Wanganui Herald. [PUBLISHED DAILY.] THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1883 THE HEADS RAILWAY.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XVII, Issue 4990, 15 February 1883, Page 2

Wanganui Herald. [PUBLISHED DAILY.] THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1883 THE HEADS RAILWAY.

During the recent elections the question of the heads railway was frequently referred to, but we confess we were never able exactly to ascertain the bearings of the reference. It was probably intended to mean that the interests of the people generally ought not to be made subservient to the railway, but that so long as there was no interference on the part of the Company with harbor improvements, there would Jbe , nothing but good-will towards the railway. Many people have thought the success of the railway depends on a greater depth of water existing on the bar than in the river, and that a traffic will be created in consequence of a larger class of vessels remaining at Castlecliff than can get up to Wanganui j and it might have been supposed that the interests of the Company would be in the direction of working to achieve this end through the Harbor Board. The heat of the contest being over, the position can be calmly considered. Supposing that it should turn out that the works at the bar gave us 22 feet of water, and that it was beyond our means to dredge the river to yield the same result, would it not be an enormous gain to Wanganui that the existence of the railway brought a larger class of vessels to the port 1 There can be no doubt about the answer in the mind of any ratepayer in the town. On the other hand, we should resent any attempt to force such a position ; for the extra and better accommodation at Wanganui would be an attraction to shipping, and should be improved by every available means. As to how Wanganui might be affected as a business centre, we have only to go to Christchurch and Lyttelton to see that even were the port confined to the mouth of the river, it would make no difference at all. Any disquietude on such a head may be dismissed at once as unworthy of serious thought. Judging from its actions in the past, we believe the Harbor Board takes this large view of the question. We have not been inattentive spectators of the action of the Board regarding the railway. At one or two stages in the progress of the railway movement, the Board had it in its power to put obstacles in the way which might have proved fatal to the Company. A certain Chairman of the Board was on the point of strangling the infant with a legal opinion. The opinion had to yield to the determination of the Board to be guided by common sense and a desire to assist. Then the Company's proposal that the Board should give £1000 for the wharf at the end of five years was agreed to. Indeed, every point which the Board could reasonably concede has been conceeded, and this any candid shareholder of the Railway Company must admit. Hence it cannot be said that the Board's actions with regard to the railway have been characterised by narrowness or illiberality. The policy of the Board has been to look on the railway as a valuable auxiliary to the work it has in hand, and we do not think, looking at the material of the new Board, that this policy is likely to be reversed in the future. But why does not the railway move ? The answer to this question will be found •in the phrase departmental obstruction. It is said that the opinion of the Public Works Department at Wellington is that the railway should belong to the Government, and that acting on this opinion every possible obstruction is being placed in the way of the Company. If such is the fact, it is exceedingly discreditable to the Department, that probably would not of itself make a railway for years, and so becomes the veritable dog in the manger. The Company have asked for no assistance beyond the necessary departmental sanction to the plans, and there is no reason why private enterprise of $his kind should not be encouraged even by the most paternal of Governments. It is to be hoped the Company will insist on immediate attention being given to their demands, and that the work of constructing the line will be pushed forward with energy. The people of Wanganui have no reason to wish the Heads Railway anything but the most complete success.

There is a movement on the board to form a new district in the'Makirikiri District, the settlers there for some time having been dissatisfied with the way affairs have been man* aged with respect to it by the Wangaehu Highway Board. This Board has moreover been compelled to retrench in consequence of a serious reduction in its revenue through the withdrawal of the subsidies. If the fatepayers of the Upper Wangaehu thuß form a new district, there is a probability of a further separation on the other side of the river. It is evident therefore the Road Board Act of last session is not likely to remain a dead letter. It gives the utmost facilities for the formation of new Boards, with boundaries of districts co-terminus with the Ridings of Counties, upon three-fourths of the ratepayers of the intended distriot agreeing to a petition. The financial proposals of last session with respect to local bodies have struck, in our opinion, a serious blow at local government, and the present system cannot remain without modifications of a radical character. The County Council is on its last legs, and the time is coming when it must give way in its present form to a Council composed of the Chairmen of Road and Town Boards. But even then its financial position will hardly be

improved. It will be some advantage, however, to have a more perfect representation.

