LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dunstan Times, Issue 417, 15 April 1870, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Mr. Thatcher, the celebrated local song writer, accompanied by Messrs. Small, Daniels, and Solomon, made his first appearance before the Clyda public last Monday evening, at the Town Hall. Shortly before 8 o’clock people began to assemble, and by the time the overture was finished the hall was well tilled, there not being many less than two hundred persons present. There are but few colonists to whom Thatcher is unknown ; in fact, not to know him is to argue yourself unknown. He has been so many years before the public, and his local “hits" have been so numerous and so to the point, that we might alno.t. term him the Colonial Punch, as he is at all times ready to seize upon any of our little fables or peculiarities, and exhibit them in such a manner that not only do the public laugh most heartily at them, but. we, perhaps to a less extent, join in the merriment. Mr. Thatcher’s “ locals” were highly relished and warmly applauded, while there was an abselice of any remark likely to wound the feelings of those at whom the shafts were aimed. Mr. Daniels has a powerful and pleasant voice, and the manner in which he rendered some of Henry Russell’s most popular songs was highly appro dated, and encores loudly demanded. What shall we say of Small 1 We can only say that he surpassed himself. His Irish songs were thoroughly appreciated and oudly applauded, and the same maybe said in regard to his “ character song” of the Jew scripdealer-; but the two most noticeable songs were “The Braunigan Clan,” in full uniform, and “ he Unfortunate Man.” Roth ot these were re-' - ceiied wish laughter both loud and long. Altogether, if what the faculty tell us is true, that laughter is luakhy and invigorating, we may hone to do without th« professional assistance of our medical advisers lor some time to come. Mr. Salamou is an aide nccompanyist. The party gave their entertainment at Alexandra on Tuesday evening, and left the next day for Cromwell. Mr. John Thompson, who has for some months passed filled the office of Bailiff at Clyde, left on Tuesday for Tuapeka, where he will fill a corresponding position. He is succeeded by Mr. William Hall, who on leaving Laurence was presented by the residents of that place with a handsome watch and chain as a token of their esteem. The A ustralasian noticing the 'complaints of the scarcity of agricultural laborers in this province, asks why | do not the iiuciii ployed of Adelaide migrate to Otago. i . Our readers are reminded that the , English mail, via San Francisco, will ; close at Clyde on Sunday April 24, \at 9 o’clock. The office for the issue of post-oil ice orders and registration of of letters closes at 5 p.m., and Mr. Marshall’s receiving box at 9 p.m. Early on the morning of the sth •inst., another extensive tire occuiTed in Christchurch, being the fourth within a very short space of time, and singular to say, the one under notice broke out on the premises of a fire insurance agent, which, together with three other buildings, were totally destroyed, spite of the strenuous exertions of the Eire Brigate, assisted by their steam fire-engine. The property destroyed occupied a frontage of about one hundred feel. Cromwell municipal affairs do not appear to have yet attained a satisfactory state At a public meeting of the ratepayers, held last week, for the avowed purpose of taking .public opinion on municipal matters, nothing d- finite was arrived at. Resolutions of a somewhat personal nature were proposed and carried by both parties, bur, as a general rule, the effect of these resolutions is about nil. After a pretty long game of “ Tweedle-dum v. Twceclle-dee,” Mr. Whetter came forward, and said that if the Ma or would pay his own legal expenses, lie (Mr. N' better) would not call upon the ratepayers to contribute a single shilling of the costs incurred by him out of lus own pocket. This proposition was declined by the Mayor, who, however, said that, had Mr Whetter evinced a conciliating spirit some time ago, matters might have been amicably settled ; but, as it was, he should let dungs take their course. Such is the state of municipal affairs at Cromwell. Constant bickerings between the opposing parties in the Council, creditable alike to neither party ; and, as a matter of course, delrimeiual to the interests of the ratepayers, independently of the acrimonious feeling engenbered outside the Council Chamber. We trust that a better feeling will be shortly exhibited , otherwise, it would be tat better, as one speaker remarked at the meeting, “to abolish the Municipality altogether.”— Communicated. We are happy to hear that it is the intention of Mr. James G. Glussford to again take up his abode on the Matakanui Station. There is some talk in the surrounding district of holding a race meeting to welcome his return. From the interest Mr. Glass ford is well-known to take in all matters connected with the turf wo have no doubt but this compliment to one of the most prominent supporters of that institution in our district will be fully appreciated by him, and that the meeting will moreover prove a successful one.

