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Kumara Times, Issue 1995, 20 January 1883, Page 2

Several parties are plodding away at the new rush at the back of the English Church, with varied success. John Monahan and party, who are adjoining the prospectors, bottomed at about 30ft., finding i". 'or, but not in sufficient quantity to work by paddocking. They are now driving southward hoping to obtain better prospects, and have obtained a few grains to the dish. Donnelly and party are down 21ft or 22ft. ; they have had to sink some distance through blue pug and loose ground, which necessitated slabbing the shaft all the way down. At the depth stated, they are now coming on to gravel. Berdiner and party are so

satisfied as to have commenced a 300 to 400-feet tunnel tail-race with the intention of sluicing. Next to the prospectors (M'Uveney and sons), Jones and party's may be said to be the best, if not actually the best, claim. They bottomed this morniug at a depth of 38 to 40 feet. At 15ft. they came upon wash, and have therefore a stratum of 25 feet, which give fine prospects for sluicing; in fact, Mr Jones is of opinion that with this depth of wash their claim is as good as any in Dillman's or Larrikins. This party will have exceptional advantages : the distance of their claim is reckoned at only 100 feet from the Teremakau river bank, and they will have a fall of 300 ft. or so for a tailrace, whether tunnel or open. Of course the great drawback will be the amplitude of water. With the long season of dry weather we are having, there is not near enough of that element for all the claims requiring it on the original lead. If it be possible, however, no doubt Mr Gow, the race manager, will contrive to adopt means to at least test fairly this newly-discovered ground.

Messrs Cassidy, Binnie and Co's royal mail coach arrived at two o'clock this afternoon, bringing Australian and the Suez mails, which arrived at the Bluff last Monday, per Rotomahana. This fine steamer left Melbourne on the 9th, called at Hobart on the 11th, leaving again at 1.30 p.m. ; reached Milford Sound on the 14th, at 2 p.m. ; left again at 3.30 a.m. on the 15th, and arrived at the Bluff at 8.40 on the day stated. She had light northerly winds with fine weather throughout. The Union Company's steamer Wakatipu arrived from Sydney with his Excellency the new Governor on board at 11.30 last evening. A large crowd assembled on the wharf. The official landing takes place at 2 o'clock to-morrow afternoon, at Wellington. The Union Company's steamer Mahinapua left Oamaru on Thursday and Lyttelton yesterday. She will leave Wellington to-day and arrive at Greymouth on Monday next, leaving the following day on her return trip. In his address to the electors at Ross last Monday evening, Mr Fitz Gerald alludes to miners and mining in Kumara, to our representative and the Ministry as follows :—" The first occasion on which he had been called on to act in his capacity as their representative was at Easter last, when with Mr Seddon, the member for Kumara, he went to Wellington, and after numerous interviews with the Minister of Mines succeeded in bringing about a more equitable arrangement between the Government and the miners wfyh regard ; to the payment for water from Govern-

ment races. He passed a high compliment on Mr Seddon for his untiring effort to have the gold duty abolished and for his exertions generally on behalf of the mining interest. Though they were on opposite sides of the House so far as general politics were concerned, Mr Seddon and himself had invariably worked together in the most cordial manner when any Goldfields question was under consideration, and he had no doubt they would continue to do so. That they had not accomplished more was to be attributed to the fact that they stood alone so far as the representation of Westland is concerned. It was a matter for grave regret that they had lost the services of Mr Gisborne and he (Mr Fitz Gerald hoped the time would quickly come when a fairer share of representation would be granted to the Coast. He purposed still to give a support to the present Ministry, for he agreed with their general policy, and he failed to see that the Colony at large or the goldfields would be one whit better off under the guidauce of the men who composed the present opposition. Indeed under a ministry with Mr Montgomery at its head there would be still less expenditure on public works, and the goldfields would fare even worse than they did at present." At the close of his address, which lasted two hours, Mr FitzGerald resumed his seat amidst great applause, and a hearty vote of thanks was unanimously carried. At his meeting at Rimu on Wednesday evening, Mr Fitz Gerald remarked:—"l think the gold duty very unfair, but some other tax must take its place to give our local bodies some revenue to work with."

The Otago Daily Times is very severe on Bishop Moran and his candidature for the Peninsula seat. In a leader on the subject, the editor remarks:—"While Bishop Moran is the representative and mouth-piece of the worst ecclesiastical tyrrany in the world, he stands before a public audience and talks about civil and religious liberty. We say unhesitatingly that this is not a question of the rights of 70,000 Catholics, but aims and wishes of

a tyrannous hierarchy, the head of which is the 'infallible' Pope." It concludes : "Let the State keep within its own secular functions, and religion will flourish. Let it once step outside those functions and pamper any religious body, and strife and bitterness, jealousy and hatred between sect and sect will be the inevitable consequence. We say, then, to Bishop Moran, as we hope the electors of the Peninsula will say to him next Monday, ' Hands off, rash prelate, hands off this ark of our liberties.'"

A company order issued this day notifies that the Kumara Rifles will parade on Tuesday next, the 23rd inst. Any member not wishing to serve under the new Volunteer regulations is required to return, without delay, all Government property in his possession.

The installation of the W.M. and officers of the Lazar Lodge, E.C., Kumara, for the ensuing year will take place on Friday next, the 26th inst., at two o'clock in the afternoon. All the members are invited to attend. A banquet will take place at eight o'clock the same evening. Thursday's Ross Advocate states : "Mr Camile Malfroy, of this town, was presented with the sum of £IOO by the directors of the Ross Flat Gold Mining Company at their last meeting, in recognition of his having promulgated a scheme whereby the water of Guardian Flat may be successfully drained. It is over ten years since Mr Malfroy first introduced this scheme."

The Southern Free Press (Matanra) has a gossipy paragraph about a farmer of that district who has left his wife and six children lamenting, and betaken himself to foreign climes with a Dunedin barmaid, of whom he became enamoured during a Christmas trip to this city. He sold his farm and stock, and borrowed judiciously from his trusting neighbours. He was, it is added, about the last man in the district from whom such conduct would have been expected. A warrant is on his heels.

At the Sydney Opera House, Miss Emelie Melville is playing " GirofleGirofla," and doing a fine business ; the company is a good one. Armes Beaumont, the tenor, was taken ill the other night. Charley Harding (formei'ly from Kumara New Zealand) played the part at a very short notice and astonished everybody by his really clever impersonation, and has established himself a favourite with the Sydney public, who are quite pleased with the talent displayed by the Flaxlander. By latest advices, this afternoon, Miss Melville and forces were presenting "Fatinitza" at the same Opera House.