Cromwell Argus, AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. Cromwell: Tuesday, January 27, 1874.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 220, 27 January 1874, Page 4

Cromwell Argus, AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. Cromwell: Tuesday, January 27, 1874.

Some foolish correspondent of the Tuapelca Times, hailing from Clyde, telegraphed last week to that usually well-informed paper to the effect that the Governor " passed through Cromwell without stopping, greatly to the disappointment of the Mayor and Councillors, who were in waiting." The editor of that paper very naturally says, remembering, no doubt, our remarks recently on the refusal of the Government to gazette our worthy Mayor a Justice of the Peace: "This is indeed adding insult to injury. First the authorities decline to confer upon the Mayor of Cromwell tlft title of J.P.; and now the Governor in his tour of the Province cannot find a moment to receive the expressions of loyalty from Her Majesty's lieges of the golden city of the interior. What great sin has Cromwell committed 1" The most of our contemporaries quote the Times on the subject, and so it has come to be generally believed that there was something special in his Excellency passing through the town without stopping.- It

will be as well, for the sake of his Excel-, lency,—whom it is the fashion at present with a number of papers to accuse of all sorts of negligence in the matter of politeness, —and the credit of the town as a hospitable place, to,state the exact circumstances of the case. After doing so, we trust the Tuapelca Times will give its correspondent a gentle hint to, in future, follow the same careful and truthful line he usuallyfollows, and avoid the sensational. We have another reason for making the explanation, which may be gathered from our remarks. It is quite true, unfortunately, that {he Government, influenced by snobbery of some description or other, have not made our Mayor a Justice of the Peace. It is not true, however, tbat the Mayor and Councillors were waiting to receive his Excellency the Governor. When, as we stated last week, his Honor sent a message to the Mayor intimating his Excellency's intention to pass through Cromwell at such and such a time, that gentleman

immediately called a few of the Councillors together to inform them of the fact, and to give them an opportunity of arranging for a formal reception of his Excellency. At the same time, Mr Dawkins intimated in the plainest possible language that upon no account whatever would he consent to take any part in the reception, and giving, very properly in our opinion, as his reason, the fact of the Government having refused to granttO him the usual honour which is conferred on Mayors. Mr Dawkins was evidently of opinion that, if unfit for the honour of a J.P.-ship, he was hardly a fit and proper person to meet his Excellency the Governor of New Zealand. The Councillors considered the matter, and on the whole were of the same opinion as their chairman, and so it came to pass that no attempt was made to in any special way welcome the Governor, and he was allowed to pass through without any ill-bred interference. To free the Governor from any charge of discourtesy to the "golden city of the interior," as the Tuapeka Times in a somewhat highfalutin style describes the township of Cromwell, it is oniy necessary to remark that his' Excellency, not having been asked to alight at Cromwell, could not possibly slight its inhabitants by • passing through without stopping. "He did not even have the opportunity of snubbing the dignitaries of the place;. ai;at Slioto.ver Bridge, for none of the dignitaries took the trouble to go and meet him. 'We believe his' Excellency and his party would have been glad to have had" an excuse for stopping; they looked as if they would, at any rate. The next time Sir James Fergusson

travels through Otago,—which we hope will be at an early date, —we trust he will do one of two things: either travel as the Governor of New Zealand, or as plain Sir James Fergusson. To do the latter, and to escape any demonstrations of any kind, it will only be necessary for him to leave his mounted escort behind in Dunedin, and to give particular injunctions to his Honor the Superintendent to avoid giving announcements of his movements to Mayors and Councillors. He will not be molested on his journey throughout the Province. It is impossible for any man to enjoy the honour and dignity of being a Governor, and at the same time the privacy of a private gentleman.

The last issue of the Government Gazette contains the Bye-laws for the town of Cromwell. The members of the Cromwell Kilwinning Lodge meet on Wednesday night at the usual time and place. The Clifton troupe gave an entertainment on Saturday evening last. The attendance was rather limited, but the performance was quite up to the usual mark. A number of prizes were given away on the occsaion. All the farmers in the district between Cromwell and Lake Wanaka have gathered in their crops, or are busy bringing them in. We believe that in nearly every case an abundant harvest is the result of their labours. The attention of shareholders in the Carrick Water Kace Company is called to the extraordinary meeting, which takes place on Wednesday at 3 o'clock. Shareholders should be present, personally or by proxy, as the business is of importance. The road contract between Dagg's hotel and Mr Grant's carpenter's shop is now being pushed on under the superintendence of Mr A. Wood. When the pitching and gravelling, tenders for which arc advertised for in to-day's issue, is completed, it will be much improved for traffic. Cable telegrams from London are published in Duuedin papers to January 14. The only item of particular interest is the following : —Jean Luie, the pretended steward of the Osprey who gave evidence in the Tichborne trial, has been committed for trial for perjury. The police deposed that Luie confessed that he was prompted and suborned by Messrs Whalley. and Onslow, M,P.'s. Mr Whalley declares Luie's statement to be fictitious. " ••'•.>. •.. ■

