Untitled

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 214, 16 December 1873, Page 5

In consequence of pressure upon our space, we are compelled to omifc this week our usual Mining Memoranda. The only item of importance i 3 the crushing of the Cromwell Co., finished yesterdav. From a crushing of about 80 tons, the gold obtained is 445 ounces. Mr Talboys informs us that he has received a telegram from Mr Fraer, stating that £2O was collected on Sunday last at the Episcopal Church service, in Lawrence, in aid of the building fund of the Episcopalian Church at

The Rev, Jackson Smith, of Queenstown, is at present on a visit to Martin's Bay. At Napier, Ellen Page, a Maori girl, aged 15, has been committed for tri.il for forging a cheque. Mr James Scott has just completed one of the finest and most complete ovens which we believe can be found out of Dunedin. If we don't get good bread at any future time, the oven must not be blamed. •

The Athenaeum Committee held a meeting last Aveek. The only business of importance brought before the meeting was the offer by Mr B. EL. Baird to advance the sum of £450 by way of loan to build an Athenaeum Hall. The offer was favourably received by the Committee. We are informed that Mrs Stoy (lately residing in the Bannockburn district) was taken into custody last week at Invercargill, on a charge of having committed bigamy. She will be remanded to Cromwell. The case has been brought against her at the instance of her first husband. From a private telegram received here yesterday, from Dunedin, we learn that the submarine boat (Nuttall's patent) was most successfully launched yesterday forenoon in the presence of his Honor the Superintendent and more than one thousand spectators. Many will be glad to hear that the Molyneux is to have another trial in the dredging way. At the last meeting of the Cromwell Miners' Association, the Secretary, Mr Colclough, informed the meeting that an agreement had been entered into between the banks on the snbject of the reduction in the price of gold. The agreement, Mr Colclough said, on the best authority, involved a penalty on the bank which first broke through its condition of a thousand pounds. We are informed by a gentleman in this town, who is well acquainted with the district, that the prospects of the Nevis never looked better than they do at present He instances one claim which is worked by four men.

They can take out a " paddock" every five days, and the yield from each paddock averages quite thirty ounces. This is pretty good work for four men : about £3O per week per man. We cannot help being struck with the j fact that nearly all our exchanges refer to the reduction in the price of gold as having taken place, in the Cromwell district only. We certainly were under the impression that the reduction was a universal one, or almost universal, throughout the Province. If the reduction affects our own district onlv, we should be glad to know, as the evil could then be very easily dealt with. At the complimentary dinner given to Messrs Turnbull and Bastings, the other evening, Mr Grant, when claiming the right to say a few words in reply to the toast of the Mayor and Corporation, described himself as one of the "bulwarks of the Council." The description, it is hardly necessarv to say. was intended for a joke ; and when given with Mr Grant's pi etended simplicity, had-the desired effect of setting the whole company in a roar. From the report of the examination of the Oamaru Grammar School, held on the 4 h h and sth insts., we see that Master Joseph Wright (one of the late pupds in the Cromwell District School) distinguished himself considerably. The fact is all the more creditable when we reflect that he had to contend in Oamaru against a school mustering nearly 300 on the roll, whereas in Cromwell he had only numbers varying between 30 and 60. The results are :—Dictation, sth class, Ist prize ; Arithmetic, 7th class, Ist prize; Mental \ritinetic, Ist prize (another boy being equal); Euclid, 2nd class, Ist prize; Algebra, 3rd class, Ist prize ; Latin, Ist class, Ist, prize; French, Ist class, Ist prizn; Drawing, 2nd prize;—that is. seven first prizes and one second. The prizes for dictation, mental arithmetic, and algebra represent the first prizes of the school for

