THE Inangahua Times, PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, MAY 11, 1877.

Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 14, 11 May 1877, Page 2

THE Inangahua Times, PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, MAY 11, 1877.

Some of the members of the County Council appear to entertain strange notions as to the duty they owe their constituents, and we do not think it would he easy to find a more *' shocking example " of this character than in the person of Mr John Dick, the important representative of the still more important Biding of Murray. On a late occasion when the subject of a water supply for Keefton was first broached in the Council, Mr Dick turned up the whites of his eyes in pious horror at audacity of a proposal to spend a considerable sum of public money upon what he was pleased to term " a luxury " for the town residents. Be is evidently of opinion that the funds of the County would be a great deal more profitably * employed in constructing foot tracks in the " outside district " for the mutual convenience, no doubt, of the hardly u«ed miner, and what Mr Dick no doubt regards as far more important — the still more hardly used country trader.. We are not at all ; disposed to war with Mr Dick's notions of the duties of a public representative on account of any moderate zeal be may manifest for his own particular district, because we entirely concur in the desirability of making things as pleasant as possible for the country residents. But we can see ntfrher justice or reason in the affright with which the "member for Murray 1 ' regards any and every proposal for improving the condition of Reefton On "Wednesday last, when the Council was "in committee upon the estimates," a sum of about £1500 was incidentally mentioned as being necessary for the drainage of Reefton, Of course, the proposal at once brought Mr Dick indignant to the front, but on this occasion we were glad to see that he was not nearly so enthusiastic in his opposition, and so the amount having been pared down to £1000 was al* lowed to pass. What we more immediately desire to point out in reference to this matter, is that the town of Reefton contributes consider* ably more than half the entire rate j revenue raised in the County, and its public works must necessarily be pro* vided for upon a scale commensurate , with the necessities of a population so ' large. Drainage and water supply can in no sense, outside the cipacity of Mr John Dick, be regarded as* luxuries." They are the direst needs of every coramunitt, and cannot long be neg% lejted with safety to the health of the inhabitants, leaving the matter of convenience quite ont of the question. It devolves then in 'an especial manner upon the present Council to deal with these two matters. The revenue available will not permit of a comprehensive y»fem of either drainage fir waters supply being completed at once, and we must therefore be content to tee the work* carried on by progressive stages. Looking over the bible, of expenditure set do«a by the Council, we find no

provision whatever for water supply, and this is the more singular, as it is not many weeki ago that the Council betrayed a good deal of interest in the matter, and actually went the length of offering a bonus for an approved scheme for providing the town with water. It would, perhaps, be unjust to attribute this omission altogether to Mr Dick's influence and eloquence, but the fact remains, and ought by no means to be loet sight of when the Council is again in Committee. The entire County revenue amounts to something like £7000 per annum, and looking over the estimate of expenditure proposed by the Council, we find that the amount has been set down at £14,310 --just double the County income. How the Council came to perpetrate such an absurdity it is not easy" to imagine. Possibly the estimate was not intended for publication and, save to burlesque the proceedings of the Council, we fail to see why it was published. Looking over the list, we find that excepting the item of £1000 for town drainage, the entire sum which it is proposed to expend in Reef ton on roads' during the current year is £850, and vie hardly think that even Mr Pick himself, had it been left entirely to that gentleman, would have fixed the sum so moderately. Regarding the subject seriously, however, we trust that now at the outset of its career, the Council will deal with these two matters in a manner worthy of this rising community, and the necessities which most inevitably spring from it. We have but little faith in a continuance of the subsidies to the Council, and, therefore, unless the works are fairly launched now, there is little hope of the ultimate ability of the Council to carry them out.

Now that the long evenings have again come round, Mr John Dawson has once more placed his large hall at the disposal of the public as a stating rink. A further Supply of skates hat been received, and as the charge for admission is very moderate, the amusement will, no doubt, be largely patronised. We are informed that the snowfall on the Ajaz hill on Wednesday afternoon last was very heavy, the ground being covered to a depth of from fifteen to eighteen inches. Some of the Golden Fleece hands were engaged yesterday carrying up the new pinion wheel from Flask's Foint to the maohine site. The wheel weighed about fire hundredweight, but the transit was safely accomplished, notwitha standing the great depth of snow on the traok. The winter season appears to have set in in right down earnest. On Wednesday lasta heavy fall of snow took place in Beefton, the ranges in the vicinity being ooverod to a great depth. The youthful propensity for snow* balling was duly revived, and the sport was kept up as long as the ammunition lasted. Kven residents of more mature predilections were not above participating in the healthy sport, and for several hours the white missiles were flying about in all directions without distinction for personage or sex. The Golden Fleece Extended Company hnd a final cleaning up on Monday last, after j>re» cisely four weeks' crushing, the result being the handsome return of 9040zs of melted gold. The stone for this crushing was taken chiefly from what is known as the Ajax block. It is probable that a dividend of Is per 48,000 th share will be declared from the crushing just concluded, and assuming this to be the case, that sum will make exactly 9s 2d per share, or the large total of £22,000, paid in dividends by this Company, since November las , We are informed by Mr John Trennery, the Corns pany's manager, that the machine will be stopped for three or four days, to allow of the readjustment of the new pinion wheel, &c. A meeting of the members of the Reefton Football Club was held at Dawson's Hotel on Wednesday evening last. Rules of the Greymouth and Christchurca Football Clubs were submitted, and having been read over by the Secretary, Mr Smyrk, were incorporated, adopted, and ordered to be printed. Mr Potts was elected President of the Club, and Messrs Butler and Hughes, Captains for the ensuing season. Messrs Butler, Broad, Smyrk, and Green were appointed a sub-Committee to arrange the order of the rules. It was decided that the colors of the Club should be blue and white. It was further arranged to play a match on the Queen's Birthday (24th inst.), players to be limited to members of the Club. At a late hour on Monday night last it wa discovered that gangrene had set in upon the left arm of the unfortunate man Humphrey Williams, who was recently injured in one of the mines. Williams's arm had been very badly fractured just above the wrist, and up to Monday evening hopes were entertained by Dr Martin of saving the limb, but at a late hour of the night active mortification set in, as related. Dr Martin was at once sent for, and upon examination it was at once decided to amputate the limb, the mortification hay tng extended above the elbow joint. Mr M'Lean, the honorary Secretary of the institution, who had also been sent for, was present, and with Mr Preshaw, the wardsman, assisted at the operation. Owing to the lateness of the hour and suddeness of the call, no other assistance was procurable, but chloroform having been administered, the operation was successfully performed, the limb being taken off within a few inches of the arm*pit. The Mount Ida Chronicle, says that the Rev. E. Royer in a recent lecture on Insanity threw out a novel suggestion on the vexed question of licensing! He suggested that the publicans should be relieved from the necessity of obtaining licenses but that those who drink should be licensed. All nonabstainers, maleor female, were to apply for & license to drink spirits or .wines, each application to be pub« lulled in the Gazette and local newspaper. The Ohinemurl correspondent of the Thames Advertiser writes:— « Sub Inspector Sullen, who is now in charge of thi« district, came up today on a visit of inspection, Ou bis way

