LOCAL & GENERAL.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume XVII, Issue 998, 26 February 1887, Page 2

LOCAL & GENERAL.

Mb John Fikld has received the appointment of- tiead.teacher of .Macraes.achool.. .A..number of nightingales have beeri im ■" ported and let lo*ise on the Hon. Mr Larnach's estate, on the Peninsula. '■"'GbvEßs'iiESX will; introduc*.! a measure nexr, session to extend the electoral franchise to women. ! ; Somb; ,shipments of frozen mutton sent -Home by various flockowners last May hare resulted, in heavy losses to the shippers. One. farmer shipped 500 carcases, which on:y realised £'s2. In al. cases where the shipments were drawn against substantial refunds have had to.be made.' What did ihe Home buyers reap, we wonder?' -

; : Tjhe notorious Mrs Agnew .is at.it again t There was a-iine" liitle' exdiiemeiit in. the region, of the .Ministerial offices in Bondstreet, Diinedini last Thursday. Mrs Agnew was desirous.of. bringing the' matter "of her Krievarice once more before tHe Minister of •Mines (the Hon. .Mr Larnach). She'waa politely ..told the Minister refused to see her, but declared 'emphatically that she would not'-leive uri'-il she did see bim. A constable was sent for, but when he came on to-the scene the irate. lady commenced to lay her troubles before bim and to eulightenhim as to the conduct of the Hon. Mr Larnaeh'and Mr Scobie Mackenzie, the member for her district. The constable: brought all bis persuasive powers into play to induce the beseiger to decamp; but for some ciine all was .in vairi, 'Ultirhaely; however,; ihe ; lady, "vowing she would ne'er consent,';consented," and retreated down the stair?. * She then b !gah to pice upand down Bond-street, in_ the hope .doubtless of waylaying the Minister when he came out from his office ; but after continuing this performance for a short space of time she left the precincts and quiet once more.prevai ed.. : , . . ~ . . The average cost of maintaininj the inmates of theOtago benevolent institution is : 4s.o£d.per we.k. The average Weekly cost of the. children in the Industrial school ..exceeds'7s Sd per'week. The master of 1 the school says the cost ■wyu'd be much less if tl\ere were more children in 'he school.

;Thb .Russian Goverptnent are passive with regard to the - BulSarhn que-tion, and are endeayoring to avert a war between France and' Germany.

GovERSMisNT have definitely determined to Kurow Bun (Oamaru district) for settlement under the small-run system. There is reason to believe the 12 months* notice Required ,by law/will be given to the lessees before March'lit, so thai the land will .be available for settlement on March 1. ISSS. ,'.'.

' Mr BoTTrsMJ, ; instructed by Messrs Crawford and Kerr, solicitors, Naseby, will hold an important sale of mining scrip-and land at.St. Bathana on March 11th., Mr George Fache also notifies a sale, on the same/date and at the same place, of two. one-third shares in certain mining priviiejes in the St. Bathans district.

; Thk execution of, John CaSVey and Hf.nry Albert Penn, for. the murder of. Robert Taylor at Great Barrier Island, took place at Auckland at 8 o'eiock on Monday morning. The executioner,:vrho wore a band of crape across bis face, was a sparely-built young man and: seemed quite at.bis e:tse. The convicts took up their, positions on the scaffold,, kissed each other and then the church seryice bVgan. As it concluded, .the executioner completed his pinioning of the condemned men, drew :white caps over their, heads and adjusted the ha:ters round theirnecksi .Both men apparently died without ,a struggle, and the execution was carried out without any. unusual incident. No statement or address of any kind.Wis mads from the scaffold. Penn was disposed .of first, and Caffrey,' standing opposite him, awaited his. turn without a tremor.

It is understood a friendly understanding has been arrived at between Germany and Austria, as against Russia ; and that precautions have been, taken to prevent a surprise from either France or Russia, by both Powi-rs, should war take place. General von lloltke considers the political Bituation of Europe mo«t serious,, and every possible precaui ion is being taken, in Geruv-nv to prevent a surprise. The London Standard, in discussing the European difficulty, says a~ notable feature •of the situation is ihe profound silence which has lately bsen maintained by Russia and which it considers bodes evil. A report is current that Russia is moving in Central Asia. The Education Board invite tenders for the removal of the Ida Valley school and its re-erection at Poo;burn. i Sir John Hall will be a candidate for Selwyn next e ! ection. Mr Wakefie d, the present member, will not seek re-e'ectio'n.

