Cromwell Argus, AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. Cromwell : Tuesday, February 10, 1874.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 222, 10 February 1874, Page 4

Cromwell Argus, AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. Cromwell : Tuesday, February 10, 1874.

In cousequence of pressure upon our space, we are compelled to omit our usual leader and other matter. The report of the Town Council, &c, &c, will be found on our third page. We have heard that the Hon. J. M'Lean has sold the Ardgour and Morven stations to Colonel Whitmore. Subscribers to the Dunstan Hospitßl are reminded that the election of Surgeon to that institution takes place on Saturday first, between the hours of 10 a.m., and 4 p.m. Shareholders in the Carrick Water Company are reminded that the adjourned extraordinary meeting takes place on Wednesday, at 3 o'clock. They should either be present personally or by proxy. There is more sickness prevailing in the township of Cromwell at the present time than has ever been known to exist since Cromwell was a township. The extraordinary heat we have been exposed to for the past week or two has no doubt something to do with it, but we are strongly inclined to believe the insufficient and filthy supply of water has a great deal more. It is a pity we cannot get the doctors to express an opinion on the subject. It might have some weight with the Town Council, if they would. At the meeting of the Miners' Association on Saturday evening last, a great many extraordinary statements were made in reference to the way in which a, certain Mining Registrar is mixed up in mining business, to the detriment of many miners. In consequence thereof, the resolution which appears in our report was come to. The statements which were made may be true or otherwise, for anything we know, but we must caution the Committee of the Association to be exceedingly careful in their way of dealing with such ticklish matters. If any man wishes to enlist the aid of the Association in re-, dressing his grievances, it is not asking too much of him to state those grievances iu writing. The Committee would then be in a position to show !the data upon which thev were proceeding when ! making a complain); to the Government, and the ! Secretary would be snared tb.3 trouble and (we may add) the responsibility of detailing the facts of the case. Statements made verbally, and on the spur of the moment, are seldo?n to be relied on. We recollect well how much trouble and confusion was saved to a certain committee iu this town some time ago, by the ruling of the chairman oh a similar emergency. It was : "Before any action can be taken by this Committee, the complaint must be made in writing." We feel quite sure the Association Committee will take these remarks of ours into their consideration the next time a complaint comes before them. They can never otherwise hear properly both sides of the question, and so they might degenerate into courts of injustice instead, of justice.

. By reference to Qur advertising columns, it _wiU that there is an abundance of entertapiments provided for us duriug the present and ensuing weeks, The Carandini family will give their entertainments m Wednesday and Thursday first. The Kennedy family will appear in Cromwell on Thursday, 19th insfc. A subscription list in aid 6f Mr; Robert M'Lachlan, a well-known miner on the'Carriek Range, has been opened at the Bannpckbiirn. A list, we understand, will also be placed in the hands of some person in Cromwell. It'appears that Mr M'Lachlan has been in such poor health for the last six months as to entirely prevent him from doing any work. For the last four months, he has been an inmate of tho'Dunstan Hospital, and it is now the opinion of Dr Stirling that a sea voyage is the only remedy which dan be tried to give Mr M'Lachlan any chance of recovery. Under these circumstances, subscriptions are solicited for thepurpose'of raising enough to enable Mr M'Lachlan to go to the. Home country.

A case* Came under onr notice tl?e other day, when Mr Win, Batemau made application to be admitted to the Benevolent Institution in Dunediri, which will enable us to draw our readers' attention to the claims which that/institution possesses on their charity.. It was necessary that the application should be forwarded through a subscriber, and to.ppr surprise, and we may also say bur shame, there was only one subscriber in of near Croniyvell discoverable* In a case like that'of Batemari's, the Benevolent Institution is the only place in ; the country to which he canlaok for shelter • and many cases like his have arisen, in the district already, and many uiore will yet arise; If we put it, therefore, on the lowest ground,—viz., that we shall receive a return for the.money contributed to sucK an in-stitution,-^-we see it to be oiir duty touohtribute more liberally than we hitherto have done. If the .committee of the institution did riot take higher grounds than this, it would be theijr duty to. receive any application for assistance from this district. They might say, you will Teeeire exactly as you give. We would press this matter lipon our readers' attention. It is not at all necessary to give large amounts at a time. I Any sum from a shirting up to five, ten,..fifteen, or twenty shillings, will be thankfully received, and we may rest assured be faithfully applied to the purpose for which it is given. Messrs Baird. Preskaw, and Gudgeon, we believe, will transmit any subscriptions which may be banded ttv them. Murray's Circus will give a performance this evening. Last night they performed to a very fair audience. ; Mr Shepherd, according to the Mail, is now in the Lakes District on a visit. We certainly expect he will visit : the electors in this district before he leaves. There : are so : many entertainments on the b'wd, however, for the uext fortnight, tnat we hope he will postpone his visit for a week or two. 4t the Resident Magistrate's Oonr*, held last Wednesday, a Brewer's License wra granted to Jules la Fontaine;— In the Warden a Court, there was only one.caseof tfpyiMportam e heard,—that of John Saltoun v. Thomas Hall, &<). journed from previous Court-day. Mr H. W. Smythies, who had surveyed the ground M> dispute, ' gave evidence as to the position of the various workings Upon the ground, and submitted a plan of it. The defendant Hall was again heard on the same matter, but his further evidence did not shake the testimony of the; surveyor. The Warden gave judgment in the afternoon to the effect that the defendant Hall had

