TUAPEKA COUNTY. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Otago Witness, Issue 1751, 13 June 1885, Page 14

TUAPEKA COUNTY. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Obituart. - The 3'idden death of Mr G F. C. Browno. one ot t' c oldist residents of Tuap-kn, and a worihy man in every re'pesr, threw qutto a gloom ovar Lawrence Ia t Friday. Mr Browne had been under medical treatment for some tirao for hewt dis'a«e so that he himstl! wai quite a'Ue to the fact tha" hts end would probably be uudden Not very lmig ago he ha<i to be carried home, having fallen down In a fi". or f>»iat, a*id o'ten pecuM'ir turns c^ins cv r him. He was quite as well on the evening preceding nil donth as ha had b°ea fir some time p«svlouß, and purticufsuly cheerful Ho wsnt to b->d as usual, but through the night hi 5 ) wife noticed him breathing tn a peculiar manner, and failing to waken him, struck a light, wh"ii she found h m expiring. The do 'tor was immediately s=nt for, but Mr B owne w»s then silent in the pleop tbat knows no waking Although his death came a? a great shock to his family, still to him it was pain'es I*.1 *. Ho simply fell asleep from failure of the heart's action. "He leaves a widow and family. 8 >me of wh »m are grown up to man's estate behind him ; aud the universal respect of all with whom he ca ne in contact w>ll c'ing to his name. He wl 1 ba missed in seve'ul public bodies In which he took an active intor"st, »nd his rnoßt intiimia Sr'w di will "liis Hm for the sun hino which he c wiled with him whithersoever ha wont. He was a naivo of adliwjrthv-, D- von hire, and sen of Mr John Colli is Browm He came to Vi;tcrU in v:62, to Now JSoi'.a id in 1881, when ho settled at Waitahuna, where he ro«ided for 16 yearp. He a'terward-. removed tb l<awronce wbero he has llvd for about nl m i ea's. during which t me he hag aafure v apncland himielf with every movemeot' y/Qfch tended t)bai ofiio tbe people among whom he dwelt. 11 0 wai the very life of the Parliamentary Union wh'eh wijl misa h,is fpiri'ed deb it e very much. Full of Idens and origloailty, he was always planning somoih'ng nrw and uoeful i» connection yfltb the management of local in'tltiniona. AH will unite in Baying that in the death of Mr Browne Lawrence has been deprived pf her best public man. Hia funeral

on Sunday w.xs tbe largest that ever passed through ' a.'.rence- being tweikd by hrge 'nuuibtri from ih^ country districts a.l around. Mr Broivne wa^j we 1 known by everybo;iv in and arouni Lawronce, and he was co well Hksd that as many ai cmld came to pay thai at tribute of ro? ;eet to hij numory. All thq malp inhabitants of L .wrencn tamed out, with oao n-table exception, b it aa the act of this individntl U even beneath coa'.OJipt, I will make no «3mmeut upon ic.

