THE Mount Ida Chronicle. FRIDAY, JUNE 4, 1869.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 18, 4 June 1869, Page 2

THE Mount Ida Chronicle. FRIDAY, JUNE 4, 1869.

There lias been for many-- years past a very general complaint throughout tlie up-country Districts that the amount of revenues of the Province expended in and about Dune din has been far out of proportion to that, which has fallen to the share of other towns and Districts in the Province—in short, a general feeling has been prevalent that the interests of Otago have been sacrificed for the purpose of securing a large G-overnmental expenditure in Dunedin, and rendering that city beautiful and attractive. We have no doubt that, as with many Frenchmen, Paris is Prance, so with many of our merchants and legislators Dunedin is Otago, and therefore each and every other interest should be sacrificed to the advancement of that one. hobby. To such a doctrine, however, we are in no way prepared to subscribe. Every principle of justice, of honor, and of common sense, point out that the upcountry Districts should be fairly dealt with, and an equitable amount of the revenue of the Province expended upon the works essential to their material interest and progress. The most remarkable, and at the same time the least satisfactory, feature of the ease is that, while money has been thus profusely lavished upon the public works and public buildings in and about Dunedin, so little skill and foresight have been exercised in the construction of the works themselves, that they have been, in each case, either absolute failures, or, at the best, entirely unsuited to the purposes for which they were originally designed. As % rule, after a series of alterations, additions, and patchings, every public building hitherto constructed in Dunedin has been devoted to some purpose wholly foreign to that for which.it was designed, and for which it has been manifestly unsuited. In illustration of our assertion we need ODly point to the Exhibition Building, one of the monuments of Otago's lavish folly, which has now been, converted into (at a heavy ex- j pense) an anything but suitable liospi- j tal; the new Post- Office , or as it has ! been appropriately termed the "Whited Sepulchre" which, though costing some ! £50,000, and possessing a handsome and imposing outside appearance, has been found to be useless for any practical or useful purpose ; the Lunatic Asylum, also, after having undegone additions and alterations innumerable, is admitted to be unfit for its object; while the Provincial Grovernment Buildings are sufficiently large to accommodate the entire officialism of the Colony, and contain within themselves a Resident Magistrate's Court, in which business cannot be satisfactorily carried on owing to the perpetual racket in the adjoining street. It would have been supposed that the above long list of follies, for which the Province has had to pay a " pretty considerable bill," would have sufficed; but we are now told by the Sector of the High School, in his report, which .appeared in the c Daily Times ' lately, that the present building is in every respect unsuited to the education of youth; and, from its locality and position, and the absence of sufficient space around it, anything but favorable to the health, or conducive to the physical development of the pupils. It would appear, from a careful perusal of the report of the Sector, that nothing which can be done (though it may improve) can ever render the High School what it ought to be. The opinions of the Rector in this matter have been substantially borne out by the 1 Daily Times,' which, in an article which appeared in the issue of the 15th ult., proposes that Fern Hill House should, if obtainable, be leased for a High School, It is really revolting to contemplate such a system as has been carried on with regard to public works and buildings in Dunedin. Public buildings, which have been constructed an immense outlay, have been laid aside, one after the other, as practically useless for their original purpose ; and public works have either been initiated (or have been attempted to be initiated) at a heavy cost to the Province, of which there exists little or no proba.

bility of a satisfactory issue. For thS expenses connected with two of these works, yiz„ the training wall and dredging arrangement, and the Southern Trunk Bailway, Mr. G. B. Haughton lias already moved for returns to* be laid upon the table of the House, audi •%e deserves the thanks of the up-eotuiJ try Districts for having done so, Jm would, in our opinion, be well we J some Hon. Member to move for rel turns of the expenses connected with the various buildings to which we hare above referred—such returns to include i alterations and additions in each case,] and the cost of extras. If these reJ turns were furnished, we would suggest that a photographic view should ]je taken of each building, and engraved at the head of each return; the return should also be made, to show the object for which the building wa,s constructed with the estimated outlay—also thS purpose to which it h?„d been devoted,! and the actual cost. These returns J super-ornamented as we have proposed! if framed, glazed, and hung on tliel walls of the Provincial Council Hall,! might peradventure open the eyes of 1 our legislators, and serve as a caution, how in future they consented to yqte public money without due thought and I sufficient deliberation, and would keep] constantly before them the price whieM their past legislation had cost the Prol vince. It is bad enough to know that money has been unfairly squandered in Dunedin, to the injury and neglect of the country Districts, but it is worse to be told that the money has been thrown away upon costly and -'useless buildings, and upon profitless and im- J practicable undertakings. A

