NEWS AND NOTES.

Manawatu Times, Volume V, Issue 110, 22 January 1881, Page 2

NEWS AND NOTES.

The San Francisco Mail.— Wo have been aiked to draw attention of Home correspondents to the fact that outwurd English mail, via San Francisco, will close at Palmeraton on next Friday evening, at a quarter to eight o'oleck. A Clerical Visitor.— Amongst the strangers m town: we notice the Rey. Mr. James M'Kee, Presbyterian clergyman, of Masterton. An. the Presbytertiin Conference was'fco take place at Marton yesterday, ho doubt that- waa i the object of the rev. gentleman's visit to the West Coast. - Manawatu Building Society — We have received a letter from a friend m. Wellington," asking if we knew of any shares m the Maniiwatu Building Society for s%le. We make the inquiry. public in.ease any of our readers should 1 have any of that stock which they would be desirous of parting with. ." '■ r" ' v ' ' .' Public Holiday.-As will be seen elsewhere, his Worship the ' Mayor has declared to day a pnblio holiday, m order to give shopkeepers'and. others an opportunity of enjoying themselves at the races. Of course Saturday ia an inconvenient day to have stores closed, but the .difficulty could be easily got over by shutting up from ten till six, by which. vime all the races will have been finished. . Agricultural Statistics.— Mr. F. -Deighlon, the enumerator appointed for Rangitikei and -Miaflawatu, has- been m Palmewton for the /past few days, appointing his deputy, and making other arrangements for the-colleetidti"ef i agricultuTal and Census information. The next Census will be taken early m April, and we will watch with some curiosity the increase m population anil rateable value m .both the Borough and County. The Palmerston North Cemetery.—We would again remind persons having friends buried m the Cemetery, desirous of purchasing permanent sites, that Mr. Fred. Mowlem will attend at his office on next Wednesday, specially for that purpose. We make this intimation as after that day some considerable difficulty — if, ! indeed, it can be done at all — will be met with by those anxious for such an arrangement. A Decided Change. — The old saying, " after a storm comes a calm," wr s exemplified by the business done at the Police Court this week, m contrast to last. Three whple days were occupied m the sittings last week, while on Thursday as many quarter hours ' were sufficient to clear the cause list, a result which is accounted for by the fact that scarcely a defendant put iii an appearance, and consequently the judgments were ex parie. The Next Court Day.— Before the opening of the Court on Thursday, Mr. Ward announced that m future he would hold his sittings m Palmerston at ten, instead of twelve o'clock as hitherto. He had been informed that there would be a new ar. ngemenfc m the running of trains, which would admit of the.change, and as it would be one which would be beneficial to the Bar and public, the Court was anxious to take advantage of it. Important to County Council Contractors. — At the last meeting of the Manawatu County Council it was decided that all accounts upon which payment was expected should be forwarded to the clerk at least ten days prior to the day of monthly meeting, otherwise; 'they would nofr bb checked," and have to be held over until the following meeting. . Those . likely to be interested had better make a note of that fact. Bat and' Ball. — After a rest of about five weeks, the. return matches of the cricketing season are to be again resumed. The first of series will be a contest with the Martomans, on their ground, which will take place this day week.<r.The worst we wish our local men is that they may sustain the pres tige they have acquired since opening of the season, and keep the; palm of victory which so far they have managed to wrest from all comers. Reviewer's. — Messrs. Sanson, Viggo Monrad, and Major Willis, having been ap pointed reviewers for the Counties of Manawatu and Rangitikei, the Board will hold its; sittings at the Court«house, Palmerston, on Tuesday, February Ist ; and at the Courthouse, Feilding, on the following day, for the purpose of hearing and determining objections m respect to property under the Act. <{ The Gbds."— We have to acknowledge the receipt — from Mr. Joseph Braithwaile, of Dunedin — of Colonel Robert Ingersoll'? last work, entitled "The God-i." After a short, glance at.it, we have come to ibhe conclusion that, if possible, it is ever. more blasphemous than "The Mistakes of Moses," and our only wonder is thnt any man could be found to prostitute bis abilities to a work which has no other end than to insult nine-tenths of the community. Another Defection from the Ministry. — It is currently reported tbu 1 the Hon. Richard Oliver, the Minister ofPublic Works, save' the mark, has some: thoughts of following the example of Mr; Bryce and resigning his portfolio. We are J very much afraid the news" is. to good to-be true ; but if such really be the case, and the Hon. Richard seriously, contemplates -retirement, it is the only act of his official life which we .heartily endorse, and for which. i he oan claim commendation. A Tasty Calendar. — One 1 pi the 1 prettiest Calendars for the presentryem: -which we tiave ieenr-Vtl^J?^®'^^'^ ,Thynne, Linton & Co. Tt'iß~crowh folio pasteboard; handsomely lithographed m colors, the de- . sign being -particularly 'appropriate to tire firm for which it h'aV'fceen executed; The twelve months are divided into five portioni, two months being tastefully arranged at .each corner, and the remaining four m. the centre, while scattered over the card are illustrations of the sort of merchandise, bffeied for sale or kept m bond by Messrs. Thynne, Linton. The almanao is not only useful m every office, but decidedly ornamental and St to graoe any eonnting.-houee. The New Post Office.— Mr. Harry Burrell, the contractor of the new post and telegraph office, is pushing an with .his work but the size of the building has been the theme of general conversation and condemnation. It certainly does seem an anomaly that with the vastly increased amount of both postal and telegraph work, the Government should imagine a building oonsiderably less and without the conveniences of the office used five years ago, would an, •wep the requirements. . The station at Halcombe cost £201 ■."■, and is now virtually abandoned ; here m Palmerston, where the business is five times the amount, the figure allotted for expenditure is not a. twelfth of that sum. Bravo, Palmerston.— it may °» recollected that some few months ago we gave a description of a canvas folding boat, oonstrupted by Piera Worburton, and which that gentleman was about to forward to the Melbourne Exhibition. We are pleased to learn by Cablegram that it has got a seoond class pras, and that the ingenuity of PQGstruot^n. wa.s ww.ob. admired, The W*

