MISCELLANEOUS.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 202, 10 January 1873, Page 5

MISCELLANEOUS.

The ' Star ' says that the Maerewhenua block sale may be considered settled for the present. At last weeks meeting of the Waste Land Board, it was resolved to endorse the opinion of the commissioners (Messrs Shepherd and M'Kerrow) relative to that portion of the application,— some 5303 acres, —said to be aurifei'ous, i which was reserved from sale. The ap- ; plication of the Hon. R. Campbell was ! amended, by extending the boundaries of I the area, so.as to include 10,000 acres, and lin that form was agreed to. The Commissioner did not express any opinion as 'to the other 4700' acres of the original ' application. '■ At Palaurstou, the Maiden Plate of 20 | sovs, was won by Miss Vulcan, Daft Wattie being second. The Palmerstou | Handicap of 50 sovs. 'fell to Hose, 13 jbby Burns coming in second. The District Handicap • of, 25 sovs was won by Miss Vulcan, Minnie Grey being second ; and the Shag Valley Cup, valued at 40 sovs.,was seenred by Medora, Miss King being second. Tne races were held at Meadowbank, the property of Sir F. D. BeJi and were largely attended The 'Morning Star' makes the following sensible remarks, upon education:— During the early part of the year, a draft of a > Bill for initiating a Colonial system of education was circulated. It had. all the faults of former attempts through an evident 1 desise to conciliate certain sectarian's, who, forgetful of their duty to their neighbors, assured the right to dictate the terms on which the. Government should provide the means ot ! instruction to the children of members of' their persuasion. The general condeni- ■ nation' of this scarcely disguised deuonii-' nationalism, combined with the strong '' party spirit evinced by a'-section of the ' House of .Representative's, led to no at-1 I tempt being made to bring it into torce. ' J We- can hardly hope that nidi who can I oppose a much-needed national measure , i under the plea of conscience, and in the 1 name of religion, can be brought to feci' 1 that they have been guilty of social crime l of no ordinary character. There are [ thousands growing up who have lost t another valuable year without -education. Many of these will, through loss of that , precious year, be doomed to iires' u , drudgery, through wanting that knowledge that would have enabled them to hold positions of responsibility, instead of remaining mere human macliines ; many other's will lack that means of attaining a, knowledge of moral duty that'would have , saved them from sinking into the criminal classes; and all of them Will be less able to add their quota to' the general moral, mental, and-physical advancement of society.- It is intolerable that religious bigotry should be allowed to stand in theway of national education.- Wc can respect individual crotchets in roligioa, but when they are- put forward as "claims to interfere with the general'good, we know of nothing more pernicious ; they claim a diference -which no man should concede, and become instruments of tyranny instead of leading to'a recognition of the rights of liberty. It-is to be hoped, with the noble example of Vi?toria before us, all sectarian jealousy will, be sunk in a common effort ..for 'good, b^ing'we'll assured that any" exclusive claim to .consideration on religious, grounds will meet with determined and strenuous resistance. Toadyism.—When, we wonder, will toadyism bo stamped out. To-day our citizens will be in a ferment because Sir G-eorge Bowen will arrive in their iridsc. Why is there such a fuss made ? What has- Sir George done that people should run after him so much. We were.not surprised to see the pcoph running to view the-monster "sun tish ' ; nor even to' hear that some paid sixpence to see that monster of the deep ; but we are amazed that people should congregate to look at Sir George, and woi'k themselves jup into a ferment of excitement simply j because Sir George is going to sleep and , take his meals at. Fern Hill. Then look at the useless expense' that our City' Council goes to. - An arch made of timber and covered wilh Manuka scrub is thrown across High street, through which the Governor is to pass. Why could he not ride or walk to his- new ' home -without, having to pass under Manuka, scrub P It 'used to be considered that to be put under the yoke was.a disgrace, but to be made to walk or ride under a Manuka scrub arch, erected at the expense of .the ratepayers, is the New Zealand way of showing that the citizens are glad to see Governor jlowen residing in 'Dunedin ! When will-we cease to be toadies ? We toady the Governor ■ as if he. -were j a,son of Jove, or one oi' Mercury's assistants come with a message ' from Jupiter,'while the Governor simply wants to spend his holidays with us. He is not a remarkable man, and will tell us nothing'' remarkable. He has done nothing very great, and is not by any means a genius. Why, then- should our citizens run after him as much as they did to sec (he monster sun fish ?

