The Daily Times. The oldest Manawatu journal: Established 1875. MONDAY, DEC. 31, 1883.

Manawatu Times, Volume IX, Issue 1139, 31 December 1883, Page 2

The Daily Times. The oldest Manawatu journal: Established 1875. MONDAY, DEC. 31, 1883.

If any inquisitive M.H.B. were to move for a return of the number of occasions upon which members of the present Ministry had travelled by special trains, the information, if supplied, would probably furnish an instructive commentary upon econo* mical administration. There are occasions j no doubt, when public business requires "specials" to be at the disposal of Ministers, but such occasions are few and far between. Usually, the delay of an hour or two makeg little difperenpein public matn and we are convinced one half the specials that are employed are needless. On Saturday Major Atkinson arrived here by special coach, arid a short time afterwards was whisking along m a spe* cial train, to Wanganui, we presume m order to catch the Manutahi train, which leavei Wan**

ganuiat4.ls, and reaches its des* tination shortly after 7 o'clock. From thence another specif I coach would probably convey the Major to Hawera, and another special vhence to New Plj mouth ; arrived at which place a special cab would probably convey the special traveller to his home, where he would enjoy the luxury of a Sunday m Taranaki, the question arises, "Who pays, for all these luxuries?" One thlag is tolerably certain, that STajor Atkinson does not. Who does ? is just what a good many would like to know. Possibly the items are debited to different de« partments — the cab Hre to the Premier's office expenses ; the Mastjertoh coach to the Federation Conference Account; the Hawera coach to the " petty cash " account ; and the trains to well, probabty nothing. They would not be cash, ottt of pocket,, the power to run a special when he likes being a perquisite of the Premier's office. Really, though, joking apart, this special train business is at present overdone m New Zealand, consider, ing the rotten state of the finances and the nonpaying character of the railways. The state of the colony just now is such that rigid economy is absolutely necessary. Increase of taxation is imminent, and if the people are called upon to bear extia burdeDß ; it is not too much to ask the rules to dc with less plums m their pudding.

Tubntitg from Major Atkinson, we notice something has occurred to another well-knowo. public indivi-« dual. The Gazette notifies that the services "of Thomas Luther Shepherd have been dispensed with. In common phraseology, " Smiler " has been " sacked." This gentleman, shall we call him, appeared m the House as representative of a mining constituency m ,Otago, and his burly form, well-pomaded hair, and shining moustache, and unctuous ogle at the Ladies' Gallery were familiar to all frequenters of Parliament Buildings. But times changed. " Smiler " was beaten at an election, and as a trir. Bute? to his voting powers the Grey Government appointed him a Clerk of Court. On one or two occasions his name has come before the colony m respect of official laches and apparently these have culminated m " The Gentle Shepherd's " expulsion from power. Let us hope he will not repeat his former career by get* ting into the Honse first, and work, ing oh down to Clerk of Court a sea cond time. Yet more unlikely things than this have happened,, and we shall be somewhat surprised if Smiler is not a candidate for Parlia* ment at next election.

*#* The Manawatn Daily Times will not be published to-morrow, being New Year's Day. We understand that MrH- Wollerman has applied to the Minister of Justice to remit the fine imposed upon him at the last sitting of the R.M. Court for a breach of the Licensing Act, and that several Justices of the Peace have recommended his application to the favourable notice of the Minister. It is gratifying to find one governing body with a credit balance. This fortunate institution m the Wellington Harbor Board, which . has a bank balance of over £2300. - " '„-We understand the Petition for the division of the Borough of Palmerston North into Wards will be forwarded to the Government by to-night's mail, ' The annual treat m connection, with the Palmerston School will be held on Mr J. Linton's grounds a^t Terrace End on Wednesday next, The usual sports trill be carried out, and we have no doubt that all, both young and old, will thoroughly enjoy themselves as heretofore. An excellent painting of scenery m the Manawatu Gorge is to, be raffled at Fenton's Hotel this evening. The picture is a large one, m oils, and the artist has been very successful m transferring the beauties of the scene to canvas. The painting is to be raffled for ; by sixty members at 3s each. | We remind those who intend patronis» ing the Rangitikei Races that Mr J. Jones's Brake will leave Palmerston at 7.30. to-morrow morning for the race course. The horse advertised on Saturday as impounded was the same evening claimed by its owner, who had lost it for three months. The notice is therefore withdrawn. At the various Churches yesterday, special references were made to the season of the year. The congregations at them all were large. ! The usual " Watchmght" service takes place at the Wesleyan Church to-night, to watch the old year out and the new year m.

