The Inangahua Times, PUBLISHED TRI-wEEKLY. FRIDAY, MAY 18, 1883.

Inangahua Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1273, 18 May 1883, Page 2

The Inangahua Times, PUBLISHED TRI-wEEKLY. FRIDAY, MAY 18, 1883.

The official declnration of the poll for the Inangahua election will be made at Court House at noon to-day. We understand that the official scrutiny of the votes reduces Mr Shaw'B majority to 42. There were thirteen informal votes. Mr E. Shaw was entertained at a banquet by his supporters at McGaffin's Hotel, on Wednesday evening last Our reporter was not invited to be present, but we believe that the attendance was about 60 or 70, and that everything passed uff very pleasantly. It is said that several offences within " The Regulation of Elections and Corrupt Practices Acts " have come to light in various parts. of the district in connection with the recent contest, and that proceedings are to be instituted to test the validity of the election. The information to hand is rather meagre at present, but the full facts will be made known in the course of a day or two. Mr. Shaw left for Nelson yesterday at noon. The many friends of Mr J. Montgomerie, District Surveyor, Reefton, will be sorry to learn, that through an accident in the bush, on Monday last, he sustained a dislocation of the right shoulder, fie was returning from a mining survey, and accidently tripped over a root and fell on his right side. With the injury stated, Mr Montgomerie will be incapacitated from his duties for a week or two. The banquet to Mr Wakefield on Tuesday evening last was certainly the event of the recent contest, and was far and away the most enthusiastic demonstration given to a public man in this or any other part of the Colony. The whole affair was arranged in a few hours, and yet was attended by representatives from all parts of the electorate, the attendance being such in fact that some were content with mere standing room. The speeches delivered on the occasion were very effective, that of Mr. Wakefield being perhaps the most finished and eloquent ever listened to in this part of the Colony. The company did not separate until about 4 a.m., and in the course of his dosing remarks the guest said that the relations he had formed during his visit here would never be forgotten, and should it ever be his good fortune to have another invitation from the people here, it would be one of the highest pleasures for him to renew the warm friendship he had formed. The town is rapidly regaining its normal quietude, and the last vestiges of the week'B electioneering successes and failures are fast disappearing. Nobody will much regret that we have at length reached the end of the struggle, for it has been one which will be in many respects memorable, and in none more so than for the amount of personal bitterness which has been needlessly imported into it. In the interval business has been almost wholly neglectbd, and it will probably take some time to get things squarely upon their legs again. .The House of Representatives has been called together for the despatch of business on the 14th June next, and already the political atmosphere is disturbed with rumors of impending votes of no confidence. The Canterbury Press, which, by the way, is a strong Ministerial organ, hints at the probability, or even advisability, of an early dissolution and appeal to the country, and from the general' tone of feeling now finding expression throughout the Colony, it seems tolerably certain that we shall be plunged in all the heat of another electioneering contest before many months are over. Advantage was taken of Mr. E. Shaw'B presence here on Wednesday last to deal with a somewhat complex prosecution, arising out of disputed partnership accounts, Mr. Shaw being still in the Commission of the Peace sat on the Bench, and heard tha case, Mr. J. Lynch acting for the defence. The accused in this case was committed for trial at the next sitting of the District Court, Reefton. At the meeting of the Reefton Railway League on Wednesday afternoon last, Mr. Shaw, the. newly elected representative of the district, was present, and the necessity of urging on the construction of the East and West Coast Railway was strongly urged upon him. A suggestion that he should first endeavor to get the Brunnerton Railway extended up the Grey Valley to Reefton was not entertained, the opinion of those present being that he should give precedence to the larger undertaking. Mr. Shaw was also asked whether there was any possibility of getting Brunnerton severed from this electorate on , the ground of its nonidentity of interest with the Inangahua and Grey Valley. Mr. Shaw did not think there was any immediate hope of effecting suoh a change, the only opportunity of effecting such an alteration would be prior to the next general election, when there would no doubt be a redistribution of seats, and alteration of the basis of representation. Mr. E. Wakefield left for Greymouth on Thursday morning last, several of his friends accompanying him some distance

