WAIMEA ROAD BOARD.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 13, 15 January 1873, Page 4

WAIMEA ROAD BOARD.

Tuesday, January 7. The Board met at tbe Bridge Hotel.; ' All the members were present. The* minutes of last meeting were read and confirmed. The Overseer reported that a bridge in the Wai-iti Valley, near Mr. Blower's, having been damaged, he had arranged for a new one; and that he had seen Mr Cresswell in reference to the proposed road through his land in Dovedale. A letter was received from Mr Creswell offering to sell the road in question. The Surveyor reported that he had ascertained that there would be no difficulty in procuring a title for the proposed purchase of a road site from Mr C. Siggelkow. Resolved : That £30 be set apart for the purchase of the road in Dovedale, and £8 for that in Redwood's Valley; and that his Honor the Superintendent be requested to have the requisite conveyances prepared. A letter from the Secretary of the Moutere Road Board was read, acknowledging the receipts of plans, &c, in connection with the proposed alteration of road between Waimea West and Mouterej and thanking the Waimea Board for the trouble tbey have caused to be tsken in the matter, &c. Resolved : • That the Moutere Board be requested to meet on tbe ground a deputation from this Board previous to next meeting, so as to come to a final decision on the point. The new assessment of Suburban South and Waimea East was examined, and some amendments made. Letters from some of the former memorialists in Richmond, calling the Board's attention to the fact that the nuisance complained of still exists, and urging the Board to take immediate steps in this matter. An additional reason, which should bave great weight, being the dangerous practice of using firearms for slaughtering cattle in a closely populated place t also suggesting that the boiling of offal should be prohibited. The Secretary was directed to reply to the memorialists that if, by the removal of the nuisance, they mean the removal of the slaughter houses, the Board has no such power; also, to request some competent medical practitioner to inspect the premises complained of, and report to the Board; and to send to all butchers a copy of certain clauses of the Public Health Act, 1872. It was also resolved : That, in the opinion of this Board, the Local Board of Health of each district should have tbe power (under certain restrictions) to pre* Tent the erection of slaughter houses within villages, or to order the removal of slaughter houses therefrom, and that the Provincial Council be petitioned to that effect at its next session. Letters were received from Appleby calling the Board's attention to the bad state of tbe road from Appleby towards the Rabbit Island, and requesting tbe Board's earliest attention to the same. The estimated cost of repairs being £24 Bs. Resolved : That the Board will contribute dne half of the above amount to meet contributions in money or labor, and regret that they cannot depart from their rule as to amount of contribution and condition. Warrants were signed to the amount of £185 10s 7d.

A Picture op Life in Mexico.— Two gentlemen of the bighest rank in society meet in the evening in a street in the capital. " What o'clock is it, Senor ? " politely asks the first. The other stops, draws his revolver and covers his interlocutor, then takes out his watch and gives the desired information, Number one thanks number two, without the least surprise or remonstrance at the measure of precaution. The condition' of the streets in Melbourne on the 28th ultimo, while a strong northerly wind was blowing, is thus described by the Argus :— -" Clouds of dust, varying as to their composition from dine impalpable powder tb bluestone screenings, arose without let or hindrance. Rushing down every street with blind ; fury, they brought misery to man and ' beast, causing the heart of the wayfarer to burn within him, and his tongue to; titter bitter words. So dense- were the rolling clouds at, times that in Swanton and Elizabeth streets it was "almost'impossible to see across' the roadway, Escape was impossible; dust penetrated eyery place, destroying property and comfort alike. ' Dealers ,in the more delicate descriptions of merchandise must have suffered considerable loss. , . Men and women became "gritty," bolh within and -without, after a few minuteß' exposure to 1fo t iffli > ffiw&*,3 Tliey inhaled dust, they swallowed dust, and we are afraid the former swore, at dust; dust got in tlieir eyes^ their ears, down 'their J necks, iny^tVttonri^hble being, y ■ m^W^and physical, became satti^ jdw^ifet:i.eigi^ v : ' • ' vvv ; :

