THE Mount Ida Chronicle. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1869.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 34, 24 September 1869, Page 2

THE Mount Ida Chronicle. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1869.

Since our advent to, and location at, JNaseby we have ever, by writing and word of mouth, advocated the erection of this town into a municipality. We have done so because we believed in the old axiom of " union being strength.'' We have done so beca,use we have seen other towns which have been constituted municipalities receive an amount of consideration, care, and attention at the hands of the Government, for which unincorporated towns might have sued in vain. Though a considerable portion of the population of this place entertain similar opinions to ourselves on this important question, there is no disputing the fact that a very large section of the inhabitants support views altogether and entirely antagonistic to our own. One section appears to confound municipalities with unbearable and unnecessary taxation, and to look upon anything which would

seein to tend to that direction with. % j feeling of aversion and horror. Ano- i tlier section have clearly no intention, of making this their abiding place for a longer period than they can possibly avoid, and consider a state of affairs which has suited their purpose and served their turn quite good enough and sufficient to serve the turn and ! answer the purpose of tho. e who may j come after them. We do not, on the t present occasion, intend to go into I these features of the case, of to point j out the absurdity and anti-progressive i tendency of such antiquated and gene- j rally exploded notions. What we de- j sire to arrive at is, a solution (if pos- ; sible, of the question propounded by : " Enquirer "in our last issue That : question is, whether or not the " Im- ! " provement Committee is existent or j "defunct*?"

The very fact of the people of Naseby having elected an Improvement Committee to watch their interests establishes at once the principle that they recognise the absolute necessity of there being some medium of communication between the town and district and the Government—some channel through which their grievances may be pointed out and redress sought. That channel the \aseby Improvement Committee lias hitherto supplied ; whether effectually or otherwise others than ourselves must decide. We should, however, imagine that there can exist no doubt that the Committee have done good, though, of course, not to the same extent as though they had been a Corporation and a legally constituted and responsible body. JStill, we say we believe that their efforts have been productive of good results, and have conduced, in some degree, to tho advancement of the district. And this brings us n-mill to the question propounded by 1 inquirer"—is that body still exiskill;, or is it defunct P To this question we uro unable to give any satisfactory reply. So long as the Committee met we were in the habit of attending their meetings and reporting their proceedings—that we have reported nothing lately has arisen from the fact that we were not aware of any meetings having taken place. Indeed, so far as our recollection serves us, no meeting-of the Committee proper has taken place since May last. It is true that a Joint Committee was formed to wait upeu Mr. Gillies in June last, but since that time, not one word have we heard —good, had or inclifforent —about the Naso by Improvement Committee and their doings. Though, therefore, we cannot answer directly, either affirmatively or negatively, as to their existence or decease, we can say that for many mouths past the Improvement Committee lias not shown much symptom s of vi tality. Advocates though we profess to be of municipalities in general, and of a municipality for this town in particular, we cannot but recognise the fact that an irresponsible and illegally constituted power is better, far better, than no power at all; and we are inclined to adopt the view of "Enquirer," that, ! seeing that the Improvement; Committee has been so long inactive, it would be the wisest- course to call a public meeting and elect a fresh Committee without delay.

The various? questions brought under the notice of Mr. Gillies are still unsettled. \Yo know nothing of the sludge channel question, and the probability or otherwise of a commonage and an agricultural area being declared. Of the coach affair we have heard nothing further than that tenders have been called for ; and in the matter of the telegraph we know absolutely nothing. If, as " Enquirer " remarks, the Improvement Committee be defunct, there virtually exists no medium of communication between the Grovernment and the people, and the people and the Government; and it follows that we must be content to remain in ignorance of what is, and what is not, being done to advance any of the matters, or subjects, or questions, having reference to the progress of the district. Under these circumstances we have no hesitation in stating our opinion that the time has arrived when the members of the Improvement Committee should submit themselves for reelection, and at the same time give the people an opportunity, by the election of fresh members, of infusing new blood and new life into the proceedings of the Committee. A public meeting and a public election would give the miners an opportunity of returning, if they so desired it, some members of

their own body to the hitherto exclusively business-men council table of: the Improvement Committee. i

There will be sitting of the Court of Petty Sessions tliis morning. One of the infallible indications -of spring, manifest in this neighborhood, is the visible alteration for the better which i* observable in the gardens ; plots of ground which have been for months lying waste and idle, are now being turned to profitable account, and begin to assume the appearance of cultivation; and, should the . season turn out as fair as it promises at present, the town will, for the next summer, be abundantly supplied with vegetable produce. We say should the season turn out favorably, because the great drawback to this district is the beautifully fine and dry summer, with the eonsequent droughts wldcli, however pleasurable to humanity, necessarily tend to retard vegetation. The first church erected oil the Hyeburn Diggings was opened on Sunday last by Rev. James Burchett, in the presence of a full congregation. The church is not, we understand, to be denonunational, but will be open to the preachers of every section of The church was, we understand, built at the private cost and expense of Mr. D. Farquliarson, an old resident at the Jvyeburn diggings, who has, we believe, lianded the building over to a committee of management. The irregularity in the delivery of the mails ut St. Batlians has been frequently a cause complaint. The postal authorities have k j their wisdom decided that one mail a week to St. Batlians is sufficient for the requirements ; of that place. To tlds senatus comultum the St. Bathanites must perforce submit, at all ' events for the present. Surely, with a communication so unfrequent, regu a 'ity might at least be relied upon. Such does not appear to { be the case. A short time since, upon the ar- | rival (if our memory serves us correctly) of" 1 the English mail, the bags were taken on to the Dunstan ; an.l we now learn from our eor-r-'spoiid nt th st the mar fromt!ii- place, which, i should Have been, delivered last Ssa: urday, nev*jr , made its appearance at all. This is a state ofV things that should be looked into. Blaine 1 there must be somewhere; where that soaie- ; where is should be sought for and found out, and the party or parties chargeable with such | blame brought to an immediate and severe \ account. On Tuesday last the remains of Mrs.-- Currie were conveyed to then* last resting place hi the ■ new cemetery. The places of business were

