The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 1881

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 752, 26 April 1881, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 1881

During the past few days a person who was formerly employed in this office, but who was summarily dismissed from his employment for betraying tho interests of his employer, has been engaged endeavoring to obtain support for a new paper, which lie, in conjunction with a speculator in newspaper plants, is anxious to start. To all this we can have no possible objection, but we have been further assured from many quarters that he bases his claim for consideration on certain statements which he makes, and which we know to be deliberate and unblushing falsehoods. We would not have taken notice even of deliberate and unblushing falsehoods, coming from such a source, had we not found that they had beon credited by many of our friends to our prejudice. The person we have alluded to has freely stated that the proprietor of this paper has been making exorbitant profits out of this town and district, and has not given the public in return that amount of news and reading matter to which it was entitled. Consequently he has argued thaUnother paper was necessary to protect the interests of the public, The proprietor and editor of this paper is not in the habit of intruding on the public subjects referring to his private business but on this present occasion he proposes to depart from Jus ordinary rule and to take the public into his confidence The past t\yo years hftve 'been exceptionabjy unfavorable oiies for journalistic enterpi'iss throughout New Zealand, Wellington, which formerly had four papers has now but two, and }n tjje Wairarapa there has also been a numerical decrease. As a matter of fact the most prosperous of journalistic ventures throughout the colony have not been making profits during the period we refer to, and the Wairarapa Daily has been no exception. It has paid expenses and held its own, but its proprietor has made no money out of it, and has been tolerably well satisfied not to lose by if;, Every sixpence he has made oat pf his business he has spent on it. He might, by reducing the

size of his paper, Lave made money out of it, but from the day when the first number of tho Wairarapa daily was published he decided that it should be carried out on a certain scale, and' he preferred realising his original design to securing any immediate pecuniary advantage. Masterton at the present time is not populous enough to support one paper the size of the Wairarapa Daily, and were it not that this paper obtains considerable support from other townships and settlements in tho Wairarapa, it would undoubtedly have to take in sail. We do not say this to depreciate the town we reside in and in which all our interests are centred, We are too much identified with the welfare of Masterton to do it an injustice, No place or cause, however, is, in our opinion, served by untruth, and in making a statement which we know to be truthful, we feel that we assert nothing which will injure this town, Wo have received in Masterton since our paper was established here much kind and liberal support—without it, indeed, we could not have done what we have done. Considerable capital and a heavy annual expenditure are necessary to maintain any respectable paper which has the elements of permanent success in it, A time will come when a second paper with such characteristics will be published at Masterton, When this town is ripe for a second paper of this stamp there will be plenty of respectable journalists ready to take the field, and we ourselves will welcome with courtesy a legitimate business rival, Where, may we ask, are the Wairarapa News, the the Wairarapa Gn ardian, the Wairarapa Register, the Wairarapa Free Press, the Masterton News Letter and tho Wairarapa Valley Guardian—papers which, during hte years, rose above the horizon. and speedily vanished 1 What good did they do for tho district or for their own promoters'! Many of those who backed these enterprises are amongst us, and can best answer these questions. As ut matter of fact the only two local papers which have, within the last ten years, had other than an ephemeral existence in the Wairarapa have been the two with which the writer of these lines has been connected, and if anyone is enabled to speak with authority on local journalism it is he. A mushroom paper may, however, be any clay started, as in the past, by persons who have nothing to lose, and who are prepared to draw all ! that can be drawn out of the place for a few months, and then collapse. From such rivalry we have nothing to fear, and it is not ourselves, but the public (or a credulous section of it) which will be the victims. We would be the last to decry any honest or legitimate 1 opposition, as the interests of the public must necessarily be promoted by it. In the present instance we were utterly indifferent about the opposition which has been threatened, • but felt that we had a right to challenge deliberate falsehoods which were being uttered to our predjudice, more 1 especially as we found that many of , the business supporters of this paper ' were giving credit to and being misled ' by them; the utterer of them evidently being an expert in the art of circuinI stantial lying.

Tho Masterton Public Library Com mittee meet this afternoon.

The Stonehenge Lodge, A.0.D., meets at tho Empire Hotel, Masterton, this evening.

The ordinary fortnightly meeting of tho Masterton Borough Council takes place this evening. McCaul, a contractor at Carterton, arrested for uttering valueless cheques, was remanded on Saturday morning until Tuesday the 26th inst.

