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Inangahua Times, Volume II, Issue II, 25 February 1881, Page 2

Owners of unregistered«dogs would do well to take warning by a case heard in Magistrate's Court yesterday by tho In» spector against Mr Oxley ; the defend** ant was charged with haying an unreg* istered dog in his possession, and nl» though he repudiated the ownership and stated that the animal never did belong to him, he was nevertheless adjudged to be the ostensible owner, and mulcted in a fine of Is and costs. It seems that under tjie Dog Act the slightest evidence of possession is only requisite to establish ownership, as in Mr Oxley's case, the mere fact of a dog being allowed to loaf on the premises : in dealing with the ease his Worship remarked that as the prosecution was the first of the kind that' had come before him in Reefton he would not inflct an exemplary fine, but trusted that tbe case would be a warning to others. The fact that the first nn r l second prizes in Tonk's sweep fell to Reefton tras an excusable cause for (he amount of excitement manifested in town last night, and wliich recalled some of the busy times of old , Messrs Wylde nnd Elliston are tbo fortunate holders of Sir Modred. while On pit is held by Mr G. C. Bow<* man. £100 was tins morning offered and refused for Volunteer', who was also hold locally. Early yesterday intelligence reached town of the striking of eolden stone by tbe contractors in tbe Inarigab.ua Low Level Tunnel ; cominj; so closely upon the reported striking of a lode in the same tunnel on Monday last, and the subsequent discovery that the stone did not show gold, the public were yesterday not a 1i 1 tie incredulous at first, but a litt'e later in the day the news was con« firmed, and backed upas tbe news was

