Cromwell Argus, AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELD GAZETTE Cromwell : Tuesday, September 16, 1873.

Cromwell Argus, Volume IV, Issue 201, 16 September 1873, Page 4

Cromwell Argus, AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELD GAZETTE Cromwell : Tuesday, September 16, 1873.

Op all the places in the Cromwell district, | or in the neighbourhood of the Cromwell t | district, we think it will be acknowledged : | by all that the people at Cardrona have I | least to be thankful for as far as any ac- I j tion of the Provincial Council is concerned-, I j And at no time Was this more forcibly 1 exemplified than during the last session of i the Council Then, we may almost say, | for the first time, although their district has been a gold-field of no small importance I for the last ten years, the people of Cardrona appeared as petitioners to the Council,—only to meet with either a point- | blank refusal to their just demands, or an unwilling assent, which appears practically | to come to the same thing as a refusal I | The Council could not be justified in thus | neglecting or shelving the interests of the : | inhabitants of the Cardrona district in consequence of the number of their dc* mands; for they, through their represen- 1 tative, made only two out of the usual routine. Nor could it be because the i place is of no importance ; for no sub-dl-j triot which contributes somewhere between 5000 and GOOO ounces of gold to the annual escort returns, —not to say a word | of its capabilities,—can be fairly desreibed j as of no importance. Why was it, then, I that they met with such scant justice I | We propose in some measure to shortly j explain the probable reason why. Beyond the miserable and totally inadequate sum of fifty or a hundred pounds which tiie Government usually expend on. [the road from Albertown to the Arrow, the Cardrona people asked for .£240 to form a track between their township and the Roaring Meg; and they asked for a d | full inquiry into the dispute between the I miners and a certain agricultural leaseholder in their neighbourhood, and that steps should be taken to settle that dispute. Two very reasonable requests from a district which yields the Government a revenue clear of all expenses of something like £BOO a year. Respecting the first item—the j track from Cardrona township to the Roaring Meg—there can be no doubt that the chief reason why that was not granted, was because a track was last year formedfrom Cromwell to Cardrona, over the top of the Mount Pisa Range. True, that track for four or five mouths in the year is totally useless ; but the Council would naturally conclude that such a state of things could have been easily foreseen, and that the formation of such a track at all should have he.cn protested against by the Cardrona people themselves. They did so protest, we understand ; but only verbally to the Engineer; and verbal protests on the spur of the moment are never of much avail By neglecting their plain duty in this matter, they left it open, of course, for the Government to assume that they acquiesced in the propriety, and approved.! of the Mount Pisa track; and consequently Inst all standing ground on which to ask'-, the formation of a track in another direc*| (ion. Respecting the second item, however,| the arbitration case as it is called, it is not. so easy to understand, far less explain, the reluctance which the Government showed?, in dealing with the matter during the sifie ting of the Council, and their total neglectof it since the Council was prurogued.fe Surely it cannot be deemed a desirable* tiling to allow tins paltry case to remains: for years as a bone of contention, fi'ouvp

which no One but the lawyers ban derive any nourishment, and which has been indisputably shown has done so much to Retard the advancement of the Cardrona district, both in a social and a material sense. The final recommendation of the Coldfields Committee, which considered the 'case, recommended one of two Coiirtes to the Government: -either to pay the award 'originally adjudged fro. the agricultural lessee, Or to take steps to have the award “set aside, and a fresh arbitration entered upon. The Government, through the Secretary for the Gold-fields, Mr Bastings, announced that they would take the latter alternative, as they Considered the amount Of the award ridiculously excessive,—a conclusion in which all sensible men who Understand the case most heartily concurred. With this promise, of course, tevery one was satisfied; and those interested began to look forward to a Speedy settlement of the difficulty,—and that more 'especially as the present Secretary for Gold-fields is a man who gets credit for not only doing a good deal of work for the gold-fields, but doing it promptly and well. We have waited patiently for the last few weeks, thinking surely, when the rush of business following the conclusion of the Council session is over, we should hear of the Cardrona case being settled. But although as yet there is no sign of that happy consummation, we have every confidence that the matter has not been forgotten ; and that the necessity of doing something in it has only to be brought once more under the notice of the Government, to insure its speedy and final settlement. We sincerely trust that such will he the case, for we are Convinced that this Unfortunate dispute has tended very largely to delay the .legitimate extension of the Cardrona gold field.

