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Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 78, 8 October 1877, Page 2

' The- Glee Club will meet for practice this evening at tho usual hour. We understand that tho Government hn3 been comniunicutccl;with by a number of Lycll and Ifampdon residents praying that no steps be taken relative to the formation of a separate County for those places, until a counter peti« tion in course of oignaturo is forwarded to Wellington. It is alleged that many of the signuturos to the present petition are cither fictitious or that they wero apponded under a misapprehension, and further that James Metcnlfe, tho testifying witnoss to tho signatures of the pptition is not a qunlifhxl elector. If these allegations bo true it will appear ( strange that the petition could hove- been smuggled through. Tho share market has bean fiiity active during tho week, and a considerable amount of business has been done. Welcomes still stand, or ratheuraovo in the front van ft,, and lilso the proverbial snow-ball tho further they «011, tho bigger in price they get. The ITopaful crushing is proceeding with every satisfaction, and shares are held with a firm hand in favor of a rise. Keep-nVDarks seem to have driftjed into the realms of. the substantial and are looked upon as real property. Jusi-in-Timesbavo picked up a little during the past week, and of the numerous outside interests in tho BonLnan's district a gradual improv«ment is manifest On the wholo the district is big 1 with promise,, and. it may bo said in the language of tho poet, we aro " surer to prosper than, prosperity could have assured us." A feeling of painful surprise was occasioned in iteofton, on Thursday evening lust, in eonsequenoe of a f report that certain irregular" ities.had boon- discovered in the accounts. of a youth employed as assistant in the Post Office at Reefton. The rumor proved to be true, • ( for shortly, after 9 o'clock in the evening, in question, accused, was arrested by Constablo Jeffries and lodged in gaol. It is thought; tho sum involved is very trivial, but upon this point wo arc unable to apeak definitely. parents of the young man arc very well? off, and hold a most respectable position, and on their account no less thnn for the youthful career thus suddenly, compromised, great sympathy is felt. Tho-accuscd will 'bo, brought before the Eesident Magistrate this morning. The telegraph department has instituted a prosecution against Mr Cochrane, contractor, of Ahnura, for damage done to telegraph poles. It, seems that an excavation wasmude whereby one af the poles fell to tho ground. Intimation of this may possibly act as a warning to others, Considering tho programme put forth, the attendance at (Miner's Hull, on Saturday evening last, was not so large ap. was rea« eonably anticipated. The performance nevertheless, was carried out with great animation. Tho entertainment commenced with "Box and Cox," in which, Miss Lyster, Mr Inglis, and Mr Martini'lli look part. Then followed " Tlie lonn of a Lover," and in both pieces tho house was kept in capital humor.. Tho • whole concluded with " Pombastes Eurioso," in which Mr E.W. Uutler, as tho valiant son of Mars, wua immense, and drew forth tho mo9t hearty applause, Mr Butler appeared quite aufait in stage business, and acquitted him-, self right well, and his reappearance, at an I •early date, upon tho stage in a more ample character will, bo looked forward' to with, pleasure. Mr Martinolli, as Fufllosj.nequittfld himself very creditably. It ia ncecili-ss to suy that both Miss Lyster, as Distaffio;!, and Mr Inglis, as the mighty Artoxomir.ou*, contn-. buted in no small degreo to the -success ot' th'. 1 piocc. It v, wo believe, intended to givo | ia. dramatic entertainment on Saturday even- | ing nex'. for the benefit of the family of the lute Mr D' Tourctto. It pecms singular that tho framers of tho Counties Act or tho lnw advisers should havo deemed it indispensable that demands, for rutes sboulil be imuio personally. Why demands cither by public notk:o or pcl 1 post should not have been considered suffieiert is inexplicable. As it is, acting upon fclie udvice of the County Solicitor., Mr W. Pitt, the luungaluii County Council has been driven to tho necessity of appointing additional officers for the purpose of complying with this, as it seems- perfectly inane ami unnecessary provision. Tho folly of llio process will bo understood from tlio fact "hut in tho cusi: of ] minors living fur back i.; tho dillcruiit guilies und hills, the in>ilivitliiul- m(;os"tp hjs . " i!i>;

