TELEGRAPHIC DESPATCHES.

Dunstan Times, Issue 467, 31 March 1871, Page 2

TELEGRAPHIC DESPATCHES.

(Thom cue CORRESPONDENT.) The Census shows the population of Otago to bo seventy thousand, being an increase since ISG7 of nearly fourteen thousand. A boat accident occurred on Sunday at Pleasant River, resulting in the drowning of a boy named Ryan. The telegram libel prosecutions re. suited in the committal of Mr. Barton on both charges. Mr. Macassey, for the defence, spoke lor three hours. A great gale occurred at Auckland last Saturday. The shipping in the harbor sustained damage to the extent of r>,o(M The returns for the Peninsula are not in. Tolmie is sure tsb&,elected. Lumsdeu has been returned for Invercargill. A rich galena lode has been discovered in Nelson.

The poll for the election of a member of the Provincial Council for the Kawarau district was taken on Tuesday la<t, and result'd, as was generally anticipated, in ihe return of Mr. Hickio. The following are the numbers polled :

The “Otago Daily Times,” of the 29!h_ has the following :—“We learn, upon good authority, that it is the intention of the Provincial Executive to resign immediately. There is hut little doubt that his Honor will at once accept their resignation, and it is not unlikely, should he do so, that he will call upon Mr. W. 11. Reynolds to form a Government.”

By advertisement, which appears in another column, Mr. Haughton, as Water Supply Commissioner, announces his intention of being at Cromwell, onVTuesday next the 4th instant ;at ClydtA on Thursday and Friday, the fith and 7th April ; and at Alexandra, Saturday, the Sth of April, for the purpose of obtaining information relative to the object of his mission.

The Treweek letter libel case, ‘ ‘ Driver v. M'Lcorl,” has terminated in Mr- Alexanander M'Lcod being committed for trial. He was admitted to bail: himself iu £2OO, and two sureties of £IOO each.

We are glad to learn from the “ South, land Times ” that scarlet fever has completely disappeared from Invercargill. Its rapid disappearance is imputed by that journal to the vigorous exertions of the Sanitary Committee.

The time allowed for receiving applications from those wishing to have their names placed on the electoral roll expires today. Those who have not filled,, up and 8 mt in applications to register, had better take advantage of the little time there is left, if they wish their names to appear on the next electoral roll.

From the mass of telegrams published in the Californian papers relative to the war in Europe, we gather scarcely anything of interest not contained in’fthe telegraphic summary published last week. Although some of the country places wish to continue the war, the struggle may be said to be over, and the Emperor of Germany has only to state the terms he will make peace upon. The election of members of a National Assembly is proceeding rapidly in France, and the result shows that the people are decidedly monarchical in their feelings. The representatives of claiming the right to rule over the French people are actively intriguing to secure their ends, and the Man of Destiny has spoken to the people of France from his retreat at Willi clmshoe. As far as the elections go the Orleanists hvve secured/a majority hut it is on the oar Is that the firm hand that swayed at will the fierce democracy of France for upwards if twenty years will again be entrusted with the reins of Government. The Emperor William, with his victorious troops,’were to inarch through several streets of Paris on the. 10th of February, and then to return to (heir homes. Great distress exists’ in France, and efforts are being made in all parts of the world to ameliorate it as much as possible.

