Cromwell Argus, AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. Cromwell: Tuesday, January 13, 1874.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 218, 13 January 1874, Page 4

Cromwell Argus, AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. Cromwell: Tuesday, January 13, 1874.

We cannot help specially directing the attention of the citizens of Cromwell to the letter which, is addressed to the Town Clerk by the Under-Secretary at Wellington, in the matter of the Mayor's appointment as a Justice, of the Peace. The letter is an answer .to. one sent by the Town Clerk, asking that the honour should be conferred upon j\jr, Dawkins, that, as an almost invariable ride, has been conferred upon ther Mayors of the other municipalities in Qtagp. .It-says: "The gentleman elected as.Mayor*.is not necessarily a Justice of the .Peace.- ..The Government exercise a discretion in the matter, and it depends upon and occupation of the Mayor wither he is appointed or not." The first): sentence conveys information which is perfectly well known to us already.. .A. Mayor is not necessarily a Justice of the Pyace by virtue of his office, but it is a fact that it has hitherto been an almost invariable rule to apjK>ibtt the person, elected to that honourable office. One or t\vo exceptions—we think only two (leaving out of count one well known hotelkeeper who has since advanced to n still more honourable position than that of J,P.)— have ever been made in Otago; and there were circumstances in connection with these exceptions which made such, omissions easily understood by everybody. It would be ungraceful on our part to name, the persons who were omitted, or to. further allude to them. it is sufficient for. us to remark that special reasons existed for their not receiving the honour. Therefore, although the law does not say a Mayor shall be made a J.P., the almost universal custom which has hitherto prevailed leads us to expect that he will be made one; and the omission of the honour is looked upon as a sign that the person omitted is considered, by the individuals who, may. for the time being have the power of , conferring the appointment, unfit for the office, and likely to be, to use plain words, a disgrace to the Bench of Magistrates. The second sentence quoted supplies indeed to a considerable extent the key to the motives which actuated the Government in stepping out of the usual order of things. It says the appointment depends upon the " position and occupation of the Mayor." If the letter had, instead, proceeded to say that the fact of a man having lived an upright, honest life amongst his neighbours for the last ten or twelve yeai's, and of his having at the same time demonstrated to all men his ability to conduct his affairs to a successful issue, we should have found no occasion to speak at this moment: Mr Dawkins would without a doubt have already received the honourable appointment. But when a man's position and occupation are the matters only considered, it is time for us to protest. The amazing factis that itshould be necessary in a country such as this, where the leading men in it have filled such a variety of offices, from bullock-driv-ing and log-splitting and digging, to that of conducting the highest sind most important affairs of State. If a man's occupation alone is to be a bar to his attaining an honourable position, the sooner we apply to ill* Under-Secretary to import a nuin-

ber of gentlemen who have; no occupation to come and be Mayors over us, the better. Cromwell hap not the honour of holding one citizen whom it would elect as Mayor, who does not work, and that hard too, for his living. Citizens eligible for the office in the eyes of their neighbours have, and let Us be proud and thankful to. say it, some occupation. They are storekeepers, carpenters, blacksmiths, painters, nay, some are, dreadful to relate, butchers. Hor are the Crbmweilites, wo are happy to say,'alone in thelr'vlews on this subject amongst Otagon towns. At the last general election of Mayors, Dunedin returned a, grocer; Tokomairiro, a grocer; Lawrence, a storekeeper-; Alexandra, a carpenter,; Clyde, a. storekeeper ; Queenstown, a storekeeper; Naseby, a fancy goods dealer; and so on,-—every man, we see, having an occupation, Will the Government undertake to say which occubai tion shall, and which shall not, make a man eligible for the office of «M\ If.they are prepared to do it, justice demands, that they begin with the deletion of the list of territorial Justices of the Peace. The . exercise of their discretion (?) in the case of the Mayor of Cromwell has not been a happy one.

