FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1871.

Dunstan Times, Issue 493, 29 September 1871, Page 2

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1871.

FeequexT attention has been called to'the unsatisfactory arrangements for the maintenance and improvement of the main roads from Dunedin to the .Northern gold-fields. The residents at Mount Ida are just now petitioning the Government that certain deviations from the existing line of road may he made, to open up a direct route to Naseby, and at Cromwell and Queenstown, some hopes are entertained that by dint of petitions and persistent agitation, an alteration in the existing Mail Service may he effected, whereby the transit of Her Majesty’s Mails may be accelerated. So far as the principle is concerned, the prayer of the petitioners cannot be objected to, but iu points of detail the proposed arrangement is strikingly -deficient. Instead of the residents on two or three townships agitating for their own particular advantage, it would have been Mar better, bad some -comprehensive scheme been initiated, and united efforts made by all the gold-fields’ townships to place themselves in more direct and rapid communication with Dunedin. A petition praying that the Mails from town might be delivered in Clyde in one »day, and at Queenstown in two, would Lave been just as reasonable as the request that their arrival at Queens town may be hastened by a few -hour?. Under present circumstances both ideas are equally impracticable for the one good and sufficient reason, the roads will not admit of rapid travelling. The gradients, cuttings and general formation of the roads present continual obstructions, and their assumed repair and maintenance, is a mere delusion, a sorry make believe, an unblushing exemplification of how not to do it. We need not-go far f br an instance ; travellers from Clyde to Black’s will confirm the assertion— One or two surface-men are supposed to be able to keep some twenty miles -or more of road in repair, wandering from,place to place, travelling long distances to stop a hole here, or to ingeniously spoil a good bit there. Earning their wages no doubt, but to no good purpose. Under present mismananemeut the roads are, and must of necessity continue to be, in a disgraceful condition. The remedy has been often pointed out, and as often •disregarded. We venture again to express the general opinion on the subject. Instead of employing straggling parties of surface-men, let the 'Government contract witli settlers, ■ residing on the main- line of roads, to keep certain sections in repair, doing the work in proper manner and at the proper season, under the strict supervision of the Road tE"gineers. For their own advantage the settlers would do the work well, and the public monies would be usefully expended 5Tf this plan were adopted, the minor .-evils of up emu try travelling well d

