ST. BATHANS.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 69, 27 May 1870, Page 3

ST. BATHANS.

May 23, 1870

The coach due at Hill's Creek on Saturday has not reached there as yet, therefore there is no" mail, and consequently St; Bathans is left in ignorance of the sayings and doings of the outer world during the last ten days ; and, if one may. judge of down country from the preseat state of the weather and the roads in this locality, travelling should be slow indeed. A great quantity of rain fell here at intervals since Monday morning last, and also much snow on the ranges ; still the weather was rather mild, on account of a warm northerly wind which prevailed all the time. This, of.course, had the effect of bringing down large quantities of snow water, and swelling the Manuherikiato such an extent that travellers desirous of crossing over to St. Bathans were afraid to do so, and had to remain at Hill's Creek from Friday Until Sunday evening. On yesterday (Sunday) evening the wind changed; it blew cold from the south, and we had a heavy fall of snow, commencing at four and ceasing to fall at seven p.m.; frost en sued, and now, to all appearance, " it's winter fairly." I have not heard that there is any party idle this morning in consequence of the snow and frost, and it is satisfactory to think that, water being so abundant, King Frost himself cannot do much hurt for a long time, unless the head-races should happen to break away, and thus give him a chance of putting his veto on the tail-races. The ' Chronicle,' along with all other news; is " absent" this week, and 1 have not the pleasure of knowing how you have answered my questions of last week; but, taking it for granted that Messrs. O'Neill and Vogelare not in their proper places, a good many persons have sigued the requisition calling on those gentlemen to resign the seats to which they were elected by the inhabitants of the Otago Gold fields. . A.-'- ' Dunstan Times ' of the 20th instant has found its way to town somehow,'and I have been favored with a look at it just now. The leading article is ari able exhaustive review of No. 84 of a work Entitled ' D unedin Monthly Prices Current.' According to the ' Times ' article, the author of this work lays all the misfortunes of Dunedin at the doors of up-epuntry traders and people in general. "If money is ■scarce and banks are putting on the screw; it is because the up-couiitry districts have neglected to meet their engagements," and " if the escorts fall off, it is not because gold is scarce, or Dunedin capitalists refuse to support j the miners, but that they (the miners) are lazy," &c., &c. And again, " If traders fail in town, it is because they have been severely handled by their up-country customers." The writer qjf the 4 Times" article ably refutes these slanders, and clearly traces the ills of Dunedin traders to their own doors. Taking theiri in general, there is no more, industrious class of persons living

ttian th& miners, and if a few of t'lem, either from :;ai'd lack or their owii indiscretion, happen to fail, the weight of their tall is borne by their up-country friends, and is never felt by the Duuedin trader. Aud the instances of upcountry traders failing to meet their engagements are so very rare, and the' amounts in wnioh they "fail so very trifling, and distributed over several houses, taat a Dunedm firm which feels acutely its share of the loss, must be indeed a musaroom one." It is quite true that Duuedin houses are in the habit of forcing goods on people up-country I nave heard of more than one. instance Avaere they (the houses) proved more than decently expert in pouncing on the up-country trader for the price of goods so " lorced" on hig hands. Failure may overtake Duuedin houses, but, it appears to me that whatever else may be the cause of such failure, the up-country trader is seldom allowed the chance of being a party to it. Miners aud tradespeople up-country nave quite enough sins of their own to account for, without being saddled with those of Dunedin, and the writer in the Times deserves credit for so ably exposing the sly attempt to so saddle them.—A. B.C.

Resident Magistrate's Coubt.—May 24 (Before H. W. Robinson, Esq., R.M.)

Patrick Connors v. Owen Pearce. —Debt £o. Settled out of Court.

Owen I hvens v. Benjamin Was her.— £l2 damage to garden by pigs'. Plaintiff had, it appeared, a small garden which had. been entered and damaged by the pigs of the defendant, and the crop, of potatoes and carrots injured, it was shown that the fence was a very poor one, and that tiie whole crop would not probably have been more than 2 cwts. of potatoes and of carrots and parsnips. The plaintiff could not give any particulars ofhis loss, and the Court,, holding that it was evident some damage had been done, gave a verdict.forlOs., and costs.. Tiie Same v. W. M'Kenzie.—This was a case on the information of Constable Morton for cruelty to a horse. The defendant, who is a carrier, did not appear to the summons,, and service having been proved, a warrant was issued for his apprehension. Police v. Thomas King.—Breach of Licensing Ordinance.—lt w'as proved tiat a sale had taken place, and the Court imposed a penalty of £ls, and costs ; failing payment forthwith distress, and failing distress imprisonment for two months. ,

Warden's Court. (Before H. W. Robinson, Esq., Warden.)

Martha Williams v. Patrick Kenny. Complaint for encroachment on business area in main street St. Bath ana. The parties'in this case are neighbors, and a piece of ground between their respective premises had been left vacant by the removal of another person. The plaintiff claimed that the ground had been marked out for her by one Philip Schaen, but when Mr. Schaen was called as a witness he said he had marked in a part of the ground for h*r and the rest for himself, and had erected a fln::e to keep it, intending to build, but had since changed his mind, and given it up. The portion he took for "himself was that which the defendant was now about to build on. Complaint dismissed.