The Dunstan Times. CLYDE FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 1883

Dunstan Times, Issue 1083, 2 March 1883, Page 2

The Dunstan Times.

CLYDE FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 1883

Beneath the rule of men entirely jusv The pen is mightier than the sword.

His Excellency is declining all invitations to balls on his present tour. Sir Arthur Gordon is to be Governor of Ceylon. 1 Mr B. R. Baird was the purchaser of the farm lands of the late A. C. Thompson, at Lake Hayes, for £2875, or £6 5s per acre. Mr Keenan notifies that all cattle and horses found trespassing on Run 226 d, and Lander Flat, will be impounded after the Ist March. Mrs George intimates in another column that failing health compels her to either rent or sell that first class property, “The Dunstan Hotel,” Clyde The usual meeting of the Dunstan Hospital Committee will be held on Monday next, the sth inst. We are in receipt of MacKay’s Almanac for 1883. It contains the customary quota of useful information. The only real fault to be found with it is that it appears on the scene smne two months after its time. Now, that is not the real MacKay Late and all as it is, however, in putting in an appearance, in itself it loses nothing, as will be found by those who may possess themselves of it.

In our last week's special telegrams was the somewhat foggy paragraph—“ That the petition of Drybread miners re riparian rights was referred to the Chief (Surveyor," Ihe petition was—“ That when the lands drained by the Lauder Creek are sold, the riparian rights should be reserved,” Bones burnt and then crushed fine are as valuable a manure as can be used. Letters of naturalisation have been issued to Ah Why, gardener, of Conroy’s Gully. According to an article in the Otago Daily Times'» Summary for Europe for last m nth, the estimated value of cereal crops f°r this year will be £2,977,500, whilst the ■total value of the products from station -- and farm, it is estimated will reach £9,177, 500, of which £5,250,000 is-ex-ported, and the balance consumed in the Colony, The produce from the gold mines last year was under one million A patent has been applied for by Messrs Stenhouse and Smith, of Blenheim, for an invention for the purpose of destroying rabbits and vermin, to be called “ Stenhouse and Smith’s Gaseous Self-Acting Vermin and Rabbit Exterminator.The quarterly meeting of the Golden Stream Lodge, No. 113, 1.0 G.T., was held at the Lodge room, the Public Library, Alexandra South, on the evening of Saturday the 3rd ult. The report of the retiring officers was read and received, which showed the Lodge to be in a favourable condition, both financially and numerically. On the motion of Bro. M ‘Neill, a hearty vote of thanks was accorded the retiring officers. The Lodge Deputy, Bro M‘Neill, next proceeded with the installation of officers for the ensuing term, viz. :—W.C.T., Bro. M‘Donald ; W.V.T., Bro Anderson ; W.S., Sis. Telford, (re-elected) ; W.F.S. Bro. Patterson (re-elected) ; W.T., Bro. W. Thompson (re-elected); W. 0., Sis. Brown ; W.M., Bro. Murray (re-elected); W.LG., Bro. Lett; W.0.G., Bro. Dois; W.A.S., Sis. M. A. Thompson; W.D.M., Bro. S. Lett ; W.R.H.S., Sis. E. Thompson; W.L.H.S., Sis. Proud. Brother Aldred retains the chair of P.W.C.T. There is every possibility of a representative team of cricketers going down to Dunedin this year to try conclusions 'with the several Clubs there. A meeting will bo held at Ryan’s Hotel, Alexandra, on Saturday night, to