DUNSTAN.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 283, 3 July 1873, Page 6

DUNSTAN.

(From our owA Correspondent. ) Of the elections, as far as we are ' more immediately concerned, they have ; resulted as 1 predicted in my last, Mr. [ JVlaeandrew is again firmly seated in P the Superintendeutal chair, and who ■ more worthy to fill it. Our local : candidate gave the Gentle Shepherd a great beating — fai , more so than I ; anticipated ; but I surely must have ' over-rated him, for on congratulating „ i oul- new member on his great victory [ over so for in id able an opponent, he » i>iaci< r iy remarked, " Anyone would beat Shepherd ; " but now that it is all s over, iL is time to have done with the ' subject. Still, I may be allowed to J notice one particular matter connected ' vvtrh this election, which has been con- ' siderabiy overdrawn in the public press, , I refer to the current reports that a i »a&&t ii&i&ber toE voMra icfcu&'e && $Mx&

the Nevis and Bannockburn to vote for llazlelt. Tho truth is that instead of fifty, as lias been represented, the number was under ten ; and even should this small number have tivrned the tide of the election, it would only have been paying his opponent back in his own coin, for it was well known that the west bank of the river at Roxburgh gave Mr. Shepherd his seat in the House of Representatives, How that the miners' right franchise Ims .stood so long on the statute books I cannot conceive, seeing that through it any election tnuy be swamped ; but to be thoroughly conversant with an evil may bring forth a surer remedy, and a few more elections determined by the legal though unfair use of the franchise may give to New Zealand manhood sufferage on registration. Passing from the election, we come to the meeting of tho Council, and your last leader deals with the general I'equitcraents of a largo district pretty fully. We ought certainly to be pleased to see that though your first object was to get the* Tuapeka Hup, you now advocate its extension to this part ; but in the meantime it is necessary that a considerable sum should be spent on ibs roads to keep them passable until the railway reaches us, for even l-ail-ways are not made in a day, and with the pi'ospect of tho toll bars being thrown aside, the Tuapeka niid Teviot route, if in good repair, would soon become tho principal thoroughfare for the Dunstau and upper districts. There is no use mentioning the bridge at Clyde, for according to a late correspondent of yours, it is the true born heir of the Clyde Town Council ; and were I to speak of making the main road across throug\ Conroys. though it would save three or four miles of a bad road, our Alexandra friends would not like it, so 1 shall leave it alone. As to the entire abolition of Provincial Councils, which you have advocitei Ir:\-rI r:\-r and truly, and to which, I ivKovo, every sensible person will agree. 1 am happy to inform you that the measure will find a strong supporter in the Dunstan member. There h norhing particularly ne'/ in minings ixs.itctn-.-j. Tlie jmeumatiu ur»- l f ue has shifted on to the Clyife claim, oa terms with the owners, and will soon commence operations there. T'.e original holders are very confident of there being a large amount of gold left ia the claim. .'- u;>-.l "uk '...■];• -i h\ "itai •<cci'lcnt occunvJ. on Tue&uay J^m< to two men — Xir.x'S Hcott siiid a Mr. M'Tntyro— working oa the Galatea diedge. Jfc seems they were out in the boat, and dopping down on to tho bow line the boat got foul of the line and capsised. The men were both thrown into the water and were drowned. One, it is said, held on to the line for forne time, but was obliged to lot £0. fSroit leaves a wife and large family. M 'ln tyre but ldt?ly cune to the district, and hid also a wife. This is the third accident of the same sort thai has happened in thy district, and which has resulted in the loss of four lives, all of whioh may be attributed to eat-nlp-sr^s -_>v ii> sufficient knowledge of what they were about ; <v.^d it is ho,.ed thero will be an inquiry iuio this iiihdr, v, liieh may be the rnchns of inakin«; it. a l.iw among dredges that no boat be allowed to put out for a certain distance above n liae ashore from a dredge. The members of the Miners' Association have bean pcrubiug the uew GoldminLii; 1 Bill, aud a meeting is call 'id to yive an ev^iossi'm or' opr.iijn diereon on Saturday, the ofch July. I have heard that some time sinca there was a free and enlightened citizen, with enlarged steam ideas, who sometime ago repudiated the idea of placing his name to any pecitiou ; that such a thing bo never did in his life ; that it was degrading to beg and pray for anything; "get it," says he, "if you have a right to it ; if not, do witooutit;" yet I am told that this self same individual has been scouring round the h'dU aud gullies of the district getting the names of the enlightened inhabitants to a petition to his Honor the Superintendent or bis Excellency the Governor (I don't know which), praying that they will take no notice of the Dunstan Miners' Association, as they were only a selfconstituted body, and did not represent the views of the miners ; but grant us our special claim of two and a half milep, and we will ever pray.