SATURDAY, JANUARY 2, 1886.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 135, 2 January 1886, Page 2

SATURDAY, JANUARY 2, 1886.

i 'The past year has been a very important [ one for the Aroha and Oldnemuri districts, and we consider the present an appropriate time to refer to sorao of the I principal events which have taken place, and our present prospects with respect to the year just entered upon. During ! 1885 these districts have been brought most prominently before the public ; and their great mineral wealth has been more fully demonstrated : The year has also been marked by visits from some of our leading statesmen, and other distinguished personages, to wit, the Hon. W. J. M. Larnach, Minister of Mines ; Hon. J. Ballance, Minister of Lands ; Professor ; Black, Mr LaMonte, and others ; and it is satisfactory to know that each of those named were much ; impressed with the vast mineral resources of .this portion of the Auckland .Province ; and the great value of our Thermal Springy ajad expressed their conviction' tj^tljie " d fstricts referred to must ere long 1-* become1 -* become most important. The Ministej? 'of, "Mines, spent several days in visiting the "Obihemuri and Aroha mines and batteries, and rendered jjmost valuable' and practicarassistance by i granting;liberal subsidies to various i»n-portanb-works on these goldfieldf J »ad

by sending Professor Black amongst us whose! visit amT 'course W lectures ha,ve already been followed by sucli excellent results } for what>,more irripor,tant work could have been undertaken with a view, to develope our natural resources, and generally to benefit the dig- , trict than the establishment of a School of Mines in our midsl. Popular scientific instruction, brought right home to the various mining centres, is one of our greatest needs, and the success of Dr Black as a lecturer on our goldfields is a matter for congratulation. The Doctor? by his work, is quickening the perceptions and forming the tastes of intelligent practical men, and leading them into fresh paths of exploration, which some of them ,are .sure to follow up with great advantage to the districts in which they reside, and the State generally ; and the knowledge a School of Mines can impart will tend to sharpen the natural habits of observa ti<,n, and the instruction obtained in the very handling of specimens and other mineral ores besides gold may lead to most important and valuable discoveries. It is greatly to be desired that miners should be acquainted with such tests as! shall enable them to take a piece of ore and prove for themselves its contents and value ; and it is to be hoped the time will soon have gone by when a miner could carry about a piece of silver ore for weeks in his pocket, not knowing what it was, because it was not gold. The visit of Professor Black then, may be considered as of the greatest importance, probably far more so than is at present conceived, by leading to the discovery and development not only of silver ore in addition to gold, but of many other minerals which at present are unknown to the groat majority of miners. To Ohinemuri the past year has been a rery important one. The advent of Mr LaMonte and the favourable opinion formed by him of that district as a silver producer, has caused a great deal of public attention to be turned in that direction, and as a result extensive areas of ground have been taken up and prospected, and a large amount of private capital introduced into the district, employment provided for many miners and others, and through the spirited action of Mr B. K. Davis a smelting furnace of a most complete character has been erected at Karangahake for working the Woodstock mine, and will soon be busily employed. Very rich stone has been found not only at Karangahake, but also at Waihi and Waitekauri. At Waihi, under skilful and judicious management steady returns have been obtained from the working of the Martha Extended, and at both Owharoa and Waitekauri much energy and perseverance has been exhibited by prospectors. Separation, too, so long prayed for, so long withheld, has been granted, and the residents of Ohinemuri have at length been liberated from Thames and attained their autonomy. The continuation of the railway from Thames towards Te Aroha (which it is to be hoped will be pushed on with all possible speed) is also a matter of great importance, and will materially assist in the general prosperity ; and on the whole the prospects of the district are much,, brighter than was the case twelve months ago. At Te Aroha the discovery of extensive and promising reefg in the vicinity of Tui Creek is a matter of great moment, and rdf lead to the opening up and systematic working of a large area of comparatively new eotffltry. With respect to the mining industry in the Waiorongomai portion of the field, ;t?e regret we cannot speak as favourably as we would wish to. The inevitable result of long-continued excessive battery charges (long- forseen and oft predicted), has come about in the closing or forfeiture of most of the mines, and until additional crushing power is actually at work, we must not expect to see the gold mining industry show much sign of revival in that quarter. The battery proprietors, to our way of thinking, made a great mistake in offering .so little inducement to mine owners to develope their properties. One mine after another had to cease work, unable to pay the high rates levied for treatment of quartz ; and it was only when there was a strong probability of the remainder following suit that any reduction was made," and then on a sliding scale of an unsatisfactory-, character, which completejy- failed.. to induce companies who had been obliged to cease .work owing to long-coritinucd-.excefisive rates, to resume operations.^ 1 The' Now ,Isnd mine"'been kept steadily at work," it is true,' and" on an average provided employment for about half the entire number of stampers and berdans at Messrs Firth and Clarkes battery, but what benefit haa resulted to

