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Tuapeka Times, Volume I, Issue 6, 21 March 1868, Page 2

On the evening of Wednesday, 18th instant, a public meeting was held at the Church, Wetherstones, to consider the following letter, received by Mr. David Herd, from J\lr. Hislop, Secretary to Education Board :—: — Education Office, Dunedin, March 11th, 1868. Sir,— l have the honor to inform you that the Education Board, at its meeting on the 9th instant, sanctioned the establishment of a Side School at Wetherstones, with the usual allowance of £75 per annum for teacher's salary, and £25 in lieu of school building. I trust the School Committee will have no difficulty in securing a building to serve as a schoolroom in the meantime. The salary and rent allowance are paid quarterly, and the rent allowance would have to be expended on the building and fittings, or in helping to compensate the teacher for want of a residence, may be arranged by the Committee. If the people of Wetherstones have not already done so, it would be advisable for them to hold a public meeting, and to elect some of their number a School Committee to act for them in reference to school matters. The Committee would be at liberty to elect a teacher, and to put the school in operation as soon as they found it convenient. The Committee elect the teacher, but his name and testimonials should be forwarded for the approval of the Board. I shall be glad to aid you, if necessary, in the selection of a teacher ; but I find it is always best to advertise. I hope to be at Wetherstones in a few months, when I hope to be able, with the advice of the School Committee, to select a site for the Government* School. Meanwhile, I shall be glad if the Committee would kindly look out for a suitable site, and let me know, so that it may be secured. I have the honor to be, Sir, Your Obedient Servant, * John Hislop, Secretary. Air. David Herd, Wetherstones. The following gentlemen were elected as a Committee : —Messrs. M'Swiney, Carr, Herd, Hart, Mooney, Abraham, Legerwood, aDd Ogilvie. At a meeting of the Committee, Mr. M'Swiney was appointed chairman ; Mr. Ogilvie, secretary ; and Messrs. M'Cluskey, Herd, and Mooney a sub-committee to select an ad interim schoolhouse. The case of disputed claims, blue cement Wetherstones, which should have been, heat d before Major Croker on Monday last was decided yesterday afternoon at Wetherstones in favor of Mr. Bowes who purposes with his party commencing in right earnest to work the cement in eight or ten days time. Morris and party have commenced work in the same cement, and for the good of Wetherstones which has been comparatively quiet for some time past, we hope they will be successful. Th* last Escort from Waipori was published as 292 oz. We are informed that this was an error, as 415 oz. was the correct amount, viz., Bank of New South Wales, 290 oz.; Bank of i New Zealand, 415 oz.

