Local Intelligence.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XI, Issue 792, 20 July 1878, Page 2

Local Intelligence.

Parliament meets on Friday next. A special Riverton telegram to the " Morn- , lag Herald," says that Hayes' shaft has, been publicly opened, and that it is a wonderfully rich reef. The sittings of the {District Court of the Otago Goldfields for each year are fixed as follows :— Lawrence— R.M., Court, 20th February; 17th April; 19th June; 23rd August ; 16th October, and 17th December. .'ln the Warden's Court, yesterday, Robert Gaun's and William Cumminga' applications for leases were granted. The application of M. Coxon and others for a mining lease was ad" journed till surveyed. Oob Waitahuna correspondent writes : —The fields are still with snow, and hard frost is stopping -all kinds of agricultural work. The winter is very severe on cattle and sheep, MesSbs Gonn aw Spencb, notify that the Lawrence coal pit is again in full working order, and that they are prepared to supply any Quantity of lignite superior tp ,any yet offered' in the district. The jirices; oaye been lowered to almost exclude any outside competition. The Australians at Home, in their match . against the Leicester Eleven, made 130 in their first, and 230 in their second innings.' C. Bannerman made 133 in the second innings. The game was won by eight wickets. Bannerman's batting irspoken of as superb. There was an attendance of 14,000 visitors. A meeting of the Cemetery Trustees was held on. Wednesday evening at the close of the Borough Council's proceedings. PresentMessrs Williams (Chairman), Jeffery, Tolcher, Miller, and Anderson. The balance-sheet for the year ended 31st Mafsh was read and adopted. In accordance with notice of motion previously given, it was decided unanimously to increase the sexton's salary to the sum of £25 per annum. The remainder of the business transacted was unimportant. At the Tuapeka Road Board meeting, held yesterday, afternoon, it was decided to employ two surfacemen to keep the roads of the district in repair and to carry out any works whicli the Board thought requisite. Mr Thomas Wilson was appointed at 93. a day, and Mr Allen Mitchell at 8s a day. There were two tenders lodged for the road— Waipori Junction through Wetherstones — one being from James Russell, and the other from James Crawford, the former being the lowest ; but both were, considered too high, and ordered to lie over for the present. For the Breakneck contract, there were four tenders as follows : — Henry, Detert, £197 15s ; John Crawford, £191 ss*; Anderson and Brunton, £187 10s ; John Joyce, £167 ss. The last-named being the lowest tender was accepted,

Fbom the " Tapanui Courier" we learn that Messrs Bremner and Washer of Tapanui are selling the 41b loaf at 6d. The prospecting shaft being sunk by .Messrs Brown and Gascoigne has reached ajUpth of about 70 feet, and it is expected thajpit will go another 20 feet before the reef is Reached. They have passed throught 9 or 10 feet of splendid cement from which grand prospects were obtained. . ' The Gift Auction on behalf of the Tuapeka Cricket Club Recreation Fund, wa3 heLl yeßterday afternoon, and may be said to have been an unqualified success. Th^e attendance was good and the bidding spirited. The goocls offered for sale were of a* very miscellaneous description as all such similar auctions are, and Mr Hayes had his work cut out for him lor,, several hours. The amount realised was over £30 which will go far to carry out the improvements the Club have undertaken. The half-yearly change of chairs in Court Tapamd/AO.F;, No; 6129, «obkr.pla*e}at last meeting. f Bro. F. Knowles was elected C?.R. ; Bro. Bridgeman, S.C.R. ; Bro.' W. C. Dale, Secretary; Bro. . C. Emery,; .S.W. ; Bro. A. Averton, J.W. : Bro. J. Brownie. S. B. ;JJro. Millen, J.B. The retiring officers .were Bro. W. Box, P.C.R. ;Bro F. Xnowles, S.C.R, ; Bro. W. C: Dale, Secretary. , A hearty vote of thanks was accorded, to the retiring officers for their services. ' • ' ■ , A t,aboe addltlou to 'the live' stock of the Waitahuna district, was recently made in the shape of trout for the river. These were liberated in the Waitahuna river on Friday last by Mr Deane, of the Acclimatisation Society, accompanied by the Rev. J. Skinner, and Messrs J. Sutherland and R. Coghill. The trout consisted of six large ones, measuring over two feet in length, and several hundred smaller ones. This is the third lot now liberated in the river, and from recent observations all seem to be doing' well. The friends of the late Mp Robert Craig, who, it will be remembered, met his death by violence at Smithfield, Queensland, some months ago, will be glad to hear that, though his policy of assurance with the Australian Mutual Provident Society for £500 had lapsed some weeks Before his death, the directors of the society have most liberally made a gift of £400 to his widow, for investment under trus[teeSJ forthe sole benefit of herself and children. When it is considered that Mr Craig, at/ the time of his death, had been a member of the society for less than three years, this generous act" (remarks a