Local and General Intelligence

Tuapeka Times, Volume XV, Issue 832, 5 April 1882, Page 2

Local and General Intelligence

The Trustees beg to acknowledge the receipt of £2 2s from Mr James Smith of Greenfield, and also £1 from Mr F. Nicoll of Lawrence, on behalf of the Norten Relief Fund.

It is stated that His Excellency Sir Arthur Gordon intends "to pay a visit to Dunedin of some two or three weeks' duration after the opening of the Christchurch Exhibition.

Our Tuapeka West correspondent informs us that all grain crops there are in the stack, and that the farmers are anxiously waiting for the thresher. Threshing operations have been commenced at the lower end of the settlement.

It is notified in our advertising columns that the County Ranger, for the convenience of cattle-owners, will visit the various townships throughout the district during the ensuing week, for the purpose of receiving depasturing applications for transmission to the County Clerk.

A lad named Love, aged 15, while oul rabbiting a few days ago along with his father, Mr Robert Love, of Ida Valley, accidentally shot himself. It appears that the deceased slipped and fell while going down a sidling, and the gun he was carrying went off, the charge lodging in the abdomen. Death occurred an hour afterwards. -i

"We again reuiiud those more immediately interested that the sale of the deferred-payment sections recently applied for on run 106, for which more than one application was lodged, takes place at the Lawrence Courth -use this afternoon at two o'clock. The bidding, in terms of clause 54 of the Land Act, 1876, will be limited to the applicants for the respective sections.

An effort, we learn, is to be made this year to iuduce the storekeepers of Liwrence to cooperate for the purpose of closing their stores on Monday next (Easter Monday.) Heretofora, for some unaccountable reason, this has not been the practice. It is to be hoped the agitators may be successful in their efforts, as Easter Monday is a generally recognised holiday elsewhere.

The service of song " Christies Old Organ " is announced to te given in the Town Hall this evening at eight o'clock ; a " Harvest Home, 1 ' taking the form of a soiree, concert, and dance, will also be held in the Tuapeka Flat schoolhouse this evening, tea being laid on the tabled at seven o'clock ; and to-morrow evening, at the same hour, the anniversary of the Loyal Blue Spur Lodge, M.U.1.0.0.F., will be celebrated by the customary soiree, and ball.

The complete returns of the poll taken on Monday for Browns Licensing District, to ascertain if the ratepayers there weie favorable t> au increase of pu'olicaus 1 licenses or the granting of accommodation licenses, have not yet come to hand. The polling at Evans Flat was as follows :— For an increase of publicans licenses, 1 vote ; against, 6 votes. la favor of granting accommodation licenses, 6 ; against, 0. The Tuapeka West returns are yet to come in.

A MAN named Alexander Borthwiuk, formerly a resident of the Beaumont, met with a serious accident on Monday morning at M'Ginty's contract, Millers Flat. He was engaged withdrawing a charge of powder which had (in mining parlance) "hung fire," when an explosion occurred, and the unfortunate fellow received the full effects of the charge about the face, chest, and hands. Both his eyes were buuged up, and as inflammation has set in, it is impossible to say whether he will recover his sight or not. Borthwick was conveyed shortly after the occurrence to the Tuapeka Hospital, where he is receiving careful treatment at the hands of the Resident Surgeon.

A correspondent has communicated with us on the subject of the delivery of telegraph messages at Waitahuna, complaining against the present system. He states that one day last week, at ten o'clock iv the morning he left a message at the Lawrence office for transmission to Waitahuna, which was promptly despatched. After having been away, however, till the next morning, the message wa3 returned, with the intimation that the person to whom it was addressed could not be found. Our correspondent says the person to whom he forwarded the telegram is an old and wellknown resident of Havelock township, and the message was one of great importance. This, apparently, is another instance corroborative of the parsimonious policy of the Government, in regard to Waitahuna.

Rapid progress is now being made with the building of the Church of England new Sunday School. Judging from the plans, the building will be a handsome, substantial structure. We are informed, on reliable authority, that the project is on foot to hold " An Olde English Fancie Fayre," in aid of the building and Church funds, some time during the present year, or at the commencement of the next. These " Olde Fnglish Fayres " have been, recently introduced into the Colonies, and doubtless such an extreme novelty here could not fail to be a great attraction. The idea of our Town Hall being turned into one of the streets of London of some five or six hundred years ago ; the houses with their quaint signboards and gables ; and ladies dip. pensing the various fancy articles in appropriate antique costumes rather strikes the imagination. The Committee have been very successful in their efforts in the past to raise funds— as will be remembered from the last bazaar, which realised £500— and doubtless their usual good fortune will not forsake them on this occasion.

