Untitled

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 211, 25 November 1873, Page 5

y "■■■*o.h.:- 1 - ■■■'■ ■• '■■■*■ \■; ■' ;> Tt is reported, and wo lia've reason to believe it is correct, that tlie price of gold will he reduced, on and after!'trie Ist of-'December, from £3 16s. to £3 15s. per ounce. A 'VQosntppol'tw" -asks information as to tbe number of electoral votes. given bv the State of New York at the Preridental elections of 1858 and. 1872; . Will anvof,pur other cosmopolitan readers kjiudW furnish the information? We confess biir inability. At the sitting of the District Court last ■week at Clyde, there were no'eases bf'a'nv great importance heard. The only three in anv wav affecting our'immediate district,'were those of George Hanson, A. M'Laughlin, and Jules La Fontaine. Tn all three cases a final discharge Was granted. We hear that 170 signatures have been obtained at the. Bannock burn to the petition which is to be lodged in the form of an objection to the granting of leases to tbe Premier Mining Company, and to Messrs Ha&'ett and Co. There can he no-doubt such a largely-signed petition will have considerable weight in settling the fate of the applications. . Mr Clapcott had a very successful meeting at Bendigo on Saturday evening last, 22nd instant. , A good many attended, and appeared to enjoy his lecture on the Government Life Insurance scheme, and the reading selections which followed at its close. We are glad to hear that Mr Clapcott has been tolerably successful in bis canvass of this district, and that he has added a good number to the roll of Life Insurers. Mr Dawkins had a very narrow escape on Saturday evening last," on the road about half a mile above the Kawarau Gorge township. When passing the place where Messrs Bedhead and M*Minn are. re-forming the road, the cart upset, and Mr Dawkins wa3 caught underneath the wheel which came upon the ground. As the cart was loaded with chaff, it was impossible for him to extricate himself: Fortunately, however, the horse kept his feet and stood perfectly still, and Mr Dawkins, with the aid of the seat-board as a lever, was able, after .half an hour's hard work, to gradually release himself from his dangerous predicament. He has not escaped, however, without being considerably bruised. Mr J. M'Kerrow has been' appointed Chief Surveyor in room of Mr Thomson, resigned. Mr M'Kerrow is an apprentice of his predecessor, and has been actively engaged in the Survey Department of the Government service for fnllv 'fourteen years. Mr M'Kerrow first entered the Government service in 1859. ■ as a sub-assistant survevor. • He passed creditably through all the grades, and was appointed Inspector of Surveys, in ISM. lie conducted a rpconrioissance survey over the Lake Districts! to the dividing range of the West. Coast, and sub-! sequentlv a standard geodesical survey over all j the available part of the province. If our memory serves us rightly, the reports on the reconnoisance survey not only excited much in-1 terest at the time in Otago, but were also read I before the Royal Geographical Society of Lon- j don, and specially leferred to by Sir Roderick) Murchison, in' his Presidential Address, in 18G4.