up he seized a keg of leaden bulleti, which was bei'g transhipped from the Bub; to the Riroriro, for conveyance to Te Aroha. The keg was in a dirty sack, and was supposed to be a parcel, of corned beef. The affair has caused a great sensation here. The keg and contents were lodged, on arrival at Paeora, at the A.C. station, and there will of course be an investigation. Kelson floes not i^peae to have very highly appreciated the Ulents of the Hart and Searrell troupe, judging from the following very plain speech made by Mr Luscombe Searrell, on the last night of its appearance there :— " In consequence of the gigantic success that we hare achieved in this glorious city, we purpose appearing before you again -, in about thirty-five lyeara, when we trust the rising generation of to-day will have grown to manhood with less meanness in its composition and more appreciation for legitimate amusement. The Dunedin City Council have sent a letter to the lessees of the Princess Theatre, ordering them to construct another door from the pit and stalls, and provide doors opening outwards. If this is not done in ten dayß no license will be issued to the Theatre. To anyone who has seen the building it will easily appear that there is urgent need of treat improvement in the means of egress. At present the pit and stalls are a veritable man trap. There is only one door for both, which is between the stage and the wall, and to reach it several, steps have to be descended. The slightest block, and the whole audience down stairs would be hopelessly cooped up. The only wonder is that the theatre was ever allowed to be built in such a fashion. The Auckland Corporation is determined to make the most of the brightening up of the goldfields. It has sent a circular to the sbarebrokers, requesting them to take out licenses provided for by the Sharebrokers' Act of 1871, the fees for which are £25 per annum. The eharebrokers complain that the tax is a class tax, and especially obnoxious because it only operates within the Provincial district of Auckland. Sbarebrokers in the other Provincial districts of the Colony have not sivb a tax to pay, and as the brokers of Auckland carry on an extensive business with those of the Southern portions of the Colony, they feel that there is no good reason why they alone whould be compelled to tale out licenses. The Herald says s— •' They hate already held a meeting on the subject, and have determined to obtain legal advice before complying with the intimation contained in the circular. The city authorities, of course, view the matter in an entirely different light. They have but little confidence in the continued payment of tho subsidies promised by the General Government after the next session of Parliament ; and they are therefore , nnxious to secure all the revenue which they can obtain. A committee of the Oamaru Borough Council have made the following recom* mentations: — " That any person taking any dog, cat, or other animal to any place of public cnteitainment, licensed under the Licensed Theatres Ordinance, shall be liab'c to a penalty for every offeuce in any sum not exceeding £5" The committee also recommend " thnt no person sLall bo allowed to interrupt the audience, or to interfere with the orJeriy conduct of any entertainment or to annoy any person present Iheveat, either by using loud or unseemly ejaculations, swearm?, or using obscene language, upsetting any chair, form, or seat, jostling, any person, throwing any missile or article from one part of the house to another, whistling, dancing smoking, or creating any disturbance wbatsover. And any person so offending may be forthwith removed by the licensee of such licensed theatre or place of amusement, or by hi 9 servant, or by any police constable, and shall be liable, on conviction of a breach of this by law, to a penalty of not exceeding £5." The Her. Mr Carlyon, Incumbent of Kaiapoi Episcopalian Churib, is still in hot water respecting Ritualistic practices. At the last meeting of the vestry the following resolutions wero proposed «.— " That the churchwardens apply to the bishop for a faculty to remoye from the Church the following articles (the use of which has been declared by the highest ecclesiastical courts in England to be illegal,) namely, all candle* sticks not necessary for the efficient lighting of the church, vases, table covers (except such as provided by the vestry), crosses, retnale or supra altar, banners, &o. } that the bishop be requested to inhibit the continuance of all processions with or without crosses, colored, 'stoles, banners, bowing to the com* munion table, and the employment of one or more aoolytes within the communion rails, which, in the opinion of this vestry, are not only illegal, but highly repugnant to a very Urge majority of the parishioners." "That in the opinion of this vestry the sermon delivered by the Incumbent in defence of the , Rev Mr Tooth, now under punishment for for contempt of the laws of England, was not only uncalled for, but disloyal, and that the churchwarden! reports it to the bishop." The Rev Mr Carlyon refuted to put both motions, and the meeting terminated. Other steps will probably be taken in the matter.