THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. WEDNESDAY, FEB. 7, 1877.

Inangahua Times, Volume III, Issue 74, 7 February 1877, Page 2

THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. WEDNESDAY, FEB. 7, 1877.

It appears that the farmers of the Jtiangahua Valley are up in arms qver the late Cpunty Council assessment, and contemplate faking some independent action with regard to the matter, fy is held, we beljeve, that the valuations are unduly excessive, being in gome instances as much as 7§ per cent over the valuations of last year, Jt is likely the farmers wilj emglQy an expert tp value their properties. Tfce next Bittfng of the District Court, Reeftoa, is likely to be a heavy one, as amongst other cases to come pn is one between Messrs Qroham and Allen, the proprietors Qf Jhe Rainy Creek battery, and MrW. M'Lean, tbe Liquidator of the Late Rainy Greek Com? pany. ' The question involved it, w$ believe, as to th.c legal ownersh|p of the battery. Mr Button, of Hokitika, and Mr Newton, of Greynooutb, have been engaged in the case. Mr Warden Shaw left for Qreymouth ye» terday morning. It was reported in town yesterday .that an extensive landslip had occurred near Brun« nerton, parrying away s,eye.ral chains of the Reefton and G|-rey road. The Jusc-in-Time Company, Boatman's, finished orusbing qn Friday last, and on Saturday last the gold w.as brought into Rceftqn. Tb,e parcel weighed fity o?s 10 dwts, the quantity of stone crushed being 415 tons, thus giving an average pf nparly }. oz \0 dwts Jo the ton. By th,o,aa acquainted wij;h the mine the result is regarded as an eminently satjsfacj^ry qne. Though it will not enable the directors to, declare a dividend, it will clear off the who.le qf the company's liabilities, leaving a, credit balance qf somethmg like £2§o with which to recommence. Tjie past expense has been very heavy, over JJfly hands^aving been employed in the mine for some time past, but now that the mine is thoroughly opened up the, futute working exr penses wiU be light, and nearly the whole of the proceeds of future orushings will gq directly into th,e shareholders pockets in the form qf dividends. Qwing to the. length of time which has elapsed sinpe the company made a call, liabilities to the extent qf about £2QOQ had accumulated, anil the directors wisely decided tq free th,e company of tliis debt before declaring any dividend. It has come to our knowledge that in recently referring tq the Smith bequest, we spoke of the deceased as $amss Smith, wheieastbe name qf the wealthy departed was Edward Smith,. While referring to the subject, we mny $9 well state thas Mr John Curie, of this towty is in communication with fhe agents of {he. executors, and therefore intending applicants would do well to prefer heir claims tbrqugb that gentleman. A telegram was received in Reefton yesterday, stating that the body of John Rodden was picked, up pii tlje preyjqus day a$ Wea> port. Tb.e oriminal Woadgate, who was recently executed at Picton, '.' enjoyed " a respite of {.wentyfour hours in consequence of no Qne, being found tq carry o,u,t the office of hangman. In the, absence qf a public executioner the duty devolves by statute upon the Sheriff of the district, but the latter functionary preferred tq forfeit his bond to the Government rather than give the lass dread effect to the law. It having been since announced in our $ elegrams that Woodgate suffered the extreme penalty of the law, it is to be presumed that the difficulty was eventually overcqme., but how we are unable at present to say. The Jnangahua County Council would appear to be between Charybdis and Scylla. Through the action of the Inangahua River during the late floods two of Mr Oxley's properties situated at opposite points <m each gide qf the river have been endansered.lt is contended that by the erection of protective works on one side of tlie river, the stream has been directed against the opposite, bank, causing the ourrent to strip away a large slice pf Mr Oxley's paddock, and by the opposite through the delay of the Council in erecting protective works, the river has undermined Mr Oxley'l powder magazine qn the Beeftqn side. It is reported that the case will shortly be taken into the law courts for the recovery pf damages, and it jsnot easy to see how the Council is to get put of the difficulty except indeed upon the plea, that two negatives make an affirmatm. An open rqpture has taken place between the member* fa* tfaf Thames. The Advertiser of a late date says :— A little incident which took place prior to Sir George Grey's departure showed the want of cordiality which prevails between the two membe's representing the Thames constituency. Mr Eowe walked up to, where Sic George Grey was standing, and offered to shake hands with him, but Sir George Grey, drawing himself up stiffly, said to Mr Rowe that he had no right to appear on his platform on Saturday night, and refused to acknowledge him, upon which he turned his back and walked away. The effect of this rebuff may be easily imagined, and the existence of this want of cordiality cannot fail to lead to a want of co.

operation between pur members on future occasions. The Napier Telegraph learns by the Bug liab. mail .that Mr R. H. Lord, has been aps pointed pn the permanent staff of the London Punch. We »re quite certain, remarks tibe Telegraph, that Mr Lord has now foun# .congenial employment, and one, for which his peculiar talents specially fit him. Mr Lord was for porno t£me on the staff of the Evening Post. In the Taicp County Cpuneil, on January 11, Mr Briver is reported to have said, that he thought the Assembly had given them too much local power. He thought the whole policy of the people at Wellington was to shove all responsibility on to the Counties. In reference to taxation the same speaker gaid, that that portion of Hew Zealand had enjoyed for a number of years privilege! s»ch a3 no other country had ever .enjoyed. The people had their roads and railways made> and their buildings prepted. without paying a shilling fop ta?es. People were continually getting up and referring to the institutions of America, about which tjiey knew nothing. He could tell them that none of the United States ever enjoyed £1 of the Land Fund or Customs revenue. The Legislature of any State in the Union never had a shilling to e?» pend, except what they taxed themselves for. The sooner they made up their minds that direct taxation was coming, tbe sooner ihey would realise what their future really was to be. He did not believe in the cry that they were going to be ruined because they were going to be taxed. He thought it would do them a great deal of good. Fair and even taxation did every community good. The whale which, as we (Evening Po3t) mentioned a few days ago, was branded in Worser Bay, was secured under the direction of Dr Hectqr, and proves a veritable scientific prije, being a splendid specimen of Epiodon Chilhamiensis, oi Chatham Island goosebeaked whale. It is a male, and measures 27ft. in length. It is being carefully dissected and prepared for the Museum, where it will be a treasure, there being not a single specimen ftf thp kind eyen in the British Museum. The especial feature i? th.c gooseboak shaped head. The ekuU of one of these whales was found some time ago at Tauvanga, and actually was mistaken for that of a moa. The skeleton will be mqunted in the Museum shortly tynder. the superintendence qf Dr Heptqr. The following changes will bo made in the Magistrate's Court, Wanganui :— Dr Giles tt^es the appointment of Under Secretary of Lands and Mines, and will ratqoye to Wel« lington ; Mr Hardcastle, Clerk to the Cou>t at Hokitika, to be appointed tt.M. ; Mr South, at present Clerk here, to. be transferred to Hokjtika, and Mr Woon to take his place.