thes3 subjects. | We would draw the attention of those i interested in quartz mining or crushing companies on the Carrick Range to the offer of the Goldiields Secretary, to subsidise local subscriptions to a road fund by £2 for every £1 subscribed. The Elizabeth, the and the Caledonian should subscribe liberally to such a fund, and »et the road put into thoroughly good working order, at least as far as Carrickton. before winter again sets in. With a little assistance, there is no reason why the Young Australian, the Leader, and the John Bull companies should not avail themselves of the subsidy. A passably good road might, without any great expense, be thus made to the Royal Standard Saddle, and from thence to Mr Logan's machine, as well as from Carrickton to the Elizabeth claim and the Star-and-Oak machine. The companies and the shareholders, however, should combine their contributions, and not selfishly demand a good road to each of their particular claims and machines. What is good for the district as a whole would prove of the utmost beneiit to each particular claim and company.

A gentleman who was present at the public meeting held at the Bannockburn schoolhouse on Saturday night, to consider the steps to be taken in re the reduction in the price of gold, informs us that one of the local bank agents was present, and gave some information as to the causes which bad led to the late reduction.. He also gave information as to the way in which gold could be sent for assay, and the charges which would be made on the gold sent for that purpose. We regret very much that our reporter was not present, as the information appears to have been of that kind which was hinted at in a late leader of ours as being wanted from the banks. It was impossible for our reporter (we can't afford more than one ■ special) to attend t' e Conference with Messrs Turnbull and Bastings and the Bannockburn meeting at the same time. Our local correspondent at the Bannockburn of course only gi\-es briefly (and properlvtoo) the result of the meeting ; it would hardly be fair to expect a detailed report from him. By the way, it was understood, at their last meeting, that a deputation of the Cromwell Miners' Association was to wait upon the local agents to get their information.

A telegraph wire is to be laid on to the Melbourne cricket ground during the Euglish cricket match, and telegrams will be forwarded direct to London. It is said that Miss Julia Mathews' success in Great Britain has been of such magnitude that she has been compelled to decline several brilliant offers made to her to revisit Australia. The German Consul in Melbourne has prevented mining speculators placing mining ventures on the German market, on the grounds that he thinks it unadvisable to invest German capital in Victorian mines. The Eev. Mr Rigg preached in Trinity Wesleyan Church on Sunday last. In the course of his sermon he made reference to festivities at church anniversaries, and spoke warmly against playing at kiss-in-the-ring at any time, and especially on such occasions. It had, he said, an evil influence upon those who took part in it, and was a blot upon our Christianity.— Tuapeha Times. According to the Lawrence paper " the dead body which was found at the Beaumont has been identified as that of Captain M 'lntyre, a shareholder in the Galatea dredge at Alexandra. He was, it seems, drowned iu company with a

man named Scott (on whom an inquest was lately held at the Teviot), owing to the accidental upsetting of a boat. The wife of the late Captain M'ln f yre identified his apparel as well as tattoo marks." With respect to the reduction of Is. per ounce in the price of gold at Cromwell, a gentleman showed us this week both refiners .and assayer's receipt notes for a parcel of Otago gold sold by him to the Bank of England, and for which £4 as. an ounce was given. We remember seeing a statement the other day that £4 per ounce was given at Orepuki for gold which is almost as fine as flour, and thefore proportionately impure. It certainly seems strange that such a difference in price exists.— Arrow Observer.