Queensland Journal) speaks well for the liberal management of the Australian Mutual Provident Society. Thb burning of Mr' John Cameron's stable at Spylaw'is referred to by the "Tapanui ■Courier" as follows :— The origin, of the con-, flagration cannot be traced: as no person had been in the building from dinner time until smoke was observed coming from the stable. The only suggestion is that the fire was caused by vermin, as Mr Cameron has not the slightest suspicion of foul play. Any efforts to extinguish the fire were quite unavailing, as a strong wind was blowing at the time. Mr J. Cameron was insured for £150 in the Victoria office, but he ; i8 a heavy loser, as a large quantity of grain was irtored in the building, and all the harness, tools, and little odds and ends, were also on the premises. A chaff cutter was also destroyed. "~ Lawrence has— shall we say^-suffered, during the present winter season from an almost entire absence of entertainments. A good attendance may "therefore be expected on Monday and Tuesday evenings to see and hear " The Infant Wonder Troupe "—the Elder Brothers, who are advertised >to. perform 4n_. the Town Hall on these. eveninp. Master A. Elder is described by the Dunedin Press as a boy of six, years, who.supplies the lion's share 1 of the programme. He sings with correctness, dances with, precision, and gives negro delineations. His brother, a boy of nine years, is a clever comic singer, acrobat, and clog' dancer. Mr J. Elder, though the possessor of but one leg 1 , is spoken of, by the Dunedin. "Age" as a most expert and agile gymnast, and- the feats he performs could not be excelled. Another member of the company is Mr J. M'Guiness, whose solos on the" violin "bring down the house." Not the least attractive portion of the evening's 1 excitement is the distribution .of gifts at the close of the entertainment. A deputation has waited upon the Mayor of Tapanui, asking him to call s public meeting to consider the advisability of establishing a "small cottage hospital" or "fever ward" in the [district. The Mayor stated that in his opinion it was rather premature to establish an institution of the kind, but as it it would 1£ -advisable to obtain publio opinion on the matter, he would call a publio , meeting, due notice •of which would be- given. It was .stated by , one of the deputationists that there was a small sum in Tapanui that had been collected for hospital purposes, and some- people thought that it ought to be sent to the Tuapeka institution, whilst others desired that it should remain as a nucleus tif a local fund. Our Tapanui friends will pardon us in saying a word on this matter, but, really, if they will kindly take into considerrtion the low state of the Tuapeka Hospital funds, they, would confer a blessing on poor suffering humanity by sending the small amount they have in hand to the Treasurer of that institution. The present winter has' been an unusually severe one, and the funds have never been in such a deplorable state. Mb John.J. Woods, whose musical composition "The New Zealand National Anthem " has been so favorably reviewed by _ the Press, received the following letter from the Premier, Sir George Grey, a few days ago 1 : — " Dear Sir, — I feel very much obliged to you for the copy of the National Anthem of New Zealand which you have been so good as to send me, thcmusic of which I was very 'anxious to get, .believing it to be a composition of considerably more than ordinary merit. lam sorry you did not attach your name to the copy, or did not accompany it with some piece of writing I might have put up with it, for I am fond of preserving such things as memorials of the early days of the Colony, and they give great vahie to any work one may place in one's library. Still, I am grateful to you for forwarding me the music, which I had expressed so much anxiety to obtain, and of which I was assured I should receive a copy when the work arrived from England., Hoping that I may have the pleasure of meeting you again on some future day, believe me to be, yours very truly, G-. Grey." —The following communication has also been received by Mr Woods :— " Since I wrote to you thanking you. for sending me the New Zealand Anthem, ~l{ have received your letter telling me you had sent the Anthem. I am- very much obliged to you for your letter, which supplies what I wanted. Let me tell you something. Arridt, the composer of the German National Anthem, before he died, Bent me the score and the words of the Anthem in his own'handwriting. This is now regarded by all Germany as a great and valuable curiosity, and I have had many applications made to me to return it to Europe. It is now at Kawau., Could I get the original score and the original words of the New Zealand Anthem to put at the aide of this curiosity ? I have also a copy of "Die Wachtam Rhine," presented to me by the composer ; he at the same time wrote to say he was §0 ill that 'he had not strength to write the whole thing, put for me, and he diedshortly afterwards', but even what I have, is, toi me, a very valuable reminiscence of a great genius.— Believe me, very truly yours, G. Gbbt."

