THE Mount Ida Chronicle. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1873.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 248, 5 December 1873, Page 2

THE Mount Ida Chronicle. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1873.

To-day we publish the the first number of the ' Chronicle ' in an enlarged form, and in . doing so we take occasion to say a few words about our claim for a liberal support in the district we, have now for some years faithfully battled for. It would be unpardonable egotistic for us to, refer to the various material benefits mainly instruments! in procuring for the Mount Ida "'district—we need only say that "the list containing those we ■could enumerate would' not be a short one. -Till a local paper was established Mount Ida was comparatively unknown, except to the gold buyers, whose business it* wa,s to hunt up all new Groldfields. Now, happily, there is hardly one person throughout the length and breadth of the two Islands" but what knows the whereabouts of Mount Ida—a district so continuously productive that even now, in spite of the paucity of population owing to the pressure oh labor caused by Public Works, the escort is taking down monthly nearly as much gold as at any time during the last few years. ' We have endeavored, during our existence as a Groldfields paper, besides doing our best to obtain those numerous practical requirements ' from time to time cropping up, to foster by all possible means a feeling of healthy piiblic opinion among the Goldfield residents. Having been long convinced of the power possessed by the miners to shape legislation beneficially to themselvesj while not arbitrarily interfering with or injuring existing rights, if they only knew the strength of combined influence, we have harped even to weariness upon the necessity of united actiop, and especially have encouraged in all directions the formation of Miners' Associations and other local ss being the very best machinery by which to utilise such united power, We have avoided all claptrap denouncements of one class to gain the" favor of another, and have always set our face against anything of the sort, because all excesses in this direction deprive legitimate requireof the support iii the legislative bodies of the Colony they otherwise would', receive, besides alienating entirely the pympathies of the public. Jt is very apparent to us. that the laige population to be. introduced by the inevitable immigration which ia rendered necessary to conjiplete the Colonial Public Works, 'tyiJl require the fullest facilities on the Waste Laqds of the Prw'iiiee.";: " It is our doairo that settlf- m ent should by all means rake place,f \' r<)v ided that the miner ia not I lhiU } pcred and This

comprehensive measure as a matter of fact, is u remediable—the diversion of water for and the resumption of ing paid for Till such a measure is fields representatives are interest of their pose all freehold rivers and streams of the While doing our duty, in aspersions and. a faithful servant of the public, we do claim a right to be sufficiently supported to enable us to exist. To the advanced business'; man the advantage of having his goods and wares always before the eye of the public is simply a, pressing necessity, while those whose ideas not being so yet boast that they also eke out an existence, should remember that fuller publicity would enable them to ■ live,: and besides that to do something more—laying by. in short, for a rainy day. Our space .is,, as yet, not so extensive as'we could wish, or as we hope to shortly make it; still we do not fear but that'.we 'will be able to keep our readers posted in all the current new aof the day. We intend our sole aim to be the advancement of the Goldfields,- and exactly in proportion to the support we .receive will be our degree, of utility in forwarding the.best interests and the prosperity of the district in which we have cast our lot—a district that we are confident, in a few years' time, will be second to very few in the Province.

The 'Bruce Herald,' in a late issue,; devoted a -leading article to our extinguishment'—our offence being that we had drawn attention to that journal's remarkable silence on a question vital, to the > Groldfields, and which could hardly be advocated without treading on the toes of agricultural constituents, and also for noting the unprecedented and somewhat unscrupulous action also taken by it in publishing ■one side only of the debate in the late session of the Provincial Council on the s&le to the Hon. R. Campbell at Maerewhenua, in spite of having, by special advertisements, obtained an extended , temporary circulation on the definite pledge that a full report would be circulated, as the advertisement said great regret had been expressed that up to then (some five weeks after the Bession had closed) no full report had i been published. A. leading article was also inserted by way of advertisement, announcing that now Groldfields constituencies would see what-their>mem-bers really were doing. In spite of all this flourish of trumpets, as ia well known, only the speeches of those who were opposed to the Government of the day were published, with a footnote at the end of about twenty -columns of report that so-and-so spoke, the list including'the "Provincial Secretary himself. The ' Cromwell Argus,' an organ at that time holding -a similar view of the sale to our Tokomairiro contemporary, regretted that' the full debate had not been published as announced./ ■

