Cromwell Argus, AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. Cromwell: Tuesday, April 22, 1873.

Cromwell Argus, Volume IV, Issue 180, 22 April 1873, Page 4

Cromwell Argus, AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. Cromwell: Tuesday, April 22, 1873.

Tu the event of a dissolution of the Assembly, it is rumoured that Mr J. Alexander will come forward for this district. If a Mint- ■ ter of Mines be appointed, the s ilary will probably I l)e something near £IOOO per annum. It may save Mr Alexander some brain-work if we state at once that the above sentences have no connection one with the other. Both are included in this paragraph as items of political news. It may also save him brain-work, and the Tuapeka Times and ourselves space, if we state that we have no desire for any explanation from him to the effect that the frequency of his letters to the Press has nothing to do with an intention on his part to keep his name before the public in view of him standing. To non-readers of the Tuapeka Times, it needs to be explained that the mention of that journal above is induced by the fact that Mr Alexander has forwarded. to it for insertion copies of the letters which have appeared with his signature in our columns. ' • On Thursday evening, agreeably to previous announcement, the Rev. B. Drake gave a lecture on “ The Life and Times of Mary, Queen of Scots.” The Town-hall was well filled by an appreciative audience, many of whom were unable to obtain sitting-room. Mr James Taylor fulfilled the duties of chairman with his accustomed ability. The rev. lecturer spoke for nearly two hours, and was listened to with great interest and close attention from first to last. He began by giving a condensed history of the Royal Stuarts from the time of James L. ; noticing the violent or at least unnatural ends of all in turnHe traced the career of the unhappy, unfortunate Queen from her youth upwar Is ; from the time when, at five years of age, she crossed to Prance, in which country, surrounded by friendly and loving faces, and free from all care, she bloomed into beautiful womanhood, shining no less as Queen of France than as Queen of Beauty and Intelligence in “ the gay court of Bourbon”; accompanying her thence with tearful regrets and fears in her journey to Scotland ; describing bet enthusiastic reception as Queen of her native land; then the doubts'and disafTcctions of her Protestant subjects; and concluding with her marriage to Darnley, and his suspicious death, the foulest blot on the name of Mary, from which the lecture! found it impossible to absolve her. Here, owing to the lateness of the hour, Mr Drake was forced to conclude, with a promise to complete the history on a future evening. The lecture itself was a triumph of memory, and an admirable specimen of graphic power and rhetorical ability. At its conclusion, Mr Drake urged the utility and importance—to young men especially—of possessing a good knowledge of modern history, and impressed upon his audience the necessity of acquiring such knowledge at as early an age as possible. The lessons to be learnt from, the history of their own country would prove of immense advantage in after life to those who studied it in their youth ; and if the young men of Cromwell would only do themselves the justice to attend a course of lectures which he proposed to give during the coming winter, he would undertake to impart to them a fund of historical information in such a way that he could not fail to fix the leading facts and occurrences permanently upon their memories. He purposed on that day fortnight, to resume the lecture which he was unable to conclude that evening, and also to give some account of the life of Robert the Bruce. (Applause.) A vote of thanks to the rev. lecturer, proposed by the Mayor and seconded by Mr Marsh, avas heartily and unanimously accorded. The Town Clerk desires us to mention that all owners of dogs within the Municipality who don’t pay the tax immediately are liable to be summoned, in which case they will incur * penalty of not less thah 40*. and costs.

