THE Mount Ida Chronicle. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1870.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 94, 2 December 1870, Page 2

THE Mount Ida Chronicle. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1870.

There are- two* side* to a : pic-ture-—the bright? and. the- dark. The former it is usually. a< matter alike of pleasure- and ijistrdii'tanji ta, atmteinplate, while fcbe< lltfcten-te* ssere-Ik a*, me-, lancholy. blanks. unat.ferai-tire- and! unsuggestive:. I'n? tiie former- jjosLfeibnv with regard to its own residents stand* at;the present, time this■•tnwiuof ISWeb*i.. Last week-wo congratulated'our readers .upon what their, own. ene?*gy. and: their own perseverenee had effected in im* proving the appearance of the -town- itself, and in providing ;for their own health, comfort,* -and -safety.. That,, ; however,-was.the-brightorpleasaniside- ; of the picture. Of the others or dark, side,, we are called? upon to speak today. We refer to.*the want of action taken, and the want? of "energy displayed in ail" matters ih: which the Government are concerned', in- connection with this district. We have, since our location here ; . felt called, upon, to- allude,, in, tolerably strong language, to the absence of any. accommodation his theCourt House either for witnesses on-t?!ie_-[ public Our efforts on the subject have I been- with out? effect. OnLy a few days ! since an important case in the War- j de»V Court-occupied, with-bhe excep-.; tion of a short anjoufHinu-nt, from IV! a.m. till. 12. jKia.,. and during of'this protracted" tiine- the unfortunate \ witnesses (some fifteen or sixteen in! j number). \v#na compelled. to= remain.! standing. Human, nature is .physically j unable to endure fatigue of surli, a iture, more particularly when, thens-j exists no necessity ffrr ife. Xtc is no J wonder, therefore, that the tt'oVem-J ment were, execrated, for-tjie.tr. -paltry 1 parsimony. few pounds- sterling;-; would put this: matter.- in-some degree ; to> rights conduce much to publit'-tfom--fort and convenience, and Mr. Main,, who knows- full v>ell the-correctness of our statement, should" lose no tu: e, either personally or from; his ulace iiu the capiiig the attention of the Government to the subject, and. " at them until, he obtains; what he demands.

r j&inofcher djirk side/of the-picture, and showing aigrleat remissness on the part of'the-G-Qv.erMweut,, is the prqsi>iuV inpuffivient size of the School House, and the absence.of the-absolutely necessary accommodation for the comfort and health of" the pupile both inside and outside; We have taken-* the :rou. ! *le to look inio, this matter,, and we find that the attendance of boys is fortyone, though the form, andr writing; accommodation, is sufficient only for twenty.;- and- that the nmnber-of girls w.biO are in> attendance is; twenty-eight, twenty-four of w.hom: are writintr and cyphering with >;ery meagre appliances* The facts are simpfy that the body of the building is inadequate for the in cueased and increasing number of scholars ;: that the accommodation and furniture consequently insufficient,, as is also* the/entrance hall, wiere the caps and eloalia of the scholars are deposited dnrjng: the school, hours-;; and< also. that the state of other absolutely, necessary conveniences is-of so unsatisfactory a nature as to amount to a positive nuisance. These- facts will astonish, no one when it is. borne in mind that- the SchoolSlJouse and adjuncts were built some three years and a-half ago, and that from that time'to the present they have undergone no repair or renovation 'of any kind', not even a-coat of paint.. Not the. least worst feature in the matter is the ineligible site upon which, the- building stands,, in. consequence of the constant accumulations, of the tailings ia Roach's Gully.. This causes tlje water to be almost constantly passing under the School House, frequently rendering acceßs-tothe build-