tiel» exhibited was a diminutive boat, weighing some twenty pounds, and capable of being folded up and carried uider the arm. At the time cf our inspection Mr. Warburton had other specimens of different sizes and weights, and the fact of a prize being bestowed is the most flattering, inasmuch as the exhibit forwarded to the exhi bition was constructed m a few days, prior to despatch. ..:.,'" The Government and the Goldfield.—Some few weeks ago, Mr. Linton, m his official capacity as Mayor of Palmerston, wrote to the Government warning them against putting faith m exaggerated^ and unauthentic reports about the Palmer* ston gold-field: On Wednesday he received a reply from the Minister of Mines, thansing him for his" courtesy 7arid forethought, and requesting that he would furnish particulars as to the reef, its prospects, the number of persons on .the ground, and other information of a like character. We were favored with a perusal of Mr. Lmton's reply, and must congratulate him upon its fair and 'impartial nature. Neither Dead, Nor Sleeping.— The pleasure with which we always welcome a new arrival m the district, is only exceeded by the regret we feel at hearing of a settler, about to leave. For that reason we are pleased to be able to chronicle the contradiction by Mr. Metard to the report that he intended leaving Palmerston. Like a good many more, he has been a victim to the prevailing depression, but we trust now that the storm has pa3?e%l, he will ariae from the ashes with more vigor than ever. He asks his old patrons to rally round him and give him a fresh start, and" if we are not much mistaken the call will be cordially responded to. A Sign of the Times.— We have been informed by a gentleman who has lately made a tour of the Rangitikei district that the rate of wages ruling for harvest hands is £1 per week, and he ha 3 known instances where fifteen shillings has been gratefully accepted. A contrast of those rates with those obtained a year or two ago, does not certainly bear out the cry of 'scarcity .of; labor, of which we hear so much. We notice from our exchanges that m the Southland district the rate of wages intended to be offered is twenty-five shillings. Considering that laboring men look upon that season as their " harvest," m the true; sense of the word, and that it does not last very long, we regret to see the terms down to such low figures. Discretion the Better part of Valor.— Masterton ii not to hay« a second paper after all, the gentlemen who were the intending speculators very wisely concluding to keep their money m their pockets, instead of throwing it away. New Zealand is certaiuly the most over-no wspapored country m the world — if we may coin such a word — but evidently from the experience of prospectors at Foxton and Masterton, it has begun to dawn: upon some: journalists that caution is more profitable than rashness. Some curious statistics could be compiled of the number of mushroom journals which have sprung up m a night, and disappeared even before they were out of their, swaddling clothes. Borough Works. — The Publio Works Committee of the Borough Council held a meeting on Wednesday for the purpose of opening and considering the tenders for the kerbing of the Square, and lmprovthe approaches to Vogel-street. The following were the tenders received: — Kerbing (timber and labor)— Smithson, £1 5s per chain, accepted ; Grenaan and Bassett, £1 6s sd; Theodore Schlager, £1 9s 6d j J. M'Coll, £L 10s 3d j C. Rosenthal, £1 15s ; C. Anderson, £1 15 ; Bryant and Co, £2 4s 9s. The following are the tenders for the approaches to Yogel street: — ''Smithson, £10 ; Bryant and Co, £12 ; Bassett, £12 l"4s 6d ; Rosenthal, £19 10s ; M'Coll, £19 18a 6d. The tenaer of Smithson was accepted. Wanted, a Bailiff.— Before the formal business of the Resisident Magistrate's Court on Thursday, Mr. Perkins pointed out the gre t inconvenience to which the profession had been put through the want of a bailiff, the police not being allowed to exe- . cute distress warrants. The Magistrate admitted the grievance complained of, but stated that since the insolvency of the late bailiff he had been m communication with the Minister of Justice m the subject. However, ' efore leaving Palmerston that evening he would make some temporary appointment to obviate the difficulty pointed out, until a permanent bailiff h*.. been selected by t'.ie Government. News of an Old Friend.