• Three tnen haT&beeri murdered atParainHong (sew South wales) by a lunatic. A. contemporary speaks of the advisability of encouraging Chinese immigration on account of their willingness in harvest and other farm operations. To please everyone, they will have to be of a different stamp to one lately employed by a well-known gardener and farmer in this district. He was willing to "pluck him gooseberry, dig him spud, cut him cabbage, but me no likee him big : fellow rake." The rake, we may explain in John's behalf, was of a strong make, about five feet wile, and had teeth six inches long. It was made by a local agricultural implement manufacturer. A special meeting of the Town Council Was held last evening, when there were present: Cr \Vright (in the chair), and Crs Grant, Hayes, Shanly, and Pierce. The meeting had been ■called for the purpose of taking immediate steps to improve that part of Melmore-terrace at present being cut to the permanent level. A specification was arranged for pitching a portion of the road to a width of eighteen feet, and covering it with gravel. Thedesirability of forming the footpath as far as Mr Thomas's property was discussed, and its necessity acknowledged ; but the matter was held over for further consideration. This was all the business. At the meeting of the Presbyterian Synod in Dunedin on Thursday last, tie Rev. Mr Ryley moved the following resolution:— "'The Synod having resumed consideration of report of deputies to outlying districts, it was

resolved that power be given to the Olutha Presbytery to receive Mr Drake as a minister of this Church, and declare Cromwell a congregation of this Church, the Presbytery to have regard to the regulations anent Sustentation Fund ; it being understood that, in* view of Mr Drake's age, the regulation anent the Widows and Orphans Fund shall not apply." The motion was carried after some discussion. This resolution will, do an act of somewhat delayed justice, and, we hope, will have the effect of infusing new life into the congregation and adherents of the Presbyterian Church in this district. Mr Colcough furnishes us with a summary of the Corporation receipts and expendi-ture-for the year 1873. They were as follows : Receipts. £ s. d. •Cr Balance... ... ... ... 265 9 9 • Government Boad Subsidy 300 0 0 : Pates • .. ... ... 252 14 4 Deposits on Contracts ... 15 0 Other sources 317 11 0 £1137 0 1 Expenditure. £ s. d. Public Works ... • 545 10 7 Salaries ... ... ..- •• 79 ' 18 7 Other Expenditure ... ... 84 811 Balance ... ~.: "'... 427 2 0 , ■":" . £1137 0 1 • : -. '' :' ? " 'W" '■■' ' .-'■• ■ A special meeting of the' Athenaeum Committee was held in the Town-hall on the evening of Thursday, the 22nd instant. There were present: Messrs Preshavv (president), MacKellar (vice-president), Jolly (secretary and treasurer), Colclough, Baird, Dawkini; J. Taylor, W. Taylor, Starkey. and Johnson. . The business was to consider the erection of the Athensum building. Sketch plans from Mr Bur well, architect, Queenstown, were laid upon the table for the inspection of the Committee. After they had been examined and a' long conversation had taken place, it was resolved, upon the motion of Mr Starkev, to ask the architect, in preparing the full plans, to increase the size of the front building, and to make certain other alterations. Mr Colclough proposed an amendment to the effect that Mr Burwell should not "be asked to make any alteration or extension of the plan submitted, but it was lost. It was then resolved, on the motion of Mr MacKellar, ■seconded by Mr Baird, to remit the sketch plan to Mr Burwell, with a memorandum of the wishes of the Committee, and to call for tenders for the erection of the building, tenders to be received up till Friday, 27th February, at 12 noon. Some other unimportant business was then gone through, after which the meeting concluded, with the usual vote of thanks to the Chairman. We hardly think that the good citizens of Cromwell were aware of the risk to which they were exposed for three or four hours on Saturday afternoon last. We are alluding to the fact that a waggon loaded with (amongst other things) 100 kegs of powder stood for the time named opposite the store of Messrs Jolly and Co. As if the mere fact of having so much po w-

il ; er on bo*rd was not enough to justify our taking notice of the occurrence, it appears that some of the kegs had burst, and the floor of the waggon was strewed to a certain extent with loose powder. Surely every sane person will join with ■us in saying that such a careless way of dealing with large quantities of powder is deserving of the utmost censure, and should under no possible circumstances be tolerated. Just let any one try for one moment to reckon up the chances to which the whole township and the human lives which are contained therein, were exposed for three hours on the day we have mentioned, and the result will somewhat stagger him. A spark from the pipe of some heedless passer-by, the tread of the carrier's steel-shod boot upon a lucifer, nay, its accidental contact with a nail on the floor of .the waggon, or a hundred other equally likely and trivial chances; and probably the bulk of the property in this township, with the lives of perhaps a hundred people, would have been sacrificed in a moment. We do not write this in any sensational way, but we do it with the l\ope that the like may not occur again. We know h,ow careless waggoners are in matters of this kind. Some of them exercise sufficient caution no.' doubt, but some of them we have seen calmly, smoking their pipes with half a ton of powder behind them, and we have heard of others, doing even more reckless things than that. We h'aye not mentioned, and do not intend to mention, the name of the carrier on this occasion, as we nelieve he is quite as careful a man as any. on the road. The subject is one which we would recommend to the attention of the meeting.

