Local Intelligence.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 386, 29 August 1874, Page 2

Local Intelligence.

The following Wellington telegram, received by Mr. Squires, honorary secretary of the Gabriels Gully Channel Committee, has been placed at our disposal" by that 'gentleman .—. — '■Referring to Mr. J. O. Brown's motion, asking Parliament to make provision for the construction of the Gabriels Channel, the Government last night; promised to take all the necessary steps during the recess to proceed with the work next year." Had our member accomplised nothing else during the session than that of eliciting the above pledge from the Government, he would have deserved well of his constituents. After a closer examination into the Hospital Ordinances, it has been discovered that the expression "annual contributor" as used in the Ordinance applies only to persons who pay the suni of £1 annually to the funds of the Hospital, and that a subscription of a smaller amount gives no privileges whatever— nob even the light to vote at a -general meeting of subscribers. Before a person can' have via say ac must contribute the sum of twenty shillings. A spking race meeting will be held at the Beaumont on Friday, the 2nd October. An excellent programme has been arranged, comprising maiden plate, two handicaps, a hurdle race, and consolation stakes. Full particulars will be advertised in a future issue of this journal. Several gentlemen have already promised individual subscriptions of five pounds. There is every probability of this, the first spring meeting held in the' district, being a great success.

THE nomination of candidates for the office of Mayor of the incorporated town of Roxburgh is fixed for Wednesday, 2ud proximo, and the election for the same day of the following week Mr. Albert Birch has been appointed to act as Returning Officer, and Mr. John Kingston as" Town Clerk on the- occasion. The following named gentlemen have been appointed to preside at the polling in the various Wards :— Mr. Robert Smith, North Ward ; Mr, Edwin Hughes, Central Ward ; and Mr. Edward Morrison, South Ward. Being tke ,firsfc election in Roxburgh under the Municipal Corporation Ordinance, we may take it for granted there will be nd small exeiletnenfc*

A GOOD deal of speculation has taken place as to the richness of the Blue Spui tailings. AA 7 e are informed that the Gabriels Gully Quartz Alining Company aro putting through their battpry fifty tons of the tailings taken from close proximity to Morrison and Co.'s and the Perseverance Company's tailraces. While the result will be anxiously looked for, we do not for a moment consider it will be anything like a satisfactory test of the auriferous character of a large portion of the tailings, as it is generally admitted, by all parties that the quantity of gold that escaped in the tailings in the early days of Blue Spur sluicing was far larger than it has been for the last few years. We shall know the result of the experiment early next week, and hope it will be encouraging, and give zest to the Channel Committee. The Lawrence monthly union prayer meeting was held in the schoolroom last Wednesday evening. The several congregations in the town weie well represented on the occasion. The Committee of Management deserve credit for the excellent programme which they drew up> which gave both interest and variety to the proceedings. It is satisfactory to sf>e the interest in this meeting keeping up so well, and it is to be hoped it will increase as the five weather comes in. On Monday last Mr. M'Kellar. Goldfields Secretary, accompanied by Mr. Warden Simpson, Mr. Ireland (the member for the district), and a number of persons, visited the Millers Flat block about which there has been so much difference of opinion expressed. In the evening theie was a public meeting held at Roxburgh} when the many grievances of the inhabitants were enumerated and discussed. Mr. M'Kellar, while promising to lay the whole matter before the Government, would promise nothing whatever until he conferred with his colleagues. The Municipal Council of Queenstown have introduced 1500 trout ova into their district. These are the gift of Mr. Young of Palmerston. This ova, says the " Wakatip Mail," has been hied from tiout reared by Mr. Young -himself, and being, therefore, to <vll intents and purposes a more '' Colonial article " than any we have yet received, greater hopes are naturally indulged in of its success. Ther&was some chaff and fun as. the boxes were being opened. Some irreverent individual in the crowd desired to take, what is Colonially known as a "rise," out of Mr. Betts. who was at the time anxiously peering into the interesting contents of the boxes, and enquiied "If those were the deer?" The Mayor was equal to the occasion, and remarked that they would probably find them " very dear and tempting things in a few years." The following is a copy of a circular-letter emanating from the Otago Central Mineis' Association to the various district associations : — Be so good as to suggest to your committee the desiiability of corsidcringhow the Goldfields would be affected by a change in the present system of Provincial administration, more par- j ticularly with reference to the idea thrown out by Mi" "Yogel of planing the Goldfields under the same mode of management as the Immigration Department. Public opinion on the Goldfields ought to be matured on this matter, in the face of an excee iiog probability of a sud'Jen change resulting from -any alteration of the relations between the Provinces and the Colonial Government. — The Provincial Government would be glad of any practical suggestion as to what shape the honus a^ieed to by the last Provincial Council— for the best practical gold saving apparatus for alluvial sluicing -could . take, in being publicly ofivred for competition. Your Committee might be able to have a valuable suggestion. — I have the honor. &c. ON Monday last Mr. Henry Bloxham, ati old Tuapeka resident who lias for some time past been settled in the Teviofc distiict, was thrown fioin his horse and received severe internal injuiii-s. Under the care of Dr. Niven he is t'railnallv recov<>rin ff We are glad to learn that the Mackenzie Brothers are about to recommence their contract for the Manuka Cieek section of the Tuapeka Railway. We are informed they intend engaging a large number of hands and pushing the work forward with great vigour during the The lower portion of Artirossan-street is Veing formed by prison labor, under the direction of Sergeant Titchpner. Good progress is being made with the work by the small gang of men employed. . Should the new school buildings be erected on the proposed site on the top of the hill, the formation of this street throughout will be a necessary work. Fkosi Melbourne telegrams we observe that at the annual sale of horses, Mr. George fjoombe, of Milton, purchased Little Barwon, for the sum of 390 guineas. We undei stand (says the "Daily Times") th it a gentleman who is on a visit to the Colony for the good of his health, and who is connected with the Portland psnal establishment, having heard of the system of prison labor in Ocago, made some enquiries on the subject with the following results : — A gang of 30 immigrants were at work at a spot on Bell Hill from which a gang of 13 prisoners had a flay or two before been, transferred— the 13 prisoners working seven hours a day (the hours of labor are seven per day in summer and nine in winter) actually sent out two more waggon loads of material per day than the 30 immigrants did — che immigrants working eight hours to the prisoners' seven. A. fact like this, while it I speaks well for what is being done by prison labor, also shows the wretched physique of many of the immigrants with whom Dr. Featherston is flooding the Colony. The " Dunstan Times " says:— A witness in a case heard before our Resident Magistrate, with the view of eliciting the probable loss a butcher might sustain per week through not having a sausage machine, was asked : "Is the making of sausages a profitable part of a butcher's business ?" He replied : "It all depends upon what they are made of." Mb. M. Hay reports having sold yesterday, at Lbug'V yaids, ou account of the trustees in. the estate of the late Mr. Andrew Taylor, a large mob of mixed cattle, which averaged £2 lls. per head. Mr. T. Hinde was the purchaser. There was also sold a number of useful horses, at from £3 10s. to £30. The attendance of buyers was large, and the bidding brisk. Wb have not heard a whisper from any quarter — Waitahuna, Waipori, or Tuapeka— as to the election of Hoaids of Wardens for these respective districts. The "Gazette" notice stipulates that " Nominations of candidates must be made in writing, addressed to the Warden at Lawrence, on or before Monday, the thirty-first of August next, and in the following form, which must be signed in full by the proposer and seconder of every such candidate :— " Forst. " To the Warden at Lawrence. {Place and date. ) "We hereby nominate (here inseit name hi full, and nature and particulars of such qualification of person nominated) to be a member- of the JJoard of, WardeDs of the depasturing district of (insert name of district). , " (Signatures ) " *** After the signature of [ the propoher and seconder, the nature and partitulras of the qualification under which tJicy claim to vote must be stated." If those- interested allow this opportunity to pass, we queition whether they will have another chance presented to them of electing Boards. ,