shown no reasonable ground for supposing thri a reef runs in the direction which he had'indicated by his centre pegs, and tint the complairant had shown very good grounds for supposirg that a reef runs diagonally across the grouna pegged by the defendant. He found, therefore, that the defendant had not his claim pegged out in terms of the Otago Gold-tields Regulations, and that ill consequence he is holding surplus, ground. The court therefore ordered him to point out a peg from which he (defendant) wishes to peg a claim along what the Court has held to be the supposed line of reef, and to pay the costs of Court and expenses. The case of Goldsmith and party v. Goodger and party adjourned till the 13th instant. This case is for unlawful interference with licensed water rights. We entirely agree with the expressed

opinions of the A rrow people (as reported by the local, paper), in reference to the removal of Mr Warden Stratford to Mount Ida. The members of the Government in Dunediu do not appear to be able to realise the fact that the loss of a Warden who thoroughly understands the business of a district is a great loss to a district, and that it is a ver} r small compensation indeed to have the assistance of the neighbouring one, no matter how highly qualified. We can vouch that sucbr is the case, and we in this district can speak from experience. The way in which the loss is sustained is hardly explainable, but it is real enough. No temporary officer does, or as a matter of fact can, take the interest in the district that a permanent one would, and" consequently the district has to suffer from these frequent changes. Putting the district to one side, we would ask if it is not time Mr Warden Stratford had some sure place of abode. At the, Arrow, Dunstan Creek, Cardrona, and every place where Mr Stratford has held office, people have the highest opinion of his conduct as Warden. Why can't he get settled, down? Our Dnnedin correspondent, writing.on the sth inst. with reference to the opening of the Dunedin Athemeum on Sundays, says :—r*J In my letter of last week I alluded to this now well-ventilated question, but wrote under the erroneous supposition that the Committee intended to take upon themselves the opening of the reading room on Sundays, without consulting the wishes of the members. This, I believe, they had the power to do, but it was considered advisable to submit the question to a meeting of the members, and this was done, as you were informed bj telegram, with a result in favour of the motion that the Athenaeum be opened. In Consequence, however, of there being an attendance of,only about 200 members out of a list comprising something like 800 names, the question is to be again discussed and decided at a . meeting called by requisition for Wednesday; I uext.' ; "

