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Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 587, 30 November 1869, Page 2

Mr Jones, of the Orawaiti Hotel, is busily completing the construction of the racecourse upon which the Westport Jockey Club Races are this year to be run. After going to considerable expense in clearing a lengthy course, with a fine piece of straight but rather rough running, the dimensions and line of the course have been altered by Mr Jones, with the approval of the Club ; aud although the course will not be so long as was originally intended, we understand that it will be sufficiently so, and that with some more of the bush cleared, an ample view of the races will be obtained. The condition of some parts of the course will be considerably affected by the weather which may prevail previous to the racemeeting, but those who have seen the other courses on the Coast say that, even this year, this new course will compare favorably with them, and in future yeai-3 it should excel them. In point of picturesqueness, a finer situation for holiday sports could scarcely be found in the neighborhood of even much more pretentious towns than Westport. If it could only be imported temporarily into Gladstone street, there would be nothing like it in the world, either in an ajsthetical or economical point of view, but unfortunately a;sthetics and economics do not always subordinate themselves to the temporary wishes of trading communities; and Westport's wisdom should be to cultivate contentment and some other Christmas sports. The steamer Rangitoto, from Melbourne, arrived at Hokitika yesterday, but did not bring the English Mail, nor has she brought the usual telegraphic summary of European and American news, though the mail steamer had arrived at Adelaide before she sailed from Port Phillip. Apparently the fact of the mail steamer's arrival was only known at the hour of the Rangitoto's departure; there was not time for any of the news she brought being communicated by telegraph. We are not aware by what steamer the mail may now be expected, but its arrival may be looked for within the next few days. Mr Broad, Resident Magistrate and Warden at Charleston, has again proceeded to Nelson, on his way to Wangapeka. Whether he is to be permanently settled there or not is at present unknown. There are numerous rumors as to the Wardenships on the West Coast, one of them being that Mr Lowe, overpowered with the amount of work to do over a wide district, contemplates resignation; but, so far, the rumors are only rumors unauthenticated. There can be no doubt, however, that in the interest both of the officials and the mining population, some radical change is necessary, in the number of Wardens and in the character of their duties. To the present number of Wardens, who are involuntarily so many animated fixtures, there requires to bo made some addition with the object both of relieving the existing excess of duty imposed upon some of the officers, and of relieving miners in outlying districts from the inconvenience of constantly visiting the urban centres to comply with the forms required by the Rules and Regulations.

We hear that the party of Italians who are at work driving towards the quartz-reef in Irishman's creek, a tributary of the Lyell, are still pursuing their object, and the expectation is entertained that, by Christmas time, they will have sufficiently tested the reef to be satisfied of its payable

or non-payable character. Judging by the detached specimens which have been found in the creek, there is every reason to suppose that a good auriferous reef exists in the neighbourhood. A violent thund ffstonn, accompanied by heavy squalls and - tin, passed over this district on Sunday morning, and effected one good by dissipating the suffocating warm-bath atmosphere which had previously prevailed. Similar weather seems to have been felt further south, and telegraphic communicatidn was for some interrupted, but \ esterday it was resumed. Three parties—Graham and party, Hall and party, and Mullins and party—who have for some time been tunnelling from Deadman's Creek, have now struck the Giles Terrace lead of gold, and are preparing to wash. Several business sites have already been taken up, and the township will probably be as large as Gilestown. A branch track from the track on the pakihis could be make at trifling expense, and it is a work most urgently required. Captain Beveridge, late Harbor-Master at Charleston, proceeded to Auckland by the John Perm. Previous to his departure, a gentleman from Charleston presented him with a handsomely-engrossed and very numerously-signed testimonial of the feelings entertained towards him by the people of Charleston, on account of his conduct as an official and as a citizen. Some interest was taken in a race run yesterday, for JBIO aside, between two packhorses, " Bobby " and "Roan," ridden by their respective owners, Lyons and " German Charley." The race, which was run on the beach at Westport, was easily won by Lyons's "Bobby." Another race over the same " course " is fixed for Monday. The prisoners in Dunedin gaol have "benefited" by the arrival of the Maori prisoners there. Tobacco was allowed to the Maoris, and, to prevent dissatisfaction, it has been given to all.

The Victorian Post Office has adopted the English fashion of issuing envelopes with embossed postage-stamps. The Presbyterians of Greymouth have given a unanimous call to the Kev. Mr M'lntosh, of Lyttelton.

A prospecting claim, and a reward for the discovery of a new goldfield, have been applied for by six men at the Warden's office, Kanieri. The ground is said to be fifteen miles up the Hokitika river, with ten feet of washdirt, and prospects of half a pennyweight to the dish. It is with regret we notice an announcement of the death of Mr George A. Henningham, formerly proprietor and editor of the Dunedin Evening Star, subsequently connected with the West Coast Press, and latterly with that of Melbourne. He died on the sth of October, at Launceston, Tasmania, at the early age of thirty-one years. His brother, Mr W. Henningham, has resumed, in Dunedin, the publication of the Echo, suspended in consequence of the criminal action for libel brought by Mr Driver, M.H.E. It is now a weekly issue, printed by Mills, Dick, and Co.

The Dunedin Evening Star gravely reports the following circumstance as one of the events by which Mrßranigan's successor has inaugurated his occupation of the office of Commissioner of Police: —We hear that Mr Commissioner Weldon has granted to the members of the police force a boon long desired by many of them, viz., permission for such of them as wish to do so, to grow their beards, instead of shaving on the chin as heretofore.

The Hawke's Bay prospecting party have discovered gold, but not as yet in payable quantities. Cashmore's saw mill, in the Big Bush, Hawke's Bay, has been burnt down. The Amended Vagrant Act, which is more penal than the former one, is being strictly enforced in Greymouth against persons of bad character. The Wellington Provincial Executive have been defeated by a vote of ten to one, on a question of land for Volunteers; the one being the Provincial Secretary. A compromise has since been effected. Mr Fox refused to preside at the farewell breakfast to Dr Featherston as, being a teetotaller, he could not countenance toast drinking, which was part of the Chairman's duty. Mr A. Florance, jun., writes to the Lyttelton Times that he has succeeded in making fine specimens of paper from watercresses. The following are the elected members of the Provincial Council on the Nelson side of the Province :—Waimea West—Mr C. Kelling, by a majority of three over Mr H. Bedwood; Waimea South—Mr Baigent and Mr Shepherd; Waimea East—Mr Barnicoat and Mr F. Kelling.