However ingenious the ;' Herald may be, no ingenuity will convince; anyone now but that the sale of this notable 10,000-acre block was practically j concluded. by the party of which Mr. Reid vvas;the head.and the. 'Herald ' a firm supporter —the same party that, for want of the particle of. the bOjOUo-dcre block to Mr. Clarkbeing so - frightened by a little temporary pressure, on .the. money market as to lead the Council of the day to give them, the power they so lamentably abused.'' The block of land offered to Mr. Campbell by Mr. Keid, and pracsold to him, came right up to. the very township of Maerewhenua itself/and would have placed that important G-oldfield at the purchaser's mercy. The Tolnjie Government;deserved credit for being able to eiFect an arrangement by which the block was changed to a site where, except from interference with possible water rights,-in our opinion; it will do very little injury (if any) to the Maerewhenua. Goldfield. Eor effecting this, and for staying for a while the sale, in hopes of the applicant giving it up, they earned for themselves the perpetual abuse of the ' Bruce Herald ' and a few disappointed members of the Provincial Council. That journal stood aloce in its condemnation which it now reiterates. The ' Baily Times ' even—an organ not Bjk far gone in Tolmi-phobia as Mr. Shan'd and the ' Bruce.Herald,' but by no means a supporter at the time of the] Tolmie Executive—stated that it supported them in the action of the sale at Maerewhenua, because an implied contract had been previously entered into to sell, and it was necessary that public faith should be kept (we quote from memory). Our contemporary is, however, quite aware of these facts, lor we freely admit its infallibility. .For years past it has been accustomed to look down with sublime self-complacency, from its pedestal of liberal veracity, upon .a struggling provincial press, To such experience ignorance is simply an impossibility. About truculent design " we are not so sure. For our owiii ( part, day; by day we feel more oppressively;the weight of our ignorances. Admitting that \vo gave our contemporary loms little provocation —as We knew well its columns were taken upjvvith irqpcftant matters of ecclesiastical precedence, aud also crusades against the ' T<blet,' and therefore we shoul.4 not in eason have expected it to hlave consdered questions atfeitiug the eontinurfice as an industry of hydraulic slu'cintjon the Uoldfiekls, —admitting til this, ve still tint-ended a compliment 'n our ejdeavor /to enlist aid by.a little appliwjion of spur from so J>o*ro $4! ;vu!or^ac.

go into. Suffice it to say that, if our contemporary had paid attention to ' our articles, in June and July last, ovl the Goldfields Bill —we being the finet paper to critically examine that measure —and also the capital criticisms published in the ' Wabatip Mail' aind ' Grom\V*all Argus,' he might be irA a position to understand the overwhelming importance of the right of (river pollution to the gold-miner. W4 are glad to say that our efforts, assisted by our Goldfields contemDcrrraries, thoroughly aroused the /various Miners' Associations through/out the Province to practically criti/cise the proposed t Bill, and furnish our representative's I with valuable suggestions pointing out. the deficiencies of the legislation at present in force^—sugf ;estions so valuable and so full and complete, taken into consideration with the reports of the Mining Conference and the previous meeting of Delegates, that there was no particle of excise for our Otago representatives in ttie Assembly not carrying the Bill through the House amended into a really useful measure. Our contemporary wiay rest assured that its sorrows over our past conduct in regard to Provincial matters, supported as that conduct was by. the great majority of the people, to the condemnation of the ' Herald,' \y'ill be singularly unappreciated; and /its tears will fall in vain, for that line of conduct we intend to follow Ujp.: We are every day more and more pertain that the continuance in office of the Turnbull-Bast-ings Government has been productive of great practical good to the Province —a good that, so long as the ; same line of liberal policy is followed, Ave shall do our best to perpetuate and to prol°ng. ■. . i . ■■■■