In reference to a letter which appeared in our last week’s issue, signed William Greenbank, and in which the writer denied the truth of our Drybrcad cOrrespont's information in regard to Greenbank and party’s claim, our correspondent says :—“ In the main my statement was tolerably correct. The washings up of the said party we.ie as follows : December 29, 1868 ; April 15, September 11, and December 17, 1869; and March 21, 1870. I was wrong in the amount of gold obtained in the time specified by me ; it should have been nearly six hundred ounces, instead of four hundred and thirty. The time of running I rather over-done. Ot the quantity of ground I am pretty positive, as I happened o be interested in the claifn at the time it was surveyed by the I then Government Mining Surveym-J Mr, J. J. Coates, son.e three year* since" Oiir correspondent also informs us that the storekeepers have sent in an offer to the Drybi eid Race Company to rent their water, and as Greenbank and -party are understood to be seeking a renewal of their lea-c, the presumption is that their claim is a good paying one. There is plenty of auriferous ground at and ab ait Drybread, and water is getting more valuable every day. ’1 lie forty-hours’ rain whish has just fallen has fu ly

supplied the laces. the surrounding kills are covered with snow, and the sluicers arc looking forward to an ample supply of water and good returns for some months to come. Labor is scarce : wages are 3/. 10s. per week, and, in some instances, even more has been offered. A letter in another column points ont an error which our Alexandra correspondent committed in his communication appearing in onr last issue. In his letter our correspondent stated that “ Mr. Field, delegated with the power by Mr Vincent Pyke, sat. hr tbe Ben *h and adjudicated upon the several eases before the Court. . . Mr. Field delivered judgment in tho Warden's Court. . . .” Such was not the case, Mr. Field, not being a Justice of the Peace, had it been as represented his decisions would bo illegal. We the more regret th s error as several of our contemporaries, relying up « our us ndly accurate information, have circulated ii statement which their c mmon-sensc should have convinced them was a mistake.

The following is a. copy of a letter received by tho Clyde Town Council from the Land and Survey Department, aiient the Clyde Coal Pit : “Dunedin, 6th of -April, 1870. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 7th of January last, and, in reply thereto to state that 1 laid the same before tho Board. It. was in the meantime, however found that a cler ed error had lain made in the lease of James Holt which prevcntcl his signing the same : hut, on this being rectified, he came under the obligations required by theCouneil of Clyde, namely to provide coal at 2(ls. per ton, These circumstances caused me overlooking the matter till now, so I trust no inconvenience has occurred in consequence. I have the honor to be, itc., J. T. Thomson, Chief Commissioner of Waste Lands Board."

On Wednesday evening the usual fortnightly meeting of the Clyde Town 'Council lapsed consequent on there not being a quorum. The “ Westport Times ” has the following :—“Constables Sweeney and Bonis are stationed at the Almnu, "weeuey acting as Warden’s Clerk, bailiff and constable. A -difference arose between the two as to the bailiffs fees The circumstances may hive no connection, but Dorris got drunk, and after a struggle in the camp, he was locked up by Sweeney, who kept him under arrest from February the 9th to March 14th. On the latter clay ho was charged before Mr. Whitefoord with drunkenness and disorderly conduct. Mr. Whitefoord considered the case of drunkenness proved, and fined Dorris ten shillings, but he hid not think the olience was of so grave a nature as to justify Sweeney m locking the defendant up. The evidence disclosed a most discreditable state of aifdrs, fait was shown by the oflicer in charge that he had no regulations for his

guidance. We have not received our usual letter from our Bendigo correspondent, but, from what we can learn, matters have not much altered since our last report. The Aurora Company, with a praiseworthy liberality, have consented to allow the use of their battery for trial crushings of fr in two to one hundred tons,at a fixed rate of charges in proportion to the quantity of stone crushed. This will giva many parties an opportunity of testing the value of their claims prior to the winter setting in. It is to be hoped that the long-wanted public battery will soon he established, otherwise the reefs will take years to develop, as few will erect expensive machinery without some tangible pros ■ pect of its ultimately paying them. We have expected that before this some if not all the dredges would have been at work on the Molyneux but the heavy rains which fell for so many hours at the end of last week had, as might have been expected, raised the Waters to such a height, that work was impossible, the river is now going down and we hope in a few days to see the whole fleet of dredges in active operation.