— We are pleased to see that our old friend Frank Loudon has cast his manacles, and now stands forth a free man. At the Supreme Court on Tnsday he made application to his Honor .Judge Richmond for- his certificate of discharges, and after being sworn the Judge said that as the applicant was unopposed, and there was no reason to doubt his evidence, he would grant his discharge, and instructed the 'Registrar to make- a note accordingly. Just as the decision was recorded Mr. Brandon, ,jun.,- representing Mr. Christie,, of the Colonial Bank, rushed upon . the scene to object. The insolvent objected,' on ttie plea that counsel should kave made his objections at the proper time, but nevertheless the Judge determined to hear Mr. Brand,on, also allowing Mr. Loudon to argue "his* case. The np-sho!-. was that, the non». professional carrfed the day, for, after hearing the arguments on 'both sides, the Judge' saidhe saw no. reason to delay the discharge or alter his former decision, remarking also that the rest of the creditors, except the Colonial Bank, were favorable to it. He. therefore instructed the Registrar to make an"i>rder of 'immediate discharge. Frank has; always said he would, lick Christie, and he has been as good as. his word; . 1 tfhe Palmerston Gold-field. — We have it on an official authority that the result of the crushing of the two parcels of stone forwarded to the Thames for assay- by Moss, has been anything at all but cheering, as the reply has been short, but by no means sweet. In the first lot, no trace whatever of gold could.be discovered, and m the other, there was a small particle, mixed with mundio and. popper. As some persons are somewhat astray as to what mundio , really is, we may stats it is a name given by. Cornish miners to iron or arsenical pyrites, and to the uninitiated who may be anxious to know the meaning of the latter, term, , we say it is a combination of sulphur with iron, coppe/, cobalt, or nickel, presenting a whit c or yellowish metallic lustre. We were, however, shown specimens of .stone by Mr. Jenssen, which were taken from the reef by Mr. Otto Tiller, and if we are not very much mistaken, a good yield ought to be obtained 1 from it. A large quantity of stone was brought into town at the commencement of the week, and arrangements are being made to erect steam batteries m connection with the Palmerston Saw Mills, so that m a few clays a thorough test may be expected. Palmerston School Committee, —A special meeting of the Palmerston North School Committee was held m the school-house on Thursday evening, present — Messrs. Snelson (chairman), James, Goodisson, Coleman, and Dungan. A report from the master, Mr. Watson, was read, received, and various suggestions therein, contained., adonteel. It appeared.

that the roof of the master's residence wa« m a moft dilapidated conditiidn, and atmolution was passed requesting Mr. -Snelson; 1 the representative of the District at the Board, to bring Hhe matter iprominentlj before that body. /ltr> Wifceon reported that the result of the canvass for sujbscnp< tions toward the sohool toeat was thai ihitt' would be about £20 to expend. S It war unanimously agreed that he^euld ljierein<> powered to bay prizes m the shape of books to the extent of £10, £$to be devoted to the purchase of presents^for'the smaller dhil&ren f -Mrsr Watson-wa»-tQ»*«^ haß(iedc £4 toward providing xefeshments, 4e. j and the Jbslapce was to beallotted for prizes for racing and" other *musemen"Sdn^nra«y' of" the treat. JJhe programme arranged we*— The treat was to take place on the afternoon of Friday, the 28th, m Mr. BesVs paddock — if that gentleman would kindly permit it — then the children, should' be, .marched to the Town Hall to tea, after which the; presentation of prises would take place, and it was resolved to ask his Worship the Mayor to undertake that part of the 'ceremony. Mrs. Watson has kindly undertaken tojlobk after the preparation of . the tea, but we have been asked «o % *tate that the assistance of other ladies will be gratefully received.