Before going to press we were informed that the mail due On Saturday evening bad not yet reached Clyde. The rivers down-country Tire reported to be in flood. We are informed on good authority that it is the intention of tho Government to proceed at once with the re-cohstniction of the road between Clyde and, Cromwell. Contracts for Various portions of it will probably be let by public tender on or about the beginning of next 'month. The District Engineer, we understand, has been busy for the last few clays’ iil work | preparatory to that being done.

His Worship tho Mayor has placed at bur disposal a telegram received from bis Honor the Superintendent, which says that the Pill cmnowering the Province of' Otago to raise £300.000 for the Lawrence-Cromwell railway, has virtually passed the House of Representatives.

Wft are informed that the DiinStart Hospital Committee have fi a ally arrange;! with our ’oral Amateur Dramatic Club to have an entertainment at Civile on the evening of the Sprint Meeting (Friday, 26th inst). We suppose they \vill bring on the same pieces as at the entertainment, given in Cromwell last flairs.! ay week. Our (Hyde friends may safely anticipate' a very pleasant evening.

At the meeting of the Town Council hn Thursdav evening last, it was agreed to ask the Chief Postmaster to change the postal name nf the town from Kawarati Junction to Cromwell. This will he a step m the right direction, as the present style has given rise to very great inconvenience in niaiiy instances. Nobody at a distance could recognise the township Under the name of the Kawarau Junction,'except a few who were here ten years ago, When such was its Common name.

During the hearing of the Cases in the Warden’s Court on Thursday last, Mr Colcloimh applied, on behalf of the Cromwell Miners’ As* tociation, to have the application of Messrs Howell, Longhnan, and Co. heard at Cromwell Instead of at Clyde as advertised. Mr Colcloimh said there might possibly he a considerable number of witnesses to bo examined, and if the hear* iiig were at Cromwell the expense to all parties Concerned would be considerably lessened. The Warden said lie would be quite willing to hear the case at Crorriwell, but in tile meantime could not give Mr ColeloUgh aiiy positive assurance that such would be the case, aS there were others besides himself wlloSe convenience would have to consulted. He recommended Mi Coleloiudi however, to arrange the matter with the appli* cant, and he did not think there would be any ( Utica.ty in adjourning the case to Cromwell After settling this matter, the Warden called Mr Loldough s attention to a letter which ho had received from the Secretary of the Cromwell Miners Association, asking some guarantee that it hearing of the same application ahoVe-men-Uoned would he postponed from the 3rd September to some future date. His Worship said that n the 27th August, a Mr Vaughan, a mineC, had ged certain objections to the application. When he saw Rle objections, he told Mr Vaughan tbat the hearing of the application would he postponed till Some date of which due notice would he given iu the Cromwell Ar./iu He therefore thought it rather strange after the verbal promise given to Mr Vaughan, that he jonld be asked by tile Secretary of the Association to give a written guarantee of the postponement i it looked as if the Association did not Place any dependence Upon his word. It appeared the more strange because it was quite evident, if the report in the Cromwell Arr/un nf me Association meeting was correct, that Mr aughan clearly understood him as distinctly promising an adjournment of the case. He neretore would decline to give any written guarantee Miners coming to his Court would .' r soou * earn that his word in any case was I'lUc as good as his guarantee in writing. \

