The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1880

Dunstan Times, Issue 976, 31 December 1880, Page 2

The Dunstan Times.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1880

Reneatl the rule of men kntikki.v jus'l lh PEN 1> MIGHTIER than the SWORD

Through pressure on our space. we have been compelled to hold over a deal of local and other matter} and to considerably, abridge, that which are have noticed. tVe are informed that midnight aervice will be held in tnc P , , Clyde, to. night, the 31st instant,, commencing at II 30. Mr Vincent Fyke we regret to say, has been confined to his room by indisposition during the past Week. He accordingly has neeu unable to keep his many engageincuts. „,.

| Correspondents will do well to con th Mail Notice table, as fnin and after the I Ist of the now year material changes will bo male. The Palmerston and IS’aseby coach teaveUmg through Alexandra, and leaving on Mondays and Fridays instead of Tuesdays and Fiidays as formerly. We understan ! that up to tho beginning | of the week the sale of “ Whim Hood and Blue Cap” by Vi went Pyke an I Thorpe Talbot had exceeded 3000 vols. At the meeting of the Waste Lands Board Dunedin, on Wednesday last.—The Application by Messrs Sinclair, and M’Endne, executors of the late C. Carson, to-pnrehase deferred leases of sections 19 and 20, block Tiger Hill, was approved of. The Annual Christmas Sports at Alexandra took place on Monday last the 27th instant and prqved as successful as in previous years. A Urge number of competitors for the various events were on the ground and all, whether tho successful or the defeated, won alike satisfied wiih the programme provided. To-morrow being New Vear’s Day. the Clyde Annual Caledonim Games will he held at 'he usual spot. There are 13 events on the programme, and, fro n its div r ilied nature, should draw a large crowd of holiday-makers and contestants. For particulars we refer our rca lers to the advertisement containing the programme, which, we woul I suggest, should be cut out by intending visitors. To-day t'.c lowers of a good day’s sport can have it to their full on the Matikanni Racecourse, whe c the amnia 1 race me ting will be held. The programme is a most liberal one, and spin lid fields of horses may safely be expected for each event. The Matakaiuii Annual Meeting fm very many years past has ever been a most enjoyable ore, and we doubt not, the committee ot m magi ra ait will conspire to m dte this one equal in every respect to those gone before. We would remind our readers that the Blacks Annual Rice Meeting will take place on Tuesday next. It cannot be said that 'he s'e«ard.s hove hi en niggardly n preparing the. programme. There arc nine i vvnts on the card, comprising the Maiden P ate, Bbieks Handicap, Hack Selling Race, Vincent Handicap, Handicap Totting Race. La ie-d Race, F vine llan Heap, | Consolation Handicap, and Hospital Race j The stakes are all very goo 1, especially the ' Blacks an I Vincent Handicaps, which are 15 sovereigns each, and should draw big j fields. We trust the weather will prove 1 j propitious, and hope to see a lar e | crowd of the sporting fraternity on the course. I I It is notified in another column that a concert and ball is to enliven the evening of Tuesday next, tho 4th inst., at Blacks, the pmccels to he demoted towards bqu - dating a deb' on tho Catholic Chapel, Blacks. The canio is good, and we shall of meeting a large company, j Theannive saryecrem my of •he! G.O T. I Gob en Stie.