The Moutoa correspondent of the Manawati Herald sends the following terns: — It is rumoured here that the rive* is to be cleared of its snags as far. up as to? Tolsumiru creek, which is also to bfl cleared out for several miles up as far as the railway line for the purpose of conveying m boats the material for the construction of the railway. — Two parties of suiveyors that have been surveying the line are just about finished, and are shifting to surrey & lot of land recently bought for the company by Mr M'Donald. Little by little the company is acquiring all the reserved Maori }.and; Mi Bryce returns to Auckland from Waitato to-day, having completed arrangements for the survey of the boundary of the Kin country land*, and also arranged for the survey of a road from Alexandria to Kawhia We are requested to call attention to the fact that the Palmerston Post office, will be closed to-morrow (New Year's Day). Messrs Bentley Bros' lost mare, which was advertised m the Tjmes on Saturday, was returned to them yesterday morning from Fitzherbert. The Rev P, Parkes, of Turafeina, informs us that most probably he will take a parish, at the expiration of tax months, and cot, as stated m a previous issue, m twelve months heo«.e. — Advo* cate. The entries for Mr G. M. Sneison's stock sale, to take place at the Fitz- | herbert Street Yards on Satnrday next are published m our advertising columns. They comprise 75 head of cattle and 233 sheep. After the cattle sale, Mr Bnelson will offer, at bis rooms, a large number of freehold properties It is notified thht.the auctioneer Will offer : for sale any property entered up to the mormo^ of the qf iale, At Emerald Hill on December 15, J* Bayner attempted to walk J 2O; piles m "24 hours, After tie haa walked oreir 83 hours, during which he had covered 119 miles 8 laps, with only 14 laps to do to win, he fell on the track exhausted and lost the match. An attempt is to be made m Wellington to organiie an expedition to New duinea.

The Combined Friendly Societies' Sports take place on Mr Lintorfs grounds at Terrace End to-morrow; A procession of the various Societies, m regalia, will be formed at the Foresters Hall and will leave at 10.30 a.m. for the scene of the day's amusement- The procession will be beaded by tbe Volun* teer Brass Band, m uniform. Judging from the programmes t is year the S|-orts will be quite as interesting as on previous occasions, and, should, the wtather prove iiqe, we have no doubt they will be largely attended. In the evening a grand promenade concert and bill] will be bete m the Foresters* Hall, commencing at 8 o'clock. The members of Court Manvwatu, A.0.F., and the Sanctuary of Shepherds are requested to meet m the Court room ut 10 ©'clock tomorrow morning for the purpose of marching m procession, to the sports ground. The members of the Chosen Few, L.O.L,,are called together for Wednesday evening next. We have received a number of enquiries from ratepayers why the schedule of works, &c, m connection with the proposed loan has not been circulated among the ratepayers. We must confess that we can assign no reason for the delay m doing this. Turning 'to our report of the proceedings at last meeting of the Council we find the following : "It was resolved, on the motion of Cr Snelson, that the report and schedule be. printed and circulated amongst the ratepayers." It was quite right that this should be done, as the ratepayers- the very persons interested —were, and are still, m the dark on the subject. They have no detailed' particulars of the proposed works before them, and we would suggest that the public meeting to discuss the loan, should be postponed until the resolu. tion is carried ou c The Acclimatisation Society have just received and liberated eightysthree Nevada quail, which arrived from San Francisco by the City of Sydney. Tbe birds all arrived safely and m good condition. Some Pintail grouse are expected.— Ch rooicle. The venerable Lady Hillya'r, of Torre House, Tor Point, Cornwall, attained' on September Bth the great age of 95 years having been bom on September Bth, 1788. As an historic fact of some interest it may be mentioned that m 1805 Lady Hillyar entertained Lord Collingwood at Gibraltar just after tha battle of Trafalgar. Since our leading article was m type we have learned Major Atkinson stayed at Wanganui on Saturday night, and did not proceed on to Taranaki. Under these circumstances, tbe employment of a special a few hours m advance of tha evening train is still more inexcusable. The novel sight of a Chinese funeral m Palmerston yesterday attracted a considerable number of onlookers. There were a dozen Celestials m attend, ance, and they fulfilled all the rites of the Confucian faith. A lost horse is advertised for by Messrs Hawkins and Son, The finder will receive £1 reward. . Messrs Brown and Boisen announce that they will run brakes to-morrow and the following day, from their Tattersall's stables to the Kajigitikei races. The brakes will start at 8.30 o'clock. . As a specimen of typographical art we thinlcit will be admitted that the Sheet Almanac we issue ,io-day is a. credit to the district. 4 The heavy demand it made upon jobbing type of special classes, necessitated our securing Mr J.P. Leary's assistance, and con-, sequently we placed m his hands ''the work of setting np the matter, with the excellent result now seen. Our own large machine was brought into requisition for the printing of tbY Almanac, and did its work both rapidly and well, notwithstanding that the "forme" was of such an unusually large size, as to be some inches too large fo* any " chase;" we had m stock. Our Sheet Almanac and Calendar will after this become an institution m Manawttu. The bankruptcy 6i Ellis James i B , gazetted, Messrs Hawkins and 7 Son are solicitors for the debtor. ■* /\ The Cricket match, -Canterbury v | 'Auckland was continued _on Saturday,. The Auckland team ali went out foi? 141. The Canterbury, team commenced their second innings at 4 o'clock, and when the stumps were drawn six wickets were 4 down for 80 runs. '