A criminal information was served by the police upon Edmund Joseph Johnson, for that he, on the Ist January, 1874, whilst master of the British ship Surat, did "unlawfully and by reason of drunkenness, omit to do certain hw* ful acts," requisite and necessary for saving the ship of which he was in charge. The local paper says that a " town hall is about to bo erected at Naseby. The entire building will be 80ft. long by 32ft. wide. This will comprise a public hall 41ft. Gin. by 32ft. ; three rooms, one on the right of the main entrance, 16ft. by 13ft., and two on the left; each 13ft. by Bft. ; and a stage, the full width of the building, and 16ft. in depth. Cob material will be employed in the construction of the walls." By the last Provincial Government Gazette, we notice that the Bannoekburn School Committee are inviting applications for the office of schoolmaster, the duties to. begin iu April. The Committee do not, however, state the salary which they are prepared to give. This will probably deter some from applying, if not corrected. The schoolmaster's residence, by the way, we

notice is now completed and ready for occupation. The acceptances for th» Dunedin Cup, which is to be run in the latter end of March, are as follow :—Lurline, 9st 91b ; Tamburini, 9st 21b; Calumny, Bst 121b; Atlas, Bst 21b; Papapa, Bst; Yattarina, 7sfc 101b ; Gossip, 7st 91U-; Castaway, 7st 81b ; Parawhenua, 7st 61b ; Butterfly, 7st 41b; Defamer, 7st 21b ; Banjo, '7st ; Templeton, 6st 121b ; Earl of Lynne. 6st 81b; Verbena. 6st 81b ; Rosina, 6st 81b ; Spritsail, 68t 51b ; Baroness Burdett, sst 91b ; Nellv King, sst 91b. Amongst the applications for the secretaryship to the Auckland Acclimatisation Society, was the following teise and pithy epistle : —" I see that you are requiring a secretary for the Auckland Acclimatisation Association ; I beg to tender my services, assuring you tbat T should suit it, and that it would suit me. I have no testimonials to offer, and my chief qualification is tbe fact that from boyhood 1 have taken a deep interest in the lnbifcs of birds, beasts, and fishes, and what I don't know can easily find out. —I am &c, ." At the last Wnste Land Board meeting, Mr Clark made an important suggestion. He said that it appeared to him that the Government had power, in proclaiming large blocks open for sale, to so arrange it that such blocks should be partly taken up on deferred payments and partly on immediate payments. Doing this would prevent many of these fine blocks of land getting into the hands of one person. Mr Strode said that, though this had not hitherto been done, yet he did not think there was anything in tbe Act to prevent Mr Clark'3 suggestion being carried our,.—As Mr Bastings was not present, it was resolved to postpone the consideration of the matter until next meeting. The hon. W. J. T. Clarke, the wealthiest

person in the Colonies, is dead. It is estimated he leaves ovrr three millions sterling. Deceased was in the 73rd year of his age. For the last four years, Mr Clarke's health has been very critical. Slowly but surely he lost the use of his limbs, till at last he was unable to move in the slightest degree without assistance, and it was found necessary to keep relays of attendants to wait upon him day and night. Mr Clarke's intellect still retained a great of irs original power, and he attended to the details of his vast business up to within a short period of his daath. About a,month ago. his npsition became so criHcil that his death was for daily. He gradually sank, an 1 died on '...; sday afternoon, having been speechless for sniK 'le before he died. Mr Clarke was attended thn ;i----out his Wig illness by Dr Motherwell, who i ,j, for many years been his medical attendant. His family consists of three sons -William John" Clarke, of Sunbury ; Thomas B. Clarke, of Quorn Hall, Tasmania ; and Joseph Clarke, also of Tasmania. The English cricketers are faring rather badly at the hands of the colonial players. The Stawell match was concluded in two days, and the number of wickets lowered in that time was unparalleled in the history of Australian cricket. The English first innings closed for the small score of 43. The Stawell Twenty-two made 71. The Eleven in second innings made 91, leaving Stawell team only G4 to get, which were obtained with the loss <>f eleven wickets. G. F. Grace 30, Southerton 14, and Oscroft 13, were the highest and almost only scorers in the second innings of the English. The bowling of Cosstick and Conway was splendid. In the single wicket match, the six professionals only scored 2, while stawell made 29. In the Warnambool match the trial twenty-two scored 68 in their first innings, and tho Eleven 104. Jupp played splendidly an innings of 58 (not out) ; W. G. Grace, 18 ; M'lntyre, 13 ; Oscroft, 5 ; while five English players were credited with duck's eggs. Warnambool scored 51 second innings, when the Eleven won in nine wickets. The Eleven play at Sydney next, and at Melbourne on February 19th.