THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1871.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 144, 1 December 1871, Page 4

THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1871.

We this day record, with feelings of unfeigned regret, a circumstance of a very unfortunate nature, which took place at St. Bathans, on the morning of Sunday last, whereby a Chinaman has been severely wounded, and a gentleman of unblemished character has been placed in a position anything but enviable. We do not desire, lior is it our intention, to enter into or discuss the merits of a ease which is literally sub. judice, but we feel we are at liberty to speak generally of the position and conduct of the Chinese on our Goldfields, and of the causes which have, to a very great extent, led to the feeling of dislike, if not abhorrence, with which the people of China are, with few exceptions, regarded throughout the length and breadth of the Goldfields. Independently of the feeling, which has undoubtedly obtained among the miners, that an alien population is working ground and extracting therefrom treasure which of right belongs to them, the general habits of this people are distasteful to their notions of civilisation, vyhilo their \vell-known thiev-

. • - ' —— l T" ish proclivities are utterly at variance with those feelings of honor and honesty among miners which have, we believe, as a rule, invariably characterised the conduct of the members of that important class of society one towards the other. This is neither time nor place to enter into the question as to the propriety or otherwise of the admission upon our Gold fields of the Chinese population upon equal terms with Europeans, nor, indeed, would our opinion upon the subject be of much value, seeing that they are so insignificant in point of numbers as to render their presence in this field little, if any. thing felt With regard to Iheir habits, it is. certainly our own 'ault if we choose to mix and associate with them, and therefore their habits cannot, we opine, be held to be a plea against them. But the thievish proclivities of the race, to which we have alluded, are such as to raise the natural ire of any honest man, while the cunningness and adroitness with which their pilfering exploits are performed I are such as to. elude the vigilance of those whose duty and interest it is to protect their own property and detect the robbers. The very fact that hundreds of tail races, boxes, tubs, and tools are left exposed and umvatehed night after night, has inculcated a feeling of mutual trust and mutual honor among European miners, and engendered a feeling of mutual: confidence one towards the other which has been seldom if ever abused. Even in the early days of the Victorian Diggings, though a bush muter would not hesitate to " stirk'-up " and rob, he would have felt degraded at the bare idea of pilfering or-stealing washdirt. There is something in. the act so mean, so sneaking, so despicable, that there are but few who do dot regard it with ab-. horrence. A lhau who, with a pistol at one's breast, demands " your money or your life," is a gentleman compared to the lazy, cringing,, crawling, snakelike thief -who, in the dead of night,, when all honest men should be asleep, avails himself of the hours of darkness to rub the hard- working miner of that which it,has taken him weeks—nay,, months-r-of toil, experience, capital,, and perseverance to acquire. Wecan/-. not, indeed, picture to ourselves anything more irritating than to find oneself robbed in the manner in which robberies are carried on by the Chinese thieves upon the Goldfiefds. No one is safe from their visits, awd though sehLm, from the fact of the cunningness and adroitness to which we have*, referred, detected, there is little doubt that there are, on every field in the Province, organised gangs of villains w' o live in comfort and indolence upon, the hard earnings of honest men. So utterly heartless in this respect is the "Heathen Chinee" that he would have as little compunction in robbing a friend and countryman as he would have in robbing an enemy or a European. No one is free from his clandestine pilferings. Take, for instance, a case similar to that which has just . occurred at St. Bathans, and then let each one make the case a self case, and ask himself what his feelings and conduct would have been had he been placed in a similar position to those who had been for months past systematically robbed of the just proceeds of their honest and hard labor. We do, not desire for a moment to raise the Anti-Chinese cry, or to set nation against nation, but we cannot but think that the mistaken leniency with which the Chinese have, as a rule, bien, treated by the Magistracy when convicted of theft, has emboldened them to carry on their thievish and lucrative trade to a greater extent and in a more systematic manner than they would otherwise have done. Their gi.in has been, perhaps, hundreds of ounces of gold; their punishment— to them a mere bagatelle—a month, or less, imprisonment, with little to do and an abundance of wholesome food.

