The Pahiatua Herald. with which is incorporated THE PAHIATUA STAR. Published Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 1894.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume II, Issue 100, 17 January 1894, Page 2

The Pahiatua Herald. with which is incorporated THE PAHIATUA STAR. Published Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 1894.

One of the recommendations made by Mr Fraser, County Engineer, in his last report to the Council is worthy of more than passing notice, and merits the serious consideration of theCouneil. We refer to that portion Of his report in which he advises the purchase of a stone-crushing machine for the purpose of facilitating the metalling of the County roads. Mr Fraser’s suggestion is particularly opportune at the present time, considering the immense amount of metalling which must be done in the near future to maintain the roads, not only throughout the County, hut within the Borough, in passable condition; and from an economic point of view, the suggestion must recommend itself as a means of effecting the maximum of good at the minimum of cost. Let us see how the tiling pans out, and in doing so we may fairly take the experiences of the past as indicating the necessities of the future. Last year the amount of metal spread on the County roads amounted to (>OOO yards, which at 3s per yard represents an outlay of 6900 for metalling alone. This quantity of metal, however, was sufficient only for the merest sprinkling on the most necessitous roads, and represents nothing like the amount that would be required to properly cover our main thoroughfares. Mr Fraser opines that were a covering of eight inches of well-broken metal spread over the whole of the County roads there would for eight or nine years he practically no maintenance required, except perhaps such as might be done by one surfaceman. Wages for surfacemen under present conditions amount to about 6900 per annum, at least half of which could be saved by the adoption of Mr Fraser’s suggestion. That brings us to the first big saving. Now as to the cost of a crusher and the quality of the metal as compared with hand broken stone. Hue of Baxter’s (the best maker) machines with a gauge at month Iff inches hv 19 inches would cost in England, with breakable parts in duplicate, 6289 ; freight would he set down as 675, probable duty tllO, rail and other charges 630, total cost 61.71. Such a machine would break to a2l inch gauge about 80 yards of metal per day at a cost of, at the very outside, eighteen pence per yard. An eight horse power engine suitable for burning wood could he obtained for .6250, which would bring the total cost of complete stonecrushing plant to 6704. Taking the lowest estimate of 6000 yards of metal per annum required by the County a crusher would in the first year save its total cost. Cartage would probably he the same as with hand broken metal, as in some places the tnetal has even now to be conveyed many miles to the spreading point. The quality of the machine-crushed metal would compare favorably with that broken by hand. The principal drawback is the absence of quarries, hut that applies equally in both cases. To sum up we may conclude that were a crusher in use metalling could be proceeded with much more expeditiously than under the present method, and at about half the cost. Crushing depots could lie established at various points, and arrangements might be made between the County and Borough Councils whereby the latter body would procure its supply of metal from the County’s depots by paying a small advance on the crushing cost. The great and pressing want of both County and Borough is good roads, and in the initial stages of road-making a plentiful supply of good and cheap metal is the iirst indispensable. While the present slow and toilsome method of breaking is adhered to the work is never likely to be much advanced, as all the stone that can he crushed by hand will barely suffice for maintenance of existing roads. Some more speedy and efficacious mode must be de\ ised, and therefore we recommend to the County and Borough Councils the very sensible and practical -uggestion of Mr Fraser. Most local liodies similarly placed have gone in for stonecrushers, and in every instance w. believe all that was claimed for them has been accomplished. With this to guide us our local bodies could not go far wrong in following their lend.

