The Dunstan Times FRIDAY, MAY 30, 1873.

Dunstan Times, Issue 580, 30 May 1873, Page 2

The Dunstan Times

FRIDAY, MAY 30, 1873.

Beneath the Rule of MenEXTiRELV just the rax is mightier than tires word.

As no offers under the conditions offered by the Government for the erection of a bridge across the Molyneux at Clyde were made, our Municipal authorities should at once take some action. Because the first effort has failed, there is no reason why we should not try again. The feasibility of the project and the advantages it will confer upon the inhabitants of the district are beyond question, and we feel assured that, were only proper efforts made, the thing could be accomplished. In the conduct of no great public work or undertaking has the Municipal Council of Clyda ever distinguished itself, nor has even anything been procured from the Government but promises through their influence. Other places have s-'t them an example how to manage in these matters, but all to no purpose. The Council has in its composition men who have raised themselves to no m<>an position in the social scale hy their energy, and we would upon them in this matter to work witli a will, and make up for all past omissions Never since the early days of the Dunstan Gold-fields ha-e the propects of the district promised so much, while in a few short mouths, what with the bringing in of water races to our immediate vicinity, and the great improvements made in dredging machineiy, the town of Glide will be ill the centre of a busy hive of industry-

The bridge, we have always he'd, should be purely a Municipal work 'I ho advantages It would confer upon (he town would bo enormous. Upon the completion of the railway to Tuapeka it would be the converging * point, for all the up and down country traffic, which must seek Clyde as the centre. To secure an advantage like ic is deserving of some effort on our part. Itj is an act of folly to be content with mere importuning the ProvinciU Government. As a proof lhat”we?are in eatuest we should do something for ourselves; and, when this is so easy, why is it not done; The coot of ?a bridge has been'pretty'correctly ascertained, and there should be no difficulty about the guarantee of a certain rate of interest upon the outlay, or the matter might be accomplished by means of a publiccompany, the Town Council taking up say half the, stock, leaving the test for the public, who, if they could make sure of a reasonable rate of interest, would very readily invest ; far.d ultimately the Council might buy up all the shares, or do so gradually. It public undertakings this is „quite a common practice. In is a guarantee of the genuineness’: of the enterprise, and leaves little room to doubt the security of the investment. Ultimately, the bridge, whoever it may be erected by, must become the property of the Government,. Whether Tor railway or road purposes, such an’importaht link as it will form iu the traffic of the Province will not, he suffered to remain’iu private hands, and then it might he disposed of at a profit. Supposing that even Mr. Simson’s estimate was exceeded, and the bridge were to cost ten thousand pounds, there would ,be a considerable profit from the tolls, after payment of all expenses of repair and for collection. Taking the average earnings of the ferries, we safely say that, with greatly reduced rate, the tolls"would . amount to between twenty and thirty pounds per,week. There’’ is no better speculation in New Zealand than to bridge the Molynenx at Clyde, and more especially, when we come to consider that the Government will make the appooachcs and roads thereto—this in itself is equal to a subsidy of Jne’half of the necessary capital, and should leave ns no room whatever to,hesitate from commencing the undertaking. The Municipal year is drawing to a close, and wo hope the present Council will retire from office with this work heading the list of their good works.