Mr P. 0, ChriatianFon, lime burner, Mauriceville, advertises that orders for lima may bo left with Messrs Vile and D'Arcy, from whom it can bo obtained, Bennett v Elliotto is likely to be pro' ductive of several cases before the R.M. to-day (Tuesday), as there are charges and contra charges arising out of Saturday's sale.

Mr Macara arrived at Fielding with his distinguished passengers at noon yesterday, It was a very pleasant trip, and the Duke expressed himsolf as having eujoyed it thoroughly, ' Under the list of officiating ministers for 1831 in the last Gazetto, we notice the names of the Rev R, McGregor, and the Rev Charles Melville Pym, a gentleman who preached in St Matthew's Church, Masterton, a short time back.

The population of the borough of Masterton at the last census was 1G73. We understand that it is now about 2600. This result must be eminently satisfactory to those who take an interest in the progress of the leading inland town of the North Island.

The annual meeting of the Masterton Horticlutural Society takes place to-mor-row evoning at the Institute. We should be glad to see a large attendance, not only of members, but also of all settlers who take an interest in the development of horticulture, agriculture, and. local products and manufacture. We are only expressing the sentiments of the committee now in office when we say that tho cooperation of one and all will be heartily welcomod.

The Hon John Hall was standing near tho Eketahuna Hotel the other day when a Maori inquired of a Native Interpreter " who that Pakeha was 1" On being informed that it was the Premier, he exclaimed in Maori—" What a nice-looking gentleman ho is I What a benign expression he has! How soft he looks! What a good Minister ho would make for the Maoris! May the Lord bless him for ever and ever I" and then the astute native who has a cjifim against the Government asked the Interpreter to explain to the Premier the somewhat dubious compliment which he had paid him,

The Carterton Local Board met in the Institute Hall yesterday afternoon, Prosent—Messrs Fairbrother (Chairman), Booth, Parker, and Vickerstafi'. The minutes of the last meeting were road and confirmed'. 4- djscussiou ensued as to certain items'of costs rendered by the Board's counsel, and it waaresolyod that Mr Beard be requested to furnish bill of costs in detail, With reference to a letter received from Mr Bentloy, claiming compensation through som§ stray horses running into hi? buggy, it was' resolvgd ,tl»at the clerk write Mr Bentley that the Board regretted the accident, but denied all responsibility. The Chairman reported that works let under tender at last meeting were being satisfactorily proceeded with. It was resolved that the drain from Mr Barlow's to Mr A, Armstrongjs be covered in, and that the Tara-tahi-Carterton Highway Board be requested to pay one half of the charge.

' Ou Thursday next crushing commences at Brandon's reef, the machinery being now put together and in working order. Frederick George Petherick, builder and storekeeper, of Featherston, has filed a declaration of Insolvency. His liabilities amount to $92 13s, the principal creditors being W. Gibson (secured) £350; Stevenson and Smith, £132; W,' W. Taylor, £100; andGameson Bros,, £l3O. His assets are put down at £1235, his Featherston property being valued at L9OO, and his book debts at L 226. The Phoenix Lodge, 1.0. G.T., held their usual weekly meeting last evening, After the usual business had been disposed of, the officers for the ensuing quarter were duly nominated and elected. From the keen contest for the different offices, there is every prospect of the Order making rapid progress during the next term. The Rev Bro. Dukes was unanimously elected to the office of W, Chaplain, It must be' satisfactory to the Order to find the Ministers of the Gospel in the foremost ranks, although it ought to bo nothing surprising to find .them there, Their position claming from them that they be foremost in all good works.

At the Juvenile Templar meeting last night there was a very good attendance. The juveniles seem in earnest withjtheir work, after electing officers for the ensuing quarter, which did not occupy much time, as, with the exception of financial Secretary, and inner and outer guards, the officers were unanimously elected, In the absence of the F.S. Bro, Fred. Gardener was elected F.S. and L&.O.S.G. were reversed in position, Bro. Vile taking 1.0. G. and Bro. Baumbev O.S.G, After business a splendid programme consisting of readings, songs, and recitations, was gone through with great credit to all concerned. We notice in the shipping column of

