LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 108, 5 March 1870, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Saint Patrick's Day at Naseby is to be celebrated this year by sports. Fkom advertisement and placards it will be seen that Mr. Salomon will pay Lawrence a visit next week with a large collection of jewellery, watches, &c. There was a crigket match played at Oamaru on the 23rd ult. between the ■Tnedin Citizens and Oamaru clubs, which in a victory of 8 for the Citi2»ns. The Lawrence Petty Sessions shouldSjare been held on Thursday last, but as therelwn" not a quorum of Justices of the Peace, the o£^^f case on the sheet— viz. Herbert and Co.^^r Errington was adjourned till Monday, the 7th inst. If an experienced Victorian's opinion of the Cromwell reefs, which is given in our Alexandra correspondent's letter, can be taken as conclusive, we fear the great hopes raised by the wonderful disco veries at Bendigo will be deferred for many days. The following sales of unsold sections will take place during the incoming week:—Lawrence, on Monday ; AVetherstones, on Tuesday : Beaumont, on IFednesday ; Havelock, on Friday ; Dalhousie, on Saturday— at each place at noon on the ground. IN Wednesday's "Gazette," tenders are called for the construction of a timber footbridge over Gabriels Creek. Plans and specifications to be seen at the police station, Lawrence. Tenders are also called for the survey of 10,000 acres in Beaumont and Tuapeka west. The township of Beaumont, consisting of 25 acres, is gazetted as withdrawn from Mr. Maclean's run. We also observe in the " Gazette " of "Wednesday last that 3480 acres in the Wendon district have been withdrawn from Mr. D. M'Kellar's run, for settlement purposes. At the Waste Land Board meeting this week, Mr. D Morrison's application for a bush license to cut timber at Tuapeka West was granted, An application from the Presbyterian Church at Havelock to purchase sections 23 and 24, block XIX., Havelock, was considered, and it was resolved to ask the applicants to selec{j sections outside the mining reserve. On Monday and Tuesday Lawrence is to be cheered by a circus. We are informed by those who have witnessed this equestrian troupe at the Dunstan that they are well worth seeing, and we have no doubt they will be well patronised by the inhabitants of this district. Concerts and dramatic entertainments are of common occurrence, but equestrian feat 3 are seldom witnessed iv these outlying districts. In the Warden's Court on Monday, Langan sued Quirk and Kelly for a disputed account. Mr. Simpson adjusted the accounts between the parties. In the Resident Magistrate's Court on the same day, the following cases were heard : — Grundy v. Cullen and Galloway, claim of £5 ; judgment for plaintiff for £3 and costs of Court. M'Beath v. M'Lelland, claim, £2 145. ; plaintiff stated that the amount had been paid, bu^ not the costs ; judgment given for costs, 9s. The Mount Ida miners appear as far fiom a solution of the water difficulty now as ever. One qf the companies has reduced the price to £2, but cannot find customers. Another company say they will rather use the water and work the ground themselves than reduce the price from £2 10j. to £1 10s. Judging from the last escort, which showed a return of 8060z., we think the great state of depression to trade caused by the strike has been somewhat exaggerated. One of our oldest Tuapeka residents, Mr. Treloar, of Tuapeka Flat, had a serious fall from his horse on Tuesday last, by which he received a severe facture of the collar bone, near the shoulder. It appears that while on horse - back in the neighbourhood of his house the horse suddenly swerved and threw him on the • ground. Dr. Stewart was soon in attendance, and 2>erformed the nesessary bandaging, &c. We are glad to learn that Mr. Treloar is progressing favourably. A speaker at a public meeting recently held in Nelson, on the subject of the Wangapeka difficulty, said— "They would all admit that trade was paralysed ; one man who had taken the trouble $o go round the town and count the empty houses and shops, said there were from 220 to 240 ; 2000 miners had left the West Coast during the last year ; ant? the revenue was falling off. Instead of over £wtf,(fdo, as estimated for the year, being realised, there would probably be a deficit of £25,000, seeing that tho revenue for nine months had only reached £55,000." 7 > According to the "Cromwell Amis," t&a news from the Aurora Company's claim con-N^ tinues to be satisfactory in the highest degree, * The first crushing (of about fifty tons) was retorted on Wednesday last, and the result was 140ozs. of gold, ac au average of 2oz. IGdwts. to the ton. The fifty tons of stone which have yielded th,e above-named amount may be regarded as a fair average of the reef throughout the claim, as the material put through was collected frp,in various parts of the ground, and included a considerable quantity of inferior stone, as well as some of the richest. The accident to the machinery, reported in our last issue, has since been remedied, some necessary repairs to the fluining of the head-race have been effected, and crushing operations are again going on vigorously. The additional five head of stampers are in course of erection, and will be ready for work in a very short time. That long-pending case of arbitration with regard to Mr, Fitzgerala's agricultural lease of 10 acres of land, bordering the Tuapeka river, ■y/hich the Chinamen have been so long anxious, to work., has at last been decided. The arbitrators were, on behalf of the Government, Mr. Mouat, and o.n behalf of Mr. Fitzgerald, Mr. Darton, with Mr. Bastings as umpire. We learn that a vast amount of evidence was ta,ken, principally, however, we fear, from interested individuals. By interested, we mean agricul-j tural leaseholders, who, as a matter of course, will award as high a compensation as they can. The valuation decided upon by the arbitrators is, we are informed, £13 an acre for the 10 acre paddock. This may not be much for the Chinamen to pay when it is divided into several claims : but it does seem a large sum. per acre compared with the amount realized from the sale of freehqld land in other parts of the province. When the evidence in the case of Mr. Richards was taken before the Bench in Lawrence, it mil be remembered that Constable Meredith Smyth in his examination by Mr. Mouat, admitted having enteredand searched the prisoner's, house without a warrant. Such a case officiousness gave rise to severe comment by the public. The following extract from the "Elgin Courant" of a case of prosecution against a policeman for exceeding his, duty in a very similar manner will be interesting to our readers . — A case interesting to police-officers, all over the kingdom has just been decided by Mr. Sheriff Falconer, Nairnshire, in whose judgment the Sheriff of Inverness concurs. Mr. Alex. Ross, Sergeant of Police, Nairn, entered two houses searching for stolen goods without a warrant ; and also accused a woman for stealing a brooch and scissors, insisting she had them on, her, and ordering her to deliver them up. Ross was fined, for all the offences, to the amount of £3 10s., which ought to serve as a warning to. policemen searching houses without a warrant, and calling people thieves without proof. The Carandiuis held two concerts in Lawrence this week— one on Tuesday, and the otheron Wednesday evenings. The attendance was not so good as might have been expected. This, can be accounted for by the high price of admission and the bad weather. Five shillings for a single ticket for an entertainment is too much, in these dull times. Had the price been onehalf or a little more, the room would have been filled to overflowing, and would have paid the company much better. We are pleased to, notice that Madam Carandini sustains her reputation as a vocalist wonderfully well, and that Miss Rosina has lost none of her power to touch the secret springs of the heart by her pathetic rendering of such pieces as, " I cannot mind my wheel, mother," &c, while Mis 3 Fanny has become much more .natural in, her singing since her last" visit to Lawrence two. years ago. We regret so few took advantage of the opportunity of hearirg, these celebrate* 3 , vocalists, as we are informed they are not likely to visit these up-country districts for a long time to come.