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Dunstan Times, Issue 510, 26 January 1872, Page 2

The department of Roads and Works has wisely taken time by the foielook, in the repair and maintenance of the road between Becks and Drybread. The system of employing two men and a barrow on every tifcy miles ofroad has beenslightly improved, and two men with a horse and dray are now engaged in repairing the worst portions of the road referred to. It is also intended to place footbridges .across the creeks liable to be danger' usiy flooded in winter. We believe Mr. S. C. Worth, of Black’s, may be credited with urging this necessary woi k upon the notice of the Department, We have been informed by the proprietor of the Clyde Coal pit, that he wi'l endeavor to supply coal to his numerous customers by the end of the week, or at the latest, the beginning of the ensuing one. A special meeting of the Waste Lands Board was he d to consoler the application of Mr. J Clarke, for 40,000 acres on Moa Flat. Mr. Stout, appeared for the objectors Mr Connell (Connell and "Hoodie,) arid Mr. James Smith appeared for the applicant. After a lengthy argument, the follow ing resolution was agreed to by the Board.

“ That the sale of land be agreed to excepting that part of about 1050 acres that lies north east of the road line that divides block IV, and the ten acres reserved ‘ as a school si*e. ’ Mr. Smith said, with reference to the decision jest come to, I may inform the Board that Mr. Clarke will not accept one acre less than the area surveyed.

On account of the scarcity of water, m : ning operations at Drybnad, Tinker’s, and the other diggings under the Dunstan Range, we hear are at a stand still. Our in f ormant says that, for ihe past five years there has not been such a general stoppage of work from a like cause. If there is any satisfaction in having companions in trouble, the Lmlisten district may be wed pleased, as from every district the want of water is complained of.

On Monday last at about 1 o’clock p.m. the monotory of the Town was moat unpleasantly disturbed by the cry of Fire, which unfortunately turned out too tiue. Upon arriving at the spot it was discovered that one of the bed-rooms in Mr. Barlow’s residence was in flames. It was not long, however, before, they were extinguished; bu' not until a large amount of damage had been <lone *, V ami water. How the lire originited is a matter of speculate n but it supposed to have arisen, citho from some matches havingfallen to the ground, and become ignited, or from a bucket »f fire ashe which had been left standing outside. Luckily there -was water running in the Town race, otherwise nothing could have saved tin uilding. The excitement arising from the above had scarcely been got over, when the ocsin of alarm was again rung, at about th hour o f 9in the evening, when a large bodj of fire was seen to I urst out from the stables f Mr. James Parkes, of the Hartley Arms Hotel. It was not long before a number of persons were present with buckets, who went to work with a w ill, and in course of hdf an hour overcoii e th'- flames, but no* until the whole of rhesamewere gutted. The stable was a six s*a 11 d one with two loose boxes. At one time them "was great fi-ar that the Jades would reach adjoining buil lings, but the wind, which was very heavy at the time, was fortunately blowing to the river. Il 'w the fire origina ed is a perfect mystery, the stable not having beon entered since morning. Wo would remind subsoil ers to the Dunstan 1 istrict Hospital, that the annual meeting for the elec'ion of a committee for the eusuin 'year will be held in the Lilnary room at2 p.m., lids day, when we hope to see a strong attendance. Register? Register? Register? As all claims to be placed on the Electoral roll, must be loclgtd with the Piegistratioi Officer for t!\e district, before the 31s of March. We would ree unmend all those whose names are not on the roll, to fill in the nece-sary form, which is to be obtained at the various Court Houses on the Goldfields.