the Times, that by the Orownthorpe, which arrived on Friday last, a consignment for Messrs Joseph Nathan & Co,, of 390 cases, 800 packages, and 140 casks, being double that for any other consignee. This item is noteworthy as showing the large amount of goods at present imported, a quantity of which could—and will—be produced on our own soil. Of course Messrs Nathan & Co., are only one among a number of firms, who have similar large importations, so that the total amount is very considerable. We understand that a large portion of the above consignment will come to the Wairarapa for Messrs Oaselberg & Co,, and contains the bulk of their winter stock, the usual annual display of which will be held as soon as it is opened up. An accident of a most alarming character—resulting in the injury of twelve persons, one of whom is almost certain to die—occurred at half-past 11 o'clock on Saturday last, on the Roslyn Tramway. Roslyn is a suburb situated on the hills above Dunedin, and the tramway started about four months ago, It is worked by an endless wire rope, to which carriages are ntrachod by gripper carriages, which aro provided with brakes, supposed to bo powerful enough to bring them to a standstill whenever applied. Last night the last car started up Raltray-street for Roslyn, and proceeded some GOO yards up the hill—a gradient of about 1 in 16— when something went wrong with the gear. The general statement is that the man in charge of the brake put it off instead of on, and before he could rectify the mistake the carriages commenced to run down the hill, attaining such speed as it rushed down the incline that all efforts to stop it by means of the brake van were futile. Three men Garret, Speers, and Stewart, jumped off, the rest wore unable to gat out of the car, which reached the terminus line at a fearful rate of speed, tore through the heavy wood work and three feet of metal road, and then turned over on its side. At one moment it

appeared probable it would dasli across the footpath into tho Crown Hotel. Plenty of assistance was at hand, the car was

righted, and the injured men removed to the Shamrock Hotel, The following is the list of the injured:—Andrew Thomson (Thomson Strang & Co., drapers'), cut and bruised; John Strang, bruised, cut about the face; Wm. Stewart or Steward, bruised about legs; Thos. Harvey, laborer, cut and bruised ; Rosamond Johnson, slightly bruised; Wm, Pearce, bruised and cut about the head; Leckie, badly bruised, long time insensible; Speers, post office clerk, bruised, cut, and severely 'shaken; T. Macintosh, bruised and shaken; Peter Hannah, very little hurt; John Oonwoy, bruised ; T. Garret, skull dreadfully fractured (this case is considered hopeless); Hilsnp, out and bruised. The three men who jumped off fared worst, The car is greatly smashed about. The sufferers were at once attended by Drs Brown, Ferguson, Dezouche, Burrows, and MacDoimld. All but Garret are doing well. In Boston the receipts at Sara Bernhardt's performances were nearly LIO,OOO for thirteen nights, and the Athens of America was quite wild over her, Her social success, as elsewhere, was, however, nil' Instead of receiving her in society, theßostonians solemnly discussed in letters to their papers whether it was compromising their own reputations, or imperilling their individual souls, to attend the theatre where an unmarried mother," as they euphemistically called Mdme Bernhardt, "was playing." In Mortreal the bishops of the Roman Oatholio Ohurch warned their followers to remain away from the frailJewess'srepesentatiqns/but the warning only served, as might have been expected, as a prodigious free advertisement. The French of Montreal went to the extremes of enthusiasm. In a book called " New Views on Ireland," written byMrChas. Russell, Q.C., M.P., it is stated that on the Landsdowne estate in Kerry, it is tho custom to make every tenant acknowledge a year's rent which he does not owe. The object of this will be gathered from the following statement in the above-named work : " More than one instance was cited to us of cases where an ejected tenant, whom the agent did not desire to continue on the estate, was not allowed to redeem, except upon payment of this staledomand; whilst if the tenant wore not obnoxious to the agent, no such demantlwas made." Mr Russell adds that for a long time he found it impossible to believe this statement, until he was" informed by the Rev. Mr M'Cutchoon, Protestant tecror of

Kenmure (himself a sturdy Northern), that when he succeeded to the incumbency of Kenmure, upon paying his first gale of rent, he looked at his receipt, and to his surprise found that it was dateed a year back. He was thus made to appear hot only to, be paying a year's rent but to be paying for'a period when in fact, he was not in occupation, He com-

plained of this, and received for his com

fort th e assurance of Mr Trenoh that 1 was a mere matter of form,— that it wai the custom of the office.

Wo hear from reliable authority that it is the intention of Messrs Schroder, hooper ty (Jq. to make their first grand display of Autumn and Winter Millinery, grapery,' arid' Clothing' at'the Hall of Commerce, on Saturday, BJarch 19th, consisting of 71 pactagea andbajes.' As the bulk of their magnificienfc stock has been imported direot from the manufacturers, the public can rely upon obtaining all the latest fashions and designs' of the season at extremely' low prices; We would advise all purchasers and lovers of fashion to make au early call at the Hall of Commerce and inspect their stock, Their advertisement will be found on the front page of this paper.—[Advil. ■ ' ): ' '■:.:■.';■ '.