Palmerston races are to take place on the 20th Deo. ' " The English mail, via San Francisco, will close at the Naseby office this day, at the. . ■usual hour. •• Late cablegrams announce that the crisis in the London money market is subsiding;. . the bank rate of;; discount being reduced to . seven per cent, j ■ . We are glad to report that James Nicholls' ■who was so seriously injured at Hamilton last week, if not entirely out of danger, is progressing as favorably as can be hoped.- •> > We understand that Mr. Sherman of Puketoi Station, narked 103-per cent. : of half-' ■ bred, lambs thi season, from a flock of ewes which were' pit .to his Leicester rams. The Distriq Board of Enquiry sat at St" ■Bathans on "Yfednesdaylast to investigate tli e d sputed sale jf the township. The busines will be = receivjd too late for publication in this week's issue. "' His' Honob the Superintendent stated'last week that th| General Government were pre-' pared to. proceed with the Supreme Court House at Duiiedin.. What about the Naseby Court Housej included in the same vote? The' Town Council might enquire. St. Andrew's Day was.very generally served as a-ioliday in Naseby, the some of the srosel—the occiinoiiday iu one shape or 'anoThe beautiful day was sufficient to tempt the r most* confirmed recluse to wander about for;a day amidst invigorating country influences., We learn that Mr. D. Maitland, of Ewe;burn station, tried an experiment to produce' fine early lambs by crossing 400 half-bred Cheviot ewes with Leicester rams. The increase was this season 110 per cent., and the. lambs have proved heavy weights and of; a very superior quality. We publish elsewhere the. list of accepted mail tenders in the more, immediate, district: and neighborhood. The mail service from Naseby to Maerewhenua is conspicuous by. its absence. The economical red-tapeism of the Dunedin postal authorities is very appa- ; rent in this 'gross; neglect of a pressing requirement.

The St Bathans race programme will be seen in :another column. The programme appears to offer great indueemonts toj good hacks in fair coridiiioii, more so than to trained race horses. For a day's fun and sport, probably our St. Batlians friends go the right way to work, as lorses in hack races are more generally supposed to be run on their merits. The races are fixed for the 26th and 27th inst. . Captain EftjTTOir, Geologist, was in Naseby curing the we&k—we presume only on private business, as it was not known generally that he was in the townuntill he had left. We hope before long to welcome Mm back again, for the purpose of making a more, protiacted exsuniuation of .the dis-; trict, in vie*:of. a decision being, arrived at by. the Government with regard to the furthdr testing of the deep leads.

A Committee of ladies has, we learn, been formeil in Dunediu, to receive and contribute donations for tlie bazaar-to be-held in aid of the Presbyterian Church, in Naseby; some time in December. We hear great efforts are also ieiiig made by< the- Mount Ida ladies to make the bazaar a/success._ Probably next week' we shall "be able'to "give" 1 more definite' infoimation. At present the final arrangements are not, we'-beHe^e,,j?ompleted.,. The bye-laws to regulate questions within civic' jurisdictioain.the Borough of Naseby, were published in the' ' Provincial Gazette' last week. According to the Municipal Corporstions Acfc.Tthe bye-lawa became law on the d«y of "publication in the ' Gazette'— consequently they are now in force. It woiild be advisable that steps "should at once be taken to put a stop to nuistinces arising at the* back of the streets from ill-regulated closets, drains, and even pig-stipes. TV E were rather sharply criti»"ed last week for announcing on Friday the arrival 0 f the ZeaAa.iidia.--lt seems that some Xvho had friendi on board, not trusting our/ information, telegraphed to Ihinediu, and-'-were told the ship had xjot "arrived. By o ur fjies we learn that on Saturday the passe" Q g era were landed at the- Pprt. We. might; have been forgiven, at the distance at which wc are pHceii, for not knowing the.ex tc t hour at which the pilot would succeed in bringing thb skip to an anchorage. ;

Ws very much regret haying to record another accident at Hamilton last week. A man of the name of Fraser, we believe, in

??? from Hamilton, was at one of ??? township holding his horse Something frightening the ??? back from the doorway, the ??? of which in some way closed ??? wards on Fraser's arm, break- ??? Medical assistance was pro- ??? Nasseby, and. the fracture, which ??? one, adjusted. Rraser came ???District Hospital yesterday for ???ent.

those favorable to the inauCricket Naseby was Hotrfoh'Wednesday night. were enrolled, and;a and other material ordered. agreed to adjourn the meeting until next, when the appointment of officers will take place. It is hoped that there will be a good muster of all those who are anxious to see cricket once more started. There is very good material in Naseby from which to select, with a. little practice, a good eleven: . The usual monthly meeting of the School Committee was held On Monday evening last. Present: Messrs. W. Irider (Chairman); Dillon!, JEtowlatt, J. Stewart, D. Stewart, and E. T. George. The minutes of the previous meeting and special meetings were read and confirmed.—The correspondence was then read, one letter being the official intimation of the authorised expenditure of £SO additional.:—The tenders for buildings were opened, but were all declined as not following the specifications. It was agreed to call for fresh tenders by advertisement. On Monday last, towards the evening, it was reported in Naseby that an accident had occurred at Clark's Diggings. Soon after, Mr. W. Guffie's brother (Mr. A. Guffie) was brought in on horseback and taken to his brother's'residence. On the doctor's arrival it was found that several of the ribs were broken, aiid also the breast-bone. After a little time the fractures were reduced, and we hear-that the patient is now progressing very" favorably. The accident occurred through the fall of a surface flake or sod from a height of 30 feet, upon-the back of Guffie's neck projecting him with great force to the ground, probably upon a stone. Sevjebai, important sales are to be held by Messrs. Inder and George during ■ next week. On December 9th the Welcome Inn, Btock, and out-buildings, are for sale; (The following day the residence of Mr. .Nicholas Reed, and share in water race and daim On the 10th some very. valuable "flowers of choice sorts are offered by; Mr. H. Anderson—the , proceeds of the sale being very' generously promised as a donation to the District Hospital. On the 12th a veiy valuable sixty-acre farm ; at-Hyde is to'be offered for unreserved sale—other pressing engagements preventing the utilising their property. ! Full particulars will be seen in our advertisement columns. ..