Mondav next, ‘22nd Inal, Ling Anni veraary Day, the Pahiatua 11krali> will not be published on that day. AdvertisemcntH nhoulil, therefore. lx* Kent in in tinvfor Friday’* i*aue. The District Meeting of the Knights of Labor will Ik> held on Tuesday ana Wednesday next, at Otaki. Delegates will be present from Napier, llonting*, Danevirke, Woodville. Eketahuna, Pahiatua. M•» terton, Wellington, Palmerston North, Groymoath ana Westport. The Evening Press i* reponsiblc for the statement that a largo business firm in Masterton Inis found it necessary to reduce the number of its employes, owing to a falling off in trade since Christmas. A beautifully cold soda-water spring has made its appearance unite recently at the base of the Tarawera Mountain, iust at the landing place (writes the Auckland Herald’s Kotorun correspondent!. The water, which is effervescent, is much relished by visitors, especially on a hot day after a fatiguing climb. lu Vienna the other day a youthful seamstress was sentenced to eight days’ arrest because at a meeting of women she spoke of what she termed the uselessness of the belief in another and a better world, and quoted Heine’s celebrated line to support her:—“ Dor Hiinmel übcrlassen wir den Engeln und den Spatzen.” A London laundress, who was injured by the tramcar starting while she was alighting, recovered damages to the amount of 4510. At Invercargill on Saturday and Sunday the thermometer registered 92 in the shade. The crops are suffering for want of rain. At Dunedin the thermometer registered H*2 in the shade. The Queensland Worker says : —“ All Party Government is a record of constant changes brough about by the sins of the : men in />ower and the exaggeration of I those sins by the party outtrirfe, who lack i the opportunities of committing any on their own account.” A number of men have been thrown out of employment by the closing of sawmills in the Wairarapa Valley. At Dunedin the Oddfellows (American i order) intend inviting the opinions of the lodges in the district ns to the advisability I of admitting female members. ! Hurviata Hongi, a famous Maori chief* tailless, who died recently at the Hay of Islands, was a woman of illustrious lineage. and was allied to many of the famous Maori chiefs in the ranks (says the Auckland Star). Her father, the ruthless Hongi, was called “ The Napoleon of New Zealand," and made his name feared far and wide by his fierce raids on the natives southward of the Hay of Islands. It was Hongi who came down from the north to the Auckland isthmus in liis war canoe*7o years ago. and decimated the natives in this district with his newly-acquired firearms. taking tfie two large pahs near the present site of Panmure and massacring and eating the hapless people. Hone Heke, Hariata’s husband, led the first war against the Europeans in the north in 1845-6. and sacked Koreorareka, at the Hay of Islands.

An exchange states that Great Hritian holds 5560 married “ men,” and no less than 28,860 married “ women" of and under 15 years of age. Likewise, 71 widowers and 160 widows of same age. With the consent of parents or guardians an English girl may marry at 12 years of In order to regulate the butte) uket in London it has been suggested 0. i cold storage should be provided in the ,mie way that Nelson Bros, store meat. It is believed that this system would prevent the heavy losses that now occurr. The North London Magistrate recently sent two very young girls to ail industrial school for stealing a pot of paint. The next day the magistrate admitted that he had made a mistake, and the girls have been liberated. The sum paid ioi milk within a radius of four miles from Stratford is estimated at no less than .£2OOO a month, the pay sheet to suppliers to one factory alone amounting to X'7oo per month. A w riter in the Uural Californian states : “ A cigar contains acetic, formic, butyric, valeric, and proprionic acids, prussic acid, creosote, carbolic acid, ammonia, sulphuretted hydrogen, pyrideiie, viridene, pieoline, and rubiaine, to say nothing of cabagine and burdockic acid. That’s what must have been the matter with the cigar we bought and smoked the other day in Pasadena." No wonder that tobacco smoke destroys insects, Messrs J. Macara and A. \V. Cave have been chosen by the Masterton-Opaki and the Kotahitangi Jockey Clubs as their representatives at the racing conference. The latest puzzle w'hicli has been thrown on the market is the “ mystic triangle.” le comprises a scientifically adjusted magnet. three needles, and the form of a triangle. With these to work upon the experimenter has to guide the three needles on to the lines of the triangle—a feat which is by no means easy. The Oamaru Mail states that harvest prospects in that district are anything hut brilliant. The rainy weather has destroyed all calculations, and the continual mugginess has brought rust into the wheat in all directions. The wheat has been also attacked by a destructive white blight. Operations on the State farm at Levin arc to be commenced almost immediately. Mr Winterbourne, the manager, has been over the ground and selected a site for the homestead, and is making arrangements for u road through the block. The Uev Hubert Wood, of Masterton, is about to take a month’s holiday in Sydney. The Marlon Mercurx says that building in Birmingham is still going on apace, and that carpenters are hard at work in all directions. Our list of prizewinner- at the horticultural show contained an error. The prize for the collection ot gooseberries w as awarded to Mrs Waterman, not to Mrs W’akeman, as our report states. The Pahiatua Horticultural Society lias a credit balance in the bank of something like £26. A colossal turnip, weighing 171bs is on view in Mr A. Stewart’s shop window. The root which is of the white stone variety, was grown by Mr H. G. M Harrison from seed purchased from Mr Stewart. Prizewinners at the late horticultural show can obtain the amount of their awards by calling at the residence of the Secretary . Mr G. Moore, at any time after this evening. Trooper Watson, one ot t upturn Wilson s detachment killed by the Matabelc, was a brother of Mrs Jesse Blake, a resident of Gisborne. A meeting at the Anglican Church on Monday evening was attended by about forty persons, and the following resolutions were carried unanimously :—That this meeting convoys its heartiest sympathy to Mr and Mr* Davis, Mid pledges itself to give them its support in the future. That this meeting strongly condemns the conduct of those persons who started the scandal. A vote of thanks was given to Mr Davis for calling together the Church people to consider the matter. Mrs Hvile ndvenises for n .••neral servant.

