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Cromwell Argus, Volume III, Issue 140, 16 July 1872, Page 5

ggp To-morrow (Wednesday), at noon, the Council Chamber, nomination of candibtes for Mayoralty of Cromwell. Election on [he 22nd.

jj r James Taylor, Mayor of Cromwell, Ll a candidate for re-election to that office, addressed a crowded meeting of ratepayers and others at the Town Hall last evening. Mr Colchnwli occupied the chair. The candidate spoke at considerable length on the question of water-supply, and stoutly maintained the supe-

ribrity of the scheme recommended by the Pub[ic Works Committee and adopted by the Council. We much regret that the shortness of the interval between Mr Taylor’s meeting and the hour of our publication precludes our giving even a condensed report of the candidate’s 'speech on the occasion, more especially as a full report of the other candidate’s address appears in our present issue. Mr Taylor gave an account of the doings of the Mayoral Conference recently held in Dunedin ; explained the way in which the Jeuour dispute was settled ; and touched jnpnn the defects of the existing mail service betweeu Dunedin and Cromwell. He congratulated the townspeople on having secured a recreation ground of sixty acres on the best part of the Flat; and stated that the reserve in M el-more-terrace would shortly be vested in the Corporation. On the question of commonage, he (expressed the opinion that the people were them!selves to blame for not having secured land for [that purpose long ago. In conclusion, he might | say that he had not put himself about to canvass for support at the approaching election; but if ;again returned as Mayor, he should feel very I proud at the confidence reposed in him hy his fellow-townsmen. A number of questions, some of them pertinent and others irrelevant, were afterwards put and answered. A vote of confidence iu Mr Taylor was proposed by Mr MacKeilar and secon led by Mr Marsh ; but, contrary to the usual custom at election meetings, the motion was not put, the Chairman ruling that, as no counter-motion had been proposed, it was unnecessary to take a show of hands.

The ball announced to take place at Kidd’s Hall next Thursday evening promises to be a very successful one. The price of admission has been fixed at a figure sufficiently moderate to enable everyone to attend who feels so disposed ; and the fact that the proceeds are to be given to the Athenaeum Building Fund should be sufficient to induce a numerous attendance of ladies and gentlemen on the occasion.

We are informed that in the Eob Eoy claim, Garrick Range, at a depth of 90 feet below the surface, a reef two feet in thickness has been struck. Gold is distinctly seen in the stone, and the washdirt gives excellent prospects. The shareholders, we learn, have it in contemplation to register the company under the Limited Liability Act.

Prompt action, we are glad to state, lias been taken in the matter of collecting subscriptions for the benefit of Mrs Hutton and family. Mr Owen Pierce lias upwards of £9O on his list alone; and Messrs Stuart, Pochards, Hazlett, and Horrigan are making an active canvass throughout the Bannockburn and Garrick Lange districts.

The mail clue at Cromwell on the morning of Wednesday last did not arrive until Friday, the coach from Dunedin to Clyde having been delayed owing to the bad state of the roads. So long as the roads continue in their present condition, such irregularities can hardly he avoided ; but we fail to see any reason why the mails should be detained at Clyde for two days after arrival there, instead of being forwarded to their destination with all convenient speed. The coach, we believe, reached Clyde on Wednesday forenoon, and the Cromwell mail might have been delivered here the same day if the postal authorities had chosen to incur the trifling expense of sending it on. The same thing has occurred several times of,late, and in the interests of the Cromwell public wo protest against the unnecessary detention of our mails in the future.

Mothers who are troubled with children cutting teeth should try the virtues of “ Mrs . nslow’s toothing Syrup.” It relieves the dtle sufferer at once, and produces natural, quiet see p, hy relieving the child from pain. The syrup is perfectly harmless, and very pleasant tn * aStc -. having witnessed the benefit derived rom its use, we gladly bear testimony to its wiicacy.

