The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 1874.

Dunstan Times, Issue 614, 23 January 1874, Page 2

The Dunstan Times.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 1874.

Beneaththeßuleof Man entirely just the fhS' is Mioimcti than the s wo an.

The late unfortunate accident to the first gilder placed across the Kawa ra i by Mr. M'Coimack for his intended new bridge at the Nevia Ferry, will doubtless necessitate some alterations from the original plan, or may possibly into fee with the building of the bridge for the present under the conditions proposed between himse’f and the Government. This latter suggestion is of curse m**re conjictme, Mill wo are ofopiu ion that seeing the disaster which Ims 'befallen Mr. M‘Porni«ck. ai d which cannot involve a loss if little short of one tin in sand pounds, and for which the Goven nient are in a great measure to blame, they are in duty bound to render some substantial assistance to complete the structure. From the nature of the accident it is very clear that something was wrong in the original design I y the Provincial Engineer, who ought to have known (hut a girder bridge of one hnndrid and eighty feet, of a spa", presented more than ordinary difficulties to erect, in fact, such a work con!• I only have been undertaken by a tir.sr, class engineer, and one of considerable experience m these matters. With the builoing of tire suspension ini Ige at the Bannockburn, Mr. M Cormaek was most successful, wlii. e the structure was in everv way ti'ted fertile traffic, and there can be no doubt but that a similar cdnstruc'ion would have done here. In Europe, suspension or tubular bridges appear the favourite, where a great span of arch is absolutely necessary, and if, s ems absurd that our Provincial b’olons should have insisted upon s plan for a bridge for crossing the Kaw; trail which was perfectly impracticable. With iron girders imported from honm, the building of the bridge might have been practicable, but to construct one of heavy unreason M native timber, improperly secured together was an absurdity. Mr M'Cormack worked from a general plan supplied by the Government, and who look precious good care not to supply a propel' working plan, leaving the diffi ulty of derail to the bui der, and which in a great measure must, have lead to the disaster. Nothing could have been more spirited ’ban Mr, M'Cormack’ undertaking he construction of this bridge—when he could only repay himself by the collection of toll at a rate much below that now charged at the ptesent punts, and to permit foot passengers •n go over free—such a specu'fttiou deserved a subsidy, instead of a crude plan for the building of an impossible structure, and which has ciUSed serious loss to a gentleman who had undertaken a work of great public benefit. W e trust that Mr. M'Oormnek will he enabled to proceed with the building of a bridge of some sort or ai.other at the Nevis Ferry upon a plan more adaptable to the circumstances of the place than the one that has: turned out so disastrously.

Mr. A. R. 8., Thomson) Sheep Inspector, has been gazetted an Inspector of Goldfields Depasturing Districts. We direct attention to advertisement in mother column inviting tenders for the ;rection of a bridge across the Molyneux it, Alexandra. , Arrowtown is proclaimed a municipality n the Provincial Government Gazette of he 14th inst. The boundaries are also defined, and the number of wards. The quantity of gold ' received 'at the Melbourne Mint daring the year 1873 iwas 111,427 ounces, of which 17,741 ounces were foreign. The Ballarat Courier says: —“The grasshopper or locust is on the wing in the Gebing district. They appeared to be travelling northward and their number can only he compared to dense cloud. Several batches of new arrivals, per the Mikado, from China direct have passed through the Town lately, wending their way up country. We can not learn where is their destination. Mr. Wardon’Stratford takes the place of Mr. Warden Robinson at Mount Ida who has obtained a lengthened leave of absence. We join istfue with all Mr. Robinson’s friends, in wishing h:m a happy and enjoyable holiday. . We have received the prospectus of the Gtago Pneumatic Gold-Mining Compa: y (Limited). The object of the Company is to work the bed of the Molyneux and other rivers for gold by means of a pneumatic dredge.

Mr. Fred. Clift n n announce l ! by advertisement that, assisted by Mias Fanny Sara and his talented company, he will (.ive his charming entertainment at Alexanda, Black’s, St. Bathan s. and Drybread. At the sale of goods saved from the Surat good pi ices were reas’iaed, in some instances equal to the who'esale prices, Henntssy’s brandy brought 275. 91. per case. The passengers’ lucgage is set aside pending arrangements being made. Register! Register! Registir! Must again be-the pass-word. All whose names are not on the roll, whether for the Dunstau or any- other district, are advised to lose no time. Forms aie to be had at all the Court-houses. The banks .at the Thames (Aucklanl) have come to an understanding regarding