on the road. Our report of the banquet is unavoidably held over till Monday. On his way down the Grey Valley Mr Wake- 1 field was met at Totara Flat, Ahaura, Nelson Creek, Twelve-mile and .Brunnerton, by large bodies of his supporters, who ' expressed their sorrow at his non-return, ' and exacted a promise from him that should another opportunity arise, he would again contest the Inangahua seat. He was met at the foot of Nelson Creek by about thirty horsemen, and the cavalcade headed by Mr Law, Chairman of the Nelson Creek. Committee, accompanied Mr Wakefield to Greymouth. The Grey Argus says : — Mr Wakefield arrived in town last night from Reefton by private conveyance, and put up at the Albion Hotel. A little knot of friends aud sympathisers, including the Chairman and members of the County Council and a number of leading citizens, waited upon him in the course of the evening, as it would probably be the lost opportunity that would present itself to a good many of those present during Mr Waketield's Bhort stay to express their regret at his defeat. The room was very full, and the result of the election was referred to in a jocular off-handed way, as if defeat in the case were of no great consequence. The County Chairman proposed the health "of the guest, and the toast was honored and drunk to in the most enthusiastic manner. Mr Wakefield, in responding, dwelt upon the value he had derived from his visit to the Coast by becoming to some extent familiar with the wants, resources, and capabilities of a part of the Colony of which he had hitherto been almost altogether ignorant. He said that although the result of the contest went against him, he had no occasion for regret. Mentally and physically his trip had been of great benefit to him ; he had made a connection that would not be easily severed. Apart from the cordial and hearty reception he met with in every part of the electorate, he had during his Btay in the district made personal frendships which would last his lifetime. So far from feeling the bitterness of disappointment over his defeat, he not only did not bear the slightest ill-will to his opponent, or those who worked against him, but he would not hesitate to contest another eleotion in the district if the people wanted him to do so. Altogether he had every reason to be satisfied with the West Coast and its people, and said he would not soon forget the friendship and the generous support which he had experienced during his short stay of a month. He might say that defeat in the company of such men was preferable to victory with men whom one could not respect. After a pleasant couple of hours the company broke up. Mr Wakefield left for home by Thursday afternoon's tram. Last week the Golden Point Company at Reefton had a crushing of a very favorable character. 184 tons quartz was put through the battery and yielded 194 ounces of retorted gold, which must be considered very good, and augurs well for the future of the claim; For some months back a good deal of difficulty was experienced with some of the machinery ; but a new turbine has been provided, and no further difficulty is apprehended. . Mr Kilgour has given ,a great deal of attention to this matter, and may be congratulated on the successful result of his care and supervision. — Grey Argus. The opening of the Church of St. Joseph, at Temuka, will be one of the most striking ceremonies ever performed in a country district in IN ew Zealand (says the Tablet.) The stained glass windows and the altar of the church are in themselves worth going a long journey to see, and nothing to equal them in any way is to be found within the limits of the whole colony, if even in thia hemisphere. The Stranger in London— That the Great City will ere long be hardly recognisable by its former denizens, all the world has heard. The visitor passing up the Thames now finds his eye gratified by the many edifices recently erected. As he reaches the famous Victoria Embankment, there rises over him on the ri^ht hand the new Times office, and on the left hand the new tower-crowned works of Messrs. James Epps & Co., both phases of Italian architecture. It may be Baid that these two buildings are types of the far reaching business energy of the nineteenth century, for it has resulted from such means that these two establishments have brought themselves to the fore, and that the annual issue of each has come to be estimated by millions. During the last year, the number of copies of the Times is estimated at 16,276,000, while the number of packets of Epp's Cocoa sent off in the same period Is computed at 14,749,(595. The latter is a large. total, when it is borne in mind that in 1830 the consumption of Cocoa throughout the whole kingdom was but 425,^82 lbs., there then existing no preparation of it such as this, which by the simple addition of boiling water would yield a palatable drink. Truly time may be said to work many changes.