V * V * t A Ptfe^meltjng waahelS&feA-thenseuia ( Waitdbana Gully ) on the 'eiuW of the 10th July to hear the report of tWaitahnna Athenaeum Committee, and to tet a committee for the ensuing twelve monti Mr Ferria occupied the chair. The minut of » former public meeting were read and dfirmed. The report showed that, with the {lance of L 44 i► °i fl-jff y 1877 » the «*eiP U P *° July Ist, 1878, amounted to LlO9 19 6d. The ex- - ? ( iftl l i^ e ini r th ? i* me Period amounted to L16112sl0d; overdraft at ban, L 54 7s Bdfc cashiu treasurer's hands, L21381d: liabilities to July lat, Lsl 13s 4d! Tbis£rge expenditure mo wing to the improveronte connected *qUM£the Athenaeum. The valte of books in the library is L 204 232 3 3d. It was proposed, i^-iSiv c^&^y^« £ pointed fo/ the ensuing year— three to form * quocum. ■ The following were appointed to act : — Messrs Ferris, Nass, Johnston, J'uldseth, .Hanaen. Bjorng.iard,- «ndaß»rthwick. . A vote oi thanks to the Chairmp* closed the meeting. — The new Committee le *d a meeting afterwards, when Mr Ferris w** appointed Chairman of Committee ; Mr BjjSsen, Treasurer; Mr Borthwick, Secretajfjf *no Messrs Nass, Fuldseth; and Bforns»»rd, Auditors—the books to be audited qw^"y« M * M'Kenzap'a account of Ll4, for »ew «**» de- ' livered on the 4th July, was i*ssed for payment. This cloßed.tha meet^P. An announcement appp*red in our last issue staling that thelsxecu*ve bf the Grand I^odge of New Zealand, Soatb,- purposed visiting the Lawrence Lodge, 1.0. G.T., on Motaday next, and that a public meeting would be held in the Town Hall, at 8 o'clock, when an. address would be delivered by >Mr J. W.- Jjago<; on the subject of "Temperance." The Hall, we are informed was engaged in the usual w»y,jMid as .we Have stated a public announcement was made oi the. meeting. On/Thurdd»jr evening the agent o£ the "Infant Wonder, jTroupe," wanted to engage the Hall for Monday: and Tuesday .evenings. He was led to believe by the Town Clerk that he could get' the Ball on those evenings, but on the foDoWinfr itforiiing, the agent had heard that the HaM-had been previously engaged for Monday. He, however, went and proffered payment, and: received a receipt for the lease of the .Hall, for the two evenings mentioned. The Gool| Templars were thus thrown overboaril. They t had not paid the rent in advance^ but tfiey 'had nevertheless, to all intents and puspSes engaged the Hall and publicly notified the lecture by Mr Jago. This transaction does not redound much to the credit of rour.city magnates or to the manner in which their omcialstranß* act the Corporation business. Surely a local body is deserving of some considerdtion. The argument that payment for the Hall should be made in advance while applying to a strolling party, can hardly be said to apply with equal force .to a local Society, which by, the way is' a -'.tenant of -the. Corporation. ' As it happens, we dp not suppose the good Templars' will lose anything by the treatm^ntSthey have received, for the School Gommitteß*ave generously placed at their disposal the old school building where it is announced- the^leo ture will be delivered. :*: * ,„■