Untitled

Inangahua Times, Volume II, Issue II, 1 April 1881, Page 2

We have tq acknowlevlge fhe receipt from the Executive Coramiseioner of the Melbourne Exhibition of Volumes I and II of the official catalogue (revised edition ) to c have also to acknowledge receipt of Volume 111 of the " Southern Science Record " published under the auspices pf the Field and Naturalists Club of Victoria. We are also indebted to th" author for a copy of part I of a work f tried "The Creation after the Allegory of the Mosaic Cosmogony " by Nabi Cosmos. Tl f complete work will be issued from the press during the current year. A meeting pf the creditors of the Union Company was hold at the Court Horse yes* terdav. There were present— Messrs Robertson (National Bank), Harold (represented County Council), Crumpton, Bowman, Master*, Shields, Craig, and Potts. Mr W, R. Robertsoi| was voted to. the chair. On thp motipn of Mr Potts, seconded by Mr Masters, Mr 0. 0. Bo«rman was appointed liquidator at a salary of £Jpv). The debts represented by the creditors present were £380, of which tbe National Bank claims £240. In order to allow tbe ft^llest opportunity to persons desirous of making claims to be placed on tbe County electoral rolls, tbe Assessment Court has been adjourned until the next visit of the Warden to .Reefton. It is said that Mr 0. Curtis will be invited at tbe ensuing general elections tq contest the joat for Westpoit.. His Lordship (Bishop Suter) is at present on a yjsit to the Inangahua, and wjll conduct eervioe in the Church of England on Sunday next. Wednesday last was the day appointed for a meeting of creditors in the estate of tbe Victoria Company. There wefe present, Messrs Gorrie (manager Bank of New Zealand, the chief creditor), Miifin (as attorney

for J, C. Craig, proprietor of the Tnutigahua Herald), and W. J. Potts. Mr Gome wub voted to the chair. Mr G-. C, Bowiian was appointed liquidator at a salary of £50 The total debts of the company were stated to be £360. A competent authority has pronounced that the water used for domestic purposes, in Reefton— ohiefly that taken from wells— i« very unwholesome, and should never be used without having first been boiled or efficiently filtered. Owing to pressure on our columns, letters signed " Ratepayer," Cetewayo, Ayoub Khan, and Jerusalem Jemmy, are unavoidably crammed out.^f The though carrying different signatures, are all written by Charles Badlaw, so that readers will be able to anticipatefttheir drift, and thus relieve us of the necessity of doing more than giva ing an outline of the contents. They all set out by styling this journal the only free and independent organ in the world, and say that tho globe owes us a deep debt of gratitude for our able, honourable, courageous, impartial, &o.* &c, &c, efforts to maintain the integrity of the British Empire, the rotation of the earth, and the due equilibrium of the same. W e should much like to jamb in some of these letters because they are downright good, and the writer of them if the only one who has arrived at a due appreciation of our importance.) IThe letters then proceed to deal in wholesale charges of blood and plunder, of falsifications and conflagrations of abuse and vilification, but as we never go in for this kind of thing, the writer couldn't set it in tiere with a pile* driver. Finally? the letter! wind up by spitting out fire and brimstone at all our enemies, real or assumed, covertly giving a stab here and a rut there, But this is as bad as shooting a man from behind a hedge. No, we must decline these contributions straight. We prefer to say all) we have to say in the proper way, and in the proper column* We do not follow the practice of foisting opinions upon the public under the garb of nn assumed name, which we should be ashamed to acknowledge. A subject that cannot bear fair newspaper criticism it not worth any diseusaion at all— we don't encourage N|hilisxn in correspondence. At the Assessment Court on Saturday last, John Harold, County Clerk, objected io the name of Louis Davies appearing upon the Valuation Roll on the ground that he had nO prbperty, qualification in the County. It appeared that the applicant claimed to be enrolled upon the qualification of an agricultural lease on tb,e Grey road, but it was shown that the lease in question had some time ago been sold to Mr J. Connolly. However, as the fpftyaj assignment; of the land had not been made to the purchaser, the Judge allowed the name tp remaja on the roil. We understand that nearly half the amount required to clear off the liabilites of the Viet 01 ia Company has already been sub* scribed by the shareholders, and it is more than probable that at the next sitting of the District; Court an application will be made to remove the proceedings from liquidation. The, winding up of tha» Union Company; however, gives no inch desirable promise* The debts stand at £100 or thereabouts, but there is no disposition amongst the general body of shareholders to take the bull by the horns as in the former case. The winding up is likely to be very protracted, and very expensive, for not only 'have many of the shareholders transferred their shares, but have also transferred their properties in order to avert judgment. The proceedings will unquestionably prove very disastrous if pushed on, and it would be well, therefore, if something could be done in the way of averting the threatened doom. The mail coach from Greymouth arrived in town at 3.30 yesterday, being the very earliest hour at which the fl?ey mail has ever yet been delivered in Reefton. Pursuant to a resolution of the R.J.C., Messrs Dick snd Quigley canvassed the town yesterday for additional signatures to the list of member*, and were successful beyond ex» pectation. A great number have already signified their willingness to join, while others haAe promised their support, to that the Club may be considered as established on a firm basis. . The Comedy and Burlesque Company reached lleeftnn yesterday afternoon, and gave their opening performance in Daw son's Hull. The attendance was not large bat this was hardly more than could be expected, owing to some uncertainty pre. vailing during the day as to whether the company would arrive here in time to keep their advertised appointment. The piece presented was The Factory. Girl, and (be manner in which it was presented leaves no room to doubt (bat the pom* pany is worthy of the high fame nbieb has preceded it. The visit of a company of such strength and repu'e is something new to Reefton, and ye doubt npt that they will meet with support commensqrate with their merit. The piece for to* night is the Scottish musical drama Cratnond Brig, to conclude with the burlesque of H.M.S. Pinbehind. The cast is a full one, and there is little doubt that it will draw a hamper bouse. We muoh regret that time and the space at our command tviil not permit as to. do the excellent performance of last night the justice it deserves, but the unquali* fled success of the piece will, we are »uxe, carry the verdict in the attendance of to* night. , ■ ' " One of the most startling stories (remarks a London journal) which Mr Lawerunce Oliphont brought back from the East has been almost capped by the Toronto Daily Mail. Mr Oliphant declares that he saw the followers of a certain Sheikh Rusian Abouton whose present address is the Meidan, Dam iscus, devour live scorpions and snakes, and then finish off their repast by chewing and mouthfulls Of red hat charcoal, Mr Oliphant declares that he not