tnamled personally " only amount to 53, and thus in some instances these temporarily appointed collectors will hare to make journeys of from five to twenty milea to serve the demands — rather ft red piece of red tape. We have received intimation that " Tho Vagabond," who recently contributed to the Australasian a series of articles upon various aspects of social lifo in Molbourno, is about to publish a Christmas Book, tho publishers being Messrs Turner and Henderson, 16. and 18 Hunter Street, Sydney. Amongst the names of those who will contribute to. the work nro' Marcus Clark, Ada Ward, Brim ton Stephens,. A. P. Martin,. Thomas Mosor, T?. R. o'. Hopkins, Dr Maloney, BYcd. Lystor, N, R. D. Bond, James Eickoregill, G-ar net Walch, Walter H. Cooper, Richmond Thatcher, Ricciotti Garibaldi, Harold W. 18. Stephens,. Lytton Sothem, John Ilonnings, {jnmes S. Butters, Bruce Phillips, "Tho I Vngabond," Tasraa (a new Australian authoress) and others of tho liborary tait' of Tictoriii. The book will appear early iv Deoember noxfe, and will bo looked forward to with considerable interest. Somo indignation was expressed at bhoCaunty Council meeting, on Thursday la3t, ovi-r a letter from tho Coroner inclosing a rider added to tho verdict of tho jury on tholate Mr D' Touretto's ense. The rider expressed regrefefor tlie^reuiissnoss of tho Coun« cil in not providing more efficient means of crossing tho river, Ifc was stated that tho Council provided a ferry to he kept opon until 12 o'clock on Saturday nights, and 11 o'clock on other nights of tho week, and this was considered as all that could bo i\3a» sonably axpectcd.. It would 1 beiprcpostcrous to think that tho Council could provide a fonry available all through fcJio night, and the fact of no requisition ever having been made to the Council as to the inefllcency of tho ferry, or that the hours were inconvienfc or in fact any complaint having been made on the subject was regarded as sufficient to securothb Council against such a grave imputation, Tho possibility of erecting a temporary bridge was spoken of, but it was adduced in evidence, afc the inquest, that the river was Hooded' on the night in question, and the site of such< bridge submerged, and, therefore, even had such a bridge* been erected and withstood tho flood ifc would have baen quite inaccessible. Tho accusation of the jury was a serious one, and should not have been made upon insubstantial grounds, and the question w&s asked privately as to whether the terms of the rider were not sufficiently strong to bo treated as actionable and proceedings instituted at once. Whether this course will bo taken we are not at present able to state.. We observe that at the sixth annual meeting of tho Lyfctelton Permanent Land, Building, and Investment Socioty, it was shown that the reserve fund of the society, stood at£463 14s 7d, being rather more than 7J- par cent of tho society's assets*.. And tho cost of the management was little more than 2£ per 'cen l ; on their transactions, which had born more then covered by fines, and entrance f. eg a'ceepted. The managing committee wore congratulated on the fact that there bad not been any loss whatever in tho society* since its foundation. At Clmatchurch last w.eek a young man named Alexander Leith Gordon drank a bottle of chloral. At tho inquest ifc ms proved that he had been drinking previously very heavily, and tho night before- ho took, the chloral was almost deliriou«. Tho medical evidence was that tho deceased hud suffered from alcoholism, which had resulted in con--gestion of t!ie brnin, which might haso been hastened, but not caused, by chloral, and towards which his drunken habits, would tend. One of the jurors montioned'tbat tho deceasod had been a servant of his, and Hint ho had known birr, for five or six yearß. Ho bad come into town about tln-eo weeks ngo, having hud alirgo sum of money left him, and had got on tho spree. Tho coroner (Dr Coward) said tho chloval was a thing wlach paople should never take without advice. Ho compared patent medicines, generally to- tho proverbial "pig in a poke," and said that pewplo who took them actod ignoraiitly, inasmuch as.- they could know nothing, of tlieir ■» i eal character or contents.