Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1882.

Inangahua Times, Volume VII, Issue 1191, 6 November 1882, Page 2

Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI- WEEKLY. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1882.

To the lovers of music a treat of more than ordinary excellence is in store for tonight. The celebrated ustrian Band arrived here yesterday afternoon, and will give their first performance in the Oddfellows Mall this evening. The fame of the Band haa long preceded its visit here, and not a word of commendation of its excellency is needed to secure the fullest measure of p.ublic patronage. The programme appears in our advertising columns.

Mr J. W. Hall, who for a period of ten or eleven years has ably represented the A ustralian Mutual Provident Insurance Company on the West Coast, is now on a visit to the Inangahua, and has taken up his quarters at Dawson's Hotel. The fact that ,the Mutual Provident Society is the oldest MutuaJlife office in Australasia, and has accumulated funds amounting to £3,800,000 places it at the head of all colonial institutions of the kind, and to the exceptional advantage, which it offers to insurers may be attributed the extraordinary growth to which it has attained. Full particulars as to rates of premium &c, may be obtained from Mr Hall, who will be glad to meet intending insurers.

A meeting of the members of the Reefton Cricket Club will be held at the Southern Cross Hotel to-morrow evening to decide the match to be played on Thursday next. A meeting of the stewards of the Reefton Jockey Club will be held at Mr Bowman's office thia evening, when it is hoped there will be a full attendance, as the business to be disposed of is of an important nature. The town waa very busy on Saturday evening the streets being alive with visitors up to a late hour. There being a good deal of miscellaneous share business done, Boatman's and Big River districts stock being largely operated upon. ■

Some little excitement was occasioned in the early part of the week in consequence of reports brought in from the Big hiver Company's mine, and for some days there was an active run upon the shares. The stone, a sample of which was brought into town, showed gold very freely, and the opinion is fast gaining ground that the Big "Jiver district will very soon prove a second Boatman's. The locality up to the present time, although only situated within a few miles of Keefton, has been a sent up terra incognita, but the large number of mining leases already applied for in that quarter, and the prospecting work now going on there will very soon direct public attentien in that direction, and the coming summer will no doubt, see the place well prospected. That payable reefs exist there, seems to be now generally believed, and the money and enterprise is not wanting to develop them. The finding of a run of gold bearing stone on the surface in the No. 2 Keep-it-Dark lease, Crushington also gave rise to some excitement during the week.

The Fleece battery is in full swing, and the Crushing may be expected to keep up the regular average of the mine. It is not yet known what quantity will be put through before a final cleaning up. Work is well under way . with the construction of the atc-winch. The castings are being turned out at the Despatch Foundry Greymouth, and the other work will be performed on the mine. Another of those instances that are often recorded of the faithfulness of a do</ (eays a Melbourne paper) received an il lustration at Brunswick recently, a little girl, three years of ajje, the daughter of Mr R. Ganting, being saved from drowning by a retriever dog. The child was out amusing itself in a piddock, accompanied by a dog, but without observation went to a waterhole around which some flowers were trained, and whilst doing so accidentally fell in. The dog immediately barked and jumped in, seized the child by its clothes, and kept it on the bank till assistance arrived. Fortunately nothing more than a ducking happened. The same dog had on former occasions rendered good service to the family of its owner.

Thb following measurements of the great lakes of America have been taken by the Government surveyors : — The greatest length of Lake Superior is 335 . miles ; its greatest breadth is 100 miles ; mean depth, 688ft ; elevation, 627ft ; area, 82,000 square miles. The greatest length of Lake Michigan is 300 miles ; its greatest breadth, 108 miles ; mean depth, 690ft; elevation, 506ft; area, 23,000 square miles. The greatest length of Lake Huron is 300 miles ; its greatest breadth is 60 miles ; mean depth, 600ft ; elevation, ?74ft ; area, 20.000 square miles. The greatest length of Lake Erie is 250 miles ; its breadth is 80 miles ; its i mean depth is 84ft ; its elevation, 26ft ; area, 6000 square miles. The greatest length of Lake Ontario is 180 miles ; its greatest breadth, 65 miles ; its mean depth ia 500ft ; elevation, 26ft ; area. 6000 square miles. T'iy totnl length of all h'vo i» 1-05 n;ilu.3, covering an an.-a of u^w^ida of of 315; 100 square miles. At Stourpori, a youth named Harris

was swimming across the Severn, when he was apparently seized with cramp, and .sank. His companions, lads of about 14, tried jn.vainto aid him, and a boating party which came up were entreated to get the lad out. 'Get him out yourselves,' was the reply, and the party in the boat, which included several women, rowed on. Harris's body was not recovered for some hours. A curious question lias come before the Victorian Commissioner of Trade and Customs for settlement in connection with the protective .tariff. An ad volorem duty of 30 per cent is charged upon imported watches, but the Customs officers have discovered an ingenious arrangement by which importers avoid the payment of the duty. The watches consigned to them cmne out in parts. One vessel brings the cases, upon which a duty of 2s an ounce is paid, and the works and springs come out in different ships and are admitted free, as they cannot be classed under any of the items included in the tariff. The watches are afterwards put together in the colony for 2s 6d each. Placing the average cost of each watch at £7, a little over £1 is thus saved upon each one imported in this manner. Mr Graves has had reports from his officers on the snbject, observes the Argus, and he is now considering what steps can be taken to prohibit the practice, which has been largely resorted to in the past.