' v ' , ; : — ; v fc r J ,-"; : 7r shareholders ? None whatever,. although the .quality of "the dirt has maintained a high average. The mine" is ? well known to be>a really splendid = ;*properj#y one which, tinder, more favourable circumstances,'should pay a steady monthly dividend, but at ;present-it\ is almost valueless to the shareholders. Some of whom, our own knowledge would - far rather see t the mine shut - up, or even forfeited, than steadily worked out as at • present, with no benefit to them ; but simply providing work for Messrs Fjrth and Clarkes battery. Rather than that matters should continue as in the past it were better for shareholders this valuable property should be submitted to public- auction forthwith, and <he proceeds constituted a dividend. The amount of moneypaid by the New Find Company aloneJpi Messrs Firth and Clarkerfor tJfie treatment of quarto in the past two years would have sufficed twice over to have erected a battery close to the workings ; and the advisability of the Company erecting a plant of their own has been more than once urged in these columns, but apparently opposing influences can be brought to bear, and we have almost given up' all hope of seeing such a course adopted. Truly this district -has had a severe experience of what monopoly means : But shareholders and directors are greatly to blame for the existing condition of affairs, and for quietly permitting such a state of things to continue. Why have they shown so much apathy, and taken no steps to have their properties worked to more advantage ? The history of the Colonist mine during the past year is too well known to need recapitulation; and the shareholders who quietly submitted to have their property temporarily closed, the mine manager discharged just as he had opened up what was known to be a payable block of ground, and the mine afterwards handed over to the Battery Company to do as they liked with, deserve no better than that their property should be returned them comparatively worthless. We hope the opening of the New Efa Battery, which it is confidently asserted will be found capable of saving the silver as well as the gold existing In ore treated, will bring about a:greatly improved state of affairs, and that the spirited proprietors, who haVe in the face of such great and studied opposition, erected a splendid plant for .tlsy; benefit of this gold field, Will meet with that hearty support which they so well deserve. We must not perhaps expect any very rapid improvement in a distiict which has suffered so long and so much through monopoly ; but that it will yet come out all right there need not be the slightest doubt ,' and the strict enforcement of mining laws with respect to either properly working ground held, or else having it again thrown open to the public Will be the means of iuducing prospectors to again return and go to work on so valuable a field. The Minister of Mines when here frequently referred to increased and cheaper crushing power as the great need of the district, and by granting a subsidy of £1000 towards constructing a branch line to connect the New Era Battery with the County tramway, rendered good service. During the year greatly-increased bathing accommodation has been provided in connection with the Thermal Springs} and vast improvements have been effected in the Domain grounds in which they are situated J the £1000 lately granted by Grovernment for the further deyelopement of these valuable waters should be iJitf means of providing accommodation of a veT? sati^factoi-y character. These springs are becoming known far and wide from the n^nber of remarkable cures they have effected, »ttd Te Aroha bids fair to become celebrated as a sanatorium of the first importance, and to attract visitors from all parts of the world. The completion of the permanent way to Te Aroha, and the early opening of the line, giving direct railway communication with Auckland ; the further settlement of agricultural land that is certain "to follow; and the construction of a new coach road from Aroha to Aongetete (via Thompsons track) giving direct communication with the East Coast, are also matters of great moment to this district. During the year greatly-in-.creased hotel accommodation has been provided for visitors and on the whole the out look for the future is most encouraging. , . 7 .

The ChuroK ofEngland service on Xma& morning Vs^niucU^ appreciate^ as was evinced by thV. number pfesentj and the singing was good, . lt'is-some years since a similar service Was held here.

