The Dunstan Times. Beneath the rule of men ENTIRELY JUST th PEN is MIGHTER than the sword FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19,. 1880.

Dunstan Times, Issue 970, 19 November 1880, Page 2

The Dunstan Times. Beneath the rule of men ENTIRELY JUST th PEN is MIGHTER than the sword FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19,. 1880.

Tho next meeting of the Vincent County Council will be held on Wednesday next the 24th inst. The Order Paper appears in another column. Lodge Ophir, 1.0. G.T., purpose celebrating their adversary by a grand demonstration Pic-nic and concert on the 2Gth inst The advertisement is to be seen iu another column. Of the seventeen horses entered for the Cromwell Derby, twelve have cried con tent. Last year only nine accepted. Mr Ussher, of the Public Works Department, accompanied by another gentleman, last week travelled from Clyde to Naseby, inspecting by the way the survey line of the Central Otago Railway. We hope their journey will not be barren of results. Mr Harvey (late District Judge) has resumed the practice of his profession as Solicitor, Barrister, and Convey ancer iu Dunedin. A young roan charged on Monday last before Major Keddell, R.M. at Alexandra, for the larceny of a suit of clothes, was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment in Clyde gaol, with hard labor. On the previous Saturday, at Cromwell, his Worship sentenced a man named M'Laughlan to one mouth for an assault. Attention is drawn to advertisements calling for tenders for road works in connection with the County, also works in connection with the Clyde Bridge. Particulars will be found iu another column. Mr William Couper of ilia Otago Bib’e and Tract Society is in Clyde, with an assortment of bocks He remains during tLh week only. The number of men to bo met with travelling swag on back is legion, and far beyond requirements. The station masters are terrible sufferers, as to them the swagger looks principally for his victuals and lodging. Last week one station in this district had to provide for no less than sixty, being nearly nine a day. The programme of the Matakanui Race Meeting, which takes place on December 81st, has been issued. It will appear in our advertising columns shortly. For the honour of occupying the mayoral chair of Alexandra for the ensuing year there was only one candidate—Mr James Simmonds—who was accordingly declared duly elected. Mr Simmonds is a very old resident, for several years has occupied a seat at the Council table representing Clutha Ward, consequently be is not new to the duties of the office. lie by profession is a contractor, and iu connection with Mr Drummy has in hand the construction of the bridge over the Molyneux at Alexandra. For the Borough of Cromwell, Mr C. Colclough, the present occupant of the office, and Mr S. N. Brown, proprietor of the Cromwell Argus, are rival candidates, and between these two gentlemen the contest is likely to be a keen one and party feeling to run high. On comparing the published returns of imports and exports at the several ports of New Zealand for the quarters ending 30di September, 1879 and 1880, we note that in imports there is a decrease iu value of close on L 900.000, while in exports there is an increase of nearly 1.250,000 iu favour of 1880. A very large quantity of material for the superstructure of the Clyde Bridge is now on the ground, and work has been started this week towards placing it in position. R ipc cherries and strawberries arc coming into the market, and in the course of a fortnight we may expect them to be plentiful. The flower gardens are looking very bright, with roses, rhododendrons of various hues, geraniums, fusohias, and every variety of flowers. It will bo well that our sporting friends bear iu mind that the Pukaki, swamp hen or native turkey as they are more generally known, are within the moaning ot the Act native game, and are not allowed to be shot or taken during the close season. We make this special comment as wo hear that some few have lately fallen victims, and afterwards adorned the tables of their murderers. It is not yet decided, but it is thought to be highly probable that arrangeni nia will be m*du ior a vn,.» of llio Au4»r<ui iu Eleven to (Jingo.