There is an improvement in the returns of the Wanganui section of railway forth* four weeks ending January 6, the total revenue being £4072, compared with £3802 for the corresponding period of the previous year. Tfie New Plymouth section has fallen off, the figures being £1269, agaiust £1314. Auckland has gone up with a bound from £6200 to £7176. Wellington has done still bettor by advancing from £3994 to £5068. Napier has risen from £3123 to £3597. The great Hurunui-Bluff seotion has almost remained stationary at £55,588. Wanganui has in this period procured for itself the unenviable distinction of having about the highest rate of expenditure to receipts. At this period last year it had about the lowest.

The year 1882 shows a marked improvement in the exports compared with 1881, the figures being £6,654,344 against £6,060,866. This may be said to be the key to the progress of the colony, for it is the main element in our purchasing power, and the grand factor in the interest-paying capacity of the country. The stubborn refusal of the exports to increase materially for ten years was the danger, as it was probably the effect, of a large and ill-regulated expenditure on public works.

There is a general movemeat throughout the Manawatu County to suspend the Counties Act, and work under Road Boards and Town Boards only. At a meeting at Palmerston, a resolution to this effect nas been carried.

The farm occupied by Captain Andrews of Waitotara having been dispoHed of to Mr H. Death at £14 per acre, Mr F. R. Jackson will hold an . extensive clearing sale on the property on Thursday next. We are glad to welcome to the district so enterprising a settler as Mr Death, to men of whose . stamp we must look if the district is to go ahead.

At a meeting of the Auckland Law Society, specially called to consider the language used by Mr Justice Gillies in commenting on the defence made by Mr Hesketh and Mr Cooper, on behalf of W. Gudgeon, a resolution was passed justifying the conduct of the gentlemen who conducted the defence, and expressing regret that Mr Justice Gillies should have used the words ascribed to him.

Canon Bourke, of Claremorris, urged by his Archbishop, has addressed a long letter to Mr Gladstone, on the subject of the Mayo evictions, and the powers which the landlords are still allowed to wield in evicting the peasants farmers of Ireland, and protesting against the peasantry of the barony of Claremorria being placed under a fine for the murder of Mr Bourke, a crime of which they were not guilty.

Probably the largest stock sale ever held on the coast will be that at Messrs Stevens and Gorton's ram fair on Thursday, next, when over 4000 head of stock will be offered. The flocks are from the first herds, namely, those of Messrs F. B. Lark worthy, J. G. Wilson, \V. B. Retemeyer, Major Willis, R. Read, Thomas Bryce, and Mr J. Gorton, Canterbury. The sheep submitted will be mostly Romney Marsh and Lincolns.

A singular feat is reported from Breslau, where a Prussian cavalry captain arrived on horseback, all the way from Karlsruhe, in Baden, a distance of about 130 German, or 600 English miles. The ride, which was accomplished on the captain's own EastPrussian charger, was the result of a wager that he would not do the distance in nine days, and he won the bet. What was the physical state of the gallant Rittmeisjber after this surprising achievement is not stated, but his horse is described as haying arrived in a comparatively fresh condition with unimpaired appetite.

A duel was fought at Noumea recently between a young sous officier and a youthful German civilian. It appears that a number of officers met at a cafe 1 , and in the conversation that ensued the Teuton felt himself inaulted. Cards were exchanged, seconds appointed, and the officer having obtained the permission of the colonel of his regiment the parties met at early morning. At the first shot the German received a wound which placed him at his adversary's mercy, and he was removed to the hospital. The French officer was uninjured. It is almost needless to add that there was a woman at the bottom of it, and the young person not long since hailed from Sydney.

We regret to record the death of Mrs Nolan, Wife of Mr R. B. Nolan, of Bulls, which took place yesterday morning after two weeks' illness. The deceased lady had been suffering from low fever, which, within the past few days, culminated in typhoid fever. Mrs Nolan was connected with a large family circle at Lower Rangitikei, who, together with most of the Bulls residents, lament her untimely death. The greatest* sympathy is felt for Mr Nolan, who, in addition to his grief, is left with the care of seven motherless children, the eldest of whom is only about eight years of age. The funeral took place this afternoon at Parewanui, and was very largely attended. — Advocate.

