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Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 250, 19 December 1873, Page 2

A JTSH—presumed ten be a salmon—-has been, caught at Ilobart- Town, weighing alba. •''■'■''•'.:■. Mh, William Gibbm has been returned aa member foi the House of Representatives for Qollingwood, w'eg Mr Oollins. Tenders are. -wanted for the survey, into flffcy-ftcre sections or of 2,50Q ftcrea in clistriht, Macraes.

The Education Board have postponed the examination for the' Provincial - Scholarships till the first Tuesday in April,' 1874. ' ' ""

The J9th January is'fixed-for' the sale by auction, by Messrs. Tnder and George, of certain sections in the Mount Ida district,

A tesder wag put in for bricks to be supplied to the Dunedin Corporation at £2 JOs, per thousand. The English mail, via Suez, has arrived at the Bluff. We can hardly expect it at Jfaseby before Tuesday, - : ' ' The Postmaster- General is of opinion that it is undesirable at present to establish a money order and savings bank at Maerewhenua, ' We only have space to draw attention to the .very attractive entertainment, -in aid of the District School, advertised, for to-morrow sight. JEirs-IiISH mails, via. Suez, will close at the Jfaseby, St. Bathans, Blackstone Hill, Kjeburn, and Hamilton post offices on Monday next at the usual hours.

The Jockey Club meeting, called by circular on Friday evening last, lapsed for want of the attendance of members. It is only fair to say that Mp. Foster, of Hamilton, unde, terred by distance, was in attendance as usual.

The Biverton paper says our energetic Town Clerk has signified his intention of in future personally undertaking the detection of those who disturb the peace of " Our Sovereign I/ady the Queen, her Crown and dignity," gentlemen who go "rolling home" at untimely hours had better be circumspect. We understand that Mr, H, W. Robinson has left for Hyde, his instructions being at once to lay off a block of 2,500 acres there. The District Surveyor will at once proceed to lay off the block, which, we believe, will be open for application by notice in the newspapers a,nd" 'Provincial Gazette' within a week or two.

A aooD many men are reported as at work on Mr, Abbott's contract on the Head Race —mostly Chinamen. ■ :Mr. Johnstone has as many bands as be can wish, and. Mr, Dillon appears to be keeping bis men together. There ig still room for a great many more men, which, if not forthcoming, will seriously delay tbe work,

• The ' Timaru Herald '■' relates that a pulling matcb between two horses-*=Mr. John son's Prinoe, and Mr. Jobn Martin's ."'mare, Yiolet—came off in the riverbed of the MakiMbi on Saturday "last for £2O, It is estimated that the lift was fully two and a- half tons, Prince proving himself the best, after » plucky struggle. The attendance was large, owin» to the. well-known qualities of the .horses, Mr. Clapcott, having visited Hill's Creek and St. Bathans yesterday, and to-day, in* tends to be in Naseby. the whole of to-morrow (Saturday), to give applicants for insurance a further opportunity fo avail themselves ol the advantages offered. There should be no be* gitation in eliciting all information from Mr, Glapoott, whether the applicant intends to insure or not, As he says, it is his business to give such information.

Ch? Wednesday afternoon an acgident very nearly occurred of a serious nature, Ayoung horse had been put somewhat prematurely into a"'spring cart. He became rather in a , hurry;_ went into the parlor window of tbe Victoria Hotel, clearing out both sashes; then, with a soul for a/frolic, visited the Ite--1 creation Ground, going through, and finally landing tbe cart in Messrs, Moore, and Web* ber's tail rage. The driver, whose,reins had broken, was deposited in the drain outside Mr, E, T, George's hotel, andbeyoad a general obfusoation, was none. the worse," : nor strange tosay, was the animal. • :i

; The 'Arrow Observer" says respect to thej?ecent reduction ;iri the price of gold at Cromwell,, a gentleman 'sheweel us this' week both refiner's and. assayer's reoeipt notes for a parcel of ; Otago. ;gpld sold by him to the Bank of England, and for which £4 ss. an ounce was given, We remember seeing a statement the other day that i£4 per ounce was given at Orepuki for gold which is almost as fine as flour, therefore .proportionately impure, It certainly seems jsti'ange. that such a difference, in prios exists, . -,> , , v". ■ ,

. Thp ♦OtagoGfuardian l of Wednesday last relates that s-*=A very interesting cereriony took place last week' ait the fortnightly meeting of the Loyal Leith Lodge, I CO':]?., when Brother S. London, V.M., was presented by Teague, D.G-.M., on behalf of the Loyal Mount Ida Lodge, with a valuable gold ring, and a beautifully engrossed address, aia token Of the esteem in which he is held by the order in . general, and as a special recognition of his servioes to the fraternity in the Mount Ida Distriot: The address is the workmanship, of Thomas George, of that city, and reflects the greatest predjt on his ingenuity and skill. ,"'"'... The. Thames '.Evening Star 'says j WThere are lawyers and lawyers. In the Resident Magistrate's Court, during the late hearing of a judgment summons case, the defendant in which only appeared by counsel, the RIM. remarked that what be (defendant) would pay counsel for ooming there would have gone some way towards paying the debt. Counsel: J don't gay I have been paid anything- His Worship ; You are setting a very bad expmple, then, in coming here on tick. Another counsel (feelingly) ; You don't.oatoh me coming here on tiok. We won't give any names, but possibly those who are entirely unacquainted with the law will guess who the gentleman was who would not be oaught practising on tick." Neither tbe B.M. nor our contemporary could conceive of a lawyer doing anything for nothing.