All parties having bucket marked D.F 8., the property of the Corporation, are requested to hand them over to Mr. Hazlett, Mayor, in whose custody they are placed for safe keeping. The arbitration Case be! ween E. Elliott and party and R. Felton has been referred to the Government, Mr. Warden Pyke having transmitted all papers in connection therewith 'o lie.i 1 cp.i irters. The dif-fereno in the amount of award of the arbitra'ors we helive to he some what over 1000/, while that of the umpire was about 500/. in excess of the lesser and about 800/. less than the higher amount. On the subject of the removal of Mr. Warden Pyke from Clyde our Tuapakacon- ! temporary says:—“ Mr. Warden Pyke has I bein allowed an extension of time for comi pitting his arrangements for his transfer to j the Tuapekq district. He may be expected to be installed as Warden of the Tuapcka ! district, on the Ist of March.” At a Mee lug of the Waste Pan 1 Boa ’h id on Wednesday the seventeenth. Mr- John j Baker applied for a lease of five acres at | Cooper's GuTy, near lyde. for coal mining ! purposes, and offering to sell coal at Ins per | ton. He was directed to furnish a survey of I the area ho applied for; and it was resolved I to obtain the report of the district Ward n and if no objection he offered, to grant the lease up-m the usual terms. A very severe shock of an eath quake was

felt on Monday night last by a number of persons in and around Clyde. At Sandy Point we hear that the upheaving of the earth were so great as to topole over several walls of earth and in one plat- to leave a fissure in the ground about three inches, wide and extending some distance. Harvesting is now pretty general throughout (he district; with hut few exceptions, the grain crops are thin and to present appearances will barely pay the expense of cutting. The root crops, carrots and potatoes are a perfect failure, the late frosts followed by the high winds and long continued drought causing this disastrous result. For the following piece of information we are indebted to the Mount Ida Chronicle, —We understand that during the absence of Mr. Warden Simpson, wdio has been lately appointed to the Clyde district, and who has at present six months leare of absence, that that district will be temporarily divided between Messrs. Carew and Borton—Mr- I'orton taking Clyde in addition to his present duties, and Mr. Carew officiating at Cromwell and Alexandra, in addition to Blacks. It is supposed that during the above arrangement Mr. Warden llobinson will take his old duty at St, Bathan’s. Th“ Na'seby Hospital Building by the terms of the contract is to be completed by the 12th of Marc , under a penalty of til. pier day. We would draw attention to the sale by auction of freehold i roperty, household furniture, and miscellaneous tffedts, the property of Mr. B. Barlow, Clyde, ou Tuesday ! he 30th instant.

We draw attention n advertisement in another column, to the sa'e of I ridding materials, which will take place at the rear of the Town Hull, Clyde, on Saturday the 3rd of February next-, consisting of Baltic timber, and cormgated.iron . The whole will he sold without reserve. By advertisement in another column, it will he seen that Mr W. H. Hayden, late | of the Bui) and Mouth Hotel, has taken the Imperial Hotel, where he will hehappy to see his old friends. Mr. Haydon is so , well that ulogism is scarcely n eded. The Imperial Hotel is second to , none in Dunedin, and offers the very best accommodation to travellers and families . visiting Dunedin. [ We are desired to call attention to Mr. E; i Halladay’a sale of effects and 'Freehold proi perty, at Alexandra,

The shares in the Elba Freehold Estate Company appear to have been pretty freely taken up, and, as will he seen by advertisement, the suoscripTon lists close on the 3rd proximo. There can lie no doubt but that those who invest iu shares will get full value for their capital, and those of a speculative turn will do well not to proeras inate, but secure shares while there is yet opportuui y. , ■ Langley’s Whits Horse Hotel stables, at Tokomakiro, wore consumed by fire last Friday. All the inhabitants of the township turned nut ami almost by a miracle saved the adjoining property. By the greatest exertions the hotel and Cobb and Co.’s stables nd horses were saved, but one mare, belonging to Mr Langley, was burned. The oss of Messrs Soutter, Hislop, and Gray, hj" proprietors of the building, is 2501, of which 2001 is covered by iusurence in the Liverpool Loudon, and Globe office. Mr. Langley’s loss amounts to 3001, none of which is covered by insurance. The origin of the fire is unknown.— Daily Times. The Daily Times of the 22nd inst. says:— An accident, which might have been attended with fatal consequences, happened on Saturday, at 9 p.m., to Mr. Thomson, traveller to Messrs. Secular Bros. He was reluming home from a trip in a buggy, an when near l ook-out Point, at Cavcrshara. he heard a rumbling noise in the distance coming towards him. He immediately jumped out of the buggy, and held his horse's head, and presently a lean of horses with a loaded waggon dashed up at a grea* spe d, running info and smashing the buggy to pieces. Mr. Thomson fortunately escaped without injury, but his horse was seriously hurt. The horses continued then mad carer until the waggon capsized, one horse, being badly injured, and the rest all more or less bruised. The team belonged toacarriernamed Rutherfoul, and it appears that, when at the top of the hill at Lookout Point, his brake got out of order. Or getting down to exami-e the cause the horses took fright. Mr. Rutherford rendered every assistance t > Mr. Thomson.