\ '■■ • *\, "-\ I Mn Livingstone, contractor for the completion of the railway, to Aroha, has his ballast train at work every day now, bringing earth for the formation of the coach road approach, to the bridge, which wil] run along the foot of the northern side of the swamp embankment, and be only a few feet below the level of the line. This ! work, with the number of hands employed, should not take long, and we do j not think there is the slightest probability of the traffic across the bridge being even temporarily stopped), as some seem , to ap-, prehend* This we know that at very considerable inconvenience to himself, Mr Livingstone is at present leaving a track open for traffic a"nd purposes doing so all along until the new road approach is complete, the only thing necessary is that those crossing with vehicles should pro<- , ceed cautiously and at a slo\V- pace> Mr JE. Quinn, Te Aroha, has been ttomi^nated by the Thermal Springs Domain Board as a successor to Mi' H. Buttle, resigned. The usual monthly meeting of the Domain Board this afternoon. The Thames' County Chairman has re"* ceived a communication fYom Government stating that the request for an enquiry into the charges preferred by Mr A. Cassrells against the Thames County Council, and which had been replied to under instrudI tions from the County Council by the County Clerk and Engineer, has been placed before Sir Julius Vogel for consideration. — Thames Star. On Boxing Day a children's fe"te and a general picnic was held by Waitekam'i residents in Earl's paddock adjoining the bridge. The Auckland Herald has the following: "The ritualistic epidemic is increasing, and now thatazealous member of the HolyCross Society has been stirring matters up at St. Thomas* with a long pole, things are getting very sultry in that lively littta dhurch. But what went ort in the little church round the corner is as nothing compared to what took place in another ecclesiastical establishment, whefe the "stable at Bethlehem" was constructed* Everything was so painfully realistic, that only the donkey — I beg pardon, the ass— was wanting to complete the situation." The Usual Wesleyan week evening services will not be held in the Ofcinemuri district next week, and may not be expected until the month of February. There will be no services next Sunday evening at Rarahgahake* On Saturday last a large company assembled at the Aroha race-coUrse to witness a match for £10 a-side between- the local horses Auctioneer 1 Atld Catchem, belong ing to Messrs Tierney ttftd Downes, respectively. Auctioneer was the favourite^ and led frotn the starfy winning easily. Thd meeting d£ the Library Committee convened for Thursday evening last, lapsed through lack of a qltonim, and will now be held on Monday evening next at half- past seven* The followingare the estimated incomes df the four men who are reputed to be the richest in the world :— -Duke of West-ministef--Capital, £12,000,000 ; income, £800,000 per yean Vanderbilt-.Gdpital, £35,000,000 \ Iflc6nle', £1,500,000 per annum. Kothschild -Capital, £40,000,000 ; income, £2,000,000. Macky— Capital, £55,000,000 ; income', £2,750,000 per annumj Mr G. Groissj who some seven months ago got burnt out at Waiorongomai, has had a similiar misfortune at Karanghake, where ho has been living -for some time. Early on Thursday inorniag 24th Ult he discovered his cottage (which was within a few minutes walk Of the township) to be on fire, and the Blames quickly obtained such a hold as to preclude 1 all hope of saving the building ; and it was only by great exertions and by breaking out the bedroom window that he was able to save his wife and children. The poor man lost all his household goods and possessions. The origin of the fire ia unknown, but is thought to have raisen from sparks carried by the' wind from an old stump which wa"s" burning some' distance away. A subscription list has been opened by Mr Hogg at Karangahske. The new experimental arrafrgerfteni reBpecting delayed telegrams comes into force to day* Telegrams of this clsrs will be posted to the persons to whom they are addressed immediately after receipt from the wires, ans delivered over the public counter, through 'private boxes, or by first deliveryby letter carriers, instead of as at present, being delayed until the morning after receipt* Such telegrams will still bo Subject to delays whenever the wires are occupied with ordinary and other messages Wkich have a prior" right to transmission. The charge -for delayed telegrams will be sixpence if they da not exceed ton words, ten v/ovds being also allowed for address and signature. For every additional two words in the message one penny will be charged, no> f radjtion of a penny being received. Tho arrangement may be changed ' at the end of threfe months, or varied in such manner as the Postmaster-General may directThis provision is necessary, arid it is possible that the'ftew system may be found to cause too grejat lossr of revenue 1 ; o* in other respects to be defective. It will be seen that in., a^ large number of cases sender' 3 of telegraphic messages will • attain their object at half the expense now i * fleedj&aryv