Tlie disgraceful state of disrepair and dilapidation into which the Police Camp buildings have fallen is a matter of public notoriety. The tenement occupied by Sergeant Cassels and his family is a monument of Governmental meanness. And the wretched beings who are unfortunate enough to be immured even for a single night in the miserable dungeon called “ the lock-up,” certainly ought to be spared any further punishment: twelve hours in •‘Cassels’ Magazine” is said to be fully equivalent to a month in gaol. The Commissioner of Police had an opportunity, not very long ago, of inspecting the Cromwell Camp, and therefore cannot plead ignorance of the facts we have stated. Why, then, docs he compel a member of the Force to live year after year in such a tumble-down shanty as that occupied by Sergeant Cassels?

There were no cases for disposal in the Resident Magistrate’s Court last Thursday. A company (says the Timaru Herald of the 3rd inst.) is being formed on the Kangitata to buy the pneumatic apparatus lately employed in sinking the cylinders of the Rangitata bridge, in order to utilise them in the Molyneux river. Otago, for the purpose of gold prospecting in that river. The Molyneux has the reputation of being the richest gold-bearing river in the colony, hut the depth, and the exceedingly strong current prevailing, have baffled hitherto all attempts at systematic prospecting of its bed. Tlie trials, though, which from time to time have been made by dredging in favourable positions, have proved, beyond all manner of doubt, that the bottom of the river is exceedingly rich in gold, and it is thought that only by means of cylinders sunk on the pneumatic plan could these golden treasures he thoroughly brought to light. There can be no possible reason why, under this cylinder-sinking process, the river should not be explored in its every part ; and if no unforeseen difficulties occur, there is every reason to anticipate a splendid return to a company prospecting under such conditions. One of the chief promoters of the new co npany is, we hear, a gentleman well versed in mining matters, and he, moreover, has a thorough knowledge of the river whose depths are about to be ransacked.

A beautiful specimen of the Alpine parrot, ir notahllU, was recently presented to the Otago Museum by Mr Henry Campbell, of Wanaka station. Mr Campbell having last year suffered great loss among his Hocks by the hloo lsucking propensities of birds of this class, caused large numbers to be destroyed, and (says the Daily Timc.i) vve understand the locality is tolerably free from them. On the western shores of Lake Wakatip, however, they have begun to make their appear nice, and the ruuhnlders in that part of the country are already complaining of their ravages.

The announcement of a public trial of the “rock-render” in Ooomhe’s claim, Glenore, (says the Da'dij Times (if the St'i inst.,) gathered together there on Fridiy last a considerable number of mines and others interested in the experiment. The drive prepared for the shot was three by two feat, running 117 feat into the hill, with a seven foot T at the end. In this T, at least 25 feat below the surface, was placed a cask containing .’MOlbs of the rock-render, and tamped with stones, &c., in the usual manner. In nine minutes after the fuse was lighted the charge exploded; twenty or thirty yards of the ground’s surface was seen to lie heaved up about a foot, and smoke to issue from cracks in tic hill over the back of the drive. To judge fr in appearances, the quantity of cement and stn(F displaced will probablv prove something like 5000 tons. Altogether the tost was a very severe one. as will be seen from the figures given ; and although the prnpriet irs of the invention have determined, before laying claim to absolute success, to wait ten days, until the water has bear laid on and has found its way into the lissures of the blast, and so tested its result in the most thorough manner, the miners who had charge of the shot seemed to have no hesitation in at once pronouncing a favourable opinion. Whi'e the large blast was being tamped, an experiment on a smaller scale was tried with a two-ton boulder in the centre of the claim. In this stone a small | drill was made and a charge of 1 j inch placed. | Although the quantity of the compound used could not have greatly exceeded an ounce, the result of this test proved that the title was at least no misnomer. The rock-render behaved like a giant, calm in the consciousness of his strength. There was no loud report, and no hurling of excised fragments high in tie air. With a dull thud, like a sigh of resignation to its fate, the stone openel up into many pieces, each of which quietly robed a few feet from the centre; and although the shot was most sals factory in its results, anyone might have remained within a few yards of the explosion i without real danger.