TOPICS OF TALK.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 311, 12 February 1875, Page 3

TOPICS OF TALK.

The Head Race contracts are proceeding with a great deal more expedition than was at one time the rule Mr. Ab*.'OJitf l having been for some time back residing on the works. It is expected 1 hat in about fix or seven weeks ijome of the nearest sources of supply trill ;be. contributing.to mining purposeV • One Jinsatisfnctory element in fho present management is. the supervision. Tta Inspector of Works is indefatigftblXin his care of the works, the working plans of which, from the commencement, have. all been in his own hands; but ho has not enough power.' The Provincial Engineer knows nothing of these contract*, except what he can gl««n from the snatches of time he can steal from the great pressure of

, new work in the department, and the result is likely tojead to a great deal of delay in commencing protective works, which should be going on at the present timet The local Inspector whould either have more power or less. Whobver is in charge should have authority enough to control contractors, and to initiate minor works which are

essentially necessary. Mr, "H. H. IJrowne, the Resident Inspector, has eliewn himself an engineer of ability when woi king under Mr. Simpson's instructions. it will not be very satisfactory, though posxibly quite in accordance with professi nal etiquette, if the work of theee gentlemen is ren-

dered partially abortive—or more expensive than it should be —becnuse of the little knowledge of the works possessed by the Provincial Engineer just appointed, who is responsible for them. The late Provincial Knsriueer was thoroughly overworked, but his work grew round him. He was not, as Mr. Arthur, projected into a mass of work?, the beginning of which he has no knowledge of. The right course and one that should be taken at on<e rAwould be to separate the control of the Mdunt Ida Water Wotks from the Provincial Engineer's Office, giving the t-eeident officer more power, or appointing some other competent engineer, wit|i:full other than to the financial, state of the fund delegated to the Provincial Government.

.The Hospital fever ward does not get along with any very, great expedition., Neither do we think the Committee are to be congratulated on the amount of supervision exercised over the builder What material was fpecified in the contract for the ward we do not know : the Committee h&ve notgot concrete. The walls are not of the solid nature they should bo, and are freely topped and paddled in defective places with good old fashioned mud. Certainly, when n good casing of cement is put round the wall*, the sixinch hollow ii the end wall filled up, and stone work traced over the exterior—beyond the ugly building—to ♦he eye all will appear as it should be. A ctfn,creve building should be as lasting as stone, and as solid. The .Hospital ward pro-iiiseß to be neither one or the other. Round a fire-plare or tivkluish corner tho stuff is better mixed ; but, as a wholr-, the mixture is very irregular, Sampler of good roncrete will stand the sharp blow of a pick, without a pebble being displaced, although it may'be split. \Ve har lly think ,Mr. Jacob would let a pick look at the fever ward, in hands however unpracticed. We know no reason why public money, whether obtained from the Oovernment or from private persons, should be abused. In this instance tho Committ.ee ar»> paying a very high price for the building,, and certainly so far the work has been of a nature so slovenly that no Committeeman would tolerate it in a private housefor. himself.

It iw one of our standing wonders—vri> own to a few beside—that our Provincial contemporaries, who elect- to benefit by the New- Zealand Pr sa Aseoeiation telegrams; allow their papers to be little better than advertising sheets for the North Never ivas.this uiore marked than the leiegrauis with which the ."'outh has been dosed about Ohinemuri Telegrams have been inserted day after day as t<>. finding of gold in language most vague and "uncertain the truth bemg that hither--to no gold worth irtentioning hay been found it all, not more than ..can be fossicked out at the hack of JJunedm town itself It appears to be the fashion 11 Auckland to,believe'the • Province, and every man in it is at '* fltarving point, unless Ohinetuuri turns . out golden. Hence these telegrams. ' But vv;hy our contemporaries allow t.iemseivea to be made use of to play the Auckland game we know not. What do-wo see in northern papers about Cromwell reefs, and other tangible golden mines? Nothing! 'The '(Guardian's* Auckland correspondent throws a little light upon this. . . e reports a remark passed in a barber's • _s.top : —' 4 Well, look here : it's my • opinion its Uhiueuiuri or soup-k tcii.ens!'" and then goes on to-.say: '■Now this '.expression, inasmneh as it , did'not niunate from the fertile brain of ail editor, or did nil:appear as a newspaper paragraph, cannot be strict ly tended public opinion, iiji still a seutim iit held at least by the digging element of this miscellaneous eotnmuyniaj. we should do had we not an Ohiuem'uri to centre our hopes ' upon ii.,is scarcely possible to, divine.; aud; that, mainstay has been rut away, what.prop we shall endeavor to loan up .against it would be difficult to «ay. ' Micawoerism ' is a peculiarity ot Colonial life. We are alwavg waiting for something to turn up. fiowever yood preaiMit prys.peets n.ay he.Ohiti >n'iif n i wi'-. lijirp. fjievef* >ro 1 he pOSUioti of our : hope deferred,' atni like the Vaiikee who started.ltisnews^

paper without a shilling, a'-d advertised it as situated opposite an old oyster tin at the corner of the street, we intend t- go in 'bald headed and run it or bust.' , The Ohineinuri pot is therefore placed upon the fire. and the newspapers are endeavoring'to, lftahe it gently simmer. Nut that they believe —or have any pounds for believing—that there is-situate.d_lJbjßiEl Dorado, but the • vfntblic want-.; or somebody to tmoy .them up in the expectations they have been, pleaded ,to form for theineei veH and wliat do they subscribe to papers for but that thev may exprfcss, if they do not" hold with, their opinions. »ow, though 1 do hot believe in ()hinemuri, simply because I have no more reason for doing so than .in Hnwi<-k—a etaoding joke with us —1 think we shall be able to get along without the soup-kitchens. However, the question will noon be determined. Large numbers of miners are now on the spot, and hundreds of others are ready to ' follow my leader,' so that if ~"!Sir Ponald does not make up his mind quickly to settle about opening the district the miners will save him the trouble. There are numerous rumor* about the discovery of, bo.th alluvial, gold ; and : payable ihey 4 arfi o.jlly .rumpw i Evidences of ;a reliable. character are entirely w'siutiug, '.and 'fchereforevihere is nothing whatever to justify any irush from even a ' tucker' field."