A nugget of gold, Weighing 630z, ' was founds at r'Biirrendong,' near Ironb'aTFs, New South Wales, recently, by a man named Bell, who dug it up with a pick while fossicking about. The London Times is valued at £5,000,000. < • The introduction of postal not«s is a useful little reform. "We would suggest ♦hat there is room for another srsalJ improvement in Onr postal arrangements — namely the introduction d£ post-cards to England. The -convenience which these would afford would be very great, and we believe that if their price were fixed at, say, threepence,' the result would be a a considerable increase to the postal revenue. When a -letter is written home by a colonist, he feels that he dares no,t put off a frend so distant with, the short scrawl which is permissible when letters are frequent and distances short. There is ahvgo class of conespondence which is not worth sixpence plus the trouble of writing a long letter, and yet is well well worth the threepenny post-card* This includes not only descriptive letters to friends, but small inquiries and little | wishes which it is not worth the trouble and expense of writing a letter" about. We have little doubt but that there would Ibe" a conaidciable increase*" of | English correspondence! if the facility of threepenny post- cards w"ei'e" afforded. Penny post-cards are already largely in use between' England and India. To apply them between 'Erigkrid and New Zealand would probably lead to ditniniU tion of the postal revenue, while the postage for a letter remains at sixpence. But we might go half-way in that direction, and add considerably to the public Convenience without any loss of revenue and even, we believe, with some gain to it. The Post in a recent leader describes the Etospital and Charitable Aids Act as a complete " legislative muddle." It is said to have been so u muddled" in passing through committee of the House as to be incomprehensible, and likely to become inOpeiative, Thefollowing are the salient points of the article :— "We have not yet met with anyone who even professes to tnoroughly understand the Act as it stands, and there is very considerable reason to doubt whether, thd department which has to administer it, fully .understands its meaning or correctly interprrts its provisions, rlthongh df course the department has the assistance and advice of the law of the Crown law officers, tv the meantime some hundreds d£ well meaning layiren throughout the coloriy who have been Called to positions df importance under the Act are vainly puzzling themselves to discover what are their duties, ] ewers, and means Les^al advice is being taken, and a most remarkable diversity of opinion is found to exist amongst the professional gentlemen consulted. One advises the Board that it has authority to do what another council, equally learned in the law, advises another Board is entirely beyond its power." It is not often the case that work cdn be brouaht out of a horse," as butter out of: a highly-bred Jersey cow, by the consumption of enormous quantities of food. | Excess of food weakens a working animal rind disables it from work. It induces indigestion, and that is worse than a spare diet. The daily ration of an Arabian hors«», wh'ch carries its rider 100 miles in a ! day, is 61b of parched barley, While the rider eats only a handful of , dates. The Arab and his horse are both wivy, sinewy, and muscular animals, without fat or useless flesh. The sa'm-e principle should bo followed iri feeding farm horses. A rigid rule should be adopted for feeding, and if ahorse" is worked extra hard u^onany occasion it should be restored by rest and not by the use of more food than it can digest, especially when the system is weakened by the overwork* Worry hurts more than 1 Work. Let a man set out for a twenty-mile walk with good shoes and well-fitting clothes and he will arrive at the end in perfect comfort and with a vigorous appetite for his reasonable meal. But let him walk the twenty miles with a peg in one shoe, with a galled heel or a wrinkle iri his stocking^ or even with clothes or* collar which *chafe.the skin. — he would be worn down at the end of five miles. How many poor horses are thu s | worn down day after day, and then suffered to stamp the floor all night to fight the bloodthirsty ffces I Will an extra allowance of oats 1 help" the wretched beast ? Alas I no ; the food may be uneaten in ! the' feed-box the next morning ; but the' field work must be done, and so, after five or six yeats at work, the wretched animal perishes,- .when it might have gone dn working to the 1 age of. twenty-five, had it been treated considerately.