LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Tuapeka Times, Volume II, Issue 90, 30 October 1869, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

W. L. Simpson, Esq., R,M., has been appointed a coroner for the Colony of New Zealand. The Molyneux rose several feet on Tuesdaymorcing, and floated the few claims which were, at work. We learn that the well-known thoroughbred, mare Merrimac has thrown a foal to Tom King, the best bred entire in the province. We are requested to state that the subscription Ji^ts for the Heuningham Memorial should be returned to the Treasurer {Mr. Lloyd) by the Ist November prox. The Government have, yielded to the pressure brought to bear upon. them, and appointed the sale of the Island Block to take, place at theTeviot instead of in Dunedin. The Boinan Catholic Chapel at Roxburgh was opened on Sunday last. Divine sei vices, being conducted by the Bey. Father Ecquire. The building was erected by Mr. Norton, con-, tractor, and is an ornament to the town. Owing to the pressure on our advertising, columns, several letters ou the bread question, a letter commenting on hospital affairs, anotheron the Church of England Fund, and several items of local and general intelligence, are unavoidably held over. In " Gazette" of Wednesday, Oct. 20fch, all unsold land in Roxburgh township are advertised, to be sold at Clyde. Why not on the giound ?• A memorial signed by, the principal residents of - Roxbuigli h&n been forwarded to the Superintendent, askings that the sections be sold on th<* ground. In addition to the new discoveries mentioned, in another column, a rush has taken place at the Big Paddock, Hokitika. The ground is very shallow, and yields a pennyweight to the dish. All these discoveries are owing to the encourage- . ment given by the "West Coasters . to the pros-. pecting parties. MB. WILLIAM Tatlob, Assistant-Inspector-of Schools, inspected the Wetherbtones Schooi. on Tuesday, the 22nd instant. He expressed, great satisfaction with the manner in "which the schoolmaster, Mr. Thomas Johnston, discharged, his onerous duties, and- paid a well-deserved-, compliment to the School Committee foi the. great improvements they had effected on the building since his last visit. A number of complaints have reached us of' the non-arrival of newspapers sent from Eng--land. We can bear witness to the justice of these complaints ; and, although we must expeerate the Otagan officials from any blame ia the matter, -we think it desirable that soma : enquiry should be made. We do not see any reason why newspapers and magazines should^ not arrive as regularly as letters*

On Friday evening information reached us of a small rush. The scene of the discovery is about half-a-mile from Afticlean's house, near the Beaumont Road, and from six to seven miles from Lawrence. Some dozen miners are already at work, and appear doing remarkably welL The gold is very coarse, and is obtained bj^ariving into the spurs. The ground forms part of Driver and Jfaclean's run. A meeting of the Tuapeka Athenaeum Committee was held in the Library on Saturday evening last, when the voting papers, numbering 44, were opened. The xesult of the election was as follows : — Brown, 42 ; Ferguson, 41 ; Dowries, 36 ; Pressley, 34 ; Simpson, 34 ; Jamison, 32 ; Tolcher, 25 ; Stenhouse, 25 ; Forbes, 22; Crow, 21; Morieon, 20; Eussell, 17; Searle, 15 ; Wbotton, 13; Johnson, 10; M'Neill, 5. A general meeting of the Tuapeka Jockey Club was held on Tuesday eveuing in the Commercial Hotel. The attendance was smalL The Becretary read the balance sheet for the past year. It showed a balance in hand of £34 18s. fid., a highly satisfactory state of things. The following committee of management was then elected:— Dr. Stewart, Messrs. Bastings, Hayes, Simpson, Henry, Farrer, Clayton, Sheath, Walker, Michael, J. M. Clark, J. Herbert, and L. Maclean. Messes. Wright, Stephenson, & Co. bad a very good sale at the Blue Spur. Sheep soli well, the average price being 4s. Gd. On Wednesday the same auctioneers sold a number of colts in the Commercial Sale Yard, The animals exhibited were of excellent quality, and fetched good prices, the highest being £10, the lowest, £2 10s. Tlie greater number sold, however, from £10 to £15. A. very superior lot of > cattle exhibited by Mr. Lancaster did not find a purchaser. Mr. AVeldon has been appointed Commiseioner of Police in the place of Mr. St, John Brannigan. We regret that in making this appointment the Government iguored the claims of many well-qualified men already in the Otago force ; but we hope Mr. Weldon wil 1 Boon justify his appointment by dismissing the useless officials who at present overburden the force. Sergeants in charge will prove quite competent to fill all the functions of the present sub-inspectors. A meeting was held at Mr. Taylor's store, Tuapeka Mouth, on IFednesday, the 20th inst., to take iuto consideration the necessity of erecting a schoolhouse. Mr. T. W. Mailler was asked to take the chair. He requested the meeting to appoint a committee to collect