STRATFORD NEWS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 9669, 11 April 1893, Page 2

STRATFORD NEWS.

(FROM OUR RESIDENT AGENT.];

April 10.— The pans of tho Courtlioiil*e are now on view at the post office. Tin accommodation to bo' provided anpoars U be of the most meagre description, cvo T for the amoint of business now transactor at the Court, without any nllowanoe fo> tho large development which is certain tf take place in the immediate future. There is a Courtroom 30ft x 17ft, with thresmall rooms each about 13ft x 10ft. Tin site is at tho corner of Broadway and Lear street.

J here waß a mooting of shopkeepers a the County Hotel on Frid y evening, for the purpose of forming an Early Closing Association. The attendance was not large, and the business consisted mainly ol a mysterious rite known as " bob in anrl the winner shout." A committee was set up to ascertain tho general fooling on the question. Peoplo are wanting tj know why then is so much delay in fixing up the Broad way footpaths properly Tho prevailing feature at present is a system of ditchei and escarpments, of which there is a difli culty in ascertaining tho whereabout i night and the wheroforo by day. Tin fashion of postponing tho businoßi of auction sales until al ter tne auction wai brought to a climax here tho other day At a Bale of land and farm stock all thi eloquence of tho auctioneer failed t( extract one solitary bid from tho con siderable crowd assembled, a crowd whicl had just inflicted pretty heavy punishment on the vendor's bread and cheeße and beer When the hummer whs laid aside the loti began to inovo off.

I see the movement for a new County Opunako way is taking shape again. The feeling about I ere is one of entire sympathy with tho movement, separation having in our own case been productive of nothing but good. The gentlemen who form our local governing bodies are undoubtedly the very do Aor of tho population and are rarely actuated by other than the loftiest and most unselfish motives, but somehow they never manage to give satisfaction to tho ratepayers who live remote from tho administrative centra, The outlying districts have always a grievance, perhapß real, perhaps imaginary, and the further one gets from head qnarters tho more intense the feeling grows. This is terribly sad and shows that co'onial human nature is stilt' far from realising that perfect state of brotherly trustfulness that one finds in other countries— lreland for instance. However, wo have to take things ac thoy are. ard I am inclined to think that sinal! counties without Road Boards, and of which no part is distant morj than 15 miles from the centre, present few objectionable features than any other administrative divisions. They are, in close nettled districts at any rato, sufficiently largo to secure economical working, and they are not too large to allow of community of interest among tho ratepayers.

Last night and this morning wo had a succession of heavy showers which were not unacceptable, there having been to all intents and purposos no rain since the the storm, a month since. Thoro was b?ginning to be a prospect of short feed for tho winter.

What is apparently a glaring instance of bad engineering cropped up at the Couucil meeting to day. A settlor carno to the Council room to utato that he was about to fence his land and thereby cut off all communication between Strattord and tho Materaateonga Block. Tin's was oxp'ained by tho fact that the road now ÜBed was on 'lie land, tho Burvoyod road being along the faco of a steep hill and quite impassab'e without a heavy expense in cuttings. He had ondeavoured to arrange a deviation, but tho Survey Department, whilst admitting that the altorntion would «avo a lot of monoy in earthwork and shorten the distance to Stratford, persisted in adhering to the surveyed road on the ground that it was by of a mile the nearest route from the X'atomateonga to Auckland 1 ,