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Dunstan Times, Issue 985, 4 March 1881, Page 2

At the Waste Ban Is B .ard meeting on the 28th ultimo, the application of John Bennett a kI others for a gold mining lease. Section 8, Block 11, Fraser District, was appro. ei A destructive fire occurred on Sunday ni Jit last shortly after 10 o'clock, whereby the building in which it started, together will the contents weie totally consumed. The budding was a weather-board one with iron roof, situate at the south end of Sunderland street, Clyde, and was used by its owner (Mr U. T. Marie], who is proprietor of the Dairy Dully cod-pit, as a general store-room, and contained at the tune of the li.e a quantity of coal in bags, sevetal tins of keros- lie, a lot of iron that was to have ti :en applied m an app trains for raising water fr.ua DUe Mulyimux, and a qmtn lity -ol otner things. From the -time the fire was firstnoliced scarce a minute elapsed ere the tl iuics had a complete mastery of the building, and nothing could de done but stand ami watch the devouring elemental dug its work. We-are sorry to say there w..s no insurance on either cue null - ing or contents,.Mr U. T .ua.ie is aceor.iiogiy a .user to at least LldU. Mr Marie was the last iii or alout the place, and that was between 6 ..ini 7 in the evening, •when eveiything was safe, an I the p .lineman on his beat about three miiiu.es uefoie posse 1 the place, a id neither smelt or saw anything indicative of live, the cause therefore, whatever it was, must have been almost instantaneous, and up to the p.eseiit wrapped in perfect mystery, Since writing the above we learn that a dead rat was lound lying close to a box of matches, the inference is therefore that the fire was caused by the rat igniting one of the matches when eating it.

We acknowledge with thanks the receipt of a case of peaches, apricots, ami plums from Mr Uichard Dawson, .nd grown by hhn in his orchard, Conroy’s gully. Fur size and lusciousness they excel any other fruit we have seen this year, and demonstrate beyond a doubt that the district' is the ne plus ultra of all : Otago for fruit growing. With a cheap and quick means of reaching a market, the industry of fruit growing ond preserving; wine and cider making, 40., would be a no inconsiderable one. To parties desirous of sending fruit to their friends at a distance wo cannot do better than recommend them to Mr Dawson,

| To give the Counties Railway Commit* | aion an idea of the capabilities of (ho soil ■in this district. It is proposed to make a ' Collection of cereals, vegetables, fruit and other products, and exhibit th-m in the Clyde Library. Farmers, gardeners, coalmine proprietors and others are invited to aid by sending samples of their products to George Pache, Secretary of the Library not later than Wednesday, the lOtb inst.

An evidence of the prolific nature of the soil in this district is to tie sten at Mrs George’s Dnnstan hotel, Clyde.'inthe shape pf a vegetable marrow. 2ft. 6ui. in length, with a girth of from 20 to 30 inches, and weighing 251bs. This specimen of the marrow tribe was grown in the garden of Kaitisclengh Station.

At Airowtown, on the 2 tth instant, Mr G. A. Parker, mining agent, awl ex-clerk of the Warden’s Court, died suddenly.

The Mount B la Chronicle »ays that, the merchants of riaseby find it cheaper by ss. per ton to have their goals cartel by wa>gon direct f rain Dune lin. khan to use the train to Palmerston—an additional advantage being that the goods arrive in better order.

The jury at the inqnest on the body of Henry Mayo, who was killed by the late ■accident at the Kensington railway crossing, returned a venliot of “ Aeoileatal dea'h,” adding a rider depreeating the action of the Government in refmmg to allow a signal-man to be stationed at the crossing after 7 o’clock at ni-ht.

It is understood that Mr Henry Driver has purchased from the Hon. Roht. Campbell the colts Sir Mod red, Idaliura and fiornnus. The price has not transpired.

The following instance of liberality on the part of Messrs R Miami Bros, towards the men employed l>y them during the la*e shearing operations, deserves to be recor e 1.. It appears the rouse abouts were engaged at the rate of 25s per week, for which they all stencil, hut to their aston-i-hraent they were individually handed cheques for 30s per week.

