THE COUNTRY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1682, 16 February 1884, Page 12

THE COUNTRY.

GORE. (FROM OUR OWS CORRK3PONDBNT;,) February 9 Town Board Improv.-mknts.— "-Tendeis have been accepted fur the erection of a town hall (in brick) and for the completion of the drainage of the town, 'i'he c>>ntiactor.s for the hall are jJlessw Kldred and Johnston. They ar<: go.x! men, and Iho building will no doubt bo faithfully erectfd. The contractor for tho drainage is Mr Hunter, who had tho former drainage contract, which ho has I believe, fioiMied iv a vory satisfactory manner. A/ior tenders for the above had been accep-«'d, a1)a 1 ) indignation meeting was called by a few who seemed to >hiuic that tho bite for the hall as selected by "the Board way not the best. At this nuetiug Mr James Boittie was, I understand, voted to the chair, which ho reluctantly to> k, and explained that he did not con^idiir that the Board had selected the best site fur the hall, urd further, that that body had no right to t-pcculate with the ratcpiyer9' money. 'The'ro w.ro two of our local Oonnnii-bioners present— viz , Mr Joseph Hehen and Mr F. S. Canning. Ihe foimer remained silent the wholo evsninpr, but the latter appeared upon ihe pUtforui in defenco of iho Board, and fully ttated ihe matttr in ditputo. Ho was uf terwards sharply questioned, and was loudly applauded for his straightforward and dr finite replios. The up3hot of the meeting was tho nomiuation of a committee, with instructions to take steps to btop tU« works already lei,. The Committee, I am informed, gut split up amongst themaelves, but ultimately agreed to obtain a legal opinion on the matter, which- they did, and waited upon the Board -at a t-peeial meeting called purposely -with their opnion, and a petition to stop the works. Another petition was handed iv in bupport of the B ard. Tho Hoard replied, as near as I can learn, as follows : -"You have am?ed yourselves with a 1e^.,1 opinion, iv which we (.the Board) aro threatened ui<h purse nal responsibility of the whole cf tho ouUay on tho contracts now lot unless wo at onco stop the works. Stop the works we canno!"., but in order to protect ouvsolveswe slnll simply iiave to take a logal opinion a* to our atitus." '1 ho Board, I leain, bus obtained an opinion horn a Dunedin lawyer which b.n;ka up then- actions. The Town Board's revenue ia a»out £900 per annum, and now that the heavy wotk of 'the town is about o unpletcd, the large revenue avai ablo will coon pay off the debt incurred. Although the hu.'l sito floea not euit me personally, I must admit that the building h very ne'eßsaiy, and was much required I feel satisfud from my inquirios fiom all availablo sources that the only ground for oompaiut is tho question of site for the hall. I am afraid, however, this method of grumbling exists everywhero, and will continue to do so ; in fact it is a Britisher's right to growl, so lob him growl until he is Jbired ... SCHOOL MATTERS.— The school has again opened 1 after tho lengthened holidays, and with a very good attendance. Tho committee's forethought was well timed, and has proved to all thaft their action in closing the school at the time they did wa3 a very Wise one, inasmuch as the children to all appearances have returned to their studies quito eonvaleacant. tALES —I notice that sheep are continuing to command a good price, and aro in demand Cattlo are jjlso selling well. Oats have advauced, too, very considerably. I cannot give you the exact price here just now, buj ' believe thero are very few old oats in the district. Since the Government land sales in this district I have not heavdo^ many farms changing hands, in fact I am given to understand that owing to the Government throwing Mich a lanje extent of land into the market at one time, old holdings have very much depreciated in valuo. This, I presume, will only have a temporary cflocf;. The Railway Hotel (Icite j Oreens') was ccld on 3Kt Janumy to its former own. r, j Mr Thomas Green, at £2500.- Tne property was s-olu I by public auction by Messrs F. S. Canning and Co. j NVellnrock's Club Hotel will be offered for calo by publio auction- by Mossry Greon and Souneaslon ' Friday Krat. This should, be a good speculation for an enterprMng mm with capital. Licencing Commijpiek.— Our e\er paternal .Government' are f/ot qo'titent with the itjliiction contained' jn ' ijbv? U.tts& Licensing App—p.p., t]so superabundance of ' -•-Cuitf £pmmi|ttiees, Jjut thoy now, by a latb hcv.. * •*"*' tfnrti Gore 'from East 'Gore, aud Gazette, hav^ B}a.lqp£- e^pjj ft Separate Mataura and Vt v r **±~ * .ti\\ f

icensing diftritt. lamat a loss to know the cause of all this extra machinery. «'c no doubt shall soon have a committee for each hotel. This last stop will, without doubt, increase rather than decrease the number of hotels, fhe f ooncr we get back to the old system of nominated licensing benche--, with tho local Resident Magistrate as chairman, tho better it will bo Jor all concerned.