Cromwell Argus, AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. CROMWELL: TUESDAY, JUNE 20.

Cromwell Argus, Volume 2, Issue 84, 20 June 1871, Page 4

Cromwell Argus, AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. CROMWELL: TUESDAY, JUNE 20.

We learn from the Tuapeka Times that the inhabitants of the pioneer goldfield complain greatly of the insufficient supply of land allotted to them for agricultural and pastoral uses. A numerouslysigned petition to the Superintendent shows, “ That not only is the run for cattle too small to enable the settlers to live by their land, but that, from there being no boundary fence, they are continually annoyed and put to much inconvenience and expense, by their herds going beyond the boundary and being impounded by the runI holder.” It proceeds to point out that | such unfavourable circumstances have al- | ready prevented many persons from settling in a part of the country near to which their mining labours have been carried on for years ; requests His Honor’s serious consideration of the necessity of throwing open the whole of run No. 123 for immediate occupation; and, bearing in mind | the fact that a large revenue is now derived from the existing commonages of Tuapeka and Waitahuna, feels confident that the opening of this ground would soon recoup the required compensation, and would prove highly remunerative to the Government. The plot is thickening ; the “ agony being piled up.” Earth-hunger of one kind or another possesses the people, so to j speak, from “ Dan to Beersheba and j tins craving must be appeased, or such a ! tide of public dissatisfaction may set in I against the Ministerial barque as will make | its favourable navigation into the still | haven of the sessional recess a voyage j fraught with perils of no ordinary kind. I This cry for land has been sounded with j one acclaim by the residents of. Cromwell, I of the Toviot, of Tuapeka ; other districts, I where a like want is felt, passing from the j transitory or roving condition into that of | permanence, such as prevails in the above--1 cited places, will no doubt still further I swell the “sweet voices” of the clodocracy, as it erewhile has been termed by gentlemen owning bulls of Bashan and cattle on a thousand hills. Growing louder and more clamorous as it rolls along, this sound, “ my masters,” if not heeded in time, will sooner or later ring in the halls of the Legislature, pealing forth in unmisI takeable tones the demise of Governmental obstructionists. Tis well, too, that people everywhere on the diggings seem to be alive to the absolute necessity for plenty of “elbow-room.” The squatters are determined to urge them to energetic action. Messrs Howell and Loughnan, of Mount Pisa, i\l‘Lean of the | Liudis, and Smith of Tuapeka, are not the only impounders to be feared. The manager of the Matakanui station, which comprises within its limits Drybread, Tinker’s, and other contiguous mining areas, has also issued his fiat, and threatens to impound cattle found grazing thereon after a certain date, publicly advertising his intention to do so in a local newspaper. ■ Well, be it so ; the last straw is said to be the one that breaks the back of the camel. The further extension of the ills bearing so gallingly upon the shoulders of the miner can but have the e licet of rallying more partizans to support the just and popular cause ; and so, though unthought oj by those who 'are arrayed against us, 0./Ccof present evil finally may be evolved future j good. i The ground proclaimed as commonage in Otago amounts to 410,000 acres. It returns, in its almost incipient stage of occupation, £2,500 and upwards to the revenue, less £470, the expense incurred in collection. Wo shall abide the issue of the action taken by the Cromwell AntiImpounding and Commonage Committee, ere again recurring to this subject ; but trust soon to bo enabled to give the community an encouraging account of their endeavours to promote the public welfar.q

