THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 1882.

Inangahua Times, Volume VII, Issue 1095, 2 June 1882, Page 2

THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 1882.

Ths lieefton district since its opening •has been subject to spasmodic periods of prosperity aed depression, to hot and cold fits, when it has been exalted to the skies, and .anathematised to the lowest depth*. Through all it has made a steady advance, and after many years is probably in a better and more substantial position than any locality of the same extent in the whole of Australasjo, The resources of the district are hot ephemeral, and every" day proves their permanency. The mineral wealth of the Inangahua cannot be calculated, for the simple reason that not one half of it is known. There have been statement? made as to the .fact of gold, coal, antimony, marble, timber, and other products, being lavishly scattered by Dame Nature, but day by day only is their true value being discovered. As time has rolled on th^e opldfita p| depression haye become lea* and \s^ whilst a mdj& genuine confidence in the permanency of the district has been gradually and surely established Bvery mine in the district nearly had lost the faith of its shareholders, and every properly open fid up one has eventually regained it. At the present time the look-out is more reassuring than it has been for years, though there is not the feverish and unhealthy excitement prevalent thathascharacterised otherperiods. The success of the Welcome, the extraordinary discoveries in the K eep-it-Dark at a very low level, the improved prospects of nearly every mine in the district, all tend to show that the resources of this field are, as yet, only partially laid bare, and that there is a future for the Inangahua few can dream of. Even at this, early stage of the new finds, confidence seems to be fully set-up, and a revival of a substantial and lasting kind seems to have set in for Reefton and its localities. To all parts of the colony late news, supported by dividend paying facts, have been spread, and the consequence is that a busier time at the telegraph office has ensued jbhan has been for many a day. The more that come the merrier, the ventures that the Inangahua district can : offer are more valuable than any in I this colony, and we doubt whether , there are any in Australia that would excel their prospects. The usually dull months have been strangely and unexpectedly enlivened, and the increased activity, the greater attention that has been attracted to the Inangahua, bodes well for its future. Though, as we recently remarked, all enterprises cannot be fortunes, this part of the colony offers more ieasonable grounds for success than any other, and capitalists can Wvsi safety, or at least with every prouyfob of success, adventure their means mthe district Every day, or at least every Week, developes some new feature, the recent yields of various mines prove that 86 far from the star of Inangahua having set, it has only now begun to rise, and it will be many years and after this generation has long passed away, before it attains its zenith.

Owing to pressure of other matter our Court report, and other local intelligence is held over. There was considerable stir in mining stocks yesterday, and amongst the many lines moving was Wealth of Nations, for which 12s. was freely offered. The adjourned Half-yearly meeting of shareholders in the Gorge Company will be held Beilby's Hotel to-morrow, (Saturday) evening at eight o'clook. A Chinaman recently went into a Leadville faro bank and placed a paper of gold duat on the ace. The ace lost, and the dealer, weighing the dust, found that it was worth about 50dol. He was about to throw the paper away, when John asked for it, saying there were some "washee washee " accounts upon it which he required, The next night he returned, and bet a similar paper. This time he won, and as the dust weighed 40dols. the dealer propose 4to pay him upon that basis. The heathen shook his head. ••You payee all I bet," "Certainly," answered the dealer. Then John, carefully unwrapping the paper, showed hidden between its folds a lOOdol bill. » He must have it," sighed the look-out man ; "he's got us dead." The bank-note was there the night before, but the dealer had handed it back. That was his fault, however, not the Chinaman's. The Thames Advertiser says : — " Th§ best way of expediting the business of Parliament, so far as cutting short the flow of unnecessary talk, is for Ministers tfi bring in thejr measures, few in number and in such a form as they can be readily understood and dealt with, in place of flooding the table with a whole lot of proposals that not one-half of the assembled m embers have the time, even if they possessed the inclination, to wade through, much le#a fa master." The electors have most effectually " stopped the flow of unnecessary talk" by keeping out of the House such ?' wind-bags, "as, Speight, Rees, and the like, The county solicitor hasi informed the Southland Council that no provision having been made in the Licensing Act, therefore no license fees wbjfo eligible for keepers of either bjll^rd PF bagatellp tables. The Canterbury Star is thus complimentary to Sir George Grey t— the Whitaker Cabinet doubtless hopes to weather the storm, Their trust js in Sir George, Grey, whose jmpraptjcabje wilfulness in the. House has sp often proved him the Conservatives' best friend, Sir Guorge Grey is no longer the head of the Opposition ; it is probable that his per-