-.m Lodge, Alexandra, is to bo 1 celebrated on Monday evening n- x f , tho i 3rd prox., by a concert and ball, the pro- ! cods to be ban-let over to the Daostan : District Hospital. On reference to th > concert programme, whieh occupies another column, it will be seen that an excellent j evening’s amusement is provided by the (•ominittee, and, it is to be hoped, th-* I general public will, by their presence, reI cognize 'he i ffort made. The calls on the public mi behalf of Hie Hospital are of such rare occurrence in this part of the country that wc stiall he but little surprised it we greet the ’.irgest gathering we have so done i j for many yars past.; The Auction Bazaar held at Alexaulra on Monday hast the 27th inat nt. in ai l of , the building fund i f the Catholic church was in every respect a success The donors , were extremely liberal, while the pnr- > chasers were in no way backward as was i evidenced by the result—nearly LlOt) The proceedings wore considerably enliv ned by soma very e.xcllent music discoursed 1 I by tho brass band, to whom the thanks of 5 Hie bazaar committee are due. Mr Fache officiated as auctioneer in disposing of He bu k of the articles after the la iea had given up their stabs. On Wednesday morning we inspected she baths la'cly erected by Mr Alfred Brown, at the rear of the I Pis!. an Hotel. After ilcscmi in; a sciirs "f stops, one * com is upon a n -at liit'e cottage, sur ronnibd with fruit and other trees It. i- contains three eompai tin mts in whi di are s p'acel space.ns baths with showers attached. There is a first .and s- cond class, . aid a lv.ith f.,r hoys, the remuneration j lining Is 61, 1-. and 61 •sp-ctively The furnishing of th ■ former is .ill that can be desired, and tho small additional sum of Cd is charge I for Imt baths. A warm ■ ha'll, followed, by a shower, is a great luxury during the summer months ; and, as the tariff is exceulingly mod. into, the • cslab ishmeiii should be largely patronised We wish Mr Brown every success in his new venture. We acknowledge with thanks receipt from the puhiahcis of a copy of Mills, Dick and Co.'s A in.an.ac for 1881, which contains, as usual, a vast amount of useful information ’ To farmers and miners it ■ should be invaluable. I We learn with pleasure that onr old friend Mr J. I’. Armstrong, dentist, of ' Dnmmin, was made the recipient of a handsome testimonial consisting ot 100 sovereigns, on Friday evening last, by 5u.... r-tuudgj in appiccialion of the many public acts be n..w ... Mr Walter, the ■x-Mayor. occupied tho chair, and Mr s .Stout made the presentation in a few i well chosen words. In returning thanks 3 for the kindness evinced towards him, Mr . Armstrong m.atio a lengthy ftad witty speech.