The " Dunstan Times " has the following :— " The Delegate for the Gold Fields Conference, for the Manuherikia District, has bsen elected without any opposition by the St. Bathans community. On account of the short notice of the movement, the "outlying districts— Dry' bread, Tinkers, &c. —are now unrepresented and at the mercy of the suggestions of the unopposed candidate, whose ideas have not been communicated. Different fields require special regulations, and it is to be hoped that his advice will be impartial, without exolusiveness, and adapted to the different localities and general welfare of the miners." "We beg to draw attention to the postponement of Mr. Smith's monthly sale at Waitahuna. The sale will now take place as advertised, on Tuesday, the 31st instant. This postponement has been deemed necessary on account of the Dunedin Races occurring this week. One of the most interesting Gazettes issued by the Otago Provincial Government was that bearing date the 3rd of this month. It contains a statement of the area and locality of all the unsurveyed rural lands outside the goldfields in the Province open for selection, and for parties desirous of purchasing land it must be invaluable. Full particulars are given as to the district, section, block, acreage, class of land, distance from nearest town or village, distance from nearest navigable river, distance from nearest public road, and distance from nearest bush, thus affording every information needed for the purchase of land, without entailing upon anyone the expense of a visit to Dunedin to ascertain if any land in a particular locality is open for sale. It is a most valuable Gazette, and now that all the waste lands of the Province are arranged in this tabular form, we trust the Government will favor the public from time to time with corrected lists in the form of Gazettes similar to this one we have referred to. Ik our last issue we made reference to the fact that the Government had declined to gran) any sum for the further testing of the cement at "Wetherstones. The following is the letter from the Government explaining the grounds upon which they refuse to comply with the requisition of the Wetherstones Progress Committee :—: — Land and Work Office, Dunedin, 10th March, 1868. Sic, — 1 have the honor to acquaint you that the Government have had under consideration the letter from Messrs. M'Swiney and Cranley, of Wether*stoneSj which you presented to his Honor .the Superintendent, in which on behalf of the miners in the locality, they seek assistance in prospecting the cement hills in the neighborhood. They have also had before them a report from the Warden of the district, to the effect that the ground for prospecting which assistance is sought is now being extensively rushed. Under these circumstances the Government must decline to accede to their request. I have the honor to be, sir, Your most obedient servant, (Signed) Geo. Duncan, Secretary for Land and Works. J. C. Brown, Esq. Mb. Tolcheb is proceeding with his road contract near the Waitahuna Bridge ; he finds the soil too hard for the pick, and is obliged to resort to blasting. To complete the road we think it would be of great advantage to pitch it, as the lowest part of the road is of a swampy nature. There is a registered water wheel race crossing the road near the bridge which will require a culvert over it, and this we may state is not included in the specification. A Meeting of the Wetherstones Progress Committee was held at the Sportsman's Arms, last evening. Present : — Mr. M'Swiney (chair). Messrs. Brown, Felpe, M'Clusky, Wootten, F. Johnson, and Cranly (sec). The minutes of previous meeting were read and ■ confirmed. A letter from the Secretary of Public Works declining any assistance towards the testing of the blue cement was read. It was then moved by Mr. Brown, and seconded by Mr. Felpe, "That the Seecretary write to the warden requesting that one acre be reserved for the deep shaft." Carried. Moved by Mr. Johnson, and seconded by Mr. Brown, " That tenders be called for puddling back, draining, and centering the shaft (labor only) and that Messrs. M'Swiney, M'Clusky, and Wootten, ' prepare for the same." Moved by Mr. Brown, and seconded by Mr. M'Clusky, " That a letter be written to Mr. Buchan, con- * tractor for the.^wHim,^. stating that the Committee were waiting his instructions as to the preparation of the ground." > V** >. On Wednesday last, Mr. (George Bailey, of Lawrence, gave an entertainment at' Waipori, in aid of the funds of the^VVaipori School, entitled " An Evening with theVpoets." The-entertainment went ofTmost satisfactorily, and all present were highly delighted. |Mr. Cable proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Batfty I for the great treat the inhabitants of Waipdri had experienced that evening. On Tuesday last, at twelve o'clock noon, from instructions received from the Tuapeka Jockey Club, Mr. Hay sold by public auction the right to erect booths on the race course during the coming races. The competition was spirited, and resulted in th« following :— No. 1 booth, including grand stand, Mr. Bastings, £30 ; No. 2, Mr. Donovan, £16 ; No. 3, Mr. Potts, £13. Confectionery, &c, booth — No. 1, Mr. Boulton, £1 Is. ; No. 2, Mr. Jeffery, £2 10s. Right to publish cards of the races, under the authority of the Jockey Club— Ferguson, Burns, and Ludford, £2 ss. We have the pleasure to intimate that John Dewe, Esq., Registration Officer for the Bruce District, is in Lawrence to-day. Mr. Dewe will beat the "Tuapeka Times" office (old Union Bank) Peel-street, at three o'clock this afternoon, where he will be 'happy to answer en quiries or give information relative to the required qualifications for voting. As this will j>e the only opportunity afforded for the next twelve months, those desirous of becoming duly /qualified electors will do well to avail themselves of this chance.

The Lawrence "Water Scheme is now, if not a fait accompli, something approaching it. There are evident signs that the scheme adopted by the Town Council will be carried out with energy. The contractor and engineer are on the spot, and we learn that the water race from the Phoenix Co.'s Race to the proposed reservoir is already commenced, and tenders for the construction of the reservoir we understand, will be invited in a few days. The Rer. Mr. Martin, of Rawrence, will preach to-morrow morning and evening, in St. Paul's Church, Dunedin, in aid of the funds of the Lawrence Church of England. We are informed that Mr. Dewe, lay reader, Tokomairiro, will conduct the service in Lawrence in Mr. Martin's absence. Wateu Bights are commanding great attention at Waipori. There are seven new races at present in the course of construction, which, when finished and brought into operation on the highly auriferous ground they are intended for, will cause no small stir in this hitherto neglected goldfield . If there is one description of work more pleasant than others, it is the cultivation of a garden ; and it is pleasant to observe a growing taste springing up amongst us for this healthful and exhilarating passtime. The neat kitchen garden, with its sod fence, which we find attached to nearly every cottage in our country districts, testifies to the truth of this remark ; but we find the cultivation of fruit trees very successfully carried out in our neighborhood. Notwithstanding the bleak stormy weather generally experienced at Tuapeka, we find some pleasant, sheltered spots, where fruit trees and flowers thrive remarkably well. The other day we had the pleasure of visiting one of those spots, in the garden of Mr. M'Clusky, of Wetherstones, which, if we knew not better, we might fancy to be a pleasant orchard in the county of Kent. Mr. M'Clusky's garden is crowded with fruit trees of all descriptions ; apples, pears, plum, damson, and cherrie, &c, &c, and growing up at the back of his house is a small but thriving plant of the vine, with several clusters of grapes of similar size to those grown in the south of England. The apple trees, although mostly only fifteen or eighteen months old (brought from Tasmania), are fresh and healthy, and most of them laden with fruit. Some of the smallest trees have their branches borne down to the ground by the weight of the fruit. It m»y be that Mr. M'Clusky has devoted more than ordinary attention to the cultivation of these trees ; b'lt he has established the fact that it is possible to grow beautiful fruit trees in this part of Otago. Wb understand that a Eoman Catholic priest arrived in Lawrence last evening ; and most likely mass will be celebrated at tha Chapel to-morrow.