THE Mount Ida Chronicle. FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 1873.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 204, 24 January 1873, Page 4

THE Mount Ida Chronicle. FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 1873.

We are informed, on good authority, that one eighth share in the Mosquito Water Race Maerewhenua, was lately sold for £4OO ■ and one share iu Nimo's claim and race for £3OO. A spectAij meeting of the newly elected .school Committee was held in the school-room on.Monday evening last. There wns a lull attendance of the members of Committee. Mr. Inder was elected Permanent Chairman, and Mr, E'. T. George, Clerk-and lieasnier. 1 lie report from the Schoolmasl'er, all the information asked for by the Committee, was read, and after explanation by Mr. Petchell, was received. A letter from Mr. Greorge Menzies was also read accepting the appointment of Master of The Mount Ida District School.

A meeting of the Athenasum Committed' was held last Tuesday night. PresentMessrs. de Lautour (chair), Wilson, Grumitt" Jackson, E. T. George, W. J. Cooper, Glenn' Gurrie, senr., and Moore, senr. ~ A letter from the Sunday School Committee was rerd forming the meeting that they had agreed 10 transfer the School to the protection of the Presbyterian Church, and that therefore no obstacle on their behalf intervened to prevent the economical carrying out of ,h* Athemeum The meeting then considered for the removal of the buildinothat -of- iLr. John Morrison, beino- ° ac - £ n a P endmeilt was in favor of Mr. Stephens tender, but was lost A Building Committee, consisting of Messrs. Busch, George, and Wilson, W a! then elected. A Library and Furnishing Committee was also appointed, the members being Messrs. George, Grumitt, Busch, and de Lautour The meeting then adjourned... On Monday las*, application's to the- Wart? ex^ei \ c i ec '" c -^ a^ms ere made by Mr John Green, Naseby, and Mr. Joseph Taylor' Kyeburn Diggings. The groimdipplied for by Mr. Green was declared open under section 1 of !-• egulation iv- but the aTmliVn+W made by Mr. Taylor, SS to on the ground that it was inexpediint to declare acre blocks m the neighborhood and .that the land wished to he declared °pei ™ the only remaining egress for tailings—the most 01 the frontage being already £ occuthat°th? declvT areaS ' T llß Warf ™ said that the declaration was simply a preiiminary step, and that further opportuhftiesX objections wouid be given when the application for »d«. was made. For his part, be should hke to see the experiment tried of ■dvFih;"? sat t , he Kyetarn, seeing, as he did, that the worts there were not carried on m a systematic manner. He should declare the land open, without expressing an opinion whether or not he when made. O'Brien and M'Grath apn ied lor protection for 90 days for their extern ed elaim of an acre e»chat the Burster, Tie feet that they had ha<? using it in another claim, and that the grant" mg of 90 days protection would, in effe?t be the shutting up of the land for seven months -seeing that the expiration of that protection would bring it almost into the close season the lot. June. The Warden decided to grant protection tor one month-indicating at the same time, his intention not to grant a re-

