Cromwell Argus, AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. Cromwell: Tuesday, May 12, 1874.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 235, 12 May 1874, Page 4

Cromwell Argus, AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. Cromwell: Tuesday, May 12, 1874.

A meeting of the Athenaeum Committee will take place this evening, in the Town-hall, at eight o'clock. Another fatal case of fever occurred during last week, a child of Mr W. Rowe, of Kawarau Gorge, having died on Thursday last. The funeral took place on Sunday. A new school, under the auspices of the Catholic portion of our community, has been opened in the Cromwell chapel. A governess to take charge, has arrived from Dunedin.

Mr Thomas Fergus, the District Engineer, is to deliver a lecture in Alexandra tomorrow evening. The subject is " Hammers and Anvils," and the proceeds are in aid of the Library. ; ~:

The members' - year of the Cromwell Jockey Clnb ends on July 1. We have been requested to remind siich members a3 have not paid of this fact, and to urge upon them the advisability of making good their subscriptions before that date.

A telegram in the Mount Ida Chronicle says:—"lt is understood that a requisition has been got up asking Gillies to lead the Opposition to the Government proposal to sell pastoral land in blocks. If he declines, Bastings will be the leader. A majority is probable in either case.— flallenstein is said to be Reid'a Gold-fields Secretary."

The formal opening of Mr M'Cormick's new bridge at Edwards' Nevis ferry, on the Kawarau river,.is, we are informed, to take place on eithor the day preceding or following the Queen's Birthday, Except the approach on the Qu.eenstown side, everything is completed in connection with it. On Saturday, a waggon and six horses passed over the bridge.

; There is some talk of arranging a programme of athletic sports for Queen' 3 Birthday. The Jockey Club, at the meeting the other night, agreed t,o allow the use of the course and the stand for that purpose, if required. W8 hope an effort will be made in this direction, and feel sure it would be highly successful as far as subscriptions are concerned.

Mr Bain], the Gold Receiver and Clerk of the Court, is at present on leave of absence for a month. His departure took place without any notice being given, and much inconvenience has been the result. The Bailiff attends for a few • ■ every Monday, which is the only chance except on the Court day for the lodgment; of applications. The Warden was complained to list Friday on the subject, but Slid he could not remedy it. We have heard many complaints on the subject.

The Star of the East cleaned up a fortnight's crushing the other day, with a result of S5 ounces. On Thursday last, the highly v. eleome intelligence was brought into town that the reef had been struck in their low-level tunnel. The reef is an exceedingly good one, being two feet in thickness, with well-defined walls, and first-class prospects have been obtained from trials of the stone ; indeed, it is said by some to be the richest reef in appearance yet seen in the district. The discovery of so good a reef at such a depth is a highly important one, and will prove encouraging to the further development of other claim's.

By the courtesy of Inspector Moore, we are enabled to give the following statement <*f gold forwarded by Escort from Clyde to Dunedin yesterday :

A week or two ago, the Dunstan Times indulged in a groan of misery at the neglect which, it protested, the peop'e of the Cromwell district had shown towards the Dunstan Hospital in the matter of subscriptions ; and jealously hinted that selfishness, in view of the local hospital which we in this district are making exertions to obtain, was the cause of the decrease it declared had taken place. A few facts and figures we have obtained put this matter in quite a different light. From May 1572, when the Cromwell Local Committee was constituted, till May 1873, £335 was the sum subscribed throughout the district. The Local Committee then rested on their oars. Being the first year, they had made a special effort, and it will be remembered succeeded in getting up a.bazaar, the proceeds from which amounted to £97. Thus the actual subscriptions for. that year Were £260. In July 1873 the Committee made another start in the way of collecting ; and up to February of this year, when all the lists distributed were returned, thesnm they had collected was £2BO, which instead of a decrease, was actually for the second year, in the face of the special efforts of the first year of their

existence, an increase of £2O. The Local Committee have really done extremely good service in the matter of collecting funds for the Dunstan Hospital, and the parent committee have always beon glad to acknowledge this. The growling of the Times therefore is as insulting as it is ill-de-served. As for the assertion that the people of this district are to "look stoically on, with folded aVnvs, keeping their money in their pockets, to stf.rt a rival hospital when the epidemic which .1 Wet's them is over," it remains to lie proved. The Local Committee are nntdisbanded, nor have ! thnv thrown up their office : and arc quite prepared to continue the exertions in the future they liavn evidently, judging from the foregoing lij gurus, made in the past.

