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Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 941, 12 May 1883, Page 2

Mr Costley’s freehold estate is to be at once sold by the trustees. Its valuj is, L 30,000. The balance of the estate is in cash at the different banks in fixed deposits.

A shipment of ostriches is expected at Auckland by the steamer Westmeath, as a nucleus for the ostrich farm to be commenced at Bombay settlement, near Drury. The pottery hands at Milton, who were thrown out of work by the fire which occurred some months ago, will resume work in a few days, though not under the auspices of the former Company. The Walton Park Coal Company’s miners have resumed work. The directors on. Thursday mat the miners, and satisfactory terms were arranged between them.

Thu prospectus of the Auckland Farmers’ Co-operative Association is published. The capital is LIOO,OOO. It is proposed to erect dour mills, erect stores in the city, and supply bakers, storekeepers, etc. One object of the new venture is to make advances to farmers at the beginning of the season. Some question having arisen as to the position of members of Bead Boards, the Government have been advised that in cases where no fresh elections of members have taken place the old members retain the<r positions until such time as their successors (if any) ate appointed. In connection with the elections which have already taken place, it niay be mentioned that these are perfectly legal.

The old Licensed Victuallers’ Association of Wellington was yesterday wound up at a numerously attended meeting of the trade. Mr P. K. Watty, Secretary, was presented with a magnificent gold chronometer and chain, valued at 80 guineas, a gojd and diamond locket being added by one of the members. The meeting afterwards resolved to establish a new Association, and Mr Watty was elected Secretary.

Twenty-five Chinamen were brought up at Greymouth yesterday afternoon for playing fan tan. The Court was densely packed with Chinamen and Europeans. The alleged bankers were acquitted on the ground of insufficient evidence. The keeper of the gambling house was fined LlO with the alternative of one month’s imprisonment. Two of their countrymen (cooks), who were apprehended amongst others, gave sufficient evidence to enable a conviction to be obtained. Twentythree were fined 10s each and costs, the alternative being hours’ imprisonment. On a leading Chinamen guaranteeing the money would be paid by ten the following morning all the prisoners were liberated. All their gambling implements were confiscated.

On receiving a petition from the natives praying for commuting the sentence in the case of Mikaire Te Papa, His Excellency the Governor stated but for the petition coming from the Maoris for pardon of a Maori, he would not have received it, as to do so was contrary to all legal precedent. A jury having, after a regular trial, found a man guilty, that man is presumed in the eye of the law to be actually the man who committed the deed, whatever may be the doubi on the minds of individuals, and the only grounds for reversal of a sentence is the arising of new evidence, which would upset that on which the verdict was founded. When such is the base the condemned has the regular course prescribed by law open to him fur procedure. His Excellency however, he would lay the petition before the Council in Wellington on his return there, with the view of having the matter enquired into.

A young man named Joseph Aclensen was taken in custody at Wellington; ori( Thursday afternoon ori a chargem,inffict jV ing serious bodily harm upon May Sheedy, a resident of Christchurch. He was brought up at the Magistrate’s Court jesterdaj morning before Mr E. Baker, J.P., and admitted to bail en his own applies, lion. No evidence was aduced, but it appeard that the parties in the case were employed at a well-known hotel in Christchurch until tho 2nd inst., on which day they had a disagreement, the accused bringing matters to a clilhax by pouring a quantity of boiling hot tea down tho girl’s back. The female was very seriously injured. She was obliged to enter the local hospital for treatment, where she still remains.

Tho Clyde paper says:—“A case, the first one of tho kind yet tried under the 143rd section of the Licensing Act, 1881, was heard before Major Keddell, R.M. at Clyde, on Wednesday, and a conviction obtained. The section reads :— ‘ Every person found drunk in any highway or other public place, whether a building or not, or on any licensed premises (the italics are our own), may be apprehended, and on conviction shall be liable to a penalty of not less than five shillings nor more than twenty for the first offence, and in default, imprisonment.’ The accused referred to was in a bedroom of the hotel at the time, yet he was apprehended. There were circumstances surrounding this case that made the arrest perfectly justifiable on the part of the police, as just prior to seeking shelter he had acted in a manner fully warranting it.

The following petition is being signed in Dunedin by the Roman Catholics : “ Ihftyour petitioners are conscientiously opposed to the system of public education established in ■ this colony ; that they have in consequence established Roman Catholic schools, and maintain them at their own sole expense ; that under these circumstances they find themselves aggrieved at being compelled to contribute to maintain a system of education from which they derive no advantage, which puts them at a great disadvantage, and which is practically the cause of their being subjected + o double taxation ; that they are persuaded one of two things should be done, if they are to be treated according to justice and equity, viz. : Their schools should be pat on a footing of equality with public schools, or they should be exempted from taxation for public school purposes; that they respectfully pray your honorable House to take the premises into consideration, and advise such measures; as will secure to the Roman Catholics of New Zealand justice and equitable treatment.”

