The Western Star. (PUBLISHED BI-WEEKLY.) SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 1888.

Western Star, Issue 1244, 21 April 1888, Page 2

The Western Star. (PUBLISHED 81-WEEKLY.) SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 1888.

Favored by the comparatively fine weather pf the past fprtnightjiinost of the’prop has noWj been, got into* stack. About Drnmtnond there is still a considerable acreage to cut, b’ut should the fine weather continue very little, in any part of the district, will ba left standing at the end of next week. We are sorry to learn that Riverton is to lose the services of an obliging public servant by the removal to the Bluff of Police Constable his long tenure of office h'era and.nt .-Otaucau Constable Buchanan has gamed the esteem of all law- r abiding citizens. V It;is’ of course impossible for a police officer not to make enemies, but we are sure those'of Constable Buchanan are few and.?f«V ; between; Fouhy from Wyndham takes Constable Buchanan’s place here. A meeting of members of the dlifprtoh Cricket Club takes place in the schoolroom .this evening at 8 o’clock,' when the , balance sheet for the past season will be presented. ■ Wo are in receipt of thesebond number of the New Zealand .launch ” which. i> dated from} Dunedin. The, publication .in every' way justifies the encomiums that bare been passed on‘it by bur contemporaries throughout the • colony and should it maintain 1 the standard .of the twbifirst'numbors Wo have little doubt a long lease : of life; awaits the new journal. - | ‘ Oontiibutions are coming in very freely towards the Hospital. In another column acknowledgment will be found for £63 9s 6d, received from various parts of the district. Mr Jas. Quinn, the Otautau collector, wrote., the Secretary as follows: —“I may state that I collected the pmount on my list in Otaatau in about two hoars, therefore I should like to thank the Otautau people through the public print for being so liberal in such a good cause.” r ;

An amusing incident occurred at the In. vei oargill Railway station this week just as the train for .Mataura.. w,as learing. A follower of Bacchus who had taken passage for the place mentioned, was steadying himself on one of the carriage platforms when a newsboy came along. The man who had partaken of the cup that cheers’And also inebriates, sought to have a lark with the newspaper imp and failing tounako a deal for any literary wares, let go his hold of the platform railing ' to snatch a'copy of one of the “ very editions.” In endeavoring' paper he fell off the platform,and ju?t at the ; moment the train whistled ‘and,' h|l could recover himself, was‘off, 'The discount fiture of the man thirsting for knowledge add> the merriment of the newspaper runner can well be imagined. | £ A rabbit suffering from bladder fluke was: captured in Wairarapa recently mnd sent over to Marlborough, where it was given to a dog which was kept for a day or two without food. The rodent was greedily devoured and the Inspector of Live Stock has been instructed to ascertain whether the dog will develop the disease and communicate it to rabbits in his district. According to Pro-" fessor Thomas the disease can b v spread among rabbits by the inoculation ihroagh their natural enemies, dogs, ferrc-U, com. etc. We would direct attention to two important sales of property to’be hold next week, the first by Messrs J.’R. Mills f.rid Co. on Tuesday next when the re-nderu's or O.uistable Buchanan will bd submitter! to auction, and the next on Wednesday when Messrs Wilson, Taine and Go. will offer the property pow occupied by Mr Burst, Qroppki- ■ . • The hearing of the civil action, Neryall v. Menzies, a claim for £IOO3 damages for injury sustained through the death of plain* tiff s husband by an accident at the Glenham tunnel, was concluded in the Supreme Court on Thursday afternoon. The evidence given was voluminous, and, on several essential points, conflicting, and after the jury, had been absent an hour they informed His Honor that they would like to have issues placed befprp them. His Honor, in mentioning the suiter P° compsel, remarked that the jury fie ffiff not wonder at it, Four issues were th|»p r , laid before the jury, His Honor, in reply to 9 question said that after they had been three j hours in deliberation, be could accept »threp«l

fourth* p.m., or after three and a halt hours’ consultation in all, the jury returned with a Terdiot for th* .plaintiff for £l6O, tho foreman stating that it was hot.a unanimous -

