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Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 232, 15 August 1873, Page 5

We are in receipt, among other Govern- -' ment-papers, of Mr. Haughton's Annual Re-. r port' oh the Goldfields of New Zealand. In - r our next issue we shall give copious extracts • from it. It is satisfactory to note how confident Mr. Haughton is of the permanent ; - nature of prosperity on our Goldfields. He . says, in summarising his report:—" In the . • alluvial mines of th& Middle Island there seems to have been a falling off for the last -year, but with a very decided improvement .. in the returns for the three months ending • 31st March, 1873. This falling off, as I "' gather from the Wardens' reports, is attri- •' butable to the great dryness .of the season. Mr. ■ Warden Revel! reports that ' the re- - markable dryness of the weather during the 1 past five months has tended considerably towards .this depression.' Mr. Warden Robinson (Mount Ida) reports:- -' The year has, on the whole, not been a favorable one for mining. It has been unusually dry in all seasons, and the consequence has been a remarkable scarcity of water for sluicing purposes. This has seriously cramped the energies of the miners.' Mr. Warden Carew (Blacks) repoi-ts: ' A scarcity of water has prevailed to an unprecedented extent.' Taking all the circumstances into consideration, a careful perusal of the reports and statistics I hereto attached will, I think, prove that, although a considerable depression, did undoubtedly exist over a large portion of the Goldfields during the year 1872;; yet that the depression was temporary, and'"that the re- "[' turns for the first quarter of 1873 show a de- "' cided revival in all branches of this impor- _ tant industry—a revival which I take leave • to think will not be transitory, but which will, under the various most favorable cir- ■ -cumstances of the Colony, develope into the ' permanent prosperity of our mining com- • -munity." -. • A sntAGGMNG correspondent writes us that, for his own information, he has, during the ~pasfc week, visited the head race, No. 6 contract, ancl has kindly , placed that information at our,'disposal. With regard to that, ooiilrac! lie'assures that Dillon will, to. the best of his opinion,, honestly and fairly carry out hL- engagement for ten miles. There are fifty men employed, all Europeans ; with -. .whom there has been, so far, neither demur • nor"complaint. This is as it should be. The •' Government knowing works to be necessary, accept perhaps the lowest tender, the eoh- • tractor at the same time reasonably expects . . his quid pro quo. It is to be hoped that in this case the Government, contractor, ar.d the public will be satisfied. Our correspondent^ * : further, writes that stores and provisions are . plentifully supplied at a price ouly nominally above that at which they could be obtained at. ' , INaseby or in Dunedin —barring the heavy cost of carriage during the winter season. Our correspondent further says that in his opinion Dillon's contract, though the. last accepted, will be the soonest completed. Gi/eeschnt, wno, it will be remembered, was -'■ lately struck with paralysis, has so far recovered as to be able to be removed to Dunedin. It is likely that he will be conveyed to the Asylum for a short time. His Worship the Mayor received a teie- . , gram this week from his Honor the Superintendent, stating that he had presented memorial from residents in the districts of Dunstau and Mount Ida, for the-telegraph extension between Itfaseby and Clyde or Alexandra. Since then we haye learnt that the matter has been remitted to the Commissioner of Telegraphs for consideration. We hope this much needed work will be decided upon. .

' A special/ meeting of the Hospital Committee was called for last night, to consider the tendered resignations of the warder and matron.

TilE balance sheet of the .Napier Athenseum, ljublished in the ' Hawkes .Bay Herald ' (and /probably to be seen in our Naseby Atlienseum), indicates very good local management. Tne charges for super vision of the institute seem

all embodied in the Librarian's salary of £25 per annum —there beiug no other item on the Hot except an item for cleaning and under which any supervising charges can be assumed to lie dormant. The total expenditure for last year was £492 2s. 7d., of which ' £824 wa3 for new buildings, a balance still remaining in hand of £42 Is. sd. There-are evidently plans by which these institutions

can be managed cheaply and well, sonu- of which might weli be adopted by oar own -Nusiiby fledgling. We 'do not entirely, agree with out* correspondents, this "week and last, who appear to us to make too serious charges against an honorary Committee, whose only fault appears to be one that is almost unavoidable in young movements,'viz... a lack of experience. There is very little doubt that a Committee with -i more systematic mode of management could do the work with very slight personal iuconvenience, with a boy to clean up an hour or two every day. The Institute too, to be of use, must be made popular, and this oannot_.be done by closing it just when it should be open. If possible, the Athenaeum light should only go out when the public house doors are closed.

