Local and General Intelligence.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1180, 16 September 1885, Page 2

Local and General Intelligence.

Among the shippers of frozen mutton by the Doric, we notice Mr J. Smith, of Greenfield, set down for 2,049 carcasses. AN attempt will be made to introduce the chamois into Otago, apd Dr Haast has been asked to make inquiries during his visit to Europe. During the progress of the debate on Captain Ruasell'i motion, Mr Macandrew said that since the Constitution was established Otago had contributed to the revenue four millions of money more than had been expended in that , district. A public meeting of the friends of Mr J. C. j Brown is called by advertisement for Monday next in the Town Hall, for the purpose of recognising in some tangible way the many services rendered by him to the residents of the Tuapeka district. Another case of youthful suicide is reported in the North. John Mundy, 18 years of age, a cowboy in the employment of William Irons, three miles from Masterton, was found by Mis Irons hanging by a rope to the top of the cowbail, quite dead. Deceased was the son of the postmaster at Akaroa, No cause is assigned for the suicide. OCR Roxburgh correspondent states that a trial crushing of some six tons of stone from Messrs Mervyn and Gavin's quartz reef at Bald Hill Flat yielded at the rate of 4oz, of gold to the ton. About a hundred tons of stone are ready for crushing when the battery is erected. White's Company have not yet resumed work. Intelligence to hand by cable states that | the wool market is dull. New Zealand frozen mutton is quoted at 4f d per lb. The santence of death passed on Louis Riel, the leader of the i Canadian rebellion, has been confirmed. Prince Bismarck in a despatch states that the | possession of the Caroline Islands is not a sufficient inducement to tempt Germany to be j unfriendly with Spain, The Agent-General has written to the Premier enclosing an extract from the " North German Gazette" on the Samoan question. The article denies Mr Stout's assertion that the possession of Samoa is necessary to the welfare of this Colony. It points out that the distance between New Zealand and Samoa is about 990 miles, while the discrepancy in size and population ia so great as to prevent Samoa ever proving a dangerous rival to this Colony. ONE of the Lawrence miners, writing from Mount Criffel, says that the party have not been able to do any'.htng on account of the inclemency of the weather. The snow is worse now than when they first arrived, and the cold so severe that men cannot stop any time up the mount. Nearly all who have arrived on the field have put down boles, aad all with tho ' same result. The old miners say that they can* not understand why there is such a ruah, while j go one is getting anything. A PUBLIC meeting waa held at Blue Spur on Monday evening to discuss the possibility of introducing improved machinery to crush the cement deposits of the district, Some thirty miners and shareholders of claims turned out to the meeting ; but as no one had any definite ideas to advance, a Committee was appointed to draw up a petition to the Government asking for assistance towards providing improved machinery for cement crushing, A full report of the meeting appears elsewhere.

The "Evening Herald" has a Lawrence correspondent who is paid something less than the average penny a line for regaling the readers of that journal with stale news cribbed from the Toapeka Times ; and what gives the matter all the worse appearance is that the correspondent does not appear to be gifted with sufficient originality to alter the construction of the items cribbed, If the editor of our contemporary would only use Mb scissors, he might have the information earlier, and effect a saving in correspondents' fees. In his report to the Minister of Mines of his lecture tour through the goldfields of the Middle Island, Profeisor Black makes special mention of the support he received from the Press in Lawronce and over the goldfields generally. Referring to hi» Lawrence olaisei, he says :—": — " The number of students enrolled for the practical classes in the laboratory was so great that, singlehanded, I would not have been able to manage them. Fortunately, however, the Rev. Mr Jenner and Messrs Selby and Joseph (two of my old students), all residing at Lawrence, offered their assistance and carried me over the difficulty."

THE following letter has been received by the County Chairman from tha General Survey Office, Wellington :—": — " I hare been directed to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 19th ultimo! addressed to the Hon. the Minister of Mines, applying on behalf of the Council for a subsidy of £2 to £1, to the extent of £200, for the purpose of making a road to Watson's bush. In reply, I have to point out that there are no Crown lands to be opened up in Tuapeka West district. The bush referred to is on Crown landß, but the receipts from it do not warrant expenditure on roads. The fprming and keep? ing up of a road to the bmh for firewood is purely a district matter, and one th.afc the Department, pressed as it is to find money to open up Crown lands for settlement, cannot entertain.— l have the honor to be, <fee, Jambs M'Kerbow, Surveyor-General."

The contractors for the new building for the Bank of New Zealand have made a start, and the concrete foundations are being! laid down. .Tua & iD ff from the foundation, when completed the new bauk will be a large aud commodious building.