definitely arrange matters. Should everything be arranged satisfactorily, the team will leave hero about the 30th inst., playing the annual County match at-Raseby, and the Palmerston team en route, arriving in Dunedin on Monday, the 2nd April. The remainder of the week would be occupied in playing one day matches. The final one to bp a two days ma ch with Carnsbrook, on the 9th and 10th April. It will be seen on reference to our teleE r aph columns that our worst fears respectiig poor George Smith have been r al s .1, bis body having been found at Kaitang-ta I and fully recognised by both Mr and Mrs Irving, who were both we! 1 acquain‘ed with the deceased, and both ..f whom will be remembered as old residents of Clyde. Mr Fache requests us to draw special «.fc, tentio i to the sales advertised by him. On Tuesday next, the house and garden, the propen.yjof the late George Smith, and on . the Wednesday week following, the mining claim and plant at Butcher’s Point, and on the same day a number of pure bred Ayrshire cattle, which to our pastoral and agricultural readers should be of special interestThe Daily Times Wellington correspondent telegraphs “ The Minister of‘Justice and Solicitor-general have at length arrived at a decision as to the proper course to be taken in regard to the election of licensing committees when fewer than the requisite number of candidates are nominated, as has happened this year in several parts of the Colony, and notably in the city of Wellington. After careful consideration, it has been decided that in such cases the election must be held to have lapsed altogether, and the Government will he recommended to nominate a full committee of five in each case of failure. Any nomination of fewer than five candidates will be disregarded, notwithstanding that che returning-officer may in error have declared them duly e ected. It is possible that in cases where three members have been nominated, as they would form a quorum, Government may treat the other two vacancies as ‘ extraordinary’ ones, and fill up these only, as was done in one case of the kind last year. It is recognised that the Licensing Act will need further material amendment in the coming session.” The Mount. Hanger Mail urges the formaof a new County composed of the Teviot Riding and part of the James Riding of Tuapeka County. On Tuceday evening, after dark, several little knots of Ashburton citizen, says the Lylteltton Times, were here and their observable fixedly gazing skyward. Away np i in the sky was to be seen n luminous body which a section of the citizens stoutly asseverated with a comet. It had no tail,, and it exhibited a characteristic no comet ever showed before, for it swung from side with a gentle oscillatory motion, and could not be kept steadily in focus by the tele- '■ scope. It displayed itself for half-an-honr. -t When Johnny Smith’s father ordered the boy home, he took tho comet with him. It was a Chinese lantern at the tail of the boy’s kite. Once more a child’s ingenuity has been too much for his elders’ perceptive faculties. It has been ascertained that the sheep poisoned on Mr Boyes’ run at Lake Wakatipu had eaten ergot of the grass-seed.- • This poison produces paralysis of the limbs and death. This fungus disease of the: seed of some of the native grasses, in elevated pastures has been noticed, but no instance of poisoning has hitherto been observed. Paralysis from the use of ergotised rye is known to occur among tho peasantry of Upper Italy.