On-Sunday, last his Lordship .Bishop JSTevill, assisted by the j&ev. Mr. Williams, conducted divine service in the Masonic Hail. Mr. Williams read the service .impressively; The Bishop took for his text; John vi., rer. 5, and delivered an aVe and earnest exhortation to the congregation. He said that the clergy were willing, so far as their power went, to do their share towards giving the people bread The people had, however, ;)■ duty to do—to administer in temporal things to those who ministered to them in spiritual-—at any rate to remove the clergyman "from over-weening anxiety, lie laid down one great principle for consideration —that-human insti-umenLaluy, accompanied by divine bent.diction, were essential to spiritual progress, because it so pleased Him with whom omnipotent power belonged. This congregation were apparently destitute, as it were, iu the wilderness, and it was the Church's duty to supply the human instrumentality. The itev. Mr. Williams preached in the evening, assisted by the jftev. A. Dasent. At both services a meeting was announced to be held at the school.room on Monday night. ( A.full report of the proceedings at the meeting will be found in another column.

.. Ma WAKDfiN' rtOßlfcsO-V has every confidence in Maerowhenua as a gold field : The Maerewheuua is skm!} bu surely developing into a really important gjlufieli. The difficulties of construction of the waterraces, without which nothing could b<. done, have bec.i by far was anticipated by. the projectors. But those difficulties are gradually since the Mj&quito K ice vri* {rushed TV.'s rac<', which, with iu br niched, is abou» twenty eight milr-s lon 7, 'vis cost £3,00 J, and is fisMurit/vl to carry Iran tight to ten hejds of wiier. Quite recent I }' Golden Hili water race Ik.sheen opeiie.l This race. Mimost fourteen m'tes long, js estimate'! tocirry ten heads ot water, anJ it 1-1 eatnnate.i to have cost £3,0 .'d, including three large da.ns, capa bie ot sLoring '. ,iree d.iys' dimply of water Both these races owe their oonip etion mainly to the energy and of Mr G. \l Taylor, of O i.uaru Anoiaer important racj that of \l*Canu and parly uiuicrsloo Ito be nearly finished A& it v.ill iinw its suppli-s from the Macrewhenua River Itself, it will command an unfailing stream, and will no doubt yWd a han.lsome return to the men who for so lorij; have stuck* manfully to the work of its 0 instruction. As each race gets finished another permanent source of profit is added The ground is there, with tjie gold in it, only awning the water to wash it out. The last ' jN\nv Ze ilan.il Gazette' contains a return of U±e quantity and \aiue of gold exported from jKew Zealand, i/om Aprd 1857 to June 3uth 1873. Ihe G-uivs attest the productiveness of our goldliclds. The tot>d quantity exported within the dates mentioned was 7,008,309 ouuees, wor.h £27,195,833. Of this vast total, Otago exported 3,143,341 ounces, represen'ing, £12,304,800. The importance of the mining industry to the country cannot, therefore, be over-estraated.—- ' Guardian.'

It js-my painful duty to inform you thai; our last two Saturdays have been very melahcholly days ■ with us, the fir*t Saturday the funeral of Mrs Sioane from Blacks No." 3, attended by about one hundred and fifty followers passed through our little- town, the second Mr Garew's eldest/soil, a ver) interesting aud promising child of about four years of age, who was cut off after a very painful but short illness of about fourteen huurs.—Correspondent ' Duustan Times.' A young- maiV named -'oderlek Slrohach had his leg broken a fori night ago. It would seem lie was breaking in a ypUDg horse. If I am correctly informed, it was. only backed once before. On this pceasjipn, as soon as mounted, the horse gave t*o or three nino-;-and, losing footing for it-' hind feet, came down heavily on its side, .breaking Stronach's leg close above the knee. Much sympathy is felt for the sufferer,' he being very much respected iu the district, and, to add to the seriousness of the case, we havo not a surgeon within 30 miles.—Correspondent ' Tuapeka Times.'

We are glad to iearn that t,ie Police Officer in charge of the District has received a token of the confidence piacod iu him by the head of his department, and the Grover'ninen'- in conferring upon him the rank of Sub-Inspector a deserving officer baa received -j, fLtia_j recognition of good and long service: We hope Sub-Inspector M'Ciuskey will'he long retained in the district.

This Municipal Council have wisely decided not to deal with the '.'drainage ;»f the- bu.-jk streets of the town until those streets are cleared of buildings and enclosures, so tli.it a schema of-'drainage comprehensive and codpiece may be undertaken . The whole matter coined up again next meeting. The verandah and lamppost obstruction are no longer to be allowed to disfigure the foot-path..

We-.are authorised to state that the Revd. Mr. Williams has consented to accept the

" charge of this district. If we had been ware that this decision would have been come .to so soon, we should probably have modified our views on the question of Church extension somewhat, ais we do not believe in objecting merely for objecting's sake. We are onlyanxious that, for the credit of the .district, those who have expressed themselves so strongly in favor of the movement will be able to find their expectations fulfilled. The pecuniary consideration is a low view to take, but it is the one we instinctively took, being confident that there is no profit to any one !. n ai \embarrassed' and encumbered Church. The disfcriob is a large one, and two resident clergymen can liud plenty oi work to do work which will be done mosb effectively by a cordial co-operation of the two denominations.

Mr Ptke's chance sr-ems to bo improving at Q.ueenstown —probabiy the competition will be a keen on •.