otf-sistisM °f the Committee of the . Cromwell Miners' Association wltt held oil Satur- . day everting lasfy Mr Arkell, the President, oc•A .cupyirig the chair. The inward correspondence •consiated of > letter from the Barinockhurn Asso- ■;>• in re the purchase of tho Kawarau Bridge at the Banho'okburn by the Government. , The committee approved of and resolved to sup- " ; port the action taken by the Bannockburn Assoelation. Mr Arkell then. explained the steps "taken by him In reference to Perriam's application to purchase land at the Lowburn, which • were approved. The sum of £1 was ordered to to be paid to Mr Arkell, for expenses going to • Clyde. A long discussion'then took place in ■ reference to interference in mining matters by "" Mining Registrars ; and it was resolved, upon the motion of Mr Barker, seconded by Mr VaUKhan, that a letter be sent to the Secretary ■'■"- for'the Gold-fields, asking if Mining Registrars ; nre-permitted to hold mining and water rights. - ; and/if so, to state that it is desirable such should • not he permittee^ A letter, published in the Dunstan ■• *t'mts, from the President of the Otago Miners' -..; Association to the Clyde Secretary, states that ' a meeting of delegates will take place at Clyde on the 2nd March. No intimation has yet heen : 'received by arty of bur local secretaries, but it is ..' to be presumed they will . receive it soon. jf Sliners had better therefore be on the outlook ;. for suitable delegates. The price of gold, the i. '.duty on gold, and Maerewhenua water question ,c will be the prominent subjects of discussion. ;. Tn answer to X.Y.Z., we may state that complete rolls of the-voters for the Colony,—!, e., for General Assembly be purchased from Mr George Didsbu'ry, the General Government printer, Wellington. The roll of voters for the Kawarau District can be pur- . chased from Mr John L«gan, Government storekeeper. Copies may be had possibly from some , private persons in the district, or might possibly be had on loan, for Association purposes from Mr Warden Simpson, who acted at last election as "Returning Officer. ■ -■•■ The following is the only item of busi- -• ness in connection with this district transacted at the last meeting of the Waste Land Board:— " The District Land Officer forwarded an application from Mr John Perriam to purchase section 1, block TL, Cromwell, and section 2, block 11., Wakefield—being SO acres of land, part of run 245, and with the rnnholder's consent. — Referred to Warden Simpson to report as to what part he would recommend to be sold." The Christ elm rch con-respondent of the Daily Times has the following item : — " It has been said that there is nothing new under the Bun, but I think I can give yon something—if . not a novelty, at all events a very good attempt ' 'nt a cminterfeit. There is in Citshel-street the :' • ahop of a tinsmith, and one of the windows of "this shop is frequented by a tame rit. Your '■* readers may enquire as to the occupation of this l*at. It is to stand upon its hind legs ami by clapping its forenaws together to catch-flies at a rate that would be deemed incredible but to those , who have witnessed the operation.": .Tn?i:'Mr--W- Siniirt, who is so *vftfl known in '• fit. Bathans and Welshman's Gully, lately left for Me'boiirne. Being anxious to ascertain the : Teal value of the-gold from Welshman's, be, in : selling to the bank at Dunstan Creek, asked for five ounces of bis gold to be given back to him. This average sample, hedisposedof in Melbourne. The following is the note of the sample, which his been furnished to us { >r publication : —"The difference between its weight before and after melting was one-hundreth part, giving 5*284 of gold at £3 17s.' 10J.-, making our gold worth £4 2s. 6d. per ounce exactly." Value £4 2 6 T>uty 0 2 0 Mint charge ... 0 0 5 Nett value ... £4 6" 1 The charge for ins>.iranoe would still have to be deducted.— Mount Ida Chronicle. Mr William "Robertson, of Colac, one of the most early colonists, and largest land-holders of Victoria, is dead. Mr Robertson's connection with the colony dates from before its existence. .. He, as a Tasmanian settler, contributed to the ... cost of the expeditions of Batman to Port Philip, which contributed so much to its settlement in 1836. Tn his large mansion, at Colac, he entertained the Duke of Edinburgh, when he was doing his tour in the Western District. It is a characteristic and not unworthy illustration of the public spirit of Mr Robertson, and his love of manly sports, that when arrangements were being made preliminary to the great cricket match between Victoria and All England, it was desired to get his son George to play in the match, and to take the captaincy of the Victorian team. The yqnog gentleman naturally declined to quit the bed-side of his dying father for such a task ; but the old gentleman thought this was a sort of duty. too. to uphold the honour of the Colony on the cricket field, and sent his son to the contest. Times. A waggoner named John Mackay, for cruelty to his horses, while drunk at Green ' Island, was sentenced in the Dunedin police court the other day to a month's imprisonment, without the.option of a fine. A case of a most sickening nature was heard,at the Resident Magistrates' Court, Dunedin, on Tuesday last—the accused, Lizzie Powell, a .voman of ill-fame, being charged with abducting a weak little girl from her father and mother for evil purposes. It was shown that the woman had decoyed the child to run awny from home and stop at her brothel, where, for two days, she was a witness of the most disgus' • big conduct. One afternoon, she was conducted through the back streets of the town to the Railway Station, and, with 2s. to pay her fare, directed to go to a woman living at Port Chalmers. On arriving there in the evening she heard that this woman '— a notorious character—was in gaol, and she was taken in by the occupant of the house. After that she wandered about until picked up by her father, who had been informed as to her whereabouts. The evidence Was most Conclusive, no defence being offered, and yet, to the surprise of those present, the charge was dismissed, with a caution to the acciuSerl. The Justices not being able to-deal summarily with the woman, were reluctant to commit her for trial!— Daily Times.