The Rov. Ml. Milne, one of-the ■ &Mohdries of tho NewHebridea IsliAlll, Islands in the' Town Rail,” Clyde; on-Wed. nesday last, to a limited audience. Front Mr Milne’s Standpoint he gave a very good account of himself and coadjutors from the Presbyterian body, in the good work of enlightening the savage and instilling into hint the light of truth, but we cannot say we agree with.the rev. gentleman in his sweeping condemnatory remarks as to the style adopted by other bodies of evangelising the savage. A correspondent has drawn our attention to the assertion boldly and unbluahingly made, “that the Roman Catholic priests kill the natives of those Islands.” Admitting for argument sake —but for none other we do so —that such is the case, we do not deem the occasion was a fit one for referring to so dangerous a subject, and we hope that the Rev. gentleman in his future address will eschew that portion of his address. Sir Arthur Gordon, who should be an authority on the subject, holds views—perhaps rather extreme—on mission work amongst the Islands with which if will be well for the rev, gent ; eman to make himself acquainted. The Tapanni races, for which the stakes Bre L2OO, takes place on Thursday and Friday next, the, 9th and 10th inst. According to present prospects, the entries will be good, and large fields will contest each ■event. The Southland Land Board being in doubt as to whether a selector under tho Village Settlement clauses of the Land Act could •Upply for and have granted him on deterre 1 oayment section ot rural land, submitted the question to the Minister of Lands, who gives it as his opinion that a selector of say •10 acres in a village settlement, is entitled to take up 310 acres of rural land, which ■will make the full area allowed him by law Mr William Hoyle, the statist, in a letter to the Times on the subject of “ Drink ■and the Labouring Classes,” says ;—“ Let it be borne in mind that during the past 10 years the population of the United King--dom have spent nearly £1,364,000,000 upon drink, or nearly twice the amount of the National Debt; and when it is remembered that this expenditure represents aoout an ‘equal -sam of indirect loss in the burdens ■ami mischief which nasalt from drinking, * mr a total of direct or indirect cost and loss ; -of over £2,71)0,000,000, it will show the terrible character of the but den which has ■been weighing down the nation’s industries during the last 10 years. No wonder, ■therefore, that there should be poverty, degradation. and misery. How could there Tie otherwise-? There are other reforms "which the‘country needs ; Iret 1 venture to ■say that without a reform in f ho habrs of •our population, including both rich anclpoor, the uplifting of it,lie masses is an impossibi lity ; but with this reform secured, poverty, degradation, and misery would be a thing ■of history, andaHhg with it ih‘ve would be ■freedom from the crime, vice, ami moral | po'lution winch are everywhere associated "with intemperance.” Up North, some time since, a small boy ■entered an hotel and asked for three pennyworth of beer. The landlord executed the •order, and wasplacing the jug on the c miter when the boy exhibited every sign of •choking; and when he had finished going ■through'the manoeuvres generally associa ; ■ted with the performance he burst into tears •and sobbed out that he “had swallowed ■the money.” The bonilace wus a man of gentle heart, and he said, “ How much was it, my lad?” “Threepence,” sobbed’ the boy, and he said, “ and mother will heat me when I tell her.” “ Then don’t , tell her,” ; aaid the other ; 1 won’t charge you anything for the ale.” “The urchin muttered his thanks and departed, and the licensed victualler felt really happy, in thinking of the generous action he had performed. •Just then the boy returned. “ What’s the matter now ?” asked the landlord. Tho poor youth burst forth into weeping afresh and between his sobs the beneficicnt alchc•chol vendor heard this ■; “If you please, sir, mother says it wasn’t a threepence—and you are to give me the change.”--{Ex-change. The nugget found at the Pieman’s diggings, Tasmania,, was a much larger one than late telegrams made it. its weight wa« 2430z Iclwt, instead of 430z. We learn from the Launceston Examiner that it was found on the 23rd of January by three, miners J MUnity. D. Neil, and T. Richardson, who came over from other colpnies.’ They were working in one of the creeks falling into the White River for some eigh teen months with varying success. On Boxing Day they found a nugget weighing some 20oz in the bed of the river, and since then they have been very lucky, having quite a number of various weights. The larger oneswere found back from the creek some sr,5 r , below tho surface. They never mentioned their discoveries to any of the other mners but buried them in the floor of their tent until their claim was worked out, when they ■“ pulled up stakes" and came on to Launceston. The news’of the discovery caused great excitement in that city, and when the nuggets were placed on exhibition at the Town Hall, crowds flocked to seo them. Several hundreds of reapers and binders Isays the local paper) passed through Balclntha by rail this year, and yet many orders are unfulfilled. According to the report of the reaper and binder contest held at the Taieri lately, Messrs Reid and Grey «ocuted third prize with their string binder. There were five entries—Howards taking Ist, Hornsby's 2nd, |Reid and Gray’s 3id and fourth prizes, and W, A. Wood’s-5 hj. The Invercargill correspondent to tho Mntaura Ensign says We have bad a visit from the Premier, who, however, attracted little attention and was only bored by two deputations, and those upon mat- - ter# previously laid before Mr Rolleaton. The -old. gentleman sat sublime in. tbp Albion for a day or two, snd then “ folded his tent like an Arab, and aa silently glided away.”