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Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 296, 30 October 1874, Page 2

Mb. J. C. Beown, M.H.R., is reported tobe about to visit the Palmer diggings. A woman named M'Kay, at Brisbane, haspoisoned herself and three children.

-. M'Laeen was on Thursday night brought in from St. Bathans to the District Hospital. "We learn that the Naseby Dramatic Club intend shortly giving a performance in aid of the Naseby Catholic Church Fund. The Warden visited Serpentine this week.. The miners were too busy for law, conse-w quently the business was of a merely routine - character.

GrOLBSBBOUGH and Break-o'-Day are in: strong favor for the Melbourne *Cup. ', Thelatter won .1 he Ballarat Cup easily; Haricot, won the Handicap." The Hokitika Fire Brigade have imported: ' a steel Fire : bell weighing half-a" ton. It is* said that under favorable atmospheric cnv cumstances its piercing tones will be heard distinctly three miles off. ' Advices from the Palmer goldfields report that the miners are starved out, and: are leaving in hundreds. A famine is feared next winter unless the Government provide*' regular communication with, the diggings. His Honor the Superintendent has received; a telegram informing him that the MargaTet G-albraith and the Nelson, with 130 and 320. souls respectively, sailed for Otago in September. ' We hear rumors of war from Hyde, of a. man.'.'being''downed and kicked, a doctor sent.: for from Naseby—fortunately, beyond .len eyes and an abrased skull-cup, the dam-, age was n<tf;serious. \J Oji Tuesday evening the Hospital Commit-.. /tee held their adjourned meeting to appoint aSurgeon.'. Two new Applications had been. received from Drs. "Whitton and Stewart. After careful consideration, Dr. Whitton was. \ appointed for the ensuing three months. —A In the'<Dunedin :R. M. Court last John" Burleson, on remand, charged with. ; stealing a deposit receipt at Macraes Flat ten I years ago, was discharged, without prejudiceto a fresh-information being laid, as the re?, ceipt could not be found, it having been paid;' into the bank.

The retirement of District Judge Gray will says the ' Star ' necessitate a vacancy, being filled in this Province. It ia rumoredv says tko ' West Coast Times,' that th-j circuit will be, or has been offered to his Hono* Harvey, and that it is probable the offer will be aeeep'ed. As yet nothing is definitely known, or who, in such.an event, will succeed Judge Harvey. J ~ . The question of building, a Court Hous. and Q-aol in Queenstown has, the < Mail' „ understands, been taken in hand hy the Pro-" vincial Secretary (Mr. D. Reid). The Assembly at its si tings put all demands of this nature into a" block vote of £50,000 and part of this Mr, Reid is endeavoring to obtain, ao as to use it with, the £6.QQ °Tote. passed by. the Provincial Council. Mksskk, Eoeton and Gebek have conu menccd the construction of apparatus to raise - water from' !he Molynpux .River on to • thebanks for sluicing purposes. The power wilf'" be a stream wheel on the screw principle The wheel will be fixed to a floating "stage* w'iieit is being built on t.vo large boats. "We ' Guardian' hope the" soec. will reward, its originators, as. if successful, the pUn will no doubt be largely adopted on the river for beach -workiug.

AQreEsstws telegram staSofi that'Mi-,' Mandrirs has been- elected to the- Provincial Counvi! without opposition. Mr. Ixmes

ing retired from the contest, Mr- H. J. Cope •was brought forward by the electors. He came with proposer and seconder to Queenstown, but was delayed afterwards from attending the hustings, and rushed down to them when it was too late. There was an amusing scene when Mr. Manders was returned. The following ladies have kindly consented to preside over stalls at the Bazaar in aid of the Oathohc Ohuroh fund—the names have been previously accidentally omitted in the advertisement.—Mrs. Green and Mrs. Cogan, Misses Burke, Gaffenoy, and Jnck. Contributions, it will be remembered, should be sent in on Saturday.

