Te Aroha News AND UPPER THAMES ADVOCATE.

Te Aroha News, Volume I, Issue 39, 1 March 1884, Page 2

Te Aroha News AND UPPER THAMES ADVOCATE.

•This* above all— to thino own-self bo true A.ml it mus: follow as tho night the day, Thou canst, not then bo false to any m"«n.' — Shakespeare.

SATURDAY, MARCH 1, 1884.

It will bo a source of much gratification to all who have the interests of this gold field at heart to know that after all a second battery is about to be erected. The subject has been a fruitful source of discussion for some months past, and various rumours were spread about from time to time with regard to it. One day it was stated to be given up, another that the site and water right had been purchased by Messrs Firth and, Clark. In fact, a variety of reports were abroad. By referring to our advertising columns, those of our readers who may not already have « heard the fact, will perceive that a strong company has been formed in Auckland, for the purpose of at once having a battery erected on the site referred to. Healthy competition is beneficial in all that pertains to goldmining, as in every other pursuit, and we are sure it will be to the advantage of the field at large, that when but two water rights are available to supply the needed crushing power, both should not belong 10 one and the same party. Were the existing fine battery at once enlarged to ' thrice its present size, it would still be altogether inadequate to supply the jieeded power, even in the present -comparatively undeveloped stato of our gold field, as to the extent and 'richness of which no doubt exists in the minds of those who are best acquainted with it. As we have already stated the question of another battery going up or not has been wavering in the balance for some time, and now that it has assumed a definite and satisfactory form, need we urge upon all interested in this gold field, and the district generally, the great importance of forwarding the movement as far as' lies in their power to do so, by at once applying for shares in the proposed undertaking. The Company deserve to be well and liberally supported, and we confidently expect that the required aid will not be withhold, and that the promoters will not experience the smallest difficulty in raising the required capital. In conclusion we will only add that wo heartily wisli the new undertaking every success, and hope to spee-iilv be in a- position to report that the necessary work is being proceeded with. The hmMit is now in a great measure in the hands of the general public, and with their support the new battery will speedily be an accomplished fact.

At the Police Court thib week, before R. R. Hunt, Esq., W. Curnosv was charged l) t y Sergeant Emeoon, wit!: drunkenness on the 25th. Fined 5.5, or 48 horns' imprisonment. Jolin Saunders, charged with being drunk and disorderly, w.i'-s imed o-^ or 48 hours' imprisonment. Thy t>aiiK» individual was ch.uged with making use of obsenee language in Whft/iker street on the 25th. Fined 10s, or 48 houi.s' imprisonment. John Fitzg.hbous, ch.u^fd with larceny iis a bailee at M.iixctu, w »>, remanded to Taurang.i. This was all the business. A man named John Qninn died rather suddenly at the British Hotel on Tinmday night, lie arrived here af jw weeks ago and went to work in the Colonist mine, but was shortly aftewirds taken ill. The cause of his death was fever induced or aggravated by the fumes of dynamite oi some other explosive used in mining. The deceased was, we understand, in fair circumstances, and leaves some propel ty at Rotokolm, near P.icron. The funeral yesterday afternoon w.is largely attended. Evil-doers do not seam to have much chance of escaping the eye of the law when they seek refuge at Te Aroha. On Wednesday List Sergt. Emer.son escoited a prisoner named John Fitz^ibbons t) Waterford, on the road to Tuur.uiga, t<> which place he was remanded bv the Bench. The man was arrested by the { Sergeant at Te Aroha on Monday evening last on a warrant issued by the Bench at Maketw on a cliarge of larceny as a bailee. It is not long since that a man n imed Thompson was albo arrested at Te Aroha by tlie Sergeant and remanded to Ilawera, at which place he was convicted of enibezzlement. The election of a Licensing Committee for Te Aroha district on Saturday last resulted as folio vvs : — Messrs F. Paviil, 73 votes, James La very 69, H. H. Adams 04, G. Lipsey 61, G. O'HalJoran 52, G. Kohson 51, and D. J. Fraser 3'). The firat five were declared, Uuly elected, and met at the Court House yesterday for thj purpose of appointing a chairman. On the j motion of Mr Lipsey, seconded by* Mi" Adams, Mr James La very was elected to fill that office. ;r; r Ihioes are to be held- at Paeroa on St. Patrick's Day. • * ' We hold over till next week a report of a very successful meeting of the Waiorongomai Band of Hope, held on Thursday evening last, having come to hand too late for insertion in this issue. We omitted to mention in our last issue that the result of G. Flaneur's Consultation on the Dunedin Cup was as follows : First and third prizes went to Dunganville, and the second to Nelson Creek, West Coast. The Rev. H. Bull, from Thames, will preach hero (Wesleyan Church) to-morrow evening at 7 o'clock. The Rev. C. E. Barley, from Thames, will preach at Waiorongoin.ii to-morrow evening. Service to commence at 7 o'clock. A large number of strangers have visited Te Aroha and Waiorongomai duiing the past few days. "No doubt the fine weather has induced many to go in for country excursions, and to enjoy, the, sceiißry up hill, as well a« to pay the battery and gold mines a visit.

