MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 1891.

West Coast Times, Issue 8056, 19 January 1891, Page 2

MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 1891.

The telegrams we are now frequ.entiy receiving^ofsy.nSic.ateß of Britisu noble.; men making arrangements to buy land , in theae coloniee, and of individual > members of fl^e House of Peers comiog : ont here fortbe benefit of their te^lth indalsjo wi.th 1 the view of bWTng l^nd, 'cannot J bV 'regarded with' Batisfaction. on the Wh6]e do we^hinii: theyjwilli %c pleaee^.ir^er purchasing come! to ifarnjhe drift of public feeling ouV here;' 3^he general pendency in this, j and, we thin,k, in the neigbboriogi coloniee, i^^galnst ! lhe accumulation of land by private indmdualß, and in favor; of land, r ca|eutatecl upon its unimproved; value, bearing a' very substantial pro-; portion of the taxation of 'the country. Hitherto 1 we" hsve' f had experience of meer^SfftiP fbme '^yearl^' residenCSe,' acquiring estates Wid^dlng %l»SwK6re

to enjoy the returns It brings them, now'lriMtVnl "absentees ; warit to do us ttte hdnorof Wcquiring more -land. So intolerable Has Uhra evil (become ia America 4aat?sonie -Statlsfhave passed laws making it impossible for aliens to bold land, and thus checked the '"TareppMng Up " of large 'tfacts "of" country. This absentee proprietorship) is one of the worst evils we dan possibly' TSWCOWitier, Wd 'it "Is *fo re *ho"pe'd "thß" present Parliament will devise some means of putting a stop to it. We are strongly opposed to the State parting with the fee simple of a single acre of land, though its die-

posal in small areas to bona fide cultivators may ; be regarded without much dissatisfaction: When, however, we have large capitalists from other countries coming in it is time to take^ such action as may :prevent tbe doing! of a serious injury. Nor i= it fair to them that fhey should be allowed to buy with their eyes shut to the real facts of the case. Should they purchase now aod subsequently be subjected

to heavy imposts on their holdings; they .will be -a.pt 'to 'accuse us of bad, faith. We do not wish to place them' in a false position and we do not intend, to have our bands tied because anumber of men have done what we consider an evil. Still, in order to prevent anything being doDe that might be used to attach a stigma to tbe country, it would be well .for the advocates of a land tax in tbe House to take action at ooce.

Last Friday evening .a flre broke out in one of the top bedroorus of the Waimea Hotel, Goldsborough, Tlje -#re whioh -happened through a child playing with matches, was put oat after damage to two room to a considerable extent.

Messrs Wade and Co., have asked us to give notice that their sale of the " New Zealand Beaohos" dredging plant will take at three o'clock this afternoon instead of at

noon. We are informed that Messrs Johnston and 1 Co., have been appointed agents in Hokitika and district for'-W-ertheim's sewing machines. These machines have long had a widespread popularity in this district, a popularity which the firm will make every effort, not only to maintain, but to increase.

Our correspondent >at 'the -rush writes that Webster and party struck payable gold on Saturday by driving. They cradled f of a •load with .a result -of 5 dwts of a splendid sample of gold and-six feet of dirt. They are bounding on to Weir and party a little to the south and are down about 80ft. Douthwaite and party, the adjoiningclaim, are now getting '•between three and four dwts to the load, and about 7ft of waßh dirt. This gold is got on a 30ft lower -level -than. 'Weir's, and will prove to be another run of gold.

Our Gtoldsborough correspondent writes tihgt >pn morning as Mr E. J. Mulhern was returning home to Goldsborough -.from the banquet whioh was -tendered to Mr Hannan at 'Staffordto.wn, his attention was directed to a. noise which he heard in one of IMr Arnerich's tailraces, Tunnel Terrace. He ascended a small hill near the race and waited till daybreak, when lie mow two Chinamen busily engaged washing black sand in their dishes. He then .proceeded cautiously, and having dropped a stone -qn ,pne of them by way of introduction, jumped down to them. Se took the. dish -from one of >tliem and administered some bodily punishment on him. In the meantime, his mate had managed to esoane. ?Mr Mi^Lhern then followed him and soon managed to get sight of him. The Chinaman, finding himself hard .pressed, dropped .his dish, and taking to the terrace soon disappeared in the bush. Owing to the unsettled nature of the police arrangements in the district, op arrest has yet been made.

The Christchurch coach arrived at the usua hour on Saturday night.

