Untitled

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 299, 20 November 1874, Page 2

A number of new. advertisements will be found in the fourth page. The rules of fche Blackstone Hill Cemetery are this week published "'in the f Provincial Government Gazette.' English mails via Suez- will close at:: the district post offices on Monday' next/at the usual hours. , ; The unsold articles at the. bazaar 'will be disposed of this (Friday) evening by-Messrs: Inder and George. As.soon as other, engagements are. fulfilled, Captain Hutton the Government Geologist, will report; upon the Coalfields of .the Mount Ida district. ; , The schoolhouse at Blackstone Hill has been declared a polling, the election of members .ot the House-'of "Representatives and of the Provincial Council. We think .we are safe in stating, that the nomination 'day for the Provincial Council .vacancy will be' December the 14th, and the day of election December the 2lst. THE;ordinar ; y. meeting .of the. Naseby Municipal. Council, which was notified, to be held last 'night, lapsed for. want of a quorum: present—His Worship the Mayor; Crsl Craig and Newmarch. •

; This sections tliat are to be'offered for sale in JSTaseby,-are advertised in another column. It will also be noticed that the day of .land sale at Hamilton, is from "Wednes-: day the 9th,-to Friday the 11th; at 11. am. . The Warden, on the "occasion of his visit to vMaerWhenua-- on the* llth-* insfc/ made valuation- of'improvements, 'uponT occupied i sections in the township;, of Ilivingstone, which will-be\ offered f&r : ValeW-tite^4th ! of December,, prox. , We understand that 84 per cent, of lambs, has been marked on Eweburn Station this season, and «it -is expected 'that r th'el • lambing account from the other !in the? district; will be equally as-good. ■ = !<• The § the Progress' Comtnittete' has received an intimation from'the Government to'the effect'that it is not. thought that I it will be possible for the" Engineer's" staff to i proceed with'the - survey of a line of- railway —Waihemo to: Clyde—until after the month of-Marcmr- — r~~""

The Secretary to the Naseby Progress Committee,- informs us, < that - the. Secretary r of Works, has drawn the attention of the Provincial Engineer; -toithe; keeping/in repair of■the road, Jfasebyto Kyeburn-- -.Money was voted by the Council for the support upon this road;" during most • ; of the year,- of : a day' laborer.

. Reliable information -has .been, received that the Imperial Government have determined that Fiji shall be governed from Sydney undera Lieutenant-Governor. ;:Under - these circumstances, the laws of New South ; Wales would of course come into immediate force in the Islands.

| ~ The land on Bellamy and 'Smith's runs t: under tlie Agricultural Leasing and Deferred Payment systems, was .opened ,on ■ the 3rd. There were twenty-six applications for fourteen, sections, comprising 1310 acres uiider the'leasihg system,, and upwards twenty^applications for fire sections .comprising 1,270. acres •under the Deferred Payment system.—Tuafpeka Times.' . A. special meeting of the Mount Ida Dis yict Hospital Committee was held on Wed • nesday. There was. a full attendance. Fou l ' applications for the situation -of wardsman and matron were received. ■< After some discussion it was proposed that the application of vAaron . Pearce he accepted, which was agreed to, subject to the satisfactory proof of testimonials. • . At Ch.ristch.urch, ■ Judgment ■ was given 1 'against M'llroy for £24 in each of the three civil cases for damages for a breach of contract for-tlie. conveyance of passengersito *the Palmer diggings . per. Comet, from Dunedin. This judgment covers £j.O for refund of pas-sage-money, and £l4 for loss of time, &c. A further criminal charge agi inst M'llroy was to be preferred. •

The Catholic bazaar on /Wednesday night .was agrest success—the room being-crowded: The stalls were tastefully got up, their resources being endless; while we understand some of the best goods were held over for last night.. We. observed-everything, from delicately > .vvalae°d;'.^t' : £3r .to bottles of soothing.syrup for ""infants'. Tonight will be the last night. • Our report nextr week will be more detailed. •

The Dunedin ' Star' Mount Benger correspondent informs us that, Mr. Ireland M.P.C., lately^addressed his constituents and further states that:—ln accordance with the; principle of natural selection, Mr. Mervyn, M.ELR. for. Mount .Ida,. was ...placed in the chair, and, after a, pause of unusual duration and depress-ing-solemnity, Mr. Ireland faced the eleotors.

