Local Intelligence.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 420, 26 December 1874, Page 2

Local Intelligence.

Odb usual yearly card calendar -will be issued on Wednesday next, and supplied' gratis to aJI the subscribers to the Tuapbka. Times. On Christmas Eve our streets presented quite a holiday appearance, Several of the shops were decorated with evergreens and flowers, most noticeable of these being MrT Sheath's in Ross Place, which was dressed in a very tasteful manner, Business appeared to be brisk throughout the day, especially with the drapers and clothiers, A large number of visitors have left for Dunedin .during the week. The coaches on several mornings have been taxed to the utmost of their carrying capacity. Mb. Ulrioh, Inspector of Mines, from Victoria, arrived in Lawrence on Thursday evening, where the Goldfields Secretaiy is to meet him on Saturday, when they will proceed in company to visit the various goldfields in the Province. Before leaving this district, they will visit tie Blue Spur, Waipori, Waitahuna, and Wetherstones. Mr. Ulrich has been engaged by the Provincial Government to visit and report upon the goldmines of the Province. A meeting of the Blue Spur Sunday School teachers was held in the Wesleyaa Church, Blue Spur, on Tuesday evening, to consider how far it would be desirable to join the Union Pic-nic, to come off on the 15th January, at Lawrence. It was agreed Ijhat the Wesleyan and Presbyterian Sunday Schools join for the purpose of having a pic-nictm the Ist January, as usual ; and that collectors be appointed from both schools to receivp subscriptions. At the same time, the teachers at the Blue Spur fully appreciate the efforts of the Lawrence friends to that end ; but they considered it very inconvenient to take the children to Lawrence, as many of them are very small,- and not able to travel so far. ' A PKIVATE telegram placed at our disposal 'states that an outbuilding at Mr.' J. F. Herbert's Ardmore station, was burnt on Wednesday. Ten bales of wool were destroyed, Full particulars have not yet reached us. The fire is supposed to be the work of an incendiary. The property destroyed was insured. , ! * The Presbyterian Church bazaar continued to attract a large concoutse of people on Wednesday and Thursday. The proceeds for the three days amounted to the handsome sum of £232 The articles that remain unsold will be disposed of by auction' in the Atheeseum Hall on Wed* nesday evening next. Mb. Moss's garden, near the racecourse, is well worth a visit at present ; that luscious fruit —the strawberry —is cultivated there extensively, and in.great variety. Mr. Moss has also a large plot of ground at the Blue Spur planted with strawberries. The climate at the Spur, we are informed, is better adapted for their growth. The grasshoppers have now made their appearauce, and are committing great r avagea in this and other nurseries in the neighborhood. They mostly frequent the sunny sides of the hedges, and for several feet from the hedgerows they completely destroy vegetation, besides damaging the whole of the crops, more or less. The Union Prayer meeting will be held on Thursday next, New Year's eve, in the schoolhouse. We extract the following from the " Australasian '' of the 28th November, as it may be of interest to the shareholders in the, Beaumont and Tuapeka Water Race Co. (Registered), who were more lucky in their troubles than the shareholders in the case appended : — An important > decision was given in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, under the Mining Companies Act, in the case of the Gippalander Company v. Guthridge. •' The defendant was sued in the Police Court at Walhalla for £1 95., the amount of two calls on shares held by him in the company.' The defence was, that under the provisions of the statute, the shares were "absolutely forfeited," as the rolls had not been paid within 14 days from the time when they were due ; and as the shares were forfeited, the nominal shareholder' was not answerable. The Court was, however, of opinion that' until the shares were actually sold a shareholder was liable for calls ; that the company had the right to forfeit the shares,- and also to enforce payment of the calk. Mr. Guthridge was therefore held liable for the amount. A letteb was placed at our disposal this week from John King; a miner, well known in • this district, who is now at Cooktowu. . He does not give a very rosy account of the Palmer diggings. It had been raining incessantly four weeks, and a large number of miners whose emaciated appearance deterred many at Cooktown from proceeding up-country were returning from the diggings. He also says that although a considerable amount of gold had been obtained by some;; parties of men, the storekeepers and- packers get the lion's share of it, as provisions! and carriage to the. digging! are frightfully high. The accounts Mr. King gives are anything but encouraging, and from what we know of him these account* can be accepted as truthful. We hope soon to hear from Mr. J. C, Brown M.H.R., who went to the Palmer some time since on a visit, and we have no doubt hit opinion of the field will be a i very reliable one, and one that will be acted upon by all wawerers. 1 The complete returns of the Mt. Ida election give Mr. J. P. Armstrong a majority of 30. A baoe ball will be held in the Assembly Booms, Roxburgh, on Wednesday evening next. The proceeds to be devoted to the funds of the Tuapeka Hospital,