(•"oijool Matters -There have been some chvigei i.f tuichc-rj ftir^u^houft the diabri.t Utelv, notably at Waitahuna. Owing to the r -s!gn»,t.ii->n of Mf aod Mrs Aud'>rson, who hava gone to. Wa'pukutau, in the Ha.fk ' i B,iv d att ict fherowTe two » aimciea in the '^aitahuna Oully school, M'Cloe:, of Loveli'a Plat, rcce vad too app)intmoitof tno hpadm» j fer'B pisition and Mi 3 R bertson, who has ju«t completed her ap-preufttee-'hip aS the L iwreno-i Dutrict High School was ap ointed mistrss^. Miss Kolly reigned as mistre ; s of the WaU-vhuna school, and Mi-s Dale, lately a pupil traeher io the William atreet school, Dunedin. secured tho p>->s ! tlon The appointment has caused great dissatisfactiin a'- W&itahiina, or rather, I should gay, tha manner of the appointment, as no exception is taken co the you or lady. The committee somehow came to hear that thero wore 16 appl-catiom seat to the Boaivl although fn'y eight, of the-e mnhed tho comnsitfeee. Th* pecilUr do»ling of tho Boird in this miter waa the subject of a ve*y animaiel 6i cus3ion at a recent meeting of the school c^mralttea, who cond:mnnd the Board's sckon very sDrongly ; but as fcho appointment ha I boon made, the majority of tho mam hers doomed It advi-jahle to let tho matter drop. This is tT be ragrotted, ai abuse? of the kind are by no mean 3 new tr> the connn'ttaes of Tuapeka. In fact, the manner ia which appointments a r e fixed np by the Board, or more properly noeaking, by certain mombnrs of the Board poi&t to 'he urgent necessity for a clearer definition of t-he powers and prtvilpges of commlttoes in the mitter. la the caw in quaatlon tho rfoard drew the line at B 3, and now ib id diaoubod whether tho young lady appointed actually hold) that qual'fi cation t'ne opinion of thn-people in the di3tric3 whence the pffair ncjurred is that tho line of action pursued was d liber *tely planned to sbud out Hiss Ou ialllo, a teachc- who Ikw earned her qualification!) by good work, and who only holds an Xi conificate. Now, when the diSarence b-twean K3 and K4 i« taken Into account, the Committee would be perfectly justified in selectIng the teacher whose ability had buea guuaate.d by adequate trial. Wh«e/or conclaslon ouwidsrs may come to, it i< qulto we'l known at Waitahuna who-e hand is visible in the whole shaiy transaction. That sehod appointments should thus be manipulated by the Board members to suiti their cwa private ends is a vioiaiton of tho spirit of tio ed'icitio i Act, and altogether uifair to the boiy of teachers If tho Board means t > ride roughshod over every appearance ot decency, let it take the bull by the horm and uppiin*. it 3 profioge3 to tha schoola without performi >g t*ie absurdity of advertising and consulting the O'/mmitteeq

New Flour Miiib.— The building of tho Tnapeka MU'iiig Company's flour mll is rapidly approaching completion, and as soon as p.isible the michlnerv will bs placed In position. The wnter-ruce U beiopr cut to Jift the tail water coiog to waste in Gabrlel'a Gully. Tha m >chinery wi.l bo diven by a breast-wheel. It is unlikely tbat any v gristing will bo done thia soason, as before everything ia iv going order tha gram koisou will be over Thia is to bs ruurretliod, aa a largo amount of capital wi'l thus be lying idle fir cearly a yeir. " Siill opinion was s ) d.vided that it took a long time to gat a committee of tho public to work in harrmny; and when it wis definitely deui ied to or ct a mill h is a pity that tha matter wa> not left the/c for six or eight months lonser. However, there iaiufh6 b.i some wledom in strikiug whilo the inn ia hot, and the mill will ba all ready for next season's gran.

Grain Traffic 'lbs ba'l abate of the roads nearly put ft stop to rhi gran trafli:, bu 1 ; hince the recenJ fi-30 weather the condition of tho road-ih>B i«'>rove'i In a marked do^ree.anl gran cardng is gointr on rapidly. At the present rate a'l tho grain will be eiihar s"nb off to Dune;lln or stored up in Lawrence. The yields ot bifch oat? and wheat Iwve bson very high tnroughoufi the distrioti tho farmer in B>me ciaos avoraring over 90 bushels to the acre.

Misixq. — The WeMie gronej Ce'nent Oomoany is flliill une-.rthmg a fa rshvro of golden treasure, hav.ng obtained as much a 150 z for four and ahalf week"' cru'hnig. Th=y are blocking out thiir bottom stuff, a-id while that continues the mine will p\y, but it is qaasfcionvile if id wdlafcorA-arii. Thismieem-iloys mire labour than any wthor in the di trict, having 2. Ms at work in the meauti io. The Gabriels Tailing. Compa y has not yet su-jesedjd in repairing the dimi s e to tin taihuce; aid it is now oily to > pain fully ipparont that the rrnnagem^n l ; mado a tremandiua mistake ia not piling tho tailings oa either side, a-id so leaving an opeu wn-y behind them, instead of fl li'ig up th^ whole !?uliy tj tho old level Some HMualilo:i i^ threateoed batween this company and tho Q eit Fxtif-niled rompauy, at Blueapur. The Tailings Company ha 3 appliadfor an ir junction to prohibit the Ore it lixCo ided Oonapiny from flaudiDg thoir workings with tiii wa^er, so that there is trouble hrewing. The dred^eson the C.'utlia are still getting gold in rayal/lo qiantioie^, a'thousih no great dividends may be looked tut Kteswhe.-e throughout tha district mining is very quiet.