THE The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY MONDAY, SEPT. 12, 1881.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, Issue II, 12 September 1881, Page 2

THE The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY MONDAY, SEPT. 12, 1881.

Our parliamentary telegrams thin morning contain ono item which will be road with more than ordinary interest. The Railway Bill has been read a third time and passed the Lower House, The Bill has since been transmitted to tbe Council, and we learn from a private source that there is now every likelihood of its becoming law this session. There is every reason to be satisfied with the result of the meeting held on Friday evening last re the Diamond Drill Company ; the names of those present afford a good criterion of tho interest felt on tbe subject, and if numbers are any gauge of success, the provisional committee is all that could be desired. The community having now affirmed the desirability of forming the company, it remains to hope that the committee will lose no time in giving effect to the wish of the meeting. We understand that Mr ■Johu Trennery will leave for Melbourne by the next trip of the Hero, and provided that arrangements cottld be advanced in- time, it would be a favorable chance for despatching the order, Mr Trennery willing. Since writing the foregoing we find that a meeting of the provisional committee is conyened for this evening, at Dawson's Hotel, at 8 o'clock sharp, to arrange the constitution of the company, and other business. Tho Westport coach arrived yesterday, and was despatched again this morning. The Fire Brigade concert ie, announced for to-morrow evening, and, weatiier permitting, will no doubt be largely attended. We elsewhere announce Messrs Fleming and Stapleton's No 10 novelty sweep/on the New Zealand Metropolitan meeting. It will be seen that the advantages offered to participators aro exceptionally favorable, each ticket-holder for the sum of 10? having the chance of winning £1200. Five horses in Fleming and Stapleton's last sweep were drawn by Beefton holders. Mr B. G-. Bouls ton has been appointed agent for Beefton. In ihe Warden's Court on Thursday last Mr Wise, manager of the Just«itt-Time Com» pany, applied for certain water rights at Boatman's, it being the intention of the com* pany to erect a turbine. Tbe applications were granted. We understand that some unpleasantness is likely to arise in connection with the rei cent art»union of house property in Beefton, and legal proceedings are threatened. The dispute is as to the possession of the property. Further details of the fate af that portion nf the Flatter expedition which remained in the Saraha undei* the command of Sergeant Pobequin present a scene of unsurpassed horror. The natives having stolen aU tbe camels, whioh bore the water, the twenty nine men made their way afoot to the caravan route in hope of meeting with succour. But no caravan came in sight. Without food or drink, the men endured unspeakable agonies for a time, but were at last 1 driven to the fiiarful resort of cannibalism. Fifteen men were devoured in turn, Pobequin being the fifteenth. Then help came. A caravan arrived ond provided the half -insane sur* vivors with a small supply of food and water. Put only in return for money. When at Uargia, only twelve of them remainod a'ive, and their minds and bodies were almost fatally wrecked by the hardships they had undergone.— New York Tribune. What a curious thing is popularity ! Since the Derby, Archer, the Jockey, has been more talked about than any man iv the country. All kinds of people t>eem anxious to know what he says, what he does and how he lives He is the petted of all classes. Titled men are proud of repeating what Archer snid to them, if he 6aid anything at all. Archer has the income of the Lord Chancellor, and hi** lif.j is a round of pleasure, for be certainly loves the sport. Wo open our rye 9 with admiration and wonder when we hear of an artist getting £1000 for a picture that has cost him perhaps a couple of yars of work and thought ; but Archer gets his £1000 for a three minutes' ride. A storm of wind, hail, and lightening did much damnge and killed many persons in lowa, Kansos, and Missouri recently. Hailstones lay in drifts two feet deep, and, in falling, severely i-jured stock, being as large as door-knobs. A train of cara was blown from the truck, and the locomotive rendered unfit for use. A horse ia said to have been blown a mile ne ir Olivet, Kansas. The New Zealand Times says:— lhe kelson members who have instigated the present ■ stonewalling ' tnctics, and havo found zealous, though itseffectunl, aid umong t lnWest Const members, ha*?e certainly the sympathies of the whole t ouse with then*, if not theii practical support. Their district which bus given to the colony a perfect gal.«xy of h-gia'ativo talent (Stafford, Bich-mo-id, D.unelt, Fox und luminal ies of lesser

