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Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 308, 22 January 1875, Page 2

Miss Hunter has been appointed schoolmistress to, the Blackstone Hill school. Several parties are prospecting in the neighborhood of the Rock and Pillar Range. One undoubted and one supposed case of typhoid fever are now being treated- in -a family : ih- Cromwell. ■ The Waitaki Bridge is 3,630 feet long, more than twice as long as any bridge in England. The December number of the Contemporary Review' will.contain a paper oii "Freemasonry " by Archbishop Manning. Tenders for Head Race fluming are to be sent in to the -office of the Secretary for Works, Dunedin, by noon of Tuesday the 26tli inst. The fluming is of timber, and 132 feet -in length. Me. Denniston",' C.E., has been appointed District -Engineer in the room of Mr. Duncan, who formerly held the office, and who is now engaged in preliminary surreys of . railway lines. The Liverpool - Autumn Cup was won by Louise Victoria, Thunder being second, and Pageant third. Twenty-one horses started. The betting was 11 to 1 against the winner, 20 to 1 against Thunder, and 25 to 1 .against Pageant. concert in aid of St. George's Episcopal Church Harmonium Fund is announced for Monday the 25th inst. As the local amateurs are to be strongly supported by ladies from a distance—who have kindly consented to assist—the programme should be successfully rendered, and attract a good house. Showing the necessity of the present repairs in the Pass road, we may,mention that a valuable was severely injured last week by stepping in bo one of the broken cuJ verts. His rider had to lead -him into the township, where he now. remains, being unfit to travel. The cereals-in the Maerewhenua district are looking well, and many of the farmers are preparing for harvest. How will they get on for labor? The gardens have suffered severely from grasshoppers, a,nd the young poultry from those pests—the hawks There has been a virulent outbreak o* typhoid fever at Darwent, in Lancashire, 1,200 casts and 44 deaths having . occurred Within . about,. one month. A Government inspector was sent down to investigate the outbreak, the origin of which is attributed to the abominable filthiness of the place, the result of local parsimony. There appears to be a way out of family difficulties known in Dunedin. Tn the ■' Star' we observe the following advertisement:— '' Wanted,. Respectable Person to adopt a Child (girl) nine months old. For particulars, apply Mrs. "Wilson, Castle street." A charming mode this of getting rid of liabili-. ties. Is the respectable person to pay the cost of this advertisement on application ? A special meeting of the Naseby Municipal Council was' held on Wednesday evening last. Tenders were accepted'for painting the woodwork- of the Town Hallj also, ■ for furniture for clerk's office. ' Messrs. Tootell and Morrison's tenders were accepted. One more meeting of the .Council only will be held in the old office before the* new chambers are" ready. The hall nearly completed, and promises to be a very fine and useful building

The , ' Daily Telegraph ' says:— " Some publicity has been given, to. an announcement that it had been resolved to hold a Roman Catholic Congress in England, 'in order to uphold the dogma of the Pope's infallibility, the right of the Sovereign Pontiff to temporal as well as spiritual power, and to proclaim to all Christians that it is their bounden duty to return to their allegiance to the Holy Father.' "We are enabled to state that there is no foundation whatever for- this report." The Lord Chancellor and the Lord Justices have concurred in a judgment of considerable importance to building societies and their members. The question was whether in the case of a mortgagee who became bankrupt, the building Society which held the mortgage was entitled to be paid the interest upon the instalments up to the end of the period for which the capital was originally borrowed. Their Lordships held that the society was not so entitled, but must calculate what portion of the principal had been repaid, and deduct from the proceeds of the sale the balance remaining due—no interest being allowed after the dace of the receipt of the purchase money. -

In the course of an eloquent sermon delivered_ by Bishop Moran at St. Joseph's Catholic Church on last Sunday evening—■ the subject being the marriage feast at Cana his Lordship administered a severe rebuke to those advocates "of the temperance movement who he said would debar their fellow-men from the moderate use of wine and other alcoholic liquors. He remarked thafc^while no one viewed with greater detestation "and horror the crime of drunkenness than himself, yet the teaching and example of Christ were totally opposed to the fanatical" efforts of those who endeavored to interfere with the undoubted right of persons to the use, but not the abuse of vinous and spirituous liquors.—'Star.'