The ppkitika State School and District High School will rs-assemble to-day. It will be a gratification to residents of this

district to learn that the Rev Charles Clark will visit the Coast next month. The titne for his visit is hot yet notified. JJe ja at present in Dunedin, and will probably go t_o Invercargill and return ,by way of .Oamaru and Timaru before coming here. Those who remember the oharm attached to the Rev Charles.Clarks lectures twelve or thirteen year ago will t be .pleased jto -learn -thd.t he has lost nothing of Jiie great enthusiastic were the" Wellington people jbh&t he promised to deliver two more ' lectures there after hjs southern tour. .One of his new lectures; " Christmas Carols," is espeeiallv well noticed'

On Saturday the Companionship of the West Ooabi Times had fcfrpir annual outing, the site selected on this occasion being Parkvilla oa the south aide of the river. Early in the inormpg boats containing eatables and drinkables o£ all kinds were seen struggling up against the current and shortly afterwards passengers were bound for the same destination. As the tide came in the passage was not quite so arduous but the falls tired the strength of most of the oarsmen although assisted .by the favoring breeze. Daring .the. afternoon visitors continued to arrive, some i making their way up jjtream from the different' .boat landings whilst others .walked to Q-lossop' 8 ! .ferry and were taken aorois from the'r.e. Before the tea bell rang there must have been 150 pejraoijs on the ground, young ,men and maidens .being oj: course ,the predominant, element. Cttimes of aU deaoriptioiiß wore indulged in during the day, spme pi them being Qf a nove,l,ft n d enterprising description, 1 whilst Mr Fitzsimmons discoursed excellent : mußio to those fond of a dance on the green. The general arrangements were regulated' by Meßdames EitZßimmonß and Gxeville and Messrs Fitzsimmons, and especially C. Nightingale, whilst , the young ladies connected with the office were also very busy looking after .their guests. TJie weather was 'most delightful, the fieroe rays of the sun .being tempered by a cool breeze, which alio lent valuable assistance to those who " undertook boating excursions up the river. On the whole the outing was a most enjoyable one, all appearing thoroughly to enjoy themselves.

A writer In the Grey River Argils who had ' been to the Beefton raoes thus moralises :—: — The law says don't get drunk and don't lay wagers over half-a«crown. If you are rich, enough you may go on the totalisator to any extent, and this year to my surprise there was a total absence of the little games. Taike'd'the rMsdnrand was 'told "that they' wereiwicked little games, and that Parliament had passed an act to abolish them and that ' tlfe" majesty df tile law must be upheld; so" we bad to be oontent without our little games, and we were glad when the day was over. But, now comes the queerest thing of it all ; tbe same evening I -strolled into a 'bazaar held in aid of some religious denomination, and I was bewildered. I had been told that the games I had missed were evil and unlawful, but here for the benefit of tbe Church,., all the wicked and unlawful little games werein full swing, openly and well patronisedt, aud no policeman said a word about them! being wicked and unlawful. It would appear that what is wicked and unlawful on tbe racecourse is considered quite the'thing when it is for a so called religious purposes.

Some time ago (so the story runs) a youthful impositor died in a"Washington hotel, and in looking through his trunks a reporter discovered nearly four hundred letters whidh where signed by the names of prominent, society girl in Washington. He was -pro-j ceeding (says the Boston paper) to fill all of; bis pockets with these when the landlord suddenly descended upon him, took away the' letters, and promptly put the reporter out of the room. Then be had a fire built on the hearth and burned up every scrap of paper he could find among the young man's effects, without reading a line of any of them. It. was an heroic thing to do. ' I may have burned up a few Government bonds and things of that sort,' the landlord said the next day in a published letter, • and I have received a good deal of abuse for what I did. But I will stand by my plan just the same. I have saved a lot of trouble in different families in Washington", and that is, enough for me.' The whimsical outcome of this 'is that be has bad to open another room for luncheon and supper parties at -bis hotel. Women flock there when they are shopping,

and they insist upon being taken there by

their escorts at night after the play. They will .go nowhere else, and the result oE it all will be a very handsome reward for the landlord. He seemed to know a good deal about human nature after all.

The special attention of the ladies af Hpkitlj£ invited to'au announcement of importance in i? the matter of spring fashions and novelties on ths first page from Te Aro House, Wellington.

In this announcement reference is made to fashions as ' patronised' by Her Most QraQioua Majesty the Queen, the Princess of-Wales, and the elite of the British aristocracy. We need hardly, say that the materials and colourings referred to are procurable at Tc Aro House, Wellington.

Ji is an indisputable fact that we were never better pi'ep^recTv/itLi the latest fashions in spring dress fabrics of ev6ry description in woollen, bilk or washing materials, arid our buyer has so ex. celled himself that we are justified ia 'asserting that a better, larger, more attractive or more elegant assortment is not to be found in the Colony of New Zealand. We have every confidence therefore in soliciting an early inspection at Te Aro House, Wellington. It is an indisputable fact that owing to the large space devoted to our dress department and the excellent lifeht, ladies can make their purchases with the utmost comfort and satisfaction at Te AVo House, Wellington. It is an indisputable fact that our two dressmaking departments carry the' palm in this" city for excellence of fit, finish, and style: Already since the commencement of the season these have been kept busily employed. We would ask our lady patrons who have not yet placed their orders to lavor us by doing so without delay at Xc Aro JJouse, Wellington. ' ' Patterns of all the new Spring Fabrics with charts ibrselj-nieasui-emeijt will be forwarded post Tree 'on applioattoa ' t(J JWOB 'Sjntyl}, 'fe Ar» House, Wellington. ' '•' • '