Lake Wakatip Mail. QUEENSTOWN, FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 1886.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 1517, 29 January 1886, Page 2

Lake Wakatip Mail. QUEENSTOWN, FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 1886.

Mr John M'Kenzik, who represents tho electoral district of Moeraki in the House, may be considered a pattern legislator. We do not use the term, by any means, as one of compliment. l>ut simply as expressing the somewhat unfortunate fact that after this/ pattern are far too many members of theJ representative Chamber; a fact which accounts for much that is done in ignorance] and for the possibilities of such Ministries as', the one now in office. Mr M'Kenzie, who evidently does not understand the wisdom of silence, under such circumstances as he has sought to explain, addressed meetings of hW constituents recently, and so thoroughly, although unwittingly, exposed the motivje influences which kept a majority together last session for the retaining the (Jovernment in office, that his deliverances have an interest which on any intrinsic merits they would scarcely possess. The " rag and bob-tail'' of the Ministerial party evidently go in for men not measures, and consider the keeping/ Ministers in office their principal if not thein sole and only duty. long as constituencies return men of this stamp, so long is the\ country likely to be governed with an utter disregard of principle and on lines of extravagant inefficiency. C *

It is really a very serious matter for the people when members of Parliament arc found committing themselves, as Mr M'Kenzie notably did at Palmerston, to such gross misstatements and misconceptions as manifest either indefensible ignorance or unscrupulous intention to deceive. His knowledge of finance could only be represented by a negative quantity, but he l>©ldly plunges in and atl'ects to criticise the linancial policy of the Atkinson Ministry, comparing this, of which he evidently understands so little, with that of the present Colonial Treasurer, of which he comprehends less. An argument based upon false assumptions and malignant perversion of facts calls for neither criticism nor analysis, carrying with it its own refutation. We shall neither give currency to nor trouble ourselves to comment upon this portion of Mr M'Kenzies speech. With what the honorable gentleman, as a faithful henchman of the Ministry, had to say relative to what is possibly in course of determination as their future policy, we have more concern. We use the expression " in course of determination" deliberately, because there is excellent reason to suppose that the scheme of a new ten million loan, with accessory details, which found its way into print a few weeks ago, was put forward tentatively. Ministers who have since spoken have ignored these proposals, whilst accepting the principles on which they are based, and Sir Julius himself, who was clearly the conceiver, has maintained a dead silence, although skilfully, attempted to be pumped by various viewers. So far as the way seems clear at present, Ministers, we choose to think, haXe made up their minds to submit to Parliament a very considerable extension of the Public Works policy and the revision of the tajriff in the direction of Protective duties. Upon these points they are prepared to appeal to the constituencies, trusting to carry the country districts by the proposed large expenditure on railway construction, and the urban electorates by the bait of Protection held out to the working man ! The mem jer for Moeraki evidently had his cue, and he declares himself not prepared to "go i he whole hog" of £10,000,000, which is ratlier too much for people generally to swallow. The borrowing proposals, we may expect now, will l>e ostensibly limited to what may be estimated as sufficient to complete rignt off all lines in course of construction, and t* provide for such others projected or other\ wise, which may Iki calculated to pay 2 per cent. We fancy it will amount to very much the same thing, and certainly if the East and West Coast and Nelson railways are to be

included in the new works to be authorised, | ( here will not be, to use a common collo-j quialism, much change out of the ten millions!/! Sir Julius will, we have ourselves littlejl doubt, seriously propose, as an integral partlj of his policy, that the interest on moneys' borrowed for expenditure on railways should y be paid out of loan until it can be met from/ the receipts of the lines. He has already, in 1884, declared himself in favor of this course and he will endeavor thus to make the larg( intended increase of the colonial indebtedness tolerable to the taxpayers. Such an ment would, of course, materially relieve the ordinary revenue, but the ultimate consequences would be absolutely ruinous, unless the colony should, under excessively fortuitous circumstances, acquire such an accession of population and wealth within a few years as is hardly within the bounds of possibility. It does not . appear, from what Mr M'Kenzie said, that there is any probability of a dissolution of Parliament before the ordinary session of this year. Even shonld Ministers desire to appeal to the country before placing their policy l»efore the