Untitled

Western Star, Issue 969, 1 August 1885, Page 2

The following is a copy of the reply of tho Hit lister of Mir r < to the letter from the County Council urging upon Government the desirability of assisting the completion of Bcrncltson’s race at. Round Hill. Tho letter was addressed to the member for the district! Mr Hirst, through whom the representation was made, and by whe n it was telegraphed to us lust evening.' The reply is of a very favourable character, and, in the interests of

the field, it is to be hoped the Council will see its way clear to comply with the fairly reasonable condition stipulated ; —“ Wellington, 29th July. H. Hirst, Esq., M.HR. Sir. —I hate to acknowledge receipt of your letter of 22nd inst. } and in reply to state that the Government is willing to grant a subs' y of £2 for £1 towards the construction f Berndtson’s water race to Round Hill diggings, on condition that the Council contributes one-third of the cost of the whole work. The Government considers that the county should be prepared to pay its contribution of one-thh’d before making application for the two-thirds. (Signed) W. J. M. Larnacli) Minister of Mines.”

In accordance with the arrangement made with the Riverton Harbor Board, Mr Barr, Engineer to Dunedin Harbor Board, arrived in Riverton on Wednesday to inspect tho Harbor and new wharf, with a view to advising the Board as to the best means to adopt to prevent formation of bank in front ot wharf and improvement of the Harbor generally. Tho Chairman andothermeinbers of the Board along with the Harbor Master, mot and consulted with Mr Barr and gave him what information they possessed. Mr Barr took his departure on Eriday morning, and will forward a report in due course. We understand that he has condemned tho design of tho new jetty and suggested alterations that will involve a large expenditure.

Mr J. Coucher is tho successful tenderer for tho Kilbrony section of the Seaward Bush railway, the sum being £3158 7s 6d.

5 ' Settlors in the various subdivisions of Aparima Road Board are notified by the Rabbit Inspector that tho second block poisoning commences to-day, in the following order ; —Mt. Pleasant, Aparima, Waimatuku, and Heddon Bush, in consecutive weeks. The necessity for increased accommodation in the W. and F. Hospital is evident' from the fact that although the building can comfortably accommodate only ten indoor patients, the number yesterday was fourteen. During the whole of winter tho number of patients receiving treatment has been exceptionally high, and for the first seven months of the. year already number more than for tho whole of last year. Notwithstanding the unusual heavy demand upon the limited staff occasioned thereby, every satisfaction is being, given. The first examination of the Nightcaps school, which has been open only twelve months, is highly complimentary to tho teacher, Mr J. S. Andrews. The school was examined by Mr G'ammell on 21st inst. The following is a copy of the report:—Passes attainable,9s ; passes attained, 80,; percentage gained, BL2. The school as a whole has passed a fair examination, perhaps as good an examination as can bo expected of a school that has only bean open a year.—Standard I has gained cent, per cent, of marks. —Standard II is rather weak in reading.—Standard 111 has not been very successfu' in arithmetic. Mental arithmstic is not well known.—Handwriting : Highly satisfactory. Tho work in tlie copy books is uniform, and the writing very regular, and indicative of painstaking i here were, howevr, some untidy pages in tho copy books of Standard ll.—Poetry : Thoroughly learned, except in Standard 11. Object Lessons : This subject does not yet appear to have received much attention.^-Sing-ing : Spirited.—Drill: None.—Blackboards, pencils, &2. were all in good working order, and tho schoolroom was very tidy.—Registers: Strictly accurate and fully and neatly made up, but errors should be corrected, not erased. —lnfant Classes ; Reading, writing, rhymes, Fair ; addition table, not the best sort; apel-" ling and mental addition, rather weak. The third quarterly inspection of tho local Rifle Corps was held in tho drillshed on Thursday last, 30tk ult. The inspecting officer, Major Gordon,after a minute inspection of arms and accoutrements, remarked that the arms should bo kept in belter order. Members had therefore ho better prepared for next inspection, which will bo of a stricter nature. The following was the strength of the parade : —1 captain, 2 lieutenants, and LI rank-and-file. The men were put through the manual, formation of fours, wheeling, countermarching &c., by their, own officers, and got through, very well considering the difficulty of moving such a large number of men in the hall space, and the few mistaken words of command mad t by tho officers. The Captain made the fol lowing promotions in tho non-commissioned officers; —Corporal Hart promoted sergeant! Stevens, and Eeyling, corporals; and Vol McKay, lance-corporal. Two new men were enrolled, making the corps 52 strong. The i-01l was called and men dismissed after an hour and a-halPs steady drill, Mr G. Featherstone, who has been an extremely diligent lay i-cader in connection with and promoter of the interests of St. Leonard’s Church, Thornbury, was made the subject of a very handsome presentation, in the Church, l ist evening, at the hands of the members and adherents, gs a mark of their appreciation of his services prior to and since (ho Church lias been built, of which he was one of the principal promoters. The presentation took the form of a handsome eight-day marble (dock for himself, and gold watch and chain for Mrs Featherstone. The incumbent of the parish, the Rev. T. Hodgson, formally handed over the articles to the recipient, in the presence of a large gathering of the congregation, and in doing so made special reference to Mr Feathers tone’s valuable services to the Church. Mr Featnersi one suitably replied, expressing the pleasure he experienced at the expression of esteem enteriainod for him, and the groat pleasure he had derived from his connection with the Church.—Mr Featherstone has recently removed to Invercargill, and hence advantage was taken of the ocecs-on to show in such a tangible form the apprecia lion in which his services were hold, and the regard in which ho was personally held. We havo boon shown "a sample" Acme ” medicine chest, made by Mr J, W. Bridge, chemist, of this town. It is a perfect model of compactness and neatness. It is arranged in such a manner that every particle of space is utilised, and one is surprised that so small a case outwardly contains so many different articles. There arc nearly 50 different medicines, all neatly done up in bottles and labelled distinctly with the English name. There is also a pair of grain scales and weights, a glass measure, spatula, lint, bandages, plaster, mustard leaves, and a book of directions. This last itself deserves a word of mention, as it has evidently boon compiled with groat care and .after much thought. It describes fully every ingredient contained iu tho chest, giving full directions iu plain language as to tho application-of the medicines, dc so, Ac., with many useful hiuts for oases of emergency. We would advise all our country friends to purchase a chest, as Mr Bridge has fixed the price at a most reasonable figure. We aro informed that it is already meeting with a ready sale. It is an article that settlers living in places remote from medical assistance will find of great

