LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 217, 28 March 1872, Page 5

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The anniversary services of tbe Blue Spur Wesleyan Methodist Church will take place-on Sunday, next, the 31st 'inßt. Sermons will be preached in the morning and evening by the Rev. Mr. Beck. On Tuesday, the 2nd' ult., there will be a public tea meetins. Tea will be on the table at 0,30 p.m., and after it has been disposed of, addresses will be delivered by the Rev». Messrs. Menzies, Cameron, Beck, Isitt, and Ball, and by Messrs. M'Lelland, Matthews, and Clark. Collections in aid of the building fund will be made at the conclusion of the services. Mb. Stewabd, M.H.R. for Oamaru, is to be despatched to England as Assistant Immigration Officer. THE anniversary of the foundation of the province — Saturday last — was generally ob■erved as a holiday throughout the province.

Telegraphic communication between Auckland and the rest of the colony bids fair soor. to be an accomplished fact.

A meeting of Justices, to revise the jury list for the district of Lawrence, will be held in the Court House on the sth April.

Mb. J. N. Wood, the newly-appointed Registration Officer for the district of Wakaia, notifies to those desirous to register their names .on the Electrol Roll that they must forward their applications to his office, Switzers, before the 31st ult. ; also, that-perso'fas who have sent .claims to be registered as private letters to Mr. Marten, the late Registration Officer, should forward duplicate applications' to Mr. Wood, .Switzers.

The fifth* anniversary of the Loyal Blue Spur Lodge, M.U.1.0.0.F., will be celebrated by a soiree and ball, to be held in theJSchoolroom, Blue Spur, on the evening of the 10th prox. Tjom the manner in which the brotherhood get ,up these "affairs, we anticipate that those who ,-attend the celebration will spend a pleasant .evening. Mb. Godfbet Jacob?, it will be Seen by our : adverijisiqg columns, is'landlord of the B"ull and Mouth Hotel, Dunedin. Mr_ Jacobs has long been a popular Boniface in Dunedin, and we have no doubt that he will well maintain the reputation the Bull and Mouth has deservedly .acquired as a comfortable house of entertainment. Mr. Jacobs has also commenced business as an hotel agent and valuator.

Mb. Spboxjle's new residence in Lancasterstreet is now completed, and is certainly a handsome and commodious structure. We .some time since gave a general description of ithe building and its dimensions, so ifc will be iU'mecessary for us to say further here than that the structure reflects the highest credit on the builder, Mr. Alex. Humphrey, and fully comes up to the description giyen of it. The (accommodation for tin pupils attending the -Tuapeka Academy has been especially provided for. The dormitories provided for them are •Jaige and well ventilated and well furnished, .and their sitting room amply sufficient in size, /»nd nicely furnished.

THE "Argus " says :— " The memorable Nelson gold robbery, which took place in or about {the year 18-52, when an enormous amount of gold was stolen from the ship Nelson in Hob-* son's Bay, is likely to become a subject of renewed interest at this time, so long— in the (Short history of the colony— after the robbery. The authorities have received information which may lead to a portion of tine gold known to be •in one of the banks being recovered." '

MB. J. Nugent Wood, has been appointed Registration Officer for the Wakaia and Wallace districts, vice Mr. C. Rous Marten.

Those qualified who have not yet registered their names on the Electoral Eoll, have only three days left to take that necessary step. If £hey do not register before the 31st inst., they will not have an opportunity of doing so for jtwelve months. Some time ago we chronicled that Mr. J. O. White, D.unedin had imported machinery for the purpose of manufacturing hoisery.^ Wehavesince been informed, that in consequence of being unable to procure the necessaiy yarn, Mr. White was compelled to abandon his project /md dispose of his machinery, which was sold in Melbourne.

• A P£BFpBMANCE jn aid of the .funds of the •Tuapeka Hospital, will be givjen by the members of the }Vaitahima Dramatic Club, on Honday the 22nd proximo. The -programme jcoinpris.es the pieces, "Betsy Baker" and ■" Domestic Economy," which hays been several times % successfully produced at Waitahuna. There will also be some singing. Seeing the impecunious cpnditioa of the Hospital Committee, we hope that on the night the enterjtainment is given, there will be a bumper house. The performance will take place in the Commercial Assembly Kooin.