House, it is extremely unlikely that his Excellency would act upon such advice. They have nothing literally to appeal upon, unless it be from very general contempt, which having endured for months could hardly be accepted as a good reason now. Owing to its length, the report of an interesting lecture, delivered by Professor Black, on Agricultural Chemistry is unavoidably held over. On Tvesday evening the Rev. James Niven delivered a lecture in the Presbyterian Church, Queenstown, the subject being "Some corroborations of Bible history from ancient monuments," illustrated by numerous colored diagrams. The church was not very well filled, but the lecture was very attentively listened to throughout. The rev. lecturer referred to the attacks which had been continually made by sceptics against the alleged historical facts and truths mentioned in the Bible, until the discovery of the Rosetta, the Moabite anil other ancient stones or monuments, and the providential revelations made by recent discoveries as to the meaning of the characters aud figures upon them. At the conclusion of his discourse the lecturer was accorded a hearty vote of thanks. A vote of thanks to the chairman (Mr Reid) and the benediction by the Rev. Mr Skinuer closed the proceedings. Captain Wing, who has just returned from Dunedin, informs us that Mr Grant, traffic manager at that city, has kindly consented to put on a special goods van every Tuesday and Friday, in connection with the passenger train, for the conveyance of goods direct to the Lakes This concession will no doubt prove a great conveniance to business people, as repeated complaints have been made on account of the delay in transit, in consequence of Lake freight being brought round by Invercargill. Of course goods intended for this route must be at the Dunedin station on the Mondays and Tuesdays previous to abovenamed days, /" We are glad to learn that the Queenstown water supply is likeiy to be the means of establishing a new industry. Mr J. Gardiner is laying the pipes to his tanning establishment at the lake side, aud anticipates being able to carry on an extended business—in fact, lie had an order from Dunedin the other day for '2OO dozen tanned sheep skins at his own price, but was unable to execute it owing to want of sufficient machinery and water-supply facilities. - Definite arrangements have now been made for the reception of Cardinal Moran, archbishop of Sydney. His Eminence is expected to arrive at the Bluff on Monday week, on the following day lie will arrive at Queenstown, where he will be awarded a public reception by the Roman Catholics of the district. After a short stay at the Lakes, he will proceed to Dunedin and open the new cathedral there on the following Sunday. (Government have forwarded to the Cardinal a free pass on \he New Zealand railways. /'The first excursion of the season took place on f Wednesday last, when nearly 300 passengers from Gore, Invercargill and a few intermediate stations, took a run up to Queenstown and back -the Mountaineer and Jane Williams being laid on for the occasion. Unfortunately the weather was vret, more or less, from the time of landing here till the departure, and we hear that the excursionists had Vain all the way l>ack. Dr F. W. Thompson, surgeon-dentist (and successor to Mr Deck), announces in auother column that he will shortly make a professional visit to this district. The visit has been made at the solicitation of several residents, but as the doctor has a great deal of work in hand at Invercargill, he informs us that he cannot make a long stay. He intends, however, if possible, to follow the example of his predecessor, by making annual visits hereafter. At Mr L. Hotop's shop are to be seen some fine specimens of artificial work in Triumph Base Celluloid—a epeciality of the doctor's, which is said to be superior in every respect to anything yet produced in this province. The Queenstown correspondent in last Tuesday's Cromwell *4n/M*,when referring to the death of Mr Peter Lynch at Maori Point, states "that the want of a local J. P. in the Shotover district was experienced in the holding of a formal inquest over his (Mr Lynch's) remains.' It is also hinted, by implication, that owing to the alleged delay, the body was not fit to be in an inhabited house. The said correspondent seems to be unaware—or perhaps forgets—that something more than the presence of a coroner or acting coroner is required to hold a " formal inquest," that a precept to a peace officer (at Queenstow n), had to be signed by the coroner or acting coroner ; and also a medical practitioner in order for the making of a post mortem examination of the body of deceased. In fact this " local J. P.," in order to set the preliminary machinery in motion would have to travel to Queenstown to sign the necessary documents. Information of the death only reached Queenstown about mid day on Saturday, and it would have been impossible to hold the inquest that day, for the reasons stated. The deceased died on Saturday morning, Dr Donaldson was unable to make a post mortem examination till II a.m. the following Monday, and a quarter of an hour after the inquest was held. Moreover, the body wak in a perfectly gooil state of preservation, and was lying in the most