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Inangahua Times, Volume III, Issue 94, 26 March 1877, Page 2

It would appear that unless the resident jf the district are alive to their interests, a large number of persons will run a goo 1 chance of beins; disfranchised upon the present County -assessment. The valuers have in many instances entered on thu rolls tbe namsa of the owners instead of the occupiers of pro* perties, and as the next voting list will be made. up from the current vuluation rolls, only those whose names are thereon will be registered to vote. We learn that there- was a small deficit in tho funds of the late Public Pic-nio, but the amount was generously subscribed by the members of the managing committee. It has been reported to ua that something very like an attempt to fleece the public was attempted, if not actually accomplished, in connection with the late pedestrian sports. The report runs that in one of the events ihe competitors prearranged the or ler of running or rather winning, thus enabling the f«w favored ones who were in the secret to get on the soft side of the public by means of long odd?. We can only say that any such dodgery, when adequately substantiated,, will be fully exposed by us, and every effort made to keep the perpetrators at arms length, so far ss regards future sports. -

The alluvial rAsR which took place to the Lyell Creek a few days ago is turning out very well for those who were fortunate enough to secure ground there. A nineteen ounce nugget was unearthed at the rush last week, and several other heavy finds are also reported, but the area is very limited, and is already greatly overrushed. The long pending ewe of Crumpton v Mace was reopened in the Resident Magistrate's Court on Friday morning last. The particulars of the claim will be within the recollection of our readers, the case having already been heard once in the District Court and again in the Magistrate's Court. The claim laid waa to. recover the sum of £100 damages for nonfulfilment of contract in the trans far of 500 scrip in the Just-in-Time Company. Mr M'Lean, as broker for the defendant, sold to plaintiff 500 scrip in the company named. The authority to sell rested upon certain telegrams which passed between Mr M'Lean and Mr Mace, At the outset of the case on. Friday Mr Pitt desired that the telegrams in question should be put in as evidence. To this Mr Staite, acting for the defendant, raised the objection that the telegrams were inadmissable, on, the ground that each telegram put in, was relied upon as an authority to act, and as such was in the light of a letter or power of attorney, and therefore would require to be stamped with a 10a stamp, and even then before they could be put in the person tendering them would, under the Amended Stamp Act, 1865, have to pay a penalty of £5 on each telegram. Precisely the same point had been, raised against the admissability of the telegrams ou a former occasion in another Court, on which occasion his learned friend had to abandon the telegrams, and even if the telegrams. were stamped as required and the penalty on each telegram paid, the question would then arise as to whether a contract or engagement made upon an unstamped document could be subsequently validated, Mr Pitt in reply contended that the telegrams were not put in as evidence of a contract, but merely to show the bonafides of the agent and the plaintiff. The issue for the Court was as. to whether Mace authorised M'Lean to. sell, and such an authorisation did not require stamping. The point was eventually settled by Mr Pitt agreeing to stamp the telegrams, the question of penalty being left for the Commissioner of Stamps to decide. The- evidence of Messrs Wilcox, M'Lean, Crumpton, and, Mace was taken when the case closed. Mr Staite then raised six; nonsuit points,, as follows s, — 1, That the date when the cause of action arose was not stated. 2: That plaintiff having brought a suit in the District Court in which he was nonsuited the plaint was still pending in that Court. 3- That no breach of contract bad been proved. 4. That there had been no tender of a transfer to defendant. 5. That no purchase money had been paid. 6> That there was no proof of authority to M'Lean to sell, and there was a further objection that the wrong plaintiff was upon the record. Mr Pitt replied at some length to the points raised. Bis Worship said that it seemed if there was a chum, on Mace it should be through Mr M'Lean,. but it is said that the principal having been disclosed) if Crampton ' had no. right to sell M' Lean had no. riirht, this was a serious question. There could be no question M'Lean was liable to. Crumpton, and therefore Mace must bs legally liable to M'Lean.. M'Lean suffered by a fault of Mace, that is his contention. Judgment reserved. A correspondent writes to U3 enquiring whether there is likelihood of any sports being held in. Reefton on Easter Monday. Furious riding in. the streets of Reefton. is henceforth to be regarded as an expensive luxury. At the last sitting of the Resident Magistrate's. Court Mr O'Niel was fined £5 for the offence.. The usual winter evening. Quadrille Assembly has been duly " inaugurated," the first " hop" of the season having been, held in. the Oddfellows' Hall on Friday evening last. The attendance- is said to. have been very large. It is reported that another quadrille assembly upon the basis of" no connection with, the one over the way " is shortly to be started. This will be good news for the girls. A meeting was heldi at Dawson's Hotel on Saturday evening last, for the purpose of forming a football club. About twenty members were enrolled, and the entrance fee was fixed at 5s per member. Mr A. Broad was appointed treasurer, and Mr E, Pi Smyrk secretary. It was arranged that the first matoh should take place on Wednesday afternoon next. As an, indication of the amount of business done at the Seefton telegraph office it may be mentioned that there are now five distinct lines of wire into the office. We have a double line of communication, with Geymouth, and single lines to Westport, Lyell, and Nelson. The Westport line is now in process of construction, and will probably be completed in the course of a few weeks. The through line to Nelson is a great convenience, as hitherto messages from, the eastern portions of the island reached here via Hokitika, whereas they now come through Nelson. It was certainly a most extraordinary run. of good fortune that apportioned tha first and second prizes in Tonks's Monster Sweep to the Icangahua. By this smile of Fortune Mr John Wallace, Mr John Dick, and Mr Hugh Alexander are each enriched to the amount of £150. Fishhook, the winner of the Dunedin Cup, was one of the favorites for the race, and we learn that after the drawing Messrs Wallace and Dick received numerous offers either to purchase outright or a share in the chance held by them, but they would appear to have been well advised, for they refused to part with their interest in the sweep. To show the extraordinary crazs which has seized the West Coast people in respect to this sweep, we may here state that a few day before the drawing tickets therein were sought after at 20s premium. The New Zealand Herald says : — Any one present nt the departure of the Hero for Syddey, or the Wanaka for the Southern ports

