Church, of England Meeting;

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 11, 17 September 1874, Page 5

Church, of England Meeting;

: * = ; . : A meeting of ttie members of the Church of England wis held in the Courthouse on Friday evening last.' The meeting was well attended. The Right Rev. Lord Bishop of Dmv edin (who presided) informed the meeting that be had gone over' the proposed parochial district, and gathered^ consider) > able information of a very r "satisfactory nature, ip re church, matters, and that it was necessary, before' taking any further ac« tion to resuscitate the Church Committee, which was almost a nominal • one j and tha.tbe . intended forming; : Balchitpa," ; Inch Clutha, Koitangata, and- Clinton into one parochial district — each place to. have a f local . committee : Balclutha ho be the Central Committee, for ..collecting the subscriptions to the Stipend Fund from thje sub- committees, a£d v comjmupicating with him on church matters, but not to have any -^ control oyer the other com\tti,tteeß.« Tne' Bishop notified to- th& meeting that he bad anpqinted Dr. Smith* fo "be 'the* Church' * Officer for the district,:; in df Mr. R, B; Williams ! "resigning nop attendance J ) ( !ij^i;a'i : j", The meeting then, proceeded to elect' a CpmnSittee. - -Mr., Hutcniqs s proposed-^ r* \ies~rs. ' M-Ovveh, " '''CorrigSh^^M-Giril^ ■ .Wdiiiins, Renner^~7Townsend,;. and thb* • Mover.". Seconded by )Mr s sTdwhsend and' carried. . „ . ' ; : " •-,/.-* V. -'.X. -> - vf\ The Bishop then ihforme,dith| Committed that he had received^- subscription, list.sjak;: ? follows i-^GUn^n^|jliOj^^erf Om'th^k^i * Kaitangata, L4O; balclutha, L3s;tp^iclf ; J he cauii add ■l&Q 'ir6m' ? th^oel^%fMtja^