only bow this done, but that be felt the sickening smell of burning flesh as '• they crunch S the glowing morsels." Our Ganadian contemporary tells quite as seriously as Mr Olipbant that • stranger has arrived at Toronto whose " crunching ' abilities rival those of the charcoal and scorpion eaters of Damascus, Arriving on a monday iifght ut the bar of the Windsor Hotel, this stranger bit a piece out of a beer glass and teunched it to powder. He took another bite and then another until nothing but the bottom of the glass re* mained, He did not swallowed the glass, but •' spat it out in a half-cryetalised and half-powdered farm on the floor." He then demolished another glass in the same way, and to oblige the ez-ited crowds which watched him with amazement, he ate up *" a bummer's glass," a glass which is •• twothirds bottom, and is. about as thick again as au ordinary tumbler." When he finished the last morsel of the bummer's glass, those present declared themselves satisfied that the stranger cdutd eat up the Crystal Palace if necessary and enjoy the feast. As Mr Oliphant's Sheikh and this Toronto stranger would make the fortune of any showman, is to be hoped that they will no longer allow such potentiality of wealth to remain unutilized. / The Pall Mbl£ Gazette, in a leading article, says:— '♦; The Dutch element, unobstructive as it is, is still the strongest European element in South Africa. A large part of the European population in Natal is Dutch. The Orange Free Stale is at least three quarters Dutch, notwithstanding the existence of an Anglican bishop in its capital. The whole of the western province of the Cape Colony is Dutch To exasperate the Dutch element is therefore to render useless one of the most potent influences for governing the South African colonies in the future. More thnn a year back the people's committee in the Transvaal offered to meet the Imperial authorities on a most liberal and conciliatory basis if only their independence was restored. Is it still to late to come terms?' The question has since been answered. V f A correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald, writing from New Caledonia, says :— lAn *vade ' (escaped convict) was lately picked up at sea, four or five miles beyond the reef, in a canoe he had cut out of a trse ..with a tomahawk. He was en route for Australia, I his sole provisions being 100 eoooanuH, with which liberal commissariat be begged those arresting him (civilians) to allow him te proceed. Had this poor wretch succeeded in his effort he would have well earned bis liberty. He tried the same mad thing lapt year, beirig picked up by a Governs tnent vessel at sea in a pirogue (native canoe). The daughter of a ' Frisco publhan has recently been, married to an, English baronet. At the time of the wedding the bride wore £10,000 wdrth of diamonds. Special trains were laid on at the father's expense from JTrisco to the township nearest to his roagniJkent villa to convey (.he wedding guests, At the cosily wines were swilled inibarba^c pifusionthe eons^iiptidn of champagne alone reaching 1500 large bpftlci. * The brideVtlowry is £19,000 a year. With a view to the improvement of the law relating to bankruptcy the English National Union of Commerce have passed the following resolutions, and forwarded copies to Mr Gladstone and the President of the Board of * Trade :— l. " That the proposed amendments of the Bankruptcy law, in order to, be thoroughly effective, and, as such, permanently satisfactory to the commercial classes, should stipulate for the ultimate payment by the debtor to his creditors of 20s in the £, and that the final discharge of the debtor should not be granted until such payment has been made. 2. That the only aid to be given by the Court to the debtor should be the protection of his estate from individual creditors, for a prescribed time, in order to enable him to carry on his business (whether under inspection or not) m view of paying all his creditors in full ; and that on his failing to pay within the prescribed time granted by the Court, or, in the event of their appearing at any time no prospect of such payment, the estate to be immediately wound up and distributed amongst the creditors pro rata, and the bankrupt to be disqualified from trading on bis own account, and to be liable to prose* cution for trading while an uncertificated bankrupt. 3. That the only effectual check, both to adventurous and reckless trading, and to the absorption of bankrupt estates in pro* fessional ajicj other charges would be the knowledge that inability to pay would in no case qualify a debtor for his release, and that his estate would anly be dealt with in the interest of the creditors, in view of their receiving full payment of their debts." The local bodies throughout New Zealand, including countries, boroughs, road districts, and river boards, received from rates £266, 937, and from other sources, exclusive of Government subsidies paid during the financial year was £§41,871. In December last, most of the New Zealand newspapers received a long advertisement regarding the watches of the Bodanow Manufacturing Company, Boston. It now turns out (according to a statement going the round of the papers) the company is fictipus one, Alexander Rodanow, alias Dr. Grantz, has been arrested : on a charge of using the United States mails with an intent to defraud. He had received a large number of registered letters containing money and orders for watches. He carried on business in a small room, and the police found a few cheap watches, not worth ten dollars on the premise/^ Tfiiat is 'to be said ofthelpcal American paper that published a recommendatory paragraph regarding the Rodanow Company P The extraordinary success of Hanlan the squlls (says the Evening News) has led several ingenious people to conjecture that fhe sepret of his speed must be accounted for by flip existence of some artificial contrivance if) his boats. We are aware that this theory has been put forward more than once, and by soaio is firmly believed in ; but until some

