THE AROHA NEWS AND UPPER THAMES ADVOCATE.

Te Aroha News, Volume I, Issue 50, 17 May 1884, Page 2

THE AROHA NEWS AND UPPER THAMES ADVOCATE.

'Thie above all— to thine own-self bo tru And it must follow as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.' — Shakespeare.

SATUEDAY, MAY 71, 1884.

A revikw of the circumstances of the goldfield, from the beginning of the year to the present time, is uot calculated to make a favourable impression on the minds of strangers as to the richness of our auriferous resources, and it must be admitted that the prevalent state of matters during that period has been the reverse of satisfactory: Chum after claim has been put to the crucial battery test, and found wanting. Gills have been made whore dividends were expected, and stocks have declined to Ruch an extent, that even in mines which elsewhere would be held in high repute, shares can hardly be given away. It is useless to try to conceal from ourselves the disagreeable fact that tha reputation of the field has fallen almost to zero ; and yet in the face of all the disappointments that have been experienced during the last few months We are told by men of knowledge and long experience in mining that, with proper facilities for crushing, a number of the poorer reefs would' pay well for working, and that evei, those mines whose battery returns have been pronounced unremnnerative could) under more favourable circumstances, be profitably worked-. To whrft then in the present languishing condition of the field attributable, and how is its fair fame to be restored ? Doubtless, over-apeculation has here, as bo frequently it has on other fields, been productive of a ta>'ge amount of harm. Much of it i« also due to the apathy of directors, the majority of whom have taken no pains to make themselves acquainted with the requirements of their properties, and who have allowed their functions to be usurped by tt£hen> whose interest lie in a direction Opposed to those of the- ordinary share-

holder. As an illustration of thte wp may refer lo the change that is about 10 be introduced in the working 2of the Colonist mine, and probably of other claims also. It is anticipated by nil who know anything of minim?, and of the nature of our reefs that the proposed system of letting the breaking out of the quartz by the ton will, in this inst-ince, prove a failure and eventuate in loss instead of gain to the company. Quantities of worthier stuff will be sent to the mill and the mine which lu-s up till now been more than payable, will, in all probability, be shortly classed with others whose high reputation are things of the past. But this seems to be considered of small consequence in the estimation of those who have assumed control, their sole object , apparently being to keep the battery fully employed, no matter at what cost to shareholders in the mines. In faot ever since the suspension of operations in the Premier, Werahiko, and other claims, the in- ! difference displayed by the majority of directors in the mines regularly using the battery has 1 , in this respect, been of a very culpable nature. For months past the] direction of matters has virtually been in [ the hands of Mr J. C. Firth, a gentleman who, whatever his other qualifications may be, can lnmrdly be looked upon as an expert "in mining." Is it true that Mr Firth's recent directions to the mine managers re getting out their stuff by contract, were given without ineetingsof all the shareholders being called, in fact without the . sanction of the other directors having been ! first obtained ? Were they as a body con- ; suited in the matter, arid if not, why not? I Under his control the interests of shareholders have been made subservient to; those of the Battery Co. , During thisj period the battery has beeu almost entirely . dependent upon two claims, the New Find and Colonist, for quartz to keep it fully i employed. In tne undeveloped state _ of i these mines, especially in the case 'of the: former, in which a large amount of deadwork was on hand, it was difficult to obt'dn an adequate supply, but the mill had to be \ kept going, stuff must be got somehow,' and the consequence has been that the winning of it has cost nearly twice as ] much as it ought to have done. Wo do ! not here impute the smallest blame to the mine managers, who doubtless see as; others do, and condemn as far as lies in ■ their power the prosent wasteful system which is being persisted in contrary to their wishes and advice. It is the directors ; us a body that are responsible for the ex- i isting state of matters, and as long as they j allow supreme power to tha gentleman , who now exercises it, just as long will shareholders continue to suffer. The crushing charges — which phrase has an ominous significance in this instance, for they will assuredly have the effect of crushing many companies out of existence— ai esiieh as can bo borne by onl> a very few claims on the field, and if mining is to prosper here it can only bo under other conditions than those now existing. As an instance of the prohibitory rates now in force, it may be mentioned that the cost of the trial crushing of 10 or 12 tons some weeks ago from the Hero claim amounted to j£l 6s 6d per ton for battery and tramway charges alone. We are informed on good authority that the Colonist Company's operations were carried on last month at ti dead loss of some £250. If this be the case it is time foi both directors and shareholders to bestir themselves, and take a more active interest than they have hitherto done in the management of their propei ty. Untfer such ;.n incubus as this Battery dnipany has proved itself to be, the mines, one after another; are being literally smothered, and until some strenuous effort is made t»y tho different companies to free themselves in some way from its toils, it i-. a mere waste of words to talk of prosperity for the goldfield.