Mr Sewell has resigned his seat in the Legislative Council. Mr Robert Kidd is the successful tenderer for the Cardrona, and Nevis mails. 'Mr J. Marshall's letter in re Bannockbum Library i 3 unavoidably held over till next week. We are informed that Mr M. TTallenstein, the Melbourne partner of tbe firm of I. Hallensteiuand Co., has completed arrangements to start shortly in Dunedin an extensive clo'hbig factory, equal to the largest establishment of a similar nature in Melbourne. Accounts from the Haast are. to the effect that about 100 persons are on the rush, many getting payable gold. Fox and party are bringing in a race for ground sluicing. The miners are sending for their mate*, and more confidence is beginning to be felt in the permanency of the place. At a recent Mudgee election, as is set forth in a petition before the Parliament of New South Wales, no fewer than 239 persons voted twice, 61 voted thrice, and 14 voted four times ; making the handsome number of 478 spurious votes duly recorded in this one election ! From the Tmpika Times' we learn that the Clark's Hill tunnel is in about 960 feet, and the winze of the Gabriel's Gully Quartz Company is clown over 80 feet. The workmen in either place can now hear the others working. The men working in the Clark's Hill tunnel report that a little water is beginning to appear in their face, so that some change may be expected soon. The fears entertained respecting the non-recovery of Mr James Stumbles, one of whose legs was amputated in consequence of injuries received at the Mussel Bay works, have unfortunately been veriHed. A iter lingering in a state of unconsciousness for many hours, Mr Stumbles died in the Hospital shortly before ciodit o'clock on Tuesday in the presence of his wife, brother, and a number of friends.— Daily Times. Amongst the .items of news, contained in a late Wellington Inhpe.ndmt is an account of the death of Mr Haughton's well-known dog named " Bullv." It is stated that this "sweet beast" knew all the older members of Parliament, but was puzzled with the new ones of last session, and that he was a constant attendant at Parliament House during the session. The; cause of death was poison—whether accidentally! taken or not seems- to be a mystery. At the late sittings of the Supreme Court at Wanganui, hefore Mr Justice Johnson, there' were no less than three cases of indecent assault.: In two cases the'accused were discharged'through' technical difficulties, and in consequence of'the tender age of the M'itnesses. In the third case the prisoner pleaded guilty. . Evidence was adduced that the prisoner had previously served a sentence of six months for an indecent assaultj, and had been tried for another similar charge; but acquitted. His Honor said it was his intention to inflict a sentence which would, be exemplary, and then ordered the prisoner 15 years' penal servitude. The Freemasons of Canterbury have re solved to establish three scholaiships, "which, while assisting the parents of the successful competitors iu their education, would also fully enunciate the principles of the order." They are to be of the annual value of £25, each tenable for three years; one is to be competed for each year, and "open to the children of subscribing Masons, and to the children of deceased Masons, who may have been subscribing members within five years from the date of decease to anv lodge in Canterbury." The age of competitors is limited to twelve. The Bruce Herald has the following:— "A portion of an editorial footnote to a letter in our contemporary the Tuapeka Times reads as follows :—' We are gla'd to learn that school matters at Blacks are prosperous. We know that, educationally, Blacks should be a prosperous school, because the first Government teacher there produced intellectual effects, which were officially an I locally acknowledged to he of a very superior character. But we also know that that fb'st teacher resigned in disgust, because the attendance was not commensurate with his indefatigable perseverance.' The modesty of the writer would have been complete had tbe paragraph concluded : ' That first teacher is now Editor of the Tuapebx Times. ' " The amateur entertainment given in aid of the Bannock burn school funds came off in the Sckoolhouse on Friday evening last. The attendance was excellent, as is evidenced by the fact that the proceeds were some £lO. Part first of the programme was gone through very creditably. One only of the two promised lady amateurs put in an appearance, and she sang " Sweet Evelina" very nicely. Among the male performers, comic songs predominated ; still, the sentimental was not altogether awanting, and of this class Mr Ft. Cam obeli's " Jessie's Dream" deserves special mention. Mr Clapcott wound up the first part by a couple of his readings, and it is needless to say that they were greatlv appreciated. The "nigger business" formed part two of the programme, and those constituting the troupe fully sustained the reputation the Bannockburn Minstrels and Jawbreakers formerly earned in that line. An un-1 fortunate disturbance which arose in the lower end of the hall shortly after the darkies came on, had the effect of withdrawing attention from their performances for a while. The fun-loving " Bannockbitcs," as somebody once called them, loved the nigger business well, but a fight better : and order was not restored until " Mr Johnson" tnd threatened the audience that he and all his lieutenants would quickly disappear and wash their faces if the row continued. Then the audience begged pardon, .tnl atoned for pa,st j otence by thenceforth- giving all their atten- J tion to the soots n,n 1 jokes.—the former of which were very good and the latter, with one or exceptions, only middling. At the conclusion Mr Bennett came forward and thank™! those present for their attendance, intimating also that a dance would then commence. The forms being cleared awav. the music struck up, and the light fantastic was indulged in by a pleasant j and merry company until close upon four a.m., I Mr E. Barnes acting niobt efficiently as M. C. !