proper place—a building adjoining deceased's late residence—the house of his bereaved widow and family. f Mr A. Boy lie, of this town, has been recently landing at his jetty and yards, Marine Parade, some fine red pine from the Seaward Bush mills, Southland. The timber is to build with, as a matter of course, but much of it is really excellent furniture wood, handsomely and richly knotted. There was also some red birch of this character on Messrs Robertson and Co.'s jetty last week, which it was a pity to think would be used, comparatively speaking, for vulgar purposes. It was really handsome wood, and deserved a better fate, than that for house building, ami to be daubed over with paint. Timber of this character can hardly be beaten for manufacturing into furniture. That scientific Frenchman, of gn at research, Mr A. Lecoy, in his papers to the Government, H 3, 18S0, points out the value of these woods as articles of export, and in 1881 an attempt w as made to open a trade with France (paper H 16, 1881.) Mr John Brimsmead, of the well-known Brimsmead pianoforte firm, when on a visit here last year, was also pleased with the quality of the timber, and is even now obtaining from the Catliu River forests, a supply of both classes of these woods. The exhibit at the Sydney exhibition obtained first prize for furniture wood, and the certificate is in the possession of Messrs Robertsou and Co. It is a great pity that some industry or industries utilising these products for other purposes than that of mere hviw building are not more general. Mr Mitscherlich's furniture factory and rooms, Beachl street, bear undeniable testimony to the value and Vappearance of these woods, when worked upon by a master tradesman and man of taate.

/'The mine manager of the Invincible Company 1 reports that he has struck the reef on the machine level tunnel, and that the stone carries gold; that he is driving through the reef, which is of good width and rather soft, and expects to find another reef inside, as he got two reefs overhead. He is sure that he is in the right place now. A writer in the Dunedin Star says he has asked some of the house agents "how many vacant premises there are at present, and on comparing notes he finds there are between twelve and thirteen hundred empty houses and shops in and around Dunedin." An agent showed the same writer property on his book that seven years ago changed hands at £IOSO, and the present owner would be willing to sell the same for £SOO, but could not get offer The M'Cormick machine won the reiper-and-binder contest in connection with the North Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Association on Friday, with 100 (the maximum number) of points; the Reid and Gray being second with 98 points; and the Howard, with 95 points, third. The only other machine competing was the Johnstone. The draught of each machine tested with Reid and Gray's dynamometer was M'Cormick's, 3J cwt; Reid and Gray, . r » cwt; and Howard, 4£ cwt. The Invercargill News states that at the instance of Mr C. Cowan, M.H.R., the offer of the Waimea Railway Company to sell the line to the Government a at given sum will remain opeu till the 15th February. Meantime no steps will be taken for the collection of the rate. It may be added that this arrangement has been made by Mr Cowan at the lequest of the Government in order to admit of the proposal being discussed in full Cabint. A cablegram says that on the day after Mr Stead's release from prison a great meeting was held in London to welcome him, and that the proceedings were characterised by great enthusiasm. A Naseby correspondent to a contemporary writes:—"This has been one of the hottest and driest seasons I havt experienced on this goldfield for the past eighteen years. Everything is parched up. Water races which have not been known to fail for twenty years have ceased to run. The crops are almost entirely a failure." The loug spell of dry weather experienced lately apparently has not been confined either to Otago or Canterbury. A Grey mouth telegram states that this is the driest season probably experienced there for 15 16 years. All the mines are idle except those using Government races, which get water supplied from the lakes. The crops throughout the district have almost perished, and there is no feed for stock to speak of. Further inland the drought is much worse than on the coast-line. While addressing his constituents at Wanganui lately, Mr Ballance, the Minister of Lands, observed that "in the near future there was no doubt they would have to face larger taxation. In some quarters a reduction of the property-tax exemption was advocated, so as to make the smaller people contribute to this impost. He had no objection to this proposal, provided it were supplemented by anothei, involving what was termed by the j principle of 'equality of sacrifice.' For instance, by this principle a man possessed of £IO,OOO worth of I land would pay, say, a farthing in the pound more I than the smaller man; £20,000, a half-penny; ■ £30,000, three-farthings; £40,000, penny and so on." ' The settlers throughout the Clutha district are now gaining some practical experience of the effects of ferrets having been turned out in their neighborhood. Says the Leader:—One settler