the purchase of gold. Standard tables bave been drawn up, fixing the price in accordance with assay value, la there any reason why a similar rara’ng'ment should n .t be made in Otago ? A meeting is convened of the members of Court Star of Dans tan, Ancient Order of Fores’era, for this evening, the object, as stated, being to divide the funds. We hope a good muster of th- breth r will put in an appearance ’and object to such a proceeding. We draw -ndtentior; to tiro advertisement in aootiie'r column in tifylng the sale of the privileges in connexion with the liunstan District Annual Race Meeting of 1574. The more noticable feature, pm haps, is the ale right to se’l fruit on the race-c-oi:a i The i!ay of sale is Thursday next, the 29;h instant. The Kyneton Guardian says : “Deliverance from the locusts a, pears to have come in the form of immense flocks of black crows, which are to be seen in hundreds of thousands. Where the locusts are must numerous, there do the crows most congregote, and to see them devour -heir prey is something to be remnmbeVed. ” Mr. Warden Robinson, of Kascby, has been granted leave of absence for eight months, and intends taking a trip to the mother c untry. In his absence, if we correctly infoimod, Mr. H. A. Stratford will take charge of the Mount Ida District. We wish Mr- Rol.it son a pleasant voyage, and hope he may enjoy the holiday so well merited.

We have been kindly furnished by Mr. A. D. Harvey, Registrar and (tlcikof the Court at Clyde, with the following statistics for 1873 B rths, 44 ; deaths, 2(3. In the Resident Magistrate’s Court there were thirty-eight criminal cases ; c vil cases, eighty-three, the amount sued for being 1,024.'. 4s. 5d., and the sum total recovered Gi)2f. 19s. Sd. The stream of thin mud That at one time or other through the day lazily drags itself along the side channels of our main street, must be a source of amusement surely to those who possess the power of remedying this crying evil, or steps would have been taken ere now. Wo demand, in the name of all that is right, that s nn; action be at once taken by the Corporotinn ; the duty is theirs, and let t' 1 em fearlessly carry it out, and bring, if necessary, to the bar of justice those, -who by polluting the town-race, arc endanger ingthe health of the whole of the town. It is a matter that requires no half measures, and we hope the necessity will not again arise for further remarks. A London paper says that at the one hundred and first sitting of the Tichborne trial, M r . Hawkins said that he hail been so frequently insulted' bv the the counsel for the defence that be had made up his mind never to speak to Dr. Re- ealy again on this side of the grave. It is rumored that Dr. Kenealy proposes, when he makes his final speech for the defence, to speak for ei.ht weeks of five days each ; and it is now conjectured that this trial will not end fill the middle or end of January,

From the Arrow Observer we learn that, at Ardgour Station, during the holidays, Mr. A. M 'Lean, fearing the shearers would not turn up again so readily if they Went away, improvised some Caledonian Sports, with beer tnl libitum, aml'veiyi fairp izes. A man enraged at the wool-pressing, while lying in his tent, lit his pipe with -a match, which he threw away, after having, as he thought, blown it out. The tent was soon afterwards in flames, and the unlucky owner, in saving his bagpipes, lost his “biceks.” in the pockets of which wai a sum of 25/. in gold.

A case, creating seme speculation, has been hear during the the week at the Resident Magistrate’s Court, Clyde—the question involved is, whether a sale of shares in a Calcutta sweep is a sale by Auction, within the meaning of the Ordinance. The evidence at length we give in another column, and in our next we hope to give the full judgment which is reserved till next Court day.

The account of the career of the All England Eleven in Victoria is a chequebed one, and shows that* tlmy have, met with some most ft-rn idahle rivals as well as some very indiffirent players. At Melbourne they were beaten in one innings, the respective'totals being Victorian Eighteen, firs' inning, 206 ; All England Eleven, 110 and 135. At Ballarat, where they played against twenty-two, the tables v/ere turned, the Eleven making tfte grand score of 470 in one innings, to their onportents 274. At Stawell, Pleasant Creek, things were reversed aga’n, the Eleve only securing 43. The Argus, con meriting on tne Ballarat game, attributed the victory of the Eleven to the batsmen being able to hit over tho heads of the most distant fieldsmen.

