West Coast Times. AND WESTLAND OBSERVER. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1869.

West Coast Times, Issue 1234, 6 September 1869, Page 2

West Coast Times. AND WESTLAND OBSERVER. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1869.

The position at present occupied by the County and Hokitika Borough Councils, is, to say the least of it, both perplexing- aud disagreeable, aud the sooner their present financial difficulties arc terminated the better for all members of the community. It is somewhat strange that uv> to the present time, as far at least as the public have cognizance, nothing 1 definite has been beard from the Assembly as to its willingness to assist Westlaud in itsexisting'stmit, — for whatever will be, has been determined on, — and should no relief have been granted, we must wait till the next gathering of Parliament before it can be accorded. The apparent apathy that has existed on this subject amongst the members of the County Council is really extraordinary, and it is to be hoped that the arrival of the three absent members, who by the way,* are expected to land to-day from the Tararua, will let the public into the secret and clear up completely what the intentions of the General Government are. It is true that Mr BariFis reported to have communicated cheering information in reference to privileges that arc to be bestowed on the County ; but, up to the present time, there is no proof that they really have been conferred, or that, in that gentleman's mind, the wish has not been father to the thought. It is the bounden duty of the Local Government, by some means, to put an end to nil uncertainty on such an important subject, so ihfit members may not another time rely on a broken reed, or enter rashly into expenses that there are not means forthcoming to meet. There should be no mystery permitted iv reference to the County's financial condition, ai:d the sooner it is positively known the exact means at its dispo-al the better. The General Assembly has been prorogued, the fate of the Chairman's application has been decided, and nothing for the present can alter any decision that has been arrived at. The Council meet again this evening, when we hope to see the absentees, Messrs Harrison, Barft', and Rees, in their places, and a full and explicit, explanation given. The statement of the Borough Council accounts, given on Friday evening last, is, however, still more startling, and shows clearly that the new councillors will not be sorely j troubled to know how to spend the j

money at their command, for it appears there is only a magnificent balance of" £39 to their credit when all debts arc collected, -whilst in the assets a very large margin must be left for what are bad, doubtful, or deferred. The uncollected rates are set down at £451, and if twenty-five per cent, of these were written off as coming under the first named category it is the least loss the Council may expect on that score. This alone will convert the credit into a debit balance of a larger amount. The rents due, we hardly think, will come up to the estimated amount, and, if they do not, another debit must be added. Judging from the tone of the discussion, on Thursday evening last, in the County Council, all the £983 set down as due by the Government as half the river bank protection will not be forthcoming, even when the latter body is in funds ; and the sale of town lands is also, we fear, greatly overrated at £200. These items are at least doubtful, and £200 from the Literary Society is certainly deferred for some time, and may not come in for a twelvemonth or more. Altogether, we do not consider that we shall bo found j much in excess of the mark in thinking 1 that the income is over-estimated by between £400 and £500 in the statement in questfon. On the other hand the liabilities are of a very positive character, and that they must be met, there cannot be the slightest doubt. How this is to be done, is the next matter for consideration ; and the reconstructed Council i will have a hard financial nut to crack at the very outset of their duties. It is very clear, however, that the Corporation must contract a loan, levy a a fresh rate, or shut up shop till funds have accumulated. The furniture of the New Town Hall is not taken into account, and another debt must bo contracted on that account, or the building remain unoccupied. Where money is to come from to execute necessary public works goodness only knows. Eaising more rates, at present, we consider would be in the highest degree unadvisable, to close the Corporation establishment, would not be judicious ; and the last resource, borrowing must, it appears, be had recourse to. It is an evil, doubtlessly, but it is the only escape from a dilemma, and if it is decided on, it is well to effect a loan before the Municipal wheels come to a dead standsi ill through the absence of pecuniary lubrication. It would be obvious folly to obtain funds by an overdraft at 10 per cent., if the bank would even permit it, for money can be obtained at a far less rate than that. At present, however, we abstain from entering into this question, and wait to see how the financiers of the Corporation propose to extricate themselves from the'difficulties that at present undoubtedly surround them.