From Kentucky comes a report of the finding of th 1 * remains of a gigantic mastodon, which measures from the head to the bones of the tail 40ft, and the hind quarters stand 23ft Bin high. The jaw is 12in thick, and the teeth, some of which weigh between two aud three pounds, are in good preservation. Whilk in Committee of Supply on the Public Works Estimates, the item £1200 for the Waipahi-Heriot 'railway extension was passed. The vote for the East and West Coast railway was reduced to £1,000, and the vote for the Otago Central was reduced by £25,000. Various other reductions were made on the Estimates for railways in course of construction. " ADA. Mantua," with her unvarying couitesy, has sent us the names and addresses of her Committee and principal winners in her latest event — the Hawkesbuiy Grand Handicap — and the same has evidently been put through with due regard to strict fairness. The Press were well represented as on former occasions, and the rest of the Committeemen selected from the general body of subscribers. It is not often that horse teams can successfully compete with the railway over long distances ; but at a meeting of carriers and others recently held at Masterton, a resolution was passed to the effect that unless the freight on wool be reduced to 5a per bale, the carriers resume the traffic at 6s per bale, and other goods at 3oa per ton, A deputation was told off to wait upon the Minister of Public Works and communicate the resolution to him. It is but as yesterday that trout and perch were liberated in Lake Wak^tipo, >od already the acclimatised fish i^preaent & solid return on the expenditure in placing them there. A sale of the righb to fish in certain portions of the lake took plaoe at Queenstown last Saturday, when the prices realised ranged between £4 10 a and £26 10a. The whole of Lake Hayes bought £150, and Moke Lake £10. The total amount realised was £192— a very good firat dividend. One of those terrible accidents which are far too frequent since the introduction of dynamite as a blasting agent occurred at Skippers on Saturday morning. John Tripp and Cornelius Nolman were warming dynamite at the fire when it exploded. Nolman was blown clean through the roof of the hut, and Tripp was frightfully mutilated, and only lived for two hours after the explosion. Both men were unmarried, and were workin-' a claim on their own account. At the last meeting of the Wairarapa County Council the question of either compelling carriers and others to use broad tires or to limit the load cropped up. One councillor said that it could be ahown to be to the advantage of carriers to use broad tires, as the narrow wheels not only cut up the road but added enormously to the draught. Another councillor thought the limiting to one ton on two wheels and 30cwt on four, would meet the case. After some discussion the matter was left for the Engineer to report at next meeting. It is reported (says the Dunstan paper) that Mr W. Green, of Ophir, has made a discovery of a quartz reef on the range side at the back of the towu of Ophir. From what we can learn the indications are such as to lead to the belief that the reef is a true lode, the vein of quartz being well defined, solid, and showing gold freely. Everything is in favor of the assumption of a permanent reef in the locality, the country being Bolid, and moreover some remarkably rich alluvial ground has been woiked immediately under it oq the range. We shall hope to hear thai; something more thau a mere scratching of the surface will be dona to properly test tha diecovery. THE Lawrence Borough Council has for the nonce abandoned the idea of asphalt pavements, and the aide walks of Rosa Place will continue to remain in all their unrelieved roughness, enough to make the sober stagger and tha "elevated" fall. But this is only a minor matter compared with the festering putrid ditch which carries away the drainage of Whitehaven-street on either side. How much of typhoid fever might lurk within the gangrenous filth fermenting in these water channels it would be difficult to estimate. If the Council cannot afford to fill up these dangerous ditches and re-place them with concrete channelling, it might at least have stone channelling laid down.

The annual meeting in connection with the Maori Missions was held in the Wesleyan Church, Lawrence, on Monday evening. The attendance was not large. The Rev. C. Griffin presided, and, after devotional exercises, read a few extracts from the annual report, and made some remarks bearing thereon, He then introduced the Rev. W. Slade (the Conference deputation), of Port Chalmers, who delivered a vary earnest, thoughtful, aud eloquent address; all the more interest beiog aroused by the fact that Mr Slade was laboring some years among the natives. His heart-9tirring appeal to the white man to wipe out the stains on his eßCUtcheon in having led the Maori into many vices would have thrilled a monster audience. A good collection waa taken. Some very choice music was rendered by the choir, under the direction of Mr P, M'Farlane.

The San Franciico correspondent of the Auckland "Herald" says :— I have never known this city to be in such a bankrupt condition as it is, We are all ladies and gentlemen of elegant leisure, waiting for some thing to " turn up." Everything is cheaplabor, fruit, and sugar at mimiinum prices. Everyone holds on to hi? or her half-dollar, and no one thinks of paying their bills, simply because they can't. Ifc is funny, actually. If a collector comes to the door he says, "Here is a bill. 'Spose you've got no money ? I can't collect a cent," and goes away with a broad grin on his face. Scores of young men walk about town with their hands in their pockets, pitiful to see. If a situation appears in the advertising columns of the paper, even at the low rate of £5 per month, a hundred applications are received from boys, and even men of thirty years.

The first parade of No. 2 battalion, Otasjo Volunteers, at Milton on Saturday was a preat success. The companies present were— Bruce (S3), East Taieri (15). South District (24). Clutha (34), Waitahuna (32), which, along with Major. Gordon and Staff -Sergeant Ruddle, brought the total strength of volunteaers assembled up to 140. The programme consisted of some nineteen movements, which were gone through in a very creditable manner when it is taken into consideration, that a number of the men on parade were only recruits. These battalion parades are so very important that arrangements should be made to have them more frequently. Volunteers will learn more in one good field-day of this kind than in months of drilling in small numbers j in fact, it is impossible to convey any accurate conception of the movements of an army in the field except at battalion parades and reviews.