' for the most part closed during the tin ;e of in- • j termcnt. The body "was followed to the giv-ve*, ! bv about 300 persons, desirous by their pres- * ; enee of testifying their respect for the <ieeea?ed r S • and their sympathy "with the bereaved husband p and family. Tlus is, we understand, the second ; female death has laken place smce the 1 ; discovery of these diggings, some six years j back, and the lirsv. occasion upon which a . female has been interred in the new cemetery, j The healthiness of the climate here is some-. | what remarkable, and the deaths which | arisen from natural causes since the opening of this field have been unprecedentedly small, considering the extent of the district and thejfl number of the population. Deaths from ; dents have, however been of somewhat j frequent occurrence, as the numerous : stones in the graveyard abundantly testify. j W.E are informed that, letters have been j ceived from Mr. John Hislop, Secretary to j .Educational .Board, stating that in all bility he will be deputed by the Board to Tisit INaseby for the purpose investigating the charges recently preferred the Naseby School Committee against Petchell the schoolmaster. ] Ay inquest waa held at the Eyeburn dig-^B • gings on Tuesday, before 31. W. j Esq., Corouer, at the house of James Cain, on J the view of the body of Alfred Scarlett, miner.M j It appeared from the evidence tliat the de-M j ceased had, on Monday morning last, j working in his claim. On the morning of j day, about 7 a.m., one of his mates had him at work in an open space a short ] from where lie was himself working. A ! minutes afterwards, having occasion to go ; the spot, lie found the deceased crushed i tho fall of a quantity of earth, and quite ] The deceased was a young man, single, and™ ! about 28 years of age, and is believed tofl have relations in Victoria. "Verdict —aceidcn-ifl ; tal death. fl We received by Saturday's mail an advertise-B , ment, which appears in another column, call-H j ing for tenders for the construction of a foouH ] suspension bridge over the Taieri River, near " the junction of the Kyeburn. This is right and fair enough, as atibrding an opportunity M contractors in the district to putin tenders, should they feel so disposed. .But, unfortu- „ nately, the fairness is oniy iuidjimary, not real, as the time by which the tenders must be rc; ceived in Dunedin renders it un possible that>a any tenders from this district can be received® !in time for acceptance. This is easily exi plained: We x*eceived this advertisement on Saturday, ISth instant; our next publication ia to-day, the 24tli, upon -which day the leaves at 12 o'clock for Duuedin. It is, therefore, quite obvious that it would be impossible / that calculations could be made and tenders be j ■ despatched to Dunedin by tliat opportunity. * The next mail for Dunedin will leave on Mon- • day, and will not arrive until after office hours j on Tuesday, and consequently too late for the ■ acceptance of the tenders. We cannot too j strongly condemn such a system as this little ij " fakement" would appear to suggest. If the J advertisements are in botui fide, then let j cient time be given to allow contractors to J make their calculations and send in their tenders. If mere sham, then let them be withheld. We know of more than one tradesman in this place who would have contracted for the work in question had sufficient time been I given. v j A>' accident occurred at tho Kyeburn on Sunday afternoon last to a child of Mr. 0. Hubbard, which might have been attended ■ ■ with fatal results. It appears that some having been let loose from a stable were rush-

m g along in full career when one of them, came in contact with a child of Mr. Hubbard's, about aix or seven years of age, striking it on the head with the fore leg, and knocking it to the ground. Dr. M'Cambridge was soon in attendance, and we are glad to hear that, though severely injured, the little sufferer is on the road to recovery. We have received information that all ia aga,in stir and activity at Clark's, and that opeare being carried on both with vigor ? an& vfhiecess. These... diggings, which a few weeks since were entirely deserted, in consequence of the inclemency of the season, now boast a population of nearly 100 persons, of whom more than one half are ClMnese. We understand that the new dam of the k Extended Water Race Company, on Surface I Hill > is now completed, whereby a large addi- ■ tional supply of water will be available on I these workings. We are further informed that f in about a fortnight the new dam of the same Company in Rsd Grully will be brought to completion, when higher ground on Surface Mill than sjny yet reached by water, will be b /commanded. Surface if ill, we are glad to ■T find, bids fair to realise the golden expectations ■ which were formerly anticipated from it. r - A correspondent informs us that Stoddart's ■ party at the Eyeburn liave washed .up this B week, and are perfectly satisfied with the re- ■ suit. The figure has hot transpired.