The Colonies and India recommends New Zealand to take up the culture of the olive and the silkworm, and says :—": — " If the colonies will insist in becoming manufacturing communities, they will find their difficulties even greater than those attending the cultivation o: olive and tea. One direct incentive at least exists to the prosecution of olive Culture. It is stated that one or two ounces of oil are used in the manufacture of every pound of wool made into cloth or worsted fabrics. New Zealand cloths and yarns, it is said on good authority, are injuriously affected by the inferior oil used (imported of course), as may be discorered from the soft, shiny feel in them, and the of the crispness of English manufactured cloths. Let New Zealand send us the oitand the wool, and we will undertake to send them the best woollen fabrics in return." The quarterly meeting of the Hospital Committee was held at the Council Chambers yesterday afternoon, and there were present— The Mayor, Crs Manson, Richards, Thatcher (Wanganui County), Simpson (Rangitikei County), and Mr Bamber. The Town Clerk, who reported that the additions to the Hospital were completed at a cost of £265, was instructed to write to the Rangitikei Council and Feilding Borough Council, asking them to lend in their contributions. Manawatu and Wanganui Counties and Marton had each contributed £12 10s, Palmerston alone declining. The question of the erection of a new hospital was left in abeyance until the Wanganui borough is prepared to contribute its Quota of £1000 towards the erection. Mr Thatcher tabled the motion passed at the meeting of the County Council yesterday for a published statement of jthe application of the Hospital endowment funds.

If Mr Fawcett is not a genius (writes the London correspondent of the Argus), he hat done great things in spite of obstacles from which Genius might well have shrunk. There may be able men in the present Ministry, but none who have won for themselves a higher pl»ce in the opinion of the nation at large— for Henry Fawcett's friends include his opponents. An honest, independent, working man— without a touch of priggishness, or of that Jaok-in-office insolence which is so infectious that even the healthiest nature is apt to catch it — he has earned the respect of all parties. That the physical disadvantage under which he labors helps to attract the public sympathy there is no doubt. The majority of mankind are content to succumb the circumstance ; in this may they see one who has conquered it in its most adverse and antagonistic shape, and has sent an example of heroism and philosophy to his fellow-creatures which will never be forgotten. It is not the mere politican, far less the mere partisan, who eagerly scans the bulletiua that are issued from the blind man's sick room) but in the railway parriage and the tram-car one hears from all classes of the community :— " I am glad to ace Fawcett's better " ; or, "To have lost Mr Fawcett, sir, would have been a national loss."

The gallant talk about a petition re the Ute Harbor Board election has subsided.

Members of the Committee of the Trotting Club are required to attend at the Rutland Hotel to-morrow eight for the purpose of framing handicaps.

The other evening the Mayor of Auckland entertained the employes of the Corporation, to the number of 100, in the Lome Street Hall. The heads of departments and the humblest laborers were invited alike without distinction.

A contemporary says that the meeting between the Native Minister has 'Jbeen characterised by good feeling on both sides." When we think of the barbarous butchery Of the women and children at Turangamii (now Giaborne) in 1868, the rapprochement is calculated to produce a sickening sensation.

With its large ports, its vast docks, ita huudreds of vessels arriving from all parts of the globe, Hamburg "present* a most lively picture of maritime activity. In front of the principal portion of the town, on the opposite bank, is situated the island Steinweider, which contains a number of dock?. Steamships are regularly conveying travellers an I merchandise between this island and Hamburg. It is now proposed to tunnel under the Elbe in order to connect the two shores. The length of this tunnel will be about half a mile, a-.d will cost about £14,000,000 ! During a thunderstorm recently five sheep were killed on the farm of Cotland, Tinwala parish, in Scotland. In one field there was a wire fence for a distance of 300 yards. The current had travelled along this, breaking' the wooden posts at various distances, ana at the end of the fence two sheep were struck and killed. In an adjoining field, separated from the other by a farm road, the fence was a stone wall, with a single wire on the top. This wire was broken, and touched the ground about forty yards from the road. A number of sheep were crouching near the broken wire, and three of them were killed.

