a; revivifying effect upon fodder and f Tnumb k er- of very undesirable-looking characters have been hanging about town during- the past few days. Three of these were before P the Court to-day and were warned that they must leave the> town. Masterton, March 44. : A meeting of the members and adherents of the Masterton Wesleyan Church was • held last evening, there being a large attendance. The chair was occupied by Mi C Mr P. A. Bive, the delegate .to the. recent Nelson conference, gave _an interesting report of the work done at the conference, as did also the Rev J. Dukes. Efforts are being made to induce the Railwav Department to run a special train on the afternoon of Thursday next the occasion of a local exhibition held bv the Wesleyans of Eketahuna. -; Mr Joseph Mandel has 3 ust completed further important improvements to the Club Hotel. , , . • Mr John Bagge, postmaster, severs his •connection with the Masterton Post Office on Saturday. Mr W. Gillespie will be in charge until the arrival of the new postmaster. ' ', . -u„;„™ /Exceedingly cold, weather is now being experienced. Mr W. E. Bone was driving to Mauricer ville on Thursday in company with Mr Green, iun., when his horse stumbled and fell Both occupants of the vehicle were c thrown out, and escaped with a few "scratches. A shaft of the vehicle was broken. _' -._____ , r , OQ

~ - ; \ Masterton, March 22. The first meeting of creditors in the estate of Peter Hansen, labourer, bankrupt, was held at Pahiatua on Thursday. Under examination, the bankrupt stated that he had filed twice previously at Napier. He went to Pahiatua about 12 months ago, and had then a number of debts, v He bad incurred liabilities amounting to .£2OO during the 12 months, but had been idle tor some time. His wife had property and money, but he did not know how much. He could not make an offer.. 'A strong, able-bodied man named Charles Carlson pleaded guilty in the Magistrates Court this morning to being without lawful visible means of support. The man, it appears, went up to the Police Station and demanded to be taken into custody, as he was hungry and footsore. He was sentenced to one month's hard labour m the Wellington Gaol. ':-' . "Six persons have been convicted oi vagrancy here during the past six weeks. Mrs Low took possess? on of the Railway Hotel at Eketahuna yesterday. \ Two trucks containing sheep were deTailed just before the starting of the train from Eketahuna this morning. The consequence was that ten trucks had to be left behind. ~ _. Messrs Logan and Rose returned to Wellington this morning. • Mr K. C. Black, stationmaster at Greytown, has been transferred to Eiverton. Mr Stanton, of Waverley, succeeds Mr Black. It has been suggested that the three young men who effected the capture of the escaped convict McKenzie should receive some recognition of their services. Masterton, March 23.

, Mr John Bagge, who retired from the Masterton post, office to-day, was presented to-night by the staff of the post and teleoraph office with a silver-mounted oak butter dish, sugar basin and biscuit barrel, all of which were suitably inscribed. Mastbbtox, March 25. > A strange find was reported to the police on Saturday night. A son of Mrs Reynolds, who lives in Bentley street, found stacked up in a corner of the garden, hidden by rubbish, nine tins of gunpowder which had evidently been taken a few days previously from an adjacent hole in the ground.. The whole thing is shrouded in mystery, as the police have received no reports of powder having been stolen, Mr Duncan McLachlan, assistant engineer of the Wairarapa North County 'Council, is reported to be progressing towards recovery. . It has been suggested here that -Palmerston North should be named "Boomtown " in memory of recent booms. Masterton, March 26. An adjourned sitting of the Masterton Licensing Bench will be held on Saturday next, when several applications will be made for transfers of license. A man named Patrick O'Donnell was charged, on remand, in the Magistrate's Court this morning with having, on March - 19th, attempted to issue a valueless cheque for £3 on the. licensee of the Empire Hotel. The evidence showed that the accused, who has been previously convicted of, false pretences, represented to the barmaid in the hotel that he had an account in the Bank of New Zealand at Featherston, on which the cheque was drawn. He afterwards admitted, however, he was possessed of no such account. The manager of the bank in question stated in. evidence this morning that he had no account

in his bank for any person of the name of O'Donnell. The accused was committed to take his trial at the next sitting of the Supreme Court in Wellington. Owing to the change of weather coughs and colds are very prevalent just now." Several losses of stock have been reported by Masterton settlers of late. It is feared that the sheep-stealer is silently j conducting his nefarious game. | The weekly meeting of the North I Wairarapa Liberal Association was held on Monday evening, Mr T. E. Price (president) occupying the chair. The question of Old Age Pensions was discussed at considerable length, after which the fol lowing resolution was passed:—''This Association is of opinion that the old men and women of this Colony should be granted a pension at the age of 65 years, with a residential qualification of 20 years in New Zealand, that the pension should be 7s per week for old men or women, with a cottage free on Crown lands, or in the event of such cottage accommodation not being accepted, the pension be 10s per week. That Mr Hogg, M.H.Tt., be requested to support in the House any measure having for its object the provision of old age pensions/' Mr A. W. Hogg, M.H.E., is to give an address on the currency question at the next meeting of the North Wairarapa Liberal Association. At a meeting held in Carterton last night it was decided to form a Thursday Kugby .Football Union in the Wairarapa. The gas made at the Masterton Gasworks last month was 259,400 cubic feet, as compared with 268,300 cubic feet during the month of March ' last year. The coal carbonised for the month was 25 tons £»wt. , ,',,, ' Some few days since I intimated that the Masterton Borough Council intended availing themselves of the cheapness of the Newcastle coal in consequence of the. high freight charged for New Zealand coal. The result was that several Wellington firms wrote post haste, quoting your paragraph and offering to deliver coal at the local station at different prices. These offers are now under the consideration of the Council. ■ . " The clerk of the Masterton Borough Council has been instructed to make representations to the Minister for Railways relative to the high rates charged on the Wairarapa line for the conveyance of New Zealand coals. Messrs Norbury and Trevor, of Wellington, are, applying to the Borough Council for a concession of «£SO, as they state that they made a mistake in the measurement of the concrete at the local gasworks, on which they had a contract. The matter will be considered at a meeting of the Council to-night. Masterton, March 27.

Probate in the estate of the late J. B. Osborne, of Whakataki, was granted in the District Court to-day. The District Court was occupied nearly all day to-day in the hearing of the case in which Herbert Welch and four others claimed .£2OO damages from a Chinese storekeeper named Ah' Lop for alleged malicious prosecution. Plaintiffs were recently charged with the larceny of a .£1 note from the Chinaman's till, but the case was dismissed. Mr Pownall appeared to-day for the plaintiffs .and Mr Bunny for the defendants. -After considerable evidence was heard, His Honor submitted three issues to the jury, who returned a verdict for plaintiffs for .£ls damages. Costs were allowed.