lln England, when ballet-girls appear in later than customary scantiness of apparel; ten a play is produced of uncommon immoity j or when “ fast” publications go beyond lent bounds, the Lord High Chamberlain, ndful of the good morals of the British public, ps in to object. He acts the part of moral ardian of the people. Whether or not it may ve been required, we believe we are correct in dug that no such interference has been made the history of New Zealand. But our connporary the Dmstan Times fancies ho has ind occasion for it in connection with the puliation of the Farrell letters ; and in last issue assumes the r6k of moral judge of Colonial irnalisra,—-no slight assumption on the part of s of the most miserable representatives of it. s describes the publication of those letters by i fellows as a “pandering to the vitiated and irbid taste of the present generation”; and itentiously remarks, in concluding a sentence istructed after his own peculiar ideas of Engi composition: “but verily our wives and lighters are to be excluded from reading the -rent literature of the day, or to have their lings outraged by the publication of such udliug and immoral trash, as published by ne of our contemporaries.” Few, we may nark in passing, will hold with the opinion •e given that the letters, however much they y partake of the character of “ maudling” naudlin) trash, contain anything so immoral to render them unfit for the reading of feles, or anything likely to affect, the “moral dth of the community at large,” as our conaporaryfurther asserts. Except in one or two nts, the letters might have been written by > most correct of tender youthful lovers. Not ingle indecent expression is to be found in >tn. The fact of the woman being married iders the loves of the two illicit; but it is in to question whether the publication our temporary so contemns will not help in the yof warning to those of like inclination rather vn as an inducement to such sinful loving on > part of others. But to return from this dijssion. The Lord Chamberlain, who judges lat is fit and proper to be placed before the itisb public, is fitted by his moral character so judge, or ought to be ere he is elevated to ; judging position. And how much more mid a self-constituted critic, such as the Times the case before us, be possessed of the qualifidons necessary to adapt him to the office. His tecedents should be of the purest description .vithout statu or blemish. He should ever be eful to practise what he preaches. Has the nes been thus careful ? Only a few .weeks ), there appeared in the columns of this connporary a review—and an advertisement at i same time, it being a sine qua nbn tb 'the 1 pment of the advertisement that it should'not, pear without the review,—of certain works by Beanev, of Melbourne. , These works were of ;h a character that their very names can be mby no woman without a blush. By implidon, of course, the review—insertion of which ,s refused by one journal, at least, which makes such pretensions to superior modesty as this isorious critic—was the outcome of the brain the Dunstnn Times editor, although in reality was the work of some one in Melbourne conmed in the successful sale of the books alluded Were “ our wives and daughters” not excted to see this review because it happened to paid for as an advertisement ? Or is this a :ase—as it is so finely expressed in “ Beautiful ,ow” -of “Selling my soul to whoever would buy: Dealing in shame for a morsel of bread”? it there is no occasion to go back upon our Ige’s antecedents for evidence that he is of all hers the least worthy of the self-assumed wig d gown. We need but to glance at the same s'et in which the above-quoted remarks appear, d we find the white choker and upturned eyes lich lent their influence to the pen while writ- '•! the editorial, entirely dispensed with when e scissors comes to be taken in hand. Our ntemporary gives a fine example of his consisncy and a noble evidence of his moral purity, hen he publishes the following paragraph In a case that came before the county magisdes at Winborne, Dorsetshire, it transpired at a man, a grown-up son, and two grown-up mghters habitually slept in one bed, and that ,e °f the girls had had three children by her m father.” Are “ our wives and daughters” pected to reap benefit from this kind of inferation ? Eighteen hundred years ago, mankind as thus advised : .fudge not, that ye be not f lged. \Te won’t repeat Mark Twain’s wittinn, and say this is news to the editor of the unstan Times ; but perhaps he would do well keep the adm mition in mind. Two ministers of • the. Presbyterian torch-the I‘ ev - A. B. Tpdd of (laniard, and 16 Rev. J. Ryley of Ocepopo—are expected to sit Cromwell t«-day. We are requested to ate that divine service will be conducted by ono the reverend gentlemen at the Schoolroom 1 eight o’clock this evening. For the future we intend giving pubtoy to all cases of drunkenness that may be s alt with in the local Court. A few days ago we received by mail a toted circular containing a retrospect of the otish Iron Trade for 1872, and detailing the Mirations which occurred in the price of iron to coal during the year. The circular bears le signature of C. E. Muller, iron merchant and :sim "’top owner, Middlesbro’-on-Tees.

i Both the rivers, the Clutha and Kawa- ; ran, are lower now than at any previous time ■ during the past four years ; and we may expect [ a further falling, as the frost is making its appearance. Extremely little snow, considering , the time of year, is to be seen on the mountains, 1 —in fact, there is seldom less in the height of 1 summer. 1 Subscribers to the Athenaeum are reminded that a special meeting takes place to- ( night, in the Reading-room, at eight o’clock. The Bannockburn Foresters purpose to ! celebrate their sixth anniversary by holding a [ ball at Richards’ assembly-room on Friday, 9th ' proximo. It is officially announced in our advertisement columns that Mr Receiver Baird will in future visit the Nevis on the last Tuesday in every month, weather permitting. At a meeting of the Cromwell Jockey Club, held in the Town-hall on Friday evening, , it was decided to arrange a programme of races , for the Queen’s Bi thday (’'Saturday, 24th May). Messrs MacKellar and Dawkins undertook to act as canvassers. Messrs Taylor, Jolly, Marsh, Kidd, Lake, and Loughnan were appointed stewards; Mr Harding, judge.; Mr Dawkins, starter; and Mr Pierce, Clerk of the course. €l6 6s. was subscribed in the room towards the. r ace fund. The Vice-President and Treasurer were deputed to draw up a programme of events, to be submitted to the Club for approval on Monday evening. A suggestion that a tilting tournament should form part of the day’s amusement was favourably received. The meeting adjourned till Monday evening.—The Club met again last night, when the programme which appears in another column was submitted and adopted. The collectors reported having been very successful in their canvass for subscriptions. It was agreed to request Mr Wrightson to act as h.andicapper. We have received from the Ladies’ University Scholarship Committee a small pamphlet on the “ Higher Education of Women,” together with various printed papers relating to the proposed Scholarship The following extract from a circular enclosed explains clearly the course of action the Committee have laid out for themselves Last year the classes of the University were opened to women ; a few availed themselves of the privilege ; and there is reason to believe that attendance at the classes, and encouragement to study the higher branches of education, would be greatly promoted by the endowment of one or more Scholarships, of the value of not less than £3O a year. To yield a vearly interest to tint amount, each "cholarship will require a fund of at least £4OO, towards which ladies invite contributions.” The writer of the pamphlet referred to expresses her conviction “that the higher education of women - -as generally conducted—is wholly misdirected; more, that even among well-informed peoole, there is absolute misconception of what education really is. It appears to me, that the result of this so-called higher education received by women now and of late yea,Vs at schools and co\ leges, is to displace them from their true pnsi ion, and tend to make them clever, restless, and unfeminine. Now, the truth of the matter is, the world does not require women to be clever or learned, it rather wants them to be useful and qood. Knowledge to a woman is not like the learning of a man,—required to fit him f.r becoming a pleader atjthe bar, or an orator in the senate ; nor has she so much need to be exercised in those studies which develop distinct individuality of character, as to have her mind and understanding trained to habits of thoughtfully considering how to apply the knowledge she has, in her active relations with her fellow-beings in the daily intercourse of life. ..... If it were possible, I should have this proposed Scholarship used as a stimulus to engage in such studies only, as, reduced to a system, should help to form the character ; as should purport to educate for the wider object of providing the perfect woman ; as should thoroughly train all her powers of mind to a just conception of those duties which her place in the world, as one of God’s children, requires her to discharge, and which shoul 1 increase those qualities that shall enable her still. more to cheer and enlighten the social system, which it is her special province to guide afad adorn.” A recent Coromandel Mail states that a Gymnastic and Football Club has been formed there. The entrance was fixed at 55., and a weekly subscription of Is. was agreed upon, fll was stated to be the sum required to get a complete set of materials necessary. We hope to have something to say in a week or two as to the formatmn of a similar kind of Club in Cromwell. We referred to something of the sort a little time ago, and we are assured the matter is not to be allowed to go to sleep. The Gold-fields Bill (says the Tuapelca Times) to be submitted to the General Assembly at its next session, has been drafted, and is now under revision. It will probably be ready for circulation in a fortnight. Mr Cowan, of the Kawarau station, met with an accident on Wednesday morning last. A bullock was being killed at the station, and he was watching the operation of drawing it up on the “gallows.” The gallows gave way, and i Mr Cowan was struck on the head by one of the beams. He was rendered insensible for a short time, but no serious results are anticipated.