His Honor Mr Justice Richmond will not reach Hokifcika in time for the opening of the Supreme Court sittings on Friday next, the 10th inst., and the Court will be adjourned by the Registrar until Monday, the 13th. Jurors summoned for the 10th iust., will be relieved from attendance, as a new panel will be ballotted for.

In the Resident Magistrate's Court, on Saturday last, Elizabeth Bastings was committed for trial upon a charge of having attempted to commit suicide by throwing herself into the surf. An unfounded charge of larceny was brought against the wife of a storekeeper, which will, in all probability, lead to the complainant having to pay pretty smartly for obtaining a warrant by a false representation, and making a rcapectable woman submit to the indignity of an arrest upon a groundless and vexatious charge.

Mining and business matters at the Kanieri have much improved during the month. The Victorian Company have made very extensive improvements and j-dditkms to their plant and machinery. The Western Company have re-started their work, and arc receiving much better dividends than of late. The sluicing claims on the terrace are nearly all pnying well ; the claim of Montgomery and Company being especially worthy cf notice. At the new rush, between Kanieri and Tucker Flat, si large number of men are working, and judging from the building, &c., gjing on, evidently they hnve faith in the value of their ground. Woodstock and Arthur's Town remain as of late, but at both places there is a vast amount of ground pegged off, waiting the bringing in of Willoughby and party race.

At last Lhe ice is to be broken, aud we shall have an' opportunity of hearing two, at least, of the candidates for Municipal honors;. Mr Hawkins announces that he will meet the citizens to-uight, at the Empire Hotel. Mr James Turner, another of the candidates for Municipal honors, will meet the electors at the Oddfellows' Hotel, this evening, and explain his views.

Another fatal mining accident has occurred. On Saturda}', a man named Dclorado Jesopo, but better known as " Garibaldi," was killed by a fall of earth upon hiru, as he was working in his claiiii. The deceased, a native of Italy, worked by himself in Italian Gully, and he must have been burie:! some hour.* before his body was extricated. Attention was called to the scene of the accident by the touching faithfulness of his dog. The animal, conscious that something had happened, endeavored to release his master, and had scratched away the earth almost to the body.

The Greytown Cavalry have been varying their ordinary routine of drill somewhat. The Independent, of the 28th, says—" The Greytown Cavalry celebrated their anniversary by a steeplechase, which took the novel shape of a hare-and-hounds-game on horseback, on Monday last. For some days previous the inhabitants of Greytown had witnessed individuals riding horses clothed in curiously formed garments of various colors, and on inquiry had been told that they were " training for the race." Some had shown great ingenuity in making these extempore coverings, having adapted old counterpanes? blankets, &c, for the purpose-^in fact showing most decidedly that they were determined to outrival Newmarket Jockeys. A most utter contempt also for ordinary customs in training was displayed, and the horses wore taken out in a bitter south easter just as ofteu as in fine weather. The hare left the Rising Sun about an hour before the hounds, and scattered his papers over the route previously arranged. The prizes were £2 and £l,for the first and second winners, the former was won by Mr Fuller and the second by Mr Hall. The course of about fifteen and a half miles was performed in fifty-eight minutes, and any one cognisant of the road between Hodge's and Tweeddale's will acknowledge that it was capital riding. Many of the members of the troop arrived withiu the hour."

A line of railway, twenty-four miles in length, has just been constructed in South Australia, at an average cost of a little more than £5000 per mile, the total cost being £125,000. Of this moreover, £13,000 was spent upon one bridge alone, increasing the average of the whole line by £500 a mile. Tl\e worst gradient was one in eighty. The engines, which are stated to be of light construction, are of the outside cylinder type, and are capable of starting a load of 300 tons gross on a level. The maximum speed for which the line is designed* is stated by the Engineer-in-Chief to be twenty miles an hour. At the luncheon given in honor, Sir James Feguson said, speaking from large experience in railways, both in Europe and India/ it was the best possible style of railway for a new country. He considered that something should be sacrificed to effect economy, and that the public would miss speed less than anything else; and he felt convinced that the durability of the line would be equal to that of sixty pound rails.