We have received from the publisher, Mr. Joseph Braithwaite, High-street, Dunedin, No. L of the New Zealand Songster, a handy little book of nearly a hundred pages^ containing the most popular songs as sung by the various minstrelß and other troupes that have visited the Colony. It is published at the txtremtly moderate price of sixpence, and we should say will< command a large sale. The Havelock races and sport* commence to* day, and .will be continued on Monday. The entries for the horse races, are numerous, and should afford good spcrt. The anniversary of Court Star of Tuapek* will be celebrated by a soiree and ball at the Athenaeum on Thursday, New Year's eve. Th» Waitahuna Quadrille Band has, been engaged for the occasion, '■ FKOM advertisement it will be seen that the Hospital Committee are calling tenden for supplies for the ensuing six months, and drop for the next twelve months. The Mount Benger Jockey Club race meeting will be held on Moa Flat on Tuesday and Wednesday next. There is every prospect et two days good racing, there being a good nuaber of horses engaged. A man named Robert Leech met with an accident at Waipori, on Monday last. At the time of the occurrence, Leech, while engaged in wrestling, stumbled, and broke his leg below the knee. He was removed to the Tuapeka Hot? pital a short time afterwards, where his injuries were carefully attended to. At present. h» iB progressing as favorably as can be expected. From the reports of the mining surveyors; and registrars of Victoria for the quarter ending 30th September we have the following result : —The number of miners is 46,239, of whom 33,555 are Europeans, and 12,684 Chinese— 33.083 being employed in allnvial, and 15,186 in quartz mining. There are 1134 steam engines, with an aggregate of 24,902 horse-power, and their value, with tbat of other mining plant, it estimated at £2,101,781. The number of square miles of auriferons ground actually worked upon is 1063, and there are 3398 distinct quarts reefs proved to be auriferous. The deepest shafts in the Colony are the Magdala. 1457 f t; The Newington and Pleasant Creek, 1360 ft ; and the South Scotchman's 1256 ft— all ia the Pleasant Creek division of the Ararat district. The eajjmated yield of gold for the quarter was 108,6050z 6a wt from alluvial, and 170,2450s 2d wt from quartz mines— together, 278,7500 b Bdwt, The quantity exported in the quarter was 208,5130z 3dwt. The Royal Mint received during the period 92,9770z of gold or bullion, and issued 86.8040z of gold coin and 7460s of bullion. THE country reporter of the '" Times," writes as follows :— " Over the Old Man Ranges, about 6000 feet above the sea level, and in an inhospitable region of Campbells Gully and Upper Waikaia, exists a favorite summer diggings, and which is becoming a considerable source of attrao" tion. The population there numbers about 60, one-third of which are Chinese, but this number is being gradually added to. Messrs Toy Savage, and Co., five in party, have just com* pleted a tunnel 600 feet in length through a " slip " at A.lelaide Point, Campbell's Gully. The t unnel is securely timbered throughout. The object in driving iv the tunnel was to facilitate the construction of a very long tail race, necessary to draiu the claim— a very large and valuable one, and containing seven acres of ground. The party have been three years occupied in making this tunnel. It is expected that the claim, when in work, will yield £10 a week per man, while it will take tea years to exhaust it. For a full share (a fifth) £600 is asked.— At the Wai Keri Keri Valley some capital ground has been opened, and upon the completion of Hastie and Company's water race from Chatto Creek, a very remunerative field of mining industry will be available. I hear of one party of 4 men, working' in a place called Hopeful Gully, whose four month* washing— which will be completed about Christmas-is expected to yield five hundred ounces of gold. The spurs of the Dunstan ranges between Clyde and Devonshire Gully— a distance^ of fourteen miles — have been long known to be auriferous, but it has only been within the last few months that water was available to test the auriferous value of the locality. Yesterday, Christmas Day, was very quiet in Lawrence, many of the inhabitants having taken a trip into the country. During the afternoon a heavy shower of rain fell; laying the dust beautifully for the holiday folks to return home. This morning. Boxing Day, several of the business places are dosed, and the few that are open might as well have kept closed for the small amount of business there is doing. The fire-engine for the local Brigade arrived last night, We have for some time past read many accounts in the Home papers of wonderful travelling feats hiving been accomplished on the bicycle, and the speed attained by these machines is indeed astonishing. An account of a race is given in the *• Home News " in which a Mr. Stanton, a celebated bioyolist, travelled 106 miles in eight hours. We understand that Mr. Downes of Lawrence, who is always foremost in every manly sport, has obtained one of these machines, so we may expect to see t»ood practice some of these day* in our streets. We observe that several portions of the kerb* ing in Peel-street and Ross Place are much in need of repair- A dangerous hole also exists on the foot-path adjoining the Bank of New South Wales. These matters should leceivs the immediate attention of the Council. The Hon. W. H. Fox delivered a lectnre on " The Legislative aspect of. the Temperance Question," in Dunedin, on Wednesday evening. The attendance was limited. At the close of the lecture, a hearty vote of thanks was recorded. r At Wednesday's meeting of the Waste Land Board there was not any local business transacted. — Warden Simpson reported on the petition of residents to have next survey of quarter-acre sections executed at Tinkers township. It was resolved— Survey not to be made —Mr. F. J. Wilson wrote giving notice of the construction of a water race, and illegal oocupation of Crown Lands, being part of Dunstan Commonage, by Mr. Rob/rt Welshwood, of Clyde.— The matter was referred to the District Land Office, for advice. Ws are informed that the Blue Spar Sunday School pic-nic will be amalgamated' with the Lawrence School pic-nic, and that vehicles will be provided to convey the children to and from the Spur. rr ■

On© night lately in Kinghorn, the Fre^ Church was broke into. Entrance having been obtained by a trap-door leading from the outside to a cellar underneath, operations on the floor of the church were commenced by means of an auger and saw, but a hatchway leading through the. pulpit having been discovered, the veetry was reached, where the sacramental silver silver vessels are usually kept. These, however, had been safely laid aside by the_churoh officer, and the burglars, after breaking open two presses^pnly found a gown and cassock, and a missionary bo* containing the children's weekly ogerisgs. Leaving these untouched the party Jia4 left the church by the majn door,