In' consequence of the rising of the river Taieri, the Warden was unable to hold his usual Courts at Hamilton and Hyde on the 20th and 21st inst. We understand that there were no Court cases for hearing, so that the inconvenience to the public was not so serious as it might otherwise have been. These interruptions to the public business afford further arguments, if any are required, to prove the necessity of bridging the Taieri. On Monday the Dunedin Supreme Court was the scene of excitement. Mr. Dodson, advised by Messrs. Macassey and Stewart, sued the Superintendent for £IOOO damages for ejectment from the Port Chalmers refreshment rooms some time back. In spite of the efforts of Messrs. Smith, Haggitt, and Stout, all engaged for the defence—almost justifying Mr. Macassey's remark, that such an array of legal talent showed a bad case—the jury found for the plaintiff damages £2OO. This Jessie Headman, with 329 souls, has arrived. Among these there were 58 married couples, and 88 children between one and twelve years ofnge. There were twenty-fivo •cases of sickness, and 8 deaths of children, or about one to every seven families. This ship is reported'of as being in very good condition, and no complaints are recorded. The voyage was made mB2 days. The Calypso has also arrived, but without emigrants. The Calypso brings, however, the. Kev. Fathers Walsh and O'Leary, whose services were engaged, for the •Catholic Church' in New Zealand, by Father Coleman.

Otru own correspondent from the Serpentine writes to U8 (Oct. 16th,") to let us know something about the great that fell there last week. It snowed for fortyeight hours without ceasing, while the wind ' had all the force of a hurricane at the same time. The roofs of snow combed with the gale are from 10 to 15 feet—Head races and tail races are alike closed—-hidden I may say. Of course everything is at a standstill. "We have never experienced or seen anything like it even in this notably rough quarter before, -especially at this time of the year, when par- ' ties wore.all ready, after the great frost, to .get to work. Another week or two will be ' , lost before racos and claims can get into working order. AWbllinoton covrespondentto the' Guardian 1 reports that another emigrant ship, the Cartvale, arrived here last week, with another addition to our population, numbering 418 souls. There was considerable mortality on board during the voyage, 19 deaths in all, but those were counterbalanced by several births, liut th« state the vessel arrived in—with so much illness on board, principally measles, diarrhoea, and scurvy—would seem to indicate a want of some of the necessary provisions to prevent diseases of that nature on a protracted voyage. The vesßel has been sent into quarantine to undergo a thorough course of fumigation and cleansing before the passengers are allowed to hind, but this seems very like shutting the stable door when the horse is stolen. Tkk Auckland correspondent of the 'Coromandel News', referring to the abolition of - imprisonment for debt, says:—On the morning of the Ist. instant Governor Eyre informed "all debtors in Mount Eden (there were four; that the doors were open to them. Three made a start at once, but the other expressed his willingness to remain where he ' was. He had been quite comfortable. Yery . much to his chagrin he was infor.: ed that . his departure was as compulsory as had been 1 his arrival a few months previously. '. The Secretary of the Naseby Cricket Club informs us that the Club applied to the Naseby Council, asking that, in consideration •of the large sums heretofore spent out of the pockets of members, the Council would have the Recreation Ground, for which the Corporation are now the custodians, cleared of rub- ' bisb. (unreasonable Mr. Secretary, very), and a man be allowed for four days' work to level _., a cricketing pitch. The answer was an em- '•' phatic no—the Council graciously, however, allowing tho Club to make use of the ground. It is to be hoped that the Council will see the absurdity of the position they have taken up. We have seen constantly a man employed by day labor to protect those who are injuring their neighbors' property, without themselves exercising any care. If such assistance to those who are doinj wrong is an allowable charge, surely a trifling sum, at tire most £3, is allowable for the purpose of encouraging the young growing lads of the '. town to keep out of mischief. The Arrow miners still contiuuo to keep up their character for exertion in the cause of mining unity for protection. The ' Observer ' of last week reports that:—A special meeting of the district Miners' Association was held in the Library Hall on Saturday evening, 17th instant, the business being to discuss the suggestion thrown out by tho Central Association with reference to tho statistics of the Province, showing tho amount of special taxation borne by the miners compared with any other class of colonists. The subject was discussed at considerable length, and resulted in the carrying of a motion, proposed by Mr E. Clarke, seconded by Mr. Grant—" That a . sub-committee be appointed, consisting of Messrs. Miller, Prewen, M'Whirter Whelan, and the mover, to prepare a report thereon, trfl be presented at a meeting on the first Jtaiturday in Novembor—the report to show amount of special taxation borne by the miners of this district." Tho meeting then adjourned. It appears that, in compliance with the provisions of the Licensing Ordinance, Courts will be required to be held at each of the districts gazetted. In our own district, applications, instead of being all heard at Naseby, will be dealt with at the centres of the disVtricts i» which the premises for which a liis so light are situated. The Licensing Commission will sit in the Court Houses at Naseby, St. Bathans, and Macraes; in the ■ achoolhouses at Hyde and Hamilton, and at tho Omarama Station (Ahuriri district). The Court, by a legal fiction, is supposed to sit in all places at the same time, but, practically, it possesses an indefinite power of adjournment from day to day, till convenient, (n practise, the Court will probably sit at Naseby on the Ist, and proceed to the other districts on such days as can be made convenient, due notice of which will no doubt be fiiven. Applications (of which due notice Jias to be given) must, however, date back from the Ist December, whenever the Court tnaysrt; and applications should be sent to the Clerk at Naseby, to reach him twentyono days before the Ist. Tho Act is not clear on the point, and we very much doubt ..whether an application for say a license at Hindon, not being notified at Maaeby twenty--ttne days prior to the first, could be refused. In these oases prudence is best. It will be much more convenient for the outdistricts to have their cases heard on the ground, and also have tho Bench composed of their own ' neighbors, for obviously the at present appointed Commissioners will refuse to travel, and fresh appointments in each locality will have to be made. 4 , At tlle sitting of the Warden's Court at ■.$Macraes on the 22nd three Ohiiiamen were