The President of the United States has recommended Congress to grant a subsidy to Webb and Halladay’s San Francisco and New Zealand Mail steamers. The Provincial Government Gazette of the 9th of January, contains the now code of rules aud regulations for the Gold-fields, which have been in force since the Sth of December. 1871. The Bruce Herald says, during last week lots of working men .and suh-contiactors have been offering their certificates for labor done on the Clutha line at even less than 10s. in the f. This arises from the failure of M'Leod and Co.’s contract; and our contemporary points with a chuckle to the first exp, lienee of the benefits arising from the administration of the public works scheme. He knows as well as we that the General Government were always opposed to small contracts ; and if it had not been for the agitation got up by the Southern l.eague, and the pressure brought to bear in Parliament ou the Brogden contracts, the Clutha sccti-m of tiro line would have been in Mr. Bvogden’s hands ere now. During a recent gale ill Wellington, according tothe Post, showers of pebbles were driven with great violence along the streets. Our knights of the Willow for the whole season have not upo • any one occasion taken to the field for prac ice. As a challenge is shortly to be sent by the Alexandra < lub. They' ha i b t,ter shape towards getting their team in something like order.' The gro s amount expended on salaries by "the theC-donia! Governm lit is 72,210/. There arc but three salaried officers receiving 1000/. and upwards—the Engineer.in-Chief of Public Works, the Attorney-General, and the A cent General in England. Two receive from 1000/. to 900/., eight 900/. to 800/., twelve 800/. to 700/., eighteen 700/. to 600/., thirty seven 600/. to 500/., fifty-one 500/. to 400/. This gives an average for the 131 offioia’s, whose pay is over*4oo/., of 551/. each. About one-third of the amount of the sa'aries thus enumerated, 23,000/. is expended in Wellington. In round numbers Auckland comes in for 12,70(1/., Hawke’s B 'y, 2,300/. ; Otago, 10,000/. ; 2500/. is expended in the Home country ; the AgentGeneral is receiving 15,000/. his secretary 400/., and theshipping-officev, whoever he may he, 600/.

The following is the text of the Juries Act, passed during last session of the General Ass mbly The verdict of not lest than five-sixths of any jury impannelled to try any issues, or to enquire of or assess damages in any civil cause, shall be taken and accepted as and shall have all the consequences of a verdict of any such jury, under the existing law's relating to juries ; provided that no verdict not arrived at unu imously shall be taken till the jury have retired for a period of at least six hours and have in imated to the Judge presiding at the trial, t at they have considered their verdict and that there is a probability of their being unanimous. The Wellington Keening Post writes as fo lows :—A neat little swindle, which it is as well the authorities should be informed of, is being perpetrated with regard to the postage stamps, the recent changes in the colors giving every facility to those w r ho would stoop to such tricks. -Thus the old twopenny and present, sixpenny stamps being the same color, the “twopence” at the bottom of the new stamp is torn off, and the stamp used for an old sixpenny one, detection being impossible. In the same way the old twopenny stamp can be made available for the present sixpenny, arid the old p ntry for the new twopenny stamp. We might, suggest that the obvious way to pre- ! vent such practices would be to have the i value of the stamps net in lette s at the bottom, but in large figures over the whole | stamp—a custom which is adopted in many countries, and which; with a little ingenuity might be managed. so as not to interfere 1 wdth the tnetefulncsa of the de-i^a.