The case of Wenkheim v. Arndt (of the Wakatip district) an action for breach of promise of marriage, was heard at the Supreme Court on Friday. The plaintiff asked for £SOO damages, on account of the lady, who is now the defendant's wife, having failed in her promise to marry, A private telegram, received here yesterday, states that the jury awarded one farthing damages ; the parties to pay their own costs. News reached town on Saturday evening (says the Wakatip Mail) of a fatal and very melancholy accident which occurred at Pleasant Creek Terrace, Upper Shotover, on Saturday afternoon, to the wife of a well-known resident, Mr J. M‘Dougall. From what we can gather, deceased, while in search of one of her children, slipped over a rocky bluff, and was precipitated some few hundred feet to the.banks of the river below. When picked up she was still alivcj but unconscious, and died shortly afterwards. What renders the event more deplorable is, that a large family is left behind almost unprovided for. An inquest was held before Mr Beetham yesterday, but the only particular we have heard is that a verdict of accidental death was returned. The Dunstan Times says a man named Patrick Leary committed suicide in a most determined manner on Monday morning last, a short distance from Blacks. Early in the morning he was discovered in a crouching position, suspended by a saddle-strap from the tail end of a dray. The dray was only four feet six inches from the ground, and when the man was discovered, his knees were bent and his toes touching the ground. At the inquest, it was elicited that he had been drinking heavily ; and a verdict of temporary insanity was returned. It is rumoured (says the Mount Ida Chronicle) that the changes to be made in the Gold-fields department, owing to the leave granted to Mr Warden Pyke, will remove Mr Carew from Blacks to Clyde, will once more throw St. Bathans into the over-worked hands of Mr Robinson, and Mr Simpson will probably replace Mr Pyke at Taapeka. There is also some reason to believe that these changes will be of a more permanent nature than changes latterly have been. A billiard mutch of considerable interest was commenced on Monday, the 27th January in the Waverley Hall, Waterloo Place, Edinburgh, between W. Cook and J. Roberts, jun. The match was made on a new table,, specially built for the occasion by Messrs Morrison and Co., George-street, that firm having offered as a prize a magnificent gold medal, to be awarded to the highest aggregate scorer in four games—two of 1000 points and two of 750 each—at billiards. The first game of 1000 up was won by Cook, the game standing at the finish, Cook, 1001 ; Roberts, 74L The best break (245) was made by the Champion. The next game—one of 750 up—was won by Cook, by 510 points, his best breaks being 374 and 146. On the following day, however, the tables were turned, as Roberts won the second game of 1000 points by 405. In the course of the play Roberts scored 194, 126, 120, and 126, the latter break being unfinished. Cook’s highest break was 98. The last game was secured by Roberts, by 392 points. During the game he scored breaks of ISO and 260. The Champion, however, never got into three figures. Reckoning up the scores of the fmr games, it | was found that Roberts was the winner of Messrs Morrison and Co.’s gold medal by 22 points. The me lal was presented by a well-known amateur to Roberts, who stated that he had never played on a better table. In a game of pyramids afterwards played, Roberts won six games to Cook’s three.