srarnmoneuY <m the complaint of the police, . for mining without miners' rights... Two did not appear, but the service of summonses upon them having been a- fine of £5 was inflicted in each instance,. 'with the alternative of one months' imprisonment. The third, who did appear, but pleaded poverty and illness, was fined in the mitigated penalty of £2 and costs, or fourteen days' imprisonment. At first he seemed disposed to serve his fourteen days, but before the Court rose he appeared to think better of it, and paid the amount. The effect of these cases upon the revenue was very noticeable—no less than twenty-two miners' rights being taken out by Chinamen the same afternoon. The Government are anxious to offer a bonus for the best gold-saving apparatus for alluvial sluicing, in accordance with the rer solution passed by the Provincial Council. To enable this to be done, a few facts are needed: the fall given to sluice-boxes in position; the length and width of such boxes most commonly used; and, if possible, a few samples—minute weights would be sufficient —of fine gold escaped from fair boxes. Could not some of our claims now in full work, supply these few facts. What a difference there is between sluice boxes can be seen by a casual observation of the three discharging near the Hospital into the Dead Level, and the very superior and artistic construction of one over the other two. We ourselves believe that there is as much difference between the sluice-box that will be in common use. in a few years' time and the one so general now as there is between a well constructed Scotch swing-plough and one of fifty years ago. Anfrther point we had omitted on which information is required, that is—the maximum and the minimum amounts of ;vater passng down tail races for practical purposes. A meeting of the Naseby Progress Committee was held on Wednesday evening, last at the Empire Hotel Naseby. Present— Messrs. Collet, Craig, Jackson, Mulholland, Shannon, de Lautour, and Packman. • Correspondence to and from the Government relative to the great delay on the head race was read, the Government stating that the engineer had received instructions to hasten bhe contractors. —A memorandum was read and adopted to be forwarded to the Provincial Secretary, asking that there should be no delay in gazetting the agricultural blocks on the Eweburn run as soon as the " somewhat protracted survey was completed;" and that the charges of survey should be borne by the. Government as in deferred payment blocks, as the Committee considered that £lO a section (which is the charge' for such survey, under the regulations) would be unjust.—A resolution was also carried that it was desirable the Government be urged to undertake the trial survey of the line of railway Waihemo to Clyde, for which money was appropriated by the Council, and that the St. Bathans, Blacks, Drybread, and Tinkers Committees be solicited to urge the same matter.—The desirability of the coal deposits of the district being reported upon was also discussed. The Committee thought that the services of the Government Geologist might be secured to report upon the Kyeburn coalfield. A facetious Committee man thought that if a moa deposit could be hit upon up the Kyeburn, the success of the ap-; plication for scientific coal exploration would be ensured.—The Naseby Court House was also spoken about; but, upon it being understood that the Council would see to that requirement, the subject dropped.