THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, JAN. 30, 1880.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, Issue II, 30 January 1880, Page 2

THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, JAN. 30, 1880.

Weateveb may be laid to the charge of the present Government, it cannot but be admitted that thev are at least consistent in one thing, namely, their determination to keep a tight rein upon ihe public expenditure. "We ave had a fair instance of the fact in relation to works in our own district, and we have also" seen how grudgingly the inhabitants of Greymouth and Hokitika have been dealt with in regard to harbor endowments and harbor works. Indeed, the Government appear to make no secret of the fact that their policy is essentially and unequivocally of the "do nothing" order. Not* withstanding that we are indebted to the •' Budget Major " party for close upon a million of additional taxation, some hundreds of thousand of which have already been poured into the Treasury, the members of tbe Ministry are never done informing the country through the medium of money seeking deputations, of the deplorable condition of the Colonial finance, and of the terrible disorder which Ministerial wisdom sees looming ahead of the Colony. But we wholly fail to see the logic of this perennial cry of wolf, which is raised on all possible occasions to help the Government out jof fcheir obligations. The fact is we believe this propensity of elongating the Ministerial mouth is but an in* geaioua piece of acting, designed to awe lhe people, and comp i\ them to 11 stacd off," while the joke is bang enjoyed behind the Ministerial scenes The process may be very amusing, and if carried out impartially, would pro* bably have the effect at the end of the play in bringing about the feast which! in general supervenes upon a famine; But the danger which seems to threaten is that it will not be carried out impartially, and that while the most dismal of dismal faces will be reserved for one parfe of the Colony, a gentle impetus will be imparted t<j public expenditure in anotherr The cry has of course been raised that the present financial difficulties of the Colony have been brought about by too lavish public worka expenditure, but we do not know that it has ever yet been urged that any of that lavishness extended to this side of the divid- j ing range. The fact is that it has j been urged in the House and out of] it during the past five years that the West Coast has never had but a fractional share of the Loan expenditure. In the face of these circumstances then, we fail to see the justice or even common honesty of punishing this part of the Colony by the limitation of expenditure, when, as a matter of fact we here at all events are unable to point to a single public work for which we are indebted to the millions borrowed If the Loan revenue has been squandered, the parts of the Colony favored by the expenditure should now bear the burden of re^ retrenchment. They are now in the enjoyment of the works that lavishness has bequeathed to them, and can well afford to remain out in the cold for a time. "We trust than that upon the coming visit of the Minister of Public Works the claims of this district will be fully represented to him. and that our past neglect will be made t:ie basis of our present claim for comideratioD.

At the annual 'meeting of the members of (he Fire Brigade held last ni»ht, the following officers were appointed for the current year :— Captain, Mr Co) inj-s ; First Lieutenant, Mr .Richardson ; Oecond Lieutenant, Mr Roulston ; Foreman of Engine, Mr Dornan ; Deputy Foreman of Kngine, Mr Charles; Branchmen, Messrs Dunn (M.) and Hogg; Treasurer, Mr D. M'Beaih ; and Seere« tary, Mr E. Eoulston. We remind the inhabitants of the publio meeting to be held in Dawson'e Hail this evening, re the appointment of a Resident Magistrate and Warden /or JReelton. 'fhe

subject is an important one, and we trust to see the meeting fully attended.

