Local and General Intelligence.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XIV, Issue 763, 17 August 1881, Page 2

Local and General Intelligence.

Dr Webb announces by advertisement that his address is now "The Cupboard, White-haven-street."

Mr' J. P. Maxwell, General Manager of New Zealand Railways, has resigned h^s appointment, as he purposes proceeding to the Old Country.

Owing to the very favorable return for the first three mouths of the current year, it is now deemed practically certain that the railways will pay 4 per cent, net profit this year.

Lawrence is to have a visit of Kohler's waxworks, a collection said to be varied and interesting, while the performances are enlivened by the musical performances of th e Messrs Kohler and a lady pianiste. The exhibition is at present being shown at Invercargill.

An important feature has been lately added to the Dunstan Hospital. For the future, those requiring to be vaccinated can have the operation performed upon them by Dr Leahy any Thursday. We shall be glad to be able to say the same in connection with the Tuapeka Hospital.

All the cases set down for hearing, with one exception/on Monday last, before E. H. Carew, Esq., were either withdrawn, struck out, or settled out of Court. The one case heard was a claim of £6 10s made by Thomas Anderson against David Francis, judgment for which, was given for the plaintiff, with 12s costs of Court. ,

Despite all that has been said about the unseaworthiness of the barque Splendid, she is proving herself an extremely lucky vessel to her owners. Intelligence has reached Mr Elder of Port Chalmers, her managing owner, that on the 15th of July she had taken two more whales, calculated to yield fully 16 tuns of sperm oil.

Tv/0 of our local " knights of the cleaver '» announce by advertisement important reductions in the price of prime meat on payment of cash over the counter. These reductions will doubtless be received with delight by heads of families, who are not slow, generally speaking, to appreciate— even in the butchery line— the usual concomitant of au active and spirited competition.

An accident, by which a man named Alex. Wylie lost his life, occurred at Port Chalmers on Saturday. Deceased was employed as ship's carpenter on board the Union Co.'s s.s. Hero, which, at the time of the accident, was in the Graving Dock. He was climbing aloft wbnn the wire-strop gave way, and he was precipitated with fearful violence on the deck below, a fall of some 60ft. Death was instantaneous.

On Friday evening, that popular service of song entitled "Eva" will be given in the Town Hall by awell-organised choir, who have devoted many evenings to the perfecting of < the vocal and instrumental selections of music in this very popular service. The connective readings will be given by the Rev. W. Jenner. The tickets have been selling so well that a second supply had to be printed.

The settlers in the neighborhood of Clarksville seem desperately in earnest in their request that a porter be left in charge of the local railway station, which has been closed for several months. At a public meeting held on Saturday last, resolutions were carried affirming the necessity of the appointment of a person to take charge of the station. A draft of a memorial to be submitted to Parliament was brought before the meeting and approved of.

In our supplement, published with this morning's issue, will be found the Public Works Statement and a report of Parliamentary proceedings ; also, interesting articles on the diamond drill, and the small bird pest. Mr Carew's annual report on the Tuapeka and Waikaia Goldfields districts under his charge is also given in extenso. A supplementary report by Mr Carew on the Gabriels Gully Sluicing Company's works will appear in a future issue.

A number of young men, residents of Lawrence, offered their services to the Borough Council on Monday evening to form a Fire Brigade in the event of the Council taking the initiative in the matter. After some discussion it was decided to hold a public meeting to consider the subject. We should say the subject so commends itself that there can be no two opinions upon it. There, are many young men about the town who find it difficult to kill time, and to whom the drill, and. discipline of a Fire Brigade would afford good exercise and an outlet for well-directed energy.

A CORBESPONDRNT writes :— " Can you in" form me if there is any obstacle in the way of School Committees enforcing the compulsory clauses of the Education Act? I ask this question for the simple reason that there are several children in the neighborhood of Tuapeka Flat who are not in the habit of attending school. If the parents can be held responsible and be amenable to the law for such remissnesa of duty on their part, then I think the sooner the compulsory clauses of the Act are brought into active operation the better. It is really disgraceful to see children running about in a semi-savage state, using filthy and disgusting language to people passing along the main road, without being checked in any way by their parents."

A letter was read at the Lawrence Borough Council meeting on .Monday evening from Edward Herbert, Esq., requesting permission to plant trees in Harrington Place. He considered the town backward in the matter of adorning the streets with trees. The offer, we are pleased to state, was willingly excepted, and permission granted. Any person who has visited Ballarat, Victoria, within the past ten years must have been struck with the great beauty which has been imparted to that city by tree-planting. It isnow designated the "Garden City of Victoria." Had trees been planted in some of the streets of Lawrence as was proposed ten years ago, the town would ere this have been greatly adorned. However, better late than never, and we trust to see Mr Herbert's generous example either followed by other priyate gentleman or by the Borough Council,

An accident, which narrowly escaped being of a very serious character, occurred at Manuka Creek on Sunday afternoon. Mr and Mrs J. Wyber were driving home when the horee shied at a wheel-barrow standing by the side of the road and precipitated the vehicle and its occupants down the embankment, The shafts of the trap were broken, and Mrs Wyber somewhat bruised, but fortunately no further injury was done.

