The Dunstan Times. CLYDE FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 1883

Dunstan Times, Issue 1087, 30 March 1883, Page 2

The Dunstan Times .

CLYDE FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 1883

Beneath tho rule of men entirely jus* The pen Is mightier that, the sword,

We wish to draw special attention to the advertisement in another column of the entertainment which is to take place in the Town Hall, Clyde, on Friday, 6th April, Vincent Pvke, Esq., will deliver a lecture in the Schoolroom, Ophir, on Monday evening next. Attention is drawn to Mr Fache’a sales by auction in another column. Owing to unforeseen circumstances, the meeting of Board of Reviewers, which should have taken place at the Court House, Clyde, to-day, stands adjourned from day to day till the 13th April,

Last evening Mr Pyko addressed the electors at Alexandra, but neither time or space admits of our giving a report of bis address in this issue. If there is any consolation in having company when in distress, the farmers in this part of tho country who have had their crops damaged by the late unseasonable weather may accordingly console themselves as, through every medium that reaches ui, we learn that the damage done to the wheat crops is very general. In the report on the produce markets, issued by the Now Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, it is stated, under the head of Christchurch, that thousands of acres have grown in the stook, and in some districts there are now large quantities that will never be carried ; {under the head of Oamaru it says the rain has caused considerable damage to the crops throughout the whole district, and it is rare to see a parcel that has not suffered ; and under Dunedin it says; “ The unfavorable weather has caused a good deal of damage, especially to corn in the stook, and there will be a large quantity of Spring wheat both south and north, Inveroargdl is the only place that does not refer to the damage done. At 4 p.m. yesterday a fire occurred in the large stacks of grain belonging to Mr H. Mee, of Blacks, which were accidentally set on fire by his children, and completely destroyed. The damage is estimated at £350, and is uninsured. A fairly numerous audience attended Mr Pyke’s lecture in aid of the Dunstan District Hospital on Monday evening last in the Town Hall, Clyde, and accorded the lecturer a patient hearing as he recounted the various adventures he encountered when making “(the track that Pyke took” to the West Coast. As usual Mr Pyke fairly rivetted the attention of his audience, and frequently in his eloquent descriptions of the wonders he met with elicited warm applause. He painted in bright, yet warm colours, the great advantages to be derived by this part of Otago in opening up direct and easy communication with the West Coast, which he described a country as abounding in mineral wealth of the very richest descriptions, and urged upon the people to agitate and bring pressure to bear upon the general and local governments to make the communication as easy as possible. He said there was already a track along which people could ride constructed except for soma 20 miles from the head of Lake Wauaka to Hokitika, and it wanted but little {pressure to get it made right through. During the course of his lecture, or more properly speaking “conversational,” he exhibited the skins of various strange bir Is that are to be met with on the west side of the dividing range, also several strange mosses ami other curious specimens, and narrated briefly tho account of the descent on the Coas. of a Native | chief from tho .North Islan 1 and his followers, wiio it is said, slow the Native real louts on Lakes Wauaka and Hawea an I all along the (J.wst. The discourse was both amusing and instructive, and Mr Pyke at ila conclusion was voted an unanimous vote of thanks. Mr M. J. M ioniums occnpie Ith i ona*r. The amount taken at lb doors was £5 13s. which sum added to the pound to pound subsidy, will give a to ml of £ll 3s to th * fun Is of the lu titutiou. An illicit still, capable of turning out 100 gallons of spirits doily, has been seized at Palmerston. The Sydney Daily Telegraph gives the following particulars of a painful incident in high life : “ Private letters have been received by the mail just arrived, which cannot but fail to give pain to the very numerous friends of his Excellency Sir Hercules Robinson, who was for six years one of our most popular Governors. It appears that some two months prior to the departure of Sir Hercules from the Cape of Good Hope, Lady Robinson and her daughter, Mrs St. John, left for England in advance of their husbands. Sir Hercules and Major St. John, his son-in-law and aide-de-camp, followed in due course, but the younger lady was fickle towards her spouse, and when she heard of hia departure from the Cape thought fit to elope with a Major Stephenson who had been paying her considerable attention. When Sir Hercules and Major St. John arrived in Loudon the gulty pair had flown. The unfortunate affair caused considerable excitement in colonial circles in London.” A story, more amusing than true probable, has been told by the Wairarapa Standard a *out Mr Milner Stephen, and the effect of his “ healing” upon a cork leg. A man in Masterton has acork leg with patentspnngs, kneecap movement, tensor and flexor action, and all the latest mechanical improvements. This individual suffers from rheumatism in his natural leg (not the cork one), so he went privately to Mr Stephen, paid his two guineas, and sought the aid of “heavengifted healer.” Being slightly “ tight” on the occasion of his vi«it, he unfortunately stuck out the wrong leg to be treated, and —tho rheumatism was cured ! At bedtime the man essayed to take off his cork leg Buc, alas ! the leg had gone all wrong—it wouldn’t unscrew or come off at all. The magnetism, or the passes, or the ted flannel, or the magnetised oil, or the prayers or all c unbilled, had bedevilised that cork leg Itogethcr. A perfect triumph of mechanical skill andingenuity wascompletely ruined, ha “ flexors and tensors,” and “ tho p: tent knee-cap movement,” were completely d*ao for. The afflicted man swore roundly, took another big drink, and went to bed, cork leg and aIL He is there still, and vows to sue Milner Stephen in the Supreme Court, to recover heavy damages for tho loss of the dh of his patent cork leg. In a Christchurch evening paper a day or two ego appeared the following The parsons who eased me of about 2cwt of coal last night are requested to come again tonight, and I will wait up for them. Refreshments—Gingarale, cake, and small bull pup. J. Wheatley. ”