ing by the children a: matter of impossibility, except at the expense of wet feet. Common, sense should teach u»that without health education;, howevergood! and estimable,, would be of little worth ; and: as the huddling together of" at number of ehildren-in so overcrowded! a building, with insufficient accommodation both, inside and outside, combined! with wet feet, cannot but conduce to ill health,.let us make an efforts to induce the- Government tomove inthe matter, and by-the enlargement of' the building,, the- improvement of acand. the removal of theSchool House another and betterposition,, get r.id of' the evils-of which, wallow Komplhin. Surely such a course* is-only just and wise, and we feel that; if a proper appeal: be made from theproper quarter, the result cannot faib. to be a sun-ess —to the comfort of the children, the credit o« the .School Committee, and the-appearance of the toivn.. it might at first be thought that there* would be difficulty in. finding a properand eligible sire for a School House,., but we- t ] iink. otherwise. The public Kecreation. and Crirket Ground is.-, within a few. yards, of the present. School' House,.and if the building were: to-, be removed to some point elose to-, the fence, easy, access would be iiiven; to»ifc for the young folks during theirhours* ef r,eereation, while they them-selves-would be in a great measure removed" from, the dangers which arealways attendant uponehildren playingv oaia public roadt froin*injury by horses, ande othent- causes. We submit the whole matter for- the»consideration of" the School and we earnestly hope that they will, so address them-, selves to-the subject that the improvements w.hieh we have takuri the liberty of suggesting may, one and all, heeffected before- the- advent of ill?Kew. Year.

I'SJ'-ttoe-'Resid«nt. Magistrate's Court on Saturday, Wra..Ri)bi'rts h . brought up on remand,. wch. litjly cctniuittad., to. Utk-e. his. trial at theforth oming sifting ofthe Supreme Court. Ma W.A.RDBS .been absent at: Hamilton, Hyde,, and'Macraes during the wet-k; no business ha* been transacted either-in-i t'ha- Wardens-, or- Residing Magistrate's-: Court s» Mjte Stkes, the great.somatic conjurer and brilliant., pianist, assisted by Mr. Dixon, theinimitable negro delineator, -who h-.ive been-, making a successful tour through. the G-old-exhibit. in,the Masonic-Hall. Nnseby,. this evening and to-morrow only. The enter- - tainmant is,, we are informed, a highly interest- - 'ing>oni*,.anJ one which will well repay a visit. After the performance, this evening a, ball wilLi be given gratis to.the audience,. which Mr. SykW- well known talent; as a pianist should render highly attractive. Ear further particulars -see-advertisement. The portion .of the Grand Stand,, on the occasion of the ■ Mount-Ida Jockey (.*lub Kaces, 14th and loth December, constituting the luuehe&u and! dining rooms,, was-disposed of" h'y> auction, by-. Messrs. Inder and George, onSaturday last,, to Mr. Henry Money, for the. sum- of '£9 l-'-s-The full programme of the events to be con--tested x fqr at the cH, Bathansruce meeting will; be found in the advertising columns of ourpre.«ent issue, among "which somewhat of a novelty, appears-in the : -form of. a : cheroot race.i Froin the attraction of the programme, as well, as fr-m-the air.ouufc.pf the various^prizes to beawarded, a good attendance may be confidently.anticipated. The da\ soTWe ruces.-are the 26tfcu-and/tite-.27fh December. '•'■-.}■ After a considerable drought, during which strong winds had pi'evailed,.drying, lip alike the races'and the gardens, we had," for a change, on* Monday a tolerably- severe.frost .which has, weave sor:-y to hear, played considerable havoc-, with the gardens-inj-iiis vicinity. The weather lias, however, since that day-,,-resumed its old, features of dryness with heavy wiiUs, whichhave almost entirely, dried up the fountaius of* our-water-supply-,-, and thrown a large numberof hands-out of employment.... ; Wio hope in our* next issue to be able to report a more favorable-: state of things. Mr, Saix>mox of Dunedin, jeweller, anhbimces.- by advertisement, which appears in< another-column, that he will visit this~placeon> the- 16th of December, remaining for threedays only, during which time he will oifer forsale, at G-eorge's-Victoria. Hotel, his valuablestock of diamonds, jewellery, &c. Mr. Salo--mon being about to rehire from, business,, his stock will be sold at ver> considerably reduced prices. A tj:a. meeting recently took place in theschool house, Sowburn, in aid of the funds of' the school. The. tables. were well and amply supplied;.and the thanks-of the-comtnunity arejustly, due to those.-ladies- by w-homfthey were so liberally supplied. Dancing was commenced, immediately after tea, and was kept up with" spirit far into the early hours of 'thr following-; morning. All parties present on the occasion, i desire- to-thank, Mr,. Booth, violinist, for theexertions lie madteto.add to the-enjoyabilityof" the evening. The proceeds are, we are*in- ; formed,, to he applied to the building. ! A concert and.readings.in aid of the funds; of' the-Total Abstinence Society, is appointed to. take place at the Masonic Hall, Naseby, en the evening of Monday, s.th December, hist... See advertisement. A diversified entertainment, comprising: concert and- readings, in aid of the funds of the School Committee, will' take place at the. Ma* sonic. HalljNaßeby, on the evening of Wedjo 2*