In justice to Mr.Luks we should have stated that, on the inquiry before the District' Board, on. the application of, Sir F. D. Bell,; he~proved on" oath'that the water did riot flow-.'on to-vthe- station after passing through his" stock-yards. "From 'our report ter's notes we see' Mr. lalKs, on-being crossexamined by Sir.F. D. Bell, said:—"The water does not go through the pig-sties.. It is pure, because' the horses drink it, and the Robertson's . use ,it for domestic purposes." have a full report'of the case, but did not judge it to be of sufficient interest to publish in full; as the right in; dispute was settled or about to be settled by-mutual arrangement.- ' - ! 'j ' ■ i] ■!.!

The "Wellington correspondent of the 'Guardian' writes:—'.'You will-doubtless recollect that, at the last-regular meeting of the Provincial Council here, a sum of £2,500 for the purchase of land for Dr. Featherston was, after an acrimonious debate, voted as a -recognition, of his oes, and. that- the narrowness of . the majo. •.y was such as to rob the proceeding of all claims to gratefulness on the part of the Province towards one who:had loved it well if not too wisely. I am glad, however, tcfsee by the last mail from England that the doctor has thought it advisable to accept the gift, however ungraciously bestowed, evidently considering that itisaswell '' not to look a gift horse in the

• ex Island about the distrib

National Insurance shares. The' .'Star' says:—"The allotment of tlie National Insurance Company to tM Auckland applicants appears to have cause' universal dissatisfaction. And no wonder. The provisional directors have been in the first place guilty of delaying the allotment until a good iiumber of the stock had teen placed on the market, and now that the allotment has been made it is remarkable for the absence of anything like system in apportioning the shares. The Thames applicants are not. yet in a position to know how they have been treated, but they need not expect to find that they have received greater consideration at the hands of the Dunedin directory than the Auckland people." The Auckland 'Evening Star' says:—"Out of 82,5Q0 shares in the National Insurance Company applied for by Auckland, oily 10,300 were allotted."

The four Americans, whose clever forgeries recently defrauded the Bank of England of more than £IOO,OOO, have'been tried at the Old Bailey, and sentenced to penal servitude for, life. ; It ;is the rarest thing in English; courts for any attempt to be made to rescue a prisoner, but the friends of these men seem to have borrowed the idea from the rowdyism of New York. It was rumored during the progress of the trial that the authorities of Newgate had detected an attempt to tamper with the prison warders. A relative of one of the prisoners, who had arrived from America, and was allowed a seat in .court, .was traced one evening to the house of awarder; letters were subsequently found, and; on one man a large sum of money, supposed to be a bribe. Another waider is said to have told a frieadthat he was to receive &1,000, and go to Tasmania. Three of tie warders were suspended, and the .whole matter will be closely investigated. It was at once seen to be expedient to double the -usual precautions. A™ l6 *! policemen in plain clothes guarded the dock, and closed round in a. formidable body when sentence was pronounced;- ; The plot was thus defeated, and the public knew nothing of it till these steps had.been taken. Mb. Dabg-avillb, one of the candidates for ; the Superinte.ndency, seems to have a peculiarly strong mode of -putting things. We clip the following unetuous bit of hardly befitting" one "testing": high office iii the state, from his speech to the Thames' :—"H6 "v.as'now asked to give his opinion''of Mr. Tyler He had | known. Messrs Hees and -Tyler oa theTWest Coast. (A voice: Did you know) any igood of ; them ?) j Mr. Eees was known |as a " thieves' lawyer." Beea and Tyler were all one. ■ Befori coming to the Coast, iu Yictoria, Mr. Rees was—he saicl it with all (respect —a Minister of [religion. He found. this did not pay, and he became a lawyer. He'was a man of peculiar characteristics. A minister of religion had certain obligations. He must;act consistently; or he" loses his manhood Mr. -Kees found that as the Bev. Mr. Eees he had certain restraints—he couldn't let out, and atter migrating to the West Coast he becaine a awyer. jAs a minister of religion he wa| a sei \,mt of the Supreme Being; when he became a lawyer he was the very opposite : he became a servant of the Father of Us. ®5 eera i and uproar.) He Mr! DirJ 1 ° t know how Mr. flees serwd intstp!". 111 . 61 * ' but be served his,present Vr r * n deed. When lie spike;of es j be i spoke of Mr, Tjder Übi>;

