West Coast Times. AND WESTLAND OBSERVER. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1869.

West Coast Times, Issue 1271, 19 October 1869, Page 2

West Coast Times. AND WESTLAND OBSERVER. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1869.

The result of the proceedings in the Borough Council yesterday was, in the truest sense, satisfactory, for not only was the parting guest, in the person of Mr Button, cordially sped, but the coming man, in the person of •Mr

Boyle, was as cordially welcomed. Seldom has an interchange of chairs and position been accompanied with such thorough good feeling on both sides, and rarely has a Council done more honor to itself than the Hokitika Borough Council did yesterday. In the first place Mr Boyle, who has been chosen the chief Magistrate of Hokitika for the remainder of the Municipal year, has honestly and honorably earned the distinction he has attained, and every ratepayer in the place wilY, we believe, be contented with the choice. Mr Boyle, though, aa -ho cays himself, having no pretension to oratory, possesses a fund of good, sound common sense, that is of far giieater benefit to his constituents than much of the eloquence that we are occasionally treated to. Mr Boyle has long been known as an intelligent, straightforward, business man, and his e!eva4io"n to the chief civic dignity, is only a graceful recognition of past services rendered. The present Mayor has fairly earned his position by energy and industry in the service of the public, and we have no doubt that he will discharge the duties pertaining iH every way worthily. At the same time we sre inclined to agree with Mr Button when he* said his only fear was that Mr Boyle would prove too good natured, and would relax the iron rod rule that ne had initiated. We hope that such will not be the case, for the least -liberty, and the slightest transgression of standing orders, too frequently begets liberty, which on many occasions reflects, in a greater or less degree, disgrace on public bodies. The Hokitika Borough Council's sins in this respect, up to tho present time, are triviaf; let us hope that the new Mayor will, by strict adherence to standing orders, keep the turbulent spirits of the Corporation within proper bounds. Altogether, however, we congratulate the Council on the choice they have made, and Councillor Boyle on his accession to the new dignity. In reference to Mr Button, the retiring Mayor, we sincerely regret that tfiiKHi&sfcwiw Mw»4 \m to taw

the West Coast. He very candidly explained the reasons that led him to this sfep; and though we confess to a species of incredulity as to his success in the prospecting vocation he has laid out for himself, we heartily wish him all the success that his sanguine -temperament would lead him to hope for. It is only reasonable that he would prefer living amongst a commiinity with whom all his earliest associations are connected, and in the land in which he was horn ; and if he can realise the dream that the Tasmanians have so long' indulged in, viz: — the opening 1 of permanent goldfieldif — he will indeed have deserved well of the country of his birth. We admit that we doubt his success, and on selfish grounds might be pleased to hear of his failure, as that would involve his l-eturn to the County. No man that has occupied a prominent position in public life in our small community has emerged more blamelessly from it, and none have during their careers brought more honesty of purpose or more ability to carry out questions of vital importance than Mr Button has done. He, very naturally, objected yesterday to the somewhat thick coat of praise with which his gushing fellow-councillors encased him, but at the same time he does really deserve considerably more than a passing recognition, and most heartily, in common with the public generally, we regret his departure. He has served in every public office that is possible in Westland, and in all he has come out with an unspotted reputation. He is a member of the County Council, he was a long time Borough Councillor, has been nine months Mayor, was one of the founders and one of the most zealous patrons of the Literary Society in its struggling days, ha* been greatly instrumental in fostering music, and actually taught and led the Presbyterian Church choir, and indeed during his whole residence has allied himself with all that is ennobling and calculated to improve the intellectual status of his fellow colonists. We most gladly bear testimony to bis worth, and hope that we shall yet have the pleasure of welcoming' him back again. Whether this prove so or not, howevei*, we only echo public opinion generally in expressing sorrow that we are to lose Mr Button, even temporarily, for a more valuable public servant Westland never had, and he goes just at the time when his usefulness is appreciated. We cordially and thoroughly wish him every good fortune in his future career, which we venture to predict will be a brilliant one.

As will be seen by our report in another column, Mr Boyle was unanimously elected Mayor of Hokitika in lieu of Mr Button, who has resigned, and who is about to go to Tasmania.

In the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday morning there was no business. His Honor Judge Clarke held a sitting in Bankruptcy, but the business was unimportant.

In order to .allow those with sporting tendencies an opportunity of seeing the great race for the Melbourne Cup on the 4th of November next, M'Meckan, Blackwood and Company, through their agent, Mr J. A. Bonar, are issuing return tickets, per Orneo, at reduced rates. We have no doubt many will avail themselves of this liberality, and pay a visit to Australia. v"We are glad o find that dramatic enterprise is not altogether dead in Hokitika, and that in Christmas week we shall have the good old pantomime produced as of yore. Mr Strasser, of the Theatre Cafe proceeds to Melbourne by the Omeo, this day, for the purpose of engaging a company, and procuring the best talent available. With the very encouraging prospects caused by the late rushes, there is every prospect of the speculation being as profitable to the enterprising entrepeneur as agreeable to the general public. Mr Stasser has had large experience in catering for the public in the amusement way, and we doubt not his present trip will not belie his formerly successful ventures.^*

Rushes and rumors of rushes are the order of the day now, and it is to be hoped that the newly born activity will be productive of substantial consequences. Yesterday it was generally rumored that gold hart been struck at Longford, near Mr Harris's farm; but we failed to discover anything reliable to bear the report out. There is very likely country in that neighborhood that has scarcely been tested in the most cursory manner; but, at the same time, as yet, nothing definite in reference to any finds has come to hand.

