Local Intelligence.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VIII, Issue 438, 27 February 1875, Page 2

Local Intelligence.

A MEETING of the Tuape'<a A then teu m Committee was held in the Library on Wednesday evening. Present : F. H. &I'Coy, Eiq (in the chair), and Messrs. Fraer, Squires, Abel, Jones, M'Kinlay, Adams, and Dr. Halley, The minutes of Committpe meeting held on the 3rd instant were read and confirmed. The Secretary informed the meeting that the hall had been engaged for St. Patrick's D.iy, 17th March, for a ball. A letter was read from the Secretary of the Lawrence Gymnastic Club, asking permission to make certain alterations in the ceiling of the h.\U. in order to erect a trapeze for a performance on St. Patrick's Day. On the motion of Mr. Squires, seconded by Mr. Fiaer, the request was granted, subject to the approval of a sub-committee consisting of Messrs. Sqwires and Adams, the fixings to remain the property of the Ath liaeum Committee. An amendment, moved liy Wr. Abe', and seconded by Mr. M\Kinlay, to the effect that the List clause of the resolution be omitted \v is negatived, Mr. Abel was re-olecfce'l Treasurer for the current year. It was then resolved that the Committee meetings be held quarterly as during the past i year, the Secretary being empowered to call special meetings when he thought necessary. TheWj^'ect of a course of Readings was held over for consideration till next meeting. It was decided that the series of the Waverly Novels be completed ; and that the "Popular Science Review " be substituted for the " Glasgow Weekly Herald." The Secretary was instructed to ascertain the price of the Greville Memoirs. The Secretary furnished the follow-

ing analysis of the number of books circulated by the institution during the past year :—History, 122 ; biography, 74 ; Travel, 98; religious, 18 ; scientific, 47 ; Poetry. 56 ; miscellaneous, 94 ; and novels, 1,444. There being no other business, the meeting was brought to a close by v vote of thanks to the Chairman.

Lawrence was thrown into a great state of i commotion on Thursday morning, between the I hours of 12 and 1 o'clock, by the ringing of the fire bell. Peel-street and Ross Place, in a remarkably short space of time, presented an appearance of unwonted excitement at that hour of the morning. The words in everybody's mouth for a time were ; " Where is the fire 7" " Where is the fire ?" until it dawned upon them, seeing uo sign of a conflagration, that a hoax had been perpetrated by some person or persons unknown. Really these 'practical jokes are not desirable, for in these days when people have so many surprises of a serious nature they do not require their nerves taxed with the tomfoolery of some addle-headed loafers, who evidently find time too heavy on their hands. We hope the Police will trace the guilty parties, and have them punished according to their deserts. The Brigade, we are glad to learn, intend offering a reward of £5 for the arrest of the deliuqtnt.

The Waitahuua Sunday School Union Pic-nic took place on Wednesday last. It was intended to have been held in Mrs. Grant's paddock, a much more sheltered position than the place where it was held, but owing to the heavy rain of the preceding day, it was wisely deemed advisable to hold it on the Havelockßacecourse, on account of the drier nature 'of the ground there. The dull and leaden clouds of Wednesday morning caused doubts as to whether the pic-nic would not require to be postponed, but as the day wore on old Sol shyly peeped out, which caused great joy amongst the juveniles, who musteied ia strong force. About two o'clock the party gathered together, and as a preliminary, were regaled with excellent tea, sandwiches, cake, &c, ad lib.; and at this time the number on the ground could not have been less than 300, of whom four-fif tha were children. An invitation was given to one and all in the district, but the number of male adults was small, owing, no doubt, to the harvesting. In future, it is intended to hold the pic-nic either earlier or later in the year, so as to avoid clashing with harvest operations. The ladies, however, mustered in considerable force, bringing with them in most cases, such a quiverful of fine, healthy, intelligent looking children, as to prove that the climate of Waitahuna is favourable to the growth of more than cereals. Ample provision was made for the amusement of the childien, in the shape of cricket, swings, foot races, &c, and several other games with a remarkable affinity to kiss-in-the-ring, which were liberally patrouised by the few middle-aged bachelois and staid paterfaini.ias present. About thirty or forty people were present from Lawrence, most of whom were invited, but all strangers were made welcome, and treated with courtesy. We are glad to note the reciprocity of good feeling displayed between the inhabitants of Lawrence and Waitnhuna on this occasion, and we are inclined to think th.it were social reunions more frequent between these two places, they would come to know and appreciate each other more. The Committee deserve thanks for the able and satisfactory manner 'in which they can ied out the arrangements, particularly the commiss.iriat department, which was leally excellent, and the hope was general that the pic nic should l>e an annual one. About six o'clock, tea was again announced, and after all had partaken heartily of the good cheer provided, the assembly dispeised well pleased with the day's amusement.

