Untitled

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 46, 27 May 1875, Page 5

It will be seen by reference to our telegraphic summary that the Clutha River ; Conservators Ordinance has been referred by the Provincial Council to a select committee, with a^ view to the amendment of certain obnoxious clauses. It is very necessary this fact should be carefully noted. The proposed constitution of the Board is most important and if ' current report speaks truly, a reprehensible influence was brought to bear upon the late Government, with the view «f getting , the voting powers thrown into tfee hands ! of a body whose interests are likely to: clash with those of the River Trust It ! would be well that no time should be lost ' in arranging some concerted action, for; the purpose of providing eraeh data as will enable the committee to form an opinion as to the real merits of the case. Parties . more immediately interested in the matter, I and who are acquainted with the real state of affairs, should take an early opportunity of placing themselves m communication with the members for the district, so that, t if deemed advisable, their evidence may be i made available for the guidance of the ! committee. ; • -. At the last sitting of the Waste Land j Board, Mr Charles Sproule requested to be ' allowed to abandon section 39, block VII., Waipab.ee district, takenVup by him under the deferred payment system. He also asked, to be refunded the amount paid \y> him for fencing. He said thatf he was unable to complete hisi purchase. The application was refused jas tiae Board had no power to grant the request. The number of accidents which have' occurred lately from theujeof chaff cutting : machines and other farming implements is really alarming, and demands the serious attention of persons engaged in siich 'pursuits. Two weeks ago we announced that! Mr Uray, Wangaloa, had- lost two fingers j from this cause; Last week a servant in * the employment of Mr- ifrch. Rutherford, I Waiwera, met with a similar accident ; and ; again we are called upon to chronicle an ' equally serious mishap suf^inedby a cfiild ! three or four years ; old, f on of Mr-^Maes Ayson, Finegand. The;oh!ld got Bis haiid entangled by the machi|ei beftire i$ could be extracted'one of the fingers were so badly mutilated as to render amputation necessary. One of twet things^?is /very ■ evident. Either these aaaehines are, not: properly protected, so as til ensure personal j safety, <or a great deal dfca|pable negpgencs ; is manifested by parties iia?ing tie charge j of them. ■ •. -■-•■ ' ; - :;: f '■^'■r'i?'&*!.!\

The local lodge of Good Templars celebrated the Queen's birthday by a; eonvemzione, which tools place in Barr's Hall on the evening of Tuesday. Our report of the proceedings is unavoidably held over. In the R. M. Court yesterday, the only business transacted was the disposal of a debt case—Clark v. Mabel, in which judgment was given for the amount claimed with costs. 'Mr J. F. Maitland : presided. The wealing barque, Chance, arrived at the Bluff on the 21st. She has brought 36 tons of sperm oil. This, With fortyseven tons of sperm and sea elephant oil previously landed, makes a total of eightythree tons for a nine months' cruise. j We understand that the Maori reserve, fronting the beach on the road between Fort Molyneux and the Nugget ts, has been leased to Mr A. S. Begar, of Glenomaru, for a period of three years at a rental of Ll5O per annum. The entire reserve covers 332 acres, but in consequence of a non-resident Maori having a vested right j in one half of the land, it is only the remainder which is let to Mr Begg. It is generally understood the lessee will occupy ! the land for saw-milling purposes. A Gazette extraordinary was issued on j Saturday, announcing the formation of a ! Government by Mr Bastings, as follows: — Provincial Secretary, Works, «nd Goldfields Secretary, Mr Bastings! ; Provincial Treasurer, Mr Moody ; Lands and Survey, Mr Green ; Commissioner of Railways, Mr Fish ; non-official, Messrs Sumpter and Wood. "It is," says the 'Star/ we be- | lieve intended to carry out the idea mentioned a couple of days ago to make the Solicitorship non-political, and doubtless the duties will be undertaken by Mr Haggitt, if that is done. Mr Stout never consented to become Solicitor, nor to act as such, but has merely agreed, without fee, to look after the Bills he has himself introduced. Aso'reewas held in the new Schoolhouse, Wairuna, on the evening of Friday, 21st inst. The soiree was in every respect a great success. Nearly one hundred persona were present, some of them having come a considerable distance. The company first , partook of the good things which had so liberally and plentifully been provided by the ladies of the district. Then { came a succession of speeches and eongs, ' varied with an occasional recitation. The ladies had met a week previously and arranged about the things that should be provided. The whole proceeds oi the soiree, which we understand will amount ; to fully LlO, will thus be available for i school purposes. The children attending school were liberally entertained at the : school.house the following day. i A match was fired on the Queen's Birth* day (Monday), by the Clutha Volunteers, No. 1 Company. There were ten competitors at the range. The conditions were : — Class targets — any position — ranges, 200, 400, and 500 yards, seven shots at each range. The weather was dull and hazy, which in a great measure accounts for the poor scoring at the last range. The prizetakers were the following : — '