1 The Freetraders iu New South Wales have secured a brillia'ut vie' ory over the Protectionists in the recent Parliamentary elections, the re'urn3 showing that 73 Freetraders and only 27 Protectionists have gained seats. . iflE Gardiner, a mining engineer of Reefton, has reported on the UhrUtchnrch Q- M. Co.'s reef at Browning's Pass. He te3ted 7ib. otsione, which showed a prospect of 3oz. 4dwt. of gold to the ton. The reef is 4500 ft. above sea-level, aud a tunnel will have to ba driven to work it.. Mr Gardiner speakß very favorably of the locality, which he considers gold-bearine. There are about 600 men at Kimberley, whither it has paid no one to go, according to a digger on the field, unless it be two men who are said to have netted 200oz. The Mount Barrett goldfield will never b a profitable diggings. Sections 45 io 49, block nr, BlaclSßie, containing collective y 237 a. 2r. 15p. have been set apart for perpetual". Section 29, block VII, and Bectioß 3, bi~*:k ?_{■ 320 a. each (aame : district), have also been referred for the same purpose.

. ,Tns Invincible Company, Queenstownj recwntJy crushed '265 'taJs of quart*; which yi-Met lSIos; or smelted / gold—equ tit to liilwt. 2ii«r., per tou. The turplus myr working out of • Ka. crushing is £2-'>'<. Th% company onredln Jane Just year £1502 \l3vw!itc'i has not'only been pud i.ut it c.n Sow put about £5 JO to th • res rve fumL 9 Arohbishop Orokb advucs the Irish

people tj re nse to pay taxes. Exacti-t 519 cases of typhoid.feirer have been reported i» Victoria this year, 115 of ■which have proved fa itL

A disease resembling malignant typhoid has appeared among the horses in South Australia. The' Government arc taking the nee ssary precautions to prevent the outbreak spreading. Mr Paul Curtis has been'appointed registrar of bir hj?, deaths i.nd marriages and vaccination inspector for the disrict of Naseby. ■'•■■" ■ ■■-<■■: Ax the R.M. Conrt, Queenstown, last Saturduy,-'.B. B. Boutt, lntei county clerk, •was committed on two addi ional. of the embezzlement of £66 and £6l 10s respectively. Some extraordi-tary r--vel'itions were made during the hearing of the first of the a. ove cases, showing thai; the business ■of. the county was doue in the mast deplorably loose Style, reflecting most severely on past chairmen and councillors. The Crown fenn determined to sift the who!e affair to the bottom.

A Fresch artillery captain, who has be-m on a visit to 'he French and Australasian colonies, has just left Auckland for France. This gentleman baa fce-n recalled.to join his -regiment in view of the probable • u break of war between France aiid"Germa»y While in Auckland he expressed bis belief 'hit no nation 'was hetter. prepared for war* than France, as her arsenals and stores were filled with arms, ammunition and'.prvvis ons of the very bestqu. lity and type. The gallant .captain was anxious to reach h>ime before the commencemen 1 " of hostilities. He sad the French soldiers had full confidence in their, officers, whilst the latter placed the greatest "reliance on the perfection of their armament and the enthusiasm which the patriotic Gauls would display in the coming straggle. White's reef. Old Man Range, still lo- ks well. The lode is about ISin. wide, and in another part 12in., where the stone prospects at the rate of Jdwt. per dsh. A recent rushing of 87 tons of quartz realised over loz. per ton. The Golden Gully G.M. Co., Serpentine, have now fairly commenced operations. Mr Rainham threw np bis contract for constructing the tunnel, and tbis necessitated a visit to terpentine by the legal manager (Mr Brooke Hickson). After negotiations, Mr Joseph Edmond was given a contract for driving the tnnnel 300 ft. at 16s per foot. The work is now being carried on vigorously by the contractor.

i Thk. mine manager of ,the Globe mine, Reefton, struck the banking-wall of the.lode on Saturday. The resf is 15ft. Sin. in width, and from the foot to the banging wall life. Thestone shows I/old freely.