The election which took' ; place on Saturdaylast for the office of Surgeon to the Dunstan Hospital, and which resulted in a tie between Drs Stirling.:a.n(>;Thomson, can hardly be allowed to pass without some remarks ; . and especially when we read ■with it the lesson conveyed by the result of the general meeting of subscribers for' the.purpose of electing a .new Committee. There can he- no doubt that personal feeling has been imported into"the contest, and that many rash statement's have been made which will hardly bear investigation. Amongst others, some have, been made ■ which have left an impression upon many minds that Dr "SmtjiHi and the Hospital Committee were, for some time before his resignation of the office, in a state of antagonism to each other, and that the Committee "were anxious to get rid of him as surgeon, Stirling: at the same time being by common consent admitted to be the most efficient and trustworthy officer who ever occupied a similar position in the Dunstan Hospital. It may.be that a feeling of antagonism has gradually sprung up between the surgeon and his <: committee. Feelings of that kind wilFaWse when the 'question of "salary cannot He, mutually agreed upon. But we altogether refuse to believe that any personal desire to get Dr Stirling removed from the' management of the Hospital actuated One single com-mittee-man in accepting the resignation which led to the election noW spoken of. It appears to lis that the same impression prevailed amongst the general meeting of subscribers on Saturday last,' for they unanimously elected, as committee-men for the ensuing j'ear, the very men who are said by some to be anxious for the removal of Dr .Stirling on personal grounds, and shut out that most injudicious of Mr Stirling's friends, Mr Naylor, whom we strongly suspect to have been the principal cause of all the trouble and confusion. Why should these men have been reelected, and in nearly every case almost unanimously, if the forty-two subscribers, one half of whom were Stirling's staunch supporters, had been under the impression to any extent that they had treated him unfairly 1 "We hope to hear no more of oppression on the one side and resistance on the other. If Dr Stirling is reelected, we trust he will endeavour to pull ■with, not against, his committee; and he may rely upon it it will he good for him in the long run. The committee have enough difficulties to contend with in the wav of providing funds, without having the difficulty of their surgeon, no matter how good a man, in a state of passive enmity to them. The praises of Dr Stirling's pi ofessional ability are in the mouth of every one who has had anything to do with the Hospital, and it will be well for him to accept the refusal of the committee to augment his salary as simply an intimation of their inability to do so, and not as a mark of their hostility. And espe cially would we wish to see Dr Stirling dissociated (in his public capacity only, we mean,) from friends such as Mr Naylor, who avowedly looks upon che possession of a highly qualified surgeon by the Hospital as another way of bringing business to Clyde. The Hospital is a District affair, not a Clyde one. j

The pressure of local news forbids us giving a resume of Mr Vogel's speech in Dunedin in our present issue. ' We may have occasion to refer to it again, however. It is. reported that the Governor will pass through hero on Welnesdayor Thursday. Official intimation has been received at Clyde that be will arrive there on Wcdnes lay. •" '•• '