Vol- J. 0. Anderson won the range prize for 200 yards, scoring 25 out of a possible 28. For the range prize at 400 yards, Oapt. «3Tas. Willocks and Vol. J. C. Ander- , son shot off ties which resulted in favor of : the former, who afterwards won the range ; prize at 500 yards, and also the prize for ' the greatest number of bull's-eyes. We have had brought under our notice as gross a piece of stupidity on the part of the Post-office department as could very well have been conceived. As far back as the 21st December, 1874, a circular-letter was posted at Kaitaneata addressed in a clear legible hand- writing, « Secretary of the Lodge Alexandra, Port Molyneux." The letter was long expected by the functionary to whom it WBB addressed, and a good deal of inconvenience was occasioned in consequence of its non-appearance. Repeated inquiries were instituted at the various Post-offices, bnt the gentlemen having control of these establishments professed their perfect readiness^to make oath and say that the mistake did not lie with them. The truant epistle was beginning i to be forgotten when lo and behold on the evening of Friday last it turned up at the Post office, Port Molyneox, accompanied, by a memorandum' from the dead-letter office, Wellington, to the effect that it had, through some mischance or another found its way to that receptacle for unclaimed advices. Presuming the travels and adventures of <he epistle to have been the result of an accident, we cannot help thinking it was an accident over which some one had control. Although it cannot be called unseasonable, the weather for Some time has been very -changeable. The first effects of the season's snow was visible on the river last week. After two or three celd boisterous days, during which a considerable quantity of snow must have fallen on the high lands, a hot genial wan supervened, which caused thesnowto melttcHSUch an extent, that in a few hours, the river rose a height of at least three feet. . It fell again- towards the end of. the week, and on Friday ' afternoon ' when the steamer passed down' tW notorious "mot* meg'? on the XJuoa branch near Mnegarid, was barely; visible above '■ water. -As registered at tbjs If uggetts lighthouse since the beginning^ of the^ Jmonth,^ . the weather has. s beennasi^wllows^—Qhtne. l9t the wind blew ,Irbni ;W.;td' :i Si'W'i; ac-; . compamed by fog and fain/ Between the 2 id and°the : -4th'i6L-bie^';a^al^fr^m v tlie'S.W., accompanied by; repeated showers' ofhail. On the.Sth and-6th it was light tnd ' sh^ej^ir^sbfS^y fpjjgwingjiaay '} I 4h(e; wind; veered scoufis r^ ; withiJizhi ■ I. winds, whictf frfc&eiiea: s&ffifi&ffiem ; oq t^:7t^. v ;Q^.^^th;^b^^:g^effiwn| v J gwe of tKe season^^ww eijpiifenoe3^Sipfi*c^n^ \ wind chaaged to ; atfd fine weather, i From that date terthel^thH ibpth^flnnd^d | •^fine-days, rwtH'?iir«lear>a|m^S^r^^SfiSse? | 'then the weatber has been mbaerat^butthe:; % . atrapsj»h|r,e ? -hwnb. I «|tf', ta6]^|^ffii^D^^rflj