A Home paper lays :— A telegram hSs been received from Captain StephensOß,of H.M.S. Caryafort, dated Dec 20th, from Suez, stating that Shedide reports from the desert that he has captured AH Showeyer Terebin, who shot (Professor) Palmer, also Salim Abu Telhaida, (Colonel) Warren has left for Nackl to examine these murderers ; will be away some days ; does not think Shedide will get remainder of people for at least a fortnight, but will in time get all. Shedide has taken possession of all waters, but rains enabled Bedouins to show fight from mountains. Sheikhs of Terebin have bound themselves in writing to assist in capture of all implicated.

This morning, at the R*M. Court, before Colonel McDonnel, J.P., Julia McGonigal, alias Wheland, against whom there were 12 previous convictions, pleaded guilty to a charge of drunkenness and was fined ss, or in default 24 hours' imprisonment. Hana Teira, a native woman, and George Lynch, for a similar offence, were fined in a like amount. John Henry Brown was charged with a larceny, as a bailee, of a horse, saddle and bridle, the property of J. G. Carr, on or about the sth November last. Sergeant Bissett applied for a remand lor 8 days, which was granted. Accused was allowed bail in bis own recognizance of £20, and two sureties of £25 each.

Despatchea from Montreal, dated January 4, mention that in 1877 a clerk named Trotter, in the employ of Riddle and Evans, of that city, absconded with about 50,000 dollars belonging to the firm. He went to the Cape of Good Hope, and there entered a firm as book-keeper. In a few years he became junior partner, and remitted the amount of hi* defalcations to a lawyer, to pay over to his former employers. The money is now lodged in Court, pending litigation between the disaolved partners. It is now claimed by Trotter's firm, he having since been convicted of forgery, and sentenced to 7 years' imprisonment. He robbed his partners and. the banks at the Cape of Good Hope of 150,000 dollars.

The Oamaru Times says :—": — " A meeting of shareholders in the Colon al Barbed Wire Manufacturing Company (Limited) was held last night at the Company's offices. There was a large attendance. It was deeded not. to extend the operations of the Company outside New Zealand, but to waive all rights outside the Colony in favour of the patentees. It was also agreed to empower the directors to increase the capital of the Company for New Zealand to £20,000 if they thought it necessary, the new shares to be first offered to share holders pro rata at par. A statement was submitted which showed the profits on the work already done by the Company to be at the rate of about 20 per cent, per annum. It was explained, too, that in the new premises better results could be looked for."

Among the many unexpected developments of electrical science is an application in hiving of bees when they swarm, successfully tried by German experimentors. It was thought Bhat by utilising the electric current before the bees might be stupified for the necessary period of time without being injured, and the result proved the correctness of the idea. The first attempt was made upon bees that had gathered upon trees, the insects falling upon the ground in a kind of trance, which admitted of their being safely handled. The next stage in the experiment was to capture the bees when they were about to swarm. By introducing the ends of two connecting wires into a fully occupied honeycomb ana turning on the current, the bees were rendered inactive for about thirty minutes, while no bad results appeared to follow their awakening

The death of Paul Morphy has awakened many memories. At the banquet at New York given in his honour, Paul Morphy made a brief but most sensible speech on chess. He spoke of chess as " the kingly pastime that never has been and never can be aught but a recreation." He said, "It should not be indulged in to the detriment of the other and more serious vocations, should not absorb the mind, or engross the thoughts of those who worship at its shrine, but Bbould be kept in the back-ground and restrained within its province. As a mere game of relaxation from the severer pursuits of life it was deserving of high commendation. It was not only the most delightful and scientific, but the moat moral of amusements. It is eminently and emphatically the philosopher's game. Let the chess board supercede the card table, and a great improvement will be visible in the community."

