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Inangahua Times, Volume VII, Issue 1074, 14 April 1882, Page 2

The next English and European, via San Francisco, will close at the Reef ton Office on Wednesday, the 19th day of April, at 7 a.m. A new venture under the title of the Arran Gold Mining Company is being undertaken, and notice of their intention to apply for a lease of 16£ acres, as per boundaries defined. The last discovery in the Wealth of Nations has given new value to the ground, where the same line of reef is supposed to run as in this case. The Arran Company is already well thought of, and will probably soon come to the front after the lease has been granted. A meeting of the Hospital Committee was held on Wednesday evening last when there were present Messrs. Oxley (chair), Aiken, Cohen, Collings, Patterson, MacQuarrie Thorburn, Hall, and Shaw. The resignation of Mr' George Wise was received and accepted, and Mr Joseph Steele was appointed in his stead. Mr Patterson was re-elected Hon. Treasurer, Band D.O. Preshaw, Secretary, and Messrs |McSlierry and Scdtock were appointed f. Auditors. It was resolved to call for applications for the Collectorship. Tenders for the supplies for the ensuing year were received. That of Mr Clung for Groceries, Wines and Spirits, was accepted ; that of Tim Moore for firewood at 16 shillings per cord, provided he gave a £2 2s. subscription ; that of W. Irving for coal at I 275. 6d. per ton ; that of John Dick for meat, beef and mutton at sd. per lb., legs of beef at Is 6d and shins Is 6d each bread, John Dick at 9|d the 41b loaf ; milk, D, J. McKenna at 6d per quart ; for Printing the tenders of C. Mirfin and W. J. Potts were alike, and it was resolved to give each turn and turn about ; for funerals, William Dunn. Messrs Aiken, Cohen, Collings, Patterson, and Shaw were elected as admission Committee for the quarter ending the 31st of June. Messrs Aiken, Cohen, and Collings were chosen as the Visiting Committee. The Committee then adjourned. A serious accident occurred in the Keep-it-Dark mine on Wednesday last to a miner named William Lamberton. He had charged a hole with dynamite, and after lighting the fuse withdrew to a safe distance. He thought, however, that tliy

fuse had failed, and returned to look after it, but just as he reached the spot the explosion took place, a portion of the blast striking him in the face and eyeß» 'He was at once brought down to the hospital where every, attention was paid to him. It was found that he could not see with one eye and very little with the other, and it was at first feared that the sight of both had been destroyed. Yesterday morning, however, he was just able to see with both eyes, and Dr. Thorpe has hopes of saving them. Till the inflammation has quite gone down, nothing definite can be known, and some days must elapse before this is the case. In addition to the injury to his eyes, the sufferer had his breast and arms burnt, and a piece out out of his upper lip. By a letter recently received from home, Mr Alfred Smith, dairyman of this town, has received news of the most remarkable and inexplicable recovery of his sister from long illness. It seems that she had been bedridden for no less than twenty-five years. All the chief physicians and surgeons of London gave the case their best consideration, but all remedies tried were not successful in improving the condition^ of the patient, nei^|r, as we understand . could they even colrectly ascertain the cause of the disease. Shortly, however, before* the last hdll left, to the equal astonishment and joy of the sufferer's friends, and no doubt herself, the ailment whatever it was, suddenly left her, and one morning she was able to get up, dress, and walk down stairs, a cured woman, and this without drugs, potions or other agencies. The case is a most remarkable one, and must unquestionably have attracted a graat deal of attention in medical circles. In a Gazette of the Gth instant, a batch of new Justices of the Peace, sixty-four in number, are gazetted. Amongst them appear the names of Messrs George Wise and William Joseph Potts, both of this town, and Messrs John Fennell of the Lyell, John M'Neil, Totara Flat, John Reid of Ahaura, and Clement Parfitt of No Town. Notification of the opening of a Post, Money Order, and Telegraph Office at the Exhibition building, Christchurch, is also given. A year or two ago a great deal of the beer consumed in this locality was imported either from Greymouth or Dunedin, but now Reefton is not only independent of other places in this respect, but our local brewery can produce an article in every respect equal to any turned out from any establishment in the colony. This is no exaggeration, and Messrs Edwards and Monteith have completely driven outsiders from the field. Their bottled beer is as good as the English, though not perhaps as strong, and must command a sale wherever it is tried. There is no secret in the success of this firm, which is owing first to the thorough knowledge of the business which Mr Monteith possesses, and in the second, to their using nothing whatever in their manufacture but pure mait and , hogs, without flavoring, glucose^ o¥ tittier matter. They spare no expense in their brewing, and the result is a beer of a high quality, which deservedly commands a large and daily increasing sale. A curious freak of nature is to be seen in the garden of the Rev. Mr Parkin of this town, and shows what an exceptionally mild season we are having. A gooseberry bush that in the summer bore a fine crop, has started fruit bearing again for the second time within about five months. Berries fully formed and the size of small bullets are developed, and are apparently likely to ripen Unless the frost that is to be expected now nips them too severely. Such a double bearing in so short a time is probably unexampled in the Colony. Dawson's hotel is rapidly approaching completion, and already several bedrooms in the new building are fitted up and occupied. The proprietor expects to be in full occupation by the Ist of May. We regret to say that Mr Arnott, who is the builder as well as architect, is very unwell, and was confined to his bed for some days, and some delay in the work has been occasioned by his illness. He is, howe/er, mending, and was yesterday about again. Alexander Holm, of Dunedin, has applied at the patent Office fora "patent for a wheel-making machine and tablelifting attachment for a jugular or drunken saw. " It must be a peculiar piece of machinery. Proceedings are pending at New Plymouth against no less than four members of the A.O. Force reserve — one for burglary and attempted rape, two for fighting in a public place, and are for furious driving on a public road. All the offences are alleged to have been committed whilst the accused were absent oh leave. It is said that the members of the reserve portion of the A. 0. Force give their comrades of the police a good deal of trouble one way or other, and the above fact seems to prove it. Samuel Gatehouse, son of the wellknown ex-Mayor of Melbourne, has been charged with assaulting hisfatherand other members of his family. Samuel, whose leading characteristic in his immense physicial strength, is a very lively young man, and in that respect promises to rival the old gentleman, who during his term of office, was chiefly remarkable for the freedom with which he kept the champagne-lap going for all hands at the Town Hall, his extremely anti-Sabbatarian proclivities and his mania forgoing home on saveloy-machines at three in the morning. Mr Gatehouse, sen., is very wealthy, having married a lady whose former husband accumulated in the early days a large fortune on the manufacture of cabbage-tree hats. When in Central Africa, Dr. Livingstone once confounded the native rainmakers by holding a prayer meeting to Mi«l»licato for rain. The clouds des- '