An Adelaide telegram in the Melbourne Argus of the 16 inst, is in the following terms : “ At a meeting of woolbuyers, they passed a resolution that the Auctioneers’ charges should bo made upon the owners of the produce sold, and pledged themselves that they would after the Ist Juno abstain from bidding at auction sales where the charges were made on the buyers.” The Oamaru Times states that “game does not appear to be very plentiful in this district this season, judging from the ‘ bags’ that have as yet been brought into town. The bags have invariably contained little more than the remnants of lunches, &o. In one or two instances, however, this has been improved upon, hares coming in for a good deal of attention. Ducks of all descriptions are scarce, and places where sportsmen in former years usually made good bags, have this season yielded bo return.” On St. I’atrick’s Day, in Sydney, a gold watch and chain was presented to Mr J, F. Redmond, who, in responding, said it had been stated in a cablegram that Patrick Egan, the treasurer of the Land League, had absconded with the Land League money and books. The fact-was that in last October Egan ceased to be treasurer of the Land League, and from that day to this had never held any official connection with the League. He then handed over the securities, books, and vouchers to the new treasurer, Mr Alfred Webb, a prominent commercial man and leading man in Dublin. The money which Egan handed over represented the balance as shown to be in his hands by the balance sheet which he then put forward, and which had been published in Sydney and elsewhere That balance-sheet was audited by Pa*-. 1 :!! -'heehy, Mr John Dillon, and Mr Matthg’-i. ''arris, andfoundtobe correct. Mr JusStf MacCarthy, a man whose name ought to carry some weight for integrity, was the trustee in whose name the funds were invested. He had also certified the accounts to be correct. With reference to Egan absconding, this cablegram was simply a foolish and stupid intention of the enemy. An exchange says that a new potato, known as the “ Rrownwell’s Beauty” is likely to become a favorite in New Zealand. It is an American importation, and has already been grown in small quantities in the neighborhood of Wanganui with considerable success. It is said to be an enormous cropper, and it is early, medium, and late, according to the time of planting. It has a thick skin, few and shallow eyes, firm, and snowy white flesh, and produces very little top. Prom two pounds one grower has received 345 potatoes, 320 of which were fit for the table and the rest for seed. What seems a hard case has been mentioned to us. A landowner at Waikouaiti, •*f«o less age than 81, was brought and lodged in the Dunedin gaol, there to serve a sentence of seven days (we do not know whether hard labour is included) in default of payment of certain fines inflicted on him under the Rabbit Act. It seems a harsh procee ring to send so old a man to goal, winch is not the most comfortable quarters in winch to spend the Easter holidays. The rigours of the law might surely have be* n abated in such a case.— Times. Attention is being directed to a “lambdown” case which has occurred in Queensland. A man named Henry Wedge died :.fc the Douglas Ponds Hotel on the 3Lst of January. He had been a shepherd, but a legacy oj £I6UO falling to him he bought the hotel named. After two months enjoyment of the free run of his own bar, he sold the hotel to one Edward Cureton Tomkins. He lived on at the hotel until he died, and in 10 weeks spent £129 4s 6d on grog alone. His highest score for one day was £3 ilia. For eight days prior to his death he was confined to bed, and during that time he was raving in his mind, eating very little, but would drink as much as they would give him. How much this was may be judged from the following record : -£1 6s on the 24th ; 13s on the 25th ; 18s on the 26th ; £1 2s on the 27th ; 15s on the 2Sth ; 10s on the 29th. For the last two days of the unfortunate Wedge’s life he does not seem to have been able to drink anythin*'. Such is another story of a debauch ending )n death, and of the cajolery and cupidity of a publican. These facts were elicited at an inquest, the depositions taken at which have been forwarded to the Attorney general for the Colony. A correspondent writes:—“ The recent raid by the police upon the Balclutha publicans does not seem to have krd much effect. At the evening service in tfe Presbyterian Church there on Sundry evening the officiating clergyman accounted ipr the small attendance in the forenoon by the fact that the street was then so much blocked up with drunken men. He was a stranger in Balclutha, and added that he had just returned from a tour upon the goldfields, where Sunday trading and Sunday drunkenness are unknown.” An “ eminent brewer” lately met one oj his employes in whose button-hole was a blue ribbon, the mark of the temperance man. The ’brewer, who knew that tho recruit to the Blue Ribbon Army had not been noted for his abstention from liquor, asked him what the ornament signified, and whether he did not think that the wearing of tho decoration was a little inconsistent with the fact of his earning his livelihood in a brewer’s employ. The man winked, and made answer thus : “ Well sir, the fact is, 1 in as fond of a glass of beer as anybody, and that’s why I wear it. You see sir, they likes to tempt me, and then I succumbs.”