A London weekly says: — So Gordon is to have a statue, after all. The only question is as to the site. It should stand out of doors, where all men can see it. Half the people whom Gordon loved never entered a church. And. perhaps, as the " Tinqea" lays, it might stand in Trafalgar Square. B.ut, if so, then the finest site in Europe would be expurgated by the removal of the counterfeit presentment of the crowned libertine whose statue disgraces the assemblage of worthies among whom it is placed— Napier, < the conqueror of Scinde ; Havelock, the saintly soldier ; and Nelson, the greatest of sea captains. Among these Gordon might be placed. But the fourth George was one of the meanest and foulest of mankiud; until he is pulled down we should be very sorry to see Gordon set up there. It is too much like making companion statuea of Judas and Jesus.

A sitting of the Warden's Court (adjourned from the previous Friday) was held in the Courthouse, Lawrence, on Monday, before W. H. Rev«U, Esq., Warden, when the following applications were granted :— Wm. Johnston and others : Extension of tailrace, to terminate opposite Mr Drew's i-eeidence, Gabriels Gcully, on the east side of the road,, and subject to the rights of the Gabeiels Gully main tailrace. Great Extended Sluicing Co. : Protection for tailrace (No. 12309) for six months. Ah Tohong and others : Extended claim, water-race, and tailrace near Mr Kemp's, Wetherstones. R. Barton and Kong Long and otheraj: Extended claims at # Waitahuna. Mitchell Park: Extended claim near Canada Reef; same for a residence area, which was adjourned for a fortnight for further particulars. The Great Extended Sluicing Co. 's tailrace certificate (No. 14,740) was cancelled by conseDt. — There waß no business brought before the Resident Magistrate's Court,

A start was made with the enrolment of the Tuapeka Rifle Volunteers in the Town Hall oa Mouday evening, when Mr Eevell, U.M., a<3minhcerecl the oath to nineteen memhats. There were a good many present wishing to join, but as they were under the minimum age (18) they had to go away disappointed. The company will soon meet for regular drill, when all desirous of joining will have an opportunity of doing so. The minimum strength of a country corps is fixed at thirty ; but there should be no difficulty in enrolling the maximum (50) in this district. Some of those who were anxious to have a company of volunteers in Lawrence are holding back because an honorary corps only has been accepted ; but before the company can be placed on the footing of a country corps with capitation allowance the honorary corps must be made up to, at least, the minimum strength. If for nothing else but the drill, which is invaluable to every young man, all who are in a poition to join should do so at the earliest opportunity.

A correspondent (formerly a resident of Lawrence) writing from Townsville, Queen - land, sends us a few items of interest. The letter, which is dated August 25th, states that Sir Peter Scratchley (High Commissioner for New Guinea), Dr Forbes (naturalist), and the rest of the expedition arrived at Townsville from Brisbane in the chartered steamer Governor Blackall, and left for Port Moresby, New Guinea, which is about four days' steaming. They will not return until December ; in the meantime the steamer will cruise along the coast of New Guinea, and Sir Peter will return to the island in January next year. Our correspondent further adds : "I have been in Townsville about six months, having come here fiom Sydney. I had a very pleasant trip from New Zealand, having come round by Tasmania apd Melbourne, stopping at both places. I like this place very well. It is iather warm, being a long way north, of Brisbane, The winter Here ia Dot colder than the summer, in New Zealand."

THIS is how the " North Otago Times " describes a local incident : — Last Saturday morning a grey seal, about six feet long, was captured on the beach near the railway station by a person who waa close by when the animal came oul of the water. After killing the visitor, it was sold by tho captor to one of the local fishmongers. The proceeds of the sale were very soon sacrificed at the shrine of Bacchus, and when funds were exhaußted the worshipper wandered out on to the street, where he was found in a horizontal position by a gentleman whose duty it is to look after those persons who too freely pay their devotion to the red-nosed divinity. He wa» conveyed to the " Castle " and will make hi» appearance at the Temple of Justice this morning.

In a reference to England's naval arrangements the London correspondent of the Melbourne "Argus" says:— Spite of our shortcomings, our naval arrangements have been energetically developed, and if it could be written, the doings of our naval officers during the last few weeks would prove an exceedingly interesting chapter of history. The Russian cruisers in the various seas have had a sorry time of it. They have been dogged and watched from port to port. In the Chinese seas Admiral Dowell has " shepherded" certain suspicious crafts with unexampled care ; in the Indian Ocean, along the coast of Northern Africa, in the North Sea, and in the Gulf of Mexico, attention of the same kindly nature has been given to Russian shipi. So rigorous have been the attentions of our ships' captains that the Russian » ommanders, who oE course had no evil intention, hare made bitter complaint of the way in which the/ have been treaked. It is no idle boast on the part of khe British Admiralty that if war had broken out they would have swept the sens clear of tbe Russian flag in lass than a month! "