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Temuka Leader, Volume I, Issue 93, 6 November 1878, Page 2

'/{/A special meeting of the Temuka School "Committee took place On Monday evening. Present —Messrs A. Wilson (chairman;, K. F. Gray, W. Storey, J. Blyth, a'd R. Donn. The Chairman laid.before the Committee the report of the Subcommittee appointed by the Board of Education to draw np a scale of salaries for .the teachers of South Canterbury. After a good deal of discsusion it was resolved, "That this Committee disapprove of the proposed scale so far as it affects the schools comingunder the lowest average, and that this Committee consider it inadvisable to withdraw.the bonuses, as such withdrawal would have a tendency to lower the standard of teachers, and would discourage young men from preparing themselves for teachers." It was resolved to forward a copy of the above resolution to the Board of Education in Tiiuaru. Proposed by Mr Gray, and seconded by Mr Blyth, '• That the Chairman be authorised to engage Mr Bolton to act as secretary at the usual salary, in the jr'ace of Mr Liwson, resigned.

Since the passing of the Milford Harbour Bill a considerable change has taken place in the minds of the people of Temuka. The price of laud lias advanced in value, buildings of a most substantial nature are contracted for, the population is daily increasing, tradesmen having now more confidence are going to work with a will ; improvements in stores —notably that of Messrs Lyon and Harrop, comparatively new to Temuka —seem to have been so fai successful as to encourage them to increase the size and enlarge the stock, while Messrs Wareing, Brown, and Wilson and Sons, all retail stores, seem to have taken in stocks sufficient in former times to last for years, but which they now mean to sell. We are informed by the Chairman of the Milford Harbour Committee that he has received a communication from Sir J. Coode, invitinginformation about Milford Lagoon. This means business. We hope in a few months to hear from the same source Sir J. Coode's most favorable opinion. This

will be good news to all between the llangitafca and Timaru. This is all that is needed to make the Temuka and Geraldine districts the most prosperous and the most enjoyable to live in of any part of New Zealand.

A ratepayer of North Temuka waited upon the lload Beard yesterday and complained of a certain neighbor who, having no land of his own, is nevertheless a large sheepowncr The complainant did not object to his being a large sheepowner, but to his feeding his sheep in his neighbor's gardens. The Board sympathised with the victimised, but doubled whether they had power to interfere. It may be that the poundkeeper might find shepherding a good employment for his leisure hours. But it does project beyond one's nose that, not the sheep, but their owner, should be impounded.

At a public meeting held in Christchurch on Saturday to discuss the proposal! to send a team of cricketers to Australia, Mr Neilson stated that an eleven could ••'be got together to start about the 9th or 10th of next month. The trip would probably cost £SOO. He had himself received promises to the extent of L 250. The trip would occupy about six weeks. A considerable amount of discussion took place on the propriety of taking ..gate money, ane upon appealing to the public for assistance in any way. It was shown that such matches as those contemplated could not be arranged without at least a portion of any team being remunerated, and it may be said that money so spent is well spent, as such trips create interest in the country of the visiting team, as well as in the men themselves. A subscription list was opened iu the room, and in a few minutes LllO was subscribed.

Saturday next being the Prince of Wales' Birthday, will be observed as a bank holiday.

Fifty-nine horses have been nominated for the Dunedin Cup at the next March meeting, thirty-six for the D.J.C. Handicap, and thirty for the Publicans' .Handicap.

A new rifle range for the use of the Volunteers of Christchurch was formally opened last week by Lady Wilson and Mrs Packo. The range is a part of the Casqmere estate.

It would scorn that sonic of the " windows of heaven" over the back country of Otago are, not open, but broken. Rain in flooding quantities fell about Lake Wanaka on and after the 26th Ortober. and the rivers thereabout roso and did a considerable amount of damage. Tue'usual Fair will be held to-day. On December 24, 1874 -about four years ago— Messrs Young and Jnwood placed a hatchment of trui.it in the Waihi creek at Winchester, and these have increased yearly. A few days ago about 500 young lisli, obtained from Christchurch, were liberated in the same waters, and will no doubt do well. A iir.-t dividend on the earlier investment was drawn on Saturday last, Mr J. Ibiine catching three 12-inch three-quarter pound fish with a traitorous, fly. These nice little fish were part of lire first family of the imported pairs. Tne latter now measure from 1G to 22 inches in Jengi.ii. The fish spawned last season are now about seven to eight inches long. But Mr Tiaine ought to have exercised a little more consideration .for his fellows. Everyone knows that there are not trout enough ■about for everyone to fly after, so it is very tantalising, not to say exasperating, to hear of one individual being so highly favored. The poor tromt ought to have been given a better chance—that is to say, other persons than Mr Eaine ought to have been given a better chance. The fish caught do not need our pity, but all those anglers who hear of Mr llaine's solitary exploit will feel as if they had themselves been caught. It were better to have waited a year or two yet, udtil the ssh had spread up and down stream. Then the public, to whom the fish properly belong, could have had a fair field and no favour.

The liev R. L. Stanford, preaching' in Dunedin on Sunday evening, advised parents that imoi-dcr to keep their boys and girls from roaming" about the streets at night and getting into bad company, they should make home attractive with musical aod other innocent pastimes, including dancing. The rev gentleman considered that the best means of keeping the children out of dancing" saloons was "to let them have a dance very often at home."