In the last Government Gnssp.ttc to hand notice is givon of the forfeiture oil no fewer than 31 claims in the South-wont Mining District of the Nelson Province This ot! itself would not necessarily imply a falling off in the galdmining industry of that i-3gion, any mo»e than the forfeiture of a number of the non working claims on this Hold would indicate n bad stale of things horej but taken in conjunction with the enormous decline in the yield of gold from the West Coast lust year, it seems to point to a time of unusual depression. As the Thames Peninsula has for the last dozen years been the backbone of tho North Island so have thoso fields been for a still longer period a chief source of wealth and prosperity to tin; South, and it would be an unfortunate circumstance for the whole colony if the present stagnation were :o prove- of lengthened duration. That it is only one of tho<*e periods of temporary depressions to which all gold (especially quartz) fields are subject we can readily believe, for with the enormous mineral and other resources of the district it cannot ,fai) eventually to regain the position it so longheld as one of tho great centres of mining industry. i Farmers complain of the low price, tnd little demand for store cattle. As will be seen by our advertising columns the Rev. H. Bull, from Thames, will deliver a lecture in the Wesleyan Church on Monday next. The Roy. gentleman is a fluent speaker, and has chosen for a subject for his lecture that which will be or! interest to every one, viz. : " The Problem of Progress." No doubt a large number will tarn out on the occasion and aviiil themselves of this opportunity of hearing an interesting and in.slructive lecture. Numerous complaints have been made of the sudden noise occasioned by the transit of quartz through the iron shoot crossing the hill track. Several equestrians have had narrow escapes from what might have proved very seiious accidents, from their horses being suddenly frightened from this cause ; and whilst no one would wish to have any harrassing regulations enforced, still it is suggested that instead of sending down the quartz in small lots all through the day, that it would answei equally we!! to have larger quantities seni down at one time, and a flag or other signal shewn at such tinu j , whereby travellers would be warned of what was going on. L ist Saturday several of the Ohinemuri chiefs passed through this township on their way to AVaiharekeke to attend a meeting, convened by Te Ngalcau, with reference to Tawhiao's proposed visit to England by an invitation lium the Aborigines Society, London. Tawhiao has now got about £2,000 towards his trip ; the Ohinemuri Natives gave about £40. Tawhiao requests all the natives to desist from surveying or putti.ig their land I through the Court till he returns. Messrs Wells and Soutter purpose fencing in their sections at Waiorongomai. This will cause tl»e coach nnd other tiatlic to be confined to the suiveycd 10, id, which hitherto has not been much used. Work is to be resumed on this side or the lull by tho Stanley Goldmming Company. Eight or ten rooms are in course ol" erection, as an add'tnn to the building at Waioiongom li which has been so long in hand, known a* lladtbld's Hotel. The new ichoolhoube at Waiorongomai i.s now almost completed, but painting oL suiivj, fencing in the grounds, &v., will probably 0.-enpy several weeks yet. Aii jady the question of enlaminir it i s being ilKui^bod, <.iiid we shumd not be t>ur priced if fresh L j ndeit» are at ouue c.illed fo that purpose- ; as although such a va^t improvement on the budding at piebent being used as a school, and a h indsome, well at ranged schoolhouse, still it will b/ at once ii.led. The new schoolmaster (Mr Purdie)and his assislont (Mr Steele) are much liked, and have set to with a will to fiilhfu'ly discharge their duties, and follow up thr improved state of things which resisted from the temporary appointment o*"' Mr Murray. The numbers on tho roll arc much increased, and general satisfaction is expressed on ail sides with regard to the pies.'nt teachers. The Tlnmes postmaster, in response tt r > a numerously signed petition some titnj since, decided to open a post office for tlu convenience of the miners and others engaged " up hill " at Messrs Wells and Sou tter's Ilill store, and even went so far as to enter into arrangements for the conveyance and delivery from same of 1 otters, 'papers, &u. Unfortunately, however, before the" arrangements were finally completed tli3 postal authorities decided to have a " return " furnished of the amount of correspondence passing to and fro, and th»^ '' return was ordered and issued just at tho ! time of the strike, when but few men were at work on the hill. The result w«^ that it was decided that the amount of correspondence was not of sufficient importance to warrant tho expense that would be incurred and the movement fell through, or rather was indefinitely postponed. The cricket match, Married v. Single, played on Saturday last on the To Aroha. ground, r«suit.j(l in a ridiculously easy win for the former, in fact, the bachelors were absolutely "no where." Fancy, the single gentlemen being all disposed of for a total of seven in the first innings (although playing one man short), two ol! which were "byes." We have scarcely ever heard of such a score before when any ot the players hud' -any pretensions whatever to 1 be ranked as cricket players. It is worth being recorded for it* smallnes&. In the second innings, the bachelors fared better, scoring 2(5. The benedicts made 21 in the first innings, thus requiring" 13 runs to win in the second innings^' which they easily made with 'the loss of one wicket. In this instance, at anyrate, the oft-vaunted advantage of sinid" blessedness did not show up \ory favour- 4 ably'; the householders (in the truestsense of the- word) carrying all before them, and they are ready and willing to give the others still an opportunity of 'reversing the present state of affairs, as far as cricket is concerned, if they are able to do so. , There is nothing like strong omnion sense. : Ah Irish Soldier went to Iris fetation with tho order 'to report anything jemirkable that had hupp -ned during thcs night. A drunken fellow fell oi£ tho wall arid broke his neckband no report was made. When qiu.itiouy.l about it, P-tt'^vpl^ed — 1 J<\kh and I obeyed orders.' If the man