, those men had esilted to a conspicuous position by exciting tue religious - animosities of member 3 of the community. There were men who would sacrifice their hopes of the future to gaintheir ends; and mch were Messrs. Rees and Tyler. He did aot fear the opposition d£Mr. John Wil;iamion; he loved and respsssted him a3 an ionestman ; but Messrs. Eees and Tyler ho - Tested with Mium and contempt. The/'' jcraducf or Mr. Eees was odioi£3 r it was Known that Messrs. Eees and Tyler were only satellites of Mr. Lusk ; they were eking out a miserable pittance, and if they ultimately succeeded it would be on the skirts of some better men. They hoped to work on the worst feelings of men in tlie community to work their own ends, and the sooner such men were scouted the better." The Dunedin 4 Star,' summarising the latest English news, says:—" We cannot understand the state of affairs in Prance. A month ago we were told by tele°ram that M—l ahon was to be President for ten now we learn that it is to be for five, but that he wants to drive a bargain by dividinc the difierence and making it seven Fit© years of good rule would almost certainly secure him the Presidentship, 'nominally for life; although possibly he might chance, after being honored by planting of trees of liberty, and being graven in stone to ornament a triumphal arch, to die in exile, as most French rulers have done during the present century.—The .Ashantees, as was morally certain would sooner or later be the case, are suffering the consequences of their folly and. treachery. It is a pity ~o much blood anjjf treasure are wasted in so worthless a contest.

There is neither glory nor profit in it. / Cape Coast Castle was never worth was taken possession of in times when extent of territory was reputed national power, and its miasmata have caused the death of thousands —of some Trhom the world could ill spare. "We suppose, however, that it would not do to leave the Fantees to the tender mercies of the Ashantees. This is the third war we have had vith those savages during the century, and in not one of them have the British come off without reverses. Sir Charles M'Carthy lost hi.-; life, and one thousand British troops were defeated in ] 524. In 1863 war was renewed, and on account of the mortality of the troops through disease, it was abandoned in twelve months, and the present conflict has been marked by the disastrous boat expedition at the Prah. Mo3i probably recent improvements and will shorten militarj operations, and secure early submission. "We trust what is flone will be thoroughly dine. Some weeks ago wc gave a report of the Maerewhenua G-oldfieid, in which we pointed out how desirable it was that a geological survey could be made jf that field by the Provincial Geologist. We are glad to" seeTfist~the ' Ota go Guardian ' has warmly advocated the Bame view : —lt is highly desirable that Captain Hutton should pay an early visit to this field, and report upon some interesting features on which I need not now enlarge j and in endeavoring to account for the deposit of so enormous a mass of auriferous drift so near the foot of the main range, an important problem is presented. Is it ice or water that has been the chi=f agent in the breaking up and transport of those thousands of millions of tons of detritus from hwd schist and juartz rocks, and depositing them in their present position of ridges and spure, with deep jullies between ? Large masses cf a brown foisilife--rous sandstone abound over the field ; tut, so far as T know they are only transported boulders and slabs, and not found in situ. The neighboring limestone rocks are of very different character, and probably different age, but whether older or more recent I could rot determine. An outcrop of coiVimnar bisalt is also a "very noticeable object c'p the banks of the Maerewhenua, and specimens of fossil, or rather petrified wood, and Qyifly, | tions of iron stone abound ■' Some bones (? moa) have it is said 30 feet deep in the needs confirmation. Ido not has ever been systematically geologist, and its many entitle it to attention. Two be/ solved by a careful test, viz.— Golarty of £ll, for damages sustained by reason of th'l defendants having prevented the workifcg of a dam at Clark's Gully, Mourft Burster, the property of the defendants. Judgment for £lO, and costs lis.