THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 1877.

Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 19, 23 May 1877, Page 2

THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 1877.

1 -- = The County Council will meet at 2.30 p m. to-day. Thursday next being Queen's Eirtheay, the Resident Magistrate's and Warden's office will be closedJust before going to press last night we received a batch of telegrams, which wilt be issued in the him of an eitra, to day. The directors of the Just-in-Time Com* pany met last night and declared a dividend of Is per share. The day being favourable, a match at football, the first under tie auspices of the newly formed club, will take place in Smith's Pad- j dock to-morrow. Flay to commence at 1.30 p.m. We hear it is not unlikely that the pro* vision being made for the enlargement of the Court House at Reefton, will also include the erection of an entirely new building for a Survey, Post and Telegraph Office, upon a site adjoining the present Court House. The Clerk to the County Council has been instructed to notify to the General Govern* ment that the repairs to the Hampden road have been taken in hand and twelve men placed at work thereon, and to request that the vote for the work be placed at the disposal of the County Council. About this time last year snare? in the Keep-it-Darit Company were being disposed of by auction in parcels of 1000 for the modest sum of Id and 2d per share. On Saturday last the same intesests changed hands at 11s per share, and are almost daily advancing in price. The mine is regarded as likely is tbe coarse of a few weeks to rank equally with the Wealth of Nations. The cleaning up of the Just«in«Time erusbs ing was accomplished -at noon yesterday, the gold arriving in town last night- The weight of retorted gold is 6740z5, which is expected to turnout 670 ozs of melted gold. Tbe quantity of stone crushed was 453 tons, the average being thus close upon an ounce and a half to the ton. and all things considered the return is a very satisfactory one indeed, and shares have taken a strong upward tondancy. Very favourable account* continue to come in concerning tbe Hopeful mine, Boatman's. The stone ia the winze which is to connect No 4, and 5 levels, continues of very even dimensions, the shaft being now about 70 feet down. Tbe quality of the stone is also of a very superior order, being fully equal to any stone yet taken from the mine. A brisk business in these shares was done yesterday, sales closing at £5 5s offered, and no sellers. A gather novel point at law has been mooted, which in effect is whether an insolvent debtor can be placed under examination regarding his assets ; or, indeed, whether he can be called upon to explain any of the circumstances relating to bis bankruptcy. The difficulty arises from the well-known lrgal maxim that a man cannot be called upon to give evidence to criminate "himself. We do not know that tbe point would stand tbe test of argument, bat if it were to hold good a nice coachway would be opened up through .the whole range of criminal jurisprudence. At the last meeting of the Road Board, a resolution was earned authorising tbe expenditure of a sum of money in erecting posts along tbe centre of the gravel walk leading from the Buller road to the Catholic Chape}, to prevent drays from being driven along the walk. In this case it would appear that tbe cure suggested would be almost as bad as the disease, for the posts will form very excellent " stumbling blocks " to church-goers on dark nights. It would appear that if the only object sought is to keep drays off the track the simplest way would be to place a notice board at each end of the walk intimating that carters contravening the order of the Board would be prosecuted. A " practical " correspondent writes to us to say that "the idea of a one spaa wire suspension bridge across tho Inangahua is preposterous 5 that tbo vibration would be so great, that not one person in twenty would venture to cross on it 5 that tbe bridge could not be effectively shored laterally, and that in consequence it would U on the swing with every breeze of wind blowing up or down the river, ana finally that about £70 expended in re-erecting tbe centre crate would probably make the bridge good for another year or tw», and by that time the river will either re runnicg behind tbo Warden's residence or across .Broadway, and a better site for the proposed bridge conld then be fixed upon." Owing to tbe peculiar position hi which the Eoad Board found itself hi the matter of tbe tenders for maintenance of tbe Grey road, tbe course taken was perhaps the very wisest that could be followed. Wo cannot holp thinking, however, that the estimated cost of the labor necessary to keep the road in repair is very much under the mark. Tbe sum has

been set down at £1600. Mr Davies was of opinion that men could be got to work for £3 per week, but as Iho Ruling rate of wages in the mines is £3 10s, we see no reason to sup* pose that good workmen will accept any rereduction upon that rate- Men will not iv any case be employed by the week, but by the working day, which of course would not include payment in wet weather, during which work could not be performed. The County Council has roted a sum of £35 to the local Athenaeum, conditionally that the reading room of thtf society is thrown open to the public free of charge. The arguments in favor of this course were that, as the Athenfflum was not a 'publia iastUullon l a the strict cense of the term, the Council could not subsidise it. If the money of the ratepayers was to go towards supporting the institution then some corresponding advantage should he extended to the ratepayers in return for their money. It is contended, on the other hand, that the institution is strictly a public one, and that the charge made for admittance is absolutely needed to provide room, firing, light, attendance, and newspapers and periodicals. That the subsidy of the Council would be insufficient to pay for house accommodation. It is likely,, we believe, that the Athoneeum Committee, in default of more liberal support from the Council, will close the institution. In the District, on Friday last, Mr Button, on behalf of the National Bank, applied that the Bank be allowed to charge interest upon its debt ia tbe estate of the Golden Treasure Company; He contended as the ground of his application that the Company wa9 not insolvent, inasmuch as it was able to pay 20a in the & It did not follow that because a Company was placed ia liquidation that it was insolvent. A company, as a debtor, might merely come to the Court for protection against the pressure of a particular creditor. Circumstances very often compelled men to seek the protection of the Court who were not really insolvent but merely subjected to sadden and un» expected pressure, and equally so with a Company, and why then should the Bank be placed in a worse position merely because the Company was placed in the hands of the Court for protection. The interest which banka charged for advances was the source from which they sucked their very life — their existence depended upon it. It was the custom of bankers to- charge interest upon open accounts, and it must be taken that the company, the shareholder s— acquiesced in the ehavgei In this case, £2600 of the company's capital had been called up, and there still remained £5000 to come in, and as the company was in a position to pay 20s in the £, the bank should be allowed to charge the full amount of the claim. ■Mr Pitt admitted that the claim was a legitimate one upon the custom of banking, but it had not been preferred at tbe right time. His Honor understood that Mr Button merely moved for the direction of the liquidator. Mr Button said that that was so His Honor then cHrcotei the liquidator as' already reptorted by us. The Telegraph Department at Wellington has received intimation that the Sydney Government will co-operate with the Cable Company and the New Zealand Government in opening offices at 1.30 a.m. daily (New Zealand time), for the distribution of English telegrams. The arrangement will come into operation when the department has the necessary signal bells supplied to the stations to be opened, in say about a week. Tbe Charleston Herald publishes report of the. annual examination of the pupils of the Brighton school, and which on this occasion was conducted by the Eight Rev. Dr Redwood E.C, Bishop, and the Revs. Father Walsh and Carew. From the complimentary remarks made by His Lordship Bishop Bedwood on the progress of the children it would appear that Mrs Murphy is a most talented teacher, and these remarks but confirm the invariably satisfactory report of the Inspector of Schools. A rather hard nut for the Oatnaru auc» tioneers to crack, fcai been found by the Waitaki County Council. That body has is-* sued instructions to their solicitors toprosecute all auctioneers who sell witMn the County boundary. What i» fish for one is fish, for the other, so we suppose if the Waitaki County can levy £50 from all auctioneers, who sell within their boundary so also can every other County,