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Inangahua Times, Volume VII, Issue 1070, 5 April 1882, Page 2

The principle affirmed by the presiding Magistrate at the late Assessment Court, to the effect that buildings can only be rated at the value they bear at the time the valuation is made, is undoubtedly a correct one, and it is well that it has been, as far as this district at least is concerned, set at rest by the recent decision. It is clearly absurd to put prospective values on properties and rate them in advance, and the late ruling of Mr Kevell wilL no -doubt, prevent similar mistakes ? IFpit as adversity is said to make us acquainted with strange bedfellows, so rate collecting of whatever kind brings the collector in contact with singular missives. Mr Heslop, the County collector, has a curious store of letters in his possession, but one of them is so unique that we give it entire. It may be premised that he had called on the writer, a kind of hermit in the Hampden riding, for rates and for dog-tax, and further that the said writer is a Scotchman and a bachelor. The letter ran as follows :— " Sir,— You will receive P.O.'X for amount of my rate. My dog has absconded, and whether I will ever seen him again is very questionable, as I have told people to destroy him. Dogs and women ought to remain- at their own houses. I am, &c, ." This cynical bachelor evidently estimates the canine and feminine human on the same scale. A number of patents are applied for and notified in the last Gazette to hand. One is by Alexander Binnie of Dunedin, for a gas-producing machine. Another by H. E. Shacklock, for a new cooking range to be styled the Orion. George Scott, described as gentleman, of Vicarage Road, Camberwell, applies for a patent for the manufacture of triple alloys consisting of the titaniferous steel sand of Taranaki, manganese and carbon. B. Goulton of Whangaroa, applies for a patent for fixing saw-handles, and King David Sykes of Auckland, for a patent for a portable hygienic hot-air bath, by which he alleges all the benefits of hot-air baths either dry or vaporised, plain or medicated, can be obtained by a convenient and portable apparatus. A most unfounded charge of conspiracy was recently brought by James Johnston and Sydney Welsh against Messrs Dick, Moss, O'Connor, and Gilmer, and came on for hearing on Monday last, at Westport. The tables were materially turned, however, for the informations were dismissed, and the informants were arrested on a charge of perjury in connection with the case, by order of the presiding Magistrate. A meeting of the Hospital Committee was held on Monday evening at the Southern Cross Hotel, when there were present, Messrs Collings (chair), Wise, Lee, Kater, Cohen, Patterson, Thorburn, Aiken, and Shaw. The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed, and the Surgeon's monthly report received. The usual monthly accounts were passed for payment, and the annual balancesheet, and Surgeon-Superintendent's report adopted. These will be submitted to the annual meeting of subscribers, which will be held this evening at Campbell's Hall. At the same time the committee for the ensuing year will be elected. The chair will be taken at 9 o'clock sharp. The monthly report of the Golden Treasure shows that good work has been done during that period. Altogether 173 tons of stone have been crushed which yielded, exclusive of the boxes, 131ozs. 1 dwt. of retorted gold. There are still 40 tons to be crushed, and when the cleaning up takes place a very good return is anticipated. The Golden Fleece Extended cleaned up yesterday. They crushed 156 tons of stone, which yielded 1670z5. of retorted gold. This is an excellent return, being over an ounce to the ton. The Just-in-Time cleaned up on Monday There were 159 tons crushed, which yielded 168 ounces 15 dwts, of gold. The County Engineer yesterday laid off a road at the slip at Black's Point. It will be widened three feet, and tenders will be called for the work without delay, In accordance with instructions from the directors of the company, Mr A. Nottman yesterday proceeded to Boatman's, for the purpose of taking the preliminary steps to start the incline tunnel from the Eureka Company. It is intended to construct the tunnel for the first 200 feet upon nearly a dead level, or with just sufficient fall outwards tp carry off all surface drainage, and from this point it will be carried in at an incline sufficient to cut the lode at a very much deeper level than that now worked by the Welcome Company. The total distance to be driven is about 2000 feet, and it is computed that with rock borers and other labor-saying appliances, which it is intended to bring into use, the work will be completed jn from twelve to eighteen months. The fact that the Welcome on the No, 6 level are now breaking out their splendid stone within a distance of 150 feet from the Eureka boundary speaks well for the future of the latter company,