Our St. Bathan’s friends will he sorry to hear the news of the sudden death of Mr. Robert Eedborough, of the Bank of New Zealand. Mr. Bedborough, after the closing of the St. Bathan’a agency, was removed to Dunedin, and it was only months since that he was appointed to take charge of the Arrowtown agency. It appears that, on Friday, the 17th instant, Mr. Bedborough found himself unwell, but not unusually so. On the Sunday following he sought the assistance of Dr. Scott, of Queenstown, who prescribed for him. Still nothing serious was apprehended, and he was able to attend to his duties in the Bank. On Monnay evening he retired to rest, sleeping, as is the usual case with bank agents, on the Bank premises. Not finding him up at his usual hour in the morning, and knowing tnat he was under medical treatment, his friends, having given notice to the police, effected an entrance through a window into the Bank, where they discovered Mr. Bedhorough in a dying state and unable to speak. Medical assistance was at once sent for, but without avail, and the poor fellow died at noon. The next day an inquest was held on the body, before the district Coroner (K. Beetham, Esq.), -when Dr. Douglas, wffio made the post mortem examination, gave in evidence, as his opinion, that the deceased died from congestion of the brain. The funeral took place on Wednesday, and a considerable number of persons from Arrowtown and Queenstown follow-ed the corpse to its last resting place. The deceased was twenty-seven years of age. We have oftentimes considered the arrangements of the Bank of New Zealand extremely parsimonious (and the.,same maybe said of other banks) and we question if it is morally right that a man, singly by himself, shouldj.be left in charge of any of the Hank's “agencies. It is cruel and inhuman'to require such. A lad, even for company’s sake, would not cost much, and we think that, in"the interests of the shareholders, such should be conceded when the agent on the goldfields is not a married man, as in reality he should he. In this case the Bank has a great deal to answer for. Had assistance been at hand it is very probable that the poor agent Bedborough, who breathed out almost to his last breath untended and uncared for, might he a living man at the'jpresent time. What else might happen in a similar case it is almost impossible to conjecture. There would be nothing to prevent the^whole;o£sfe property of the Bank being carried cUnKI. In reference to tbepSlEßgteat ferocious European war, the ‘ Keview, ” in its usual forcible style, writes:—“ The two most polished, and advanced, and educated, aml k representative nations in the w'orld have not got heyond the natives of Dahomey. Or rather, ha'ing acquired thenotionsof justice ami right, having gained intellectual and scientific and literary advancement, being in the very van of civilization and education they have deliberately fallen back upon barbarism in its very worstaspect bai barism that is, without, the excuse of ignorance and moral and intellectual darkness Is human progress an illusion ? Have we exchanged one barbaiism for another, and the present barbarism the worst, because mixed up with so much of what is advance and refinement and the higher development of man ? Or is it the old devil which has returned, bringing with him seven devils—intellectual, educated, philosophical, scientific, and artistic devils?” The mail steamer was detained a day *in San Francisco in consequence of the burning of a portion of the mail by a terrible' railway accident which ooeurred in Pensylvania, particulars of which will be found in another column. In the Warden’s Court, Clyde, the following applications for head-races were granted : Warburton Devereux, two sluice-heads, Half-way House ; Peer M‘Arthur, three sluice • heads, Nevis ; Peter M‘Arthur, two sluice-heads, Neals. The applicati on of of John Lindsay and James Robertson wasby Mr. Brough, on behalf of MT’herson ’and Co-, and adjourned till Thursday, when it was granted. The “ Grey River Argus,” wh'ch is generally pre ty well informed on political mattes, says:—“A rumor reaches us from Wellington that whether Mr. Vogel bo 1 nek or not the meeting of Parliament cannot be deferred beyond the beginning of June. The financial position of the colony is such ai to cause grave anxiety, and as a good deal of time will be taken up at the commencement of the session by the election of Speaker, Chairman of Comraitteer, and the disposal of election petitions, and other formal matters, if is probable the House will be called together the first weak in June.

We recently visited Mr. Westwood’s gar don, Clyde.land must being surprised at the quantity of fruifgrown, The apple trees are wondeefully prolific, and the fruit, comprising several favorite kinds is of excellent quality. Several apples, weighing from sixteen to twenty six ounces were shown'to us, and these had not attained maturity. Mr. Westwood has cultivated pears, plums, peaches, currants, gooseberries, &.o, with great success. If those fwho doubt the fertility of the soil in the Dunstan district, were to visit Mr Westwood’s garden, their minds would bo set at rest on that point. In consequence of the Kawarau election taking place on Tuesday last, the Resident Magistrate’s and Warden’s Courts sat on Monday. In tlxe former there were no cases of importance. In the Wardens Court the case of Smith v. Hill, Devine and Co., was heard. Mr. Wilson appeared for plaintiff and Mr Brough for Hill and another defendant. This was a claim for L 33 10s for wages. The fact of the amount being due was admitted by defenlact’s party, but, by virtue of partnership comp licaticns, Mr. Brough’s clients dispu ted their liability The Warden said the partnership question had nothing to do with tire present c se, and suggested it the money were really due it should be paid and the partnership quarrel settled afterwards- The Court was then’adjourned for ten minutes for the purpose of allowing an, arrangement to he come to. On tire court resuming, no settlement having been effeote 1, the case proceeded. James Smith plaintiff stated that the proprietors of the Blue Mountain Race werejndebted to him'the amount churned. Hugh Devine, manager’of the Company and one ofjthe defendants, deposed that the amount claimed was dne to Smith, who had been employed on behalf of the Company. The Warden said it was a cruel thing to keep plaintiff out of his wages in consequence of a partnership dispute, and there was no excuse for the conduct of defendants. He gave judgment for plaintiff fur the full amount claimed, with costs of court 10s.. and professional jmstajL3^3s.