Peter Cartwright, the " Backwoods Preacher," died Sept. 25, aged 87. He retained much of his energy till near the last ." ' The : Methbdistl say s":" It "seemed almost : impossible for ■ Death himself ;to bring tbe mighty old man down. But he has succumbed, and his fall is like that of one of the hardest old trees of his native wilderneßß." We learn from the Liberal Christian that in Wortbington, Minnesota, Christians of all denominations, have formed an ecclesiastical organisation under the name of Colony Christians Union. Tbey have J adopted the Apostles' Creed as the basis of a union, and chosen a Methodist for a I pastor. They propose to try the experiment for one year. An American paper S8ys :~" More Mormons are coming from Europe, several hundred having been deluded from the Continent, and are on their way to the harems of the sham ( saints ' of Salt Lake. These poor creatures, ignorant of the principles and practices of the Mormon?, will wake up to their blunder when it will be too late for repentance, though they seek it carefully with tears." Latest from California. — The diaI monds of Arizona and the silver mountains > of Utah are thrown into the shade, if a man can be depended upon who has just, related to the San Francisco Chronicle a tale, which it ushers into its columns with the guarded prefix that ' the future may demonstrate its truth.' It appears that between three and four months ago a 'plainlooking man ' of American birth walked into a San Francisco bank, asked to see the manager, calmly placed a leather valise on the banker's desk before him, opened it, took out an ingot of dingy metal, and handed it to the other in silence. * Well,' said the man of ' gilt-edged ' and other paper, ' what of it? Tin, aiDt it, or brass ? ' A sarcastic smile illumined the face of the mysterious stranger. 'Look again,' he muttered sententiously. * What for ? ' asked the banker fretfully, * I'm no judge of minerals, anyhow, except one, and I've no time to study this particular specimen.' His visitor mildly persisted, and to this end became more loquacious. 'Do you know gold when you see it ? If not, will you call in some trustworthy expert who does ? ' The banker, with some reluctance, assented. A well-known assayer was summoned, and to him the mass, with some others like it, was submitted. On seeing the metal he asked, with excitement, where it came from, but, receiving no satisfaction, agreed to do what was requested, and took it away for assay. Tbe , next day he came back by appointment, met the ttvo others, and produced a yellow bar. ' Tbat looks like gold,' said the banker. ' Rather,' returned the assayer. | 'It is gold— nearly a thousand fine; the finest I ever put in a crucible.' The mysterious owner said nothing. Questions were put to him as to where he got the precious stuff, but these were civilly evaded. He desired, as a further test, that the bar should be sent to the mint. This, too, was done, and the bar came back in due time, transformed into 8,000 dols. worth of double eagles. The cash, by the request of the stranger, was put to his credit. At the end of a week he came back, and this time laid before the excited banker a much larger quantity of tbe | same metal. 'It is gold,' he cried; 'pure gold, like the last. Where did you get it?' I The stranger looked with steadfastness at l his interlocutor, and replied calmly, d I made it — I made it myself.' The astonish- i ment of the banker was, of course, j unbounded, and was not diminished by the ] particulars "afterwards confided to him.! Our modern Midas announced that, after long and painful efforts, he had discovered the secret of the transmutation of metals. He could make gold by the ton — nay, by the shipload ; but the process he would reveal to no living soul. A bargain was, however, effected whereby he and the banker became partners, Midas furnishing tbe bullion, and his friend undertaking its cautious and profitable distribution. The latter did not fail, by way of getting hia chance in so good a thing, to point out the troubles and dangers that might arise from those interested in values the momentous discovery would impair were not secrecy as to the identity of the inventor, and an intermediary such as his own bank, judiciously employed. At the time the article 6f the Ghronicle appeared more than half a million of coin made of the manufactured' gold is said to have been put in circulation, and plenty more of ihe same sort- wasV eoonVf-toy ; -follow. v • The intention of the partners, as stated by the Chronicle, is ,to try^o ymake .San Fran, cisco 'the centre of all commercial exchanges, and; the great .depository of J the products of the world/ Tbis part of tbe otherwise highly credible story, we confess, strikes us as rather-dubious. Possessed of such a discovery, why bother about a centre at all ? We quite agree with the; CWon&le MiHf4:.l^h^m^^■ what may be the result of their ambition if it shoold pass beyond reasonable limits.'' , -rrtfew YorkiTribune.

I f C^VE.— -A Tennessee paper gives an account of the dißdovery-of a ; cave in Perry, county* in; that state, festooned with " rock icß," which can be used for all purposes of ice; -but does not melt. The paper says: — -"A number df persons have since visited this wonderful cave and carried off portions of tbiß rock, which : they arei using fori all purposes of ice, and it sustains no diminution in bulk or loss of coldness. Strange and improbable as all this may seem, yet it can be certified to by numbers of our citizens. Drl; Black is using it in his practice. Mr. Thomas French' and Colonel" Waggoner, hotelkeepers in Linden, used it in their hotels during court week, tp the astonishment of their guests. Specimens will be sent to our State geologist for analyzation. " Bass at Burton.~So far as: Burton is concerned Bass stands upon a little over 100 acres of ground. Bass used last year 267,000 quarters of malt for brewing purposes; if it be reckoned tbat an acre grows four quarters of barley, 66,750 acres were occupied in growing the malt which Bass used. Of hops bis consumption was 29,000 cwt., which engrossed about 2,000 acres of hop-growing country.' In malt tax and license duty Bass paid last year £200,000. Tbe total brew of Bass during the past year amounted to 720,000 barrels — each barrel containing 36 gallons; so that Bass could have served more than half the estimated number ot tbe human race with a glass of beer per head from his brewing of one year. Throughout his Burton premises Bass owns over five miles of private railways, runs five private locomotives, and uses twenty-six steam engines, with a collective horse-power of 436. Bass employs in Burton over 2000 persons, and pays more than £2000 in weekly wages. Bass used last year 33,300 tons of cools. Bass has in use 30,000 butts, 144000 hogsheads, 113,000 barrels, and 249,000 kilderkins, a stock of casks in all, in store aod scattered over the country, exceeding half a million. — -Daily News.