Tho Rev. Dr- Copland delivered a lecture at the Church of England, Clyde, on Tuesday evening,the subject being “Popular Sensations.” The lecture was given in aid of the Presbyterian “Manse Fund,” but we are sorry to say the attendance was limited in number. The shooting season having commenced it may, perhaps, he well to remind our readers that, prior to indulging their sporting proclivities, it is necessary they should procure a game license. Game is described as partridges,pheasants, blackgame, snipe, grouse, quail, plover, swans, hares, deer, antelopes, and imported wildduck of every description. The penalty for infringement is a fine not exceeding 20 1 , or, in default, imprisonment l tor a period of not exceeding four _ A doleful talc by a bailiff was told in the Melbourne City Court, when a sturdy looking woman named Margaret Murray was charged witli assaulting Daniel Pate. Pate stated that he took possession of the woman’s "furniture, and remained in the house, but his presence so enraged her that she Wok an axe and smashed a sofa. He adjured her to go to bed, and she went, but being unable to compose herself, she got up at about four o’ clock, and again vented her displeasure on the furniture. After awhile she knocked down the bailiff - himself, floivished the axe ever him, and vowed that if he did not cRa out she would reduce him to the same plight as she had the furniture. The bailiff had had enough, and agreed to vacate the premises. The Bench said that Pate had a civil remedy against the woman, and they would thcrelorc discharge her. —Austara/sian. The “ Gi-eymonth Star ” of a recent date has the following :—lnsanity, we are told, is greatly on the increase in Westland. And the cause is said to have been produced from drinking lo excess illicitly distilled ’spirits, very large quantities of which are manufactured in the up-country "districts ; and owing to abundance of water, and the dense—almost impe-netrable-nature of the scrub- detection is almost impossible The spirit which is made and sold to shanty keepers, and even to some of the upcountry licens' d houses, is it may be said, almost rank poison, and when indulged in in considerable quantities brings on delirium tremens and insanity in their worst forms. The heavy duty of twelve shillings a gallon upon proof spirits is, of course, a great incentive for persons to engage in defrauding the excise, which we I believe is done lo an i normous ex- | tout. The large sale of spirits at the 'centres of population outside the i main towns of Westland, in eompari-; sou to the small quantities which are ' ordered from the legitimately licensed spirit merchants, is a sufficient proof ■ that the above statement is substau-, tially correct. The London Daily Teleyraph ap pears to be somewhat deficient in its knowledge of colonial geography. Not very long ago it made its readers acquainted with the previously unknown fact that Bri banc is in New Zealand, and now, in an article on the extension of telegraphic communication to Australia, we find the following:— “ But now Australia is to be tied by the electric cable to Asia, and thence to Europe, and will feel herself to be one of the family, not a mere isolated ’observer of men and things from the ■solicitudes of the Antartie Circle.”— Daily Times. As Rome was ones saved by geese, so New Zealand is nfiw, it seems, to i e saved by pheasants. The Wellington correspondent of the Westjori Tillies writes ;—‘ The welfare of the whole colony depends upon pheasants being introduced into Wellington, and protected till they multiply, so I want you to stir up your readers with a long pole till they subscribe liberally for this purpose. If patriotism abounds in your neighborhood I am certain that a very few remarks from your able pen will convince your readers that the propagation of pheasants in Wellington is the one panacea for all colonial ills. You don’t see it'! Well, I’ll show you. Pheasant shooting attracts the Governor and Ministers to Auckland, and makes them like the province. From Hiring the place to voting removal a bore is but one step, and one more leads to ‘endeavors to prevent moving by making Auckland the permanent residence. Now if we have pheasant shooting for H. E. here, he will he content to remain, and the talk of the removal of the seat of Government will cease, with it one of the clouds that threaten the prosperity of the colony. The expense oi tho removal would be one of the least evils attending it, and one of the worst would be the revival, and with two-fold the original vigour, of the agitation for Seperatiou in the South. In every way, therefore, the pheasants are necessary, and you should subscribe. The letter of otir Bendigo Gully correspondent, also a communication from Black’s, only reached us just as we were going to press, and were in consequence too late for insertion in our present issue. A Parasiau lady was informed that her husband Lad just died in an asylum.— “Ah!” replied madam without emotion, “misfortunes never come singly. This inorning ray poor dog Azoro was greatly troubled with indigestion,”