A sad accident resulting iiytl-e dehth of a man named James Hendcisbn occurred at Black’sJNo. 3on Friday, the 24th instant. The deceased it appears was last seen alive about’lo o’clockjon the morning of the day'on which the accident occurred, mending a cradle. He said he was going to work some old'ground, and was cautioned against doing’so, as it was not safe for a man possessing so little mining experience. He disregarded the caution and went to woik in the placeindicatedby him about two hundred yards from the’ Deep Lead Company’s shaft. Deceased was missed in the evening by a man named Gifford, who per--1 ceiving there had been a fall of earth, inquired for him, and ascertained the had rot been seen since morning. Gifford then proceeded to where the fall’ot earth had, taken place, and’fonnd a tub and cradle, and with the assistance of other men removed the I fallen ’earth, finding a pick and bucket. , More assistance was then called, and the ! hndy of the,unfortunate man was disinterred. I Deceased was laying on his side, with a I shovel along side of him, and a'’bucket at his feet, as if he had been in the act of filling the bucket when the catastrophe occurred. When found, the body was cold. An inquest on th’ remains of the unfortunate man'was held at Black’s on Monday, before Vincent Pyke, Esq., when the facts above stated were elicited. Dr. Niven deposed that death resulted from suffocation, caused by a fall'of earth. The jury returned a verdict in accordance with the mecical testimony. Our Bendigo correspondent informs us that the first cleaning up of the Alta Company’s Batteries yielded."ninety-one ounces of gold. This is the result of a fortnight’s crushing, and is considered highly satisfactory hy the shareholders. Tho mill is still crushing, and water being plentiful, the two batteries are kept constantly at work. The announcement that the Aurora Company are willing to let their claim on tribute has attracted the attention o£-u number of minors to it, and I should not be surprised, if terms can be arranged, to see the mill at work again before very long. The prospects of Colclough’s Company'still continue good, and their battery' of four heads is constantly at work. From the Cromwell Company I have nothing new, hut they are still pegging steadily away at what 1 hope will he golden stone. Quite a furore was created among the men employed in the various claims hy the announcement that all the companies had determined to reduce tho rate qt wages per week from £4 to £3 10s. for teulmur shifts, and to £3 for eight hour shifts. Great dissatisfaction was expressed and s'rike threatened ; but, when it was s#qji that the Companies were firm, the men >j(with but few exceptions) accepted the reduced rate. This reduction of wages will, wo are sure, he of great benefit to the district, and will probably induce many' companies, who ha.ve suspended operations, to resume working their claims. The alluvial workings ha.ve almost dropped out of notice, but rumors of good finds being constantly in circulation, attention has been directed to these, and it is on the tapis to bring wa er on to ground known to he highly auriferous.

The unsatisfactory nature of the arrangements for the transmission of the mails to Bendigo has long been a .subject of public comment, and those interested must have had a wonderful amount of paticiice to submit to the great inconvenience they -.have been put to, so long. It is really time something was done to make this postal serv co efficient. At present it'is practically worse than uscVss. for Bendigo leaves Cromwell every Wednesday morning, yet the mails from Dnnodin, Clyde and other places which arrive before tho mail it despatched have to lay in Cromwell Postoffice until the following Wadnesday. Wo do not know whoso fault this is but tlo sooner it is remedied tbc better.

Wo'aro glad to learn that the spirited proprietors of the Conroy’s Gully Reef have ordered a crushing machine from Dunedin. As we said in a previous issue the prospects amply warrant*such a step, and if they continue astheyare at present, premise toyiehl “piles” to the shareholders. We have no doubt but that after the company at present in existence have got a few erushings the development of the reef, known to exist in that part of the country will be rapidly proceeded with. In the report of the meeting hold for tho purpose of establishing a local Hospital Committee at St. Bathau’s, published in our last issue, by a typographical error it was stated that Mr. Mulocy had been elected a member of the Committee. It should have been Mr. Mulvey. The official declaration of the poll for the election of a Member to represent the Dunstan District in the ProvinciaMbivncil was made at noon on Saturday The Returning Officer read the by the respective candidates (niljJßvero the same as published in our lash declared Mr. Thomas Luther Shenherd duly elected. Dr. Niven, who was the only candidate present, addressed the assemblage, stating that he considered his defeat by no means an ignominious one, because he had lo fight against a gentleman who had represented the goldfields for four years, :n I who had but recently been elected Member of the House of Representatives. He attributed his defeat to the prevalence of a mistaken notion that it was ibette r for a district to be represented in the Provincial Council by the Member it returned for the General Assembly. However, he was quite satisfied with the result of tho poll, and he thanked those who had voted and worked on his behalf. The proceedings then terminated.

The reef at ‘Thompson’s Gorge, on the Manuherikia slope of the Dunstan Mountains is being further developed by its lucky finders. It has been traced on the surface for a distance of over one hundred yards, showing a width of from two to five feet, with gold visible throughout the stone. On one portion of the claim a shaft has been sunk to a depth of sixteen feet, and tho reef shows a decided tendency to thicken A correspondent of the Ballarat “ Star ” thinks there ought to be proclaimed a day of humiliation, for the fearful crop of lies which have been told in election speeches Mount Ida is becoming prolific in accidents. No less than three occurred in that district last week, one of them resulting in the death by drowning of the youngest daughter of ,Mr. John Cogan. The other two accidents occurred to miners, named Frederick King, Peter Talbot and Terence Ryan—the first from a fall of earth, and the second, by the rushing of water into a drive.