Wiih reference to the report that Colonel Whitmore had been offered the office of Under Secretary for Defence, the Wellington correspondent of a Napier paper writes: " This was not correct. Colonel Whitmore was, however, offered the position of Colonial Storekeeper, at £600 a year. The late Government is reported to have led Colonial Whitmore to expect all sorts of things, and the present Government. is said to have pitied his position so much as to have offered to provide for him in the way I have described. Colonel Whitmore is further reported to have declined the storekeepership, in the expectation that Mr Stafford was about to return to office, when he hoped for something better. Now that that hope is at an end, it is said the gallant Colonel regrets he did not accept the position that was offered lum."

The West port Times states that the gronnd opened by Mces and party, on IJochforfc Terrace, in that neighborhood, has been proved forty feet wide, with four feet of wash-dirt capable of paying good wages. A new lead of gold has been struck on German Terrace. The lead was found some time ago by a party of Germans, but it is only this week that the circumstance has become generally known, and already applications for ten minutes have been received at the Warden's Office.

The Aijp of the 23rd ult., says :— " Two more 'old colonists' have gone to their rest. On Tuesday the remains of the late Mr Andrew Richey were deposited in the General Cemetery, and on Wednesday the remains of Mr George Evans were laid in the Old Cemeteiy, where other members of the family had been interred. Mr Evans was one of the party organised by the Hon. J. P. Fawkner in Tasmania, for the settlement of Port PLiillip, and he was one of the earliest among the founders of Melbourne.

There is no doubt whatever, says the " Independent" of the presence of gold in paying quantities at Terawiti, unwilling as the public generally seems to be to admit the fact. We were shown yesterday by Mr Wright, of Cairo, 7ozs of beautiful nuggety gold, and are allowed to state on his authority that it was obtained by two men as the result of fifteen days work ; but 3oz 7dwt were obtained in five days out of this time. The gold is very sharp and rough, evidently little waterworn, and therefore probably the matrix of the metal is not far off.

The Lyitelton Times says : — Among the departures by the Tararua, we notice the name of Mr I\ Evelyn Wright, our Chief Postmaster, who intends proceeding through with the mail to England. Mr Wright's object in visiting the Old Country is, we be. believe, to lay claim on behalf of himself and family, as lineal descendants of the celebrated John Evelyn, to the Dep'ford Dockyard, which it is stated was held by the Imperial Government on lease at a pepper-corn rent on condition that a ship should always be building in the yard. This condition Mr Wright believes to havo been broken, in which case in terras of Evelyn's will the property should revert to the family.' We have seen so many cases in which families and inviduals have sacrificed their peace aud happiness in the arena of legal warfare, where the powerful have been arrayed against the weak, that we must confess to taking the greatest interest in Mr Wright's enterprise — the more so, as during the many years he has lived among us he has won by his constant assiduity, and never failing courtesy the respect and goodwill of the whole community. We hear that he has taken the letter stamping machine 'which ho invented some time since, and which has been in constant use in the Christchurch Post-office since 1554. We afe sure that we express the general feeling of the Province when we wish him every success in his undertaking.

The Independent, says that Mr Bell and Dr Featherston, who proceed to England as commissioners, will probably be joined by Sir George Grey.

A laige stack near Mr Ellen's house in Charles-street, Kaiapoi, caught fire on Tuesday. It was discovered in time to be got under before the hay was wholly burnt. Its origin is unknown. The stack belonged to Mr Netttleton.