subscriptions, when the following gentlemen were elected :— Messrs. Roscoe, Anderson, and Richards. Upwards of £16 was, collected in the room, and £9 has been subscribed since. It is trusted that all who are friendly to the cause of education will respond to the appeal. It is unfortunate that so little public spirit exists in Lawrence. Every day we meet deplorable iustances of this defect- one of the most recent being the failure of all attempts to organize a cricket club. All the necessary implements were procured by a former club, and are service of any now organization ; the expensss would, therefore, be very light. We sincerely "trust one more effoit will be made to introduce this healthful and pleasant recreation, and that our " great people " will condescend for once to take *ivjnterest in a matter which does not exclusively concern their sublime selves. Mr. Nicholson sold \ number of sections in this township on Monday. The greater number were sold at the upset price ; some, however, realised from £3 to £3 15s. In reference to the sale, we should like to know by what authority the Provincial Government sell property by auction without the assistance of a licensed auctioneer, We know thatl.tw makers and law breakers are often synonymous terms ; but the meanness of this proceeding deserves some notice. A heavy license fee is exacted from auctioneers; yet in spite of this, it appears that our sapient rulers can authorize any one to do the work otbeis have paid highly for being permitted to do. The Lawrence Amateur Chri3ty Ministrels intend, we are glad to learn, to give an entertainment at an early date in aid of the Tuapeka Hospital. Oui local minstrels are all wellknown as admirable vocalists ; and from what we can learn, their sable disguise is not likely to injure tbe reputation won by them as performers at occasional concerts. They have displayed a sjiirit and perseverance in preparing their entertainment unfortunately rare among Lawrencians ; and v- c trust their efforts will be rewarded by a bumper house. We believe their nigger patter includes a number of dialogues and conundrums, which we have little doubt will bring down the house. "We learn that Mr. ilfacandrew has positively refused to convene a special meeting of the Provincial Council. This is not to be wondered, at after the cowardly manner in which the Reid Execitive have acted. Indeed the present Government loses daily in ike general estimation ; the only member in whom the public have any confidence, being the representative of the goldfields. People begin to think with regret of Mr. Yogel alleging that after all the destructive activity of King Stork was less injurious to the province than the muddling inactivity of the present King Log. We are inclined, however, to class the two Governments together, using the phrase Arcades atribo in its'Byronic sense. A SPECIAL meeting of the Trustees of the Lawrence Cemetery was held on Monday evening. The meeting was called to consider the memorial recently forwarded to the Government by the Town Council, and a draft reply submitted by the Secretary, in which the various charges were disposed of in a conclusive and emphatic manner, was unanimously adopted. As JVIr. Vye, the recently appointed sexton, declined to Bign the necessary agreement, it was resolved to advertise for * sexton — the remuneration not to exceed '£l per week, exclusive of the usual fees 'Mat interments, the sexton to devote eight hours JBLdity to the improvement of the cemetery g-sands ; and as his residence near the spot was^> considered necessary, to be permitted to erect a but during working hours.

On Tuesday evening the new Athenaeum Committee held their first meeting, when Messrs. Brown, Pressly, Dowries, Russell, and M'Neil, attended. The following officebearer! were elected :— President, Mr. J. C. Brown, and Treasurer, A. Ferguson. It was resolved to combine the offices of Librarian and Secretary, the salary being fixed at £75 per annum. £10 was ordered to be remitted to the Home Agent, and tbe following popular magazines were added to the magazine list :- London Society, Cassell's, the Scientific American, ' the Broadway, Harper's Weekly, Harper's ilfagazine, Tinsley's, Mm. Stowe's Chimney Corner, and Frank Bonners Ledger. It was resolved to discontinue the Sixpenny Readings for two mouths. As we gave currency to the complaints of the treatment experienced by the popular candidate at Hokanui on the day of nomination of a mem* ber for the Wallace District, we feel bound, in common justice, to publish the following contradiction, which appeared in the "Southland Times " of a recent date :— (To the editor of the " Southland Times.") Sir,— Mr. Wilson, in his hustings speech, quoted a paragraph from an Otago paper, charging Mr. Cowan and other squatters with iuhospitality to the miners and their candidate on the occasion of the Wallace nomination. .Such a charge, uncont.radicted, is calculated to damage Mr. Cowan's cb.ar.ee in next week's election. In liis absence, therefore, permit me to give an unqualified denial to the statements referred to, which are not only false but unfounded.