The Christchurch Press confesses : — There was an unusually fine opportunity before the last general election to give the people of this country a now lead. Such an opportunity may never occur again for years to come. But it was not done. The men were not there to do it. The Premier was broken in health and spirit, worn to death with detail and obstruction. His colleagues were little better than able departmental heads. The only really powerful politician among them was absorbed in his speciality. Not the smallest effort was made to seize that opportunity, and with it passed away the last traces of healthy political vigor in New Zealand. The change of Ministry and the degrading session of 1882 followed in due course ; and a feeble, irresolute Government joined with an incapable and unprincipled Opposition to make public affairs an 'qbject of public derision and public contempt. Six months have passed away since then, and the country is still sunk in a political slumber from which there seems to "be no awakening;

Edmund Yates, who was an ol£ post office colleague of Anthony Trollops, thus describes him in the World newspater :— " He was full of common sense, andfat the same time ludicrously obstinate and perverse ; roaring and spluttering, and wholly incapable of argument. He was an amiable bull for whom there were a number of red rags always in Btore ; and when these were waved at him he would stamp and snort, and toss and gore everybody within reach. He could be ♦ drawn ' as easily as Mr Gladstone. What I have just said will be borne out by the following anecdote ; — We were a party of post office officials, summoned from the four quarters of England, and we were in conclave at — not a bai place, for it was June weather — the Red Lion at Henley, In the course of our deliberation, someone made a suggestion. Trollope, engaged in conversation at the end of the room, at once raised his head and his voice. ' J differ from you entirely,' he roared ; I differ from you entirely ! What waß it you said ?' "

Bishop Cowie, of Auckland, arrived in Wanganui from the South by the train yesterday morning, and left again in the afternoon for New Plymouth.

Only six objections have been lodged against the Borough valuations and these will be heard at the s Wing of the Assessment Court on the 22nd instant before Mr Ward R. M.

Mr David Murray has just placed in the Victoria Butchery a new boiler to the order of Mr T. Mitchell, who is about to commence operations in the meat preserving line.

The shop occupied by the American Novelty Company having to be given up to the lessee, the business will be suspended until another suitable building can be procured, in which tore-open.

Councillor Kennedy expressed his conviction at the County Council meeting yesternay, tint the Council would yet have to collect all the rates for the county, and allot them to the local boards for expenditure.

A petition has been presented seriously requesting the Reichstag to grant Prince Bismark an annual subsidy ot 10,000,000 marks for ten year* for the purpose of effecting the establishment of a colonial empire.

The Feilding teetotallers have formed a vigilance committee to watch the hotels and have given the hotelkeepers and the local policeman notice that they intend to prosecute wherever they see a breach of the Licensing Act.

The County Council have resolved to instruct Mr Annabell to connect Feild's track at Mason's with the Mangawhero Valley Road leading to Fordell. This is a work much required to give the settlers along the Mangawhero access to their properties.

The Yeoman will be published at noon tomorrow, as usual. This popular weekly journal will be found replete with local and general news, farming notes, etc., and will contain the concluding chapter of the interesting tale entitled " Rose."

A meeting of parents whose children attend St John's school is called for Saturday evening to take into consideration the advisability of appointing a truant inspector.

Capt Edwin telegiaphs (1.40 p.m ) : — Bad weather approaching between north-west and west and south. Glass further rise and weather cold, and indications of rain within twelve hours.

It is intended to open a debating Society in connection with the Young Men's Christian Association. The arrangements for a course of lectures are so far successful and we understand that'of the number required to make up the course more than half have been promised.

An excited meeting of tenants of the estate of Clytb, in Caithness, took place recently. Two motions were proposed, the first against paying rent, and the second in favor of paying only as much as the tenants could spare. Forty persons out of four hundred at first voted in favor of paying rent, but after a heated discussion the latter motion was eventually carried. — Home News.

The letter-carriers always look forward with terror to St Valentine's Day, and yesterday was no exception to the rule. The new regulation of the Post Office requiring valentine boxe3 to be charged letter rates certainly proved a blessing to. the carriers, whose loads were not so heavy as they should otherwise have been.