day, 7th December inst. Such an object must commend itself to the feelings and sympathies of all classes of the community. Wedndsday last, being St. Andrew's Day, the local banks were not opened for business. In no other respect did any importance appear to be attached to the day by the general public. We beg to remind our readers that the annual race meeting of the Mount Ida Jockey Club will take place on the racecourse, on Wednesday the 14th and Thursday the loth of December next. To all lovers of the turf we say—see programme. Either other,districts are more favored than onr own, or they at least possess more energetic Representatives. On Friday, 23th November, in reply to Mr. Haughtbn—" What amounts (if any) had been expended out of the appropriation of last session for roads maintenance *nd public works in the Lake District ?"—-the Provincial Secretary replied £5,500, at the s.ime time shewing the different works and the sum expended.on each. We wonder if Mr. Main were to ask a similar question with re gard to this district what sort of reply the Secretary would be able to give. Let Mr. jVlain try the experiment. , The replies, also, of the Secretary to several questions put by Mr. Shepherd, and having reference to the interests of his district, were on the whole as satisfactory as might have been expected. We fail to rofcice any action whatever taken by Mr. Main on behalf of the interests of those whom ' he is supposed to represent. The report of the Retrenchment Commission lias been presented to the Council, and has provoked some angry discussions. The sum which the Commissioners propose to save is £4,8 V» per annum, the larger proportion of , "which will be made b reducing the salaries of most of the offirers of the service. The geneTal opinion of the Council seemed to be that no effect sh aild be given to the report this session, an opinion in which the leader of the ' Daily Times' of Monday last entirely coinrides, on the ground " that the appropriations for the current year have already been made, and it would be somewhat of a breach of faith »with the officers, whose salaries were then de- - liberately voted, to bring any reduction into force before the beginning of a new .financial f year." ,: A meeting of-publicans was held in the Oddfellows' Hall, Empire Hotel, on Monday evening Inst. Pre§3n f : Messrs. CM ett (chair), G-eorge, Hunter, Costello, Stewart, M'Namara, Millar, Cogan, Chapman Horswell, Tait. and Orace (Mr. George acting for Mr. Keenan), ► It was proposed by Mr. George, seconded bv Mr. Chapman, « That the publicans in tins district form themselves into a licensed viciual--1 lers association, to be called the Mount Ida | Victuallers' Association." Carried. Proposed by Mr. G-eorge, seconded by Mr. Horswell, "That Mr. Hunter be appoir.ted Secretary, and be requested to write to the Association in Dunedin for a copy of their rules, and other > p irticulars." Carried. The meeting was then aljourned. We cannot imagine a more effectual method of suppressing the illicit trading in grog which has been allowed to obtain to so large an extent on the Otago 'Goldfields, to « the injmy of a heavily tax-paying interest. We. wish the Association success. The members of the Mount Ida Cricket Club will meet at Collett's Ancient Briton Hotel on Monday evening next. • We understand that Mr. N. Salomon, jeweller, will visit Palmerston on the 20th instant, remaining till the 22nd. A summoned meeting of the brethren of the Loyal Naseby Lodge of Oddfellows will be held in the Lodge Eoom on Tuesday evening next. The monthly lecture will be given this (Friday) evening. , Among the recent improvements in this town we may mention the conversion of that part of the Victoria Hall fronting Earn-street into two really large and handsome-looking shops. Mr. George has, we understand, already let one of these new shops, and'has had •several applications for the second. With the exception of this hall having been used bv Messrs. Inder and G-eorge as an auction room, and its having been granted gratuitously to the miners by Mr. George for their meetings, little use has of late been made of it. We are glad, therefore, to find that Mr. George's efforts to utilise the building is likely to° be successful, and the project,, likely to be remunerative. cvevekal large nuggets .have been found at Ingle wood and Dunolly, from twenty to fortyseven pounds weight. --..-=_ _ The Melbourne Cup was won by Nimblefoot, Lapdog second, and Valentine third ; twenty-eight horses started. The time was Smin 37aea, the quickest/ time on record. Dutchman won the Bendigo Cup. In connection with the w'nning of the Melbourne Cup, » most remarkable is told: Mr! Craig (the late owner of Nimblefoofc), before he died, dreamed that the next winner of the Melbourne Cup would wear mourning on his arm. Day, the rider of Nimblefoot, did so and won. He wore it in memory of Mr. Craig. « - ;.- . "•' ft The G-alatea, Captain H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh, left Sydney for Auckland on the 16th ult. '_ Ix reply to a question, Mr. Macassey, in hia speech in.the Masonic Hall, Dunedin, on Friday evening last, said he cpnsidered ftfc Yol J of Justices of the Peace reflected discredit on the Colony.—(Cheers). He believed that a large number of men had their'names on the Commission of the Peace to whom you would » -scarcely lend five pounds-r- (laughter and loud applause)—and that they were not only beggars in person but beggars in character.—(Ai • plause) The, report of the Commissioners, on Re-1 trenchment has been published. They recom* mend a reduction of 20 per eent; from the salaries of the Superintendent, official members of the Executive, Speaker, and Chairman of Committees, and 10 per eent. off the salaries of the permanent staff, excepting officers in the Goldfield's department, officers receiving less than £2OO a-year; and certain special cases, t The Commissioners recommend a further re- * duetiow in the* of' the potfce after" six