evidence be adduced to support it we must be content to believe that Hanlan's successes hare been due to bis superior prowess and skill as a sculler. The following 'etter may, therefore, be taken for what it is worth : - "February 15th, 1881— Britain lie ed the world j we .licked the British • Why was Hanlan beaten by Boss and Ryley P Because he rowed in an ordinary shell. And why was it a certainity he could lick the Australian giants P Because of the ingenuity of his trainer, who, three years ago, discovered that a shell filled with gas would lift ljin. out of the water when the pressure was off the swivels, so that there is not the resistance when the sculls are out of the water and it glides over instead of under the surface. But the grand secret is the sliding seat, which is connected with a two-bladed fan amidships, and which revolves) as you slide, so that the pace is very fast with only half pressure on the sculls ; and, barring accident, we are sure to {pocket your dollars without any risk. Your reporter will have an opportunity of the same kind soon as com- 1 plete/l— Yours, kc, Canadian " An Invercargill paper says : — An urchin having been ordered to write the names of several great men in his school exercise book made a very 'fair selection, albeit a little pugnacious up to a certain point. The names were Shakespeare, Columbu*, Kelson, Bruce, Cromwell, Havelock, Franklin . . at this point the colonial spirit asserted itself, and he wound up his galaxy of talent with Ned Kelly. It \a estimated that five thousand persons spent forty thousand pounds in gambling over the last Dunedin races. By means of totalizators, £15,000 ; con : ultations, £15 000; and bets, £10,000. £40,000 in gambling at a single race meeting ! Yet there are persons who declare that gambling is not a prevalent vine in New Zealand. The Chillian conditons of pence are stated to be cession of Autifagosta and surrounding districts the surrender of the allied fleet, the payment of a war indemnity of £30,000,000, Peru to contribute £20.000,000, and Bolivia £10,000,000. Until full payment of the indemnity, Chili to occupy the Callao works ou its own account, the guano deposits and cdpper and saltpetre mines after a six years' lease. The semi-official North German Gazette has lately published articles violently at* tacking M. Gambetta, declaring that his accession to power would he received in Germany with deep dissent, indicating the triumph of. the French war party. Mr Sydney Smith has' paid a graceful compliment to the famous scullers who have so recently distinguished themselves on the Thames. Five of his thoroughbreds have bgeu respective! v christened Boas, Trickett, Hosmer, Lajcock, and Iranian.