The Bruce Herald. TOKOMAIRIRO, FEBRUARY 35, 1866.

Bruce Herald, Volume III, Issue 98, 15 February 1866, Page 4

The Bruce Herald. TOKOMAIRIRO, FEBRUARY 35, 1866.

Owing to a rush of advertisements at a late hour, we are obliged to hold over our Leader, Courts, Taieri Agricultural Dinner, and a variety of other mutter. The special quarterly meeting of the Taieri Volunteers was recently held at the Drill Shed, Iticarton, East Taieri, when Mr James Todd's resignation of the office of Ensign was confirmed, having been accepted a month previous. Sergeant Andrews was unanimously elected Ensign in hi) stead, Corporal Urown being appointed Sergeant, and Private W. C. Todcl elected Corporal. We regret to state that that on Tuesday morning last an accident of a serious nature occurred to a young lad named James ISarr, engaged in training the horse irultan for the approaching Clutha races. While taking his usual morning canter on the beach opposite the Keserve, the horse put his foot in a sand hole and fell right over, pitching the boy vio- , lently on his head, and breaking his collartone. He was at once attended by Dv. 'Smith, under whose treatment- lie is progressing fiivoral ly. ' We have been requested to intimate that the South Clutha Church will be opened for Divine Worship on Sunday next, the 25th inst., when the liev. Dr. Burns will preach. We Ifebavc no doubt that very many will avail W themselves of the present opportunity of hear- ■ ing the vc-aerablf founder of the Church in

The Lord Ashley arrived on Saturday night -with the Canterbury Cricketers and the Nathan and Lenton troupes, and despite the heavy rain on Tuesday, a start was made, and play continued throught the day. The innings of Otago finished shortly after five o'clock, and the stumps were drawn for the day. The scores then stood — Canterbury, 6S ; Otago, 105. We would call- the attention of the officers of the Telegraph Department to the disgraceful state ofthe line between Tokomairiro and the Ciutha. In several places the posts have become loose, and leaning to the road, requiring to be backstayed. The wires are hanging in all uircctiona," while in one place in particular, between StoneyCreck and the Molyneux, it has become altogether detached from the insulator, and is laying across the road, every vehicle that passes being obliged to cross it, the wire laying fliit on the centre of the road, while at the sides it is sufficiently elevated to render it exceedingly dangerous, and forms a trap for the unwary horseman or pedestrian, the falling into, or rather across j which, might be productive of loss of life. j On our way from town lately, we observed I in the neighborhood of Green Island that a I stone foundation had been laid for what was j evidently designed for a very large building. What could it possibly be, flashed across our . mind. Could it be the first railway terminus ' on t ; c proposed Clutha Eailway ? On inquiry ■ we found that, though our surmise was incor- \ rect in the main, still the building was to be • devoted to the purposes of steam, being erected j by the present proprietor of the Kaikori Mill, ; from which it is distant about a quarter of a j mile northward, who finds the present building totally inadequate to meet ;Jie requirements of the district, and who has decided upon erecting ; the lagest building in the province for the ; purpose of milling. The obliging proprietor j showed us the plans of the erection — a fuurstorev build inu, wliioh is to occupy a frontage of To feet, 126 feet in depth, and to be 40 feet high. The cost is calculated at £4000, in- 1 eluding the requisite machinery, shortly ex- ; pected from England, and which is to contuiu all the latest home improvements. Judging from the plans, we should say that it v ill form i one of the largest buildings in. the province devoted to the purposes of trade. We trust that when completed, some six months hence, the spirited proprietor fvvho also retain* for several years the lease of the old Kaikori Miil) j will receive every encouragement and support, and that the enterprise shown in undertaking the erection of so extensive a concern miy be duly rewarded. Sneaking of Hour nulls, we may state tiiafc no less than seven new milis are now in course of erection, or shortly to be I commenced, besides the one we have just j mentioned. Ti;ey are the lollowiug :— »Mes rs Holmes & Campbell's, at Totara, near Dunediu; the Shag River Mill, being built by! Messrs iiunciman. the proprietors of the old; Kaikori Mill; the We^t Taieri Mill, erected \ by Mr Richardson, situated near the West j Taiuri i) ridge; the mill at tlfe Kaihiku, in i our own district; that at Franktown, Lake! iWakati;i; and the new steam mill spoken oil at the Water of Lei: h, Duneciiu. Of the above, ! we b'iievc riv« will he vewly for the mvsent season's crop. Whatever m;iy be the amount \ of success attending these several enterprises, i 't speaks wt.il for . the confidence lolt in the! future prospects of each district; and, no 1 doubt, ere many years this province, besides i supplying its own wants, wiil becone a large j exporter of wheat, or of the article in its j .manufactured state. We observe, also, that; the erection of a flour mill at Tuapeka is felt j to be one of the first requirements of that im- j portant district, as in consequence of there being no establishment of the kind within a reasonable distance, the manyagriuulturistsset- 1 tied around are deterred from growing wheat, j '1 lie question is now being agitated there, in the j hope that something definite may be decided j on at once, and such steps taken as will, before ! sowing time, be a guarantee to the fanners i that a mill will be in readiness in the district j to convert thei.v next wheat crop into flour, j A Joint Stock Company is spoken of; and j we sincerely trust that, should such be the ] scheme adopted, it may be carried to a more j successful termination than the one lately , started here, and to which wo alluded last I week as having, through the apathy and in- j difference of the farmers ot the district, been , allowed to fall to the ground, and which, we j have no hesitation in saying, they will yet j bitterly repent. However, the Tokomairiro j farmers are certain to enjoy, for this season at least, the advantages of vicinity to the Tuapeka ! goldfield, and the large market which has been open to them there for the past four years. The proprietor of the Tokomairiro mill, Mr P. M/Giil, has commenced an enlargement of his premises, and is about to erect machinery calculated to do double the amount of work to that hitherto employed. We hesr that Mr George Brodie, M.P.C. has been appointed Inspector of Insolvent Estates under the provisions ot the Debtors' aud Creditors' Act. The ' Daily Times, 2 of Wednesday, under the heading New Insolvent, gives the name oi Henry liowson, butcher, of Clutha Ferry, now a prisoner in Dunedin Gaol, for debt; liabilities, £285 13s ; assets, due to petitioner, £190 10s lid; personal estate, £11 10s; total, £-2"2 0sll; deficiency, £82 12s Id. Causes of insolvency — pressure of creditors, and losses by late flood.