newal, unless under extraordinary circumstances. Mr. Her Islet appeared for the (applicants, and Mr. Bailey lor objectors. We have lately had complaints from several of our subscribers, that their paper—duly posted—hns not come to hand. We are entirely unable to account for this irregularity, and shall be glad, if any subscriber, who may be in a similar position, will at once inform us of the same, so that we may cause enquiry to be made. J Ihe Secretary to the Mount Ida District Hospital, acknowledges the receipt of ten shillings from Michael .Brookes, being a charitable contribution made to him by C° Archer, at Kyeburn, on the 2nd inst. The money was offeted to Brookes in fun, and doubtless much to the satisfaction (?) of Archer, accepted by him in the same spirit. Next week the hou3e-holders and others qualified to have their names placed upon, the municipal roll, will have to determine who among them shall be invested with the dignity of Mayor or Councillor. There seems to be an idea abroad, that the period of office being a short one, a matter of months, it is vary little consequence who is put in. On a careful consideration of the Ordinance, we find that three out of the six councilloi's will hold office for two years and six months nearly ; the three others, and the Mayor, for one year and six months. For although the elections are as a rule annual, in August, there is a provision that all newly created corporations shall not come under the clause till within twelve months from date of proclamation. Clause XVI of Municipality Ordinance, runs thus : —On the first day of August, every year, the Mayor and one Councillor of each ward shall go out of office, but this provision shall not apply to Corporations hereof ter proclaimed under this ordinance, until one year after date of proclamation. A further clause provides that in cases where the Councillors hold their seats from an equal date, the retiring members shall be decided by ballot. Instead, then, of the choice of councillors being unimportant on account of their short tenure of office, "we find that it is quite possible three of the worst men might hold office for nearly three years. Our intending rate-payers should throw aside the air of ridicule that seems always to have surrounded elections of this sort since the days of Whittington, and the inauguration of turtle soup, and make an effort to electa body that shall be workable and fairly representa- ; tive. f The Oamaru harvest promises to be a very good one, provided thai: it can be reaped quickly enough. The crops on the Papa Icaio and Cave "Valley -Districts app-r:a;'ing to he ripe simultaneously The fUiiii-üby is not the number of men, but the such crowtis seen in Oamuru, flocking f:omali sides, and curiously enough, even those who • were' supposed to have come from faminestricken districts, appear to have enough ready cash to make them welcome customers to the Oaraaru publican. Rumor (says the ' Tuapeka Times') hath it that a gentleman, formerly resident on the "goldfields, whose name is tolerably familiar over the greater portion ofOlago, will shortly, \ at the urgent request of certain high authorities, revisit the province for the purpose of ex plaining, before one of its tribunals, what became of a large sum of money belonging to parties resident in .lllnglancj. His Excellency the Governor before leaving Queenatown telegraphed to the Mayor that Lady Bowen had derived so much benefit from her journey to the Lakes, that she determined 1 o accompany liis Excellency overland to Canterbury, instead of returning through Naseby. His Excellency's telegram concludes. £ Once more, many thanks for all the kindness of the citizens of Dunedin; and best wishes for the prosperity of the Province and City,' We understand that arrangements are m pi-ogress to enable his Honor Judge Gray to hear criminal cases on the GroldJields. The criminal sittings of the District Courts will alternate with those of the Supreme Court, so that there will be quarterly criminal sessions at Lawrence.—Dunedin ' Star.' At the Queenstown races, Jan. 17lh, Atlas won the Grand Stand Handicap, Taffrail the Wakatip Handicap, and Merrythought the Selling Hack Race. There was no Maiden Plate. Theweatheronthcsecondduyoftheraces was bright but windy. The Handicap Hurdle Kace .was won by Nigger, Sir Tatton being second. The Queenstowu Handicap by Atlas; Taffrail second, and Burgundy third. Publicans Purse, by Lyndon; Taffrail second. We were pleased to hear that the ' Bruce Herald' and the 'Arrow Observer' have lately been added to the stock of newspapers gratuitously sent to the Mount Ida Hospital, by the press of the Province. Perhaps nothing tends so directly to pass away an invalid's time as the newspaper sheet. We very gladly notice the efforts being made by the St. Bathans Progress Committee, to get rid of that terrible incubus—the business license. Their representations to the Government can hardly fail to get attention. It will be seen by advertisement that tenders for Wo. 1 con try ct on the sludge channel will be received at the polh-e camp rot later than Monday, the 27tli inst. Tin; object, we understand, of this rather hurried proceeding is to enable the tenders to be opened simultaneously with those for the contracts Wos. 1 and 2 on the.Manuherilda race, probably by the Superintendent and Mr. Bastings. The specifications for contracts on the ; Manuherikia water race are now open for in- \ spection at the police camp, Nasebv. Tenders ! will have to be in not later than Monday, 27tli I inst. These specifications seem to have been j drawn up in a.most; liberal manuer to meet . the views of the district. We notice that ,

I payments are to be made monthly for work done at the rate of 90 per cent., and that the balance of payment will be made wilhin seven days after the JCngiicer's certificate has been issued. It is very much to be hoped that contractors will not aim too high, and thus force the Government to consider the advisability of proceeding by larger contracts. Grovernrnent action is generally considered open for abuse, but the action so far of the authorities leaves an impression of a very evident desire on their parr, to consider the interest of the district and. the colony as identical. It is not unworthy of notice that the eontracts are to be completed within three months of date of acceptance of tenders, so that evident.y the work is intended to be pushed on without delay. An artful celestial managed to palm off a small parcel of spurious gold upon one of our local banks (New South Wnles.) The get-up of the article was something marvellous. JSTobody, unless an expert, could possibly, unnssisted by a microscope, have detected the fraud. We should be inclined to think that most people would—if shewn the good and the bad—pick the bad first We have not heard that the culprit has yet been caught. Me. Greer, so well known at Clark's and throughout the district generally, has we hear, purchased the Brewery lately conducted by Mr. Pranks and so long held by Messrs Franks and M''Kenna. We are in receipt of Mackay's Ofcago- Grolclfields Almanac, for 1873, which, as to compilation of matter, fully sustains the reputation its enterprising publisher has obtained. Copies (ran be had at Mr. L. W. Busch's, of this town. A Erut al case of assault occurred at Papakaio, near Oamaru. The assailant, who is detained in gaol, caught a man named William Gray by the hair, held his head down, and kicked him brutally about, the face with heavy boots—the result being the destruction of one eye and great facial dis £g ureroen t. Our latest accounts give little hope of Gray's recovery. Judge Chapman's cases, which he thinks should be met by the cat, might very well include assaults of this nature. | We are in receipt of Master Humphrey's I brochure on the finances of New Zealand. It is to be regretted that any one earning his bread in a growing country, should be found j to raise the cry needlessly, of stinking fish, tit is not everyone that can find time or ability pt£> follow Master Humphrey through the'maze I of figures he dishes, and half dishes up for his pleasure. Everyone, however, of average : common sense, can see by the very palpable ■errors of generalization from facts easily within knowledge, how little faith should be attached to the statements and deductions from the unknown, it is perhaps fclie best thing that could have happened, in order to destroy the evanescent influence this author has obtained, that these letters shouid have been put forth in the form of a complete psmohlet. which does not afford the room for darMioies and obscure corners, that the newspaper column doe?. /