A Naseby correspondent of the Guardian ,has a growl at.thn fact of travellers and residents leaving Cromwell without changing their clothes or having them fumigated. A destructive firo bvoke out in Auckland at one o'clock on the morning,of May 5. The property burned down comprised a block of wooden, buildings in Queen-street. The damage is estimated at from £IO,OOO to £15,000. TnMr Fergus' yearly report to the head of his department, he, says with reference to the Cromwell Bridge :—" During the past year, repairs have been made to this bridge to the extent of vote. lam sorry to say that this bridge is still sinking ; and I found one of the uprights hotween the upper, and under girders completely broken through by excessive pressure. Both' the upper and under, plankins of the roadway requires to be renewed,' and"altogether the ehtirle structure requires to be overhauled! Something must be done to prevent any further deflection." A meeting of "the Cromwell"' Jockey Club, Committee was held in.' the Town-hall on Friday evening, Bth "instr Messrs Preshaw < president), Heron, Marsh, Dawkins, Pierce, Jolly, and Starkey were present. Mr Jolly handed in his resignation of the office of treasurer ; but was requested to hold office until the expiration of; the current year, namely July 1. The offer of Mr Marsh to purchase hurdles on the race-course for £1 Is, was accepted;; It was resolved to advertise for offers of terms on which persons are willing to fence in the racecourse reserve; {advertisement will be found in another column.) The question of holding a face-meet-ing on. Queen's Birthday was discussed.; and.the conclusion come to was that no meeting should, beheld, but that the'use of iHe course'''and''srand-' stand shpuld be granted if required -for athletic sports on that day; -'• '■'' ■'■'' " [■"#» '•" •'' "■

On Wednesday morning last, the coach leaving Clyde for Lawrence capsized by coming in contact, with a large stone just outside the town. There were thirteen passengers, all of whom luckily escaped with trifling hurts except one,—John Lees, who we believe was recently working on the Mount Pisa station, and was then on his wav to the Palmer. He had to be tafcen to the, Dnnstan Hospital. Another coach was got. and the passengers transferred to it for the journey. The accident occurred in consequence of the prevalence of a very dense fog. Lees is fast recovering. From Captain Hntton's report, laid on the table of the Provincial Council the other day, we take the following items :—" Tn'order to form a well-grounded opinion is to the existence or not of deep leads in different parts of the Province, it is first'necessary to examine the physical and geological structure of the whole country, and by that means to ascertain as accurately as possible; the nature of the causes thathavele'l to.the present..distribution of the auriferous and non-auriferous deposits. I hayp been engaged on this preliminary survey all'the summer! but until it is finished, it would be premature to hazard an opinion on the subject. With regard to quartz reefs, I am sorry to sav th.it, in mv oWnioh: science can be of very little assistance. Up to the 'present 1 ' time, scientific "men 'Visit quartz mines to learn, arid not to teach ; for no satisfactory theory has vet been established as to the origin of metalliferous veins." . : . -. ■;'. " I do not think that the Government can well do more to further the prospecting of a country than by opening roads Neither deep leads nor quartz reefs can be tested in any other way but by working them, and this would be better done by Joint Stock Companies than by the Government."

ozs. dwts. Queenstown 1436 5 Arrow 442 0 Cromwell • 1303 15 Clyde • 400 0 Alexandra • 393 0 Teviot 461 0 Total • • . 4441 0