at the Puerua has had over forty young ducks destroyed lying in a heap dead last Saturday night. Each had a small puncture below the wing. The flesh and feathers were left intact, but the blood was gone. The ferrets are very impudent, and soon find out the pigs' troughs, where they share the milk with the pigs. Some of the vermin have been trapped and destroyed, but it is feared that they will be much worse to get rid of than the rabbits, which still are very numerous and rapidly increasing The Wellington Press points out that the new arrangements under the Act of last session, by which all Justices of the Peace are required to sit on the Bench in their turn on the rota in the place where they live, is having one very undesirable effect. It is driving many of the most experienced ami most competent justices off the Commission, for the reason that their public or private occupations render it impossible for them to comply with the requirements of the law. A considerable amount of correspondence has been going on in the Lawrence Times, between Mr R. Neil I, schoolteacher, and"Lothe" an anonoymous writer, as to what constitutes blank versa. With the view of settling the matter, a correspondent w rote to Mr T. Bracken (of the Evening Herald) requesting his opinion as to the point in dispute. The reply forwarded by Mr Bracken is as follows: —"Blank verse is verse without rhyme, and depending upon metre alone. It is chiefly in I heroic metre—that is in lines of ten syllables—that blank verse has found a firm footing. Some, in fact, would restrict the name blank verse to lines of ten syllables, but there is no hard and faat rule in the matter, as witness Southley's 'Thalalie ' and Longfellow's 'Hiawatha.'" . We are afraid that despite some genial showers j the grass (natural crop) has gone. The writer I cannot recover it, and bunny will want it all. This is a very gloomy view to take, but it is based upon injormation of practical shepherds and others. The rabbit is naturally, Ithrough the drought, leaving high country for low levels. What then, of next spring grass? Except in low or rich ground our natural grass, we are afraid, will be nil. Such is the effect produced first by unnecessary and overburning, in order to gain "that pound of wool," i and, secondly, by a drought that falls like a judgment upon those fell destroyers of Nature's products in season and out of season. Saturday last was all that could be desired for the lawn tennis matches —Queenstown v. Arrow—the previous extremely warm sunny weather having slightly "cooled off" rendered the day exceptionally suitable. The court—which is a fine piece of ground, beautifully nestled around with trees, in the reserve of the Acclimatisation Society—presented a very gay appearance, the fair sex of the town being well represented, and altogether there must have been close on & hundred spectators. As it is only this year that the Arrow started a club, i we should say th:»t, judging by their efforts on ! Saturday, they have made very good progress. Play I was commenced shortly after three o'clock, and as I wiil be seen by result below, Queenstown came off I best in all the set 9. It would be invidious, perhaps, to mention the names of any individual taking part in the contests, although it is only right to state that, amongst the Arrow representatives, Mr McFadzean played a remarkably good game, whilst the Queenstown members, one and all, played equally well. Altogether the afternoon proved a ' very enjoyable one, both for spectators and players, and we hope to hear of the return match coining off before the end of the season. The following are the scores (Bank of New Zealand match) Messrs i Halliwell and Bevin (Queenstown) beat Messrs | Barlow and McFadzean (Arrow)— 6 games to 1. I (Ladies'doubles) Misses Firth and Johnston (Queenstown; beat Miss Low and Mrs Holloway (Arrow)— 6 games to love. (Mixed set) Miss Firth and Mr Smith (Queenstown) beat Miss Illingsworth and Mr McFadzean (Arrow)— 6 games to love. (Gentle- ! men's doubles) —Messrs Adair and Wilmot (Queenstown) beat Messrs Barlow and McFadzean (Arrow) —6 gimes to 2. (Mixed set) Miss Johnston and . Mr Firth (Queenstown) beat Miss Illingsworth aud Mr Jopp (Arrow)— 6 games to 1. I The following ;" Memorandum" is being circulated by the Property Tax Commissioner among the taxpayers :—" A statement of the values proposed bv the Commissioner for rateable properties in a local district will shortly be deposited for public inspection at the office of each local body, and the I date of deposit will be notified by advertisement. ' The Commissioner requests that ratepayers will ' more generally inspect these statements than has ; been the case in the past, in order that they may ! be satisfied as to the valuation being equitable. Section 9 of "The Rating Act Amendment Act, 1883," empowers any ratepayer in a district to object to any valuation appearing on a valuation roll for such district. Ratepayers feeling aggrieved at the valuation of a property belonging to j any other person may therefore make a formal objection to such valuation, or may report f o the . Commissioner, who would, if he should consider it desirable, take such action as might be necessary ' for having the matter brought before the Board.