Nor is the thievish character of this people the only charge which can be laid at their d»»oiv They possess a knowledge of the art of counterfeiting gold in a very remarkable degree. So, perfect, indeed, aie they in this art that they have been in the habit, ever since the discovery of the first Austra-. lian Goldfields, of imposing alike upon, the go\d purchasers and the banks. .4

mor.e demoralising practice than that of forging coin or making spurious 'gold' does not, in our opinion, exist upon the face of the globe. With the above facts before us, we can come to •noiother conclusion than that the presence of the Chinese oil our Gold fields is an evil—an evil, however, for which, while we admit its existence, we are unable to suggest a remedy. -

There is great sympathy both felt and expressed for Mr. John Bwing throughout.; the length and breadth of the entire district, in consequence of his having been committed for ' f triasl on the ■ charge of shooting a Chinaman with intent-to do him grievous bodily harm, -and a movement is to be set on foot immedi- - ately-to raise funds to secure the best possible -r, legal ;ad vice and meet the .expenses of' his. defence at the January sitting of the Supreme 5 Court. We are not in a' position fio state par.■iticulars as: to where and when.the wills be opened. We doubt-not, however, but that !Naseby will agaiu siiovv herself to the front on ■ ;this'as on former: oct'asioiiSi . .. . . As will be seen by an advertisement in another column Messrs. Inder and George will eell?by auction, at their robins, Victoria Hall, ,on . Wednesday, 6th 1 >ecember, the .booths, pa idoek, and cards in connection with the -forthcoming meet ing of the Mount Ida Jockey .Club.- Also, to;morrow evening, on the ground, ... a garden and house, the property of John Conv nor. : '* '-'■ - ■*'

: In tlie late trial of «Tohn Ewing for wound" ing_a Chinaman,* a report of which wi l be found in another column, Mr. John Allob, the Govei:nment_liiterpreter, was present: Too . mucli credit cannot be given to Mr, Alloo for tlie zeal displayed bv him in the execution of uliis duty. lleieft. Q.ueemstown on L'yaSday at •v 5 a.m., arriving at JSaseby ai 2.30 p.m. on the J follovvitig day. - It wiil be observed from the new Act •j (which? comes .into -operation this day);.that all . cheques will require to be stamped with a 2d. i stamp; receipts above £2 will also require to be stamped 2d.—instead of a Id for a cheque » a Id for a receipt over £o as heretofore. A MEisTius of the Mount Ida District llosj>nal. Committee took place ist the office of the x iseby Wjater Works Company, George's Vict . iia tlall, on rheevesuiig of vtoVi lay List , 27i li I; >tant, to recede the report or the Site Coni- , i- ittee, and to select.a design for the building. ." .. '.I the ]S T aseby members of Committee,at! also ~ ir. jcMorg&n ,\ivpresentalive of Kyeburn, > were . i- esent. . Tlfil President in chair.—The . report of the Site Committee was to the effect that, as thcy-had entered upon,'the duties intrusted to. them wit.li the, understanding^'-'that, it ■ was not. contemplated,, in,.the institution "" i ; about to be established, that, a resident. sur : * gran, and staff s]iowl4-l:be.,.^')i|iitiiine(l > '- their' choice of a site was very limited, as it was eviv ' jdent that the locality niust. be'kufficieutly near • 1 the town(to obtain the .advantage o.f medicul ;•• ail vice —The Committee, upon , viewing the *■' grouiift around and in the neighborhood of the i ' town, found all.the sites considered , ; .could be made available were' either in the I hands .of private individuals'as freeholds, or •I 1 were held under residence area certificates. !, -The Committee had put. themselves in communication with the proprietors of the most ' 'eligible sites, arid'submitted " five'offers wdiich . liad tbeen made,them in: writing.—After the whole had been carefully .discussed, it was resolved to accept the offer of Mr. M'Kenna lor , .\liis area (£4O), and the President, Treasurer, i and Secretary were appointed to conclude t.he purchase. —Four building designs were examined) by the Committee, and, after careful . inspection, one was selected, should it be found that the building could be put up at the price V' : nauied, and-the" President., Messrs. lnder and Smith were appointed to go into the estimates previously lo the Committee calling for ten- ' ders. . • •

: Itniust be gratifying to tta residents of the J.Goldfields;tb know that the cost of living has t .been materially reduced by the ; use of Flour from -the ,Mili of Robertson and Hallenstein, Xake Wakatip, which is by far the best pro-. du?ed in the Province,' and fully equal'to the best Adelaide ; whilst same is delivered to all parts of the G-qldfieids at a much cheaper rate than any other Provincial brands. Orders sent to I. Hallenstein and Co., Cromwell, will be promptly attended i0.~4.dv. : It will be seen in our Court report that the Chinaman, A-h Clieuw, pleaded guilty to the - charge of stealing gold dirt from the tub.in the ; claim of Mr. Ewing, at St. J3athans, on the - 26th instant, which led to the infliction of the gunshot wound from which lie is now, suffer:in<;. The pleading guilty by Ah Cheow. has had the effect, of keeping, secret many facts cori- • nected with the of chat worthy •and his mate which mnst.axidjwould have come out had the evidence of Mr Kwing and others been gone into. Cqosidering that All Cheow had no legal adviser, we cannot- but look upon' his pleaimg as he has done as an additional instance'of smartness and 'cunningness' worthy alike of himself and his antecedents. Ineokmatioit has reached this p'ace that the dwelling-house on Mr. Main's stati-uj was des--troyed by fire on Sunday: lasfo We have nothing whether any other ; damage was 1 dOne. and no particulars as to ; the fire further than that ; it ; origin xted in the roof of the ; ;building, which js qf thatch. We are glad to ,t e able to report the wounded Chinaman; Ah is progressing far ; vorabiy. Since his reception in the Naseby gaol he has received every attention, both' ..medical and other which lm dangerous situation..required. Sergeant M'Clusky and-the police'exerted themselves in every possible way $p alleviate the pain of the sufferer. havp been requested by Captain Inder