Sinking 7has become quite a rage in' tfanedin 'and 'Christchurch. We hear ;the, local roller-skaters are getting,ready to commence operations. The Oamaru “ Mail ” has the following : The lease, settlers in ■the fWajlahe patriot are petitioning the Housoof Representatives to cahso a risvalna’tiofTof their sections to be made and hew licenses and leases to bd issued at snob ralues as may Be'fixed, giving them credit for the _ Imdhejfrs,raliready’ paid by them. We are aware tliat a consideration of their petition will, open iup ,a yery large and important sub-, ject/*Bttt tiie petitioners agreed to pay 'inflated, values for their .holdings, and-we can quite jihqprstand it iai mppssible for them to pay.thoaervalnos ini times like these, r they«k>to be' done has* been done-elsewhere by consent, in the case of even private lands, and the Government of this ■colony hawe affdrded relidf to pastoral . lessees r who have expressed a desire to abandon their leases. Why, therefore, should thebe be any hesitancy ip acting,similarly in the, case of the petitioners. If they have agreed to pay 'more'than the value" of'the land in iconsequence 'of a system of disposal that • rectified without delay. It cannot be, advantageous, to , the colony to, .insist; that these men Shall pay. impossible rents ' for the l lands they havh tafeen ! up. If the casee'df pastoral lessees, who have had pretty much their ‘own in !tli6ir''dqqiiisi|ap'n' .of lands, and who are, mostly merely the agents of wealthy financial organisations, ought to be '.treated with; consideration; surely the cases of l these ; poormpn, Who:hayo.staked their all in their I '■attempt to Homes for themselves, should be treatpd siKjifarly., r| ; id.t;the inquest on the body of Carl Harisen, seaman of the s.s Kakanui, who was drowned in t'te Mataura river, it was shown that Jkhe steamer ran into the bank in such a position that her boat was jambed in tho bush. Hansen was sent in a crank skiff to carry a warp to the opposite bank, and the steamer having : got off, he was hauled back at n great speed by means of a warp on the steam winch. jHe came alongside so fast that he stood up to fend the boat off, when she capsized. ' He reached within 15ft of the bank before he sank. ;No life-buoy was thrown to him. The jury in a rider, strongly censured Captain Best fop sending the deceased in an unsafe,, boat, and algo^fo^his'inhumamty more eff ojft's i td’Vecdver-’fcfie..b6dy*’ i -A ; The election to fill the vacancies in the Otautpu 'J?.pw ( q j Boafjd; took place,op Tbubsday The only candidates nominated were Messrs ' W. Saunders,and John Smith, jun., and these gentlemen wore accordingly declared duly elected*! i, a "s 1. wilH \ At a meeting of footballers held on Wedr nesday;evening it.- was .resolved to get up a concert to defray the expenses of the late accident, which, will take place in about three weeks’ time. Messrs Golding and Hutchison were appointed to make the necessary arrangements. 1:

When interflowing the Premier on Tuesday Mr J. W. Hamilton brought under‘ his notice the disadvantage settlers living at a distance from town were placed as regards railway fares. Mr Hamilton contended that TdiliSicrbf■ mile" radius; being favored with" cheaper "rates and having the privilege of obtaining return . tickets,,it:shoald ! be!thpse livihg,at''a ! .greater distance that should have, the concessions granted; under the present system, instead of encouraging land settlement, it bad the opposite effect. ' - Sir Harry Atkinson said, he was glad the matter had been brought up, as he had thought that the reason return tickets were not is^iieil 1 ' jit’ a * grealt'eri ’'distance 'frotq 'fcoWtr than istf whiles Watf-bn’account of traios not returning same day, ; IJe-would give the patter every, copsidpratiop see, if the grievance could not be met in , some .Why- — The advisability of establishing distilleries was also 1 iheh’tionod'to the Premier, but on this vexed question he could not make any. promise.,. .. fit -i

A;deputation! consisting; of MessrS'J. IW. B tin, J. W. Hamilton, J. L. McDonald (Fairfax Factory), Forsyth, ()V.judham Factory), and Gold (Woodlands Factoiy), waited on the Premier on Tuesday afternoon, to impress upon him the necessity of, in every way, foster* ihfj the Dair ying Industry] 7 The proposal; of the Government to obtain the services of an expert in cheese and butter-making, with the view of instructing farmers in the latest, and best methods, was viewed with great favor, and Mr Bain suggested that when appointed, and befoge nyiffipg 'QUl,|ilis.iliip,ijld have Vah opp»r- * tunity of visiting Denmark, Holland, the north of France) arid* dtlidr places whore the best res dts ha ) been , obtained ,in the way ojt mvrkotable produce' Mr Forsyth said what: the farmers wanted was that cheese and butter for export should be carried at cheaper rates on >he ini'ways, and that dairy produ-e should be mimed fro n class J) on the tariff to class E. The Premier in replying to the deputation, said the Agent General would riot ’ fle Had been left quite free in that respect, the understanding jhejtjg ’.that ,thpi gaiitldmai! solecicdlfcustsbe tUrirphghly acquj»tnJpa'with the very' latest methods of manufacture find prep irgijaniTor;(he. market, jfThe question qf reduced railway charges ho would bring under the notice of his colleagues,, but make no promise,TortKertlian tossy tliafcthey j w u'.d ho inclined* to grant anything likely to, advance the industry under notice. j