An old and highly respected resident of Mt. Benger— Mi* Thomas Cameron, blacksmith - took his departure from Roxburgh en route for the Home oou a try, on Tuesday last. On Monday evening, before leaving, a number of Mr. Cameron's friend 3 met in Ormond's Hotel, and presented him with a handsome gold watch, bearing the following inscription: -"Presented to Mr. Thomas Cameron on the occasion of his leaving for Scotland, as a slight token of the respect and esteem in which he is held by his friends in Mount Benger, New Zealand, 3875." After the presentation, to which Mr. Cameron responded in suitable terms, a very pleasant evening was spent, songs and toasts alternating in brisk succession into the " sma' hours.' Before the proceedings terminated, there was a unanimous "call" for the worthy host and hostess, to whose efforts on the occasion so much of the success of the evening's entertainment was due. We are informed that the St. Lawrence L0dge,. 1.0.G.T., intended getting up a ballon St. Patricks Day for the benefit of the hospital, but hearing that the Committee of the K.C. School had arranged for a concert and dance on that day, they have postponed it to a date which will be announced by advertisement in a future issue. The Good Templars of the Queen of the South Lodge, Blue Spur, advertise a concert and ball in the schoolroom on the 10th March. The analysis of the number of books circulated during the past year by the Lawrence Athenaeum as furnished by the Secretary at the last meeting is rather suggestive. Novels seem to be devoured greedily in comparison with other works, for, while there were 1444 novels ciiculated there were only 18 books under the class of religions. The other books circulated form but a small proportion of the whole ; in fact all the others combined only give a trifling margin over one-third of the novels issued during the twelve months.

TENDERS were called for some time since by the Education Board for the erection of a Schoolhouse at Havelock. but the lowest tender was considered too high, and fresh tenders were called for the work. The tender of Mr. F. Moyle, of Havelock, has now been accepted for the sum of £63S 10s, the amount of his former tender. We have seen the plan of the building, and think it well suited for the requirements of Havelock. The building will contain two class rooms— that for the Master being 20ft x 35ft, and that for the assistant being 22ft x 21ft. The time allowed for the completion of the contract ia only three months, so that Mr. Moyle will have very little time to spare.

We have received a requisition from a number of Tapanui residents calling upon us to furnish the name of the writer of a paragraph furnished to us by "A Correspondent," ' who commented -upon certain unseemly conduct which took place in the Tapanui Town Hall during the race week, but we do not feel justified in complying with the request. From what we have learned from other sources than " A Correspondent," we think the less said about the matter the better. Perhaps ''A Correspondent" expressed himself rather more forcibly than whs needed ; but, we believe, refeience was not made in the remarks to the residents of Tapanui, but to the rag-tag and bobtail who followed in the wake of what was expected to be a most successful race, meeting.

From Wednesday's " Gazette," we observe that the resignations of the only remaining managers of the Lawrence Cemetery liave been received and accepted by the Superintendent. These are- Messrs. Peter Robertson, Edward Herbert and John Herbert. We also notice in the same " Gazette " that the Mayor and Councillors are appointed managers of the said Cemetery. Now that the management of the Cemetery haa been vested in the Corporation, we. trust that its affairs will be conducted ia a more businesslike manner than hitherto.,

Mb, Hknrt Dethrt is the successful tenderer for the stone and timber bridge over the creek on Detert's Flat, close to the railway. The amount of the tender is £405 10s. The Thames and Coromandel goldfields (says a contemporary's telegram) are suffering great depression, owing to the withdrawal of population for the Ohinemuri rush. A VERY important point was decided by the Waste Land Board at its last meeting with reference to applications for land under deferred payments. A Mr. James Lurnsden asked if he could put in an application for sections in different blocks, though one application only might be granted. The Board replied in the affirmative, and added that deposits would be returned to non •successful applicants. The decision is very favorable to applicants— espocially aa ifc is found there is such a rush for land under this plan of disposing of it. ' TriE Union Prayer Meeting, held in the School house on Thursday evening, was largely attended. Mr. Wise's new edition of his excellent map of Otago has been received by us. It contains several improvements, and is likely to take the position of a standard map of reference. Thekk have been interruptions in the telegraph line between Lawrence and Qeenstown off and on during the past three or four days. We observe that fresh tenders are called for the construction of a bridge over Wether Cieek, or what is better known as the Crookburu, about two miles from Tuapeka Mouth. Tenders are called for the 16 th March.