to acknowledge the receipt of the sum of £'2 2s. from Arthur Briscoe and Co., and a similar sum of £2 2s. from the iS'ew Zealand Insurance Company, in aid of the funds of the Naseby Volunteer Fire Brigade. ' The Mount Ida Garrick Glub have it, we believe, in contemplation to give aiv entertainment on the evening of Boxing Day. We have heard nothing''further'than that there will be an entire change of pieces. ~We are glad lo hear of the Club coining to the front again, and we have no doubt as lo their success.

This explanation whicl; Ime been offered us for bringing the wounded Chinaman from St. Bathans to this place is that St. Bathans is within the police district *)f Mount Ida, at pre;-ent under charge of Sergeant M'Clusky. We confess we were at first rather surprised at such a course being pursued, seeing that there is a Resident Magistrate stationed at Blacks, and who presides over the St. Bathans Courts. We admit the tolly of our being surprised at all or at anything.' The various districts throughout the Province are a maze or labyrinth through which we should be sorry to be compelled to wander. We have Electoral Districts for General and Provincial Governments, Goldfields Districts, District Court Districts, Licensing Districts, Registrars' Districts, and no doubt many others also—no two districts Jhaving the sa»ne boundaiies.

In connect ion wit h the wounded Chinaman's case, Mr. 1£ wing was naturally anxious that the man should lnive the advantage of the best" medical advice obtainable, and two medical gentlemen living in opposite directions, and neither of them a hundred miles from Nuseby, had the modesty to ask the sum of £SO only, as a fee. , Modest—-very.

OtJU remarks in a recent- i'sue as to the almost unlimited exte t. of this G-oldfield, appears to be becoming daily more and more verified, in our present issue it will b*e seen an application under the acre system has been made bv Messrs. Williamson and Kaye for a claim in Speck Gully.

A GONCEitT and readings in aid of the funds of the Mount Ida District School Committee will take place at the Masonic Hall, on the evening of Friday next. The programme, which appears in another column, is an inviting one, and there will no doubt be a good attendance as the object is a good one, and one deserving of public supporr. The Naseby Brass "Band have kindly promised the.r services on the occasion.

, An advertisement in another column notifies that a tea meeting will be held in the Union Church on the evening of Friday, 22nd Dec. instant, after which the Be v. Mr. Flainank will deliver a lecture. The object of the meeting is not mentioned, but, from .the high character Mr. Fjamank bears there can be no doubt that it is a good one. ' The lecture given by Mr. H. A. Stratford, in aid of the funds of the Sabbath School, took place at the Ma?on ; e Hall on the evening of Friday last, ar.d attracted a large audience. The subject which Mr. Strat ord selected as a theme for his discourse was " A Character Lost and Heg lined, or the Adventures of a Sailor," in other words passages from the life of Lord Cochrane, afterwards Lord Dundonald. The events in the history of this sailor nobleman's life are no doubt, fresh in the recollection of most of our readers, and many interesting facts and anecdotes were related by the lecturer in a manner which rivetted the attention of, his hearers, and not unfrequently elicited their hearty applause. We have on more than one occasion stated Mr. Stratford's talents as a lecturer to be in our opinion considerable. The subject, which was an interesting one, lost nothing in his hands. The musical ability and singing of Mr. lit Hand, and also Mr. Grumitt, added much to the pleasure of the evening, and though the public had been led to expect much we may, we think say, and say with truth, that these expectations were more than realised, it is almost invariably the rule of critics to detect something in everything which comes under their notice with which to- s find fault, and failing to detect anything else in Mr. Stratford's lecture of which to complain, we must be pardoned if we express an opinion that the whole affair was a little too long. In a. mcnetary point of view, as regards the purpose for .-which the lecture was given, we are glad to hear, it was a success.