which will have no crushing plant to erect, as tramways already laid connect the mine with the Just-in Time battery, and stone can be run down to the mill at a merely nominal cost. The shareholderrs of the company have, therefore, every reason to be satisfied with their prospects. Kohler's Waxwork Exhibition was opened at Boatman's on Monday evening last to a really good attendance, but the fact that the performance or Exhibition had to be held in the State School-room, which is situated out of town, necessitated the townspeople making an uncomfortable journey, and which, but for the absurd conditions of the^new Licensing Act, might have been avoided. Mr F. Walker of the Union Hotel has a commodious and comfortable hall attached to his .hotel, which was erected purposely to meet the convenience of public performances, but under the new Licensing regulations he is debarred from lettingit for. such use,and as a consequence, the residents, are compelled to trudge nearly half -a-mile out of town. A special meeting of the, County Council was called for last evening, for the purpose of ordering on the plans, and specifications on the Black's. Point road. The Engineer, however, had been so fully Imgagetl that he could not get them ready in time, and th£ toeetpff- waß#>conse~ quently adjournea tul 2 p.m. on Monday next. A meeting of the Executive Committee was held, when several accounts were passed. Fire tenders for the compilation of gold statistics for the last three years were received, but we are not aware that anything was done with them. Aspiring legislators get into trouble sometimes. John Lundon, who was in the last Parliament, unsuccessfully wooed the electors of Whangarei at the late election, and got in trouble as the subjoined extract will show : — " At the District Court, in the case of Barton v. John Lundon, a claim for £38 lls, for electioneering expenses, the defendant was ordered to pay by the lat. May, or one month's imprisonment in Mount Eden Gaol." In Dunedin, a negro restaurateur named Samuel Cole had an altercation with another colored man named Hill on Saturday night in the restaurant, and stabbed him twice in the head with a table knife. He lost a quantity of blood, and the wounds are considered dangerous. Cole was arrested. Later telegrams say that Hill is very ill from erysipelas, and likely to die. A new rock drill lately patented by Messrs Naylor and Thornton in Victoria, seems to be making headway against the imported article. It is worth the while of our mining managers to make further enquiries respecting the new machine. The Pleasant Creek News in a recent mining article in reference to it says : — ' ' The progress which is being made by the Crown Cross men in putting down the shaft is very satisfactory, no less than sixteen feet having been sunk during last week. This is the beat sinking yet made in Stawell rock countryV The borers are doing well, especially that patented by Naylor and Thornton, of this place, which is scarcely ever to be seen at the workshop, and is, We believe, only about half as heavy as the American National borer, while the price' is but a little over hah* the cost of the latter." At the Melbourne Exhibition some beautiful architectural designs, models of mining plant and machinery, and such like were displayed, the whole of which had been made out of ordinary corks. Some very pretty pictures were also shown of farmyard scenes, made wholly of different mosses and lichens, and which at the distance of a few yards could hardly be detected by the spectatator from an ordinary painting. Most of these productions were the work of ladies and children and were much commended by the jurors. An Ashburton telegram Btates that Ivess has found the written authority for placing James' name on the roll, which could not be produced at the hearing of the case of alleged personation. At a meeting of the creditors of Mr R. W. Cary, the well known theatrical manager, of Wellington, it was stated that by the ( Pirates of Penzance ' and the Juvenile troupe ventures, Mr Cary sustained a total loss of £643 135, 74. The estimated income of the New Zealand University this year is £6,986 and the expenditure £3,730. The question of a Humane Society for New Zealand is receiving some attention. There is no reason Why this Colony, should not like Victoria, possess such a worthy institution. The contents of the stomach of a large king-fish, which was recently caught at the Heads (says a Wellington paper) caused a good deal of astonishment when it was opened at the shop of Messrs Lawrie and Fernar.dos the other day. There were three lead sinkers — one of them being about four inches long, and weighing over a quarter of a pound— three fishhooks, about two yards of strong fishing > .line, and two large tarakihi. The fact tends to show that this fish is not behind the shark in voracity. The Auckland Free Press