GREY VALLEY GOSSIP.

Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1890, 27 August 1874, Page 2

GREY VALLEY GOSSIP.

' ; BY i. TRATJEIiER. : f 1 ';; AHA.UBA, Aiig. IT. The - common subject of; conversation for the past five or sii-days in this little hamlet has been the Stanhope 'case/a nd various are the shades of opinion _ 7 expreaaed as to that unfortunate for getting himself in such a scrape. All agree in admitting that such an action is most reprehensible, but the majority, mercifully incline to find large excuses for him, ( as the error no doubt .occurred _.*'!. uncMisciously," and that though,- fjor;the^?ake of public moral rectitude, cognisance 9L UB t and should be taken of . such^lions, yet in the present .. case few." think that the man, is naturally p? intentionally bad, and therefore' the, /'majority seem more :to ■•pity>ihan ; blame him. A man could scarcely be looked upon as sane when unUei the demoralising influ--otot-oI '* blind horses," and indulging in such expensive pipe-lights as LI notes. Bufely7~our No Town neighbors musirbe proud of their wise selection of representatives. It is to be hoped th^thg lesson taught in this case will act beneficially in the time to come, and that the antecedents and j character of. any candidate for public honors will" not at fciture Ix^ad Board and other elections be so totally ignored and jforgiven as they have" been hitherto. : I often hear the question asked— *' Did yon ever see the winning numbers ;O|4he prizes in; the St. Mary's school lottery Advertised?" The- answer is invariably — :'f No," though I have heaid that some one told somebody else; that: they were,[advertised in the Daily Argus. Granting that such. is. a. fact. I ■ hardly (.think the committee -have acted quite up. to.,the mark, otherwise at least one i insertion would -have appeared in J the ; Weekly Argus, for there were lumbers of ticket holders, living m, outlying places, who never see a daily; edition of any paper, and most naturally, they wish to learn if their ticket took a : prize; Nelson Creek is being workediirifo a perfect state ; of. ferment 'by public meetings. There 1 is nd.subject, noTOatte'r iu>w unimportant, that beats at. all hard, upon the 'residents; but" they rise en'masst tp_debate upon effecting a sweepipg; 1 tef brm, and place the,, grievance as speedlty' as possible in th'o. tentote past. It is gratifying to see that diggers are at last beginning to shake off their lethargy. ' Soca a disposition augurs : well -foij?, the .future, and I think the day is rapidly approaching when 'to becomelpopular you must be not only able; to spout '? a : little, '• but possessed "of ; a:fair amount of 'common sense and self-respect. ; ; :! > -•■ i>; ' Last Saturday, night,- 1 attended a s meeting at Hatter's Terrace, convened for the double purpose of administering a little wholesome advice to the ; bakers relative to the price and weight 6f the 'loaf sold on Nelson Creek ; ialsp - to,, report, the,, steps taken in advancing the 'lease memorial. Several resolutions r were carried, 7 ;the gigl ,of : /them ; .- being \. that, , T3nibss l ,ibhe bakers supplied a full "Z weight 7;^oaf at ]s in- andy near, .Hatter's. Terrace, and Is 3d to the outside and far away gulliesj they, the miners, would cooperate and devise a means of attaining their objects, The price does not cause so much discontent as the disgracefully alleged short weight. Few wouldKcomplain if they were supplied with what tha bakers contract to give, viz., 41b of bread for Is 3d,- or Is 6d^ according to the; dis-. tance from the township.' ; : At the conclusion of the bread . subject, the Chairman (Mr J. M: Morris) read a copy of the memorial, forwarded through "Mr Warden Whitefoord, to the Superintendent, also the reply, as printed in last week's Aitous, that'Mr'"Whitefoord made to the deputation. Several miners thought that the Warden had exceeded his duties in 'recommending so many leases ; but on reflection, I think it must be obvious to all that if the residents of a district do not think it worth while to object to the granting of a lease or leases, the.. Warden has no other course open than to recommend the application for . such leases to the Superintendent. It is foolish to blame the aa^horities'for our own negligence, but for|the time to come I believe errors of a similar nature will not be so : likely ftov occur, m

on Saturday night week another meeting will be held to form a kind of Miners' Vigilance Society, -whose duty it will be to watch carefully over the miners' interests of Nelson Creek. It must not be understood that the form of leasing abandoned ground is thought objectionable, it is only the lax manner in which the clauses of the Leasing (Regulations are, it was alleged, enforced. Diggers always hold (and rightly too, I think) that one miner should only claim one miner's ground, and if any person wishes to monopolise more than the area allowed, either as an ordinary or extended claim, to each holder of a miner's right, he should be cowipelled to fully represent all the shares held by him according as the law directs. With the introduction of this large water-race into Nelson Creek arises a necessity for a few alterations and additions to be made to the Mining Regulations, otherwise costly and tedious litigation will ensue. Provision should be made to allow holders of back areas an opportunity of working the ground. Unless that be done the back ground would be lying unproductive until either the frontage claims were worked but, or heavy compensation given to the lucky proprietors of the front areas to allow the construction of a tail-race through their claim. A comprehensive plan ought to be devised at once to meet these requirements, for their name will be legion, and I could not, within the limits of a letter enter into detail.* Complaints, both loud and deep, are made against Mr Corbett, in his capacity ofM.P.C. I heard it loudly discussed, that serious thoughts were entertained of requesting that worthy gentleman to resign his seat. I fear the disease is contagious, and has extended itself to all the districts within the electorate honored by his able representation. This would be a legitimate subject for the Nelson Creek Miners' Vigilance Committee to take in hand, for the purity and integrity of a mining representation should be a matter of first importance to the miners themselves. *[Our esteemed contributer is perhaps not aware that such a contingency as he refers to can hardly arise, for under Clause #7j Section XVIII, of the regulations now f in force, " The Warden has power, when it shall be proved to his satisfaction to be necessary, to authorise any person to pass any head or taihace, tunnel, road or tramway, over, under, or through any claim or right, &c." Under the above Clause, if liberally interpreted, a dead lock from such, a cause as that suggested would be almost impossible taf occurence. — Ei>. G.R.A.]