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Inangahua Times, Volume II, 22 September 1880, Page 2

Mr John Duigloy, the contractor for th» Rig River trHck, has corrmpneed his contrac'. The cost of the work will be £640, and tl c time allowed to Complete it is ihr«e month*. Whatever mnv be the ultimata uTeet uoon the County funds, the recent effort at re- : trenchment has at lea-t had one gond effect It has given the best possible nnswer that could bo given to the charge of extravagance, so olten hurled against th« administration of tht> Council It had long been represent! ia a certain quarter that the revenue, of the County was beina squandered to. an alarmin? extent in salaries to favored, a^d who'lv needles 9 servants. The ', retrenchment ' e.Teoicd shows how nwh ground exist -d {o-thf-se accusations. When th,e Council anpeare/i to be hemmeJ in with inextricaWo difßcullies, — reduced to its last splif-p^a. -o to speak— ill thut a retrenchment committee of the Council could recommenl was that Ihe contractor for the construction of an important road at Hampden should be permitted to do hie work without e^er vision, and ihut tho

rates sliould be left pretty well to collect themselves. These were the only reductions the committee could sanction. No one will attempt to sny that tbe County will in ihe absence of supervision get equal value for its money at Hampden. neither can it be sup« posed tliat the rates will henceforth be col - lected as efficiently, ?o that after all the savin" is likely to be more iran^innry than real. TsppHpb. at the tim* the rate-collecting was sndclied upon the Engineer it wns under» stood that there was to bo an end *o a\\ jnew workß, but tince then a great change has come over tJie prospects of the Council, and there seems every likelihood that in future the Eneineer will be kept just as closely employed at hh legitimate duties as ever lie was in tbe past, in which case the business of the Council must suffer. A well attended meeting wos held at M'Gaffia'a Motel on Monday evening lint for (he purpose of closing the affair* of the last race meeting and making preliminary or rangeraents for the coming summer meeting. The report and balance-sheet of the last mee'ins were read and adopted. The question of fho date of tha p-oposed meeting wns then discussed, and as Christmas Dny will this year fall on a Saturday, opinion was divided as to whether the following Monday or Wednesday should be selected for the .opening day. On the one hand it was s^id that as Boxing Day was the principal holiday of the year in the Inangahun, it wns therefore contended that it aforded the best -unr antee for the attendance of the public. It was urged on the other hand tlmt if the date wore fixed so as to J armoniso with the meeting* at both Hampden and Grey mouth, re might reasonably look for larger fields and roispquontly more exciting races. It was ultimately decided to wire to G-reymouth and Hampden Clubs fQ ascertain their dates, and a settlement of th«s question was pottnoned until Friday evening next. Canvassers were then appointed for the town and district, as follows : Reefton — Messrs Ching, Edwards, Riohardson, Walsh, Williams, M'Quilhin, and Coehrane ; Black's Point, Messrs Wai lace, Trennsry and Watson ; Builer Boad, and Junction, Mr D. M'Ginley ; Boatman's, Messrs Gallagher, Barr and Walker ; and Grey Junction, Messrs Banpan and M'lnro. The collectors were requested to complete their dutips and return estimates of subscript tbns not later than Friday evening next, when the programme will be drawn up. Mr J. S. Smith was appointed hon. treasurer and Mr John Little, secretary. The meeting then odjourned. About £10 in cash was taken at the door at the hospital concert on Saturday evening, but as d large number cf persons entered by tickets obtained previously, tbe gross taking* cannot be ascertained until the whole of the uriso'd tickets have been returned. The total is expected to reach £13 or £14. The concert will be repeated this evening, when a new bill of laro will be presented. It is to bo hoped that the townspeople will roll up on this occasion and fill the house. The Golden Fleece Extended Company will hare a general cleaning up at the end of the present week, when a dividend will be de» clared. The approaching season promises to be an excppiiontilly favorable one for tho fruit crop throughout the Xuangahua. Many of the early varieties of trees are already bursting into bud, and should no biting frost come to interfere with the handy work of spring, an abundant harvest will be general. We have to, acknowledge the receipt of the firs.t number of the " Rn*» Advocate," published by Mr John Petrie. A community without a newspaper in these go-a-head times is like a, ship without ? rudder. Like unto the latter, it may possess the finest and richest cargo imaginable, but be unable to find a port for its riches. Ross has been rudderless for a length of time, has in :act been Jong posted as '' missing," and almost alandoncd by the under-writew. We are glad to learn, however, that the good ship has bpon " spoken " epee more, and trust Mr Petrie may eventually succeed in, piloting her into a safe ba<bor. We belieye that it is the intention of the Masonic brethren in "Ree r ton to make a pre sentation to Mr Georee Tillbrook, prior to his departure from the district. It seems a pity that the Warden's residence on the south e\ le of the river should be permitted to remain so long unten-mted The building ie fast falling out. of repair, nnd in n short time will become uninhabitable. We see no reason why the cottago should not be 01-iced at the service of some one of the rodncs»(l civil servants, for its occupation would no doubt greatly arrest the work of decay, and thus answer two good ends. It s^ems likely that the Unite 1 States will he* the first to establish one of the serif s of i iternat'onal Polar observing stations to which we referred in a note. .4 Bill has passed the House of Representatives, and has been fiivovnb'y reported to the Senate, authorising the establishment of a stntion in the neighborhood of La-iy Praklin Bay, in Robeson Channel, about Bldfg. nortli latitude for the purpose of scientific observation nnd exploration, The expedition will be under tli!) scientific care of Captain Howgnte, of tho fTnited States Signal Service, and. it. is hoped will set out shortly. A purly of 25 men, including the scientific corps will ta Ufc *t tho Ration, and will be unrler military discipline. The observations, which will inolu'ie ;i'l departments of science, will be continued Coa serirs of years, and the party will be provided with a house of wood modelled after tb se of the IT v:! son Company. They will be viiiU'il e.;cL tuvmccr by a United States v«8:0), 1 v the puipo*tt of supp'ying then with p.-ovigiyne, «removin ; the sick, taking Wotr.e lecord', &■}. A steam lmnch will probably form part of the expedition, bo thit we m:iy qxpecfc Arctic research to bo earned out in. a method more thorough and scientific and there-ore more practically valuable than has ever hitherto been tho case. Doubtless the other countries which are to co-operate

