LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 274, 1 May 1873, Page 5

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Thi Provincial Council meets' 'on Tuesday next, the 6th fnst. Bodlton And party after eighteen months hard work bringing up a tailrace to their claim Ltnnnerlaw Creek, about a mile from the township of Waipori, have struck splendid gold, and are likely to reoeive a handsome reward for their labor. Thb rumor that Mr. Nippon, who lately proceeded to England, is Arthur Orton, the " Cromwell *Argus" states has no foundation whatever. IK another column will be found the particulars of an inquiry into the death of a man named David Jones, who has been for several years mining at WaiporU Mr.. Dickson, of the Diggers Rest Hotel, Waipori load, who was well acquainted with deceased, states that he was an honest, hard-working man, but very poor. All the gold he has got for the last six months only amounted to £3 17s 6d. • The only property he leaves, consists of a tent, a few articles of elotbing, and a share in a very poor claim. He is not known to have any relatives in the country. ON Thursday and Friday there was a steady down-pour of rain, gladdening the heart! of miners and encouraging smiles to the faces of farmers. Races are now running full, and long uspended work resumed in many claims. Flour most be very cbeap, or the spirit of competition very strong, in the rival bakers of Balclutha and Kaitangata. who are offering 41b lo»f at 6d. It will be observed by oar advertising columns that Mr. Oapstiok's sale of Mr. John Martin's property at the Woolshed, has been unavoidably postponed till the lfitta. May, instead of the 2nd as previously advertised. THE specifications of contracts for the Tuapeka ' Railway are lying for inspection at the Lawrence Athensum. Last week endeavors to amalgamate several of the Blue Spur claims were made under the auspices of Mr. W. S. Douglas, of Dunedin. with what success we are unable to say. Thi paragraph anent red-tapeism, which appeared in oar last issue, had no reference to the Government offices tt Lawrence or Roxburgh. THlasjfiynonthly meeting of the Tuapeka HosphtSo^mti&ee was held on Tuesday evening. Present! Mr. Pyke, R.M., President* Harrop, Hayes, Hills. .Armstrong, Jeffery, and Arbuckle. Dr. Stewart was also in attendance. , The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. The Visiting Committee's report was received and adopted, On the motion of Mr. Armstrong, seconded by Mr. Harrop. it was resolved to call in and print the annual lists. The sub-committee previously appointed to revise the rules, having reported that there were none te be found, were re-appointed to prepare a code. The Committee then adjourned.

