LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 210, 8 February 1872, Page 5

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Letters from our Blue Spur correspondent, from '" Creditor," are unavoidably held over. We have also received a poetical and an acrostic. The latter net being Ktgned'by the writer, we can take no notice .oil and the former is crowdedcout.

We aeain remind, those vho possess the necesWy -qualification, but have nut yet rpgistirjßd themselves on the electoral rolls, that now is the time for them to do so. Parsons desirous ito register in the Bruce and Tuapeka districts, will have-to-send theff.applications to the Registration Officer, Lawrence, before March 3lst, . If fheir applications are addressed "On Public . Service only," they will be forwarded through ; -the post-office to their destination free of charge. It is absolutely n/ecessary that every application should be attested by an elector whose name is on .the roll of thfl district for which the person .jnftking ■application desires to register, by a Jus"tice of the Peacje, or by the Registration Officer. , Wk understend that $wo.' marriage* between European ' women anil GMnawen, will take plac« next week. Both the ladies aj;e newr jobamc,- baling arrived about 8 month's ago. They are young and* blooming, though, they.'can, scarcely be considered ''pjisgipg fair." Otno^f the expectant bridegrooms is a ijesidenfc. 'Of> Dunedin, and the other' lives in the TutTpakVdUtriat. Of the ladies one is a barmaid the other is .at present a resident in £&' Chinese <3amp, 'Lawrence.

. A MEETING of tho Waipori Miners' Association was held at the Commercial Hotel, Waipori, on Saturd&y last. After the .correspondence had been read and disposed of, .and some routine business transacted, it was resolved, on the mo* tion of Mr. Gormley, that for the future the proceedings of the association should 'be published in the " Tuapeka Times." Several notices of motion were given, and the . meeting adjourned. It is notified in the Government " Gazette " of the 25th ult. that the application, made by H. L. Squires for a, gold mining lease on block viii, Table Hill, has been abandoned 5 .and also the application of Joseph Higgjns for a gold mining lease of section # 16, block v., Table Hill district, has been refused by the Warden. In the Provincial Government -'• Gnzette" of the 25th ult. it is notified that the following Executive changes will take effect from the jtst Eebraary :— Donald Reid, Esq., to he Provincial Secretary -and Treasurer, and Secretary for Land, « nd James B. Bradshaw, Esq., to be Secretary for the Goldfields and for Works. Tenders will be received by the Secretary for Works, till noon on the -316 th mat., for the con. Btruction of the road between Dooherty's Hote* and Fitzgerald's store— payment to be made in land. Plans and specifications can be seen at the Police Station, Tnapeka, or at the office of the Engineer-in-Chief, Dunedin. Whatever f eeiing of animosity exists between European and Chinese miners is not shown at Waipori,, There the " heathen " associates with the Christian apparently on terms of equalitydrinks and plays billiards and pool with him. Is the millenium at hand? On the 20th January last, an aecidetit, which threatened to be productive of disastrous results, occurred in Mr. Vial's hotel, Waipori. It appears that about half-past three o'clock on the afternoon of the day in question' a kerosene lamp which had been left burning in Mrs. Vial's bedroom either exploded or was overturned. The burning oil spread over the floor and ignited the clothes of the bed on which Mrs. Vial was lying, Mrs. Vial's screams speedily brought assistance, and the flames were subdued, not, however, before Mrs. Vial was severely burnt. Had it not been for the timely assistance rendered by Mr. Robert Leech and a few .others, there is not the slightest doubt that Mrs. Vial would have been burnt to death, and the hotel destroyed* Two Chinamen, desirous of acquiring a knowledge of the English language, recently presented themselves at the Waipori School. The teacher, however, declined to receive them, on the ground that they would disturb the studies of the children. A pic-nig and soiree in connection with the Manuka .Creek' School was held on Wednesday, 31st ult. There were about three hundred persons present, and as the schoolhouse was too small .to hold all of them, the tables,— which wire loaded with good things, and supplied by the ladies in the district.— were placed outside. In the early part of the afternoon, many of those .present engaged in dancing, the committee having gone to the trouble of levelling a piece of ground for the purpose. Music was supplied byil^eTokomairiro band, who kindly proffered their services for the pccasionl After tea, an adjournment to the schoolhouse took place, Mr. Edwin Legge was .appointed. chairman. Addresses were deliyered by. the Rev. Mr. Chisholm and others, after which the chairman called on the Waitahuna Choir, who sang " Rin? the bell, watchman," Mr. Baylis accompanying on the harmonium. Several gentlemen from Waitahuna and Tokomairiro sang during *he evening. After the programme, which had been drawn up by the chairman, was gone, through, the room was cleared, and dancing commenced and kept up till morning. The whole affair was a decided success, all present appearing to eujoy themselves thoroughly. The schoolhouse, which has a finished appearance, is 15 x 3s, A portion of it will be partitioned off, and serve . for a master's residence. Mr. Rogers has been appointed teacher. A correspondent, writing from Waitahuna, says :— What may happen to a man in Waitahuna was exemplified in the case of a hard-up digger, who was ' travelling down country in" search of employment. In passing through Waitahuna on the 29th ult., he called at the residence of a fiiend, but finding no one at home, he resumed his journey. He had not proceeded far hefore he was overtaken by Constable Youngson'and arrested, at the instance of . his friend's wife, on a charge of having stolen a one pound note from her dwelling. The man, of course, protested he was innocent, and the .lady as strongly protested he was guilty, as a neighbour of her's had seen him enter the house. Ab to the pound having been removed from where she had placed it, that was quite clear to her mind, the lnsfc time she saw it being about three o'clock in tlie afternoon. Under the circumstances,, the constable could only do what he did— lock the man up. Between nine and ten o'clockt, thajady's husband, .who had been to Waipori, returned home ; and on making him acquainted with the state of affairs, he at once told her that it was he who had taken the pound note. No time was lost in explaining matters with the officer in charge, who at once liberated lip prisoner, w,h*b will carry away with him recollections far from pleasant of his short sojourn in Waitahuna. A row occurred between a Chinaman and a European, ir. a fruit shop in Princes-street, Dunedin. on Saturday afternoon last,, which terminated in the- former striking the. latter on the arm with a tomahawk, inflicting an ugly wound. • . ' - A NEW scientific journal, called the " Austra r lian Mechanic," Uas been startsd in Melbourne. Th,e Chinese at Waipori "are said to be doing remarkably well. ' They patronise the various hotels' liberally, and are good customers to the storekeepers. They. indulge to a great extent in gambling at their own camp, and are I rather fond of "devils pool,''. , n