The Borough Council of Arrowtown are about to carry out a much-needed work, namely, the widening of Buckingham-street extension, for the purpose of properly connecting it with the Macetown dray road on Bush Creek flat. This portion of the street at present is not wide enough for two drays to pass, and it is now to be made 27ft. clear of the retaining walls, (government have agreed to assist the Corporation in the matter, as it is a work directly connecting the gold fields (Macetown) roads with the borough, and will be of a somewhat costly nature, consisting, as it does, of a large amonnt of stone walling and filling up. The present Council is certainly a progressive one, as, during the past six months, some £240 have been spent in really useful public works, drainage, etc., and this on the strength of a 6d. general rate. It will be necessary, however, for the Council to seriously consider the best means of increasing the water supply. It would appear that there is a large quantity of surplus water at the receiving tanks, but the intake pipe which supplies the whole of the mains is but three inches in diameter—or, in other words, no larger than the mains themselves ! Thus the two heads of water, with which the tanks are supplied by the creek, cannot (to use a plain phrase) get into the mains, as the intake pipe will not allow of more than one-fourth of that quantity to flow down, the rest, therefore, runs to waste. The altitude from the head works to the lower end of the town ia 250 feet—which is equal to a theoretic pressure of nearly 110 pounds per square inch—so that larger piping only is required from the tanks to obtain an increase in the town supply to treble its present quantity. It is estimated that £2OO would not only suffice to remedy the defect, but would also be sufficient to lay pipes so as to supply the residents in the borough extension, who have now to depend upon the mercy of the clouds. The leakage now in some of the valves and other defects in the pipes (about to be remedied) also reduce the present possible supply. The creek or source from which the water is obtained is not so large as that of the One-mile Creek from which the Queenstown waterworks derive their supply, but the scales and plana on which the latter were carried out form a strong contrast with those of our less fortunate sister township. At the intake at the One-mile Creek the pipe is 12 inches in diameter, and four inches where it empties into the relieving tank. From the latter—about 250 feet above the lowest part of the town, and w here the direct supply commences—the inlet is nine inches in diameter (equal to nine times the carrying capacity of that of the Arrow Corporation !) whilst our mains are five inches in diameter (or of nearly three times larger capacity), and the branches or distributing mains are four and three inches diameter. An alteration in the direction alluded to would also obviate another serious drawback in the Arrowtown water supply, namely, the large quantity of air which gets into the main. We believe a simultaneous draw-off from the lower mains, equal to little more than what two one-inch taps would run off, is quite sufficient to exhaust the suppljing power of the intake. An excess of this draw-off or requirement must have often takeu place during the recent long-continued drought, and—as Nature abhors a vacum—the consequence has been that air was forced into the pipes to supply the deficiency. Such is our humble belief ; but we think it would be a judicious outlay if, before proceeding with any alteration, the Council were to spend, say, five or ten guineas in getting an opinion upon the subject of the present works generally from an expert or engineer of good standing—providing, of course, they do not seek such advice from the gentleman who drew out the design for the original scheme.