had fal lon off the wall and not broken his nock I should certainly have reported it' , Mr James Craig, jnn M of Thames, has very kindly forwarded to our Public Librnry a parcel of books and Home newspapers. This is not the first donation of the kind from Mr Craig, and we would gladly see others follow so excellent an example!. The Library is but in its, infancy yet and' requires fostering, and any spare volumes which some of our leaders may be possessed of could not bo bettor bestowed than upon an institution | that gives promise of being largely usoi'ul to the whole district. Every tiller or tho soil should provide a cheap'and convenient shop, and a goodly number of mcohanicti tools, with which numerous little jobs nmy l>e performed in less time than would be consumed in simply going- to and from tho shop of a professional mechanic, who would necessary require remuneration. > More than | this, farmers always ha c hours and days, j and sometimes entire w.Mks, of wet, j stormy and \ow cry weather, when no one can work in tho field. At such limes, if one -will exercise a little mewhanieal wisdom Avhcn using mechanical tools, ho will soon be able to perform almost any little job by way of repairing form implements and Ivind tools. It is an old, but trite saying, that almost any one can do a difficult job if ho have the necessary tools, while it will require all tha skill of an expert mechanic to work without tools. The first and most important consideration is tho shop itself. If a man feels too poor to erect a commodious sho j, and it' he cannot occupy any part of seme outbuilding, let him make an economical loan-to at tho ride of soms building. Such a shop can be erected at very little expense. James Gordon Bonnet estimates the value of his journal, the New York tie raid, at £2,000,000, and says it is paying G per cent interest on the amount. A few days ago the crop of oats from a five-acre paddock, the p.opcrly of Mr Davidson, Chinch Hush, Canterbury, was thrashed out, and the return of grain, exclusive of .seconds, was 400 bushels. All soits of reports are in circnlation as to the pending reotganisation of the Civil Service, says the Wellington Post. Om j rumour is that the Audit, Marine, and Registrar-General's Depaitmonts are to be abolished as separate departments and absorbed into others, so reducing tho number of separate highlv-p'iid ho. ids. Wo cannot, of com sat 1 , vouch for the accuracy ol this or any rumour on the subject, which, indeed, can scarcely Ik; more at prudent that more gossip, the intentions of the Government I), 'ing kept .i< a sf net Cabinet secret. Wo believe, houwor, that we arc ju-stiiicd in stating dohuitolv that the scheme of r -org.ini >ation will positively be submitted to Parliament in the coming sebbion. From the Grown Land 5 Gui'b wegnthei that the total area of Ne v Zealand is upwards ol G4,0U0,0i)0 a--ivs. Of this 4,000, 000 have been sold or Ut-<poM*d <>f m 4 Incation and otln*r public reserve ; 10,0)0.000 tvlon'j to th • Hborum.'^ or to tie I£<impeans wiio have purch i^crl from tiiem ; and :U,O ( )i>,OUO iui\is ol Cnrvn 'and stii rein. tms tor ilibjmsal. OJ" tho latter 15,OOi>,()')0 ar > op-Mi r,i> or Tern country, 10/n'),«|iJo f.i'-sl, 9, 0 ,<) 0 ot I) nen mountain tops, kic.