; bo materially lessoned, ami the various Municipalities anti smal'or townships might then unite in an appeal for the general improvement of the Mail route, hy deviations or otherwise, so that the present impracticable feat of rapid transit might he accomplished. We are compelled to hold over leading and other matter in type until our next issue. Wo acknowledge the receipt from the General Government of Parliamentary papers, and copies of Hansard received by _the last marl from Wellington. On Sunday morning next, Mr. J. Webb will hold Divine Service in the Church of England, Clyde. Intending travellers to Dunedin will doubtless be gratified to he ir that on and after Monday next, the 2nd proximo, the fares to and from town by “ Cobb and Co.” will be reduced to 3/.. With such’ an att> active inducement for cheap and expeditious travelling,the coaches of the enterprising Ann should be well laden. At the quarterly meeting of the Clutha Presbytery, held on the 20th instant; the Rev. Mr. Ross, of Alexandra and Clyde, tendered the resignation of his charge, on the ground of the state of his health unfitting him for the work. It was agreed that the resignation lie on the table till next meeting, and in the meantime Messrs Chisholm and Allan should visit the congregations and intimate the resignation of Mr. Ross, and report to next meeting the circumstances of the congi egations and the surrounding districts, with the view of making suitable arrangements for the future A visit from these gentlemen may therefore be anticipated. In reference to'the above, an advertise - merit appears in our columns intimating that the reverend gentlemen have already arrived, and will hold Divine Services on Sunday next, the Rev. James Chisholm at Black’s and Alexandra, and the Rev. John Allan, also at Alexandra in the morning, and at Clyde in the evening. From the well known abilities and high reputation of these gentlemen they will doubtless be received by crowded congregations. The main road by Beck’s Hotel, Tiger Hill, and Black s is in a horribly bad condition. The deep ruts through which heavyladen teams and lighter vehicles, are alike compelled to plough, are daily* becoming worse ; and little effort seems made to remedy the evil. Complaints are also made that the coverings of culverts belonging to the water race companies are frequently allowed to get into bad repair, and remain untouched for weeks, to the danger of both life and property. The road authorities should at least keep such places in repair or send speedy* notice to the race owners to do so. It has been suggested that, as a means of lessening the evil; paved approaches to the water courses might be laid down at sufficiently easy gradients to allow of teams crossing, in the event of the roadway above tbe culvert becoming at any time impassible. A moderate expenditure on the roads just now would be wisely invested. The settlers having got in the major portion of their crops, could well supply horse and manual labor at a moderate cost, and would doubtless be only too glad to assist in rendering tbe vile track by their homesteads a little more worthy of the name of Main Road. Some three or four hundred pounds are to be shortly expended on the Teviot Road, near Butcher’s Gully; a similar amount judiciously expended on the Blacks Road would silence many and just complaints against departmental carelessness or inefficiency. The following is a summary of the consequences to an insolvent of not obtaining his discharge under provisions of the proposed new TnsolveneyAct. 1. For three years no portion of a debt proved can be enforced, ami if during that time Jre has paid such additional sum to his creditors as wss necessary to make up ten shillings in the pound, he may claim his certificate. 2. Tf at the end of three years he has not obtained bis certificate, any balance of a debt, without interest shall be deemed a subsisting debt, and subject to the rights of persons who have become creditors since the insolvency, and may be enforced with the sanction of the Fount having jurisdiction. 173 and 175 prescribes the powers by which such claims may be enforced. A very pleasant gathering of the Roxburgh Wesleyan congregation, took place at Goal Creek, on Friday, the 19th inst ; the occasion being a Tea Meeling in aid of the funds of the Church. About one hundred persons were present, and addresses were delivered by the Reverend Mr. Bull, from Lawrence, and. the Boveren 1 W. H. Beck, and Messrs. Bloxham, Clark, Tamlyn, and Manuel. The refreshments were provided hy the ladies and bachelors of the disteict, and their liberal and judicious catering was duly appreciated. The satisfactory sum total of 2 51. was the result of the celebration. Hew Zealand ; s still a leva incognita to the British public. Even the w iters in tbe lead ng journals have vague and misty ideas as to our whereabouts. Evidently imagining that the South Island is somewhere in close proximity 'o iMount Erebus. The Hume News says the Times has devote I a column of discriminative criticism upon Mr Chevalier’s sketches of New Zealand scenery now exhibiting at the Crystal Palace, and speaks in high praise of the views of Lake Wnkatipu scenery. But the critic complains “ Tne artist ought to have clothed a few of his sunny landscapes in white, and have swept them with southwest storms. These lakes anil mountains and skies are paradise in summer, but in winter their dreariness and desolation are so vast and awful that they might he taken for a zone of the infernal regions, where hapless spirits aio whirled to and fro in tempests of contending winds, an.l snows.”

