The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, MAY 9, 1879.

Dunstan Times, Issue 890, 9 May 1879, Page 2

The Dunstan Times.

FRIDAY, MAY 9, 1879.

Beneath the rule of men entirely jdst the PKJf if mightier than the SWORD.

The Government Land Lale conducted by Mr U. B. Martin, Government Auctioneer, on Wednesday last in the Court House, Clyde, was one o{ the most successful ever held in this district, and will, we think fully convince both the Government ami the Waste Lands Board that the agitation for land in the district was a genuine one. The total amount realised was within a tiiHe of £4OOO. Of the 25 sections advertised in block 111, Lauder district, ouly 23 were offered, and of these 19 (found purchasers, some sections fetching £4 17s 6d, £3 12s 6d, £3 ss, and other amounts down to the upset price of £1 per acre- In block 1, Tiger Hill, 7 sections were offered and sold fetching from £2 2s 6d to £1 per acre- In the Townships of Manuherikia, Clyde and Alexandra, some few sections were sold at the upset pries of £7 10s per quarter-acre. We prefaced our remarks by saying that the sale was a successful one, there is but little question, however, that it would have been far more so, had the place of sale been more happily selected, for instance, had Blacks, Township V)6sn qJjqscij for tbs Srils of b!ic Lauder and Tiger Hill blocks, and the sections in the Township of Manuhodkia, the convenience of the public would not only have been considered,but an increased price for many of the sections would doubtless have been obtained. The most likely persons to purchase were those residing in the immediate locality of the land, and why they should have been necessitated to travel so long a distance is a problem as yet unanswered. The error doubtless was that of the Waste Lands Board. We cannot but think, however, that if those interested bad represented the very great hardship to bo jnllicted on probable and actual purchasers,

the ground of complaint, would havpbeen removed. There must of :* necessity be other sales at a future date, and if'* like error is made, we would recommend local, action being taken to remedy it. i

In consequence of the last tenders for the suspension bridge at Alexandra being above the Engineer's estimate, it was decided to modify the plans pud pall for f, res h tenders fop the work. This has how him dope, arid fresh tenders (to be lodged- by the 27th May) are advertised for in another column. We notice by advertisement that the date of the Court for the Revision of the List of Voters for the Dunstan District, has been postponed from Thursday, the 15th, till Saturday, the 17th May. A correspondent writing us from the Serpentine says : “ Perhaps you will be interested in knowing how the reefs in this district are turning out. Well, everything is at a standstill; all the men are discharged, and I think it very unlikely they will start again, at all events for a long time. The Naseby shareholders are pulling rather long faces, and no wonder, considering all things. The facts are simply these—there has been an expenditure of L3OOO, and the gross amount of gold obtained is only 50 ounces. Cheerful news this, is it not ’ So much for reefing. Fresh written tenders are invited for the Wingatui Contract (formation only) of the Otago Central Railway. The length of the section is about 6 miles 95 chains. Tenders will be received at the Public Works Office, Dunedin, up till noon of Wednesday, 12th inst.

The Mount Ida Chronicle says " Tire yield of gold in the County of Maniototo for the year ending March, 1879, is 18,377 ounces. Notwithstanding the outcry about dull times this is, wo believe, the largest amount of gold raised in any one year during the last ten, representing a sum of nearly L 70,000.

At the sale of runs in Dunedin on Friday last the competition between Si- F. D. Bell and Messrs Gellibrand and Smith for their respective leases was very spirited. In the competition for one lot, the upset of which was L2OO, the bidding rose in LI bids up to L 406, at which price Messrs Gellibrand and Smith secured it. Both gentlemen in bidding signified the fact by a nod of the head, and consequently each of them had to bow 103 times to the auctioneer.

Mr Fache requests us to draw special attention to the advertisement notifying the sale by auction, on Tuesday, May the 21st, at Ida Valley, of cattle, horses, agri cultural implements, and also to state that as the sale is by order of the executors of the late Griffith Thompson, deceased, the whole will have to bo sold so as to settle the accounts of the late deceased. Buyers, therefore, will do well to attend. The cattle arc known to he well bred, some of the cows being handsome animals and splendid milkers.

We noticed with extreme pleasure during the week in the neighbourhood of Blacks and Tiger Hill, quite a number of skylarks. By the numbers to he met with throughout the district, these feathered warblers have undoubtedly settled themselves, and it is to be hoped the farmers in the neighbourhood will do all in their power to preserve them. We heard also of a cock pheasant having been seen in the Dunstan Hospital grounds. We can scarcely hope, however, for this stranger to escape the gun of some vandal, as all the others—and there have been many—that have previously shown themselves have been quickly despatched or driven away. The Acclimatisation Society and many private gentlemen have clone and are still doing a very great deal in the way of introducing birds ot every description into the country, and highly successful their efforts have been in some localities ; hut it is not to be expected that success will bo general if that every bird that wanders away is ruthlessly shot down. It should he borne in mind by all our shootist friends that they are liable to a very heavy penalty for shooting imported game without a license, and further, that as half the fine is given to the informer, there may be some willing to take up the role of informer.