\,, and worth loss country. Mr W. Hjtlv presented tho ugricu'turn l statb'.ics of Oivat Brill m ait. l ueiaml l'o the ten year- 1 873-1. i82 In corn crop, tho deiriMso w.is 1, >7S,'j4!) aci ,'s. in grei'ii '•io|w ■! r) cr ( . ise of 31>3.737 »> r\s\ a:id i 1 fl'tx, hops, &c. , an imiease vi" 1,44i,78(J acres, a niunl»er winch stnkos us as reluai.vathO. U.iLtlo increased in numb r iio,J!J ; bliwi p decreased as imu-ii .1 < 4,798,^-22 ; pigs decruisod 221,5u5 ; hordes used in ag 'icultuio increased 97,058, but since 1880 had docicasrfd 24,303, probably on account of th >, thousands of acres of land untenautod since 1879, and to the change f 10m arable into pasture. If 1,5i>0,000 acres oi umble hind einplov 45,000 Uibour.srs, dediuaintf I^,ooo employed on that changed iutopaslure, ther 1 were 30,000 less labourers employed thereon than during the amble farming. Taking those wage-earners at ,£4O per annum each, we get a tot il of £1,200,00 ) less jiaid for manual labour on tho sann acreage of land, thusaccfMinting for much that has occurred in theiural districts. The population of the Rritish Empiri at liouie and al)road is 315,000,000, and i? incraasiug at the rate of 2,500,000 a year. Speaking at a binquetat Adolaido, Eail Tvosebory said — u He had not coma amongthem to see any deficiency 01' inter|>risc, but to sec a young giant. "At home they had old giants such as London, the. Geruwn 'Empire, oi Mr Gladstone himself— (ehoerh) — but here they had a young Ilorcules in Australia. It consisted of an area of 4,300,000 square miles with a population, including New Zealand, of 3.000,000, which had increased during" the past 20 years from 1,300,000 or more than doubled the population. But that was not the remarkable fact. Hfere there were none of those miserable beggars who disgraced England. Then this young Hercules impressed him with its coiniue.c ■, which w .s now greater than that of Great Britain ut the time of tho Queen's accession. Theirs now amounted to £100,000,000, while that of Britain in 1837 was only £90,000,000. while she had a national debt of £700,000,000. This was an important fact which h.id impressed the stock exchange of the world. The tender of Mr Cameron, builder, of Auckland, has been accepted for the erec- | ! tion of the station buildings on the j Canibriclge'branch railway, and the lilureka section, Waikato-Tliames line. ' : Mr Wm.-'Lovctt's tender, £7,800, hns ( ileon accented for ballasting and laying 1 ' the permanent way of the Cambridge branch railway.

-About 19,000 persons arc carried Annually by the" railroad which climbs to tbo 'summit of Mount Vesuvius. ' The British possessions in India comprise 938,366 square miles, and the population reaches upwards of 200,000,000. A lady had in her employ an excellent girl, who had one fault. Her face w.is always in a smudge. Mrs tried totsll her to wtkili fuco without offending- her, and at hist she resorted to strategy. "Do you know. Bridget," she remarked in a confidential manner, "it is snid if .you wash your face ovory day in hot soaps' water it will make you beautiful?' ""Will it? " answered the wily Bridget. " Mi-e it's u wonder ye never 'triad i(, ma'am. "