One of the oldest and best of Victoria - cricketers received an unusual presentation lately. Ev-ry Victorian has hi ard of Dan Sweiney, the hcrojrof a hundred fights, who has captained Ba’larat teams to \ietory ‘for ever so many years, In one of ilu matches for places among the twenty two to pl.,y againsp the All England Eleven, Swecay went in, and was . bow e 1 for a duck’s egg, wnioh has not happened to him since he has been connected wi hj liailai at. The Club could iot allow such an extraordinary ev nt to pas* unnoticed, an 1 a leather modal, about eight inches in diameter, and nearing the following inscription, was presented to him in the afternoon Presented to Dan Sweeney, odr mainstay, in cnmmemuiorati n of his grand score made in the match Is. Eleven v. next Eiglitd n November 29, 1873” Round the rim are the words, ‘‘May his shadow and score uev.r grow less. M, da! struck, L'eci in her 1, 18,3.” Mr, Sweeney made a suitable acknowledgment. We have reccivedfcopy of Goldsbrnu-.h’s Monthly Circular for Dec* inter, 1873, from which me glean the following interesting particulars : Bales of wool catalogued during the month, 33,430 j of which 21,000 bales were sold. Prices for the best descriptions continue firm at last ruon h’a rates ; inferior sorts, lower During the month there was an inct eased demand for good lignt conditioned clips, for America. One exceptim ably good clip of one hundred ant twenty b les rea’isel Is. 3d. der lb. The shipments to America a>e likely to re-u-h seven thousand hubs. For the sins' n, lilt 1,02!) bales have been alt cady.-hipped to Mug and. Th- average pr ee current is Greasy, inferior, 0 I ; good, Is. ; washed, inferior, is. sd. ; good, 2s. 4d ; scoured, inferior. Is. 4d. ; good, 2s, 21. S!n cpskius, fity, a>e worth from 6d. to Sd. per lb ; pelts an 1 lambskins, Cd. to 2s. each ; hides, wet, salted, sjd. pel Hi. ; ox hides, 22-. to 32s fi . each ; cow hides, 12*. Cd. to 2!s. eai-h ; calf--kins, 7d. per lb ; nnDton fallow, 32 1. 10s. ; beef, 3D. lUs. ; mixed, 245. to 81/. per ton. On the evening of Fri lay. the 9th inst., a sen- us accident occurred to the girder placed across the Kawaiau Liver for the erection of Mr. M'Cormick’s new bridge at the Nevis Ferry. It app avs that affcir the workmen had removed a portion of the ropes which suspended the girder, so ; s to proceed with the building of a second one, the girder, a’though in its place and thought to he secure, gradually collapsed, and fell into the river. Tho girder was af i or wares si cured, al out a mile 1 clow tho seen''of the accident but who'her it can • e made us fnl a ain is a question to he decided hereafter. It is said that Mr. M‘Cmmath intends substituting a sus) elision bridge, upon tho same principle as that recently erected hv him at the Ban* iiockhurn, and which has proved such a sncco-s. The present plan of a girder bri tge is. without doubt, impracticable, taking into consideration the groat spanone hundred and eighty feet—together wi hj the difficulty of procuring suitable m ferial for building with, as well ns other appliances.

The result of the running for the various events co iteste.i for on the La 1 e Wakatip Racecourse, we extract from our content-porai-y, and are as follows : -Maiden Plate, of 25 soverei igs, distance one mi e at d a I alf -Lit’lc Ilawea, 1 ; Grand Stand Handicap, 50 soveiaigns, two miles Tambourini 1; Taffiail 2, Malabar 3; Hack Selling Pace, 2) soce-eigr.s-Port Phillip Buck. 1 ; Wakatip Handicap, 25 saver- igns, two miles—Swaggerer I, Misty Mon 2; t rankton Handicap of 33 sovereigns, one mile and a half— SirT -tton 1, Brun -tfe 2 ! Wakatip Derby of 40 sovereigns, one roi’e and a half-The Maid 1 ; Hack Hurdle Pace of 25 soaereigns, one mile and a ha’f, • v-r five fPghts of hurdles—Nigger 1 ; bake District Han Heap 80 sovs, two miles Malabar 1, Tambourini 2 ; Cous.ila.tii n Handicap—Tuff ail 1, Brane'te 2. A protest was entered against The Maid, the winner of the Derby, but it failed to bo maintained; and consequently the mon y was awarded to her. Ilia Excellency tins Governor honored the c -ur.se with his pro. sence on the second day. r The New York Times gives an account of a s-.vimm ug match iii the Harlem Piver, on the 7ch of Sept mber, between ten yonng ladies, the prize being a silk dress valued at 175 dollars. MissGoboess proved the winner, and. Mss C iltou was second; the former reaching the stake-boat in forty minutes. Miss Delian led for some time, but resigned her chance for the prize to aid in rile rescue of a yon no man who had acci cntally fallen into the wac. The spectators resolved to present Miss Dciian with a gold watch as a reward for her bravery.