A report of the Town Council proceedings is printed on our third pago. The Home mail via Suez closes at the Crorawoll Post-office on Saturday, 17th instant, at 3 p.m. The contract for the erection of police quarters at Cromwell bus been secured by Mr William Graut, at the price, we believe, of £725. Mr James Ritchie is the successful ten' derer for the erection of Messrs Hallenstein and Co.'s new stone stable. He is nowprooeeding with the work. The Carrick Range "Water Supply Company recommenced operations on Tuesday last. About eight men are engaged on that portion of the race which passes the well-named Shake-up Point. "We understand that Mr G. W. Goodger last week purchased the shares in the Bannockbum Water Kace Company held by Mr Lars Peterson. Out of 1000 shares, Mr Goodger now holds 700. The amounts of gold transmitted to Dttnedin by the Northern Escort, beyond those given in our last issue, are as follows":—Blacks, 2517 ozs; St. Bathans, 1100 ozs ; Mount Ida, 3083 ozs 8 dwts; Palmerston, 135 ozs 10 dwts ; Macraes, 151 ozs 11 dwts. The Vale of Avoca crushing, which was in reality a crushihg composed of a few tons from a number of the deserted claims on the Carrick, was finished at the Royal Standard battery last week. The result was not sufficient to induce any others to raise erushings in the same manner. It was barely sufficient to pay battery and carting expenses. A large number of Chinnmen working at the Nevis are reported to have "skedaddled" in the direction of the West Coast. A good many of them are said to have gone without paying a visit to their storekeeping countrymen, Kern Yung Fong and Sun On Lee. It is also said that a European miner receives £SO for piloting them across the country. The building of the new schoolroom i 3 now being actively pushed forward by Mr Taylor, the contractor. A good deal of delay took place at first in consequence of the difficulty experienced in getting masons to go on with the work, and also in consequence of the intervention of the holiday season. Tbe first difficulty has, however, been overcome by the introduction of men from other districts. Mr Weston, the champion billiardist of Australia, played a local amateur a match of 700 up on Mr billiard table on Tuesday eveniug last, the champion giving the amateur 425 out of the 700. The play commenced about nine o'clock, in presence of a considerable number of lovers of the game, The score, when tbe game was finished, stood : Amateur, 700 ; Weston. 537. The poiuts given were thus reduced to 262.

The sections recommended by the Town Council for withdrawal from sale for the purpose of appropriation as municipal reserves are as follows : Section 2of Block LX.; 4, 11, and 13 of XLVIL; 3, 4. 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, and 13 of Lll.; 6, 7, 13, and 14 of LIU.; all the sections of LVI. and of LXXIX.; 2to 12 of VIII ; 1 and 2 of LXIIL; all of XXXIX.; 5 to 8 and 13 to 16 of L.; Ito6 of Xlt.; sto 8 and 13 to 16 of LX VII.; and sto 7 and 10 to 14 of XXXV. We have a letter from our Bannockburn correspondent; hut as it only reached us late yesterday evening, we are unable to give it insertion in full. It again calls attention to the necessity of the Library being changed to a more central place than it occupies at present. It also speaks of the desire which exists of having a bi-weekly mail, and the postal arrangements generally put on a better fooling. Most of the miners in the Rannockburn district have recommenced work for the year. The alterations and extensions which are in progress at Messrs Goodger and Kuhtze's Swan brewery, are proceeding at a very slow rate, in consequence of the difficulty experienced by the enterprising proprietors in finding hands to do the work. The extensions (sufficiently large at first) have assumed while in progress such large proportions, that we are warranted in saying the brewery will compare favourably, so far as size and accommodation go, with several buildings of the same description in Dunedin. Messrs Barker and Strahan, we perceive, have diverted their water-race to command the terrace behind the road leading past the famous Hartley's beach. They have just begun to sluice the lower end of the ground, but they are much hampered in their operations by the necessity imposed upon them of keeping the roadway clear for traffic. It can hardly be doubted, however, that they will be repaid for all their trouble. There is little doubt, also, their operations, if continued and successful, will greatly tend to the improvement of the road itself. The election for the office of surgeon to the Dunstan Hospital came off on Saturday last. The result was, as published in an extra on Saturday afternoon, a tie between Dr Thomson and Dr Stirling,—each polling twenty-one votes. Mr Stevens, who acted as presiding officer, declined to exercise his casting vote. After the election, a meeting of subscribers was held, for the election of a new Committee and for other business. The following gentlemen were elected as officers :- Messrs J. Hazlett, President; W. L. Simpson, Vice-president; G. Fache, Secretary; A. Christophers, Treasurer; and the following as members of Committee, Messrs Beck, Auckland, Stevens, Holt, Hastie, Cambridge, Clark, Preshaw (Cromwell), Burke (Backs), Coleman (Alexandra), and Gieenbank (Drybread). The general meeting also endorsed the action taken lately by the Committee in the matter of the Surgeon's salary, by resolving " that the salary of the Surgeon for the ensuing year should be the sum of £300." It was also resolved that Saturday, the 14th February, should be the day for electing a Surgeon for the Hospital.—ln connection with the election on the 14th proximo, we may say that anyone may qualify himself as a voter by subscribing the sum of £l, and paying tho same to any of the local collectors before this present day has passed, i.e., a month before polling d^y.