I'ght) is now to bo relegated to a petition which will be absolutely worse than if it had no representation at all. 'Its . members will always be in a hopeless minority if depending solo'y on their bwn^eiTorts to ■ accompb>h the , desires of their constituent's ; but nevertheless ! the system of * stonewalling ' ft} bad, for it rarely, if ever, attains the end desired, and it tends very muoh to bring legislative.deliberations into contempt, tt would be better by far to relegate the whole subject to a Committee to be chosen from both . sides of the House, and whose functions should be to- de'cide^fir^>t#h*th,er;any change "in the'pres-, ; ent proportion of representation is necessary ; and. secondly, by what mean 3 such change can be best byoughfc about. Aa objection . might be raised that this would be merely re* legating the functions of Parliament to a Commission, against which there * have already been recorded many vigorous protesta. Admittedly, it' is an undesirable alternative to delegate to a Selecj; Com mil tee .business which should be transacted within the House; but if members, cannot agree, we maintain that the circumstances will ; amply justify departure from customary rule, and tbat any course will be better than a prolonged and undignified obstruction to the progress of public business. Although the proceedings in Parliament with regard to the Representation Bill are of serious import to Nelson, and although we deeply deplore that the necessity has arisen . for resorting to tactics, which are only justifiable under extreme pressure, and the pur» su'ance of which must be a most distasteful task to those engaged in it, it is impossible to avoid seeing the comic side of the affair, which is well illustrated in the account given by the Post cf Tuesdays and Wednesday's proceedings, from which the following are a few extracts : — There were four or five * counts out ' up fo midnight, and grouped about the lobbies ready to come in as soon as the bell rang. While all this waste of time was going on inside the senate ball, <* select group started a vocal and instrumental concert in the whip's room. Here Mr Jones' fiddle was brought into requisition, and ever and anon the chorus of some motto song was wafted into the chamber, agd added to the pleasure of tbe proceedings. During the greater part of the sitting the Nelson men rang the changes several. times, and made no secret of their intention to stonewall. Indeed Mr Shephard. made an effort to explain tho meaning of the term * .going, backup Stonewall Jackson's|t|mei jA| 1.36: an attempt was made to report progress, but with* out sucoess, and Mr Leveatam, relieving Mr Shephard, kept ap the agony till 2.10 a.m., when the Chairman left the chair for half-an-hour. — Nelson Mail. A recent Melbourne tcabfegraift cqaveys thj& intelligeno c that gold has been struck in Sta well, by means of the diamond drill, at a depth of 1,700 feet. From the Pleasant Creek News and Stawell Chronicle, of the 25th July, the following particulars con? cerning the discovery are gleaned '.—Contrary to tbe general expectation the diamond drill, on Saturday entered upon another reef,, at a depth of 1,778 feet from the surface, in the Crown Cross United Company's', sljaft. About 14 inches oT Stone j&£as firsjfc.pierced arid., mullock was entered uponj so 'thai? ft was' thought the reef had been gone through. Almost immediately, hovrever, quartz was again entered, and when the afternoon shift on Saturday knocked off', the drill had gone through 3ft of lOin ofreef and was still on stone so that the size of the lode cannot as yet be determined. Tbe stone is of a very promising appearance, having a number of nice blue veins in it, and it is likely to be goldabearing. On Saturday it was thought the precious metal had been discovered in the cures, which will doubtless bo more carefully scrutinised to**day, when hoisted. The findin gof this third reef, within a hundred feet of tho large lode that has been proved to contain gold, upsets all the theories that experienced miners have formulated as to the character of the codntry, and .proves that a new era of mining lies before the place, and that of the composition of the lower strata very little is known even by those to whom the * lny ' of the country nearer tbe surface is like an open book. The company for which the diamond drill has made this third fortunate discovery is certainly worthy of the good fortune on account of its enterprise. After the old reef had been worked out, near the end of the year 1876, the company, for prospecting purposes, sank thei.* shaft 50 ' feet deeper than any known reef in the district but without meeting with any success During the whole of that time, with tbe exception of threo months that the claim wan idle and under leave of suspension of work, the shareholders were paying calls continuously. The company has altogether paid £30240 in dividends, the Inst having been paid in December, 1876, As the company had a little money left on hand, tho callpaying did not commence until early in 1877. Judaing by the prospects which tho diamond drill has disclosed, tho compauy has every prospect of another lengthened period of dividends, co soon as they shall have sunk to the golden reef.