The Southland Government has lost no time in acting on the resolution recently carried in the Council with reference to the re-union of the province with Otago. A letter was received yesterday from the Superintendent of Southland, dated the 24th instant, requesting his Honor the Superintendent of Otago to appoint three commissioners to confer with three Southland commissioners on the subject of reunion. Their report is to be laid before the Proviucial Council of Southland within one month of the date of resolution. — Daily Times, 23rd August. The discovery of a quarts; reef in Deep Creek, near Havelock, is reported. Th c finders have got three weeks' protection; A woollen mill is about to be started a^ Matakana, in the province of Auckland. Water will be the motive power employed. Education in Canterbury is in a bad statejudging from the following remarks in a letter addressed to the Lyttelton Times :—": — " If any person interested in the matter will examine for himself, he will see that with the solitary exception of Southland, the children of Canterbury are the worst educated of any in New Zealand. He will also learn that in the Province of Nelson (where there are no school fees, aud where the Board of Education is composed of the Chairmen of Local Committees) 42 out of every 100 children between the ages of five and fifteen can read and write, whereas hi Canterbury there are only twenty-eight in every hundred who can do so. The Press says :—": — " Majfor Hornbrook and Dr Haast returned to town last night, from a visit to the goldflelds in the South. We have been informed that the result of Dr ITaast's examination has been very unfavorable, in no instance gold having been found. The ground in the Orari Gorge has been abandoned in disgust by those who went there, as from the state of the country, the occurrence of a goldfield is impossible. On Pudding Hill Dr Haast found no quartz-reeis, but only sandstones, partly changed into flinty hornstoneor chert, but with no signs of gold in them. The only gold shown to him had evidently been rubbed upon the stone." The County Council sits again this evening, and as in all probability Messrs Harrison, Barff, and Rees are on board the Tararua, some very interesting statements may be expected. Five prisoners were received last week into the County Gaol and three were discharged. There are now awaiting trial, 5 males and 2 females ; under sentence of penal servitude, 12 males, 1 female ; hard labor, 18 males ; confined in default of bail 3 ; debtors, 3 ; lunatics, 11 ; total, 52 males ; 3 females. Bell's Life' there has been during the last week comparatively very little doing in Melbourne on our Cup. The great incident of the day has been the rapid rise of Manuka, Mr Redwood's New 'Zealand colt, who, after being backed to win £3000 (in addition to previous considerable investments) at 100 to 35 (tk), and the backer willing to go on. This operation brought the Maori to the top of the market list, and 100 to 8 became the highest price offered against him. This movement did not, however, shake the position of either Sheet Anchor or Salem Scudder, and although one 500 to 30 was laid against the latter ; not more than 14 or (occasionally) 15 to 1 is to be had about either. The Wellington Independent, of the 24th reports the following fatal accident: — " A most distressing and fatal accident occurred on Saturday evening last, about nine o'clock, by which a poor woman met her death, at her residence, Molesworth-street. The following are the particulars, as we gathered them after the occurrence: — About nine o'clock on Saturday evening Mrs Cooper, a very aged woman (mother of Mr F. Cooper, greengrocer and fruiterer, of Manners-street) went to wind up the clock as usual before retiring to rest. As it is said that the deceased had been for many years subject to infrequent attacks of epilepsy, it is conjectured that while in the act of winding the clock her cloths caught alight, and through fright, or one of those fits, she fell down before the fire insensible. About that time some neighbors, Mr and Mrs Maney, accidentally saw the glare inside of Mrs Cooper's house ; they rushed in, thinking the house was on fire, and there before the fire they beheld the distressing sight of the old woman enveloped in flames. Mr Maney lost no time in putting out the flames, and sending for Dr Johnston, who rendered all the assistance that skill and attention could suggest. On examination, the sufferer was found to be very much burned on the side and breast, the severe nature of which, combined with her great age and the shock to her system, released her from all pain about nine o'clock on Sunday night, when she expired. An inquest was held yesterday af tornoon at the Princess' Hotel, before Dr Boor and a full jury (Mr Yates, foreiuan) ; but as the evidence was mainly corroborative of the facts above stated, and contained very little additional evidence, wo merely give a condensation. Dr. Johnson testified to the nature and extent of the injuries received by the deceased ; also mentioning that deceased told him before death that she had no recollection of being burned ; tliat while she was winding up the clock a sudden faintuess or vertigo came over her, and she recollected nothing more until she found herself under his care. Andrew Maney and a little boy named Toomey were also examined. The jury returned unanimously a verdict of c Accidental death.'"