At the sale of the, Papakiao estate near Oamaru the lots of from 200 to 250 acres sold at from L 4 for hill land to Lls lOa for cultivated land, per acre. The contract for erection of the new Presbyterian Church, Port Molyneux, has been let to Mr William Wilson, builder, Ducedin, for a ram of L 560. The foundation stone is to be laid to-day (Thursday). The pastor of the church, the Rev. Mr Bannermin, and the members of the congr gation, are expected to be present, ai d take part in the ceremony. On Monday morning at daylight, a large ship, evidently a home ship, was observed right under Nuggetts Point, with the Union Jack at her foremast head. After dodging about for some time, and finding there was no pilot to be got, she bore away in the direction of Cape Sanders. The schooner Pioneer, with a fnll cargo of grain, left the Molyneux on Sunday evenings and arrived at Port Chalmers 00 Tuesday. She experienced S.W. winds and thick weather along the coast till arrivin at Otago Heads, when she picked up a light breeze from the N.E., and got up to the anchorage. The General Government * Gazette* of the 6th inst., notifies that His Excellency the Governor has been pleased to appoint Messra Francis Scott Pillans, J.P., Robert Grigor, JsP;, and John Gibson Smith J. P., to be the Members of the Licensing Courts for the Licensing Districts of jßTaitangata, Matau, South Molyneux, Clutha, Clinton, Popotuona, Clydevale, Wyadham, and Catlino. Business at the Port continues brisk. The public works are getting finished; still there is a considerable stir about the township. This is to a large extent attributable to the fact that the settlers at Warepa, j Puerua, &c, are sending in their produce '■ 10 as to take advantage ot the roads before the bad weather sets in. There is a good ' demand for both oats and wheat. Prices ■ rule about the same as they do in Balclutha. ! The third assembly of the season frok 1 place at Port Molyneux on Monday even- . ing (Queen's Birthday). Notwithstanding the threatening aspect of the weather, the attendance was very good. The orches- ', tral part of the entertainment was ably ' conducted by Mr Anderson ; Mr Wat- ' mough acting the part of M. 0. By way '■ of refreshment, a cold collation, provided ' by Mr John Patereon of the Alexandra Hotel was served up. Our Port Molyneux correspondent write*: > —The s. s. Lady of the Lake is getting through her work with marked regularity ; . still, it is very plain that one outside steamer is not enough for the trade, and \ the result is a large accumulation of cargo , for shipment <o Dunedin. The "Lady"; can carry away not more than 650 bags of j grain, whereas the Balclutha is bringing down 1000 bags each trip, besides what , arrives at the Port for shipment ptr dray, : not to mention the freight brought by the I handy little river craft Lucy Macfarlane. • Mr C. Hagen, photographer, has for- ! warded a number ot landscape views taken i by himself of places situated in and around ! this district. They are as a rule executed ! with remarkable precision and good taste. Parties desirous of conveying an impression of the scenery to be found in and* around the Clutha, could not do better than secure & seLof these photegrapheo thei for friends i or relations at a distance. The river side views,; in particular, of scenes about the Clutha and Kaitangata, are very well taken. From what we can learn there is just now a rich harvest to be reaped around the coast in the whale fishing line. We observe from our exchanges that one of these ; monsters of the deep, was caught, or rather stranded, on the beach near Riverton a few ! days since. A similar capture was made at j Akaroa a short time ago. To come nearer j home, we learn that on the evening of '■ Saturday last, no fewer than four, belonging to the bottle-nose species were observed disporting in the Molyneux Bay not far from the light-bouse. Although they ; seemed but young, they must have mea- j sured from twelve to fourteen feet each. ; Had the slightest preparation for a capture I been at hand, there could not have beta < much difficulty in securing all the four. j j The Municipal Council met on the even- ; ing of Tuesday. Present: The Mayor, ! and Councillors Kilgour, Dunne, and Ma- ! son. Councillor Dunne reported that he ; had visited the Main South Road, in com- [ pany with Councillor Mason, and that they i were of opition a quantity of road metal < should be laid down on that part of the I road between Mason's gate and the cemetery. The suggestion was adopted, and a } motion that the work be done accordingly, ; passed. It was also arranged that, steps should be taken for completion of that por- ; tion of Hasborough Road lying between ) the old Corporation and the Government : contracts. Before adjourning it was arranged a special meeting should be called, - for consideration of Messrs Connell andj Moody Ns communication, .re the Municipal • reserves, on an early day. j We leara that the improvements com- J menced by Mr Jas. Paterson, J.P., Port \ Molyneux:, at his town property, for drain- { ing the swamp, are being attended by \ beneficial results. Mr G. Ballosb, whoj owns the adjoining sections, is adopting a j similar plan. Mr John Patereon, who \ lately acquired the block of land on the: opposite side, of the road, has likewisecommenced clearing and draining bis pro- 1 perty. Altogether, -writes our correspondent, private enterprise in this place is j goieg a considerable way towards showing ; some of our more affluent municipalities how to do the work of city improvement effectively. The building put up by Capt. ' Murray, the pioneer of Clutha Eiver navigation, and long occupied as a flax eaill, was lately removed. The engines: were/ pui^h^led * by /Messrs Garden and .ISftrfe, ;-f^^.mljj^u Mount ';(jmiar.u.'': The building JtseHihas] been removed by Mr and npw ; forma part of -Bv^he;oid. : 'lit ;'is 1 witnitSp i tXk ucQ^ * h&v sis^ psrioflß - ox^ sspect

200 400 500 Tl Ist Capt. Jap. Willocka 24 21 21—66 2ad Vol. J. C. Andersen 25 21 19—65 3rd Vol. Robert Darling 23 19 16—58 4'h Sub-Lieut. A. Blackie 21 20 12—53 sth Voli Wm. Willocks 24 16 10-50 6th Vol. Alex. Blackie 22 18 7—47