The heavy rain which fell during Monday night last, has completely interrupted traffic, except for horsemen between this and the Lakes district. The greatest amount of damage is between the Roaring Meg and Edwards’ Punt. At the Sand-hill at Gentle Annie, two immense gashes have been washed away in the roadway, and which will need considerable repairs, while there are a succession of ruts for three miles caused by the water running down the wheel tracks, that must be filled up before the road can be passable. The approach on the Wakatip side to Edwards’ Punt is seriously damaged, two immense gaps have been washed out, while the roadway itself is bared to’the solid rock. At the Nevis and Arrow Bluffs the damage has not been so great, still a considerable amount of earth and stones have slipped down. Near Owens’ ferry, there is a very ominous looking crack in tho roadway, and which is slowly settling towards the Kawarau. No time should be lost in effecting the most necessary repairs, or the consequence may he very serious. We hear on good authority that a requisition influentially and numerously signed is to be presented to Vincent Pyke Esq., asking him to allow himself to he placed in nomination as. a candidate for the Dunstan District, in the Provincial Council. Mr. Pyke. we are in a position to say, has left the Government service, therefore, we have hut little doubt of his acquiescing. For the seat there is likely to be some opposition, Mr- Shepherd, Mr. W. Greenbank,'and Mr. J. C. Chappie are spoken of as being in the field. For the honor of representing the Kawarau ward, the only two candidates as yet mentioned, are Jas. Hazlett, Esq., and M. Fraer, Esq. We prepare our readers for the Superintendent’s manifesto, which will be issued by us as an “ Extra,” on Monday next, June 2. It will be conveyed by the coaches and delivered to our subscribers as an ordinary paper. Monday last was observed as a general holiday by the Bnaks and Government employes. On account of the wretched state of the weather, no outdoor pastimes were indulged in. The ordinary" monthly meeting of the Committee of the Dunstan District Hospital will be held in the Committee room on Monday evening next, June 2, at 8 p.m. Tenders for supplies for the quarter ending September 12, will he received up to 7 p.m. In our advertising columns Mr. Thomas L. Shepherd announces his intention of offering himself for re-election ,aSL. Representative for the Dunstan District in the Provincial Council

i Tho quarterly general meeting of the | , memWe of the Dunstan Mining Association will he held at the usual meeting place, on i Saturday evening, the 7th of June. The chair will be taken at 7 o’clock. On Tuesday evening a ball was given fat the Town Hall, Clyde, for the benefit of the funds of the Dunstan District Hospital. The attendance, we regret to say, was but limited, and we think the object for which the entertainment was given, the fine room, rnd the vcry'sUperlor band (under the efficient leapership of Mr. Wilde) should have attracted a muchf larger” concourse. However, in spite the chilling influence of a ratheiythinly’peopled! room, those present entered fully into the spirit of the ball, and everything passed in a pleasant and agreeable manner. The refreshment department was - * under the ableljsuperindence of Mr.|fJoseph Hastie, who catered in his usual liberal manner. We much fe.ar that, after the payment’ of necessary’ expenses, only a small sutnTwilUremaia for the benefit of the An entertainment will he givcn’’in tho Town Hall onjWednesday evening next, in aid of the funds of the Clyde [Sunday School." The entertainment wilt; comprise magic lantern, dissolving views, ic. Several gentlemen will oddress the company, and a delightful evening’s be anticipated. The admission is only Is. j the pupils'attending'.the School, free. A bad in honor to Mer [Majesty's Birthday was held in the",[Library Hall, Alexandra, on Monday evening} last, the 2Cth inst. About twenty couples wore present. Dancing was*kept up with l spirit, and all were well pleased with their evening’s