The chief articles of export from New Zealand for the past quarter, and their value, were as follows.: Gold, £295,565 ; wool, £200,110 ; wheat, £102,701 ; tallow, £50,025 ; kauri gum, £47,853 ; preserved meats, £4O 998; oats, £16,003-. potatoes, L 12,889 ; flour, £10,059 ;' rabbit skins, L 8903.

The Governor has formally given his assent to all the Bills passed during" the session, except the Administration Bill, a measure dealing with the duties of executors, S:c.

The Kelly and Leon Minstrels, now in Melbourne, have amongst their company a masculine performer with a perfectly feminine voice, and also a Japanese dwarf 2in shorter than Tom Thumb.

The Auckland 'Herald' of Monday tells the following shocking story : " For several days fast the community of the Thames goldfiehl has been agitated by rumours of a serious crime having been committed by a well-known and influential Government official. That there were some strong grounds for the rumors was apparent from a paragraph in Saturday's 'Thames Advertiser,' which stated that a serious charge had been made to the police against a gentleman holding a responsible j)Osition on the goldiiekls. This, however, was premature, as no such charge had been made at the time of our contemporary's publication. But a few hours subsecprently an informatio.il was laid. As the sequence is of the most terrible nature, we lay the whole matter so far as has been gleaned before our readers. The person charged with the crime was Captain Goldsmith, Mining Inspector of the Goldiields, who was charged with criminally assaulting a girl ten years of age. Information must have reached Captain Goldsmith that proceedings might be taken. Ou Monday or Tuesday last Mr Miller, solicitor, was consulted, and he was very anxious to see Captain Goldsmith. His whereabouts, however, could not bo ascertained, and it was thought that he had left the place. When the case was placed in the hands of the police, Inspector Bullen telegraphed to Auckland for the police to be ou the alert, as it was thought that Captain Goldsmith was in Auckland or had passed through to parts unknown. The last seen of him was at the Pacific Hotel, where he boarded. On the evening of Friday he stated to the landlord that he was proceeding to Auckland for a few days. Curtis at the time noticed nothing unusual about Captain Goldsmith, nor was he aware of the serious charge hanging over him, and hence the notion that he had come on to Auckland. Captain Goldsmith, however, must have received some information of the charge against him. lie must have retired to his house on Friday afternoon and committed suicide. He was a widower, and lived alone in a cottage on the beach, near the Grahamstown wharf. About midnight ou Saturday it was determined to enter the house and see whether he was there or not. This was done by the- police and several others, and the door being forced the uufortunate man was found lying de id, and the means by which he had committed suicide were at once apparent. He had cut the artery of his left arm, from which he had bled copiously, and he had also fired a pistol into his mouth. The deceased had seen considerable service in the field, having fought in the Schleswig-Holstein war of 1848 : 9. He was captain of the Ist Waikato, and at Tauranga. Shortly after the discovery of gold at the Thames he commenced business as surveyor, and was in that line for several years, until he was appointed Mining Inspector. He must have been over fifty years of age.

Some of her Majesty's subjects in Asliburton, says the 'Mail,' are evidently made of somewhat rebellious stuff*, and don't care about attending inquests Some of those ivho had been verbally summoned by the police on-Monday to attend the inquest held at Quill's Hotel, very reluctantly complied with the invitation, while one gentleman flatly said that he would not attend unless summoned to do so, and another resolutely and resignedly observed that he would sooner pay a fine than attend. The police pointed out 'to the coroner that unless fines were to be inflicted for non-attendance there was danger of: the population beeoming demoralized in the matter of declining to sit on juries. The coroner agreed and said that in future it would be necces«ary to inflict fines.

The Wellington ' Evening Ohronicle ' of the'3rd nit has the following account of a Maori pah, situated near the very centre of the city of Wellington : —" In a narrow street, a few yards in length, some twenty dens are over-crowded with Maories, half-castes, vagrants, boys, prostitutes, and the scum of society. Hero crime and drunkenness breed and fester, and orgies of a most disgraceful character take place. At night the dens are rilled with a mixture of tipsy Maories, superannuated old. prostitutes, and squalling children. The huts are filthy in the extreme, overrun with vermin, and reeking with abominations. Here drunken men are decoyed and robbed. It is do uncommon thing for twenty maories and a dozen beings who once were white women, but whose visage would rather proclaim them to be denizens of the infernal regions let loose to prowl about, assemble and indulge in orgies, in which stale beer, and foul tobacco fumes, and an unwholesome atmosphere, combine in more disgusting proportions than in the lowest parts of Gin-lane of London notoriety. The police have done all in their power to cleanse these deus, but until these houses are razed, and the locality swept of its abominations, the effort to eradicate the existing evils will be fruitless. It is to these dens that the like of Hannah Mendoza, Christina Wilson, and other miserable objects who are brought up time after time for vagrancy, return immediately they are loosed from prison. The place is at night filled with the scum of the city, who know no other resort. Here, if they can bring a stick of tobacco, a pint of beer, or better still, a drunken sailor, they are ever welcome, and shutting their doors may defy the authority of the police. One of these cribs is known as ' Tin case.' It is of the dimensions of a large sized packing case, which tradition says it really is. One One occasion the police discovered in this no less than six white women and a Maori man, the owner of the case. At night crowds of lads are attracted to the scene, who attentively listen and enjoy the ribaldry of this'rotten.row.' Here they horde, and smoking stump ends of cigars, curse and swear after the most approved fashion."