value. The directions accompanying the cheat are void of all technical phrases, and so plain that persons of the most moderateintelligenco may comprehend the use of themediemes correctly apply them. Fattens may rely and on tho medicines being correctly dispensed, as Mr Bridge is well known as a thoroughly competent chemist, having graduated in some of ihc Fading htfurfes in London. What :■ |)nears to have been a murderous and brutal assault took place early yesterday morning at the farm of Mr 0. Dean, Etal Creek, about eight miles above Wrey’s Bush, near the Beaumont home station. The particulars we have boon able to gather are wanting in detail, but il would appear that the assailant, John Dunlea, who is said to have had son e claim upon the property, and who had been employed on the farm and in contract. ploughing about toe district for some time past, proceeded to Mr Dean’s house about one o’clock in the morning. Mr Dean rose out of bed and admitted him to the kitchen and then retired to bed again. .Shortly afterwards Dunlea, armed with a carpenter’s hammer, went into the bedroom where Dean and his wife were sleeping and assaulted both,, striking them on tho face, head, and body, and demolishing almost every article in the bedroom. A little girl who was staying in the house made her e.-cape by the window and proceeded to a survey camp distant about half a mile, in her night dress, giving the alarm that Doan was being murdered. One of the party (Mr J. Arnett) went back with the girl, when he found Mr and Mrs Dean standing outside the house in a most serious plight, covered with blood and suffering from dangerous wounds about the head and face. In the seuflle that ensued, Dean managed to get possession of the hammer, and then along with his wife he tied from tho house, leaving Dunlea in possession. One or two others of the survey parly then arrived on the scene, and it was decided that Arnett should proceed to ISight-<-aps with a view to catching the morning train to Otautau and communicating the particulars io the constable there, with the result that Constable Buchanan started for Eta) during the day. Our irformant slates that Dunlea was under the influence of drink at the time. The only answer that Dunlea gave to queries as to the cause of the assault was that he wanted revenge. Dean was in a very precarious slate yesterday from the effects of his injuries, hut owing to the distance we are unable to obtain further particulars for tills issue.

Thompson’s diorama concluded a season of two nights on Wednesday evening, to a fairly good audience, when views of the Egyptianwar and of the Mile formed the programme!. M. Instone was charged at the Resident Magistrate’s Court, Invercargill, yesterday, with a breach of the Sheep Act in having, on 28th July last, had certain lice-infeoted sheep in Foster’s yards, Thornbuiy. Defendant said he believed a few of the sheep were infected, but he was not aware of it, as he had not seen them .for some time before they were brought to the yards They had been dipped within the last few months. —Mr Douglas said he did not think Mr Instone was aware that the sheep were infected. It was the first case of the kind under the Act, and ho would ask for the lowest penalty.—A fine of £1 and costs (7s) was imposed. Last week of 0. Cummins’ clearing-out sale, near the railway station. All who have not yet supplied themselves ought to take the advantage offered during the next week. To save packing up the goods will be offered at immense reductions. This is a genuine clearing-out sale of first-class goods. Housekeepers should not lose sight of this last week. —Advt.