could not help being struck with the large number of artisans and their families who, were leaving the district. By the former vessel there were no fewer than twelve to fourteen persons all told from the Thames, the bulk ol whom had resided there for rears, and were at last compelled by the dullness of minitg, and the absence of other means of making a livelihood, to seek fresh' fields and pastures new. Three or four, however, weue bound for the old country, been pretty successful in variouspursuits dur» ing the last eighteen months. On the other hand we noticed many who were recently brought into the country at the country's expense, bound for New South Wales, not having found the Auckland district to their taste or the work so plentiful here as it had been represented to be in the old country. In the Wanaka were several young men wlw came out in the Glenlora andThuriand Castle witb the intention of settling upon land, but, after a few week's rambling, have not seen any thin? they felt inclined to purchase. There has been a great row in Vincent County as to the County town, and the Chairman of the County Council, Mr V. Pyke,. has been scarified by the local press on the subject.. He explainamatters to the editor of the Dunedin Guardian, characteristically thus :— " It may be news to your readers, if not to yourself, that neither Clyde nor Cromwell is within "the County; that, with some few exceptions, the residents in those towns are not ratepayers nor electors ol the County 5. and that, therefore, they had no more right to attempt to dictate to the Council where , the County offices should be located than the I citizens of Dunedin have to dictate to the Councils of Taieri or of Waikouaiti. I thought, and still trink, that the question of I a*■ County town ' should have been held over until one or .other, of the towns had merged into the County, My opinion on this matter was welt known 3 and I refused to hamper myself with, pledges or promises pending such merger. Mark now what really occurred, : You say— • Mr Pyke voted for Cromwellhurrah for Cromwell !'. There you are wrong Mr Editor. Again you say—' Mr Pyke voted for Clyde— hurrah for Clyde !' Wrong once more. I did neither. Believing the consideration of the question to have been, prematurely forced on, I voted against Cromwell, and I voted against Clyde. But the Council had to meet somwhere, and I had to give a casting vote. 1 did so. I gave it in favor of the place which was most convenient to the majority of councillors, and I may be obtuse, but do you know that upon reflection I almost think I was in the right. I think also, Mr Editor, that in you account of the matter you have displayed powers of imagination far excelling any to which the author of •Wild, Will Enderby' can lay claim. I cheerfully surrender the belt. Take it, Mr Editor — take it,. wear it and bo happy." At the Chambers of the Vice-Chan-cellor Malms on January. 13, the affairs of the Alexandra l'atace, under the winditig»up order, were before Mr Bawlinson, the chief clerk. The sale of the prope-ty has been advertised for Feb. 8. The present meeting was in reference to the adjudication of claims; and a gentlainan from the office of the official liquidator, stated that there had not been sufficient time to examine the claims. The chief clerk said the claims, though large, were not, he presumed, numerous. Ie was stated that they numbered about 100. Other parties interested in the winding up order attended, and after a discussion, an adjournment was agreed upon, when any disputed claim can be investigated.. The whole claims ,on the palace are supposed to be about £800,000 ;. and on the former Occasion it was stated that the unsecured creditors were about £300,000 i The mortgages, were represen ted as upwards of £100;000 with the debenture holders, and the realisation of the property, beyond the mortgages, was of importance to the unsecured creditors. The property will be offered on a reserved bidding. The Resident Magistrate at Wellington the other day, laid down the law that a person having for twenty years enjoyed the use of his neighbor's ground for the purpose of light to his own premises, thereby acquired a right to the outlook, and that the owner of such ground could not, in such, case, build within five feet of bim, or in any way obstruct hifl light. A good many people (says the Herald) wee surprised when Chinamen advertised here for the fungus which grows about the roots of decaying trees in the bush, giving somewhere about 3Sfd per lb for the article, for tne purpose of exportation to China, to make soup for Chinese grandees. There is another curious branch of trade which the j Chinese pursue m the PaciSc Islands, and at which the captors of the big shark now on j exhibition might make sorre money if they understood the process. It seems that shark's fins are one of the greatest delicacies in creation. On catching a shark— the biggei he is the better— the Chinamen in the trade make a cut with a tong-bladed knife on each side of the fin, and draw it out of the body, having attached to it a mass of tendons and filaments. The whole is then beaten and macerated with salt water. After it is properly prepared and dried it will keep for any length of time, and the long filaments attached to the fin are clear and crisp, like isinglass. Sharks' fin, dressed, is. Sold a) ,6, dols per lb ; and the weight which, could be got from the big felW caught near the Wynyard Pier would be something considerable. Chinamen are truly ingenious, finding their delicacies in what we should never have thought of— birds' nests sharks fins, and fungus. The Human Machinery, unlike inanimate mechanism, possesses a selfrepairing and self-renewing power. Health may be surely preserved and life lengthened by keeping this vital attribute in constant activity and full vigor. Many preparations have been recommended for this purpose, but none have received such emphnthic professional sanction,, or are comparable in point of efficacy, toTJonLPHO Wol?e' bcniFDASt Aromatic Schnapps.