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Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 269, 1 May 1874, Page 2

The., English mail, via San Francisco, closes here on Friday, Ist inst. _ Hrs Excellency the Governor has been advised to summon Parliament for the despatch, of business, on the 3rd of July next.

Two and a half tons of stone from the Waipori Quartz Mining Company's mine were crushed last week, yielding two ounces to the ton.

There are between 8,000 and 9,000 emigi'ants on the high seas in ships bound for New Zealand, of which number are for Otago.

Tenders are called for the cartage of materials for two bridges,' and the erection of the same across the head race, in the neighborhood of Hill's Greek.

We understand that the Engineer-in-Chief, Mr. Carruthers, intends inspecting the public works now in course of construction in this district about the middle of June.

We understand that the Loyal Mount Ida Lodge, 1.0.0.P., intend celebrating their second anniversary with a ball. From our recollection of their anniversary ball last year, we think this .one must prove a success. ' The prospectus of the Colonial Bank of New Zealand (capital, £2,000,000) has been issued. A large and influential provisional directory, composed of members of the principal business firms in Dunedin, has been formed.

The submarine boat Platypus was sold by auction on Saturday last, by order of the " liquidator in the estate of the New Zealand Submarine Goldmining Company," and purchased for £4OO by Mr. C. S. Reeves. The new proprietary are calling for tenders to convey the Platypus to Cromwell. The magnificent iron ship Asia, 1,445 tons register, arrived at Port Chalmers on Monday last with 467 passengers. The run out from. Cork was made in seventy-eight days. The ship Mallard, 126 days from London, and the Rakaia, eighty-nix days from Plymouth, with 517 passengers, arrived at Lyttelton also on Monday last. The 'Herald' informs us that numerous friends have testified tlieir sympathy for the loss the Rev. Mr. Dasent sustained through the accidental destruction of a stack of wheat by'fire on the 12th ultimo, in a practical manner, by contributing somewhere about £SO, which was given as the approximate value of the property destroyed. The usual meeting of the Waste Lands Board was held on Friday last. Present: J. T. Thomson (chair), and Messrs. Butterworth and Strode.—A. petition was read from the holders of business licenses at St. Bathans, praying that the upset price of sections in. that township might be reduced to £5. The: prayer of the petition was refused. ■

The cutting in Dillon's contract, at'tlie Naseby end of the Head Race is progressing speedily and satisfactorily, over five miles being nearly completed. The large tunnel through one of the spurs on the Wetherburn has been let, and the work commenced. The deep cutting at the exit end of the tunnel averaging eighteen feet iu depth and about 400 feet in length, has also been started.

On Sunday evening last, during church hours, the town was thrown into a state of consternation by an alarm of tire. It appears that the cause of alarm wa3 the catching fire of the window-blinds in the cottage occupied by Mr. Wni. May, who, with Airs. Hay, was at church The were speedily got

under by Mr. Wm. Currie, who' fortunately happened to be near at the time, and no further damage was done. The English mail, via Suez, will close at the post-office, Naseby, on Friday next, Bth instant.

Wis regret to record the sudden death, on I Saturday; afternoon last, at Auckland, of the I Rev. Father Norris, of Grahamstown. The rav. gentleman officiated in this district for j several years, and had charge of the large i parish, of St. Patrick, which he worked I faithfully and well. He was earnest in his I ministrations, and genial and kind in his. na- i ture and, disposition—qualities which made'! him many friends, and of all denominations. I The intelligence of his death will be read with feelings of regret, particularly in this I district, where he was much respected." We i believe the Rev. Father ISforris, at the time of his death, was only thirty years of age. !

Mb. Barton, the defeated candidate in Dunedin, speaking of the land laws, said:— "The land was given over, body and soul, to the squatting community, and the people had no redress. (Loud applause.) Bad as the Act was, they had a worse body to administer it. They had ;an irresponsible Land Board, and wholly independent of the Provincial Council. He saw they had appointed Donald Reid to the Board, lately. Tliis was as a little sop, but not much. As far aB the land wa3 concerned, it was given to the squatters, except here and there a little bit thrown to a -poor man, like a bone to a dog. (Loud applause.) But this would find its remedy when the. railways and public works ran: through the country.

At the Resident Magistrate's Court Queenstown on the 22nd ultimo, a number of hotelkeepers and others, were summoned by the Inspector of Nuisances under the Corporation Empowering Act of 1865, for keeping dirty pigstyes, and allowing leakages of water closets on their premises. - The Bench considered the charges proved in each case, but they had no power to deal with them. An opinion was expressed that no fines could be inflicted under the Act, unless authorised by Bye-laws made under it by the Corporation, btit the Corporation have power to-order suppression of nuisances, and if not abated after 24 hours notice they can be removed by the Council at. the expense of the persons infringing. Case dismissed.