A fearful case of suicide occurred recently at Low Moor, near Bradford (England), and the voluntary victim was quite a young man, who leaped into a blast furnace. Imagine the Btrength of purpose necessary for a human being to take that awful plunge ; and what a swift, cheap, and complete cremation ! "One email bone" was all that could be found of him.

Mr Gibbs has returned from the northern part of the coast where he has been running the Fancye Fayre. It appears that the Fayr© proved a loss at Hawera but at New Plymouth it was a complete success— indeed even more so than at Wanganui. We understand that the Fayre will now go to Nelson where it is sure to have a successful season, judging from the support which the people of Nelson generally give to similar exhibitions.

Mr F. R. Jackson will hold his annual ram fair at the St Hill Street yards on Wednesday next, when a first-class lot of sheep will be offered of Lincoln, Ronmey Marsh, Merino, and Leicester breeds. Many of these sheep are imported from other parts of the colony, and the sale will afford settlers a good opportunity of obtiniug some new blood for their flocks. On account of the number of rama entered no horses will be sold.

The Returning Officer for the LicensingCommittees finds, on obtaining legal opinion, that the Government nominate. The d ffi4&lty, he informs ue, of determining how he was to act under the present circumstances arose out of a olause in the Local Elections Act, from which it might be inferred that the election of the remaining person re-quired-to constitute the Committee should be proceeded with as in the case of an extraordinary vacancy. . \

The well known Ship Hotel has, since Mr J. H. Jensen took it over, teen considerably improved in appearance. The exterior has been newly painted, and inride the decorators have been busy at work repapering and varnishing the various rooms . When the contemplated alterations to the bar are given effect to, nothing will be required to make this hotel one of the most comfortable in town. The new host is determined to keep up the reputation the house held in the days gone by, judging by the liberal spirit he has displayed since his occupancy of this establishment.

The nine days' frost has been the most intense that Scotland has experienced for many years. As the darkest hour proverbially is that before the dawn, so the hardest stroke of the frost was in its parting bite. At one time the thermometer fell to 6 deg. at places so far apart as Leith and Aberdeen. That is the lowest reading registered at Leith for ten years. There have been five days during the frost on which the thermometer did not rise above 35 deg, and on the day before the frost gave way the maximum temperature was 21 deg.

Thus says a writer in " Vanity Fair " — The capsizing of the Austral is an event 'hich

wmc .... I cannot but regard with unmixed satisfaction. Again and again in. these columns have I pointed out the great danger there arise* to shipping from the practices of building them with ballast compartments, which, when the vessel is loaded, are pumped clear of water and left full of air in order by their buoyancy to support a greater weight of cargo, the result being that the vessel is thus turned into a light bladder, with a heavy weight on top of it. No doubt a vessel thus handled will thus bear more cargo ; but she is, under these circumstances, in a condition which renders her likely to "turn the turtle" at any moment on the slightest provocation. I have called attention to the praotice and pointed out its dangers more than once ; and, as it is dear that the owners of the Austral do not read Vanity Fair, nor do they pay that attention to its warnings "that- all reasonable persons are bound to give, I sincerely trust that they may lose their vessel altogether, and thus learn a lesson which the voice of pure reason has failed to teach them.

A meeting of the committee of the Jockey Club was held at Mr F. R. Jackson's offices yesterday, to take into consideration the alterations of the totalisator rales. There were present — Dr Earle (President), Br Connolly, and Messrs J. P. Watt, J. Heslop, F. R. Jackson, J. iG. Wilson, C. S. Cross, J. Abbot, and T. Thatcher. The altered rules will now read as follows : — Rule I : Dividends will be payable to the first horse past the post one quarter of an hour after the finish, provided that no objections are made under seotion 3 of part 7 of the Wanganui Jockey Club rules. (This section provides that any objection to a horse on the ground of a cross or a jostle, or of not having run the proper course, or of any other matter occuring in the rape, must be made within a quarter of an hour of the finish.) Rule II : No mutilated ticket will be paid, but in case of a dispute it shall be referred to the stewards. Rule IV : In the event of a dead heat the pool shall be divided amongst the horses running suoh, and then distributed according to the value of the ticket.