A miner named Thomas Priest, while working in a tin claim about a couple of miles south of Tingha, some few weaks ago (says the Sydney Evening News) came across a crystalline mineral substance of a very peculiar kind. It is transparent, almost colorless, very hard and brittle, and has the appearance of lumps of gum or resin, but is clearer than either of those substances, and a striking peculiarity about it is that it is studded thickly with grass straws, plainly discernible. Priest showed specimens of the mineral to several experienced miners, but none of them could recollect having seen anything of the kind. It was obtained at a depth of about 20ft, and there was only a small quantity of it, about 251 b weight. Priest having ransacked his mineralogies! vocabulary in vain for a deflation of the substance, struck out for himself into the field of conjecture, and pronounced it to be petrified water. The grass straws tunning through it confirmed him in this opinion. Authorities, however, think it is a spar of some sort, or an agate. He has brought some samples of it to Sydney, desiring to be authoritatively advised as to the nature of the mineral. Mr Thomas Bul’ock’s new Arcade in Burnett street was opened to-day, the occasion being celebrated by an admirable luncheon, served up in host Quill’s best style. At least 200 people sat down at noon, but a great many more were present, and these partook of Mr 6ullock,'s hospitality later on. Among those who supported the chairman were Mr Ivess, M.H.R., his Worship the Mayor, Mr J. Garter, and Mr O. P. Oox. After the good things provided had been done' full justice to, and the usual loyal toasts had been drunk, the Mayor proposed the health of Mr Bullock: He spoke in high terms of the enterprise of the proprietor of the Arcade, and said that those -who knew Ashburton a few years ago would never have believed that such a building would have been erected in so short a time. It was a sign of the progress the town bad made, and it was gratifying to him to be present on this occasion.' The toast was drunk'with great enthusiasm, musical honors being accorded, and cheers given with much gusto. Mr Bullock briefly responded, as there was a large number of people whom he. would like to see in the places of those now at the table. The opening was in every way a success, and all presentenjoyed themselves thoroughly. There was a large entry for to-day’s sale, and the bidding throughout was brisk. “ P.R.” writing on March 9th in Knowledge —Mr R. A. Proctor’s paper—discourses as follows fas to. the “ trade ” usages in regard to frozen meat sent from the colonies ;—Not long ago there arrived in London in sound condition a large consignment of New Zealand mutton and beef. Pull 24,000 legs and shoulders of the former were cast on the market one morning, yet the most searching inquiry among probable consumers of the Antipodean meat fails to elicit a trace of its ultimate destination as food. I have interrogated various butchers, but none of them have seen this meat, and all agree that their customers would never buy it. Some say that Bast-end butchers “ clear ” the market for a “ low-price ” trade; others opine that it goes to the suburbs, but all affect utter ignorance as to the precise way in which this mysterious meat has gone into consumption. It is a suspicious fact, certainly, that certain butchers who formerly had offal in abundance, are now innocent of such profitless accessories to the trade, and those who keep animals suffer great inconvenience. If it is gently hinted to one of these purveyors that colonial carcases come without offal, and that this perhaps accounts for the present scarcity in some quarters of the special dainties of cat and dog, he turns virtuously indignant, and angrily repels any base and insulting insinuation on your part that possibly the key to the curiotls enigma may be found in Australian meat. There is an obvious wrong somewhere. Jesting aside, the enormous demand for butcher’s meat in this country renders consignments like that of the Sorata a mere drop in the ocean. The unfortunate part of the matter is that so much colonial meat is consumed by persons ignorant of its origin, that the popularisation of Antipodean beef and mutton is, pro tanta, checked, and the public at large receives no benefit whatever from the importation of meat at 6d or 7d per lb. Now, it is well understood by those acquainted with the colonial pastoralists that directly they can distinctly see the way to a general popular demand in Great Britain for colonial meat, the necessary organisation for sending a really adequate and regular, supply will be forthcoming, and then, of course, the retailers will be compelled to sell at a reasonable profit and price. At present the butcher’s hole-and-corner policy—equally selfish and short-sighted—is postponing the time when the seventy or eighty millions of Australian sheep will be really as much ours as though they fed. in English pas> tores. ,j