The following extract, from the ' Wakatip Mail' explains the paragraph in our telegraphic news of last week .—An announcement, was made on Monday last that Henry's large coach had been chartered to bring .up: convalescent patients and others, frightened of fever, from Cromwell. The news came by, telegram. The hotelkeepers were of course in sore dismay. Trouble was depicted o;i many countenances, and there was a good deal of general anxiety about the The coach, however, did not come to Queenstown, but brought, on a number of new chum Chinese to the Arrow. This was known the next day, and considerably relieved the anxiety that was prevalent. The hoax did no harm ; indeed, good for it made people actually ,realise the position they would be in if the fever broke out.

;. The new school at -Blackstone Hill was opened on Friday last by a concert and ball; in: aid of the building fund. The schoolhouse was crowded on the occasion. Mr. Wade, who occupied the chair, made' a few appropriate j remarks on the advantages the rising generation would derive from the successful establishment of the school.—The efforts made to please by the talent which appeared on the occasion were appreciated by the audience, judging from the numerous encores .t- Supper was served up in a temporary building adjoining the school, and tea,- coffee, and: other refreshments for the ladies in the schoolmistress' residence.—A ball concluded the entertainment, which was a most enjoyable one. Considerable credit is due to the members of Committee," and those who kindly assisted-them, for.the successful way in which all the arrangements were carried out.

Waiting- on Otagan nomenclature " Perigrine" in the ' North Of ago Times' observes: —The next river and district, as we pi'oceed up the right bank of the Waitaki, is the Maerewhenua, as it is now called and written. On some public documents it has been written Mara, Marae, and Maru-whenua. I presume there have been different opinions, as to the meaning of the word, and its derivation, hence the variations in the mode of spelling it; Now the meaning of " whenua" is land, " Mara' 1 is an enclosed cultivation, " Mari" means "it is good, " and: therefore, we may choose'either Mariwhenua," It is good land," oc Mara whenua, .".enclosed and cultivated land." The first ia certainly a truthful character of the district, and'is probably the Maori name, or if there was, as I am told there was, on the river bankj an old Maori cultivated enclosure, its name may'have been Marawheaua. At.anyrate we may delete the surplus letter "e, " and so get rid of a syllable, and I hope this will bo done. I should choose Mariwhenua as the more -probably correct title. Snow is lying on the track between Linburn and the Serpentine Diggings, which is accepted by the miners there, as 'the first - wanting of approaching ,winter. The population consists of about twenty-five minerssome of whom are married—and, with women and children, thirty-five persons in all. Isolated as they are • from centres of population, they have not neglected the comforts of substantial homesteads, and, to their credit be it said, they have built a comfortable stone church, large enough for the present population, and open to the ministers of all Chris-, tian denominations. The cartage of goods is at the same price as at Clyde, viz., £l3 jper ton. The prices of articles in the general store are the same as at Naseby, which is almost to be wondered at, as the carriers ascend the steep and slippery track to the . diggings—even with ten horses in their teams —with the greatest difficulty. The expenditure of about £250 in making certain cuttings and culverts should cause a considerable; reduction in the price of cartage. The Serpentine miners think -they have a claim to this expenditure, in return for their contribution for so many years to the public revenue.: They are asking for a cemetery reserve and church site, and do not anticipate any difficulty in obtaining a favorable report to these modest requests.

Continued complaints are reaching our ears about the" fords on the Taieri river. Runholders, business people, carriers, and miners are all raising their voices, about the increasing dangers in crossing at the various approaches from the different branch roads now in use. Scarcely a season passes without new cuttings having to be made to avoid the holes and banks that are being formed at almost every flood. We would caution all our neighbors in the district to avoid particularly the Lascarino crossing, which is on the direct road from Naseby to Hamilton, as it is uo longer a ford, but perhaps one of the deepest holes that could be found in the river between it and Linburn. On Thursday, 23rd. ultimo, when the river was supposed to be at its ordinary level, a lad crossed over on a horse standing sixteen hands high, and the water, before he reached the centre, found its way over the saddle. We givo.this warning note to travellers j and trust, ere long, as the Provincial Council is now sitting, that it will be rendered unnecessary by the construction of a long-promised and much-needed bridge. In the meanwhile, as all persons have now to travel by Captain Hamilton's dip ford, which is a very good one, we should much like to see a roadman sent down to culvert a very bad bog one mile on this side of the Lascarino, which all vehicles must pass through to reach the ford in question. °