LAKE COUNTY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2409, 3 May 1900, Page 31

LAKE COUNTY.

April 28. — At the last meeting of the Lake County Council the vagaries of the glorious institution of local self-government received another illustration. For a number of months p3st rumour has been busy circulating all sorts of flark and gruesome reports about affairs connected with Skipper's bridge, reflecting upon this one and that one in a manrer anything but creditable to a public body. 'Onder the old regime, which came to an end in December Is3t, this one ond that one had apparently no trouble strewing sand in the eyes of the councillors, and the pffairs of the bridge were kept a dead secret. The last county election made a much-desired change in the personnel of the council, and with the change came the desire of knowing all about the secret, and letting the ratepayeis see the position in its true light. About three months ago things between the council and tbe contractor, for the bridge came to almost a dead stop. To prevent a crisis, it was agreed that orders for supplies of material signed by the county engineer and the contractor should be honoured by the county. This was at the January meeting', and it has proved a great mistake. The council there and then should have put its foot down, and insisted upon knowing the urue positions of affairs before committing the ratepayers to unrestricted liabilities. Instead of doing this, a notice' of motion was tabled that the clerk, who is also the engineer, should prepaie a statement of affairs for the next meeting, which was due m March last, the council meeting by the statute every_ alternate month. When the time fo_- the meeting came, the clerk end the chairman took it upon themselves to "postpone the meeting till April, under the plea that there was absolutely no business to transact, which, in the face of the notice of motion lefeirpd to, and another similar nosice, was by no means ir> accordance with facts, and because theie were no funds, the bank having refused to cash any more cheques. This is the explanation given by the chairman, when asked why he postponed the meeting. Could anything be more Gilbertian or Quixotic? Because there were no funds, and the bank had stopped honouring the cheques of the council, there was, in the opinion of the chairman, no need for holding a meeting! An exculpatory motion, which was virtually a vote of censure upon the chairman's action, and during the discussion of which he was rebuked foe unseemly conduct, ivas carried by the chairman's casting vote, he having previously given his individual vote. No Jess exhilaratmgly funny •was the cotidvict of the engineer and clerk. Haying successfully circunrrented the dreaded notice of motion re the bridge, the engineer would have been the cock o' the walk but 'for a letter from the county solicitor asking that warrants for expenditure, etc., be prepaied, wanting to know what progress had been made, and referring to several other matters in connection with che bridge. Thus the skeleton that had just been laid was suddenly resurrected. One of the councillors described tbe council as a "one-horse show," and he might have added that the horse was a dark one!

Scholastic— Householders' meetings for the election of school committees in many instances show that a more than ordinary amount of interest is taken in school matters. The meetings held were numerously attended by householders, a keen interest was taken in the proceedings, and competent and representative committees were elected.

Raits and Mice. — At a time when these old familiar friends are receiving a special ?mouut of attention, without, perhaps, appreciating it much, a few remarks will not be out of place. When the gold digger made his appearance here in 1862 and 1863, the district was swarming with rats, and many good rat stones still survive. So plentiful were the rodents that rat pits furnished an exciting amusement for those taking an interest in the sport. Almost everywhere you could see men with dogs digging up and hunting the pest, and thousands must have been killed every day. After a few years of slaughter, they were reduced to withm bearable bounds, when mice made their appearance for the first time. Since then rats and mice have had their innings in turns, and just now it's mice again that are trumps. Scarcely a rat is seen or heard of, while nearly every house is swarming with mice.

The Weather. — Though the weather is now losing much of. it 3 importance, "the harvest being nearly all secuied, it is an ever-present factor in personal comfort or discomfort. And just now it is the latter. Last Monday a change from the long spell of fine harvest weither set in, and for three days we never got a glimpse of the sun, an occurrence so rare that it deserves to be placed upon record. As a lule, .we get our bad weather in doses of a few hours', or, in bad cases, of a day's, duration. Two or three cloudy days together come once, perhaps, in a decade. Last Thursday night the tempest came to its climax. Eain came down in heavy showers, the rivers quickly rose, and things shaped for a flood, when a sudden fall in the temperature caused the rain to fall as snow upon the hills, where it now lies down to winter level, in a pretty thick coat. In consequence, the temperature is very low, with, a flavoui of winter about it. Yesterday (Friday) morning revealed another fall of snow, lying at our doors to a depth of several inches, all visible country being covered with one white sheet.