Damages in this, libel' action Rev. W. iCree v. Society are laid ot L 1,500. ' At Christchurch yesterday Frederick King was committed for trial to-day for setting fire to his boarding-hou e on April 23rd with intent to defraud the Scottish Imperial Insurance Association, in which office his furniture was insured for LIOO. His wife, Ann Georgina King, was also accused, but was discharged. Harry Jackson, charged with shooting at Mr John Deans a year ago, was committed for trial. Francis Gerard Bailey, charged ’ with horse-stealing, was discharged. As a Chinese market gardener was leisurely making his way up Cass street this morning, seated in his cart, and surrounded by all the vegetable delicacies of the season, the blinkers of the horse suddenly came off, and the animal bolted. The reins gave way at the nme time, and John was rendered powerless, being only able to stand up in the cart and trust to providence. It appears that one of the usual houses of call for the vendor of green meat is Beecher’s Hotel, and thither the horse repaired ; but on this occasion the want of a guide wss severely felt, as the cart was brought into violent contact with the lamp-post opposite the building. The result of the concussion was that the occupant was shot up into the air as if he had been made the victim of a dynamite plot. The Flowery-lander found himself seated on the ground amid a shower of vegetables and broken glass, the lamp being entirely smashed. The cart did not overturn, and the horse, relieved of his load, proceeded to amuse himself by gambolling on some vacant sections near at hand. Finally the animal took to the road, and very soon the vehicle was left behind in the highway, and it was sometime before the horse was captured. The cart was pretty much knocked about, and the Chinaman was considerably shaken, and received a nasty cut on the face, but otherwise was not injured, although he had a narrow escape. MrW. J. Sykes, dental surgeon, will be in Ashburton on Monday next, and may be consulted at Mr J. M. Cambridge’s, chemist, East street, between the hours of II a.m. and 5 p.m. on that day.— [Advt.] In reply to the Chertsey correspondent, re inferior bred, I ask Chertsey to give the Free Trade Bakery a turn, not to saddle all Ashburton with the name he has done without letting the public know who is supplying Chertsey with bread, B. Lancaster, Free Trade Bakery, Somerset Butchery.— Advt. During cold weather nothing looks more cheerful than a pleasant room well furnished with household requisites of a kind both useful and ornamental. To get such you must use your own discretion, so as to please the eye and not hurt the pocket. Just beyond the Arcade the establishment of Meech'is to be seen, which now embraces the whole 0f45, 46, 47, 48, 49, and 50, Burnett street East. You can purchase almost any description of* furniture here at Christchurch and Dunedin prices, and the stock is large and varied. Remember the address—J. Meech, Burnett street, Ashburton. — [Advt.] [Correspondence.] ; '

AN EVIL AND ITS REMEDY.—To the Editor, —It is a healthy sign of the times when our local papers are beginning in a fearless manner with bankrupts and the bankruptcy laws. The time has come when something must be done either by the legislature or by business men themselves to put an end to a state of affairs which is a disgrace to our boasted civilisation. We (the undersigned) have been doing business in Ashburton about 3*4 years, and the money we have lost during that period by bankrupts, levanters, and blacklegs generally amounts to a great deal more than the margin usually allowed for bad debts. If the law cannot protect us then we must protect ourselves, and there is only one way to do so; viz., to abolish the credit system altogether. This system has been the curse of other countries besides New Zealand, and past experience has proved it to be rotteh to the core. Owing to recent heavy losses we have resolved to sell for cash only in future. The honest man who is willing to pay his 20s in the £, and pay as he goes, will find this no disadvantage but a great gain, as he will be able to obtain a first-class article much cheaper than he would under the old system. We shall exert ourselves to the utmost as heretofore to give our customers full satisfaction, and every order will be executed in our usual first-class style—but we shall no longer run any unnecessary risk. Under the cash system we are prepared to offer a special line of tweeds at the following unusually low prices :—Gentleman’s suit made to order, £2 ißs fid; ladies’ tailor made ulster, £2. All other goods in proportion, for cash only: Craighead and Co., tailors and clothiers, Tancred street.

Holloway’s Pills are strongly recommended to all persons who are much reduced in power and condition, whose stomachs are weak, and whose nerves are shattered. The beneficial effects of these Pills will be perceptible after a few days’ trial, though a more extended course may be required to re-establish perfect health. Holloway’s medicine acts on the organs of digestion, and induces 'complete regularity in the stomach, liver, pancreas, and kidneys. This treatment is both safe and certain in result, and is thoroughly consistent with observation, experience, and common sense.. The purification of the blood, , the removal of all noxious matter from the secretions, and .the excitement of gentle action in the bow els, ; are the sources of the curative powers of Holloway’s Pills.—Advt.