TOPICS OF TALK.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 201, 3 January 1873, Page 4

TOPICS OF TALK.

The lion. Julius Vogel and the Hon. j W. H. Reynolds left Dunedin last week, in the for Melbourne, to at ten I the Postal Conference to be held at Hobart Town. If the Colonies can agree to support the fortnightly mail, via Suez, that the Imperial Government has offered to so liberally subsidise (by carrying the mails free to Galle), it is possible that the arrival and departure of the English mail may be a definite dateable fact, instead of, as now, an in lefiinite unreliable point to be found at any given time on the line somewhere between San Francisco and ..Honolulu, Honolulu and Auckland, or Auckland and Dunedin, to find which would be a matter to make a Euclid's hair turn grey. Such a service would very probably give an impetus to the San Francisco line, which would result in the Colony's obtaining a relwolu alternative route, not deovid of service and attraction to passengers and tourists.

"Will the weather never change? will it never rain? Our local prophets bade us wait till Christmas: then we s iould see—what we should. Now, again we are to wait for an »th« ■?• month. Probably the best plan would be for the M.iyor and Town Council to get up an inauguration picnic—light coits and muslins only allowed—urn berellas, &c, debarred under seven penalties. A cynical friend assures u> it would rain.

Tt is amasiuvr to sew iiow as \vate» gets s<-areur, some, people delimit ii the m»re prodigal use of it, especial I \ if they can conduct it down aom course of dry tilth, that onlv needdamping to uive off foeted odors an< fever-producing atoms. We hear<: last week of some youngsters emplov in a a long day in some miniatim sluicing operations, watched hy a delighted p?ipa; and nearly every day \v« Key and smell with our personal organs a stream percolating down the lowe» half of the main street that, if stored, would, ; n a time of scarcity, be invaluable. If the Water Company's officer was to cut off the total supply of the offending parties, perhaps this waste might bo stopped.

An Auckland exchange tells u* thai Mr. IWkland, a member of the House of He preventatives, lately rode LOO miles in one day to meet his constituents ; and goes on further to say—- " we are aware of two members of tinHouse who went 2 K) or 3Ji) miles to get out of the way." Could we not arid to our Northern contemporaryV list? t was not Mr Mervyn's fault, we believe, that the Provincial Council is not now in special session ; and yi*f, from the time ot this sjfentlenau's election (with one exception), we haveno> seen anything of him. We should not be the least surprised to se« lmn, however, when the public worits are commenced. No doubt a grateful constituency will put a proper value on his public actions during the past year—together with his delightful candor, and openness of communication with the Mount Ida electors.

week we expreiw-d a hop*\ that M>. Cirnphell wou'd relieve the Provincial <TOvern»ne» , t from its somewhat difficult p nxition. bv withdrawing his application f.,r t'he disputed Maerewhenui ISlock. in rhit> wo were dissappoiutivl, for the proceeding* last naforo" the Wt<te Land Board, show a determination on the j.'arb of that gentleman, to insist upon hi*3 pound of flesh, at all hazards. The Commissioners report shows, clearly enough, that he cannot get any ground of value in the application non-aunferous. This was the condition Mr. Keid attached, when receiving the application in the first instance; that " all ground proving on survey to be auriferous was to lie excluded." —Before going to press, we shall be in a position to give the 'decision of the Board on this application. We have no doubr, t'»at Mr. Campbell's bargain did not in.dude the blood -7~-i.<?., the gold-t-and eonspquenllv will not. be sustained. On the iToldfields, the names of Campbell and IShvloek will be inseparable.

What a very little the Athenaeum I Committee know about the value of book* ! The Committee happen to have about £250 in ban. I. This would bi" little enough to constitute a fir baNe tor a good eountrvtown. Yet, forsooth, some of the Commit tea are clamorous for an expeudiiure on build ing and furniture, of nearly £2)O lu the face of thin a few statistics about the Dunedin Athenaeum may not be out of place. The revenue from subscriptions and sources, is esti Mated at about £950. Working expenses, including librarian's salary, Oid, &c, £SOO £K)O a year *is thu>» ail that is left for books, ma ;azues, and papers, of w lie > £3OO Ns all rh it can be devoted for new work*. 73J members pay their guinea a year, and GO of these an additional half guinea, for the privilege of ob taming an extra set of book*. Now, svitii tnis apparently good income, the Athemeutn, says VVaraba, in the * VVt ness,' su;>plies the necessary desid eratum of a standing grievance. If the library ot the M■»u«it 1.11 Athenaeum is to consist of works like " The start ling adventures of Tipperary Tim," *• Last dyin : coufessions," &c, of other notables, with perhaps the latest svn national additions, such as " The Ticht>orne i'rial," or the " Mordaunt Divorce," £3O might go a good way ; but to provide a small, careful, selection of hooks, that will whet the m. ntal appetites of subscribers sufficiently to •oosen theii purse strings, for the obtaining of more is a matter of huu Ireds of pounds, not fifties.