The schoolmaster's residence at the Bannockburn is all but completed. The Dunstan Tinrns, in its last issue, has a paragraph which, being interpreted, means: If Clyde had boon Cromwell, Clyde would have scut a Christmas escort of 4134 ozs 10 dwts. We regret to he under the necessity of recording another ease of thieving which has taken place in the township. This time Mr Thomas lloberbson is the sufferer, to the extent of £35 in cash, besides a valuable gold watch. The robbery took place on Sunday night, or early on Monday morning. He was staying for the time at Mr Dagg's Clutha hotel, and ocoupied a bedroom in company with another man whose name wo do not know. The money was in his pocket, aud the watch on the table, at any rate when ho went to bed, but in the morning neither money, watch, nor companion were to be seen. Word was at once sent to the police, who instituted inquiries, which led to the discovery that Mr Robertson's late bedroom companion had been seen by Mr Henry near the Dunstan. The suspicion naturally fell upon him r>i having taken the property, and Sergeant Cassels immediately set off in pursuit, with, as we have since heard, a successful result, although the capture was actually made by Mr Inspeotor Moore. The money and the watch were, we understand, found on the prisouer. The Clara Stephenson Ixion troupe have, on the whole, made a most successful ruu for the past four nights. We have the more pleasure in saying this, since before they made their appearance we did not anticipate their visit would have been fur them a good speculation. This was, of course, entirely on account of their coming at the fag end of the holiday season, for the highest accounts were given of their performances in other places. The first night they played "Milky White" and "Black-eyed Susan," the first piece giving general satisfaction. Miss Stephenson created quite a sensation by her appearance, between the pieces, in several character s>ngs. The second night's performance was hardly so well received ; but the third night's gathered a large assemblage, and was witnessed with well deserved marks of approbation. It consisted of the first two acts of " Macbeth," and "Aladdin, or the Wonderful Scamp." The room was hardly adapted for Macbeth, but it was pretty well put on nevertheless--the versatile Clara being the Lady Macbeth. The witches' dance and song were ably led by Mr and Mrs Towers. In " Aladdin," the two leading parts, Aladdin and Widow Twauke)', were admirably acted by Clara Stephenson and Frank Towers. On their last appearance they played the " Bough Diamond" and " Ixion." A good many hitches occurred during the latter piece in the stage fittings, and in the accompanying music ; but, on the whole, the evening's entertainment was a success. Miss Clara was again the chief attraction.

We regret to hear that an accident took place at the Nevis Ferry bridge on Friday hist, whereby Mr M'Cormick lost the girder which was crossed so successfully some time ago. It appears tbat the workmen were engaged removing some of the unnecessary gear from the girder, for the purpose, we presume, of using it in some of the further operations ; and had succeeded in removing two of the cables which had been in use. It was then found that the two cables remaining were not carrying equal strain, and it was while engaged in tightening the slack one that one link in the chain which formed part of it bioke. aud caused the accident, making the girder heel over and finally fall into the river. Mr M 'Cormick and two of the workmen had only crossed on the girder a few minutes before the accident took place, so it will be seen that no danger in the slightest degree was anticipated. Mr M'Cormick and one or two others immediately set oft down the river, and managed to secure the wreck about a mile below the site of the bridge. The wreck, of course, will not be fit for the original purpose, hut may be made useful for planking. Mr M 'Cormick, we believe, does not so much regret the actual loss which lie will sustain by the fall of the girder, although that is considerable enough, as he does the loss of time which will be incurred in building one to replace it, as he had fully made up his mind to have the bridge open for traffic in the month of May next ensuing. The weight of the. girder which was lost, with gear, &c, would be between twenty and thirty tons.