We are glad to learn that an effort will be made to aeoure the presence here during the visit of the Minister of Public Works, of Messrs Masters and Reeves, representatives of the district, in order that the claims of the district may be fully set forth. The inquest upon the late fire at Reefton wasbeldat Twohill's Hotel, on 'Wednesday afternoon last, before Dr. Monckton, J.P. A large nimber of witnesses were examined, but the investigation brought nothing to light as to the origin of the conflagration, and the jury in the end returned a verdict that there was no evidence to show how the fire occurred, It was reported in Reefton early in the. week that some exceptionally rich alluvial ground had been opened in the neighborhood of Maori Gul'y, No. 1, about ten miles from Reefton. A small rush- to the locality fol lowed, but up to the present time nothing confirmatory of the reported richness of the find has transpired, although the adjoining ground has been pretty well tried, Further intelligence frona the neighbourhood is expected in the course of a day or two. Mr Christian Domaslcy, who for many years past had a position of tru«t in the service of Messrs Smith and Barkley at Reefton, left here for Greymouth on Wednesday morning last. Prior to his departure he was entertained at a farewell dance at Bawson's Ha 1 !, by a large n amber of friends, and a mosfc agreeable evening was spent. Dnring his long residence in Reefton, Mr Domasky by his careful, industrious and courteous demeanor, made a large circle of friends, who will be always glad to hear of his advancement. Now that trustees have been appointed for the Reefton Cemetery, it is to be hoped that something will be done to place the inclosure in something like decent order, Its present condition- is a positive disgrace to the community. The whole area it so overgrown with weeds and rotting vegetation as to almost conceal the headstones from eight, while many of the graves are being trampled upon by visitors so as to be all but jrrecbgn nisuble If the funr*s at the disposal of the trustees are unsufßeienfc to carry out the needed repairs, then a scale of burial fees should be fixed upon, and a sex' on appointed for the right of collecting them, whose duty it should be to make certain improvements. In other localities a fee of £2 is charged for the ground for each grave, in addition to the cost of digging, and these fees together should be sufficient to %eoure the necessary supervision. The mouthly meeting of the Hospital Committee will be held at Mr M'G-affin's Office at 8 o'clock on Monday evening. The next sitting of the Resident Magistrate's and Warden's Courts here will be held on the sth February. The petition in circulation to ask the County Council to strike a special rate for the Fire Brigade is, we learn, not meeting with unanimous support, the residents out of Broadway holding tbtr Opinion that as the water supply is limited to Broadway, the Brigade can render no service in time of fire to properties beyond. Mr John M'G-affin will hold an auction tale of household furniture and effects at j the Buck's Head Hotel ta-morrow at 1 o'clork. He wi'l also submit to auction at ! 12 o'clock to-mor?ow, at Mr Woolley's farm, about three tons of prime hay. During Wednesday nijjht last a hungry horse broke into a section under oats in Smith-streets, and xso combined reaper and binder that was ever yet invented could hold a candle to the manner in which that crop was wiped out and converted into chaff. The crop was a good one, aud so was the horse's appetite and digestion, and to put it in language^ appropriate Jo the occasion — ample justice was done to the good things provided. Shortly after daylight the animal withdrew, and walked home with a decidedly dyspeptic gait, and a few hours later the agitated owner of the section waa to be seen sitting on the doorstep of the Resident Magistrate's Court ruminating, possibly, upon the progress of missionary work in the Fiji's.

There is nothing new to report from the Boatman's district. The battery is leisurely dumping away upon the Welcome Company stone, and will be constantly employed for some weeks yet. The whole of the stone is being taken from the upper level, and is of a good avejage quality, and should run quite 2oz. The Just-in-Time Company are in full readiness for crushing, and as the stone looks quite equal to the last parcel crushed, the prospects of another div. may be said to be A-l. The new reef in the Fiery Cross has developed into a fine body of stone, fully 4ft in thickness, and shows what may be un* doubtedly pronounced as payable gold. The various o'hpr mines offer nothing to report at the present time. Mr W. C. Hodgson, the well known secretary of the Nelson Education Board, apparently has resolved on resigning his office, as we notice that applications are invited for the office, at a salary of £350 per annum. The late rains have oaus3d several large land-siips on the Westport road just beyond the boundary of this County,-^ and the Westport coaoh is in eonsequence^nable to travel.- The mails were brought through on horseback on Wednesday last. The Ashburton. people recently corns municated with the Government, urging the prosecution of the East; and West Coast railway, and we're informed that the survey of the line was now in progress. The survey of the Stillwater to Nelson Creek section is also now being proceeded with. The Nehon people are agitating for the 'extension of the* Foxhill section, and it is expected that tenders for the work will shortly be called for. Lionel Lawßon, the part proprietor of the London Daily Telegraph, has died within the past fortnight (says the Home correspondent of the Queenilander), and has divided his ■

enormous wealth between a few favored relatives. His patronymic was Levy, but he as» eumed the name of Law son a good many years ago. Hj» was never married, though he Had a family, for whom he has raunific ntly provided. His eldest daughter was married some years ago to Sir George Preseott, Bart., and on her he settled at her marriage £100,000. She gets nothing more now. the residue of his real and personal property be» ing divided between his son, Frank Law?on (a lad at Harrow), a niece, nephew, and the other children of hU eldest brother. Each of these five portions it is estimated will yield £20 000 a year. Mr Lawson was the owner of the Gaiety Theatre, whi"h he built. His personalty will be sworn under £900,000, though this does not* of course, include his various freehold estates. It seems strange that a man of suoh enormous wealth should, since the making of this will in 1875, have let: only one living soul know that such a document existed. For these four years this docu« ment has been in the hands of Mr Alfred Cox, a solicitor, of St. Swithin's-lane, with the exception of whom no one at Mr Lawson's death was aware whether he had or had not died intestate,

The beautiful Mrs Langtry, who rose upon London Society two years ago with such bright effulgence, has not only waned, but set in most disastrous eclipse, It is said that proceedings in the Divorce Court have been stayed, the compromise talked of being a dpuceur of £30,000 to the outraged husband. Rumor has it that a most exalted personage would hare been compromised but for this extravagant settlement. It is a bad world, my masters !