EAST COAST LETTER.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume III, Issue 366, 19 October 1889, Page 3

EAST COAST LETTER.

(TOOM OCR OWS COBBESFOSDENT.) Prov sit by us, and tell's s tale, Merry, or sad, shall It be ? As merry as you will. —Winter's Tali. Mb W. Milssb, of Tnparoa, while contributing a characteristic and useful letter to the columns of your contemporary anent the County question, seems to have got a down on * some person ’ who he euphemistically describes as ' wiring into the Cook County Engineer.' That is to say Mr Milner has • heard ’ of some such delinquent, and mildly deprecates such • wiring in,' bpt at the same lime ha has no objection, rather indeed reeommenda the process to be applied to the C.C.C., in which I wholly agree with him. But at the same time I don't think, in the present iniquitous state of things on the coast, the County Engineer is entitled to get off wholly scott free, either. Narrator has the honor of knowing Captain Winter, and respects him as a higbminded, thorough gentleman. He also is acquainted officially with the County Engineer, and would like to give him beans, re smashed up drain pipes, missing, sto’en, or burned timber, Ao., Ao., all lost to the County, or rather the riding, for lack of a little supervision during a long period. Mr Milner compares the Engineer to a doctor without medicine, rather unhappily. In China the medicos in attendance on the Sun’s brother, or close relation to the Moon, alias the Emperor, are paid so long as hie Serenity continues in good health; when he becomes indisposed their screw is stopped till he gets well again ; if he dies, they also lose the number of their mese. A very little doctoring persistently applied to our roads duriog past years would have kept them so to speak in tolerable condition ; now they are as roads moribund, and will soon exist only, as I before describe* them, as ‘ labyrinthine * sloughs. Look here, Mr Editor. In one Solemn of your issue of the 10th, I observe PO lees than five contracts advertised by the C.O.C. in the Gisborne Riding, Turning to Mr Milner's letter I find that there is £2B available for road repairs In the Waiapii

district. The thing is preposterous, it ii Unfair, and similar appropriation of joint moneys occurring in private life might bt called by a very ugly name. The mailman informs me. that some slips been e'eared away, and the m»d rendered again passable between this (Waipiro) and Tologa. Nearly time, I should imagine. 1 also notice in the Weekly News that an action has been taken against a C.O, up north fot damage done to a horse on neglected County goads. The case is still pending, and I shall watch it narrowly as a Nemesis of the psartyred pack horses. I regret to have to state the total destruction nt the Matahia woo! shed (100 by 50), by fire, last weak. The conflagration took place at about 7 in the morning, and no cause oan be assigned for it, except perhaps rats, or spontaneous combustion. The boil ling, I believe, is insured ; also a valuable wool press Within it. But a quan'tty of station produce ■—shearing requisites, harner-s. Ao., Ao. —were also destroyed, and were uninsured, The loss of this spacious building will be all the more felt on the station, as sheering Is just coming on, in feat is only delayed by the present inclement weather. A public meeting was held at the Tawhltl Hotel on Saturday evening last for the purpose of arrangingsports'. Ac,, for Christmas time. . There was a fairly representative attendance. On the motion of Mr Arthur Booth, seconded by Mr Neilson, Mr Connelly (Tawhiti Hotel) took the chair. The Chairman, io the course of a few apposite remarks, observed that the meeting appeared to be divided, soma advocating horse racing, others athletic sports. It Would be necessary to Mme to a definite conclusion on this subject; also, where the sports would be held. Pro-

posed by Mr D. Martin, seconded by Mr C. Bwann, That the sports be held at Waipiro. —Carried. Proposed by Mr E. Swann, seconded by Mr Massey, That the sports be held on Boxing Day. the races on New Year's Pay. —Carried. Proposed by Mr Neilson, Seconded by Mr Booth, that 30 per cent, of subscriptions be set apart for athletic sports.— Carried. The meeting then proceeded to the election of officers, when Messrs Connelly, Massey, Booth, Ford, and Steele were appointed a Committee with power to add to their number, and on the motion of Mr Gelfender, seconded by Dr Scott. Mr Connelly was appointed treasurer. Me Massey also -jwepß'sed, and Mr Swann seconded, Mr Booth, x Who was appointed hon see. The opening of a subscription list, which was liberally subfcribed to by those present, terminated the proceed ings. In concluding my latter, I have to state the Wish of your Waipiro subscribers, that they have again, now for the third week, got no Saturday’s Staitoabd. end that they always arrive very irregularly at Waipiro, while they appear to be always obtainable at the other lattletpents,