Willia'n Scott, nephew of Sir Walter, died on the 6th of April hist, of cancer in the stomach, at the St. Andrew's Home, Montreal. He had emigrated to Canada in 1828, and for some years past his family had not been acquainted with his whereabouts. He was admitted into the Home in 1867, where he split wood and other odd jobs. He was 64 years of age when he died, and his last hours were soothed by the attentions of Alexander Somerville, the " Whistler at the Plough," who is also an inmate of the institution, but who refuses to be a burden on the charity, and pays for his own board. As soon as the Scott family heard of the death of their relative they forwarded £100 to the Home, and asked to be allowed to make some acknowledgment to Mr Somerville, who consented to accept a copy of Sir Walter Scott's poems. These, handsomely bound, together with the poems of Burns were presented to him. Miss Scott also ordered a nresenfc of a brooch, handsomely set, to be given to Mrs Campbell, the matron of the Hflm?, w4 1* copy flf Sty water's pqera,* to

Mr Campbell, the resident lnanager of the Home. Those who remember Mr Alexander Sonrerville's services to journalism and to free trade, will probably feel some surprise that he should be spending the evening of his life in a benevolent asylum. His motive for so doing, however, had better be explained iv his own words :—": — " The home is a double house, four floors, on the slope of a hill, in the centre of Montreal city, near the cornei; of Dorchester-street, where it adjoins St. Urbain. At the window of an upper chamber one of tho least unhappy of human beings, when brain disease subsides, looks otit on a leafy grove, on roofs, on church towers, on doves, on birds, and cats asleep in the sun. He would be a miserable being if he thought his presence here displaced any one else, or was a burden to the funds of the subscribers. Balances of benefits can be adjusted. He breathes an atmosphere of seclusion, of moral health, and intellectual vitality, which money cannot secure to a traveller of his idiosyncracies elsewhere. The seclusion is delectable, and the society of the transient inmates, enjoyed or avoided at choice, such as could not be found under any other roof on the face of the earth." He further states that this "institution is almost unique among the philanthropies and curiosities of human life ; " that it is constantly occupied by a stream of strangers, dropping in and dropping out.

An inquest was held on Wednesday last, by G. L. Greenwood, Esq., J.P., on the skeleton of a man found at the foot of a steep cliff, in the neighborhood of Motueka Valley, Nelson. A gun and a few other articles which were found close by were recognised as the property of a man named Wm. AbboU who disappeared in a somewhat mysterious manner some few years ago. The following verdict was returned :: — <l That the remains of the body are those of the William Abbot who was missed from this district between six and seven years ago. That he died on the spot where his remains were found, but by what means there is not evidence enough to prove."

.The Charleston correspondent of the Westport Times writes as follows, concerning a boat accident, which took place on the 15th inst. : — "An unfortunate latal accident happened on the bar this morning. The new surf-boat hal been outside for the purpose of fishing, and was returning to the harbor, when she got swamped, and capsized while in the break. The alarm was quickly given, and a number of people rushed down and assisted to launch the old lifeboat, whose crew promptly pulled to the rescue of the drowning >men. Captain Beveridge, the Harbor Master, heard the cries of the men in the water, ran clown immediately, aud called out to the men to take it coolly. He then jumped off the rocks, swam to one of the men, who had cried out that he was going down, pushed an oar to him, and then held him up till the boat came. Four of the men managed to hold on to the boat, but the fifth unfortunately sank before the crew of the lifeboat could pick him up. The unfortunate man, whose name, 1 believe, was Henry Tyson, was a German. When I heard the alarm given I noticed that the signal ' Bar dangerous ' was the signal shown."

From the Southland Times we learn that three Longwood miners had a remarkable escape the other night. Their tent was pitched in the bush, close by a large dead tree, that apparently stood as firm as a rock, and showed few, if any, signs of the internal decay that was going on. At the time we apeak of, the men were suugly ensconced in their bunks — folded in the arms of Morpheus — and their blankets ; when> without a moment's warning, the frail old monarch of the forest toppled over, and came down,upon them with an awful crash ! Fortunately, the heavier and bulkier portion oi the tree missed the tent, but, as it was, the lives or limb 3of the |men were saved only in consequence of the tent (or rather cahin)> which received the weight of the falling mass — the sleepers fortunately reposed beneath the level of the wail-plate. Their sensation on being so rudely awakened may be, to use a stereotyped phrase, " more easily imagined than described."