— -Detroit Advertiser. Mr Hoe, the inventor dnd manufacturer of the ( elaborate printing machines that bear his name, has been prophesying that photography will before long supplant the printing press entirely. The one 1 thirfg now necessary to enable 1 it to do' so is the production at a cheap enough price of the very sensitive papers recently introduced into photography. It is quite certain that scientific chemistry will bef ore-lotig bring down the present cost of sensitising paper considerably, t>ut it is d question whefhef it 1 will* do so enough. Given, however, a cheap e'riough sensitive paper, all printing , would become a swift and silent and very simple process J the 1 production of d fiega--

tive'would take the plac'e^df ' the -preßeati * ft? * . •*£ V '-" / setti|ig-jip of type j improved typl-writers would come into vogue^ by- means of which anyone could produce^ aiijter a little practice, a* printed negative ; " trie operation of .printing off any number df copies would opnsist in setting a roll of -paper to unwind in front of the negative, from behind which a bright light flashing at pro-perly-regulated very short intervals of t"?! 6 ' would produce an impression at each flash. If each flash- lasted a second 3600 copj'ea cpuld be obtained from dnd negative in au hduf j but as the production of a dozen or any number of negative's from one is a very simple matter, there would be practically no lirriii to the speed of printing. Portraits, pictures, and diagrams would print With as gi'eat ease as reading matter. Thus, if Mr Hoe's prophecy is fulfilled; the daily newspapers bf tho future may easily be a more luxurious and artistic production than the Art Journal or L'A'rt. One of the T greatest engineering projects of the nge is the proposed sub-oceanic tunrlel by which it is proposed td conned the Scottish and Irish coasts. The distance by this route is 2l£ miles, to-be driven at a great depth' owing to the remarkable trough which skirts the Scottish coast at about a third of tho distance between the shores. Sir Charles Crawford, who has given the project great study, considers.. that. the work could bo completed within eight yedrs: He states that such a tunnel woiild bring the coal fields of Ayr within 40" miles of (ho^ the manufactories of Belfast ; would' make the magnificent harbour of Lough swilly the port of call for' the transatlantic liners ; would bring America nearly 24 hours neare* England, and pour into Ireland such a vivifying stream o£ life and commerce" as would do more to spread comfort and prosperity that decades of retredial legislation, As regards the' difficulties of ventilation, he thinks either ah'e'n'gines, daily brougbl nearer perfect ien, or electricity, now working a tramway within a score Of miles of Donaghadee ; or the continuous wire rope, so largely used in America, would enable us to dispense "with the smoke-breathing' locdthotives, and with it bariish the bugbear Of asphyxia. The enormous traffic which would bd created it is confidently expected would easily provide £2u0.000 for interest on the expenditure £2,000,000 — the estimated cost of the work, List of Visitors since last- issue : — Htfr and Mrs Gane, Mr and Mrs Kirk, Mi and Mi- s Campbell, Mr M~s Scarlett, JMr and Mrs J. H. Smith,- Mr and 'Mrs Williamson, Mr Williamson, jun., Sir and Mrs Moses and 3 children, Mr and Mrs . Ashtdn and 2 children, Mr Ashton, yAn. t Mr and Mrs Jagger, nurse, and 4 chi'dien, Mr and Mrs Newman, Mr and Hurley and -2 children, Mr and Mrs Murdoch, Mrs 'inrt Miss Kobinson, Mrs Kelly, Mrs Ev.irt, Mrs McCoskroy, Mr, Mrs, and Miss -Mitboney, Mispos Goleman (2), Misa Innes, MiU Lackie, Mrs .Yager, Mrs Guffin, A'isq Thannffhan, -- Mrs Winter, Miss T-ivlnj Miss White, Mrs Hewitt, Messrs Tan nor. Strong, Quinn,. H. Campbell, Is T e»vs?jaw, Jas. Reid, E. Johnson, Sitfichau Boone, Fisk, Asher, Snncnth, Tait (2), JCiVhol, C. Osmond, Cooppr, Bugby, Hnrk'T, Penney, Culpou, Alexander, Beero, 'Dyo, Cohen, J. Jackson, McDonald St^tt, K,*G. Macky, Btfrris, R. Cocke, Stcwax-t, Moiton, Brigham Probert, Wnrren, Anoklj.nd : Mr C. Petfts, Mr and Mrs Frater, \h** Trnscot, Mr McNeill, Mr IVit-Don-ild, Mr Miss Miirmy, Jliss R.-l-cher, Mr; and Mrs J. SmiHi' jind femih-, Mr Hart, Mr Airey, Mr Webbo, Mr J. H. Uodge, and Mrs FJemming and family Thames ; Mr U. McDoitgall and fiei vant, Queensland ; Mr McMichol, Waikato ; J Ferguson, Napier j Mr NicliollK, Dunedin, Mr Pope, and Mrs Brookes, Cambrideo ; Mrs Booth, Hamilton; Mr Holt Queensland ; Mr Smith, Morrinsville ; Mr Dunnj ing, Miss Missen, Captain W. McPlie^on, Waikato,' Mr dnd Mrs OBrien, N.S.W, I Mr Lees, Mr D. McNichol, Mr Andeison, Mr Bleasdale, Mr Main, Mr Farreli, Waikato ; Mr Dawkins, Karangahako : Mr Lecky, Ireland j Mr Kneeswan Ch.Oh, etc., etti. i