LocaL Intelligence.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 377, 29 July 1874, Page 2

LocaL Intelligence.

Thb usual monthly Prayer Meeting will be held this evening in the Grammar School. These meetings hitherto have boen well at- j tended. T&E reason for the disallowance for the Otago Gold Duty Repayment Ordinance is given in a letter of the Colonial Secretary's. which says : " His Excellency was advised to take thai course, because there did not appear to be sufficient provision in the Bill to prevent the repayment of gold duty being made for gold, the produce of other provinces, being shipped from Otago. An inquest on the body of John Sinclair, a shepherd, who died suddenly in his hut on Fulton's station, was held at Waipori before th« District Coroner, E, H, Carew, Esq., on Friday last. The jury returned a verdict of death from naturel causes. As will be seen by advertisement, the Church of England Committee, Roxburgh, are making an effort to clear off the debt on the church in that place. We believe th« prizes to be drawn for, amounting to oue hundred, consist of some very handsome and usefui articles, aud the Committee have decided to place them on vi«sw in the premises belonging to Mr. Beighton, adjoining the poat-otSce, kiudly leut for the purposa, where gifts in aid of the bazaar and auction will be thankfully received by the Secretary. Wjs are credibly informed that so eager was the rush of the Roxburgh people last Thuisday to lay claim to the advantages conferred by boiug placed on the citizens' electoral roil that the police had to muster in great foice in attendance at the Revision Court, which was literally besieged uearly the whole day, in order to prevent disturbances: At the commencement of the day there were strong indications that a serious affray would take j>laco within the precincts of the Court ; but towards evening public opinion, like the weather, having become much colder, the day passed off without any one having to contemplate the charms of solitude under the paternal care of the officer placed by an all-wise and beuificent Government in charge*bf the lives and properties of her Majesty's lieges at Roxburgh.

Ode Alexandra correspondent, writing under date of 24th July, says t— On the 20th instant, the adjourned inquest into the cause of the late fire at Oliver's farm wag held at the Geelong Hotel, but no evidence was obtained as to the cause of the fire. The jury returned a verdict that there was no evidence to show how the fire originated, and added a rider censuring T. Osborne (who was in charge of Mr. Oliver's property) for not making an effort to save a portion of tho stacks.— The election of Mayor caused acood deal of excitement, both parties doing tolfr utmost to secure the return of their candidate ; and after the result was known, eveLybody, as usual, declared that it was exactly what they expected. If the Mayor elect can do anything to encourage population in the district, he will deserve well of his fellow-townsmen. Almost bvery week we are losing numbeis of our old residents, until the district is a mere shadow of itself, and this loss of population is affecting the business people soiuo of whom have left for other distiicts, and those who remain are doing less business than at any time since the foundation of the township. — We have had several heavy falls of snow, followed by hard frosts, which have frozen up - se\eral races and thrown the parties out of-spmpioy-ment.—The river is getting low again, with every appearance of goin & ' to a low level this winter.

The new Government Licensing Eill contemplates providing greater facilities for obtaining ing drink, not the least objectionable feature cf the Bill being the continuation of bottle licenses. We trust, however, (writes the "Guardian") that this method of increasing the number of incorrigible drunkards, and ruining the peace of families, will no longer disgrace the Statute Book. Wholesale and publicans.' licenses ar<; certainly sufficient to satisfy the requirements of the public,, without bringing the retail grocei and baker into competition with them.

Mb. Fox, the New Zealand champion teatotaller, purposes using his utmost endeavors to defeat the main principles o the new Licensing Bill. One objectionable feature in it, ha says, is allowing refreshment licenses at railway, stations. Let them not, he says, fall behind other couutries in this matter, where, like the Caledonian and North British railways, tney excluded liquor traffic licenses, for it had been satisfactorily ascertained that to the liquor obtained at these places by the railway servants a great proportion of railway accidents were due. AfPlroesult, at the Port Chalmers Rail waystition, as he had read a day or two *go, drunken sailors had been drawing their knives jpon.each other. .Amongst the amendments he intended to propose were some to allow females ,of 21 years of age to9bte, as in one place, where ufrmissive clauses were ia operation, 80 women refused to vote because they had to specify their age ; endeavor to prevent billiard-rooms and skittle-alleys* being in conjunction with public-houses ; abolish barnftids, or not allow* any under the age of 80. If he oould not in-, troduce that, he was certain it would carry the House with him in this • He would endeavor to prevent their being employed 48 hours -at a ribrefohvfe* they iCtofctfiameii -page Wt^ .