Tiie ' Keho ' is responsible' for the following rumour as to two appointments to thy new Waste L:inils Board I—The advice given to the unjust steward, about making friends 'of the mammon of~unrighteousness is understood by the present "Provincial Executive. We hear that Mr. Bufcterworth and Mr. Fish are'to be nominated as two members. In what, we wonder, have they displayed their fitness for this position ? can it be that the new Executive think that because Mr. Eish is Mayor therefore lie is fit to be a member for life of the' Waste Land Board ? j

In an article on the Toimie-Turnbu!! Exceeutive, cite "Bruce Herald' sa-, r -; that the acceptance of oineeby Mr. Bastings, foreshadows thu formation of a new party —a party holding equally liberal views without the crotchets of those fighting undi-n* the standard of.Mr. JJeid, but not blindiv devoted to thai; geatieaian, or working to sacrifice the. interests of the province for .his personal aggr;mdisement. ' The parry will be the " m'od.Tatc liberal'"' and will take the. place of the present liberal party, with the rapid element eliminated. The mad howls «si" disappointed rage from the organs of. the lieid party are thus amply accounted for. As Secretary for the G-oldiields and Public Works, fvir. .-Bastings lias thxpower of doing a great deal towards benefiting the conn try,, and has aire idy given an earnest of what he intends to' accomplish. Tilings that.for years remained undone have sinee his short time of office been done without apparent troubler, If the whole of his term ofomce is raaftJtocß by the same activity and.energy "as ? has been displayed in its =comm mcement he will have deserved we!!- ;>-"th..-. people of the province. We do not .wish to -be understood as justifying "Mr. Macaadrew's conduct toward Mr. Eeid in the least degree, nor do we intend to become theadvocate of a squatting government; butwe do strongly object that,the personal quarrels of Lwo.meu suoull cause theprovince to suffer, and of two evils we believe in choosing the least. Mr. Bastings has mitigated the lesser evil, and under the peculiar circumstances of thecase, is entitled to public gratitude foithe action he has taken!

TJio stranger at J3a!la'rat sees nothing, but prosperity among the miners. Tiiemines ar-3 chiefly workod by companies,, which pay wages to the men. though thereis another system of working on tribute. The miners' wages, when I was there/ averaged from" 40s to 43s a week. - The men worked eight hours a day, thus reac'iing that acme of the workman's bliss—

Eight hours for work, and eight tor play ; Eight for sleep/ and eiguh hillings.a day. The necessaries of life, and the comforts, are, at any rate, as cheap at Ballarafc as they are 1 m England. Meat was about 2-s a pound. House rent is dear—unless the mail builds a house for himself, as he often does. If he drinks, his liquor is m uc! i dearer than with ns. In MeJ bourne i,here is a verandah ;in Sandhurst there <- is a verandah : in Ballarat there is a .verandah. The verandah is a kind of • open exchange, some place on the street'pavement apparently selected by chance, on which the dealers in gold-mining shares do congregate. What they da there, or how they carry on their business, on that spot, I am unable to explain.- .But to the stranger, as he passes by, they, do not look lovely. Mo; "-vr,; to walk on the other side ■.>.' . i- >.-.. L =';•• he hoars strange tales, whieii make ullu feel that the innocence of the dove would not befriend him at ail, were he to trade in those parts. I think there is a' racing phrase as to, ' getting a tip/- .-The happy man who. gets a tip learns .sometliing special as to the competence or incompetence of a horse. There are a groat many tips in gold mines which' fall into thefortunate hands of those who attend most closely; and perhaps with most uuscrupu- - lous fidelity,,to the business of the verandahs. A certain claim is going to. give, gold. The man who has the tip sells out at" a low price-—sells out a certain small number of shares, probably to a friend'who holds the nip with him. The price-iy ■ quoted in the share list, and. the uhfortu- - nate non-tipped sell'out also, taking the figures from the share list as theiv guide"!., and the fortunate tipped one buys up- all/'. Or the claim is not going to. give "gold, and the reverse happens. Or & claim is -salted —gold surreptitiously introduced, '\ is then taken out and made the base of • fictitious prosperity. The tipped ones, sell and-the untapped buy. It is easy to-, sec that the game is very pretty, but- . slightly dangerous. It has certainly be--come very unpopular.—' Anlvdihivian *" (Trollope.) Miss'Eichman, Sir James Fergusson's yianrec,-l&ic\ the foundation stone Anglican Church, in-•Adelaide..

Tuc death, of Captain' Gvay. of 'Jio 'J-reat Batata has cause*! a <.>l' general regret- . iMepu-s Bright Brus/ telegram implies that lie did not/commit: suicide, but that his death was the result--of an accivlen!.