An advertisement, in another column, Messrs. Notes and Aitken, bakers of this announces that on and after Monday next, ' 7th June, the price of the 4 lb. loaf -will be Is- 3d. "We understand that the increased charge for cartage consequent upon the ap-" proa cli of winter, combined -with the bad state of the roads, has been the occasion of the raising of the price of bread, We understand that the tender of Mr. John Morrison, builder, of this town, for additions to the residence of the Rev. Mr. Burcliett, haa, been accepted. We beg to call attention to Messrs. Inder 1 and George's sale of harness horses and hacks, which will take place on Saturday next at 12 o'clock sharp—notice of which will be found in our advertising columns. j The lovers of the turf and field sports gene- J rally will, we feel sure, receive with regret the J intimation that Mr. J. G-. Gr. Glassford, cf Mat.a kanui, is about to leave the Province. By un advertisement, in another column, it wilt be seen that the whole of M. Glass ford's valuable stud of horses, as* well as his household fnr-ii-i fcure, &c., &c., are to be disposed of by >?::*■ auction on Wednesday next, 9th Juae." .the ' well-know character of many of Mi*. Glass- < ford's horses should ensure not only a large attendauee of visitors, but at the same time command highprices. It will be seen that 'there is to be. no reserve, A case, which at one time appeared likely to resolve itself into a veiy serious crime, was 1 heard in the Resident Magistrate's Court J Haseby, before H. W. Robinson, Esq., R.M.j[ on Saturday last. As the case is fully reported in another column, it would be useless to recapitulate "the circumstances here. We trust that the result will be a warning to others,and prove clearly that because females are some* times left unprotected they are not, therefore, to be molested with impuidty. The two prisoners received a sentence of one month and a fortnight respectively, with hard labor; and < we trust that the authorities with whom direction of prison labor rests will see the ne-fl cessitv of using the labor at their command in the formation of the footpath, and the repairing of the road between the main street and the Court House. We have on more than one occasion alluded to the disgraceful and dangerous state of this piece of road, and we trust ■■ tnat the hint which we have above thrown out j will be acted upon without delay, We feel 4 sure that if an application were made to the Commissioner of Police in Dnnedin he would ; at once issue the necessary instruction upon the subject.

Wp have seen a eardofrathera novel description, inventedby Mr. Green of Enterprise Gully, "who lias a number of Celestials in bis employ. It appears tliat tlie features of one Chinaman so nearly resembled those of another that Mir: Green has experienced some difficulty in identifying his own employes, and has resorted to a system of giving eaeh Chinaman in his service a pasteboard ticket upon which is printed G-reen s Claim, good for one day." At the end of each day one of these tickets is given to each Chinaman who has been working, who, in his turn at the close of the week, returns the tickets to Mi*. G-reen, and receives in exchange waget in proportion to the number' of tickets he produces. The present rate of wages of the Chinese in Mr. Green's employ is £2 per week, a ? i s P ea, ks well of them as workers, as also of their general steadiness and good conduct. On Saturday last the horses and vehicles of Mr. Morris De Burgh, livery stable keeper of tins town, were sold by Messrs. Inder and George by public auction, and realised we believe satisfactory prices. Oub readers will, we feel sure, lie sorry to learn that a very serious accident occurred to Captain Hamilton, on ITnday last, 011 his way to JSaseby to attend the Petty Sessions. On crossing the Taieri River Captain Hamilton was thrown from his horse ; fortunately he was accompanied by Mr. Howley, who sue-

seded getting him home. We understand at m his fall" Captain." Hamilton must have een hurt, or siibsequently kicked byhis horse, and. without the assistance of Mr. Rowley he have been unable to have reached home. We are glad to hear that no serious results to aptain Hamilton are anticipated from his late accident. *•. ••. .• ' 1

The concert and ball, at the "Victoria. Hall, on Monday evevihg last, for the benefit of D. Crumpton were a great success. The hall "w-as crowded to excess.' The songs, readings, ana recitations were effectively given, and well received. The ISaseby amateur brass band in attendance, and played some excellent pieces during the evening. A ball brought the evening's entertainment to a close. , Ojr Thursday evening last between twenty fuid thirty gentlemen met at the Royal Hotel' to witness the presentation to Mr. M'Nab, of the Bank of JSTew South Wales, of a testimonial aof esteem and regard upon the occasion of his leaving Naseby for Cromwell. The testimonial, 'which consisted of a gold pencil case and a massive gold albert chain and locket, was feelingly presented by Mr. Warden Robinson, and siuta% acknowledged by Mi*. M'JSab, after which the gentlemen assembled spent a social evening together. ;