The newest j mrnalistio venture proposed is a hi-weekly for the Taieri District, to be published at Mosgiei. The goat nuisance is again assuming proportions ut of all reason Fir a family to keep one or two of the destructive and disgusting anima's th ire is some chance of them being looked after and kept out of mischief, but when they are kept in herds there is no such chance. As we said, thev are a nuisanse, and it would be well for those who have the overlooking of such things to take steps to abate it. Geldltrough’s Annual Wool Review, we extract the following i— “ The season may now be considered over j ami in accordance with our usual custom, we will briefly review its leading features Melbourne Continues to tirm'y maintain its well-won supremacy as tue great central depot for the Australian wool sales, which is evidenced by the fact that this season 165,302 ba es. have been catalogued, and 122,272 hales sold in the luc it markets here and in Geelong It also effectually holds, and is improving its position as he chief port of departure for wool, the shipments irom Octooer Ist to this date being 285,41(1 bales, as against 26J,3J3 uales at the corresponding period of ,ast year, thas showing an increase ol 25,107 bales. This compares favouiob.y witU the increase from the other colonies, and the continued extension of the railways, aid cheap communication by s-eamets, will steadily add to its importance. Tue consignments of wool to tuis market from Sydney, Queensland, Adelaide, Tasmania, ami -New Zealand, are increasing, and a litige number of important caps have been sent here for sale. Melbourne is, in fact, the natural outlet for the finest pastoral districts of Austialia, and the presence of these splended flocks must always make this marked attractive to the buyers. Here they have a grand selection of wool, embracing every varie.y of the staple, and warehouses and laciiities for disposal probably unequalled in any o her part of the world. Tub American demand has not been such a prominent feature as it w.is 1 isc year, owing Co tlio depression of the woollen interest in the United States ■several buyers weie nere with large orders, but tue limits given ihem were too low to a unit, ut fr-e op rations in this market, the total sUmpj.l being only 3372 bales from Melbourne, aim 759 bales from Sydney, or 4t3l oales altogether, as against 21,001) bales last season. Tub French and Genu in buyers, tuough present in larger iiumoets than usual, uave been guarded lu their and a good selection of our clips has gone to the Goiumeut. The commencement ut direct steam communication witu tne euiel p rts which is now about to be in indurated, ooupio t with tue opening of a uraucii of an important Frtuch Bank I L'ue (Joiup.oir d’fclseouipce de Fails) in Melbourne, wi'lgivean additional stimulus to tuesj saipmeiiws to the mills via t Venice, .Maples, Genoa, Havre, and Antwerp, and we may expect a considerable increase in tUe purenasoi lor France and Germany, also itaiy, in tile u -xo and future seasons. Tuis last year’s yield, taking it on the whole, is in good order, and we are glad to note a marked improvement in the general *• get-up ” of tue lots which have coma under oui notice, the skirtiug being more free than usual ; m fact, owing to the increase of burr, this Uas oeoome aosoluteiy necessary. Tue rules unv on most ot the large stations is to skirt heavily, in order to clear the fleece of the harry and inferior portions, and scour the latter before sending to market. I 5v- ~'

One of the latest ’ importations, by the American Noi elty Company is a .patent till which will defy tue designs of thieves, hfo one but the person who arranges the till can open it, and should an attempt be ‘made to open*ic by any otlier person it not only remains closed, but a bell is rung m an alarm. The contrivance is remarkably ingenious and simple, but not less siinple and effective.

( The following extract from a letter recently received from a distinguished artist at home, will doubtless interop most of our readers “We art in a fearful state here ns regards Ireland. Both sides have . been toadying for the Irish votes so long ' that friend Pat thinks ha may begin to kick his master out of dooia and enjoy nil j the good himself. The prim and ghastly joke is—that Parnell is only the sequence of what has been said by Bright, Glad* stone, and Forster, and shooting landlords and landlords’ agents is only tire sequel of Mr t Pqrnell’s teaching. 1 met Parnell at the Star and Garter, Richmond, last year, at a dinner given by Chamberlain to Bright, and instead of the grim phantom of revolt in personal appearance, he was the mild, soft-eyed hero of modern Irish renown, such as is seen in Justin M ‘Cartliy’s novels, and he spoke as mildly as be looked, though now we know h ; s mildness is that of Lambri, in Don Juan—‘ As mild a mannered man as ever scuttled ship or cat a throat, ’ ” The following is taken from the Australasian “ Another bank has o mmeneed business in Melbourne. On tb is occas on it is no colonial enterprise or London bank intending to compete exclusively with our already existing banking establishments. The hank referred to is abranch of a French bank, whose object in extending its business to the Australian colonies is princi pally with a view of facilitating our increasing relations with France and the continent of Europe genei ally. In the c ent of foreign buyers of our produce making it a custom to purchase in our markets instead of the London market, the fact of our having such a b«nk ns the Omptoir d’Escompte de Paris, with its London house, and head office in Palis, should off.r decided advantages to foreign buyers as well as to colonial groweis desirous of try ing the continental market.

We have received from the publisher, Mr Geo. Robertson, Melbourne, a pamphlet entitled, “Opening Address to Nurses, with Notes to Nurses, and Rules fur Nurses under Training, by John Blair, M.D. (late President of the Medical Society of Victors). We have carefully read it through, and unhesitatingly say that no household should be without a copy, and its precepts should lie carefully read by all, as there is no saying when any one- whether male or female—may be called up to act in the capacity of nurse.

A monster shark 16ft. in lanctli aud Bft. in girth, was captured recently (states the Sydney Town and Country Journal) off Stockton wharf, Newcastle, by two boatmen. Its jaws were 2ft Gin. wide; when cut open, inside it was found two dogs almost entire, a great quantity of bone*, rags, old rope, canvas, &c. The Australasian conclu les an obituary notice of the late Miss Florence Colville with the following touching appeal :—“ Let us think of her as a beautiful woman and a brilliant actress, and if, at a period when she was still beautiful and brilliant, there fell upon her a dark shadow, let us not seek to look into the darkness, but remember only the sunshine in which she once moved. And of this sunshine there was a very flood. The history of the Australian stage has no records p'casaiiler than those which set forth her successes, and if it seems to us that the long career before her ended all too soon, we may temper our regrets with the recollection, that while the sunshine was upon her. she used her rare talents with a nevolion to her art that earned everyone’s praise. Let us water the flowers that are planted ou her grave with the tears of pity ana forgiveness '* The Town and Country journal says : “ Ac the Uni VictoriaThea.ie the e is ou view a hudnek, said Co be a pure bred Hereford, that weighs nearly a ton aud a had'. Tuts animal stanas 7 t 2iu in height aud mraauiea in length 12f. 6m. Mr A. Lower, M.L.C., of UippslaaJ, Victoria, is cue oteeder of the ouilock ”