WAITAHUNA.

Tuapeka Times, Volume I, Issue 37, 24 October 1868, Page 3

WAITAHUNA.

(From owr own Correspondent}) * Nothing of any public importance has occurred in this district since the . date .of my last communication, with the exception of a publip meeting held for the purpose' of obtaining the jrejdress of *a new grievance" wTiichjthe miners suffer at the hands of the Government. During the last twelve months no goldfields. official has been stationed here, it being supposed that a fortnightly^ visit from the Warden would amply meet the requirements of the district^ "Wihert Major proker was Warden most of the mining business was effected during his visit. He issued "miners' rights 1 , registration certificatea, received applications, &c, as well as heard and settled cases of dispute, and received the various fees to convey to the Gold Eeceiver at Lawrence. But this the present "Warden appears to consider as illegal. He will receive no moneys on behalf of the Government, and as great care has been taken by the legislature that miners can do very little in the "Warden's Court, on which fees are not chargeable, the consequence that under this interpretation of the law the benefit to the residents from the visits of the Warden is very slight compared with what it used to be. If a man wants a miners' right the Warden has no power to issue it, the applicant has to go all the way to Lawrence to get it ; if he wants to register a residence area, the Warden cannot receive the half-crown, and the man has to trudge .nearly twenty miles to pay it, and so on in regard to almost everything generally comprised in the business of a Warden's Court. The whole thing is an intolerable grievance, and the mqre intolerable as it seems, it might be very easily remedied. If one officer is presumed to be able to transact all the officialism in. this district in two or three hours once a fortnight, what should be the importance of a district which engrosses the energies of two officers for five days of each week, six hours a day. The question is an extremely simple one, and the answer would be that the district required to satisfy these conditions would be twenty times more important than this one. If we were to take the gold produced as a standard of their relative importance, as the escort returns for Waitahuna are a little under 300oz. per fortnight, those for Tuapeka in order to entitle it to the amount of attention it receives from the goldfield official should be about 6,0000z. for the same period. Making every allowance for the large demands which the Magistrate's Court | makes on the time both of our War- ! den and Gold Receiver, there is no doubt that Tuapeka at the expense of Waitahuna and Waipori, receives from them far more attention than its relative revenue and population entitle it. A petition on the subject sent to the Superintendent has elicited a repetition of the stereotyped promise, that full consideration should be given to the subject. For many months the idea of establishing Sixpenny Eeadings in this, as has been done in other places, has been entertained by some of the residents. A critic might perhaps object that " Sixpenny Eeadings was scarcely the correct term for the entertainment in question," seeing that the admission charge was not sixpence but one shilling, and that the Eeadings bore a scarcely greater proportion to the rest of the performance than Palstaff's halfpenny worth of bread to his two gallons of sack. Be fliat as it may, the entertainment call it by whatever name you choose, drew a house, and I've no doubt realized a handsome sum for the Assembly Eoom j Committee, under whose management it was carried out. Messrs. Bayliss, QBCenley, Ritson, Pennel, Tranter, Devonshire, were the principal singers, and\nost of them were warmly applauded. Messrs. Turnbull, Clarke, and "w&on were the only readers. The pieco^ead by Mr. Wilson I append for the D^nefit of any of your readers who may nud themselves in the predicament (no^ very uncommon one) which Mr. Wilson feigned to be in. Our Philharmonic Society contributed largely to the harmony of the proceedings by their glees and choruses, as well as the accompaniment on the harmonium, violin, and flute, by Dr. Johnson, Messrs. Hickey and Burton, three of the members of the Bociety. A reading ! what 1 I, Sydney Wilson, give A public reading or a recitation ! The bare idea thro' my nerves doth send A thrill of terror and of trepidation. Such were my thoughts as I .the note glanced through Creamlaid, gilt edged, and highly scented. The page washeaded with a splendid view Of this old house improved and ornamented. Tin whistles, fiddles, flutes, the seal presented, 'Twas the " Assembly Room Committee" . ■who had sent it — r . Requesting me in terms high-flown and gallant - ■ 1 " ".' (I really hope they were not all ironic) That being, a man of "undisputed . taleml" '...'..'.. "__.ri;_ I should to-night assist those chrome Disturbers of my sleep — the 'Philharmonic. , , , . At first I felt (as I have said) quite flustered j But soon through their adroit complimenting My pluck and courage Wk again I mustered, '" '"'• • --;••}-

And wrote ungracious, terms consenting, And- here-m- Consequence, I stand repeating. -» * < . -— - • But now a verjr puzzHjigjpinestipn rose, Causing me much*of?ftxmble — mental. My reading !. should it" He poetry or prose? - Tragic or comic, light" or sentimental ? Heroic, philpsqpMcal^qirtjanscqftdental ? Ambitious to make a grand appearance In.an assemblage. like tlns-rwJia would not ! " . >I seatched- withKpatient.-zaab and perseverance . The workg, of Diokens, .Lewer, Walter ' Scott, " Bulwer, Miss Braddon- all in short Iv« gcV j '■> 'i *• '' And of the poe.ts,, I, misled ,s.carce anyone From Hbm'jr down ter Alfred- Tennyson. T'was all in vain ; alas, your faces show Y<our disappointment "is beyond'expression. In some degree to mitigate your woe, I venture' modestly a slight suggestion — Adjourn this meeting for a month or so. I'll send to Melbourne for the best collections, The"hewest, most approved, and popular selections, And then I'll itake my budding reputation I'll give you something worthy the occasion. Meanwhile as valid, graciously acknovr- - ledge ye > . ' This true, sincere heartfelt apology. The broken weather wo have had for the last few weeks has somewhat interfered with the labour of tho miners, thongh- not to any serious oxtent. One or two . new claims are being opened in the Havelock Flat in the township reserve, and it is probable that in the course of a few months many more will be at work there. The road between Manuka Creek and the Baddle between Mount Stewart and the Eound Hilt is being rapidly pushed forward. There are at present two strong parties working at it. One portion has been let on contract, on another the Grovernment employs day labourers. On this latter portion I understand from" ninety to 100 men are employed at the liberal wage of 58. a day or 30s. a week, minus deductions for brokers. The most have been engaged in town, and have travelled over fifty miles to the work. A pretty commentary on some of the statements on that modest work " Progress and Prospects of Otago " now advertized by the G-overnment, and on Messrs. Macandrew, Holmes, and Vogel's immigration speeches in the Assembly. [We have received an account of a meeting of subscribers to the Waitahuna Public Library, when the old Committee were re-elected. - The library seems in & flourishing condition, but owingtoa pre'sure of matter we are forced to omit tha report.— Ed. T.T.']