with tbe TJnited States (and from which England is conspicuously absent) will very snon follow the examplo she is likely to set. A year or two of such coroperative work will do more for a knowledge of the Arctic regions than any aeronautical chim.tera, and will cost a great deal les* money. More than 30,000 of the old forms issued under the Property A?sr=sm*nfc Act 1879. have been sent in to tho Commissioner duly filled up. Some hundreds of these have been examined, and proved to be in near'y every case fi'.led up mo9t cleverly, intellectually, and intelligibly and satisfactory, notwithstanding all the grumbling that u?ed to be heard «bout their puzzled nnture.— Post. Colonel Brett, M.L.O. snys a contemporary had the rank during the Crimean War of Brigadier General in her Majesty's service, and commanded a brignde of four regiments of the Oaminli cavalry. This rank he continued to hold until the termination of the - Crimean War. Colonel Brett is atill on thp full pay of a colonel (25s per day), which is equivalent to that of a general " A writer in the Timaru Herald, has the following illustration of tbo absurdities into which the nil round ten per cent reduction leadsj -Retrenchment and economy deI generate into ahsojlute menmveßS when the i wa^es of scullery maids at £20 are touched. Such however, is the case : late Hospital vouchee including one from a £20 a y-nr maid servant, hiving been du'y docked of the inevitable 10 per cent. But nevertheless the poor *tmsel hod one thing to console herself for the loss of her two pounds annually, She can dub herself" a Civil Servant of the Colony of New Zealand,'' a dignity surely worth the dirty forty shillings! The London correspondent of tho " New Zealard Herald " says " There is a curious temper in tho public wind hero about colonials. Tho nre oil looked upon as liirs. The compluint of an emigrant who h.i 9 bern in tbe country a fortnight without finding work is printed and read, and his ridiculous J denunciations of a country he has not. had time to know are believed : whilp universal discredit attaches to the disclaimer of a colonist who known. There was lately a curious instance of this in the " Tirae3." An anonymous paragraph appeared in its columns containing as many lies about the colony as could well be expregsed in twanty lines ; •'Food was exorbitantly dear, distress and panic all but universal, the debt thirty-five millions, and it was probable that there would have to be an appeal in England to relieve the distress in the colony," Judge Gillies, who had just reached London, wrote to the "Times " giving its statements indignant and emphatic donitil, attaching bis name and office held ; but his letter was put in the waste paper basket, Another lelt^r from an old colonint who could speak with equal authority met with the same f ite, and a mild rejoinder from the pen of Sir Julius Togel was only admitted ; still that lying paragraph was finding its way into the papers all over the country." The Brooklyn Bridge, which is now nearing completion, spanning the arm of the sea which separates New York from Brooklyn is (says the American Exporter) without doubt tha boldest undertaking in the way of a bridge structure ever attempted. As a work of engineering skill it cannot be fully appreciated without knowing somethingf of its n.agnituda and the uses for which it is designed. The total length of the bridge is 5989 ft, and width 85ft. The central or river span is 1595 ft, being 600 ft ereiter than lh« now widest span. This is suspended from four great cables, each 152 in in diameter,, running over two towera, one on each side of the liver, 278't in height above high water ma'k. These cables are each composed of 5296 pnralled (not twi?ted) galvnnished oil— conted wires closely wrapped into a solid cylirdor. The clear height of the bridge was commenced Jar, 1870, and its bui'ders are now laying the roadway wires. It is now estimated that it will not ho finished before 1882, and that it will cost when completed at least 18,000,000.101 a. The original estimate of cost was 9,000,000d015, and upon thi* hypothesis its construction wns begun and orripd on until its towers are now the most prominent objects seea by the incoming m .liner. The time for counting; the cost or wei.'hing the wisdom of the two cities onga«ringin such a tremendous enterprise is now past ; and whether the advantages th.it. are ,tq accrue to the public, will be adequate to the cost of the work or not, it must be finished. Then America may with good reason claim the greatest bridge in the world — a bridge tbat engi ieprs and stranpers will regard with wonder and admiration. Tho object is» to open up coiiHU.uiiicat.ion betweea New York and Brooklyn for the passage of street cars, road vehicles of every description, tir.d pedestrians, so as to relieve New York ol its overcrowded population.