,by an active demand for shares, doubt , was succeeded by q-iife a mild fofrn of* exciletoent; all available shares '-were/ bought up at one shil'ing, and sales closed lastrifght at one shilling and sixpence,.' tutt'the market had been cleared *>&-• -right. Last night Mr Trennery and Mr Caples proceeded to Black's Point for the purpose of reporting the nature of the discovery to the directory of which they are members. They report the stone to be about ten inches in thick-; ness, and 89 to its quality it is not un« * tiketf-lhat they -■ *wilt recotfimend; the di-> rectors to put on hands to take out a small crushing ; this the company is abte ; to do at comparatively trivial cost, owing to the. convenient position of the-Daunt*' less battery, more will, however be known on this head in the course of a day or two; with regard to the stone it is believed .that It iti"! identical with'i the Scandinavian reef, the outcrop of which was met with on the surface in the early days of Reefton, but which was lost after being followed down some Htlle distance. Owing to Mr Revell's presence be« ing rf quired in Westporfc this morning, he wns compelled to gallop through? they Jihdna lias** "^^fflgf tnelf s WSf Mfc linaDle to getto the boTtSm of the lift, an at the hour of his deparlure there were several cases undis* posed of, and which have therefore been hung tip till next Court. An exceedingly interested experiment in home colonisation is now being tried in Cheshire. Mr Binney, a Manchester solicitor, with a firm faith in the saving virtues of a peasant proprietary, was impelled a year ago by a suggestion made by Lord Derby to put his theories to the test of practice. He bought an estate of 150 acres at Whitley, in Cheshire, and resold it in »mall lots of one, two, or more acres each to men who were willihg ttt; settb on the land. About half the estate lias 1 been resold, and twenty habitations have already been run up for the accommodation of; tbe sma 1 ! landowners. Each settler owns the I fee simple of his plot, and as the colony is within easy distance by roil from the great in-/ dustrial centre,s,.of,Sputh Laneashjro Jhey, canf comraaod a never*{diiing.ii>aif6et fpr t^fir produce. The 7 pall Mall Budget " thinks thatf if this colony of ma'ket gardeners or peapanj proprietors should prove a •' trade success r a practical step of the first importance will have been taken to solve one of the mob difficult problen(<Brof:6urtitne.' i O' V; ".• f A letter fiom the African Diamond Field, written by an old Cauterbury man to his wife says—" The place at which we are located js : called Gong Gong, Vaal river Griqualaud bixty miles from Kimberley. tWe are ddhigj well. Any white man can get £4 a week here \ as overseer to watch the Kaffirs at work to prevent their stealing the diamonds, as no < white man works, or is expected to. I hopej you got the £60 I sent you in July last, and I am glad to,se aSle/to eeiid you. another £fiO now. A fe# days ago* we found a2^ carat diamond which I sold for £40. Had it been 10 carat it would have been worth £1000. The ouly fault in them is the color ; the whiter they are the more they get for them. Diamond digging is different Jto ; gqld, dig ing because the find is co much more valuable. Provisions are dear here. Flour, £30 a 1001 b. bag ; tea, 3s 6d a pound. ; beef, when we can get it, 6d a lb., and baJ at that. I have seen cabbages sold at 8s each. Potatoes fetch £4 a bag ; onions the same. lam paying £2 a week for board, and it's jolly bad at that." Mr Ballance's organ plays the following tune:— *' The Timaru Herald thinks the vacant portfolio in the Ministry ought to be offered to Mr Reader Wood, whose services no doubt enabled, the Conservatives to retain their places in 1579. But this, is really too humble of the presiding genius of the Timaru Herald. It is a smurt trick to scout tbe qualifications of all but Mr Eeader Wood, and | to sneer at the Hon. Jahn Hall for sticking to i the old Provincial notion of representation according to geographical distribution. All this is easy translateable. If Mr Wood does not accept — and wo- don't believe lie wants office — there is one young and rising politician who we are quite sure would not have the slightest objection in the world to oblige a decayed Ministry. When the Government find their overtures unsuccessful in other directions, they hnve only to turn to Timaru Seriously, we believe he has earned it." Tho Melbourne Age says : — The committee appointed fa; carry out tbe Intercolonial handball match 'met on Thursday 1 evening at Stnpleton'o Hotel. The attendance was good and great interest was determined to send Messrs. Macnamara, Harmon, Canterbury and Molony as tbe Victorian representatives Macnamara was chosen to meet Dillon in the single-banded match, Macnamara and Hannon to meet tbn next best two of New South Wales ; the players in the thi' d or threehanded match will be arranged according to merit at Sydney. Hannon was elected Captain and Canterbury treasurer. It was finally arranged that our representatives should leave for Sydney on the 18th inst. In order to keep the team in trim it wus determined that the match Macnnmara and Canterbury v. Hacnon and Molony should be played over again; the first at King-street this afternoon, the second at Cavlton on a day to be appointed. Egan, Kirby, Bowes, Comeford, Baldwin, Mtiguire, Thompson and other firstclass players also .meet.! It. is proposed to charge a small admission fee in each court, which will ba banded over without deduction to augment tho funds. A later account says :— The team selected to play New South Wales, and which leaves for Sydney on the 18th inst , bad some good practice last Saturs day. at King-street. As upon the last occasion, Macnarnara and Canterbury were opposed by Hannan and iVlolony. The former won the toss, but f.iilcd to score. Han* nan then served 15 acea on Macnamara, and finally won by 21 —3. T 1 • second game was Dearly a repetition of the j first, being also won by the King-street men

21 — 11. Hannan tos3ed 6 into the third 'g.»nie*v when' Canterbury and Macnamara by magnificent play scored out, 21—8. The fburth-pame vfas won by Oarlton, 21 -10, the ■score standing at two games each;. A. slight ;k ( ?st ; ..%j(s: i take.n before starting the final game, .bufc tiVe' Cariton men again scored a wio, iJJI— 3 ; thus 'pulling the match out of the ifire by-- skilled . and plucky play. Tne team 19 in splendid,, fettle, allowing some of the ;knest r t tossing, 1 'taking' and dodging" 'fitriefiEed!; in Melbourne for years. Great improvement was shown by Canterbury and the latter playing with a neatness Snd' precision iii marked contrast to his performance at CarUon on (he previous Saturday^ j While. Canterbury received reiterated applause for his sterling all rouni play. The keen scored in -the. three rubbers areas foU lp W ._ Macnamara and Canterbury, 213 ; Ifannan end Molony, 208— or a difference in three hotly contested days' play of only 5 j Bo^es arid Thompson beat Comeford Magnire, and several ather matches Vere contested, in which Egan, Hurley, and other well known players took part.