Between eight and nine o'clock on the evenng of the 17th inst., the* barn, stable, and other outbuildings on the property of Mr. M'Neill, Mayor of Balclntha, were destroyed by fire. In the barn were 4000 bushels of oats, which were totally destroyed. The loss is estimated at £900, bat the buildings and grain are covered by a policy of £550 in the Australian Alliance Company. Two men passed the premises shortly before eight o'clock, but law no sign of fire, which was discovered by Mr, M'NeiU'bimaelf, who in* endeavouring tp rescue some of his property was peverly burned. He was a heavy loser by loss pf grain by fire about two years ago. According to the police report Mr. M'Neill suspect? the fire to haye been the work pf an incendiary ; but the enquiry* set on foot by the police doe 3 not bear out thai sug-' gestion. They incline to believe that it was paused by some, workmen smoking in the barn ihe before. At the inquest the jury retufncfi a verdict of "Cause of flip unknown." To-wipr-rw. will 1 c .Good Friday, and the vM'jin.g Korilttj Eatter Monuay. •

On it becoming known that Mr. Neish, df Tapanui, vna about to depart to Dunedin to commit ' matrimony, the bretbern of the local Oddfellows Lodge, determined not to let kirn leave for that purpose without taking' leave of him as bachelor. Accordingly, he was invited to Allan's Hotel, where a goodly number of Oddfellows sat down to an excellent supper. Mr. James Mooney occupied the chair. The health of Mr. Neish was given by the Chairman, who paid a high tribute to Mr. Neish 's qualities, .social and otherwise, and wished him health and happiness in the state he was about to enter, and it was drunk enthusiastically. Toast iyid song succeeded each other rapidly, and when it was time to depart, all regretfully parted with their friend who was to. return no more in " single cussedness."

St. Patrick's Dat was observed by Irishmen all over the Province, in the orthpdox manner. Sports, races, &c, were held in the principal centres of population.

The last crushing of the Heart of Oak Company yielded 275 o«. from 178£ tons of stone, enabling the directory' to declare a dividend of £135 per sixth share for the month.

We learn that the Chinese Interpreter, Mr. A. Blewitt, has been instructed to visit the Waikaka, Switzers, and Nokomai districts, for the purpose of looking after the " Heathen Chinee." No doubt, the visit of this" officer, will be the means of replenishing the Provincial money bags, as it is supposed John has not been very punotual in giving to Cseser what belongs to Cseser, in these districts, in the shape of the inevitable miners' right.

"Evening Post "says it is probable that the General Assembly will shortly be dissolved.

The Nevada with the English Mail on board, is due at Auckland this (Thursday) morning.

The Maori prisoners recently libeiated, have been conveyed to the North Island by the Government steamer Luna.

The funeral of the late W. A. Sanderson, of Evans* Flat, took place on Saturday afternoon last. The procession comprised 6 vehicles, about 60 horsemen, and 20 pedestrians.

On Saturday night a gang of rowdies broke through the restraints of civilization, and gave full play to their natural iustincts. Their first exploit was. to force entrance without paying into the Commercial Assembly Room, when the Thornton Troupe were performing, and create a disturbance which necessitated the stoppage of the entertainment. On the police beiug sent for, their valor evaporated and they discreetly retired. Afterwards, on the road to the Chinese Camp, these bravo fellows- there were .half-a-dozen in the gang— maltreated a Cuinamau, who unfortunately came in their way. The police on being sent for, promptly went to the scene of the outrage, but the birds had flown. Their whereabouts was however discovered, and their names taken down with a view to farther proceedings. The assaulted Chinaman preferred instituting civil to criminal proceedings, and summoned' them for damages. A compromise, was however effected before the matter came into Court, the Chinaman re* ceiving, we are informed £8, as solatium for the injuries he received.