The Southern Escort arrived in town on Tuesday, 9th inst., with the following quantities of gold : oz. dwfc. Lawrence - - • 1675 9 Waipori • - - 217 »3 Waitahuna - - • 389 11 Tokomairiro. - - 468 8 2750 11 Northern Escort - - 9347 6 LUIiU ... iz,KWI It The election of a surgeon to the T>unstan District Hospital is occupying the attention of a good many people at present. As the time is drawing near when the election will take place, we may as well remind the public that only those who are subscribers' to the extent of one pound per annum are entitled to vote upon the occasion. If, therefore, any one feels any interest in the election, he should see that'he is qualified to vote. We believe that any one who pays: wring'the present month (that is, if he has not done so during the year gone by) will.he , eligible, although we cannot say when the time for qualifying ohe's-se'f expires. While reminding the subscibers of their duty, we may as well i remind the Committee that they will not he doing theirs, if they insist upon the election ■ being carried on entirely at Clyde, as was done 1 upon former occasions. Polling-places should • be established at the chief centres of population, 1 —unless, indeed, it is true, as some say, that the • law will not allow of such being done. We trust the matter will have the attention of the ; Committee, and, if at all possible, that polling- ' plices will be established at other places than ■ j Clvde. There are at present, we suppose, about ' eighty qualified voters- in this district alone, of I whom some thirty or forty reside in the imme- • diate vicinity of ''romwell, and it would cerI tain'y be a hardship to insist upon their going <" to Clyde to record their votes. The same, thing applies with equal force to Alexandra, Llack's, 3 j and other places.

At thfi meeting of the Waste Lands Board held in T)unerlin last week, the following matters of business were transacted : -" Becommendatinn of the District Land Officer that Wil-1 liam Scott should be allowed valuation for im-' provemehts made by him on sections 11 and 12, block LIX.. Cromwell. The Chief Commissioner explained that the application was ahout some land which had been sold, but not taken up properly. Improvements had been made upon it, and the result was that the man now found himself in a fix. —Mr Clark thought the was hard, and that the Board misrhtdo as it formerly had done in such cases, and grant the request.— The Chief Commissioner did not think the Board had any power in the matter. If the applicant held a business license, it would be all right. The Board resolved tint it hal no power in the matter. The question whether sawmill licenses should or should not lie issued for' 1874,

pending the preoaration of new timber licenses, was next brought under the consideration of the Board.—Mr Strode : It is a serious matter if these licenses are granted, heoause by doing so we would be fixed up for another year. Really these sawmills are doing a power of injurv ; they ■ are most destructive.—The Chief Commissioner thought some arrangement might be made for sawyers and wood-cutters independent of saw- . mills. Why not. charge so much per man instead • of so much per horse-power ? It is an immense . privilege to allow men to come in and cut bush , down in such a minner as is dime by the saw- ; mills.—Mr Bntterworth : Could we not give a license for a month or a quarter ?—Mr Strode : ! Yes. Cive them for a shorter term—three r months ; by that time the question will be set- ■ tied, and new regulations issued. Tn a very ex- > tensive bush like Toi Tois. he would not object i so much, but in limited bushes he thought the t sawmills ought to be put down.—The Chief . Commissioner: It will injure the public very j much ; mv opinion is to cfo on for another year. . —Mr Strode': I am inclined to stop. Let the [ Provincial Council have the onus of doing it. . We are sitting here for the benefit of the public, I not for ourselves.—After a few further remarks, ; the Board postponed the consideration of the matter, on the understanding that no licenses should be issued imtil this question was decided."

There were seven suicides in Melbourne on December 3! Caledonian Sports and a Regatta are to be held in Queenstown on the 26th and 27th insts. respectively. At the Princess Theatre, Dunedin, the other evening, siys the Daily Times, the Bernard Brothers were performing their wonderful feata on the trapeze when Samuel, in turning a somersault from the bar to be caught by Frank, miscalculated his distance, and fell on the back of one of the stall seats. As may be imagined, great confusion followed. Frank came quickly down and assisted to carry his brother on to the stage. The latter, in answer to a question from the audience, replied that he was not much hurt. Dr Burrows and Dr Sorley were in attendance almost immediately after the accident occurred, and found that the injuries sustained were a contusion of the left eye and the right wrist slightly sprained. Beyond the shock, he received no other internal injuries. Mr Hydes informed the audience that it was through no fault of the management that the accident had.occurred. The Brothers had frequently been advised to use the net provided tor them, but they persistently replied that it was " all right.'* In future, he would not allow any more of these dangerous performances ; the shock the audience had received that night should not be repeated.