At last Wednesday's meeting of the Otago Waste Lands Board, the following business of local interest was transacted:—The Clerk of Lake County Council forwarded, on behalf of the Council, a plau and declaration, and applied for a land order, the Council having planted 25 acres of the Cardrona Forest Reserve, section 1, block V. The application was uot entertained, the Board being of opinion that the land already granted for the purpose was sufficient.—The Lake Wakatipu S.S. Co's application for jetty license over section 39, block XXXI., from C. M'Queen to the Company, was granted.—Margaret Ashworth's application to purchase section 62, block IV., Shotover. was granted, on the recommendation of the Ranger.— Ranger Adair, reporting on Hamill's application to purchase sections 12, 13 and 14, block 111., Kawarau, stated that section 12 was occupied by Kinross, and section 13 and 14 by Moncrieff; but that applicant might obtain sections 5, 6 and 15 in the same block. It was ordered that applicant be informed accordingly.—The following certificates for agricultural leases were approved, subject to special conditions as to purchase and right of determination of leases, without compensation, on six months' notice:—Robert Pritchard, sections 59 and 62, block VIII, Shotover; Ralph Halliday, sections 10, 11, 12 and 13, block 1., Lower Wanaka.

There is an extraordinary article in the Lyttelton Time* of 27th instant. It seems to be inspired, but not by any Cabinet Minister. The subject concerns all colonists of New Zealand. It is the question of annexation, upon which numerous papers have been laid before the House of Assembly. They are all, more or less exhaustive, and though, in a manner of speaking, political foes in some incidental circumstances, all friends are in favour of annexation to the " Enr>pire"of these vast unknown islands in "The South Seas." The last is apaper A 8, containing written correspondence of the Attorney-General (Mr R. Stout), with our Agent General (Sir Francis Dillon Bell.) It only partly unfolds New Hebrides matters. There are, however, other papers relating to these things from many active brains, including those of Sir Georg® Grey, Sir Julius Vogel and others. The iron should have been struck whilst hot in 1876, of annexation to New Zealand solely. The fact is that we are now only awakening to the importance of these things. Hence that very able review in our contemporary demands more than usual attention. Sir George Grey is very likely to re-visit this district. He would certainly do so if requested, and his papers and views upon this important question would be worthy of attention, whether we agree with the "Grey" policy or not is another question. Sir George Grey in the matter of these South Sea Islands is perfectly disencumbered, and his earlier views have, in our opinion, been only endorsed by others. Near the Coldstream Estate, Ashburton, a bottlenosed whale was washed ashore a fortnight ago, and the farmer who found it, not being aware of its value, cut it up and fed his pigs on it.

At the closing lecture of his course at Thames, Professor Black was presented with an illuminated address. While returning thanks, he stated that he must acknowledge that during his visit to the Thames, he had received more information than in any other goldfields where he had lectured; he had seen new minerals and rock formations, and many other unexpected things, which he had often read about, but had not hitherto seen. With the utmost confidence he could say that he knew of no better field for a School of Mines than the Thames, in the first place because of the extraordinary geological formation of the peninsula, concerning which geologists could not agree ; and next, because of the great variety of minerals existing in large quantities in a matrix which does not carry them in other parts of the world. For instance, near Tapu he had seen gold in a class of stone which, if it had been shown to him at Dunedin, apart from tne gold itself, he would, without hesitation have pronounced unlikely to be other than barren. Dr Hector had probably fallen into a similar mistake, and any other geologist would also have been just as likely to do so. Holloway's Ointmfnt and Pills.—As spring approaches a most favorable opportunity offers for rectifying irregularities, removing impurities, and erasing blemishes which have arisen from the presence of matters forbad by winter from being transpired through the pores. This searching Ointment, well rubbed upon the skin, penetrates to the deeply-seated organs, upon which it exerts a most wholesome and beneficial influence. Well nigh all the indigestions give way to this simple treatment, aided by purifying and aperative doses of Holloway's Pills, round each box of which plain "instructions" are folded. Bilious disorders, loss of appetite, fulness after eating, lassitude, gout and rheumatism may be effectively checked in their painful progress, and the seeds of long suffering eradicated by rem«di«».