Ma. G, R. Paioe; who haa been resident in thia district for some tijna, left by the coach, on Monday last. The members of the Church of England choir presented him -with the f ollowingg raeeful testimonial, as. a recognition of his. services in connection with the Church Geo. R Paice, Esq,, Choir-Master, Naseby; We, the undersigned members of the. Church of England ch'oir, at JSTaseby, desire to express to you our thanks, for the kind and able manner in which yon have, since the formation of the Choir, given us the assistance ajul benefit of your un-. doubted, talents as a. musical instructor, We are sorry that you are shortly leaving the. dis* triot, and hope, wherever you may be, you will always meet with the same kindly feel, ing you have displayed to your friends and wellwishers," The testimonial was signed by twenty-one ladies and gentlemen. On Monday evening last Hamilton made holiday, the occasion' being a dinner to be given to The Captain on the" eve of his. departure for England, Captain Hamilton, better known as The Captain, is one of the oldest settlers on .the Plain, and we venture to say there is no one more respected or more sonally liked. If any "man is sick within some miles of the station, he goes, to The Captain; is it law that is required, he goes to The Captain=not, however, tq get any -.encouragement in-litigation; is it theology or pecuniary traiihle, still the Captain is the resort. Never did anyone appeal to that source for advice or aid without receiving it in the kindest manner, more,' indeed, as if the obliger was the obliged party. Captain Hamilton contemplates, we believe, being ab§ent for two years, J( ."We have not heard the particulars of the evening, but from what we know, of the spirit animating the promoters of the dinner, there'' can be no doubt it was a success.

It ig no-\r accepted aa certain that during the harvest lab'ar mil be very scarce on the public '£t the same time, it is hardly to accept such a state of things as per->

fectly inevitable, or incapably of some degree of regulation. Our contractors may be sure that Messrs. Brogden and other railway contractors are cot asleep, but are doing their utmost to secure as much labor as they possibly can in spite of the harvest. It may be thought that the saving of the crops is the first-necessity—before cutting dry trenches m the ground; but this must' not be too readjly granted, for the delay in these public works means waste of a very large sum of money, and the protracted poverty of many (it is"'not every man who can do a day's work as a iiawy to the satisfaction of a contractor) who, hiving faith in the promises held out to them, have remained in expectation of a plentiful water supply. At Oamaru, employers of labor interested agreed to endeavor to secure a supply of hands from among those expected shortly to arrive in the Province, and waited upon the Superintendent for that purpose. He informed the deputation that 1,500 men were due in March, and Oamaru should have a fair share. He also wished to know what these 2,000 men the deputation spoke of as necessary to get in the harvest would do when the work was over. That hardly need be a matter of difficulty, for the distance through the Maerewhenua Pass from the Waitaki corn fields to the Mount Ida Public Works is a slight matter. If the local contractors were to press their necessities upon his Honor, it might lead to the direct allocation of imported labor, and the diversion after harvest of as many hands as could be employed during the winter months.

Tub Sludge Channel is making fair pro. gress, considering the present state of the labor market, the contractors being successful in securing the services of about seventy Chinamen, who appear to be giving great satisfaction. About forty-five are employed on the channel ditching—in some places, where the depth is about eight feet, having to throw the "stuff, the last few tiers on the bottom, from ten to sixteen feet—no slight work when it has to be maintained all day. The numerous tents and sod chimneys put up by the Celestials present the appearanoe of a town, They are pitched a little below the store, about two miles above Air. Amies' hotel, The greatest difficulty the contractors appear to have to contend with at pre. sent is the placing of stone along the line of channel, drays being very difficult to get, although prices varying from 25a, per day to 455. are offered, according to the horsepower supplied, t Several teams are at work, Chinamen keeping them going at the quarry; and it is hoped that as soon as a few of the small oat crops are in, one or two bullock teams will beset at liberty for the Channel, The high price of horsefeed has a good deal to do, no doubt, with the reluctance of teamsters to go to work. "We were told that at present £4O per day is being paid in wages for hand and horse labor, so that it is evident the contractors cannot afford to let the grass growunder their feet. The ditch is now cut for about a mile and a half this side of the road, a considerable portion having the stone laid alongside ready for pitching. The bridge, for which tenders were called, is going to be conducted by the Government. Material is already on the.ground, and next week it is expected that it will he commenced. If an alteration is to be made in the depth of the Channel it ought soon to be seen to, as the gradient must be very shortly reduced to enable Enterprise Gully to he worked out.