The Kumara Times. Published Every Evening. MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1878.

Kumara Times, Issue 638, 14 October 1878, Page 2

The Kumara Times. Published Every Evening. MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1878.

The usual fortnightly meeting of the Kumara Prospecting Association, will be held at the Town Hall this evening. Dr. Hector, when passing through here to-day en route for Greymouth, took the opportunity, accompanied by theßor.>u«h Surveyor, to visit the various workings, and also to ascertain by personal inspection what benefit would be likely to accrue to the district by the construction of a sludge channel, as proposed by the Government 3ome time ago. , Subsequently we learned that Dr Hector expressed himself much impressed wiLh the importance of the goldfield and the necessity of opening it up for ground sluicing by means of a main sludge channel. There is every probability that Dr Hector's report will result in this desirable work being immediately undertaken by the Government. A large numbeivof those who were ex--£ected.-'to take part in the firing for places, in the-Kiimara Rifle team"' on Saturday, did not put in an appearance, •owing" to the severity of .the weather in the after- ■ gfibn i and, consequently;* the • scores -bf the five highest that did compete are the first five representatives. The second competition will take place next Saturday when the remainder will be chosen. '

The adjourned meeting of those interested in clearing away and defending stumps will take place at Rugg's Kumara Hotel this evening. As the cricketing season lias now fairly commenced in all parts of the colony, it behoves all lovera of the game who intend to play this season to set to work in earnest, and either by a little manual exercise or a pecuniary donation, or by becoming a subscriber to the association, to assist in the effort will., now be made to have the piece of ground selected at once made suitable for practicing upon. We understand the committee appointed to report thereon find there is much less work to be done than was at first anticipated. Last Saturday.,afternoon at about three ■o'clock a coach was observed coming down Seddon'street, from the direction of Dillman's Town, containing a festive party of ladies and gentlemen, who appeared determined to have an outing, notwithstanding the wretched state of the weather. The vehicle pulling up at the Court House, suspicions were at once aroused as to the probable object of the trip. In about half-an-hour afterwards, however, a very happy 'couple might have been seen emerging from the office of the Registrar of Marriages, who, we presume, duly tied the gor'dian knot. Should'our- surmise be correct, we wish the newly married couple a hearty M God speed."

The following are the polling places for the forthcoming general election, as fixed by the Westland County Council at its last meeting, for the different Ridings : Arahura Riding Kumara, Dilhnan'B Town, Callaghan's, Goldsborough, Stafford, Big Dam, and German Gully.* Kanieri Riding—Kanieri, Woodstock, Bluq Spur, Big Paddock, Upper Crossing, an<f The Forks. Totara Riding—Ross, Red- 11 man's, and Donoghue's. Okarito Riding— l Okarito, Gillespie's, Five Mile, and Hunt's: Beach. Jackson's Bay Bay and Okura. The. election will .take place on Wednesday, the 13th - day pi November next. '•

A correspondent writes as follows to the West Coast Times :—"At Dillman's Town some thirty miners are about innew "feature.: ingoldfields life by having a 'club housel of their own, which the prompters intend shall possess all .the comfort and advantages usually obtainable in such institutions. .-The premises' already secured are in" every way suitable for a club, being new, substantial, cpmitfan&hig,. and.conimodip.us;: an&aitiia-; ted in the very best part of Diilman's. Internally it,;.is4ll'thatigan be with a large and lofty hall, and handsome windows overlooking the Main street,' behind which there will be a smoking room, reading room, and lavatory. ,Th& kitchen',-' which' the' : most' ; pretentious hotelkeeper in Kumara might envy, will enable whoever is entrusted ' with the' cuisine department to cater expeditiouslyfor the most fastidious tastes., The management will be under a secretary and a committee.pf its .members. ' !

We are glad .(says. the.Gr.ey River Argus) to state that, from inquiries made by the police, there does not -appear to be any foundation for the rumor published in our issue of Saturday, that three men had been drowned by the'in. netting of a boat in crossing the Grey river at the TwelveMile. We may state that the information was given to us by a person who had just arrived in-town from the country, and who said that he witnessed the occurrence. Probably he must have mistaken- a snag for the boat, as there is no knowledge of anyone missing. ;.:,■>

The Wellington papers print an opinion of Mr Rowe, M.H.R., on the copper lode at D'Urville Island. He recommends that 100 tons should be got out and sent to Newcastle for test purposes. The Wellington Post reports that Mr Rowe and ■ others have leased a tract of land on the Nelson coast, and that a party has been organised to search for: copper ore on.the leasehold acquired.Commodore J. Q. Wilson, who has been appointed to succeed Commodore Hoskins on the Australian station, is an officer .of the Royal Navy who has seen some service ; but he is-noted more particularly for his having been connected, in a considerable degree, with the naval training of boys. He has the reputation of being a good officer, and, under Admiral Sir James Hope, was present at the taking of the Peiho Forts, China, about the year 1857. Before that time, however, he was commander on board H.M.S. Bombay, which was burnt off Monte Video, in 1864.. His latest ship has been H.M.S. Thunderer, on board of which, in July, 1877, he narrowly escaped losing "his life when one of the ship's boiler's, exploded, and about forty men were killed. Before being in the Thunderer he served in the Impregnable. Three years is the time for which a Commodore on this station is appointed, and this period, it is understood, will elapse between the date of Commodore Hoskin's appointment and that of Commodore Wilson's arrival here. With regard to the movements of the men-of-war now on the Australian station, it is expected that the Sappho and the. Nymphe will return home first, but the Sappho will probably pay.a visit.to New Guinea. A novel method of preserving meat is thus described by the St. Arnaud Mercury :—" Mr Stahl, of the Pyrites Works, informs us that on Monday last, while carting away tailings from the Chrysolite mine, he came across a leg of mutton embeded in the sand fully six feet ,in depth, and in a spot he knows, from personal experience, has not been molested for at least four years.. . A brown;ooafcibgi had accumulated on the .surface of themeaj;, which was only skin deep, and when rernoved the use of the knife exposed mutton of the freshness, sweetness,. cpior equal to the latest killed in our butcners' shops. What a subject for scientific men!" Reports from all parts of Cork state that the potato dise-ise is uni\ ersal. Indeed, it is reported all over the South of Ireland r

Satisfactory experiments were made in the presence of the Secretary for War and a large staff, with the 80 and 38-ton guns at Shoeburyness, on the 26th July. A shot from the former, fired at an elevation of ten degrees, grazed the ground first at four and a-half miles, and then ricochetted two miles further. Brown's wife went to the dentist's on Friday and took gas. The new set of teeth is not ready, nor is she ready ; and so there has been peace in the Brown family for several days. As Brown joyfully remarked : "Her mouth is closed for repairs."

For miraculous cures by the of use Eucalypti Extract, read fourth page.— [Advt.]