The .' Daily . Titnea' - has discovered that >t he re are Central Mining Associations in all the Provinces. Our contemporary- -would confer a great favor upon (.he Otago miners whose -welfare it so jealouoly watches-over, bv ascertaining and publishing, the addresses of the BecretatieC' to these several associations. We may rb -well save our eneylopcdio contemporary the trouble informing him'thafc all . B uch _ outside. Qtftgo" ejist pnlv in

' _ <44'N : ArCEi*Ni> ipaper has-fb'e following-true" bit"" cif-xriticißin>very, aptop'69run Qtago -at :>jitLpresent liSthe In the" Colonies there r fa. a-class-ofmen who itnagina.-thcmselves bom with the pift-of humovisrn; and as such waste pt n, ink, and paper, in order that the publio may bo pestered - witli their-trash, and they handle their subjects in'.a most, ruthless' manner, without taking into consideration that they render themselves; to be as roughly handled with the horsewhip.: ms they in a "similar manner handle their subjects with the pen Sometimes ihey-c.ven so'far forget themselves as to infuse libellous matter amongst their"remarks. If these, would-be liumorisrs were to place themselves in the stead of thoso whoi'n they innke the butt- of their criticisms, they would, nnybe, avt differently, or run their ,ilerary-garbage-in another channel/

The Municipal Council at- Arrowtown and •Queenstown are wisely drawing the attention 'of the Lakes district to the importance of propecting the undeveloped quartz reefs. The 1 Wakatip Mail' shadows out a scheme which would promise fairly under which a company is to be formed, with a capital 6f £SOOO, to subsidise mining companies. If such a scheme on an extended capital, and a directorate in Dunedin could be formed, not as an advancing company only, but as a large participating, shareholder, • an immense success would result. If this had. been done years •ago, thousands.of pounds Dunedin investors/ have thrown away on fraudulent" and impossi-; ble^-ventures • on- the Goldfields would have: been saved to them, and Groldfield speculations would not be in tlie bad odor, they undoubtedly are in among our capitalists. Any amount of money is forthcoming for shares in companies, which is merely an exchange of money from A to B, but very little towards developing the great productive industries.

■ It is not certain that North Australia may not be found to yield gold in plenty. In i little known manuscript of the seventeenth century the north-west of Australia is called " the land of goldj" and we are told that the fishermen of Solor, driven on this land by stress of weather, .picked up in few hours their boat full of nuggets, and returned in safety. They never dared-repeat their voyage on account of their dread of the. .unknown seas; but Manoel Godinho de Eredia was commissioned by the Lord Admiral of India to explore this gold land, and enrich the Crown" of Portugal by the capture of the treasures it contained. It would be strange t enough if: gold came to be discovered on the north-west coast in the spot from which the Portugese reported their discovery.—Sir Charles Dilke We would draw attention to the very valuable property that is positively to be disposed of at Maerewhenua, in consequence of the owner being about to leave the district of Oamaru. The future of Maerewhenua can hardly fail to be a successful one. At. the present time, two railways are being pushed up from Oamaru, distant only a few miles, and their connection with the main line and Christchurcli will reduce the cost of timber and of living at the diggings to a rate so low such as unfortunately has never before been experienced on an Otago Goldfield. Several shares in the best water races, quartz crushing plant, and the Commercial Hotel are to be offered immediately after the town sale' at Livingstone on the 4th December.

We hear of several apparently well-au- ■. thentioated case 3 of stealing, from the . tail boxes at Naseby. - It is to be .presumed the J police are aware of the too well grounded suspicions' 'of suchjloss. Of course John Ghanaman' for liberal accusations; . we very much doubt'it. If the loss is 2o'n-tinuedr'-the Mining-Association might well deyise the organisation of a watch on the same principle as a fire brigade. This, should not be if parties suspecting "their boxes have been tampered with would refrain from touching them, or obliterating marks by themselves tramping about "the box, and were* to notify their suspicions to the police, a clue might be obtained " by ;-which. a conviction could be assured. • The ' Supreme Court, we may be, sure would, not be- , inclined to deal lightly with. light-: fingered-gentry caught robbing tail boxe3.

Our own correspondent writes to us from Maerewhenua,- anticipating a ready sale of.the town allotments at Livingstone (Maerewhenua); He says, truly enough— " Situated as the township is in the centre of a' comparatively- unexplored and most extensive Ooldfield, it is "bound to rise into importance. As soon as the public works are completed, an influx of miners is expected, and I have no doubt that another effort will be: made to bring in the Otekiake River." Our -cuDrespondent,, writing strongly, but .tb the ~ point (as is his wont), goes onto say—".l think the Provincial Government offices want scrubbing out badly. A few new hands,: -; with less selfishness and more honesty, anda desire to develop the resources of the. country—instead of looking after their own'interests, and letting the country take care of it-, self—would be a godsend to the up-country districts, and be a benefit to the whole country. . If "a few disinterested men had the management of affairs in this Province at the present critical time, when the public money is being-squandered like dirt, to enrich a few at the expense of many, something might 'yet be done ;±o make this hold its own leading position in New Zealand. I cannot help thinking the miners are a -lawthey can stand and look on, and'see themselves quietly robbed and neglected. The Gold Duty, although it is allowed by all to be a special tax, for whjch. the miners get no return—is a direct' blSod money,for .which the Provincial Government' ought to be ashamed, as evidencing an'utter i disregard of the necessity of equalising the i burdens, of the residents-.in the-Province. | -Fortunately, goldmining is persevered with, I in, spite of all obstacles. When wool goes down, ..and.other produce is raised in super-" i abundance,, as must happen in the course ofI nature, what will remain to avert the bankruptcy and ruin which must follow a suicidal - discouragement of the only industry in the : least capable of tiding the country through (as it has done once before), such an inevitable crisis.—Mining matters are moving \steadily along, a good deal of gold being got. The : Pioneer Company are reported to be getting a pound, weight per week out of ;the boxes. A fresh claim has been opened, with very good prospects, about a mile further - north. Summer is upon us, but everything in the shape of, vegetation is backward, - although I am told we are ahead of other districts."

