Cromwell Argus. AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. Cromwell : Tuesday, March 11, 1873.

Cromwell Argus, Volume IV, Issue 174, 11 March 1873, Page 4

Cromwell Argus. AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. Cromwell : Tuesday, March 11, 1873.

Oar attention has been called to the 1 existence of a very dangerous turn on the road between Quartzville and Carrickton. At the ' place referred to—a short distance above the j'■ Caledonian claim—the road runs along the side i' of a steep ridge, and suddenly diverges at right i' angles across the spur. There is barely room !' enough to afford safe passage for a single-horse '■ dray, and it is a marvel that no serious accident has yet occurred there. All that is necessary , to obviate the danger is the removal of a few < cart-loads of earth, so as to enable drays and waggons to turn the corner without jeopardising the lives and limbs of men and horses. An expenditure of £)0 would amply suffice for the purpose, and we believe that sum would be! readily subscribed by those most interested; namely, carters and storekeepers. The main-1 cenanee of this line of road, however, is a duty which properly devolves upon the Government, and we trust that the ensuing session of Councij will not be permitted to pass over without an effort being made to get a sum placed on the Estimates for the purpose. If the matter were brought under the notice of the Gold-fields Secretary, there is little doubt but ir. would receive j attention. Tho prolonged and altogether unpveec-! dented drought is telling most severely upon mining enter-prise throughout this region ; and the few small patches of laud under cultivation in the immediate vicinity have produced any--1 thing but a plenteous harvest. Cereal crops are i i all but a complete failure, and we shall have to I | draw the great bulk of our supplies of oats from I other and more favoured localities. Madame Cora performed to a well-filled i house in Kidd's Hall last night. It is useless! to ££o into detail as to the nature of her rer- \ . . . foimincc : her fame as an accomplished magician I preceded her, and any praise from us is unneeessary. in addition to all the usual feats of sleight-of-hand and legerdemain practised by ( " magicians," Madame Cora mesmerises heri i sister, and causes her to remain suspended in the ! ! air in a most wonderful manner. One of the ! down-country papers remarked that of all the I travelling performers, Madame Cora eased the I public of their money in the way easiest to be ! borne ; and she keeps up her reputation in this | respect in Cromwell, for last evening she gave I away quite a valuable list of presents. The work of forming a passable track over Mount Pisa range to Cardrona should b: I commenced without further delay. The presendry weather is highly favourable for the under l . i taking, and we see no reason why the track | should not be completed before the advent of : winter. The Colleen Bawn Company are now crushing at Logan's battery, and expect to finish i about next Saturday. Owing to the scarcity of j water, it is impossible to keep the mill at work ; more than twelve hours a day, and even then the engine can only Vie driven at a much slower ! speed than usual. The result of the crushing is I expected to be very good. After an absence of three or four weeks. | Mr I). R. Baird returned to Cromwell and re- | siiiTipd his oHicial duties yesterday morning. We ; are glad to hear that rhange of scene and of occupation ha:-: had a salutary effect on his health, which is now quite restored. [t is rumoured that Mr F. Bastings has i , disposed of his interest iu the Kawarau Hotel to Mr ("!. M. Starkey, late of the Nevis. Wc also hear that tho Carrick Ilango Hotel, Quartzjvillc, has changed hands, -Mr '! hj mias Hazlott i having transferred the premises and god-will to '' Mr Charles I'eake, of Doctor's Flat,

This month's number of tho Illustrate New Zealand Herald (received by yesterday 1 ) nail) contains several engravings of mure thai iverago merit. One of th.-sa represents the" " !{? :eption of Sir George Bowon by tho Maoris a i Foxton" (Province of Wellington), wherein ft irtist has succeeded in producing a very lifedik, picture of a native war-dance. The other illn s brations peculiar to New Zealand comprise a vies :>f the bridge over the Hurunui, and one of, similar structure on the Waiau, Nelson. In tl, frontispiece a tragical sccene is depicted—nanielv " The murder of Mr James Ross on board tt schooner Kate Grant by a Tokolau native 1 The paper also contains illustrations of sonieol the beauties of nature and art to be met with it the neighbouring colonies of Victoria, NewSoutj Wales, and South Australia. Several cases of appeal against the muni cipal assessment are to be heard in the Magis trate's Court here on Thursday next. The usual monthly meeting of the Ban nockburn School Committee was held in th Schoolroom on Monday, the 3"d inst. % members present were : Messrs Ferguson, £ er ' nett, Perry, Halliday, Stuart, and Goldsmit) (chairman). The following resolutions wet carried unanimously:—"That the Secretari acknowledge receipt of the last letter from tl Secretary to the Education Board in reference ti the grant of the Government subsidj', and re mind the Board of the previous correspondenca in regard to the survey of the land, and also re questing them to forward mips and other fur, nishings for the use of the school.''—"That ft Schoolmaster's salary be fixed at £l4O per anr. M for the first six months : Mr Simpson to ii]i~tjj office during that term.''—"That the weeltl charge for children attending school be fixed a