We have had an opportunity of inspecting, at the office of Mr Cache, auctioneer, Clyde, a number of beautiful oleographs, the which will well repay anyone making a visit of inspection.

There is a general movement throughout the Colony on the part of owners of large estates to place land in the market. Even in conservative Marlborough this “ bursting up ” policy ts manifesting itself. In that district the estate of Mr H. Strafford was to bo offered tor sale. The properties comprise nearly 20,000 acres freehold, and 27,000 leasehold. In the same Provincial district other areas of 25,500 acres freehold, and 7,000 acres leasehold, are likewise to be submitted to auction. Tbe New Zealand land Company ia putting another of its estates into the market, the Spar Bush block (South.and), of 5,200 acres being about to be cut up into 200 to 350. acre farms. A notice to ploughmen and land owners appears in the General Government Gazette, to the effect that it having been reported to the Surveyor-General that survey pegs in various districts are being daily ploughed up, the Government has decided to prosecute in every case, and on conviction will press for the infliction of the highest penalty (LSO) allowed under the Trigonometrical Station and Survey Marks Act, 186 S. It will be well for owners of laud to bear this in mind.

Lithographed Plans of the lands lately surveyed in the Poolburn district aro now ready. No intimation has yet been given as to when it will bo open for selection, but we scarcely think it will bo long delayed, if it is, for next season's crops it will be useless.

During the late visit of the Vice Regal party to Arrowtown, the correspondent of th» Morning lloiald writes the following

rather interesting incident, which occurred during/the proceedings. h- R. ’• made himself very con* spiepflps by requesting Lady Robinson to allow him to introduce to her five or six ladies ivhom he had in his company. Her ladyship intimated that she would requite flis Excellency’s consent. Whereupon tiio M. H. R, said her ladyship might receive the ladies at once, as two of them .had, babies with theta. Her ladyship was not to be dictated to—even the baby argument failed- and she declined to receive them at ail."

An exchange has the following paragraph: —“ Lord Ekrington, who has just returned from a lengthened tour in New Zealand, delivered an interesting lecture at Barnstaple last week, in the coarse of which he astonished the audience by telling them how he had seen five millions of acres of uncultivated land advertised for sale by one firm in a single advertisement ” It might be interesting to our town readers, says the Charleston Herald (and it should know), to state that Lord Ebrington sojourned i jgd Charleston while he was travelling nito." He served as cook at the Criterion Hotel for a few weeks while Mr J. E. Chat* Us w;is host, and upon one occasion sang at the Charleston Institute. While here he did not make his pedigree known, but it afterwards transpired that h e was a noble lord.

Under the heading “ Kerosene Dangers," the * English Mechanic ’of February 7 says : “ A correspondent mentions a source of danger in using kerosene lamps which seenrs to have been generally overlooked—namely, thehabit of allowing lamps to stand near hot stoves, on mantelpieces, and in other places where they become heated sufficiently to convert the oil into gas. Notuufrequently person" engaged in other work about tbc stove will stand the lamp on an adjacent mantelpiece, or even on the top of a raised oven ; or, ween ironing, will set the lamp near the stand on which the heated iron rests. It is needless to enlarge upon the risky character of such practices. ”

As a proof of the estimation in which New Zealand preserved meat is held in England, we notice that the Board of Visitors of iho Littleuiore Asylum, Oxford, call for tenders for the supply of 15000 pounds ot it, to bo delivered in monthly portions of 500 pounds. Mr. Monck, the person who was lately shot at by some Kelly sympathisers, is a well-known Victorian squatter, and a most estimable man. But his life is not worth a year's purchase if he remains in his present neighborhood. He showed the police where the dead bodies of their comrades lay, there being no one else in the vicinity to do s-, and this, in the eyes of those who reek-m life so cheap, is worthy of death. What a relief the capture of the Kelly scoundrels would be to the districts blighted by their presence, and to the colonies of Victoria and New South Wales The fata of the Hatfield bushrangers will surely have the effect of showing the murderous Kelly gang and their syinpathiners what they are to ei)s;ct. —the '>rruer if they are caught.

and the latter if it can he proved that they have aided or abetted in the latter’s esehapades. But such men seem more like wild beasts, or victims of the wildest phantasms than sane men.)amaru MaiL