entertainment. The pneumatic dredge, last week, met with an accident which might£have proved fatalto it,haditnot been for the presence oQ.mind'; t of Mr. M ‘Lerman (manager)andhis crew. It appears that when hauling on the cable to shift its position, the cable suddenly broke, and the Vessel drifted down the stream, and it was only by dint of the most strenuous exertions she was brought in to[ the batik and safely scoured, after having travelled a distance of fully a mile and a half. Beyond the loss of the cable and anchor, we are happy to say'that no damage was done to the dredge, but u e are sorry to say that one of the men had some of his ribs broken, the poor fellow was removed to the, hospital, and we hear is recovering The current wheel and pumps lately placed iu the Molyneux by Mr. Charnock, the proprietor of the Newcastle Coal Pit, Alexandra, and used as a motive power to work the pump in connection with the mine, we are sorry to say, was, on Monday night last during the flood, sunk, tho pumps being stopped. The water has necessari.y risen in the mine and consequently stopped all w'ork fos a time. Mr. Charnock has evpended no inconsiderable amount of money in utilising the current of the Molyneux as a motive power, and we deeply sympathise with him in his loss. During the whole of[ Monday and Monday night we were visited with a constant and steady down-pour’[of rain. The rainfall appears to have been confined to a limited area, as the rise in the Manuherikia was but slight, and, from what we hear, not a drop fell in the Ida Valley, Iu the neighborhood of the Lakes, however, it must have been very heavy, as on Tuesday morning",the,Molyneux had risen considerably. Ihe surface of tho torrent was allhut covered with a floating mass of timber and debris, among which was noticed the roof of a house and several articles of furniture. These articles tell their own tale, and are evidence that in some locality tho rise must have been far above the ordinary. We have not heard of any casualty to life. A telegram was received at Clyde during Tuesday that tho Kawarau punts were unable to be worked on account of the rise in that river, consequently the Northern Mril, which should have arrived here that evening, did not [come to hand till twenty-four hours later We are informed that a portion of the road near the Gentle Annie was washed away during Monday night, which will put a stoppage to wheeled traffic. The particulars did not reach us, therefore we are unable to state when traffic will again be resumed. We received a telegram on Saturday last to the effect that tho Governor had consented to a dissolution of the Provincial Council. On Monday another message reached us to the effect that the writs for the election of members had been made out, returnable iu thirty-five days from the 23rd inst. We understand that Mr. Daniels intends placing a four-horse coach on the road between Clyde and Queenstown, in opposition to Mr. Henry’s line. Mr. Daniels is well acquainted with the road, having some few years ago run a coach on it ; but we doubt, with all his knowledge, if he will make the venture a paying one. A very laudable and praiseworthy movement has been inaugurated by the mining manager and working men of the Ajax Com pany’s claim, Murray Creek, which ought to be followed by every working claim in the district, namely, the establishment of an hospital fund which is to be contributed to at the rate of 2s. per man every monthly pay day. Already 5 1. 10s. has been subscribed. —Grey River Argus. Up to noon of the 21st ultimo, the number of salmon hatched out in Canterbury was twenty-six. There are still nearly one hundred ova in the boxes, but as a great portion of these are what is termed “ blind ova, ”it cannot be expected that a very great inereese will be made to the present lot of young fry. Probably twenty-five more will he brought to life, and if so, the result of the whole experiment , must be deemed a great success. “ Even if there should bo no further increase in the family, remarks the LyUleton Times, “ there will be good cause for satisfattion."