A public meeting was held in the Court House, Livingstone, on Monday, ■ 12th inst., for the purpose-of electing a School Committee. The attendance was not so good as could have been wished. Mr. E. C.'Smith, being called to the Chair, briefly stated the object of the meeting, and called upon Sir. F._ Thomas • (Secretary of the retiring Committee) to read the report, which was adopted, and a vote of thanks passed to tji'e outgoing Committee. The following were then elected a C.ommitteef or ensuing year:— Messrs. E. C. Smith (Chairman), D. Farquharson (Secretary and Treasurer); W. Carling, T. Gallagher, R. Botting, F. Thomas, J. Craig, and M'Quade, The Committee afterwards went through ; a lot of business of no public interest.

Professor Tyndall, replying to the charge of atheism urged against him, at the close of one of his late lectures, said:—We are surrounded, by wonders and mysteries everywhere. I have sometimes—not sometimes, but often-—in the spring-time watched the advance of the sprouting leaves, and of the grass, and of the flowers, and observed the general joy of opening life in. nature, and I have asked myself this question. ' Can it be:that there is no being or thing in nature knows more about these things than I do •?' Do I in my ignorance represent the highest knowledge., of, these ; things existing in this universe ?" Ladies and gentlemen, the man who puts that question fairly to himself, if he be not a shallow man, if he be a man capable of being penetrated by profound thought, will never answer the question by professing that creed of atheism which lias been so highly attributed to me.

The 'New Zealand Herald' for this month is replete with fine views of scenery. The: character and finish of the plates is very much improved of late—in this view of the Hanging Rock, Mount Macedon (Victoria), being excellent. The letterpress is as usual a careful summary of the month's news, the whole forming a fine paper, for sending out of the Colony to absent friends . ,

Communications have been addressed •io the General Government from Ballaras inquiring- whether the Government* would be willing to pay the passages of, and offer suitable inducement to 5,000 immigrants from that district to New Zealand. It is stated that the number mentioned of' highly respectable people and their families could be found there ready to transfer themselves to New. Zealand within three months. _■ A bad coach, accident occurred at Timaru on Saturday evening last. One of the horses got his leg over the trace and the whole team bolted. The coach at length caught a lamp-post and upset, the horses running away with the fore carriage. Thirteen peoble on the coach at the time were all bruised, but no one had bones broken. One horse sroke its leg and be shot. No blame is attached to the driver.

The first meeting of the new Sohool Committee was held in the schoolhouse on Monday evening last. All the members weru present with the exception of Mr. E. T. Q-eorge, who was unavoidably absent. ; The business was the election of Chairman and Treasurer, and Clerk, when Messrs. Inder and Field were' elected. Messrs. Inder and M'lntosh wereappointed a sub-committee—empowered to pass, if satisfied, the fencing contract, and to settle with the contractor The first Monday in every month was selected as the day on which the monthly meetings will be held. The other business was unimportant." Mackay's Almanack for 1875 is as-usual-replete with information. Among the additions that will be valued we_ notice a digest of the Licensing Act in force, and a return of the pastoral runs of Otago, and dates of expiring of lease*, as prepared on the motion of Mr. C. Brown in the Provincial Council. A'few errors unavoidably creep into a work of such large dimensions—for instance, a shot has been made in naming Mr. W. N. Blair Provincial Engineer, whereas Mr. Arthur received the appointment; but, on the whole, the work is wonderfully accurate, and fairly indexed. A good index becomes the soul of so large a work of reference, and no doubtt his will be still further attended to. _

The 'Star' reportß that nocturnal visitors are just now troubling the good people of Oamaru. An unsuccessful attempt to enter a draper's shop in Thames-street was followed by a man gaining admission into the house of Dr. Gleeson, but the latter, being aroused, went into the passage in his shirt sleeves, and without a light. The intruder, tried to brush past him, and on being stopped and interrogated could give no satisfactory account of The doctor his unwelcome visitor sans ceremonie by neck and heels, and administered a good thrashing with a blackthorn.

At the Presbyterian Synod the Temperance Committee appeared to have been at a loss about what to report—at least they are credited as follows:—" The Rev. Mr. Clark read and moved the report of the Committee on 1 emperance, which stated that the Committee's attitude during the year had been that of watching the effects of the Licensing Acts. They regreted that licenses were granted every quarter, instead of only once a year." All but the Committee know that licenses cannot be obtained quarterly in future, but only at the June Court. The ides, of action being defined to be watching the effects of something else is original.' The tender of Mr. R. Wheeler for the ierection of the new sohoolhouse at St. Bathans has been accepted. The entire cost of the building will be £275 4s. lOd. The walls—.which arei to.be built of stone—will be constructed, on a plan drawn by Mr. Joseph Gray, and under his immediate supervision—a sufficient guarantee that the 'work will be of the most substantial character. The building will be 40ft. long, and 21ft. in width, and will- occupy a commanding and healthy site, immediately in the rear of the present school building. When completed, it will be ah ornament and a credit to the township. A portion of the site was kindly given by by Mr. James Towers. The building is to be ready for occupation by the 20th of April. .