An alarm of “Eire” was given iu Cromwell on Thursday night last. It was found that the parlour chimney of Smitham’s Kawarau Hotel had accidently ignited. Plenty of willing hands were speedily on the spot, and Mr Goodger mounted the roof, quickly extinguishing the blaze. Beyond the demolition of a man’s coat (used in plugging the chimney), no harm was done. An application for a quartz-roof prospecting claim was made in the Warden’s Court last Thursday, by Messrs Jones, Peace, and Company, proprietors of the Rise-and-Slxine sluicing claim. Some time ago, while sluicing in the creo Abed, they unearthed a body of goldhearing qusUz, from which most promising specimens have been obtained; the reef or leader crossing the course of the stream at right angles, or nearly so, and being of good workable thickness. The discoverers kept the | affair quiet until within a few days ago, | when they deemed it advisable, for the 1 conservation of their interests, to make a; public disclosure of their good fortune. It is | regarded as only a leader by the parties iute- j rested, hut they expect to be able to trace it to j the main lode, which is surmised to be near at i hand. To the achievement of this result, un- j tiring efforts are now being directed by the party, j and it is to be hoped their labours will be j crowned with success. Their application was granted. The down mail to Dunedin, which should have gone by last Tuesday’s coach, was | (inadvertently, most probably,) forgotten to be; taken on by the driver. Its detention has been a cause of unpleasantness and monetary loss to I many townspeople, particularly to those who | purchased sections at the recent Government land sale. Saturday last was the time appointed for payment to be made to the Receiver of Land Revenue ; but owing to the non-depar-ture of the mail at the proper time, remittances to that officer would not reach him on that date. Parties so transmitting were therefore placed in an awkward position. To obviate any disagree- j able consequences that might have ensued, the \ telegraph had to be placed in requisition, en- | tailing considerable extra expense on the really I blameless purchasers. This outlay ought to be j refunded, but we expect that will take place j when the Millenium arrives. It may be stated i that no blame attaches to the Postmaster here, i Our present postal communication with Dun- | elin is miserably ineffie'ent; for notwithstanding ; our tri-weekly mail service, a week, at least, ; must elapse ere a reply can be received to a j letter scut to the Metropolis. Surely a place ; distant only a hundred and forltj mile s from the j Capital of the Province ought, iu these days of j rapid locomotion, to be placed iu more im- i mediate communication with its commercial | centre. Every one cannot afford to send tele- j graphic messages, even though their business he j of an urgent nature. During the past week we have examined ! a number of photographs from the studio of Mr j J. Oliver White, who is about visiting Grom- [ well for a limited period. Several well-known I residents of Alexandra are included in the! group, and the clearness and excellent finish of; the portraits are sufficient guarantee of the skill 1 and ability of the artist. In anticipation of Mr White's promised visit, we would recommend our readers to “ secure the shadow ore the substance perish.” The portraits referred to are ou , view at the Glutha Hotel. We observe with much satisfaction th,at : the Committee of our local Library have con- j vened a public meeting, to take place in the 1 Town hall to-night, with the view of organising i a series of popular entertainments for the long; winter evenings. This is a movement in the ! right direction, and we trust the matter will be i entered into con amove. If properly conducted, I such entertainments cannot fail to be productive j of much pleasant social intercourse and rational j enjoyment. The meeting will assemble at 8.3 G. j On the 17th inst., Mr Reid’s motion I affirming the desirability of extending the pro-1 visions of the “ Otago Settlements Act, 18(59,” j to 1 CO, 0110 acres of laud at Gatlin’s River and I Waikava, and also to the whole of Stewart’s j Island, was carried. Mr John Reekie, formerly Postmaster j at Gromwell, is the new manager of the Grom-: well Company at Bendigo. The name was in ! our last week’s issue erroneously given as “ Mr I John Rerkie.” We owe Mr Reekie this apology ’ for the unintentional blunder committed by our ‘ Bendigo correspondent. An official intimation has been received | by the Postmaster here, to the effect that the ! British mails ri i Ran Francisco, per p.s. i Nevada, will close at the Dunedin Post-office; on Friday, 7th July proximo ; consequently the latest time for posting Home letters in Grom- 1 well will be three p.m. ou Tuesday, the 4th. ‘ In the Town-hall, on Wednesday evening last, the Rev. Mr Drake delivered an in- I teresting lecture ou “The First Napoleon,” prefacing his remarks on the subject in hand by ; stating that this was the first of a course of j lectures lie purposed delivering at stated times j throughout the winter months. He expressed I his readiness to devote whatever time could be I spared from his ministerial duties, and to bring | to bear any talent ho might posses, in order to j provide some means of rational and intellectual! improvement for the people of Gromwell—pro- 1 vidud that his efforts iu that direction met with acceptance and were appreciated by those for whose benefit the lectures were intended. The Rev. gentleman then gave a condensed but j very interesting sketch of the principal iuci-. dents A the life of the “ Corsican Corporal,” | the most salient points in his character, tracing his career from boyhood, until j ths last closing sce.ne of his life on the Isle of! Rt. Helena. The Rev. lecturer also gave his ' hearers some interesting particulars, gleaned ! from history of two of Napoleon’s contemporaries—Lord Nelson and the “Iron Duke.”; The lecture was listened to throughout with marked attention by a numerous audience, and , the Rev. gentleman was frequently applauded I during the evening. Mr James Taylor ably | fulfilled the duties of chairman. Votes of I thanks to the lecturer and the chairman were I given by acclamation, at the close Mr Drake j intimated that he had two other lectures in i preparation—subject, “ The English Language” —which he would ho happy to deliver at a fu-1 turn time. This announcement was received by 1 ths audience with expressions of satisfaction, ‘ .