Thi fortnightly reading! will talc* place to night, at the Mhoolhouse, Wetherstones. , Thb Moond of the series of the Lawrence winter evening reading! will take place tomorrow night. Who ii reaponaible for the arrangement by which the Wetbentonee and Lawrence winter evening entertainment! fall together so awkwardly f Cannot aome arrangement be arrived at by which these entertainments should take place on alternate weeks? We recommend the respective Committee! to take this matter into their aerioni consideration without delay, and endeavor, by a little sensible concession on each side, to come to some reasonable arrangement whereby the two entertainments shoold not mar each other's success. Owing to the incessant down-poor of rain there was a very small attendance at the meeting convened for Thursday night last, at the Lawrence Athesenum, for the purpose of taking into consideration the desirability of forming a Polycultural Sooiety. Dr. Halley was voted to the chair, and, after making a few introductory remarks, called on Mr, Fyke, R.M., as the con- ! vener of the meeting, to explain the object of the proposed Association. Mr. Pyke asked whether, considering the paucity of the attendance, it was worth while entering into the matten He was, however, quite prepared to go j on if the meeting so desired*. The Association i.he proposed was one that should embrace | those engaged in culture of all classes and grades. By combining, it would be possible to get up two very good shows during the year. | There was no district that required such an Association more than Tuapeka: Although it was the oldest goldfield in the province, it was far behind im matters pertaining to cultivation. He intended to make an effort to encourage progress in this direction, in which he hoped the people would take an interest and support him. After some conversational discussion, the meeting, was adjourned till this (Thursday) evening. The following are the successful tenderers for the supply for the police department upon the goldfielda during the ensuing year ;- Lawrence, James Harris ; Clyde, B. Naylor ; Orom- j well, Jolly and Co. ;* Blacks, Hugh Sinnamon ; Alexandra,' James Eivers ; Roxburgh, Edward Tubman ; Arrow, R. Pritchard ; Queenstown, Hallenstein and Co. ; Naseby, R. Keenan ; Macraas, William Elliott ; St. Bathans, Thou. Mcc ; Switzers, Phillip -Hill ; Waitahuna, A. j M'Corkindale ; Waipori, Cotton and Henry ; ! Cardrona, John Kerin. The prices in these tenders vary considerably. Cardrona tops the lot for high prices, 4s. 9d. being demanded for oats and £7 a ton for straw. There are no tenders for hay or chaff from that place. For hay Alexandra and Arrow stand highest, £7 per ton being the contract price. For chaff Alexandra is again the highest at £7 per ton. Naseby is the highest for bian, 3s. per bushel* The locality where the lowest prices are charged is Lawrence— where oats are to be sup* plied at 2s. 4d. per bnshsl ; oaten hay at £3 per ton : straw, £1 2s. 6d. per ton : and bran, £4 ss. per ton. 'It is somewhat singular that the tenders for Lawrence should be on the whole oonsidentbly lower than that for supplying tbff purely agricultural districts of Otago proper. The station at Biverton is being supplied cheapest with oats, the price there being Is. 9d. ; but the prices for hay, bran, chaff, and straw are much higher than at Lawrence. Tuapeka seems to be attracting attention among the " powers that be." Last week the Hon. Mr. Richardson visited the district, and now we have had the honor of a /visit from the Hon. J. Bathgate, Minister of Justice. Mr. Bathgate arrived in Lawrence on Sunday evening, and took his departure on Wednesday morning. On Monday he viMted the Blue Spur; and on Tuesday he was driven out to the Beaumont, The visitor expressed great surprise at the size and prosperous apperance of Lawrence; the amount of agricultural settlement ; and the magnitude of the Blue Spur workings. On Monday he was entertained at a dinner by a few citizens. ' Mr.* Bathgate expressed himself in favor of turning the Courthouse into a postoffice, and of erecting a new Courthouse, also a gaoli The time for receiving tenders for the construction of a bridge overat the Molyneux at the Beaumont has been extended to Saturday, the 10th instant. The following are the numbers of the civil and criminal oases heard in the Resident Magistrate's Court, Lawience, for the years ending 31st March, 1872 and 1873 respectively. Civil I cases quarter ending 30th June, 1871—78 ; quarter ending 30th September, 1871-69; quarter ending 31st December, 1871—71; quartee ending 31st March. 1872-68, Total, 286. Quarter ending 30th June, 1872-73; 30th September, 1872—120: 31st December, J872-76 ; quarter ending March, 1873 T B2. I Total, 35L Criminal cases for 1871-2, as before stated, 27, 34, 35, 43. Total for 12 months, 139-A For 1872-3-37, 59, 58, 62. Total, 226. The amount sued for on the civil side during 1872-3, approaches £4000. ' Fboh our advertising columns, it will be observed that "Messrs Hayes and Arbuckle, auctioneers, will offer for sale to-morrow, at the Tuapeka Hotel, Tuapeka Flat, some splendid draught horses and a large number of cattle. On Saturday they will offer for public competition, the Masonic Hotel, Ross Place, with stock, furniture and fittings connected therewith, and the valuable section of kind on which it is situated. We have no doubt there will be keen bidding for this most eligible site. Messrs Shepherd and Brighton, arbitrator and umpire, have awarded Mr J. D. Feraud £200 for his improvement! on the land held by him in the Waikeri Valley, Dunstan, under tbeagricul" tnral lease cancelled by Government. Mr. Feraud claimed £1000. Mb. T. L. Shephkbd, M.H.R. for the Dun* stan, addressed a meeting of bis constituents at Drybread, on the 26th inst. At the conclusion, a vote of confidence was unanimously passed in Mr. Shepherd.

A deputation of the committee of the proposed Volunteer Company, consisting of Messrs Jamison, Harrop, Arbuckle, and Barns, waited upon the Hon. J. Bathgate, Minister of Justice, on Tuesday morning last, for the purpose of endeavoring to elicit from him what probability there would be of the Government ao cepting the services of the proposed corps, and also if possible to enlist his influence in favor of that object. J. C. Brown, Esq., M.H.R., introduoed the deputation. Mr. Jamison briefly stated the efforts that had already been made to form a volunteer corps in Lawrence. He said that two years ago a memorial had been forwarded to the Government, praying that they would be pleased to accept the services of the Tuapeka Rifle Company, which prayer was refused. A memorial was forwarded from Lake Wakatip about the same time, which was also refused. A second memorial was sent from Queenstown about two months ago, and the Government had now signified their acceptance of the Queenstown Volunteer Corps. Mr, Jamison thought that in doing uo, the Government could scarcely refuse to [gazette the Law rence Company ; but he would like to hear what Mr. Bathgate had to say upon the subjeot. Mr. Bathgate said that he looked upon the Volunteer force of the colony as. perfectly useless for any practical purpose, and thought it was high time the constitution of the force was altered, so as to take a more practical shape. He would like to see the Volunteer force of the colony so organised that when volunteers were ordered to attend certain[drills, they would be compelled to comply. What New Zealand|wanted was a body of men trained principally to the use of artillery, who would be serviceable in repelling the attacks of any privateer that might think it worth its while, in time of war, to attack the large towns on the seaboard of -the colony. The only useful arms in the service were the artillery and and naval brigade; the other companies were nothing more or less than shooting clubs. A new Volunteer Act would be brought forward at the ensuing sitting of the General Assembly, much more stringent than the one at present in operation, and he would advise the deputation to wait until they had an opportunity of seeing the provisions of this proposed new Act before they forwarded their application. In order to make the Volunteer force of the colony useful, he thought that instead of each company drilling two nights a week, if all the companies in each province were called together each year, in one central town, and there drilled in a body for about fourteen days, the colony would then have a tody of men whom they could depend upon in the hour of need. The deputation then thanked Mr. Bathgate for his courtesy, and withdrew.