The Albion arrived at Port Chalmers on Sunday evening, with a further accession to our population of 25 Chinamen, including their leader, Ah Mea, who has again re turned on his second trip Avith his feliow-country-men, the number increasing on each occasion. At a meeting of the Congregation of the First Church, Dmicdin, held on Monday evening, they Avere informed that the Session had decided upon sending home for an assistant to the llov. l)r Burns, D.D. The i appointment is to be vested in the liCA r Drs LJegg (Edinburgh), Julius •'•• ood (Dumfries), and Professor Gibson (Aberdeen ) A meeting of the License Holders of the district Avas held at the Court House on Tuesday last, for the purpose of electiug Wardens for the ensuing year for the Waihola, JN : «rth and South Tokomairiro, and Waitahuna Hundreds: John Dewe, Esq., 11 M., was in the chair. The meeting was well attended, and the following was the result: — Wuihola, George Lindsay, Alexander Kobertson, Horace Squires ; .North Tokomairiro, Alex. Brown, John G. Grey, and Thos. Murray ; South Tokomairiro, John Hislon, James Campbell, and Win Dunn ; Waitahima, Vv. A. Jhuray, Thos. Grundy, and John Jirown. The names of a number of gentlemen Avho had taken out licenses before the commencement of tin's year were altogether omitted from the lists, and there cau be no doubt that h .d the interests ot the place been consulted by the Waste Land I : Board, the licenses would have been issued! here. ' ! We understand that a branch of industry j lias this 6e.isoM been introduced by Air Campbell, storekeeper, Green island, which Aye think might with advantage be taken up in other of uur districts, where much small truit is allowed to gii to waste. Mr Campbell has already prepared 4UJU lbs. of jams and jellies, for which he bus Ibuiui a market in Dunedin much more extensive than he is able to supply.' liy employing boys to pick the fruit, he is enabled to supply the wholesale trade in Duuedin at prices under what it can be imported i lor either from Tasmania or England, while \ the quality is mum superior lo that ol the imported article. The following are the boundaries of the! Tukoiiiairiro, Taieri, Clutha, and Lawrence j uistricts as arranged by the (superintendent, iu| compliance with the lltli section ot the JLii- ' censing Ordinance, lSlio, anil published in the j ■ G overnmeut Gazette ' : — 1 okumaii iro — all '• that, area bounded on the 'north by the Tua- j peka goluiield, towards the south by the ocean, ] towau.s the east by the Taieri and Duncdin j Licensing districts, and towards the west by tlit.- CiuLna district. Ciutna Lictesing Dis,ncfc—bouinleu towards the north by the jSokomai and Mount Bciiger Goidfields, towards tim t-iiit by tiie Mount Benger and Tuapeka Goldlields to Lovell's Creek, thence by Creek to the Tiukituto Lake, ivaitaugaia L ike and Cix^k, and the Ciutha river to use ocean, towards the south by the ocean, and towards the west by the I'rnvince of SuuthI iand. Taieri Licensing District — bounded toI warns tnc nunii by t «c Tuapeka and Taieri ! Goidfields, towards the east and south by the ! Duiiedm Licensing district, and towards the west i>y the Taieri river, tiie Waihola Lake, aiid In uggit Burn ; also all th.it area within 1 die Taieri Goidlield and south of the Kuck and IMlar Mountain, which may be Avilhdrawn from the ouerutiun of the Goidfields Act. | In an aivticle on gold, in the last month!} 1 number of the "-Quarterly Journal of Science," we observe that the extraction of gold from epiaru, or from association with other mineI ials. is greatly facilitated Ijy amalgamating i with the mercury a small proportion ot'sodium. | Experiments have been tried with one per I cent, of the latter, and with very marked sue- ! cess. (Some ot this amalgam thrown into meri cury intensifies at once its attraction for gold, |so that it catches up Avhat would otherwise j have slipped away with the waste. It is j effective eh k-fly where the ' tarnishing' of the ! gold (arising from the presence of sulphides, ! arsenic, bismuth, or tallurium), prevents the i action of simple mercury. The amalgam seizes i upon the tarnished gold, and also, when ' trif turated ' with certain minerals containing gold, .it picks out the precious metal much more j keenly and completely than the plain quickj silver. i The 'Provincial Government Gazette' of ! Wednesday lust contains a notification that I John Hardy, Esq., has ceased to be a Commissioner of Jioads and their deviation?. Mr Hardy having declined to resign when requested to do so by the Executive, his dismissal followed as a matter of necessity. The usual Quarterly Licensing Meetings, for the granting transfer, renewal, or removal of Publicans' Licenses, will be held in the Courthouse of each of the undermentioned districts, lat noon, ou Tuesday the Gth day of March next : — Dunedin, Port Chalmers, Clyde, Queenstown, Oamaru, Waikouaiti, Taieri, Tokomairiro, Ciutha, Hamilton, and Lawrence. By a notice in the 'Government Advertising Sheet,' local ltoad Boards intending to make applications for grants under the vote of the Provincial Council fqr supplemented roads, are requested to do so beiore the Ist day of March next.