The odntractors of the Alexandra bridge are experiencing no end of trouble in driving fhe piles for the approaches on the cast aide ; some of the bands the piles have to be driven through are a hard set coarse gravel, many of the stones being a foot in diameter, and as there is no giving in such ground practical men will be able to form some idea of the work. The weight of the monkey is a ton, with a fall of fourteen feet if requisite, and little wonder will be expressed when it is said that many of the piles, with the continuous blows of this ponderous piece of iron, crush up instead of penetrating. From the time of starting the average rate of driving has been one and a quarter piles a day—rather stiff work for the contractors, but equally so for the County authorities, for they are paying an inspector, who has little tdse to do than watch this pile drivuig. The bridge across the Kawarau' at the Arrow junction it is expected will be open fur traffic in the early yart of January next. We draw' attention to the advertisement in another column of a new book “ W r nite Hood and Blue Cap” a Christmas Baugh with two branches by Vincent Pyke and Thorpe Talbot. The names of the author and authoress are sufficient guarantee that it will prove interesting to ail classes of readers, and the very low price it will he published at should guarantee it an extensive circulation. We are reliably informed that Messrs Craig &eo. have secured the conveyance of the mails by both routes from Palmerston and Lawrence to Queenstown, also from Cromwell to Waukaka, and the several small mails from Naseby to Ilamiltous Hyde &co. The term of the contracts we believe is three years from the new year, Mr Carew R.M., at Milton lately decided that the regulations under the Acts relating to “ trout fishing ” are ultra vi es. Accordingly all streams are open to he fished without license until fresh regulations are proclaimed. The New Zealand Pastoral and Agriou! tural News a Monthly Demy quarto of four pages, published by Mos-s, Paine &co., of Wellington, contains a deal of general information specially useful to pastoral and agricultural farmers, as besides articles on the markets and financial matters generally, it contains choice selections on the colony. The number for November 1880, now before us has a well written column on the financial position of the colony, also a very interesting description of Mr James Smith’s Greenfield Estate near Lawrence, this estate is 24,q00 acres in extent of which 18,000 acres have been ploughed and cultivated. The deputy Commissioners under •* The Property Assessment Act ” wo arc given to understand are busy proceeding against all persons who have failed to send in their returns. The appointment of reviewer* to hear and decide on all cises of appeal against the assessment is being proceeded with, and Mr J. D. Peraud iu named as one. The Edinburgh Photograph Company intimate by advertisement in another column that they will make a short stay at Clyde, and that their studio and gallery is at the rear of Mrs Hall’s fancy repository. Mr Pies, who is in charge, takes a first-class likeness, and we can safely recommend our friends and patrons to pay him a visit. The Blacks district Farmers’ Club that only came into existence some six weeks ago already numbers some sixty members. Mr Hugh Craig, of Messrs Craig, Pope and Co., coach proprietors, has become the landlord of the Commercial hotel, Law renoe. Mr W. J. Barry, by way of a threat to the present Government, said during or.« of his lectures in Dunedin lately, that un less justice was done him he intended to stand for the House of Representatives, for which any goldfields constituency would return him “ as high .as a kite.” We are somewhat anxious to know which one of the goldfields will be honoured with the Captain’s attentions. The Melbourne comspondent of the Auckland Star draws the following comparison between Melbourne and New Zealand tradesmen “ It mikes me sick and disgusted when 1 contrast the generous feelings of the New Zealand business man his anxiety to oblige and encourage trade—with the ‘ grab all,’ thieving practices of the conceited Vietoiian shopmen. A Melbourne shopman would sooner cheat a customer out of a penny than he would trade honestly and so make a pound. The same spirit permeates the whole fabric of society in the sister Colony, ’’ Judge Weston, in replying to a farewell address from the Bar at Grcymouth, said : “ I knew when accepting office that whereas a Supreme Court Judge held office during good behaviour, a District Judge, like the Indian Judges, held during the pleasure of Her Majesty. At the same time I thought that the distinction existed in name only, and that the dignity I had worked fur in the profession, with the very moderate emoluments attaching to it, would never be taken from me. Suddenly, however, I am superceded by a younger Judge, my junior in the profession, minus the best seven years of my life, without a connection, with habits and manners changed, with young men under mo, with a mind no longer fit pVobably to take onesided view of any subject. But, gentlemen, your kind remaiks will strengthen me, and of this you may be certain, that business, let it bo trifling or otherwise, will receive from me the same attention that I have bestowed in judical matters,of great magnitude. If a magistrate or judge, without cause fur complaint of any kind, without the slightest reason, can be dismissed or removed from place to place, caa bu re duced in pay by the Government of the da’,, bis mind :..u_; . lime be enfeebled ; tap maintenance of his family may bo pro-