In reply to Mr. Murray, the Minister of Works said: " The date fixed for th» completion of the Dunedin andClutha line was the Ist September, 1875 , and for the Tokomaiiiio to Tuapekn, June, 1875 , and he had no reason to doubt that both would be completed within the contract time— tho Dunedin and Clutha probably before the specified date. FnOM advertisement, it wili be observed that the Rev. Mr. Skinner, of Waitahuna, will deliver a lecture on the " Life of Kitto," in Clarks Flat School on Friday evening, at 7 o'clock. The rev. Mr. Cameron will occupy the chair. Mb. Isaacs, one of the Dunedin candidates for civic honors, is reported to have said that "if he were elected, he intended to do his best to alter the system of plurality of votes for Mayor. When a man could only record one vote for the eloction of a Superintendent, he should certainly only be allowed to have one the election of Mayor. He meant to take a stand upon the matter." There can be no doubt the framer of the Ordinance never anticipated that any of its olauses could be so interpreted as to allow any person to give more than one vote for Mayor ; but what would Mr. Isaacs say to voting by proxy, or giving two votes for one ward. Suet* a, tiling, UVVW^V, YW $W9 "rtV tft? Lawrence election— oue intelligent ratepayer recording four votes for the object of his love. We learn that tha owners of the Norweigan Water Race, Waitahuna, are forwarding a memorial to the Waste Lands Board, containing a strong protest against the sale of lands commanded by their race, and which are well known to be auriferous. The water race in question occupied 4^ years in construction, and the dam nounected therewith is one of the finest in the district. The water brought in by this race is at present giving employment to thirty men, but sometimes as many as fifty have heen supplied by it. When the race was constructed the owners had a guarantee that the land would be reserved for mining purposes ; but since the Waste Lauds Board have commenced to sell land on the goldfield to all and sundry, there is every probability that before long the land commanded by the Norwegian Water Race will be sold, and the labor of years and capital invested in this important work will be thrown to the winds, We sincerely trust the Board will not grant certain applica- I tions to purchase land commanded by this i ace without giving the matter more consideration than they seeui to be giving to the true interest 8 of the goldfields. We wonder how the Board would act in the case of a. Government subsidised race.' It would be very interesting to watch the discussion that would take place upon such an application. According to Mr. Haughton's report on the goldfields for 1873, there is a falling off from 1872 of some 4000 in the number of miners, and if our wide administrators of the law persist in selling our known auriferous laud, the number will continue to decrease until we have » mere handful in the country. Then farewell to our prosperity. The " Illustrated New Zealand Herald " for this month contains a full complement of really creditable engravings. Judges Creek, Wairau Gorge. Marlborough, from the pencil of Mr. Gully is a fine picture, and is fitted to convey to home readers a very truthful representation of the mountain fastnesses of New Zealand. The " Morning after the wreck of the British Admiral is also a capital engraving. The t^leg'-ams in our lasb issue advised us of tho arrival from Glasgow oF the Maiii B.thn. Wo notice from the shipping reports of the Dunedin dailies that she is & new ship of 1315 tons regiiler, and has all the latest improvements. There were 483 immig.ants on boaid. and the bill of health was a remarkably clean one. The Peter Denny reached the Heads on Saturday last, but too late to be towed in. The Geelong brought her in on Sunday. The Denny brings 374 immigrants. She said from London, aud mada the excellent run of 72 days. We should imagine it will take all the ingenuity our provincial authorities c»u devise to find suitable employment for a large number of the immigrants who have lately arrived. A.T the close of the Hospital meeting last evening, Mr. Carew handed £20 to the Treasurer, Mr. Harrop, with the explanation that early in the present month, ou opening an envelope addressed to him received wiih other letters from the Post-office, he fouud it to contain two £10notes, with the words — "From a Friend," written on a half -sheet of paper, but unsigued. Mr. Carew rejects the friend, but considers the money best disposed of by being added to the funds of the Hospital. Wjß are glad to learn that there is at last every prospect of a Fire Brigade being formed in Lawrence — Messrs. Armstrong and Hills have collected a considerable sum for the necessary apparatus for the proper woi king of a Brigade. It will be noticed that a meeting is called for this evening of persons willing to become working members, and we have no doubt the call will be willingly responded to. The time has decidedly arrived when a strong Brigade should be formed, and we have no doubt it will receive the cordial support of the general public. THE crossing at Wetherstones Creek where the ney bridge is being erected is in a most disgraceful state, and should be attended to at once by the Council. On Monday evening two accidents happened to pedestrians in trying to cross on the single plunk that is supposed to be a substitute for the footbiidge which formerly crossed thee- eek. In one case the plank slid from its place and deposited a female in the ureek ; in the other case Mr. Cowper while attempting to cross, owing to the slippery nature of the wood, slipped off the plank and fell on his back in cieek. This state of things should not be allowed to exist, especially at a crossing so generally used by old aud young, acd we trust immediate attention will be given to making it more secure. The comet referred to in our telegrams may be seen considerably above the eastern horizon just before dawn, The usual fortnightly meeting of the Lodge St. Lawrence was held on, the 27th inst., when the following officers were elected for the ensuing term :- -W.C.T. Bro. S. A. Miller, W.V.T. Sister Halley (re-elected), W.C. Bro. G. Clark, W.S. Bro. G. B. Kiag (re-elected), W.F.S. Sister Matthews, W.T. Bro. Crow, W.M. Bro. Sawyers, W.J.G. Bro. Collins, W.O.G. Bro. Whitnell, W.R.H.S. Bro. Murphy, W.L.H.S Bro. J. Bobertson, W.A.F.S. Bro. Harrop, "W.A.S. Bro. Bryant. The Lodge received a visit from Bro. Adams, G-.L.D., Dunedin. We understand that a • lodge of the above order wiR bo opened at Haveloek shortly. The " Westreu Morning News " publishes a description of the 3sesrible predicament of the lighthouse keepers on the Bishop's Rock during the recent hurricane, the violence is described as being fearful. The Bishop's Rock lighthouse is erected ou a rock beyond the Scilly Islands, far out in the Atlantic. It waa struck "by enormous waves in quick succession, each causing a noise like the discharge of cannon, and making the massive stone building rock to and fro, so that every article fell away from its f place. One fearful sea broke the great lens in several pieces, and another smashed the cylinders of the spar light, while sand from tne bottom, thirty fathoms deep, waa found heaped upon the lighthouse gallery. The *«seffl-fead ! »*ftFr©w i M«ipe 4 .