months notice, which, however, they consider might be reinibursed to them by lessening the cost of uniform. This outfit for foot constables is now £24 lis. and for mounted men, £2l 35., and can be reduced to £l3 "45.. 6d. per man. The saving in the cost of the-force is to be £350 per annum. In the Harbor department it is proposed to dispense with the harbor master at Kakanui, and the signalmaster at the Heads. By the alterations proposed, and a reduction of boatmens' wages to £8 per month, they propose saving £650 a-year. In the Treasury the 10 per cent, reduction will effect a saving of £lls. In the Sheep Inspector's Department, by., amalgamating the districts, £350, in addition to the ten per cent., would be saved. In the Education Department and also in the Hospital no change is recommended. The Lunatic Asylum affords no opportunity of retrenchment. With respect to the Jetties, it is recommended to dispense with the services of one collector., It is suggested that reductions in the cost of messengers be made to the amount of £IOO a year. In the Crown Lands and Survey Department, which cost the Province, £lfi,7B> a-year, no reduction is recommended beyond the ten per cent.; but it is recommended that fees for searching records, examining maps, copying sections and maps, shall be charged, which the Commissioners consider will yield considerate revenue. On the G-oldfields they propose to save £l,lOO annually by redistributing the work. The sale of furniture by Vlessrs. luder and G-eorge, advertised in our last issue, took place in the Victoria Hall yesterday afternoon. There was a fair attendance, and the prices realised, were, we are informed, satisfactory. The sale will be continued to-morrow evening. Thk amount collected in aid of the German Relief Fund by W. Bodendick, and published in a late issue, should have been on German Hill instead of at Blacks.

List of letters received during July'and August, 187-*, and remaining unclaimed at the Post Oifiee, Naseby, on the 30th November, 1870:—John W Baker, Alexander Dickey, Iseaeli Grigg, Richd Johns, Mr Rennasher, Miss L. Laurden (2), Sarah Lindsay, Charles Livingston, James Moron. Lachlan Oliver, Patrick O'Neill, F Reid, Donald Ross. Robt Shaw, F Smith, Miss Speedily, P Steel. We understan I that the Rev. Mr. Flamank will conduct Divine service in the Union Church, Naseby, on Sunday evening next at half-past six p. m. The annual races, under the patronage of the Tuapeka Jockey Club, will take place about the middle of January. Late advices from Fiji report the wreck of the Albatross. The Earl of Pembroke, wV.q was on board, and the captain and crew escaped.

The Suez mail was anxiously looked for at Melbourne when the Gothenburg left, on the 19th'tilt:

A correspondent in Melbourne writes " I never saw Melbourne and the country generally looking so well. The weather ha? been very pleasant. The all-absorbing Bubject of conversation and feeling is the war. The excitement for news is intense—nothing like it has ever been known here. Thousands wait for hours in the front of the newspaper oftices, and when a copy is procured one reads aloud to the eager multitude. The ambition and barbarity of the Prussians have turned public sympathy against them, and I believe most would rejoice to hear of British intervention in favor of France. The cold-bloodid cruelty with which the war is carried on has no parallel in modern times, and it is astonishing that the civilised world can remain inactive."