Apropos of tho Shorthand Class which will shorty be established in this town, and, as an example of the great benefits to be derived from an acquisition of the art, the following paragraph from the Otago Daily Times of the 27th inst. will, we think, be read with interest “ It appears that Mr Justice Higinhotham, of Victoria, is another of the many examples of men having mounted from thereporters' gallery to the judicial Bench. Speaking at the inaugural meeting of ihe Victorian Shortlun l Writers’ Association, of which he is President, his Honor raid he owed much to the art of shorthand. Some of his most pleasant associations were formed while he was enpaged in learning it, and subsequently in practising it ns a piofcsaion. While he had the p'easure and honor of practising his profession as a reporter in the House of Commons, he heard some of the wisest, best, and foremost men of England, and learned more than by any other means of practical politics, a study in which, it appeared to him, all should feel an interest. Alluding to the faults of public speakers, be sai l ha had heard only two thoroughly coherent and accurate speakers in his life— Gladstone and Bright ” At the Invercarcid Criminal Sessions, on We Ineslay, the 22nd iost., before Mr Justice Williams. Dr Moffatt was sentenc. d to two years imprisonnien with hard labor for tho manslaughter of Mrs Cameron, whom he had be n called up n to attend ami hail grossly neglected during her confinement. We tin lerstand (states the Mount |,l a Chronicle) that the Civi Service reductions which appear to be still going on, will affect an officer in tins district. W e believe that Mr T. L. Shepherd, tho Clerk of the Court, will leave the So vice on 31st of January, receiving compensation allowance. He will he succeeded by one’ of the three officers at present sta’innod in the Dunatan District. Mr Shepherd has proved an efficient, prompt, and obliging’ ■ ffi er. Ht at any rate, cannot be rank-d among the army of incipibles who hj ive received their co'tyfa at the ban Is of the Government. If the public are as well served' in future as they have been during Mr Shepherd's tenure of office, they will have every reason to be satisfied. “ Another Miner” has forwarded ns a letter anent the management, or mism in.agement of the Government water race at Mt. Ida, which we must decline to publish. The local paper is the best medium to v n'ilato local giievances. However, if “Another Miner” is correct in his sta‘ements, the Hon. Mr Rolles'on, is tho proper person to address on the snl-j ct. A grievance with “Another Miner" appears to be that the Secretary of the Mt. Ila Water Race Trust is a publican. Wo are not of the class that number all publicans as sinners, and accordingly shall not be one of a party to make a martyr of the gentleman. Thu Sporting Tines tons comments ou tne great m ifen between Australia : “ The fie I ling of the Ausir.alima was nothing short of marvelous. Whilst the Hon. A. Lyttelton was at tho wickets he hit a ball very hard to mid-on, and started to run. He had just, tini- to get baek 'ore his middle stump was broken i i two by a well-directed shot fr in Han-nn-rnan (some sixty yarls away), whoso field! g and return of the hall would have put greased lighming to shame The j wicket-keeping of Blaokham, too, was tin- | approachable. Nothing like it. lias ever b-en seen in Hits country. He ae'nallv \ c night Mr Lucas at the wicket off a leg hit.” The San Francisco Bulletin reports that a crest, deal of excitement has recently existed in the vicinity of Galistoga over the report that the hot sprin.s at that place carry large quantities of gold in solutem. A. C Ticheiior, of the. li-m of Tiohenor and Dudley, who recently bought the Hot Springs Hotel property, has been at. work extracting the gol I from the wa’er by a process known only to himself and a few other persons. Tho first clean tip showed that ho has succeeded in extracting 1000 dollars’ worth from 10 barrels of water. Tho gold is of tho highest ;rado of fineness, and as the springs in the locality are very numerous, and the volumes of water exceedingly large, it would bo useless to attempt to <stimnte their value if they continue to yield as lieh a retn n as this. Thus far, Mr Tichenor says the dir adjacent to the springs, in the t act known as the Hot. Wifer Field, will pay 00 dollars to the ton. The owners are anent erecting suitable wirks for carrying on operations on a mure extensive scale. Tho San Francisco News Letter common’s in the following (litterings teims anent tho Australian Press;—“ Many things about these Australian newspapers we. are compelled to admire. Tie y are admiialdy written, printed with raic black i k on good paper, and a few ife exceedingly well illustrated, Melbourne Punch especially. The wonder turns upon the weeklies. The Sydney Mail has 4S four-column pagis, with numerous well-executed engravings, and, besides local news, a great variety of ■original and selected matter, embracing society and literary topics, reviews, art criticisms, &c , and is sold Dr 12 cents. Much the same m.iy be tmly said of the three Victorian weeklhs—iho Australasian, tho L’uider, and the Geelong Weekly News, and the Smith Australian Observer In comparison with such sheets the weekly press of this city and Suite, and, indeed of the entire United States, may hide its diminished head. Those papers, cheap as they are, command a public interest, which maintains a remunerative circulation wi'hout sensational paragraphs, or licentious >wm-, illustrations tit. only for brothels, such as are with here j„ weekly periodicals continually. Vev tl,„y do suit the Colonial public Can it be that the Australasian public mind is cleaner, and tho raauneisof tho colonists purer than ourtiT”

A trial crushing of one ton of stone from the Conroy’s Gully reel, near Alexander took pl°ce on the 22nl inst.,- at Mr M‘Q teen's private battery and gave the handsome return of 3 >z. 12 Iwts. V\ e hear j the promoters are getting up a company to work this reef, and we trust they will be successful, as this valuable property has been lying too long Unwoikod. The Bluff correspon lent of the Southland Times states that Sir F. Dillon Bell, on his arrival at Campbelltown, per Te Anan, «i* route to England, was met at the Bluff by a number of his friends who escorted him to Mr Searle’s Eagle Hotel, where he was pies nted with an address, anl entertained whilst the steamer remained in port. Sir Dillon replied at some length to the address.