The Transit of Venus was successfully observed at Calcutta. The Italian, astronomers' first examination, at Mudanch. jwas disturbed by small clouds, but good spectroscopic observation of Yenus were, obtained with an ordinary speculum. Professor -Tacchini observed details relating to the planet's atmosphere. At Kooree over 100 photographs were taken. Elsewhere the results are generally fair. General Addison's arrangements for taking observations of the transit at Kuraohee were most elaborate and all his previous computations were correct. The first external contact happened before sunrise, at 10 min. 26 sec. past six; the first internal contact was when the sun was about four or five of his diameters above the horizon, at 13min. before seven. The second internal contact happened about 25min. to eleven'a.m.; the last external contact happened about 11.3 a.m., when: the planet quitted the sun not far from its highest point.

At a late meeting of the Otago Harbor Board a request was made by the Government that the late Provincial .Engineer be allowed to complete the supervision of the Mount Ida Public Works and the branch railways in hand. The Superintendent had previously suggested a mutual payment of the same officer, according to the duties required |of him by either the Government or the Board until the Harbor deepening was ready started, and the money obtainable. The Board's Committee, however reported that the Engineer's whole time would be required by the Harbor Board itself. The Board in full meeting adopted their Committee's report, so the Engineer newly appointed will have to master the details of enough works—none of which he has initiated—to employ three engineers, as well as start and watch all new works as they arise. His task -will not be an easy one under the 'circumstances. -■

The annual meeting for; tbe. election of a new school committee' at St. Bathana, took place on the evening of the lltb ,inßt., in the schoolroom. There was but a< limited attend ance. Mr. John Ewing was voted to the chair. The Secretary and Treasurer to the retiring Committee (Mr. Pyle) gave a detailed account of the proceedings of the past year, and showed a credit balance to the fund of £4 Ib. lid. The election of a new committee was then proceeded with, when t.he following gentlemen were duly . eleoted-:—Messrß. Geo. Prescott, R. Wheeler, J. Cormack, J. Eagle, S. Hanger, J. Morton, J. Ewing, G-. P. Gilmore, and W. Pyle, -Junr. Mr. (I. Prescott proposed a vote of thanks to the retiring com - mittee ; seconded by Mr. Hanger, and carried. ' Mr; Hanger proposed, and Mr. Morton seconded; the following resolution:—' That, in the opinion of this meeting, the . thanks of ■the whole community are due to Mr. William Pyle, senr., for his exertions, during the last eight years, while acting as member of, and secretary and treasurer to, the School' Committee, and deeply regrets that he is leaving the distriot, feeling that it will be almost impossible to supply his place." The; motion was unanimously agreed to. Mr. Pyle briefly thanked the meeting for the compliment. The proceedings terminated with a vote of thanks to, the chairman.—A meeting of the new School Committee was held on Alohflav^vens

mg, the 18th inst., when the following a p; pomtments were made—Mr. G. - P-/.Giitnor& to be Chairman, and Mr. 11. Wheeler to be Secretary and Treasurer. It will be seen by_ our police report that several Chinamen were apprehended "by Mr bub-Inspector M'Cldskey, and brought beU fore the-Resident Magistrate, charged with ■ gambling; •. -It appear-s.that the - ■very .anxious to ' detect and wafSß iff* those who are not ostensibly earnings living; - as suspecting them of''obtaining money froni 7 robbery of races, or some other unlawful , means—have had their eyes on the numbers • J^ namen collect at all hours of the *' night in one or two of the Chinese houses m-. ! JSaseby, smoking opium, and playing for ! no °®y- On Saturday last, a little after tenj. in Chm (Phong's house the Sub-Inspector detected a crowd in an inner room, too intent *>n the game being played to notice himr Rationed behind two of them, he" observed the money staked, the chance played, and the successful one paid. Then putting his ' friends in front on one side, he put hia hanit on some of the money on the table, and with the assistance of a constable marched-a few-' off to the lock-up that could" be identifiedwith, the game. The lottery most favored appears to be a square board, divided and numbered into four divisions. The' banker - throws down a heap of coins. The habituees of the. haunt stake on their fan cy number. ,* - The banker then forks away the coin from his ' heap by fours. The last remainder, .4, 3, or 1 gives the winning number, the stakes" upon which" aire, paid w "duplicate fctiw bank. - • • •• • -