Our old acquaintance, “ Peeping Bob,” desires us to remind the citizens that nominations for the Grand Municipal Handicap will be received on or about the 21st of next month. He doesn’t know of any likely horses as yet, but thinks it is high time some were put in training, so as to give ths ratepayers an opportunity of judging of their merits by witnessing their preliminary performances. Two cases which came before Mr Warden Pyke on Thursday last call for special notice. We refer to the cases in which Philippi and Elliott applied for permission to mine for gold on certain ground at Prospect Flat, now occupied by M r Felton. The applications were separate, the one from the other ; but their character was identical; and they serve to illustrate the very unsatisfactory character of the law in relation to mining on private property. In this case, however, the land in (juestion can scarcely be styled “private property,” Mr Felton not having oven a lease of the land which he has cultivated, or of the spot upon which his house stands. It must be admitted, however, that he has certain “acquired rights” which should be respected. The question at issue is whether those “ acquired rights” are of so tangible a character as to debar the bond fide miner from entering upon the ground in question to search for gold,—there being something amount-, ing almost to a certainty that the ground is richly auriferous, ft will he seen by our report of the case that the “Warden intends personally to inspect the ground on Thursday morning next, and he will probably give judgment on that day. The question is one of groat importance, and we look forward to Mr Pyke’s decision with considerable interest. It is well known that the ground in question is highly auriferous. The usual fortnightly meeting of the Cromwell Town Council was held in the Town Hall on the evening of Tuesday, the 13th inst. There were present: Councillors Dagg, Whettor, Dawkins, and Brown.- In the absence of the I Mayor, Councillor Dagg was voted to the chair-. 1 The minutes of the previous meeting were road | and confirmed, and outward correspondence was ; read and approved of. Inward correspondence, ! consisting of letters from Messrs CMclough, ac- | cepting the land they had applied for on the j terms of tin Council, and from Messrs Mil's. 1 Dick, and Co., were read and received. The I Town Clerk was instructed to request Messrs | Colclough to have a lease drawn out for the land ;as soon as possible. An application for the same i piece of land, having come iu after it had been i granted to the present occupants, was not couj sidercd. The Town Clerk was instructed to I make up the Citizens’ Roll for the ensuing Mu- ; nicipal year, and post copies on the Town Hall i and Post Office, on nr before the 15th inst. jHe was further directed to write to the District Engineer, drawing his attention to the I state of the main road through Cromwell, and I urging upon him the necessity of having it put ;in thorough repair. The usual vote of thanks ; concluded the business of the evening.