C It is Currently reported, although we - cannot vouch for its strict accuracy, that the - price given for gold at Cardrorta is £3 18s. 3d per ounce, . Yesterday Mr M‘Multy finished his coii- . tract for cutting the Quartz Reef Point track, , making the road complete as far as the gor»o,’ There still remain sixty or seventy chains over ) which it would be desirable to form some kind 1 of a track before it can be said that the road to [ Quartz Reef Point is complete. We have hoard , that the Engineer is quite satisfied with the way j in which the work lias been Completed. > , We received a telegram on Tuesday last, (too late for publication, howeVer,) describing ; fche scene when the Government tried to re-intro° duce the Gold Mining Bill, of which, for the last ' six we have heard so much. Fuller , information than the telegram Contained will be , found elsewhere under the heading of “ General Assembly.” We can Understand the wrath of the Dunstan District representative in this affair, and sympathise with him to a certain extent • but his conduct in the other matter affecting the various Reserves in Otago is to Us altogether incomprehensible, when we remember that on the 6th of May, 1870, it was his amendment which was carried, recommending the reservation of 240,500 acres as art endowment for the establishment and maintenance of High, Grammar, and District Schools irt Otago. °We shall expect a little more light on this subject. Some Children on the Camp-hill had a Very narrow escape on Friday afternoon last They were playing about the face of the old workings of the Westmoreland company, on the hank of the Ohitha. making mimic tunne’s, and generally imitating the proceedings carried on by diggers ill working their claims, when a heavy fall of top stuff took place, nearly srrtotherino the lot of them. Two of them got scratched and bruised, blit ortc of Mr Ritchie's boys bad a very narrow escape. A large piece of stuff fell oh his back, rendering him so completely helpless that it was thought his back Was broken. Under Dr Corse’s care, however, he is getting all rrilit again. ° , t At a sale lately held at the Teviot, iV. essrs Fames and Stanbrook report having sold a considerable quantity of feed oats at from 4s 3d to 4s 61 a bushel, seed oats fetching 4s Bd. They also disposed of a number of dairy s cows at from £4 10s to £6 15s. At the same place, a lot of saddlery, several tip-drays, and other articles i were also disposed of at remunerative prices. In the report of a meeting of the Arrow Valley Progress Committee, published in the Arrow Ohserwr, we notice that it, was proposed by Mr H, Clarke, and carried, “ That the Secretary write to Mr IT. Bastings, informing that gentleman that a communication has been received by this Committee from Mr H. Lakeman, statin? that the sum of £IOO has been placed’ on the Estimat- s for the formation of a bridle-track from the Matatapu diggings to the Arrow ; hut that on looking over the Estimates, it appears that a corresponding Snrti (£i().)i lias by mistake been put on to connect the Matatapu with Groinwell, and that no such sura appears on the Estimates to Connect the Matatapu with the Arrow Valiev Track.” It i« quite correct that no such ! sum appears on the Estimates to connect Mata- ' tapn with the Arrow Valley track, hut Mr j Clarke may be assured that it was not put on by 1 mistake between Cromwell aiid M.data pi; ; and, \ further, that Hie sum can lie very judiciously expended indeed on that marl. Mr Clarke should 11 attend to these matters in his seat in the Pro-1. Vmclal Council, and he would nob then require i to “ pinch” sUirts of money off other districts t under the pressure of Progress Committees. Let * him try and get £ 100 for the Arrow-Matatapu r road by all means, if he can ; but lot him leave other needful works alone.

We don’t know whether it is in consequence of the withdrawal by Or. Dawkins of his motion relative to the keeping of pigs within the municipality, or what is the reason, but the swinish race have held high festival ever since, Phcy haV'e, in fact, been making regular pigs of themselves. On Saturday they confined their festivities to the flat and upper portions of the township, hut on Sunday they extended their operations to the main street, where they afforded Unlimited amusement to all the youngsters on the look-out for something to break the decorum of the Sundav, and a similar amount of annoyance to all the grown-up people. A two-days’ holiday, however, we should think, is quite enough even for pigs, and we trust to hoar that their master intends to confine them in future strictly to the duty, of getting themselves fat and ready for the market;

| A work by Mr Henry Smytiiies, sen., ■ has recently bceti issued in Loudon, under the title, The Education of Man : a Suggestive ■ Dissertation on the Soul—what it is and how trained. With art appendix* : Have Ravages 1 Souls?—By a Mcnlbcr of the New Zealand Bar ” 1 The work is published at tOs 61. The Home News says there is some difficulty in believing that the author is iri possession of his senses. | The largest and most destructive fire I that has ever occurred in Auckland, broke out I in the centre of Queen-street at 12 o’clock on Satin clay night. Ihc Fite Brigades were soon on the spot, but water being scarce their services were almost useless. The whole of the west side of Qneeii-strcet, from Victoria-Street to IS ewm.arkst House at the bottom of Cook-street, is in ashes. So also is the lower half of Web lesley-sfcreet. Alto-other 58 buildings are down A large number of the buildings destroyed were Uninsured, The estimated loss of the varbrns Insurance Companies is £25,000. which is divided among the New Zealand, Norwich Union, Royal and Smith British offices. The heaviest losers are in for about £4OOO cadi. The balance is insured m the Scottish Commercial. Victoria Northern, and Liverpool and London Companies. The total destruction of property is estimated at about £(10,00(4 Several .accidents occurred. Three firemen fell from a verandah, and one of them, name I.Tamos Fuljamrs, was seriously hurt. A man named Charles Bowden dropper! down dead iu the street during the fire. Mr Williams, proprietor of the Anchor Hotel, broke a blood-vessel, and lies dangerously ill’ During the fire aN. E. gale was blowing. Heavy rain commenced immediately after, and has continued siaee.