The " Argus "of the 14th inst. says : — " The negotiations between the Government of Victoria and Messrs. Yogel and Webb relative to the subsidising of a mail vid Sau Fiancisco, were brought to a final termination yesterday, and the contract* was signed by the representatives of both the contracting parties."

Melbourne telegrams state that Mr. Vqgel has purchased the right to republisb the telegrams of the Australian Associated press, with a view to resume the supply of telegrams to theprussby Gove.nroent. '

We direct the attention of those interested to the notice given by the Inspector of Depasturing Licenses for the*- Tuapeka district, which appears in our advertising columns.

Applications for leases under the Goldfields Agricultural Leases Regulations for land at Tuapeka Mouth, formerly reserved for a town site and named Dalhousie, will be received by the Warden after the Ist prox.

By some blunder which is as unaccountable as it is annoying, in our last week's* issue the names of the horses which* competed in seveial of the races at the Beaumont on Tuesday the 18th inst., became transposed. The following is a correct report of the races alluded to — Maiden Plate— Dick, 1 ; Jackamary, 2. Beaumont Handicap— Sultana, 1 ; Sixty-one, 2 : Raven, 3. Hurdle Race -Playboy, 1 ; Young Abdallah, 2 ; Don Pedro, 3. T. Harris rode Young Abdallah and Butler Don Pedro, instead of the names state;!. Mr. T. Hewitt made a very efficient Clerk of the Course. On Wednes-

day several races took p'aje, and a good day's sport was enjoyed by those present.

The advisability of having a half-holiday once a week, luviug occurred to a -gentleman in Lawrence, he waited upon the various business people to ascertain thsir views upon the subject. All spoken to agreed to close their respective places of business one afternoon during the we e'e, and Friday was suggested as the Banks had a half-holiday on that day. The business pjoople being agreeable, it now rest* with the public to say, whether they will aUow 'them -to obtain the boon they seek. A public meeting to c m«ider £'.ie ni>.s er is convened for the evening of the Ist pros., to take place at the Att#n»um, at.B o'clock.

Owing to the surfeit of amusements the Tuapeka people bare bad of late, the Thornton Troupe d!d not aecwrftsnebaudiences as the exoel* lence of their entertainment merited. On Saturday and Monday nights, they performed at the Commercial Assembly Room, and en Tuesday night in the Athenaeum. On the afternoon of Tuesday' they gave an entertainment for the . Juvenile portion of fb« '■

opnnnunity, which vms 2ery well attended.

The chief feature of th» entertainment given by this troupe, is the performances ,of La Petite Amy, which considering the age of the child are simply marvellous. She sings well, dances excellently, and in the drama she seems perfectly set home. In a scene from M Hamlet," her impersonation of the Prince of Denmark' was surprisingly good, and elicited storms of applause whenever she appeared in that character. Amy was ably assisted by Mr. and Jlfrs. Thornton and Mr. Percival who during the evening, sung with good effect. Mr. Speedy si the pianoforte also rendered material aid to the entertainment.

A meeting of the Lodge St. George, E.C. Lawrence, will be held this evening.

An entertainment on behalf of the funds of the Tuapeka Hospital, will be given by the Lawrence Christy il/instrels at the Blue Spur, on the 4th prox.

To-morrow being Good Friday, there will be service morning s and evening in the Trinity Church, Lawrence. There will also be morning and evening service on Easter Sunday.

Thk settlers of darks' Flat, held a meeting in the schoolhouse on Wednesday the 13th inst., to oppose the petition which is going round the district, having for its object the formation of the Tuapeka District into a Road Board. They decided upon getting up a subscription for the purpose of having the road in darks' Flat formed. A list was there and then started, and already has assumed considerable proportions,, Fonr or five of the settlers have subscribed a lump sum of about £40.

A minister asked' -a little boy who had been converted, " Does not the devil tell you that you are not a Christian?" "Yes, sometimes." "Well what do you say to him?" "I tell him " replied tbe boy, with something of Luther's spirit, "that whether lam a Christian or not, it is none of his business.