Mb H. Pickett, who has held the position of accountant in the Lawrence branch of the Bank of New Zealand for some time past, and who recently received orders to proceed to Greymouth, was entertained by a few friends in the Victoria Hotel on Monday evening. After a few complimentary remarks expressive of Mr Pickett's good qualities, Mr J. Thompson (on behalf of those present) handed him a purse of sovereigns with which to procure a souvenir to remind him of his many friends and wellwishers in Lawrence whom be would leave behind. Mr Thompson stated that as the time was so short those present bad d**«£ed. to adopt that course, and Mr Pickett was at - liberty to procure whatever his fancy dictated. In acknowledging the presentation, Mr Fickett thanked his Lawrence friends for the kind manner in which they had expressed their feelings towards himself. At an early date, he expected he would have the pleasure of returning to Lawrence for a short time to cele* brate an important event, and on that occasion he trusted to see a general gathering of his friends. All present were unanimous in wishing Mr Fickett success in his new field of labor, and after a few hours had been spent very pleasantly, the company broke up. Mr Pickett took his departure by the early train yesterday for Dunedin, en route for Greymouth,

V

The "Lyttelton Times" learns privately that Mr Ballance will probably be a candidate for Stanmore, and that in the event of his standing, Mr Andrews will resign in his favor. Mb J. C. Arbuckle informs us that he has disposed of a quantity of wheat, grown by Mr John Wallace at Tuapeka West, at 4s 7d per bushel delivered at the Dunedin Railway Station. Several farmers at Tuapeka West have also purchased a large quantity of the wheat for seed, thus showing that the grain must be of excellent quality. The Evans Flat Church Mission Committee met in the Schoolhouse there last Saturday evening ; Mr Buchanan in the chair. Letters re the appointment of delegates and the holding of a general conference to consider matters connected with the mission, were received from the Rev. J. Skinner and read. Messrs Richardson and Selby were appointed delegates. The Acclimatisation Society have fixed the license fees for shooting within the Otago dis. trict during the ensuing season as follows :—: — For cock pheasants and Californian quail, from June Ist to July 31st, 1882 ; and for taking or killing hares, from May Ist to July 31st, 1882 ; from sunrise to sunset, excepting within the Lake County ; license fee, 40s. Within the Lake County — for taking or killing Californian quail only, from May Ist to July 31st, 1882 i license fee, 30s. We learn from the " New Zealand Church- | man " that His Lordship the Bishop, when visiting Clyde recently, found that beautiful little church improved by the introduction of a new prayer-desk and lectern, the handiwork of the clergyman, the Rev. C. Fynes Clinton, in his spare hours. It is worthy of note that Craig and Co., the popular proprietors of the coach line, declined to take payment for the conveyance of the wood from Lawrence when they found out the purpose for which it was required. Oub Alexandra correspondent writes :— A Chinaman, known as " Long Jack," assaulted another Chinaman last Thursday evening at Conroy's Gully. Long Jack attacked his brother heathen with a shovel and tomahawk, and robbed him of £37, together with a watch and chain, leaving his victim almost dead. The Police scoured the ranges on Friday without finding any trace of the culprit, but on Saturday morning, about ten o'clock, Constable Nestor heard of him at a farmhouse a couple of miles from Clyde, and followed his tracks until he reached Tinkers, shortly after one o'clock, only to find that Constable Bell of Alexandra, had forestalled him by a quarter of an hoar. Long Jack was taken to the Blacks lock-up and left there till the following day, when he was taken to Alexandra. The assaulted Chinaman lies in a dangerous state in the Chinese store, Alexandra. We have to acknowledge the receipt of the thirty-ninth annual report of the Melbourne Total Abstinence Society, being the report for 1881. The report shows the society to be in a flourishing condition both financially and numerically ; an iucrease of 1902 names appearing on the society's pledge-book during the year — a larger number than in any previous year. Thiß good result of the Society's operations is attributed by the committee to the increased attractions of the weekly public meetings, at which vocal and instrumental music, with recitations and lectures, form the order of the evening. The average attendance at these meetings during the past year is put down at 600 per night. In concluding the report, the committee express a hope that all will desire to assist in still higher developments of the great movement, which has for its object the emancipation of the whole human race from the thraldom of drink.