' fionnl following could be counted on the lingers of «ne hand without exhausting them. Yet it Buits the Government to trestf hjni and his three ov f pur henchmen as $he representatives of the Liberal party, and pi endeavour to pit them against the /strength of the Opposition. Sir George and his tail are to act, in the Assembly, the part which Mr Pamqlf and the Home Rulers have played in the House of Commons. They are. to worry and perplex the Liberals as fche acknowledged allies of the Conservatives. In order to enlist the sympathy of the younger members of the community with the terrible sufferings of the Russian Jews, the Minister of Education of Victoria, has authorised the raising of a voluntary penny subscription in the State schools of the colony. The object being most deserving one it is' hoped that by this means a fair sum may be raised. On Mr Graham's estate in the Waikato, 35 tons of sugar beet to the acre have been grown this season. Writing on this subject the Waikato Times says : — Taking the product of sugar to be 10 per cent, which is a fair average, we have three-and-a-half tons of sugar, per acre, worth, at, say, 2d. per pound, £65 6s Bd. We are aware that, assuming this calculation 4»4» right, a large proportion of the sum set down would be absorbed in the manufacture of the ragar, and in the haulage of the roots to the mill, but it must be borne in mind that the per pound is low, and that in the light of experience 35 tons per acre is by no means a wonderful crop. Taking 80 tona as the average, and assuming that the outside value of the roots is only ten shillings per ton on the ground (which is an exceedingly low estimate) we find that the return per acre is greater than could be obtained from an equal area of wheat. The latter crop entails less labour, it is true, but it is seldom the value of the crop, at 5s per bushel, would exceed from £7 to £10 per acre. A trial of a new dry-blowing machine, introduced from California by Captain Park, was made in the vicinity of the Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, recently by Mr Harvie Woods. Mr Wilkinson (Government Geologist), Mr Warden Slee (Inspector of Mines), several members of Parliament, and other gentleman interested in mining pursuits were present, and expressed their unanimous and unqualified approval of the very satisfactory work' performed. About fifty pounds of earth, provided by Messrs. Wilkinson and Slee, was thoroughly mixed with 4 dwts. 17 grains of gold. The machine was put to work, and in about three minutes the trial was completed. Mr Slee panned off the earth and found that less than one grain of gold had been lost. A second trial was made, and was equally satisfactory in its results. The machine is simple in the extreme, weighing but 1501 b., and costing in Sydney about £35. | It is estimated that two men with its assistance could put through two tons of ordinary washdirt per hour. The trial was entirely an official one, being «iade_by direction of the Minister of Mines. Mr < Slee, from his personal knowledge of the requirements of the Mount Poole District, considers that the machine would be a great advantage there. There is good reason to predict that it will be speedily introduced. In Otago the law relating to bills of sale is generally condemned as unjust and unsatisfactory, and the committee of the Chamber of Commerce are taking steps in favor df reform. An effort is being made to obtain extensions of time for closing public houses j in Christchurch, and with that view a number of requisitions are being drawn . up. . The members of the companionship of the Wanganui Herald have presented Mr John Notman with a handsome inkstand as a memento of the high esteem in which they held him. In replying, Mr Notman stated his intention of remaining in Wanganui, Mr A Leslie Campbell, formerly an insurance agent in Napier, has dropped into a legacy of £4000 by the death of a relative. Mr Campbell left Napier for Chicago, but he returned to the colony, and is now resident in Dunedin.