An Auckland paper records the following amusing circumstance :—A revised edition of a very highly civilised Maori exhibited an act of thoughtfulness on his own behalf, at St. Paul s Church, at the close of the Service last evening, which it is doubtful whether a Europeau could have equalled—he certainly could not have excelled it. After the sermon the usual collection was made toward the offertory by the churchwardens going round with the plate. Our dusky friend referred to placed in the plate by mistake half-a-crown, which he intended should I have been a coin of nearly the same size, but of considerably less value—a penny token, it is presumed. Discerning his mistake, he left his scat, walked up the church aisle to where the churchwarden was making his collection, and coo’ly took the half-crown out of the plate, makiim use of these words at the same time, ‘ No fear cocky ! Too much money. ’ _ Then the Maori walked back and took his seat with a, mind at once serene and assured.”

A grand pigeon match is to talcs place at Lawrence, on the loth of next month, between live gentlemen from Dunedin, and live from the up-country districts. Mr 8. G. Smith is formhm the Dunedin partand the well-known runholder, Mr Glassford, the up-country team. Preliminary arrangements are already being made, and the surrounding districts are being scoured for the feathered tribe, who are to become victims of the friendly match, which will, no doubt, be followed by s weeps takes. —Tuapeka 1 ivies.

A Wellington telegram to a Dunedin p,apttr says the Assembly will be prorogued in a fortnight, if the “ Lords,” are not refractory. -The following advertisement is taken fioii a late H (vlcoualtl llcfald Two young ladies, within five miles of Palmerston, want partners for the coming ball. None bat good dancers need apply. Address, X. Y. L., Post Office, Palmerston. ”

Tlie Wellington correspondent of the TJmc* says:—“Mr O’Neill’s motion in favour of a reduction of the export duty on gold by ano her sixpence an ounce, has, after being several times before the House, been rejected by a majority of five. Nearly all the Provincial party opposed it and so did the Government. Yesterday this question came on very shortly after Mr Vincent Fyke took his seat. Of course he was bound to speak on it, and he did so in a manner which produced a, very favourable impression on the House. His eloquence, however availed him not, for, as already stated, the motion was negatived. An amendment-, that the question of reducing tire duty in each Province should be left to the local legislatures, was pressed to a division by Mr O’Connor—but was lost by a large majority.”

. An a 'f! !sin S story is related of the Bishop of Lichfield (Bishop .Selwyn) by the Birmingham Port:- While recently walking in the Black Country, his lordship saw a number of miners seated on the ground, and went towards them to say a‘ ‘ word in season. ” Asking them wbat ‘ hey were doing he was told that they had been “byin.” The Bishop,somewhat astonished, asked for an explanation. “ Why. y or said one of the m«u, “one on ns has fun’ kettle, and we been a trying who can tell the biggest lie to ha’ it.” His lordship was shocked and began to read the men a lecture, telliim them tnat Uc had always been taught that lying was a great Hn, and that, in fact, so strongly had this been impressed upon him that lie had never told a lie in the whole course of his life. Hardly had Ins lordship finished when one of his hearers 'Exclaimed, “Gie the governor the kettle ! -ffi- the governor the kettle !” °

The Parliamentary correspondent 0 f tlie Auckland Kroning Star, describing the debate upon the Provincial Loans Pill, states while it was proceeding “ Mr Bathgate looked motherlv Ul 'l kind.” Then when bespoke, “his speech was maternally expostulating and full of Aeriptnro texts, and, although not intended, kept the House in a succession of peals of laughter.”