The next English and European mail via San Francisco will close at this office on Friday; the 23rd inst.,,at Y p.ni: Tins niail is flue in London oh sth July. We are in receipt of Mr J. R. Randerson's monthly circular, containing reports on the money, propeity, stock, and share markets. In this district, as in other parts of the province, pheasants are uriusually scirce this season; and, unless to the most enthusiastic sportman, the license to kill is hardly worth the money. Our best shots have been out time after time, and returned with bags nearly empty and faces about as long as their gnnlmnvls. Even the meanest of pot-hunters would find it difficult to make a decent bag. To what the scarcity is attributable we know not; but sb far as sport is concerned, the close J season might as well have continued all J through. | The next meeting of the Te Aroha i Band of Hope will be held on next Tues- ' day evening, commencing at 7 o'clock. Twenty tons of cheese were sent Jo England by the British King from the Te Awamutu Cheese Factory. ; As will be seen by advertisement, the Rev. T. J. Wills will preach here (both morning and evening) to-morrow in the Wesleyan Church. The Rev. gentlemen purposes taking for his subject : " Justification," as set forth in the writings of St. Paul and St. James. The subject is an interesting one, much mis-apprehension having existed with regard to the different views of the doctrines supposed to be presented by the above apostles, and no doubt there will be a good attendance. Mr Henry Barker, whose death we recorded in our last issue, was one of the oldest inhabitants of the Shaftesbury settlement, lie was luttch respected and deeply regretted by his neighbours. His age was 57. x'he interment took place on Sunday last at the Te Aroha cemetery, many iriends following. The regular ministers of the distiict being unable to attend on account of their previous engagements, E. Y. Cox, Esq., of Shaftesbury, kindly consented to read the service, assisted by Gr. L. Grant, Esq., of Mamii waru. i Our Public Library has lately had ' seveial additions to the volumes on its shelves, these additions being the gifts qf ; gentlemen who take an interest in the advancement of this and similar institu- ! tione- Fi'om Mr Murray, of the Thames, there have been received two woll-biund copies of the Illustrated London News, vote. 70 and 71 ; one of the Graphic, vol. 18, and the Ecletic Magusine for the three years, 1881 2-3; from JVuiies Cmig, lEsq , jnn. several volumesoi" novels and a number of papers ; and from our' townsman, Mr W. Everett., two Inrjfe and splendidly, 1 k bound volumes of All round/,' the WorJd,