'/ Maitiand,, and, , upon the approjac^Jgi^l^ai-^ tangata. that of Mr DavidsonT peither. oT which would _he despised hf 'an Mir to some of the old family estates in. the'homp^ country, a Again reaching the bank of the" river the road turns abruptly to the" left,:, and the privatetowrishipJofOKaitangata is entered. Here all is. bpsirfess and bustle. Between -geneV-aUfraffic'ttbd^nS'cTdssloQi of timber from Po.tter_and Go's saw- mill on the island, the punt;, is kept pretty well occupied. AlQng'thl rivw J)ah^ are piles of timber, iron rails, $c. 7oW : -" ; "Waggons," drays, arid vehicles of alf descriptions are being loaded and unloaded, *and for these Mr McDonald's large store'; seemed the^ chief rendezvous. Mr Macdonald hasijnsr provided one of Ball's No. I- toughing and grooving and planing machines, which*^ now in full* work, and turns out from 15,000 to 20,000 feet of timber weekly; The timber is procured l froth Messrs Potter and Co. ? s saw mill, which is at present at work in the bush across the river, and where about 30,000 ,fee| "of timber is, cut every week. It is expected that all 5 the available timber iri this bushwili be cut in the course of six weeks, when the mill will be removed to Davidson's bush on the* mainland, where there is. sufficient .timber, to keep it going for,; the/ next two years. The mill is chiefly employed cutting railway sleepers, all the 'other 'timber cut having^ been secured by 5 Mr Macdonald-. arid .which, after being dressed, is made; to meet the demand for building, material in Balclutha and throughout the district. The private township is irapidlv advancing in importance, and the neat and substantial dwelling-houses, erected,, ;and 'now progress, would do credit to any township in the Province. In the Government township also the progress is manifest, and the buildings are of a permanent character. A long felt want in the dis.trict has been supplied by Murphy's hotel, which contains nine bedrooms, two parlors, diningroom, &c, the whole heing kept in a most clean and orderly manner. In the township several storekeepers and. tradesmen of various descriptions have established themselve?, and all of whom seem to ,be prospering. Tfae township was established about four years ago, flaxdressing then being the principal industry, but which has now been abandoned. The timber trade ha 9 also added its quota to the prosperity of the town during the past two years, but it is evident the staple and permanent in dustry of the district will be that of coal mining. It is now threeyears since coal ofa very superior description was here discovered and although that procured in other districts throughout the Province has been much applauded by interefted parties through the press and otherwise, it is gene; rally admitted that the Kaitangata coal is not excelled in Otago. Hitherto the opers tions of tbe existing company have been confined to what is known as the lower pit, where tbe seam is only an averWe of four feet in thickness, and where eigtit men are at prf sent at work. For the acordni')-, dation of tbeir men the company erected cottages of four rooms each, and for which a rent of only five shillings a week is charged. A tramway was laid from the pit to the river bank wbere a shed capable of containing 1 50 tons of- coal has been erected. A landing stage has also been erected, having three shoots' for 'loading steamers. To this point the river is navigable for vessels of 100 ton?, and the want of steamers to convey the coal to Dunedin apparently is the only difficulty the com pany bave to contend with. The extent of the ground h Id by them is 1000 acres, all of which is known to- contain the same, quality of coal. Last week borings were commenced at the upper portion of the ground, in a gully near to the pits formerly wrought by another company, but at pfe-i sent discontinued. The result of their borings will, it is expected, mark an important epoch in the history of the company. At a depth of 37 feet a seam of coal was found and which -has riot 'yet' been bottomed the thickness already ascertained being ' 27 feet, and- the coal throughout of the very best quality. The discovery ; having been, made at a point near the bead : of the gully there ia sufficient fall for drainage purposes, so that the : working of the seam will not :be impeded by water. No time wiU now be lost in' opening up this new seam,' and the company will thus shortly have two pits iq full working order. The only obstacle now is the want of efficient means for the conveyance of the . coal to Dunedin. Two courses are open to the company, and one or both of -yhich they no doubt will adofct.. . The one is the building of a steamer for the coastal arid river servipe, and the other the laying down of a railway or tramway from the Kaitangata junction of the.Southern trunk line to the pits. The extent and quality of the coal, coupled with the demand through- , out the Colony, is sufficerit warrant for tae company incurring tbe expense ?wnicb would thus be entailed.,-. That it; would be reproductive cannot for a moment b? doubted. . If may be mentioned that, in the newly discovered searii there is'nb blaze— it being the finest coal' throughout. It may be added as., a. g00d... evidence... of the superior quality of this c0a1. ,. that . notwith-; standing the exceptionally . iyigorous^efforis put forth to raise jibe., character of the • Tokomairiro 'coal, the- proprietor of the Mil ton .pottery works, himself the^ownei' of a Tokomairifo coal pit, serids'ftll theiway to, Kaitangata for coal. .From r Tuaptka arid I elsewhere there' is* a regular demand, arid eyery where the' Equality of the -coil has, given ; satisfaction^ With 1 com|raiinicationvandithe magnificent seam. which has now, been discovered/, the,rpi"<)spect3.,o;f the Kaitan«ataJC6al jCompanx^are most hopeful.- The perseyejeauce, they have manifested in the past merits Yuceess, and. all wijl bje glad to know jthqt afritjh feivjardj is* - apparently in store for the shareholders. \ The House of Lords struck out pf the Public Worship Bill a, clause authoring ipa'rjahiorierstito ,£gsesf tifcthe frc^b^hop,,in f the £$$y»£sfti b^shpplreV f usVg \tdi suppress - 'ritualistic' 'practises in titefdioceW: V a: y^X'^y^XfAi JSi'W'H*** }• -'. . After Marshal BazajheV escap&b^me kno»?n, x a : r^o^as Jprin^aching-Jrom th£ top of a*prea|i<|e .-*o the. sea gfamed witlu . blbod;'as"if:fro^ i \'| "y j Madame^BaiajDe tne, e3capetvv--v'-;r*fvv.---),i-^-;7v, -.;..•:;.-.. -,,./.*.:.-• --, k tion wUl^pro^ablgb^ y, j theA^o.oky^ixmM^M^^^^^ eo.nniyj&r4c£ifc7:is;^^^