A party of fencers were working on Holt and M ‘Kellar’s run, Cudgclligo, Riveriua. It appears that the contractor for the fencing had' under him a son-in-law, whose wife*was nm.mg the party. The father-iu-law.alieging'that the son-in-law was useless as a foheer, discharged him, and so away went the man and his wife, and they wandered ifi a most destitute condition. Camped at a place called the Bald Hills, In Cudgelligo, near a beautiful lake, about 14 miles by, four, the poor woman, bred on the Tumut gold-fields, picked up a piece of quarts in which gold was visible. They searched, and soon found the reef, in opening which they found plenty of quartz of most promising richness. We are told on good authority that these reefs crop out over a large extent of country hereabouts, and that there are likely to he alluvial diggings. The poor wanderer who found the reef, immediately secured it bylaw, and was offered 1000/. for his share, which he declined, although a'very short time previously he had not a blanket to put over his wife. A company was soon formed of men in the neighborhood, and operations were commenced on a small scale. The specimen from the claim brought to Hay was very rich, hut it was there broken, and the richest part retained at Hay. The piece brought to Denliniquin had gold all through it, and was estimated by a good judge that it would yield an ounce to the ton. A rush has taken place, and it is expected that in a month there will be 3,000 persons on the ground.— Melbourne Argus. The Daily Times says “ A requisition asking Mr. J. Davie, of the firm of M’Landress, Hepburn, and Co., to become one of the candidates for the representation of Dunedin in the Provincial Council, is being numerously signed both in the City and in the suburbs. We observe, also, that Mr. G. K. Turton announces Ids intention of standing for election by the City electors. For Mqunt Benger we learn that Captain Baldwin will he a candidate, in compliance with a request by a number of the electors of the district. From a telegram we publish elsewhere it will be seen that Mr. M’Kenzie has been asked to come forward for re-election as the representative of the Waihemo district, and that he has consented to do so. ” A correspondent of the Ovens and Murray Advertiser writes, under date April 28 : —“ In your issue of to day you apeak of a monomaniac who has been driving for a rich lead at Doctor’s Gully for six years. 1 can assure you that the case is not a singular one, and that a parallel can be found for it at Bright, where a Hungarian has been driving for the Pioneer reef through hard stone for twelve years. He has never used an ounce of,powder, and he hits carried out the whole of the] dirt and stone from the tunnel in his apron. He has driven six hundred feet and stdl drives on in hopes of’finding his hidden El Dorado. Had he driven in a straight line he could probably have reached the reef in about two hundred and fifty feet, but whenever he has reached a bar of hard stone he his turned to the right or left, following the softest ground, and then making again for the lino from which he has diverged. In this way it is estimated that at times he has made almost a half circle, and nearly broken into his own tunnel again. He lives on bread and coffee, and when he cannot procure these from sympathising friends, he goes out gardening or doing such work as will bring him in a few shillings, and then renews the task he has set himself. He is a man like the one at Daylesford, of irreproachable character, and a total abstainer. I could not help feeling an interest in the man, as be spoke so confidently, in broken English, of his ono day reachingthc reef, and then of visiting bis dear native land.” In a Melbourne paper, John Perrybingle thus discourses on “ Summaries:”— “ Ono of the greatest institutions, Sir, of this great country, Sir, is the “Summary for Europe.” Every man, Sir, in this stupendous clime is naturally aware that once a month, if notoftner, Europe sits in breathless impatience waiting for our Summary. Every individual, ladies and gentlemen, in this metropolis of the gorgeous and mosqnitobitteu South knows,,or ought to know, that without our Summary, Europe would fade away, and get mixed with Africa, or absoihcd into the sleepfulncss of Asia. Regularly every four weeks the Czar of Russia calls for his hoots and his Melbourne Summary, and if his serf does not bring it in with his shaving ,water, he has him boiled down right off into Nova steariue candles, and exported to Australia. Every four weeks the Emperor of Prussia kicks Bismark down stairs if he doesn’t produce our Summary ; and all the Potentates and Presidents that loaf about poor old Europe, and get their livhig in the show - business, are equally ferocious if they are similarly provoked.” Tenders for the first section of the Win-ton-Kingstou railway have been opened; that of Messrs. Watson and Blair, Tokomairiro, fori 13,000/., being accepted. The section includes the formation and ballasting to a depth of six inches of twenty-two miles of the lino north from the township of Win ton, Wo believe wo are correct in stating that, exclusive ot that of the sue. cessful tenderer, three tenders were put in, viz., Proudfoot and Co , 19,000/. ; Brogden and Sons, 17,000/. ; and J. and NCampbell, 14,000/, In these amounts the odd figures ore not included. —Star Taking up the matter of the recent murder of Sullivan by the Natives, Lieutenant W. Lechnor, New Zealand Militia, writes to the Thames Evening Star, offering “to be allowed to pick two hundred good men and to bring in the Maori King and the murderers ot poor Todd and tnllivan, either dead or alive.” He also states that he is willing to forfeit his commission held under Her Majesty the Queen, if he did not fulfil his duty.

Mr, T. L. Shepherd in a letter to the Morning Star, speaks of Tinkers Guly in the following flattering manner. “I beg to inform you, Sir, that the district of which Tinkers Gully is the centre, bounded on one side by Drybread, and on the other side by Devonshire Gully is a thriving mining district second to none in the colony, and has about one hundred voters of the Electoral roll. It is such districts and such men as reside there that have made Dunedin what it is—the chief cityof the colony.'’ In the same letter he speaks of Cromwell as being one of the most ira. portant towns in the province, although less important than it will be in the future, and that it will, in my opinion, be the centre of a thriving community of miners, whan the Blue Spur will, in the Tuapeka district, be a tradition of the past.