Seven hundred and thirty eight sheep, the property of residents of the Cardrona district were last week placed in the Clyde pound, hut were shortly'afterwards released. We are informed that tho legality of iho proceeding is questioned by the owners of t e sheep impounded, and tho matter will be brought before the Resident Magistrate.

Fear ul and wonderful is the manner in which Provincial Engineers repair roach. Between the Roaring Meg and the Kawaran the had places in ihe road are being repaired with mud, while there is plenty of stone available for that purpose. The stone is much easier to get at than the mud, which accounts for tho engineer using tho latter.

We direct the attention of residents on Earnscleugh station to an advertisement which appears in another column requiring all depasturing stock on that run to register their brands at the home station before the eighth of April. The owners of unregistered stock depasturing on Messrs Strode and Fraser’s run will after that -xlate -be prosecuted.

The recent rains caused the river to rise to a height which compelled those engaged in dredging to suspend their operations. Work was, however resumed by most of the parties on Wednesday and Thursday, For some time past the weather has been very unsettled, During last week several heavy falls of rain occurred, but, from present appearances, it seems likely that we will have another spell of line weather. The Suez mail arrived at Hokitika on Wednesday week, and a telegraphic summary of the news brought by it was published in our last issue. By some inadvertence our agent omitted to state in his telegram the intelligence he sent came via Suez, and it was published by us as later intelligence via San Francisco.

The Honorable Julius Vogel has entered into a new contract with Messrs. Webb and Holladay for carrying the mails between San Francisco and New Zealand. The steamers are to perform thirteen trips per year each way ; to call at Auckland, Wellington, and Dunedin ; and the subsidy is to be £50,000 per annum. Mr. Vogel left San Francisco for Washington on the 13th of February. The Pacific Railroad Company \ appropriated a special car for him and his suite.

We understand that a movement for tho formation of an Amateur Dramatic Society has been set afoot, and that a meeting of gentlemen willing to join such a Club will be held at an early date.

From the Garrick range we learn that a goodly population is being attracted to the neighborhood of tho quartz reefs. Up to the present time no defined reef has been struck, but numbers of leaders, which radiate in every direction, oil containing more or less .gold are being followed. In tho Elizabeth claim, a "very good leader about eighteen inches thickis being worked. Tho Star of tho East is at a standstill on account of the last crushing not turning out so well as anticipated. In tho other claims a great deal of work has boon done, but nothing worthy of chronicling has occurrjd. *

In our Inst teport of proceedings of the Resident Magistrate’s Court, Clyde, it was erroneously stated a that thejeasejof Blair v. Kincaid. M‘Queen and Co. was adjourned till the 28th of March. The case was adjourned till the 4th proximo. A meeting of the shareholders 'of the Alta Quartz Mining Company, (registered), will be held at the Company’s office at 3 o’clock to morrow afternoon for the purpose of electing Directors for the ensuing six months, and the transaction- of other important business. The Manuherikia Race Company are actively engaged sluicing at Mutton-town. They have plenty of water, and express themselves satisfied with the prospects they have obtained. It has been long known that the terrace at the foot ot the Dunstan Range, in the vicinity of Clyde, is auriferous ; but, till J'/ac, present time, no one has syst eraatioally . worked it, in consequence ofwater not being ■ available. Messrs. Lindsay and Robertson i have secured a grant of two sluice-heads of ■"wa'er from the Leaning Rock, and intend to commence cutting their race at once. We hope their spirited enterprise will bo crowned with success. The Christchurch papers state that the Governor has intimated a wish that his reception in that city should be quite private. His Excellency says that be is going there oil business, and therefore’ desires to be as quiet as possible. \ We have much pleasure in announcing that the London House, Clyde has been reopened by Mr. George Clark, who for a length of time managed that well known drapery establishment for Mr. Allen Fitch. Air. Clark has effected a number of improvements in the establishment, and has re-stocked it with a large and varied assortment of drapery, haberdashery, hoots, shoes, See,. We are informed that Mr. Sinclair has accepted the tender of Messrs. Sutherland fpr the erection of a stone hu Wing in Sun-deijynd-street, Clyde. Wt have not seen lint we given to u derstand HP the proposed edifice will be both comIRodious and handsome.

Hickie. Hughes. Marsh. Cromwell 12 32 V 19 Bandigo :i \5 2 Bannockburn 32 10 11 Gorge 9 G 19 Newcastle 0 0 0 Nevis IS 2 0 Cardrona 10 7 2 Total 84 02 i»3