Says Taranaki Budget:—A cartload of *• fresh shark" went through town on Tuesday for a Maori settlement. A meeting of the Committee ot the Horticultural Society was held Ht the Commercial hotel on Monday evening when there were present :— Messrs J . \ ile (President), (». Moore (Secretary), Black, Burrows, Wakeman, Briggs, Polglaoe. Gregory and Baillie. It was shown by the Secretary that the receipts amounted to £BB 17s. The total amount of ex penditure in connection with the show reached £BB lfis lid and accounts to that amount were passed forjpayment, leaving a balance of one penny. Mr Wakeman expressed a desire that his special prize for collection of pickles, which had not been competed for. should Im* awarded to Mrs Devonshire for collection of jams. There being no other business to transact the meeting terminated. There were 608 applications received for the 24 sections of first class land in the Cheviot estate, and 73 applications tor the 18 sections of second class land. The ballot takes place on Wednesday. At Christchurch on Sunday nt noon the thermometer stood at 110 in the sun and at 90 in the shade. An extraordinary feat of swallowing was performed by the boa constrictor at the Adelaide Zoological Gardens a few days ago. The reptile is most ferocious, and while despatching a rabbit at feeding time it got its fangs caught in a rug 7ft by 6ft that wus placed in the cage. Being unable to extricate liis fangs, the monster commenced swallowing the rug, and Mr Minching, Director of the Gardens, was just in time to see the last of it disappearing. Mr D. Crewe announces that lie has received instructions from Mr E. Brenton who is relinquishing business to sell on tlie premises. Club hotel yards, on Saturday, January 27th the whole of his livery stable plant. Particulars will be found elsewhere. The world-famed athlete, Donald Dimiie, is still on the warpath, this time ; with a variety company which is well spoken of by our southern exchanges. In the south Donald has been showing to ; good houses and is working his way up I with equal success. He opens in the i Pahiatua Public Hall on Friday evening next. A silver bracelet, lost between Newman and Eketahuna is advertised for. Finder ! will be rewarded on returning to Club hotel, Pahiatua. In this issue Messrs Abraham and Williams have an important announcement relative to the sale by auction on Tuesday. February 6tli, of section 2, Block XVI. Bock ltoad, Mangaliao, comprising 283 acres grassed land. The section is the property of MrC. K.Tattersall, who is leaving the district. Particulars will be found in advertisement. A meeting of those interested in the formation of a lodge of the 1.0.0. F., M.U.. is called for to-morrow evening at Mr Benzie’s Hall. Mangvtainoka. The result of the poll for proposed loan No 13, foi bridge over th< Tirauuiea river ? f nk.tii o i* oaverttsea in another column. The poll was carried. Notice is given by the Comity Clerk re dog registration fees. Fees are pay able to the collector, Mi Grantham, or at the County offices. An announcement of particular interest to members of Court. Pahiatua. A.0.F., appears elsew here. The Woodville A. and P. Association s annual Bam Fair takes place on Tuesday , I 30th January . Entries close with the | Secretary, Mi \Y. Nicholson, on Friday, January 26th. Attention is directed to Mr •). I\. <»raj ham's replace advertisement in this issue. Wo remind our readers of the concert in j the Kaitawa schoolroom oil Eriday eveni ing next. As will be seen by reference to the advertisement a really attriw tive programme has been prepared, and doubtless the building w ill be well filled. All old colonial identity. Mr Charles <’• Mason, who lived in Wellington some 35 years ago. is at present paying a few days’ visit to that city. Mr Mason, who is 70 years of age, and lias for the last 25 years lived in London, originally came from Sydney to Wellington in the sailing vessel Seringapatam. He remarks with amazement upon the great development of Wel- ! lington since the time of liis residence tlieie. when there was very little w harfage j accommodation, absolutely no street pavement, the sea water laved Lambton-quay. 1 one old green van formed the only means 1 of passenger conveyance in the town, a Maori policeman was the sole guardian of the peace, hotel lamps were the only street I lights, and railways were not even con- | teuiplated.— Post. j Twenty-years ago three miners ow ned a i block of African mines. One has since been hanged, another is a beggar, and the | third miner is Premier Khodes. reputedly j the wealthiest man in Africa.