Is for the junior and Is Gd for the senior classes the same to date from the 3rd of March."-. " That a Concert and Ba'l in nil of the ScWi fund he held in the Schoolroom on Friday, tin 4th of Ap v il: Messrs Goldsmith, Dennett, Hal liday, and Perry to act as an Entertainment Committee."—lt was also agreed to hold tlii next meeting on Monday, the 31s': March, in stead of the first Monday in April. Sir David Monro is a strong supports] of Separation. In his speech at Waikonaiti hi said, " It had always appeared to him that then was a great incompatibility between the tw islands of New Zealand ; that it was an ex tremely difficult thing to govern the tw together ; to devise laws which would suit eac 1 island. Me instanced the Customs duties, am saiil that in many other respects there was a: incompatibility. That was bound to he tin case where one island co tainod a popiik tion just emerging from a stiite of barbarism and the other was a purely British Colony.' Referring to the civil government, Sir Davi said "he had taken the trouble to sum up A number of officers. The' , ifficulty of summingui the salaries beat him—it was rather too mud arithmetic ; but he found that the otlicer numbered 187!). It was therefore time, li thought, that the Colony should consuls whether it could not in some way or other siffl plify the structure of its civil government.''Talking of the f illy and danger of Maori repr.fen titivcs, he said, "I have seldom experienced i stronger feeling of disgust than I hid at InJ Session at seeing the way in which the Maori were beslobbered by both sides of the House.(Laughter.) A boa constrictor could not ka done it better. But thm parties were very nearly balanced, and a brown vote counts s much in a division as a white one." The first day's races at Tokomairirowen well attended, and the weather was fine. Tb i following aro the results:—Maiden Plate: Mabel ; District Handicap: Tambouriui, 1 ; Awatca,! i Trotting Ilace: Mr M'Lnren's Shaw. Had i llace : Mr Coombe's Specimen. Flying IIa:u!; 1 cip : Mr Coombe's Catapult, 1 ; Hatred, ag<v 1 second. Inconsequence of Reay being alio I to ride at the meet-in:*, Mr Hazlett witluli' I Atlas from the running. Elsewhere we reprint, from the TuapA Times, some particulars regarding the big Bl" Spur case. The same paper asser.s that il«ri» i the course of the case, a certain "peg 85''m j mentioned 19.237 times. The reporter certain! ! won't forget that peg in a hurry. Alexander Steele, who, as was men | tinned in our telegraphic news last week, » ceived severe injuries during a wrestling bout ' has since died in the Dunedin Hospital 1 j seems that a man named M'Donald, who d | somewhat " larky," challenged Steele to west* in the Provincial Sale Yards. Steele obliM ! him, and wis thrown. In falling, M'DonaLlj ! knee pressed heavily upon the pit of SteeVj | stomach ; and the latter, while he lay upon tH i ground, told M'Donald aul another man TO 'wis standing by, that his bladder was hnra j This occurred on the 28th February, and alltli'j : night he lay in one of the stalls of the Proving stables, refusmg to go to the Hospital. X*j morning, however, he was conveyed thither, ffl j there he died on the afternoon of the Gth Manl | His depositions were taken in the presence i } the Mayor and M' Donald ; and in reply to oj ; of the latter's questions, Steele exonerated m ! from all blame, and said he had no wish thattaj I law should take any hold on him (M'DonaiJ j for what he had done. M 'Donald is remand* j on bail. '! From the Daily Ton «' report of d '' last meeting of the Waste Land Board in M e,lin. we take the following items : The appj I cation of Messrs Giilies and Street, for A!^ T 1 llassinsr, Fdlacof, and Hedditch, for aW 1 for a jetty site near Pembroke. Lake WnnaM i | was granted.-Mr l\ P>. Hoult, forwhoni >.csj j i Gillies and Street applied, was granted a sevj 1 voars' lease of about ten acres of the towns reserve, block [IT., Mid-WaUatip. for lmp-SH ■ in", the land after the tirst three years to j 'vkdded up at any time required, wiihon. ofl Ration. . .

A poor old widow, in the Auckland ' Province, S3em.3 to have tried her hesb to leave ; this wicked world quietly ; but she has apparently caused more talk and stir after her death ; than ever she did before it. The following; is a telegram in the Daily Times, dated Auckland, March 6! —"Ann Pelks, a widow, aged 73, was found hanging in an outhouse at FTowick. The person who discovered her went for a constable, who fetched a doctor„ The doctor pronounced life to be extinct, but did not cut the body down. The bodv was left hanging for 38 hours, during which time all the people in the village viewed it. The coroner being absent, Mr Kells, J.P., summoned a jury, who visited the body hanging, but did not order it to be cut down. The inqusst wa3 most irregular, and a verdict offelo de te was returned, although it was shown that the woman was insane. The Inspector of Police at Auckland was not informed of the matter until after the inquest, when a sergeant went and hnd the body—then decomposed— put in a coffin. Mr Hall, a Church of England clergvman, refused to bury or allow it to be buried in the cemetery ; but the police buried her in defiance of him without any service."