Mr. Bichard llawkes complains that in a recent report of mining matters at Bendigo Gully, his name was mentioned in invidious terms, implying in fact that “ carelessness or something more venal ” had been shewn in the management of a recent unsatisfactory crushing at Colclough’s mill. Reference to the manuscript copy of the report, shews a printer’s error, slight enough in itself, hut conveying a different meaning from that intended. For venal nail venial, and the sentence is harmless. Mr. Hawke -’ well known character for probity and careful discharge of his managerial duties are sufficiently well established to render even an intentional attack, perfectly harmless.—[Ed, D.T.] A Wellington contemporary loams, on what it deems competent authority, that the office of Chief registiar under the Land Transfer Act will again he filled by Mr. Moorhouse, formerly Superintendent of Canterbury ; as soon as certain disabilities have been removed. In a recent issue of the Wellington EveniJig Post the following instance of Government interference with the telegraph is thus given —A circumstance oeeurod on Saturday last in connection with the Telegraph Department that certainly needs explanation. As our readers are aware the Government piece hands on Hansard struck, on what they deemed sufficient grounds. Their reasons were telegraphed to their fellow-work man throughout the colony. Hearing that some men were coming from Hokitika and Greymouth, they presented a telegram at the office on Saturday as follows; “If they come will be ratted.” We may add that “ratted’’ is a term amongst printers that implies something similar to being sent to Coventry and regarded as o black sheep by the printing fraternity. These simp'e words, however, send the message without referring it to alarmed the operator so that he declined to head-quarters, through eventually, offer some delay, it was despatched. The printers, not to be done, had recourse to a ruse, which was eminently successful. They got their message literally, or very nearly literally, translated into German, and addressed it to a German in Hokitika; the unsuspecting clerk without the least hesitation, telegraphed it straight away, and it no doubt reached its destination without dificulty. It may he a matter of joke that the Government were o utwitted, but a seiious question arisesas to how far, and under what circumstances telegraph operators are jus’ified in declining to forward messages. The fact is another indication of the Star Chamber k ; nd of authority that the existing Ministry exercises in all departments. The latest development of the “peculiarness” of the Heathen Chinee is the following:—A resident at Quarry Hill, Bendigo* has a fancy for game fowls, and prides himself on his birds. Recently just at break of day—he was disturbed from bis slumbers by a flustering and cackling proceeding from bis poultry, and he accordingly got up and went out noiselessly into his yard to ascertain the cause of the commotion. In the halflight, he discerned one of his favorite fighting birds go over the fence in a very unnatural and peculiar way. Presently another one followed in the same mysterious and unbird like manner. The strange proceedings per* plexed him exceedingly, as he flattered himj self on beinguptoatbing ortwo in “coc!;ing’_ but this was “the ‘game’ he did not under stand,” so he went stealthily round to ilia other side of the fence, were Ins feelings were shocked on beholding a Chinaman “bagging his game.” The tracks that the heathen made were “quite refreshinr to see,” as he left his booty behind him and his fowlingtackle, which was apiece of strong twine, to which was attached a peculiar double hook similar to a double fish-hook. With this ingenious arrangement, temptingly baited, he played his little game. The Independent of the 17th says:—Morris the pertinacious advocate or opponent of the Permissive Bill—for it is impossible to say which he is—wasagain arrested by the police yesterday in Sydney street, were he had established himself in a favorable position for declamation. At the time of his acres s he was arme 1 with a “banner with a strange device,” which heha I triumphantly elevate 1 on the end of a ling clothes prop, This banner or dirty sheet is about six feet lon r, and of the same width, and is clumsily daubed with strange asertions, proclaiming the Hon. W. Fox to be Anti-Christ, a hangman. an 1 a murderer, for that he is endeavoring to extirpate the poor publicans. These are only a few words from the heading tf the flag or rag, the lettering of which is done in the latest style of “sensation-” The arguments of the banner are very voluminous ;anl after consigning Mr. Fox to perdition, he magnanimously winds up with “God savethe Queen ” In Ins possesion was another flag with a gigantic cross in the centre, while in the comer is a representation of a poor publican hanging by the neck, having been “worked off” by Mr Fox. There was found in In's possesion a piece of paper, curiously elaborated with squares, octagons, and obtuse angled triangles, aT to prove the road to ruin by the workings of the Perm’ss've Bill. A remarkable instance of sudden presentment of danger is narrated in the Pleasant Creek Heics. Very recently a miner named Thompson while at his tent door, observed a boy about seven years old passing towards the common school, and in a few minutes after this an irresistible conviction seize 1 him that the boy he had lately seen was drowning in an adjacent creak. So unable was ho to resist this impression that he ran with all speed tp the sport presented to his mind, when sure enough,die beheld the disappearing body just below the surface of the water. In an instant he plunged forward and grasped the nearly lifeless body of the child, who had evidently been struggling for some time, and in a few seconds more would have passed into the spirit world. The child under the attention and restoratives applied, was soon restored to his grateful parents. Thompson feels proud that he was used by the hand of Providence in thus preserving a life, H®

Bays his mind was engaged with other matters whin the scene portrayed presented itself, which, when concluded, seemed to him like a dream.