Cromwell Argus, AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. Cromwell: Tuesday, May 13, 1873.

Cromwell Argus, Volume IV, Issue 183, 13 May 1873, Page 4

Cromwell Argus, AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. Cromwell: Tuesday, May 13, 1873.

I We understand that owing to the tern- ! porary absence of Mr Simpson from the district, there will be no sittings of the Courts at Cromwell this week. A shepherd named Hugh M'Gregor, arrested at Branch Creek, Carrirona, as a dangerous j lunatic, was conveyed to Cromwell by Constable I Comvn on Thursday last. He was brought j before Mr Fraer, J.P., at the Court-house on I Friday morning, and remanded to Clyde for further examinanion. We understand that this is the second occasion on which the unfortunate man has had to be placed under restraint for the same cause. The sky last evening was clear and cloudless, and the expected lunar eclipse vis viewed under the m >st favourable circumstances. The eclipse began about eight o'clock, when the first contact with the penumbra was observable on the Southern margin of the disc ; at nine the : ear hj s shadow began to extend across the moon! | surface ; at half-past ton the eclipse was com- | plete, and the Queen of Night was all hut inj visible. About one a.m. the shadow wore away* I and pale Cythnia pursued her course with brilliancy no longer dimmed. By the last Melbourne mail we received ; | the first number of a new illustrated paper calM the Australasian Sketcher with Pen and Pe»d\ The frontispiece consists of a double portrait of Sir George and Lady Bowen,—that of the former being remarkably true to its original. TkeotM illustrations are all meritorious specimens of m and deserve a more extended notice than wecWj afford space for in this issue. The letterpress presents several novel and attractive feat« reS ' and the whole get-up of the paper is unexceptionable. The KL-c./chrr is without doubt the best illustrated paper yet produced on this «* of the Line. It is published by the proprietor* of the A rgus and Australasian,

It is rumoured that the General Government are. desirious of appointing Mr Justin Aylmer, late Wardon and Resident Magistrate at Ross, Westland, to the charge of the Tuapeka district during Mr Py lie's absence on leave. A number of workmen, under the direction of Mr William Grant, are busily occupied in stretching the wires between the piers of the Kawarau Bridge. The-whole of the woodwork is ready to be placed in position, and in the course of a fortnight the erection of the superstructure will be considerably advanced.

It is rumoured that Mr Geo. Burrow?, the well-known storekeeper at Kawarau Gorge, has been recommended to the Education Board by the School Committee for appointment as teacher of the side-school about to be established in the Gorge township. We shall be glad if the rumour proves correct, for we believe Mr Burrows is well qualified for the duties.

The sixth anniversary of Court Royal Oak of Kawarau, A.0.F., was celebrated by a ball held in Mr Richards's Assembly-room, Bannockburn, on Friday evening, the 9th inst. The ball attracted a very good attendance, and the stewards spared no exertions to promote the enjoyment of those present; but from various erases the affair was not so successful as in former years.

To destroy blight on fruit trees, remove the mouldy substance with a hard brush, paint the stem with salad or whale oil, and place a thinliyer of lime and salt over the roots, just below the surface of the soil. This mode of treatment is recommended on the authority of a well-known Dunedin nurseryman, who, after repeated experiments, has found it to be completely efficacious.

We have'been informed fsays the 7W peka Times) that in consequence of the unsatisfaotory working of the present arrangements for s.e execution of mining surveys, the Provincial Government intend to revert to the old system, viz., of paid surveyors who will be debarred from privately practising their profession. AVe are also given to understand that the survey fees are to be greatly reduced.

The following curious letter, headed "Oppression of Swearing." appears in a late issue of the New Zealand Herald:—Sir—Enclosed vou will Hud the sum of £1 55., which you will oblige by handing over to the Treasurer of iiie Protestant Orphan Rome, Auckland. This mount has been raised in a house in this city from a tine of sixpence being levied nn ench oath uttered by the boarders. This practical mode of stopping a most pernicious practice has had nn excellent effect, oaths with us now being things of the past. Trusting that, where necessary, others may follow this example,- I am, &c, One of the Pieformed."