A CAXE of geld bas come down from the Tipperary reef, MacetowTj, but its weight has not transpired, and therefore is put down by some as too good and as others as not good enough to be made known.

Satisfactort news reaches us concerning the rush at Blnckstone Hill. Damn and Ctmeron are on splendii gold, the wash-dirt being about 4ft. deep and auriferous from top to bottom. On Monday they won 140z.' of gold from their claim by means of cradling, and their daily returns are said to be every bit is good as this. About four p irties are oh gold; and others are sinking shafts, t which will probably be bottomed by 'he end of this week. The sinking is between ■3O and 50ft. A correspondent visited the scene of the rush last week, and report* his observations as under:— '* Wh-n we reached the rush we found that most of the gronnd contiguous to Durno and Cameron's claim was alieady in.occupation. Exc»p ing'his .mrty, no one haa yet made more than wagesWe were tak-u round by Mr Fitzpatrick, who showed us several shafts that were being sunk, whence good returns are anticipated. There is plenty ground in the locality worth prospecting. The following are the names of some of the parttt s already on the ground': Durno and ' Cameron ; Potter and Quintan; Armitage, Turner a-,d Martin ; Dillon Bros, and Fitzpatrick." An extende i claia of sa. of land in the' bed of Spec Gully, commencing about a chain above the if. pegs of Air Mason's' special claim and termtna ing some distance below Mr Ryan's house, has. been pegged off and an application for it lodged at the Warden's. Court, Naseby. in the names of the following persons.:—Patrick Ry*n (Naseby), John M-Jinma-a, Michael Fahey, John .O'Regan and Michael Fahey (al of .St. B-thans). We understand nearly all the miners untreated in keeping Spec Chilly open to mining intend to object to the issue of the grant asked for, except on the imposition of c mditioos such as will ensure the free and unrestricted use of all present and future privi eges in the golly. Ma W. Isder disposed of the whole of Mr Samuel Cro-san's property at White Bow Valley last Thursday. The attendance was good, but bidding was very spiritless nnd the prices realised tie 'erally very .low. The agricultural lease of 250 a., for over 34 yea s in occupation and with 35a. of growiug crops thereon, fell to Mr W. Inder at the price oi L 290. 177 sheep and lambs realised only 2s per head, fowls 2s per pair, mil'.-h cow ( at L 5 12s Sd, and calves 5s each. Other prices realised were : flo-se power £6. d f. Eough LS, hut on sledge LS, chaffeut:er 4, and a yoepg horse L 7 17s. The shaft on tht deep lead at the Woolshed Diggings, Bhckstone H 11, was down 26ft. on. Monday. The water is now becoming troab'esome. There are prooa'.ty gome 40 or 50ft. further to go through before reaching the bottom. M. DS Lesskps has just passed his Slst birtb/>a,y. He is still active und indefatigable, intensely interested in the cutting of isthmuses and canals, and able t> sleep at any moment or remiin awake at pleasure. It is worth remiotlering that no newspaper is printed e«peci*lly for otte person, any more than a hotel is bui t especially lo please one guest. People who become displeased wi>h something they find in a newspaper shou d remember that that which displeases I hem is exncly the thing which will please some one who has just as much interest in the paper as they have. . There are some people in this community so mean aa to stoop to the Inexcusable offence of gnve robbing. Repeatedly of late small articles and ornaments placed on graves in the Naseby cemetery have been purloined by some evit y-dispnsed individuals. In some cas'S the offences have been traced to schoolchildren ; bat in others no donbfc exic s that he thieves had reached maturer years, and ought to have known better. We trust some means will be taken to prevent a repetition: of the recent thieveries in the local cemetery. .-, ElOErnoK has been taken by different persons interested in the rush at Bl&ckstone to the extract report from the Dvxstan Times sublishcd by the Daily Times on Monday, he extract in qneatiori is inaccurate, and is merely a description of a race between certain parties lo reach and peg some ground on B ackstone Hill." TheiDaify 2Tn»e*represenls the rush as being 'at'Btl Balliins, while the .writer of the extract in question says it is on the '* western slopes of the'Raggeddy Ritlye " —which; ridze, by-lbe-bye, is in the Waitaki district. For general information, it may be stated that the locale of the rush is on the western slope of Blackstone Range, about- n mile in a direct line from the township of HilTa Creek and six or seven from St. Bitfcanj.