gives an illustration of brutal unconpern for the distress of others on part of a fish-hawker. A little girl fell down a well, and her playmate ran and met this brute and informed him of what happened and asked him to come and get the child out. He heard her story as if it had been a dog that was drowning, and passed on with the heartless reply " he had something else to do," and again holloed "fish oh." The sooner such an inhuman monster clears out the better. A new Wesleyan Church costing nearly £2000 has just been opened at Blenheim. The Wairarapa Standard makes a startling statement- It says that arsenic sent wholesale in casks from Wellington to the stations to be used in dressing sheeps' feet has been known to escape in the waggons, and on one occasion to get

mixed with flour. The Standard thinks there is a cheerful prospect looming up in the future of a wholesale case of poisoning by means of arsenicated flour, of all the people on some of the stations. That will make a big job for the coroner. The late Earl of Beaconsfield's charming country house, says Atlas in the World, is not likely to suffer at the hands of its present tenant. Sir Samuel Wilson has brought home from Australia, besides a large fortune, a great admiration for what is historic and venerable in his native land. The house, gardens, and grounds will be kept up with jealous care, and with no stint as to cost. "I feel sure," said Sir Samuel, over the wine and walnuts one day last week, "that I could not have come to any part of England where the country is more beautful or the surroundings are so pleasant. The first time I saw this district was at the end of summer, when everything was looking its best ; and I was so delighted with the drive from Maidenhead to Wycomb, that I felt I had never met, in any part of the world, with scenery more beautiful." As to the " pleasant surroundings," the secret is that the gentry of Bucks have taken very kindly to their millionaire neighbor, whose politics are of their hue, and whose hospitality is unimpeachable. Sir Samuel might have gone farther and fared worse, though how he is toibe found, within the limits of the great Conservative stronghold, the seat in Parliament he seeks, is an agitating problem. Evidence of culpable carelessness was elicited at an inquest held at Lyttelton, touching the death of a man named Peter Leuhrs. He had been employed in discharging the cargo of coal of the ship Carnarvon Castle, and a tub of coal capsized and fell upon him as he was standing in the square of the hatchway below. John Snow, a fellow workman, testified to the facts of the case, and said that had the tub been properly fastened, it could not have capsized, and that it was the duty of the deceased to secure the catch of the tub before allowing it to be hauled up. Later evidence told the tale of careless management. In the opinion of the engineer, the buckets, or tubs, were so fastened that the least thing would unfasten them, and that, in point of fact, in nine buckets out of ten the catch was of no use at all. The mate of the vessel and a juryman also stated that they had seen the buckets so readily capsized that the catch was really a trap to lure men to their death. It appeared also that two days prior to the fatal accident the identical bucket which had capsized on the deceased had capsized and thrown the coal over the side. According to the Coroner and the jury, it was a case of gross negligence in which nobody in particular was to blaine. The evening World records a singular coincidence. A special meeting of the City Council of Melbourne was convened for Monday to consider an order as to the propriety of adopting a resolution expressive of " this Councils deepest surprise, regret, and indignation at the intelligence that an attempt has been made against the life of her Majesty the Queen and of the Council's moßt sincere and loyal rejoicing, and of gratitude to Divine Providence at her Majesty's escape." As perhaps one of the most marvellous repetitions of unexpected events that can possibiy be quoted in history, may be mentioned the fact that the first business transacted at the first regular meeting of the same Council on the 15th December, 1842, was the adoption of an address to the same Sovereign on her providential escape from assassination, when on the 30th May, 1842, a youth named Francis fired at her Majesty, as she was returning with the late Prince Albert in an open barouche down Constitution Hill, en route to Buckingham Palace. It is scaarcely less singular, though never before printed, that the same young Francis, after serving a sentence of many years' exile, arrived a middle aged man in Victoria, and for some considerable period, by virtue of his position on the citizen's roll, became legally " part and parcel " of the same Corporation whose first public act had been a prayerful offering for the failure of his murderous attempt at regicide.