- -Yours, &c, C. Eons Marten. Some weeks ago a memorial, signed by upwards of sixty persons resident at and around the Dunrobin Hotel, situated at the junction of the Tapanui and Switzers roads, was forwarded to the Chief Postmaster, Dunedin, showing the necessity for a post-office being placed in the locality for the convenience of so large a population, whioh at present have to send to the Beaumont Feny for their letters. The memorial v/as forwarded by Mr. Bastings, and the following reply has bpen received to it:— Chief Post Office, ] Dunedin, 20th Sept., 1809. Sir, — With reference to an application recently made by the lesidents at the junction of tbe Switzers and Tapanui roads for the establishment of a post-office : I have now the hono-ir to inform you that tenders have now been called for a mail service by the route proposed, and when they are received the matter will be taken into consideration. You will be good enough to convey this inforinabion to the memorialists. I have the honour to he. Sir, Your most obedient servant, Arch. Barh, Chief Postmaster. Horace Bastings, Esq., Lawreuce. The weekly meeting of the Waste Land Board was held in Dunedin on Wednesday last} the Chief Commissioner was in the chair, and there were present, Messrs. Reia, Duncan, and Hughes. Mr. Doughty, for Thos. Boland and Geo. Wilson, applied for a lease of 50 or 60 acres of bush for a sawmill opposite Buchan and Co.'s license, about seven miles up the Clutba from Tuapeka mouth on the west side of the river. A sketch was required before the Board could enter into the matter. Mr. Doughty for John Tyson, applied for a similar lease adjoining Buchan"s license. The same decision was arrived at. Mr. John Hardy applied to have section 2 of 62, Block VII, Pomahaka, formerly an education reserve, sanctioned as land of special value. Declined. Commissioner to go over a list of lands similarly situated, and to be submitted to the Board as soon aa possible. Mr. De Carle for W. D. Morison applied for a lease of 414 acres, lately occupied by M'Coll and Buchan. Declined. Ma J. C. Brown, during a recent visit to town, was inf orme 1 by Mr. Barr, Chief Postmaster, that the Bey. Mr. Alenzies, a Congregationalist olergyman, was expected to arrive in Otago by the ship Tiraaru, which is due in a few days. As the Congregationalists in this district are a numerous and influential body, Mr. Brown laid the information he had obtained before a meeting held in Mr. Searle's house on Monday evening. The Rev. Mr. Menzies, who is married to a relative of Mr. Bavr's, is a clergyman of twenty years' standing, and has been of late ministering at South Cave, Yorkshire, England He is a graduate of Glasgow, and brings with him the highest testimonials from several of the most prominent leaders of the Congregational body, including letters from the Rev. Mr. Johnston, Rev. Mr. Wishart, Soxteth Park Chapel, and Jhe Secretary of the Colonial iifissioMary Society, It was resolved by th« meeting to send an invitation to Mr. ftlenzips asking him to settle in Lawrence for a few months in order to test the support likely to be given to a Congregational Church. TFe have no doubt the result will be satisfactory, as the Congregational Committee are already in passession of the nucleus of an excellent fund. The thanks of the community are due to jl/r. Brown for the lead he has taken in the matter. AN adjourned meeting^of the Town Council was held ou Thursday evening. Present -Crs. ilfears (in the chair), Keen Coverlid, and Walker. It was resolved on the motion of Cr. Coverlid, that the auctioneer at the sale of the municipal sections should te instructed to give the'following terms .—One-third cash, and the remainder on approved bills of three and six mouths. The Town Clerk was requested to instruct Mr. M'Keay, through Mr. Mouat, to draft a form of leas", and submit it to the Council. It is intended to have the form printed, so that the purchasers of sections may be saved as much expense as possible. On the motion of Cr. Walker, it was agreed to have all the footpaths properly repaired with olean gravel. A warm discussion followed on a letter said to have been written by the Town Clerk to the Government, denying the truth of the allegations contained in the Cemetery memorial. Cr. Keen moved that as the Town Clerk had admitted having written a letter on the above subject, lie should, be instructed to furnish a copy for the information of the Council. The Town Clerk said he was in a position to know more about the Cemetery than any one else, and -that the . memorial was nothing but a "tissue of vile falsehoods," Cr. Walker seconded the motion, which was discussed with closed dooT^. ' It was finally carried. The question of the formation of Stranraer-street was referred to the Public Works Committee to report at uexfc meeting. On the motion of Cr. ''Henry, it- was - resolved that the Hospital 'Memorial Committee should be convened at an early date. The Council then adjourned.