It is seldom that we sufficiently divert/' ourselves of notable facts and prejudices to give any meed of praise to the Provincial Government of- O tago; let who may be its mem- - bers.- • In one' instance we can at any rate - congratulate Mr. Reid's Goveniment -. on showing a libetalpolicy towards,tha,,penoanent." settlement of Goidfields townships. . The evidence of" this we allude to is the de- * termination to fextend-grazing privileges to' such towns,' putting into-force the peremptory portion of-the 16th clause of the Goldfields Act of-1866, . In last week's ' Provincial Gazette ' the cancellation.of 14,500 acres • on run 245 and 340 was proclaimed—the ground selected immediately adjoining the boundaries of the town, of Cromwell. Thia land. 1 is the long promised Commonage for Cromwell. The members of the JExecutive were .perfectly aware that what was done at Cromwell at tine instance of the member, who is also a member of the Executive, would be claimed elsewhere; and we freely credit "them for a determination in a liberal direc-

tion, so much needed tp render stable early settlement in and near Goldfjelds townships. In July last Mr. de Jjautonf was reported in / on? columns to have said, speaking at Naseby—" If Mr. Macgellar obtained a Commonage for Cromwell, the claim of Naseby for the "same could, not be overlooked." If ow we 3}ave jjo_gre4tlDyefor Corwonages, knowing the difißciilties-61 management; but we. d 0.., think that-if the bldcks just surveyed near 'Naseby are rapidly taken up, as vwe hear ' • they will be when proclaimed, it will be nec-cessar-y to pro\ ide a free run for dairy cattle .and horses. Otherwise, a leaseholder would be obliged-to-fence in a greater proportion of his area at once than; he could break np, or • - very well afford, which the Goldrields rules" do not contemplate as in any case necessary. . Their would be great advantages in having a specified aiea. extensive enough for legitimate purposes of grazing cattle and horses without ■" constantly having to apply'soft sawder to the manager or owner for the time being. A.I present the sheep are peering round l the * fences of the Maseby residence areas; *and, to turn a horse out, means - starvation—un- • less he has sense enough to.make' f<jr ■

swamps down the plain, of course running the risk of being pounded. At any rate, if it is found that a Commonage may be the lesser of two evils, the members of the Go. vernment have shewn themselves willing to •grant it—the pastoral tenant being of course compensated. The inhabitants of St. Bathans have appar- . ently determined not to expose themselves any longer to the great inconvenience of having no certainty as to whether, in the case of emergency, a medical man's services can be secured or not, but rather to make arrangements (if they can) to secure attendance at a rate that would not deter any needing assistance from sending for jit, or if obliged at last to send—probably then too late—that an individual's means should be unduly trenched upon at the very time when likely unable to earn the usual living. What advantages a club of Foresters might have over any other form of benefit society we do not know. Judging by results the Oddfellows appear a more popular body in Otago than the Foresters. We know nothing of either in their detail. Either one or the other would not meet the special medcal requirements of the out districts that are not populous enough to Bupport a doctor. These requirements we take to bo the supply of every man, woman or child in their, necesfity, whether medically sound or unsound, of skilled attendance, without-, if possible, letting feuoh be wanting on account of the position of the patient, nor yet to deprive him or her (whore it is easily possible) of the right of independence or self-help which a mutual benefit club for the Bpecial purpose would afford. A Foresters' lodge would, wo presume, have to frame their bye-laws in accordance with the main provisions of the head lodge, and evidently provide the social and pecuniary benefits usual to the body. In consequence, the usual fees collected would not meet the case at present in view, as well as provide the social benefits and donations. What the one has to do with the other we cannot see. A 3o3ge of Oddfellows or Foresters, or any other non-sectarian benefit society, whatever name f: it may go by, should by all means be set on • foot, wherever it can be done, quite independently of a resident or any other doctor altogether. In the case in point, a Lodge of Foresters would be very glad to enroll its ' members in any co-operative club which existed for nothing else than the supply of regular or special medical visits, so long as they could not secure a resident doctor to the Lodge. A medical man of any ability would probably, if settling on the Manuheribia, — and the opening seems a good one—prefer residing at Blacks, so as to be in the centre of a largd district. We do not wish St. Bathans so badly as to hope it will ever be able, to keep a- resident doctor. Captain Hamilton's scheme of a general medical fund, which it would be a privilege for all new-comers to join at a low annual fee, would meet the case at present, supplying the needs of either Foresters, Oddfellows, or Hibernians, equally as the general public; while the local bodies, we have supposed may exist, would be freed from a serious single responsibility, and be able to give all their time to the bestowal of mutual benefits they appear so well adapted to carry to perfection.