cured at the cost of bis honor, and bo our inferior Courts, our every day tribunals, will be entered by the litigant with fear and trembling. And let mo ask what lawyer of standing, after recent events, will be found to abandon a practice in a rising colony for the precarious position of a District Judge. Perhaps, however, the Judicature Commission may deal with these and similar topics,” Tho following extract from a correspondents letter to an Auckland paper is so much in unison with our own ideas on the subject that we may he excused for giving it space in our columns : —“ There is more than the usual number of swagsmen travelling the country in search of work at this time of the year (says tho correspondent of au Auckland paper), and without success. This seems rather an anomalous state of of things when it is the want of labor that keeps the settlers ns yet from going in more extensively for the cultivation of tho laud, and causes them to fall back upon permanent grass as the only way of getting any profit out of the laud at all. What stands between employer and tho employed, is thepricedemanded for labor. The faimer cannot afford to give it, the laborer will not budge a fraction, and so the farmers’ land remains un'illed, and men travel the country from end to end for work, getting a job here and there, which the settler cannot avoid undertaking There is nothiuga farmer can grow that will yield a profit On the present prices and hours of labour, and hence he grows as little as possible--often not more than enough to feed his stock through winter. Nor does tho labourer gain by refusing to take less than the present high rate of wages, for broken time in most cases brings down the average to less than the farmer would be able and willing to give, and afford regular employ, ment. Both parties need to meet each other halfway.” According to London Truth, it is calculated by the advocates of a reformed sys tem of spelling that, by the adoption of the phoaetie rule, there would be a saving to a writer of one hour and twenty minutes in a day of eight hours, or 400 hours in a year of 300 days. A saving of 20 per cent would be effected on the same amount of literary matter iu the Times newspaper, and an equal saving in the cost of new books. Over all departments of English literature it is calou ated that there would be a saving of L 10,000,000 annually. Several influential colonists in London, and others interested in the progress of the Colonies and the question of food supply, | have taken active steps to have the eapa- I bilities of the Australian Colonies for sup* ' plying fresh meat and other food brought | prominently before tho people, and with this object it is contemplated to hold an exhibition of Australian fresh food iu London next year. The promoters of the ' movement are sanguine of the success of the project, which it is thought will tend to expedite the growth of the business. There is a prospect (says the Glasgow Herald) of operations being resumed at the Kildonan gold diggings, tJuthorlandshire. A German gentleman is at present testing the go'd producing propel tics of quartz taken from several points iu the, strath. The results are reported to be very premia- , iug. The process to be adopted forsepar- 1 atiug the gold from tho quartz is said to be quite new, chemicals being tire prin- i cipal agents employed. Persons long resident in Australia state that they are struck with the reseruhlauce of the geological features of Kikloaau strath to those of the Australian goldfields. Amongst the list of Eughsh properties locked up iu Chancery are the Towuley estates. The property is said to he worth odO.OOO.OOOdoIs, and the Bank of England is supposed to have L 35,000,000 in its vaults to the credit of these estates, being the accumulated rents, of a century. Colonel Richard Towuley, last of the Earls of Clarenceau, died about 100 years ago, and being without issue or known next of kin, his estates were thrown into Chancery, ponding the determination of the rights of claimants. The American heirs are represented by Colonel Jaques, who according to a letter received by Joseph J. Du Prat, of Sau Francisco, from his mother, Mrs Elizabeth Du Prat, of New Orleans, has just taken possession of the three estates of Towuley, Corby, aud Ashton, under tho Act of Magna Charta. Through the taking of this step, it is claimed that the Government or contesting claimants will now be compelled to assume the aggressive. Over-hig horses for any purpose are a mistake ; so