Handbills announcing that the crnsluiigmachinery of the Nil Desperamlnm Company would be submitted to public auction on the Bth instant, were posted up in and around Cromwell on Wednesday last; and at noon on Thursday a large number of citizens assembled in the Town-hall, which was converted for the time in oan auction-mart. Mr T Stanbrook, the auctioneer, mounted the rostrum, and stated that he was instructed by Messrs Alves, M‘Ardell, and Winter, the contractors who supplied and erected the machinery, to offer for sale the entire crushing-plant, together with the millsite, water-race, dam, ami claim; and further, that the contractors were prepared to give immediate possession of the property, and would guarantee a title to the purchaser. There was a reserve of £6BO, being the balance due to the contractors by the Nil Desperamlnm Company ; therefore the up et price was fixed at that figure. ■; '■ Hall, bailiff to the R. M. Court, here interposed, and protested against the sale being proceeded with, on the ground that the property M been seized by him under authority of a distress-warrant issued at the suit of John JackSon against the Nil Company. The Bailiff then Jiuded in a written copy of the protest, and Mr stanbrook accepted it. At this juncture Mr Colclough, legal manager, came forward in the interest of the shareholders and of the company’s ether creditors. He cautioned all interested that 6 shareholders of the company, and they only, ! ere the rightful proprietors of the machinery. . ne mine, water-right, and mil!-site were held In the name of the contractors, but they had no fight to the plant, because they had been paid money—over £46o—on account of their contract. • erefore, if any one should lay a linger upon ie plant, he (the manager) would at once lodge n criminal information against the offender. Mr auhrook replied that in spite of all threats and I nteSuS, the contractors would take every risk, 3n an .ything beyond the upset price and exf e, ' Ses nf sale was realised, the surplus would be mn ed over to the Nil Desperamlnm Company. e property was then submitted to competition, u no one made a bid, and it was bought in for e contractors at the reserve price. Un Saturb^t the Goutraotors set nen to work to take the li pieces, preparatory to removing it to 6 , , at r!nu -h Ridge. Yesterday the Bailiff, tut W a SftCon ‘i distress-warrant, went up f(j| e battery and found the contractors’ men ii s m^ le fnaehiiiery. He cautioned them to j;. 3 ‘ S ! but to 110 purpose. The total amount , , b ’ r ' s £53 18s. 4d. ; and unless the j ractors it expedient to hand over that l ... 0 tbe bailiff, it is understood the latter will Itute Proceedings to decide the dispute.

I This month's Illustrated New Zealand Herald contains a very excellent and faithful engraving of the Railway Pier at Port Chalmers, copied from a photograph taken at a time when the pier happened to be lined with ships an 1 steamers of the largest class for which the structure is available. The appearance presented to the eye by the forest of masts and network of rigging carries the memory back to early recollections of St. Katheriue's Dock and other great shipping dep6ts in the United Kingdom. Many interesting illustrations of Australian scenery also adorn the pages of this popular periodical. Pukumutu, the murderer of Sullivan, has established himself with CO followers at Ngakoko, near Maungatautari. He says that if he is attacked or pursued, he will be supported by Hauhau natives. Mr James Mackay, who was sent inland to demand Pukumutu from the Maoris, while at a meeting, was attacked in his tent at 6 a.m. by a Hauhau, who only succeeded in slightly wounding Mackay on the temple. Mackay called out, and was well supported by the other natives, who are said to be deeply annoyed at the attack. Several of the Northern journals declare that war will have to result. The Auckland Star trusts that the sword will not be sheathed while black reptiles are left to hiss at civilisation.

In the Resident Magistrate's Court, Clyde, on Tuesday, the 6th inst., William Duffy, labourer, was charged with having, on the ni<rht of the 3rd instant, attempted rape on the person of Sarah Patterson, a child between six and seven years of age, and daughter of James Patterson, hotelkeeper, Clyde. The particulars of the case, are as follows :—The accused, who was a lodger in the hotel, went into the children's room during the night of the 3rd inst., and having got into the bed in which the child Sarah, and a little boy (her brother) were sleeping, committed the offence. The boy was sleeping during the time, but was awoke by a man getting out of bed, and on enquiring of his sister who it was, she said it was Duffy. The children did not tell their mother till the following evening, and the accused, on being charged with the offence, denied it. Medical evidence to the effect that an offence had been committed, was taken, and the accused was committed for trial.— Dunstan Times.

The Royal Standard Company's battery at Quartzville has been for some time at work on a parcel of Young Australian stone—about 220 tons,— aud the crushing was expected to lie finished to-day. Mr G. F. Stephemon, the enterprising owner of the Caledonian claim, has about 400 tons ready to semi down to the bat--1 tery as soon as the Young Australian crushing is i complete.!. It is reported that the last crushing of the Caledonian stone gave an average of 22 dwts. to the ton ; and if the statement is correct, as we believe it to be, the mine will now rank among the most valuable <m the Oarrick Range. Mr Stephenson works his ground on a systematic plan, and exercises a wise discrimination in selecting the stuff he sends down for crushing : the mullock is thrown aside, and nothing but quartz that is known to contain more or less gold is sent to the crushing-mill. This is a claim which the original shareholders, after many months' trial with limited success, gave up in despair, but which, by the indomitable perseverance of its present owner, has been giadually developed into a permanent and payable mine, affording steady employment to six or eight men, and .furnishing full work for an eight-stam:>er battery half the year round. Long may the Caledonian continue to flourish.