cended and the doctor's infallibility was established ; but«it is incidentally mentioned that the learned traveller possessed a barometer and the natives did not. In reference to the alleged " thumbscrewing" of an immigrant to Maryborough on board the Queensland immigrant vessel Scottish Wizard some time ago, a lengthened inquiry has been held into the charges preferred. The Maryborough Chronicle says :— " The result of the recent inquiry by the local Immigration Board into the complaints lodged against the doctor, captain, and officers of the immigrant ship Scottish Wizard, is that the Government have considered the Board's report, and decided as follows :— Dr Woodward to be fined £50, and debarred from further employment in the immigration service ; Captain Scales and all the present officers of the Scottish Wizard to be also debarred from future employment on any vessel conveying Government immigrants to Queensland. The decision may appear severe, but where so un-English a thing as * thumbscrewing ' takes place, everybody in authority on board must expect to receive the. taint; and if the reputation of our .immigration service is to be laaintained, severe measures cannot be altogtgtfii^Condeiggked. if _."* v . « At the opening of the SuprJfriejCoiifrfc at Christchurch, the Chief Jusnce s regretted the prevalency in this Colony of criminal assaults on girls. Let two things be done to abate this crime. Let parents have a more careful supervision of their children, and not let their girls go where their like, and keep what company they chose. Let our Judges in all cases of the character referred to spare not the lash. One downright good flogging ia likely to have more effect on the scoundrels who perpetrate such crimes, then one year's imprisonment. The Christchurch Telegraph says : — " The Freethought Association in Christchurch wished to invite Mr Denton, the American lecturer, to a dinner, but that gentleman being a total abstainer, could not consistently accept the invitation. It was then suggested to invite him to what is commonly called a tea fight, but it is found that lie does not drink either tea or coffee ; he could not even accept challenge to a smoking match, for he does not smoke. It is now thought that he is an ' animated fossil of the glacial period,' cast up by an earthquake, and entrusted with the records of the 'growth of the planet,' and to whom the unnatural habits of the present age, in devouring alcohol and tobacco are exceedingly repulsive. A telegram in the Westport Times of Tuesday last runs as follows : — "A cable message received on Saturday by the New Zealand Shipping Company brings news of a fatal casualty on board of the ship Wairoa, in which a Westport lad lost his life. The message reads thus:— "Boy Ings washed overboard." This refers to Albert, Bon of Edward Ings, of the New Zealand Times, apprenticed to the Shipping Company, and making his first voyage to London. The ship made a lengthy passage, and in all probability met' with severe knocking about, Details, however, are yet wanting. The lad had an irrepressible liking for the sea, and Borne influence was used to get him on. a good ship with a good captain." There are many in Reefton who know Mr Ings, the father of the unfortunate lad, and who will sincerely sympathise with him in his loss. Open-air religion and municipal business in Dunedin appear not unlikely to clash. The Times reports that at a service in the Octagon the principal part of the singing was conducted upon the Town Hall steps, the consequence being that the swelling choruses were borne upwards into the Council Chamber, whero our municipal fathers sat in solemn debate, with such distinctness that his Worship despatched an emissary to close the lower doors. Then arose a storm. Councillor Barnes got to his feet in indignant protest. The proceedings of that body were supposed to be conducted in the broad light of day, and here they were sitting with closed doors like a secret society. He would most certainly move I that the doors be thrown open, and would wish to be informed " what those people were doing down there." Against such public-spirited fervour no opposition could bo made. The doors were once more opened, and sacred melodies mingled with the recommendations of the Water Supply Committee.