tho corporation of London hj ive found out. When they smarted to do their own acavengering, iusteal of contracting for it, they selected all the giants they could get—l 7 hands was preferred. The mistake has been found out ; sixteen hands is now the favored height. These do more work, are less subject to roaring, aud are altogether more healty. Iu the Queen’s stables, the stall horses are chosen as near seventeen hands as -nay bo got. The other full-sized carriage horses are rather over than un ler sixteen bauds. The pace expected from them from Buckingham Palace to Paddington station is about fourteen miles an hour. Bat tho Crown E pierry. Colonel Maude, has said that more work aud a better pace is to he had from carriage horses under sixteen Lauds rather than over. The following remarkable dog story, which may or may not he true—probably the latter—reaches us from Mexico, dt appears, some two or three years ago, a solitary shepherd, who tended his flocks iu a particularly out of tho way district of New Mexico, paid the debt of nature aud died, leaving his herd under the sole care of bis faithful dog. This creature, it soems, has since then carefully guarded the sheep, taking them out each morning to the pasture and bringing them borne safely each evening. As» tilting termination to this display of sagacity it appears that the dog

pressed by the pangs of hunger was in the habit of helping himself to a sheep or a lamb, but was careful to make amends for this breach of discipline by increased attention to the requirements of the surviving members of the flock. The narrative concludes with the information that the dog has been awarded a State pensionvalue not stated—as a reward for such a display of virtue. Lieutenant Schawka'g discoveries in arctic and polar matters generally are yet beiug discussed by the Loudon Press. Among the latest contributions to literature on the subject is a letter from Commissioner Cheyne iu reply to au article in the Standard. It was cot the arctic regions, he says, that sent Franklin’s men to the next world ; they were murdered by the contractor who supplied the expedition to which he belonged, and the tins labelled “beef” and “mutton” contained uolhiug but offal. The following is amongst the telegraphic intelligence of the Bth instant from London —“A deputation of Irish landowners waited on the Lord-lieutenant aud Mr Forster yesterday, and stated their views on the condition of Ireland. Forty members of the Landlords’ Association attended and the deputation, which comprised altogether 101 landowners, representing more than half the property of Ireland, wars introduced by Lord Douogue, who in a' long speech urged the necessity of Government t iking steps to alleviate the present feeling of dread on the part of the landed class, and repress the agitation which extended over the whole country. The T ieeroy, while expressing horror atthe agrarian outrages and eoutirniing the statements of the deputation, said the Cabinet alone had power to close such matters. He therefore referred the deputation to Mr Forster, to ask him if the Government would fulfil their duty of protecting life and property, or whether the landlords were to protect themselves. Mr Forster stated that the Government would do what they could within the law, aud if further measures were necessary they would be of au excep* ceptional character. Some of the landlorus are having their homes guarded by their retainers, others are employing persons to protect them. Lord Chelmsford’s speech in the House of Lords, wh n defending himself from the charges made against Ida administration at the Cape, was quite a surprise. Tho noble Lord, who is fifty-three, looks thirty five, and his manner is as youthful aud engaging as his appearance. Ho has a fiuo Voice of great flexibility, and he knows how to use it with effect. When ho was giving “ for the lirst time a true and faithful secant of the proceedings which led up to the disaster,” his action, like his language, was both picturesque au 1 drain die, an I a soldier’s story has seldom been mi r j effectively told to Parliament. The close of the story, when, having wrought up his hearers to the excited expectation of a graphic description of the Kir,tie, he dis misso I it in a sentence, was most telling. “ W hat did our men do ? All they c mid do was what they did —to die like nol-U> and gallant soldiers.” Tho Sportsman records what John Roberts, junior,‘ considers his greatest, achievement with the cue. At hie rooms at Brighton he played a match of 2,000 up with hia father, giving the latter halt tho points as a start. Roberts, junior, was iu wonderful form, as will bo seen by tho following items in his score: 411 (1.14 oon- | sccutive spots), 274 (So spots). 903 (inclr. • j sive of 254 spot hazards), 151 and 203 (173 ‘ spots). Roberts, junior, took up the cue but ten times, thus giving au average of 200 for each break. While the sou was scoring his 2,0 10 his father only put together 240 points. The panje was concluded iu the remarkable time of two hour* aud live minutes.