OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume 28, Issue 1470, 31 December 1897, Page 4

OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS

o . , PATEAROA. . . , CRICKET. '•

A scratch, match .was played hero on Christmas Day between sides chosen by i.-the.> captain and deputy captain respectively. The bowling, as usually is the case in matches played on the home ground, had rather the upper hand of the batting. After a very enjoyable game the captain's side, won by_2sruns. The scoring was small, the deputy-captain's side making 35 and 29 ; Jack Wilson 7, O. Cambridge 10, P. Wilson 11, W: Hall 6, M'Lean . 5, and that consistent scorer Mr Sundries 7 and 7 being the highest contributors ; while, the most "successful willow-weilders for the winning teamout of an aggregate scorn of 89—were Jas. Wilson.and E. Griffiths o each; .F. Schrick 6, W. Murray 8 not out, Cre.rar 10 and 6, and that-promising colt, W. Chirnsido 7 and' 22. The bowling honours e for the day were carried off by the genial and burly '" (/ Bob" M'Skimming, who took 5 wickets for 9 runs, W. Johnstone, who would with practice, make a capital all round player, taking 4 for 9' F. Schrick 9 for 26, W. Chirnsido s'= for 15,: J. Wilson 6 for 31, and J. Johnstone.6 for 33.

Qur boys are looking forward to a good game on New Year's Day with a team; from the Naseby CO, Although several reliable local lads will be ab> sent from the home team, the men who are pick-d to do battle for their , club can he depended upon to "make an effort "—-as Mrs Chick used to say . -~-to„secnre a victory, PICNIC. ,A: public picnic war. held hero on Boxing Day, and proved a great suc- . cess.' The pleasurer seekers, cf whom thme were about 70, enjoyed themselves to their heart's content in a beautiful grass paddock which .was ;, kindly placed at their servico by Mr

P. J. Greer. Cricket, rounders, races' ;ind " all sorts o' games"—to quote Tony —were kept merrily going during the greater part of the day, Mr Cawley being indefatigable in his efforts to keep the ball rolling. A large number of appropriate and useful articles were distributed amongst the children in the way of prizes, <fce., the cost of which was liberally met by the elder people on the hat being handetkround. It v is the intention of the promoters to make the picnic an annual affair, an intention that is in every may iaudable. ABOUT THOSE BUCKETS. An ounce and a half of gold, and a ton of contradiction ! It seems that I have been and gone and done it. Under the heading of " A Contradiction " I am accused by Mr Wm. Lusher, in last week's Chronicle, "of having made what he terms, in rather ponderous language, '• a grave mistake in one of the few mining items that I sent you the other day. The molehill of which Mr Lusher makes such a mountain was to the effect that

" Messrs Wilson and Lusher got a little bit of the right kind of washdirt in their claim lately.—two buckets yielding about an ounce and a half." As the incident of. the two buckets was openly talked about- not "vaguely rumoured"—and as I had the authority of a thoroughly respectable young man who informed me that he had seen one of the buckets found, I did not think it necessary to interview the partners on the matter. However, as I have now the printed assurance of Mr Lusher that there is " not a grain of truth" in my report, followed by a number of rather patronising but wholly unnecessary hints, advice, and suggestions for my future guidance, . the only course of procedure that is open to me—failing a resort to pistols ac 12 paces —is to beg his forgiveness for ray unwarrantable crime which, with every nerve quivering with conscious guilt, I now do. A grave mistake indeed; a grave in which I am afraid that faith in niy veracity on the part of readers of The Chronicle must henceforth be entombed. At the same time, it seems to me that Mr Lusher has delivered himself of a " contradiction : ' which he did not intend. After his very "friendly" action in informing the readers of The Chronicle that I had; made a " grave mistake," and that there was not " a grain of truth" in, my report, he goes on to ask me to be: " more up-to-date, instead of retailing: news and four months old." That's just what puzzles me. If these two comparatively rich buckets never :had any.existence, I cannot for the life of me see how it can be possible to-fix an age for the " news "of their discovery. As regaixls Mr Lusher's, professed hope that "I-will take these: hints in a friendly manner," I cam assure him, with a candour that is equal to his own, that I will take them in exactly the same friendly spirit as ■ that in which they were given. I--1 trust that this dreadful disturbance in ; an ink bottle will not destroy the' equilibrium of the solar system, and: that this sphere on which we dwell—alas, for so short "a space ! —will con- , tinue to'revolve upon its own axis as of yore. Patearoa, Dec. 27, 1597.

Since writing the above C have beeninformed by the young man to whom.' I alluded that Mr Lusher's partner told him (my informant) that'.; the; bucket referred to yielded lSdwtsof ; gold. The quantity of gold inHhe other bucket I have not troubled myself to .ascertain. Dec. 28, 1597. O— v CAMBRIAN. * HOLIDAY WEATHER. We have had regular summer weather with rather too much host. It is a pity we do not get a shower now and again. The farmers say; they have a fine crop, .but it would; greatly improve if to had a little rain The season has been very good for the children as it actually grew two Christmas trees for them. .Miss Williams and Miss Colling collected :£l for the children's picnic, ■which took! place at the closing of the school. They had a very enjoyable picnic, plenty of good food, and. over • 100 toys. After that the children got; another picnic on (he 23rd, wlien, the school children were entertained by Mr and Mrs Beattie. They also gave a very grand party on the. 22nd at the Victoria Hall. There was a large number present, and all the guests seemed to enjoy themselves very much. MINING. All the miners are in full work. The watrr so far keeps well up, but I am afraid if we do not get rain soon it will get short. Mr Swing's Cambrian and Vinegar F}at claims are in full j work so that he is able to keep his large staff of men in employment. The Cambrian Dredging Company have started to build their dredge! Five Dunedin carpenters have been engaged on the timber work the last three weeks, and it is stated that they will have all complete in two months. The hopes of the future here seem chieily centred in dredging. At present a great deal of prospecting on ground deemed suitable is going on. KYEBURN, The annual school picnic took place on the 22nd Dec. in Mr Harris's paddock which was kindly lent for the occasion. The children and young people indulged in games till 12 o'clock, when the gpod things were handed round. After everybody .was satisfied the children had races, while the young people had games and dances till about live o'clock, when tea was served. After tea the Chairman of the School Committeeproposcd ahearty vote of thanks to the ladies who had kindly provided the eatables, also a hearty vote of thanks was accorded to Mr Harris for the use of his paddock. December 2Srd, 1597.-