In his report to the Goldfields Secretary, which we publish in our supplement this morniug. Mr Carew points out the fact that a large number of Chinese miners manage to evade taking out miners' rights. In the Tuapeka district are 450 Chinese, only 230 of whom have miners' rights ; and' in' the Walkaia~dist;ric n trar<r 253 Chinese, only 47 of whom have rights. A great laxity' therefore'exists in the collection of this tax. One of the police Constables went out to the Beaumont last week and found qufte a bevy of Chinese working on an island a few yards below the punt crossing, only two or three of whom were possessed of miners' rights.

A meeting of the Heriot School Committee was held on the 12th instaut. Members present — Messrs M'Kenzie (chair), Robertson, Kerse, Kerr, Edie, and Barron. The minutes of the previous meeting were confirmed. A letter was received from T. Duckmanton (Secretary to the Heriot Quadrille Club) asking the use of the school for dancing purposes. Proposed svnd sd6onded — ''That ttie use of the school be given to the Quadrille Club for 5s 6d per week, and that it be paid in advance ; dancing not to he continued beyond ten o'clock at night. ''•' Proposed and seconded— " That Messre Barron- and -Robertson be empowered to sign cheques to the end of the year." Resolved —"That the monthly meeting ia future be held on the second Saturday in each month ; next meeting to be on Saturday, the 27th inst., to make arrangements about planting forest trees." Resolved— " That Mr Kerr be instructed to get six window panes and one door lock." A vote to the chair brought the meeting to a close.— As soon as the school meeting closed the Quadrille Club took the use of the school and enjoyed themselves for two hours.

In proposing a vote of thanks to the choir at. the close of Mr Stout's lecture on Friday evening last, the Rev. W. Jenner took advantage of the occasion to make a few remarks bearing upon Congregationalism in the Tuapeka district. When he arrived in Lawrence as successor to the late Mr Menzies, he was told that Lawrence was over-churched and over-publichoused ; and it was hinted that he was not needed. But when he remembered that the good man he had succeeded had labored in the district for a period of eleven years, and had always taken a lively interest in its welfare, and when he further kept in view the fact that the first site for a Church in Lawrence was purchased by a Congregationalist and act apart for that purpose, he thought it would be admitted that : Congregationalists had a good claim upon the district. On the present occasion, in asking the public to assist them in contributing towards a liability which had been incurred by the Church Committee as one of the conditions upon which he agreed to come here — viz., the building of a parsonage — he thought it would be agreed the Committee had given the audience its moneys worth and a great deal more in the lecture that Mr Stout had kindly delivered.

A meeting of the Lammerlaw District Rabbit Trustees was held in the Victoria Hotel on Friday evening. There were present — Messrs Henry, Margetts, . Buchanan, and Cummings. Mr Henry was called to the chair. The object the Trustees had in view in meeting together was to consider their position and decide upon what action they should take. The rabbit nuisance was daily on the increase, and seeing they had been elected as trustees for the Lammerlaw district their desire was to adopt buoli measures as were within their power to eradicate the pest. After some conversation, it was resolved to represent their case to the Government, and to telegraph for copies of the Bill introduced into Parliament so that they might ascertain whether it interfered in any way with the duties of trustees. They also desired to know whether if they levied a rate and appointed au inspector they would render themselves iv any way personally liable. The acting Clerk was also requested, iv sending the telegram, to put the case in as strong a light as possible, seeing the matter was of the greatest urgency. If more than another month elapsed the time when the poisoning of the rabbits was mpst efficacious would be almost past. If the Bill now before Parliament does not interfere with the functions of the trustees, and they find they are possessed of all necessary powers, they are determined to prosecute their duties with vigor.

A meeting of the Waitahuna Farmers' Club was held at Havelock last Saturday evening. Ten members were in attendance, iucluding the President (in the chair), Vice-President, and Secretary. Several matters of importance to the Club were discussed. It was resolved that a quantity of phosphorous be obtained in order that experiments may be tried in the direction of suppressing the small bird nuisance. It was further resolved that (he member for the district (Mr Brown) be communicated with asking his aid and assistance towards introducing a measure, based on similar lines to the Rabbit Nuisance Act, making it imperative that landowners take prompt and decisive action towards the destruction of such birds as sparrows and gieen linnets. The Secretary was instructed to request the co-operation of the Tuapeka Agricultural and Horticultural Society in the matter, so as to impress on Mr Brown more forcibly ■ the urgent necessity of some legislative action in the matter being taken. — [In our supplement will be found a brief synopsis of a Bill introduced into Parliament by Mr Saunders, entitled " The Protection of Crops Bill." The purport of the Bill is that County Councils and Road Boards may apply as much of their funds as either body may deem necessary " towards the destruction of any kind or kinds of birds or animals which by their increase have become or threaten to become injurious to crops of any kind." Such a measure in the event of it; becoming the law of the land), we should imagine, would be hailed with satisfaction by the farming community. Possibly a clause of the nature of that indicated by the Waitahuna Farmers' Club re the propriety of compelling landholders to take steps to destroy the small birds could be inserted in Mr Saunders'Bill/]