THE Inangahua Times, PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. WEDNESDAY; AUGUST 4, 1880.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, 4 August 1880, Page 2

THE Inangahua Times, PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. WEDNESDAY; AUGUST 4, 1880.

Applications are elsewhere invited for a competent engineer to take charge of the Coalpit Heath Company's winding engine. Applications to be addressed to the secretary of the company, Mr R. Nancarrow, Grey; mouth, not later than Saturday next. Wages £4 per week. ' After » tolerably long . immunity from mining accidents, Boatman's has contributed one of the most painful casualties we have yet had to chronible. On Monday last « well known miner named John Maher was employed excavating at the Welcome Com* j pany's machine site . He was engaged in a part of the excavation by himself, and had just placed a chary© of dynamite in a crevice of the rook, and was in the act of placing the cap on the fuse when an explosion followed. Fearing that an accident had oc« curred, the workman hurried to the spot, and found the unfortunate man near the face, in an insensible condition. It waft found on examination that serious bodily injuries had been inflicted, and instant preparations were made for conveying the sufferer to Reefton. On arriving at the Hospital it was found that the left hand was hopelessly shattered, and would have to. be amputated, as also the thumb and middle finger of the right band. The. operation was successfully performed by Dr Thorpe, and the patient, though still weak, is in a fair way of recovery. It is believed that the eyesight has not been perman* ently injured. How ths explosion occurred nobody seems td know, but the supposition is that Maher was chipping off a piece of rock with a hammer, in order to make room for the fuse, and that the charge was thus fired. Great sympathy is felt for the unfortunate man, who has thus been disabled for life. The Minister of Education has forwarded a circular letter to the Education Boards throughout the Colony, intimating that the < 10 per cent, reductions are td apply to the salaries of all State teachers, and that the most rigid economy is to be exercised in the distribution- of the educational grants. We understand that the Golden Fleece Extended Company will start crushing ou 'Friday next. We gather that the gross liabilities of the , lnangahua County ■ Council, total up : to £5 000 or £6,000. but it is believed that by suspending all expenditure upon jjnblic works and carrying into effect the retrenchment con* templated the Council will right itself within a year. It is, We believe, the intention of the Hospital Committee to get up a concert and ens tertainment in aid of the institution. The date of the entertainment has not yet been fixed. ' • There' was a long slitting of the' County' Council, in committee, on Monday night, the members not adjourning until after I p.m. The vexed contractor question was discussed at great 'length, and eventually a scale was adopted for the rescision of each contract. The basis arrived at will now be submitted for the acceptance of contractors* and the result will be communicated to the next meet* ing of the Council. A committee was subsequently appointed to consider what reductions can be made in the departmental ex« penses of the Council, to report to the next meeting, which will be held on the 18th instant. ■:•..,.•. We learn that Mr Warden Revell has reported favorably to the Government with regard to the Big River prospecting track. As however, it was made a condition precedent of obtaining the Government subsidy, that the Council should contribute two-thirds of the work.it is hardly likely that th« Council, in its present position, will interest itself any further in regard to the work. The lowest tender in for the work is considerably over £600, so that the Council would, in order to start the track, have to provide £400, which, it is needless to say, is beyond its ability to do.. :■■-.■.■' Weatever little good may have resulted to the town by the Council expenditure upon road and other contracts, it is certain that henceforth there will be little to depend upon from that source. With the cessation of the maintenance contracts will no doubt follow a discontinuance of all other expenditure, and we do not see that the Council will be able to resume its functions for at least twelve months to come. • The following incident, showing how far youthful prccooity sometimes goes, occurred some short time back in one of our local sdhools, aecordiug to the Hawera Star .— Master .v 1 ? Any of you who are willing to try and save something from your pocket money for the Irish Relief Fund will please hold up your /right handa. or t if you don't get pocket money, gowithoutsugar in your tea, or butter on your bread, for a month, and thus create a claim on your parents' generosity." After the above, a generous little fellow about eight yfftrjkjojd .stood up, and with a firm voice said, ""^promise to do without tobacco for two nontnV' Mrs.Beiant, iq^Jjhe course of * lecture delivered, in the Bolton Co-operative Hal!, stated that the had been requested by Mr Bradlaugh to inform his friends in Bolton of the course he Intended to pursue should the Parliamentary^Odmmittee on the oath queation report aeafost him. In the firet pluce the decision of the Committee will be challenged by Mr Labo'uebere. and if the House, and insist on the oath being admin - istered, he will quietly submit to the decision. There he will remain until, he is duly sworn or taken into custody by the iSerjeant-at-Armii in which latter event a crusade? ugfinVt the action of the House will be^omDie«^d^ S| CC% H " : The elect t ion orMr Bradlaugb for Northhampton, and the incidents in connection therewith are (write)) (be London correspon-

dent of the 8. A. Register) the subject of much comment A statement recently went the round of the Press to the effect that an elector of Northampton had consulted Mr Spdrgeon on the matter of his vote, and asked for his opinion as to whether, as an Evangelioal Christian, he could consistently support the Devil himself, if a Liberal. This naturally gave rice to severe criticism ; out Mr Spurgeon promptly wrote stating that there was not a word of truth in the story. In the course of this^reply he said :— " In my judgement no roan should be made to sufTor for his religious opinions, and men of all creeds and of no creed have a right to be represented in the House of Commons if they are numerous enough to return a member. I should greatly prefer to see men of Christian character and principles returned ; the better the man the*:more worthy of the honor. At the same time, the fitness of a man to represent us politically cannot be measured by bis piety or his orthodoxy. We employ a physician, not because he is a Baptist, but because he understands medicine ; and so we vote for a man to sit in Parliament, not because he is orthodox in religion, but because he holds views in politics which we regard to be right. The less sectarianism comes into the question the better. Tha moral element in politics should be mainly regarded, and peculiarities of creed only so far an they are involved in the present union of Church and State, and other kindred subjects." Some days ego the " Areas " pubiished a lengthy statement of the case of Mr Seme's Reform Bill, and the statement ha' since been issued in a pamplet forms the " Age " next day published its account of the history of \f r Service's Government. This the " Argus " < haracterised as a mendacious production, to which the " Age " replied again fully on the 12th. Altogether a very acrimonious feeling has been displayed by the press generally throughout the colony. Prince Henry of Prussia and his 6uife, who are making a voyage round the worjd, have been insulted by some Japanese functionaries. While they were out for a day's bunting near Suita, their coolies Were assaulted by farmer?, ot the pretence that their presence frightened away the game. The police refused to allow .the Prince and his suite to go back by train to Kobe, and on their driving to Tenman ihay were ordered to alight, end remained under a kind of semi-arrest till a high official arrived The. Government has apologised, suspended the Governor of Osaka, and dismissed eight policemen. In reply to Mr J 6, Fisher, the Colonial Treasurer said no bonus could be declared npon polioies in the Government Insurance Department till after June, 1881. The books were now closed for the report of the actuary, ; and it would be for the House to decide the mode and amount of division. A bold scheme is proposed by M. Duclero, vice-president of the French Senate, which is no less than converting Spain and Portugal itito an island by the construction of a - maritime canal between Bordeaux and Narb rane. This connection between the Atlantic and Mediterranean would shorten the voyage fi'om England to Italy by one-half. The. idea is :eo doub*, to increase the maritime pnwer of France," but it would be a great addition to the saving of time in conjunction with the Sue zCanal in a voyage to India.