(CALEOOOTAN Blares are quoted at £20. Jock Graham has received a castigatiou from Mr. -Cagli, for aspersing iin his "Review*' the character of one of the ladies qf the Opera Troupe. At the first onslaught, Jock was knocked into the gutter, where he quietly remained, making no effort to get up, .taking his "like a lamb." AH Accident, which placed the life of a man in serious jeopardy, .and rendered the destruction of a valuable team of horses imminent, ooeurjced last week on the Tuapeka and Teviot road. It seems that .Mr. Cowap's waggon, drawn by seven horses, when going round the turn in the hillside near io -Rue's Junction Hotel, fell over the siding— horses, driver, and waggon all toppling down together. Their escape from destruction is almost miraculous. It is really time that the engineer, or whoever has charge of this road, should take steps to render the turning referred to safe for traffic. A Xery small sum would suffice to make it fairly passable. The annual congregational -meeting of the Blue Spur Presbyterian body was held in the church there on the evening of the .30th alt. After the performance of service, conducted by the Rev. Mr. Arnott (late of Balclutha), Mr. Arnott, by invitation, took the chair, and duly constituted the meeting by prayer. The Secretary, Mr. M-'Lelland, tead the minutes of the meeting which elected the late committee. Mr. John Cormaek, Treasurer, read the financial statement, of which the following is an abstract : — Collected on account of the building fundi £201 7s. 61. susteatation|funa, £37; missions £0 ss. ; church door collections (service onco a fortnight), £*3 4s. 9d. ; total, £280 175.. 3d. Amount owing to the building fund, £18 10s. The report was adopted. The following gentlemen were elected the committee for the current year :- Messrs. Samuel French, John Cormock, Samuel White, William Livingston, Francis Nicoll, Samuel Curregh, Gilbert Kalston. David M 'ln tosh, John M'Laren, and Win. M'Lelland. A vote of thanks was given to the choir for their gratuitous services during the past year. The Beaumont annual race's will take place on the. 19th proximo. The programme will appear in our next issue We are informed that Mr.. Kell and Mr. Ralston, of the Blue Spur.diave each purchased au eighth share in the Tuapeka, Water Race Company. We have not heard the price given, but a few months since an eighth share in this race was sold for £500. A post-office was opened at Mr. Houston's store, Manuka Creek, on Thursday last. This will be a great boon to the inhabitants of that district, as for a long time past great inconvenience has been experienced through there being no post-office within d reasonable distance. Bt reference to our advertising coluins it will be seen that Messrs. D. Brown ami CoT intend to travel with their steam threshing mill through the Tuapeka, Beaumont, and Teviot districts this soason. Messrs, Brown and Co. gave great satisfaction to those for whom they threshed last year, and we have little doubt but that they will maintain their well-deserved reputation. We remind our readers that the Balclutha races take place to-day and to-morrow. We understand there are a goodly number of entries for the various events, and -should the weather prove propitious, we expect a large gathering of spectators. A MEETING of the Evans Flat School Committee was held on Thursday evening last. The following gentlemen were present : — Messrs. Drapper" (Qhajnuan), Sanderson, Brooks, Evans, Hopkins, Munro, Bailey, Ramsey, and Fargher (Secretary). It was resolved that the present teacher, Mr. Sutherland, be appointed for three mdnths, on trial. A letter was received from the Education Board, granting £50 towards the teacher's salary, which, with the present fees, will make it aliout £80. The Secretary was instructed to make application to Mr. Simpson for the land selected as a site for the school by the sub-committee appointed for that purpose. The Secretary was also instructed to obtain a list of the books required- by tlie teacher, and to get a supply thereof. It was decided to adopt th/e usual scale of fees charged by the side schools 'in the district, excepting in the case of scholars advanced enough to fit them for a grammar school. In such cases the teacher is to use his own discretion as to the fees charged by him The 'Secretary was directed to acquaint Mr. Hislop with the decision of die meeting in the choice of a teacher. After various oth6r matters had been discussed, the meeting closed. Thk Camp Hotel, Peel Street, Lawrence, has changed hands. — Mr. John Roughan being the new landlord. We have no doubt that Mr. Roughan will deserve and receive a fair share of public patronage. The following are the weights for the Clutha Handicap .• —Mr. Walters' Slander, aged, 9st. 101 b. j Mr. Robinson's Backbiter, aged, i>3t lib. ; Mr. Robinson's Lyndon, aged, Bst. 91b. ; Mr. Pritchard's Patch, 4 years, 7st. 121 b. ; Mr. Langley's Duchess, 7 years, 7st Gibs."; Mr. O'Biien'g Kildare, 6 years, 6st 71bs. ; Mr. Knox's Orphan, 6 years, 6st 6lbs. '