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Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 363, 18 February 1876, Page 2

-A- Government sale of town sections in the Town of Xaseby will be held in April. Messrs. In dejr and George announce the sale by public auction, on Thursday next, of , fr eeh°ld property lately occupied as a place of business by Mr. John M'Donald. Home shares m the Undaunted Water Bace Company'Avill also'be offered; A correspondent of a contemporary -writes l.he contractors for the Mosgiel and Outrata Railway are pushing the. various works on; bridges,-culverts?, .fencing, formation, being all in hand; . , w

The Albion ia now about due at Dunedin with the English mail via Suez. Mr. D. MacKellar, Gold fields Secretary, is expected to visit Naseby on Monday tiext. Tkmder3 for the Naseby Court House are to be lodged in Wellington by letter or tele- \J gram not later than Monday, the 28th inst. /j Mpj Horace Bastings has purchased the line of coaches running between Milton and Clyde from Oobb and Co. We learn that on the occasion of the visit of inspection m?de by Mr. Petrie to Naseby the pupil teacher, Master Blair, passed with credit. The Hero from Sydney arrived at Auckland on the 14th with the missing San fran- - Cisco mail brought by the Granada. The mail will be delivered at Naseby on Tuesday or Wednesday next. Bey. Mr. Salmond, the Professor of -theology, is said to be a gentleman of great attainments in that branch of learning. The - almerston Times 1 has no doubt, he will, make his mark on the students who corns under his care. This is nothing new. The steamer now laying the New Zealand Oable exchanges telegrams day by day -with aen Uatra ; lian shore. Up to the latest news satisfactorily W wa3 S oin g • -^■ i rTER i hearing a charge of stealing apples lE >punedin, r - Pyke, presiding Magistrate, addressed prisoner, saying that stealing from, gardens was an offence which would be re-" quired to be put down with a strong hand Prisoner would be sent to gaol for three months.

The new gaol at Naseby has been commenced, the foundations having already been put in. Judging from appearances the contractors mean to make quick and good work of their contract. Mr. Collins, of Hyde ia inspector of the work. ' A picnic is announced to be held near Cambrian on St. David's Day. The succes* which attended the Committee's efforts last year on a similar occasion is a guarantee that nothing will be omitted to make the dav W true holiday. The Good Templars intend celebrating their anniversary at Naseby in a substantial manner—by a tea-meeting, supplemented by a concert. _ Considering the enjoyable manner in which these meetings come off in Naseby, w, may safely predict a pleasant evening. We notice, too, that at the concert lodger 106 expected from neighboring Tuesday, the 22nd instant, is the da? ap. pointed for receipt of applications for 'block n , ILyeburn Hundred. It can hardly be expected that the applications will be immediately very numerous, as the opening of the land is not at all generally known outside the district. Such lamp hiding under departmental bushels would hardly pay in private business. OtTR correspondent from Drybread expresses himself as pleased that his report of the Matakanui Meeting was so generally satisfactory as to be considered worth reproducing a week later in the ' Dunstan Times * He adds he would have been still better pleased had his report been acknowledged. Mistakes will happen in the best regulated families."

A new consignment of books arrived at the Athenceum on Monday. The Committee have followed out their expressed idea that light reading is mainly what is required in a G-oldfielda town like Naseby, where readers have not much time or inclination for study. Amongst the books we notice several of Dickens' works, some books of adventure and travel, and three excellent works of reference—one of them being Haydn's ' Dictionary of Dates.' Mr. Doxald Reid, Provincial Secretary, accompanied by Mr. M'Kerrow, the Chief Surveyor, visited Hyde on Wednesday, toenquire into the land requirements and capabilities of that district. f Jhe gentlemen would be shown the best portions of the Strathtaieri by those anxious to obtain land. Although the weather is exceedingly dry, and the plain would not appear to the best advantage, the crops on the settled block will eloquently speak as to the real capabilities of the country. It were to be wished that such visits could be more frequently made. We are glad to be in a position to stater that any parties who desire to take up land on the Kyebmn agricultural lease block, between Douglas' and Aimes', can do so when they choose. Applications for such portion or portions as may be desired can be made previous to survey. The grants for any sucli applications will have to be accepted conditional on survey- -that is to say, the ordinary rules followed in surveying sections of proportional boundaries, road frontage and the like, will have to be followed, although not quite corresponding with the rough lines incated by applicants pegs. Authentic iniormation has been received from Dunedin that tenders for the completion of the public works will be called for at once. The Minister for Works beinvi in Dunedin last week, the engineers modified plans would be submitted to him and approved, without having to travel to Wellington There is now no doubt that the work will be pushed, and that there will be a brisk demand for labor on the contracts. Contractors will be bound down to complete their contracts within four or five months. Time will, it is said, be insisted on:

Dr. Pollen resigned the Premiership, on Monday, and Sir Julius Yogel has been sent for. The'Guardian'states it is understood that al 1 the late members will be offered seats in the Cabinet, and that Sir Julius Vogel will be Premier and Treasurer. Major A tkinson being relieved of the latter office at his own request, will retain the offices of Minister of Immigration and Orown Lands. At present it is uncertain if Mr. Keynolds will consent to remain in office. Sir Julius Vogel will shortly divest himself of the office of Postmaster-General. The other members of the Ministry will probably lemain as before. Dr. Pollen being Colonial Secretary. The ' Star's' correspondent adds that the land fund question is'the only rock ahead. Mr. Whittaker will test it by a series of resolutions as soon as Parliament meets. Mr. T. L. Shephkkd is not pleased with the sketch of his career published in our series of Goldfields celebrities. We regret that Mr. Shepherd is not pleased. We hardly expected to please one who has never yet been pleased by anyone or thing, save one. Mr. told his Blue fr*pur audience much that he did not care to publish. Among the statements published was one that Mr. Vincent Pyke was the author of our sketches. The internal evidence of the portraits would satisfy anyone who knew the men that Mr. Pyke could not be the author.; In the first place, in Mr. Pyke's portrait were, we regret, several unavoidable errors of fact, not in themselves of great moment, but hardly fair to Mr. Pyke. In the second place, had Mr. Pyke done us the honor of furnishing for our columns a sketch of Mr. Shepherd's career, the lights and shades (if there be any shades) would have been sketched in a more striking way than 'we could pretend to have at command. We regret that this was riot so, as it would have been more satisfactory to ourselves and to Mr. Shepherd. It is iiecessardy difficult to obtain accurate particulars of public men where modesty draws down the veil so tightly. Yet on the whole the sketches we have published, ami intend to publish, are i as accurate as is possible under the circumstances. Any inaccuracies that in spite of . our care, creep in we tfill only be too happy 'to'correcfc.

We regret to announce that Mr. Thomas Mulvey, of St. Batbans, has determined to leave the district. Messrs. Inder and George have received instructions to sell all his freehold sections, buildings, stock, goodwill, &c., on Wednesday, the Bth of March, by public auction. Mr. Mnlvey, we believe, intends to settle at the Forbury, near Dunedin. He will carry with him the best wishes of all in the district. He has from the first been a leadiug spirit in public business. Water is now a scarce commodity in the district, and for mining purposes is hardly procurable at all. The season has been a very good one, but the last fortnight's drought has been too effective to be resisted. The dry season, it may be safely said, will be this year att uncommonly short one. It is expected that Mr. Haughton will visit St. Bathans this day (Friday), leaving Nasehy on Sunday. The exact benefits to accrue from the visit are not easily made apparent. The result willnodoubt be one of those valuable evolutionary processes—indispensible, yet not visible to ordinary non-scientific men. A good story is current as to the tour which, whether true or not, Mr. Haughton would enjoy immensely. The visiting Un-der-Secretary was travelling to Clyde on the box seat of the coach. His companion—a wool-scourer, resident at Clyde—not knowing his man, but having an idea he was a Government bigwig, introduced pumpingly the name of a celebrated Goldfields patriot, now out of place. Not eliciting much, except that the patriots chances of Civil Service employment were not exceedingly brilliant, the woolscourer waxed eloquent. It would, he said, be too bad if the Government gave.him nothing. He himself did not consider him fit for a Magistracy or Receivership. Any way they might at least, make him an UnderSecretary for Goldfields! There was not much more conversation on public matters, it is said, on that coach box seat that day. At a public meeting of the residents of Cambrian, held at the schoolroom on the evening of the 7th inst., to take into consideration the resignation of Mr. Jones as postmaster there, in consequence of the Government not allowing him any remuneration for his services— Mr. Brown was called to the chair, and explained the purpose for which the meeting was called. He said that Mr. J. R. Ji.nes had been acting as postmaster without payment, for some time, and, having given notice to the Acting Chief Postmaster of his intention to resign the office unless he received some remuneration for his services, he received a reply -that unless he could nominate a successor willing to undertake the postal duties without payment the office would be closed. After some time spent in considering wh.it was best to be done, it was proposed by Mr, W. Williams, seconded by Mr. W. Thurlow, and carried—" That this meeting views with indignation the threat of the Acting Chief Postmaster to close post office here, in consequence of the present postmaster, Mr J. B. Jones, declining to continue as such without some remuneration." Tt was proposed bv Mr. S. M'Culloueh. seconded by Mr. William Gay, and carried—" That the Provincial Council members for the district be communicated with, requesting them to use their endeavors to get a small sum paid to the postmaster, explaining that otherwise the residents would be under the necessity and inconvenience of having to travel to St. Bathans, a distance of five miles, for all newspapers and letters."