Mr. Pierce Power, sheep inspector, has been in Lawrenge for several days, giving his attention to complaints made by settlers, miners and others of sheep trespass on the goldfields commonage. The owners of great cattle aie justly aggrieved when the sheep are found on the wrong side of the boundary allocated for them. "We nre informed the sfcoekowners in the Waitahunar district, have imd a^ their assessment for running cattle and sheep, while in the Tuapeka district there are many settlers who have not yet paid their dues. We believe the inspector intends adopting severe measures with those defaulters some of these days. As an instance of the difference in the price of butcher's meat, prime fat beef can now be had at the Beaumont for 2£d. per lb., whilst in Lawrence 61. is charged for prime cuts. The Dunedin wholesale price current for fat beef is about 30s. per lOOlbs, and it is scarce at that figure. THE tickets for the Oddfellows' anniversary dinner, to be held on Friday next, are going off rapidly, and there is every prospect of a large attendance. The Molyneux has risen rapidly rapidly this week, owing to the open weather and warm winds. There is very little prospect of its going down again for some time to come, as there is an immense quantity of snow on the ranges. Mr. Wm. Hates reports having sold on Thursday, a team of draught horses ; also a waggon and horses. We call attention to advertisement in another column of Mr. J.ungs Hill's sale of watches, jewellery, &c. Mr. Hill is leaving the district, and the whole of his stock i 3 for immediate salo. The following items of intelligence have been forwarded to the " Guardian " from Glenore :— "The fine weather expeiiencpd during the past week or two has infused fresh vigour into the general state of affairs. F.irmers have been enabled to get a large breadth of oats put in, and the prosecution of public works throughout the district has resumed its wonted activity. The Lawrence end of the Tuapeka line is progressing fast towardscouipletion. Theeonfcractois for theGlenore tunnel have nob keen idle. Their new appliance— the boring machine— is doing good service, and it is fully expected that a passage through the entire length of the excavtion will be pierced before the end of summer. At the Glenore section, a crowd of men have been set to work taking out foundations for a biidge across the district road, towards Mr. Miller's residence. The bridge is to be built o r stone from the same quarry as that used for the bridge erected at the Woolshed. This last structure has been pronounced oue of the best pieces of masonry built in connection with the Public Works of the colouy. The stone is obtained from the property of Mr. Murray, and bears a stiong resemblance to Aberdeen granite. It has the reputation of being rather expeusive for woikinsr. but; thnh rlra whack will no doubtj be counterbalanced by its durability. The Glutha end of the line will soon be finished. It has been a loug time in hand, but, from the swampy nature of the ground 'through wnich it p:isse3, the contractors have had exceptional difficulties to contend with. Our correspondent adds :— * Although Cobb and Co. have done good service in the past, no one will be solry to see them superseded by the iron horse. I regret, however, to add that they have seen fit to increase their fares, wiiiuh is, I presume, to be taken as a, parting kick before their more 'formidable rival occupies the ground. '"