heiutifuHy illustrated. T6 eacl^ of these gentlemen the thanks of the' committee and. subscribers are due, nnd.cwe trust that the excellent example set by them will be speedily followed by others. There are two petitions lying for signature at the store of Messrs Wolls and Houtter, and we wish to direct attention to them. The first is to the Legislature protesting against any interference with the working of the present Education Act, and tho other is to the same body praying for the abolition of Minor's Bight i'ees. All who wish to see education maintained as it ia at present, free and un sectarian, will lose no time in signing the former. The Miner's Right fee is a relic of past oppression and injustice to the mining portion of the community, and its existence, which ought never to have begun, should losg since have terminated. The petition against it must be sent away from here not later than next Saturday, therefore miners and others should sign without delay. Sheep were sold early this month at Is per head at Toowoomba, Quoimslund. Drought the cause. While there is a great scarcity of work in Olago, contractors in the Waikato are advertising fur scores of labourers at 7s to 8s a day, and cannot get them. The Customs revenue of laht year in New South Wales amounted to within a farthing of 35s p< j r head of population. The smokers contributed i&13,000, and the grog-drinkers £730,000. Adding to this the revenue derived from malt and hops, the drinkers and smokers gave £973,000 as their share, or nearly two-thirds of the whole. , The othvr portion of the populaion contributed about 8a per bead. By tho last Gazette to hand wo learn that the Government has released the block of 1716 acres of land in this district known as " Waihou West No. 1" from proclamation." Archdeacon Edwards rebukes the Catholics of Dunedin because only three of them subscribe to the Benevolent Institution. They #ive thousands of 'pounds to the Church and tens of pounds to charity. A nnn.bin* of Workmen and several families left Hamilton last week by rail for Morrinsville, to take up their quarters at that end of the line,, where the presti 6£ work upon the line now requires them. The Auckland Herald States that there was more money spent last half year on the Lock Hospital th.nl on road formation, and only £30 less than was expended on tho Free Library. Mr Fish, M.11.R. intends to move foy a ommitt.ee of inquiry into the working of the liisnnuice Department. Te Kooti nuy now be considered a Waikato settler, as the Government have purchased for bin! from Mr Andrew Kay, of Oi'dkau the farm at that place known aa the Ngamuku no. 2 block, consisting of 26*0 acres. The price gi /en was close on £3 per acre Te Kooti's intention is to settle down to its peaceful occupation. Active operations for forest tree planting are about to be Undertaken on Mr Knorpp's estate, Ngaruawahia. Contracts were let on Saturday to Messrs. Clow and Limmer for the ploughing of 250 acres, to be; planted with forest trees in the comin» season, and in a few days six doublet'.irrow ploughs will be at work on tho land. During the past summer Mr Knorpp has h.id the piece of land intended for a vineyard, which forms a piominent feature to the traveller passing through N»'iimn\ahin, pnt in order for plautlng. It has been trenched to the debth of 18 inches at a cot>t of over £20 per acre. — Herald. Some al Ann was recently aroused at the Thames for the safety of a huge kauri tree, nearly 50 feet in circumference, which grows near the head of Tararu Creek; and it. largely resorted to by visitors to the dis-uict. A rumour was circulated ;6 the effect that the monster was about to go the way of all kauri, and bow to the woods man's axe. Load protestations were raised against such an act of vandalism, and inimcdiately scheuies were mooted for its purchase and conservation as a public property. Jt may interest tho«>e of our readers who have seen the monster to know tnat it was purchased b}' the Thames County Council on behalf of the ml abitants of the district, and that stops are being taken to protect it from the ravages of lire, &c.-— Star. Saturday, May 24th (Queen's Birthday); beirig a Statute holiday, the post and telegraph offices will be closed. All mails will be closed on Friday evening, May 23id, at 7 o'clock. The telephone line between here and Morrinsville is bein^ rapidly pushed on. The work of erectiilg tile poles will be t completed in a day or two, and communication is expected to be established early next week. This will prove a great boon to the MorriitHvUle people aiid out &ettler« in that district. ! It will bt seen by advertisement that the llev. W. Ferguson will preach iiis farewell sermon in the Public Hall to-morrow evening. The service will cOiualence at 7 o'clock. Blue Ribbon is the order of the day. We are informed that delegated from the Te A rob a and Waiorongomai Bands of Hope have ai ranged to visit Shaftesbury (weather permitting) on Monday evening next, for the purpose of starting a similar movement in that settlement. ArrangeI ments are also being made, we believe, fo' 1 starting a Band of Hope in Waihou at no distant d'lte. I Mr C. O.Davis and Mr, T. B; Hill>, two i members of thp mission to the King Country to obtain signatures to the memorial to the Governor to proclaim the district one in which liquor shall not be sold, returned to Auckland by train Jast Saturday evening. The inemoril has been extensively signed-, and is still being signed, oil over tl£ King Country. Everywhere the natives hailed the proposal as an admirable one ? and thought-out the tour of the mission, which extended over the largest and most thickly populated part of what U known as the King Country, not one dissentient voice was heaixU Tho Maories were unanimous in this matter, and readily signed the^uiemoriak Duringthe- interviews with the natives the Mtvpria frequently- quoted from .the Governor's speech at Rawhia, indeed it foraied/quite/a feature' of their addrenfe' and conversation. The signatures of al> the'., leading chiefs haVe tyeen obtained,-- ( ' md assinteft { the 'mission iih c every 1 ; way, they_could. /"', , , v \ • )>- : ;\, /^-, :

The election fV'tlie.'fhtffntfpn sent took, place tit Wellington' on -Tue«d'rty, and resulted as follows ;— Pr'Nft^i«a«- 63(5 j,-,Mr Bunny, 379 ; Mr Dw.m, 1"21.' There wo« great excitement throughout. At the Police Court, Wellinorton, on Tuesday, W. G. McDerrnott, for embezzlement of moneys from tho Governuent Insurance Departinont, vvaa sentenced to six months' hard labour. Mi^R Fortescufi .was awarded £10,000 dmnngcs from Lord Gannoyle.