The Inangahua Times, PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1882.

Inangahua Times, Volume VII, Issue 1205, 8 December 1882, Page 2

The Inangahua Times, PUBLISHED TRI- WEEKLY. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1882.

A meeting of shareholders in the Capleston "Lease Company wilt be held at Beilby's Hotel, Reefton, on Saturday evening next, at 8 o'clock, to consider business of importance. In the Warden's Court yesterday, the following gold mining leases were recommended :--Castlemaine, Advance, Van, North Fleece, .Union Extended,.^ Great Western, Ijone if and, Surprise Extended, Washington, Medea, Cariboo, Lady Louisa, Oriental, Queen of Beauty, Souvenir and Triumph. The following' telegram was received by the secretary of the Railway League, on Tuesday last,— H. G. Hankin Esq., Secretary Railway League, Beefton.— Th« question of the best pass is an Engineering one, which the Commissioners could not settle by any investigation they could personally make, they will be glad however to receive any information relating to the subject which the, Beefton Kail way League may think fit to forward. — Daniel Pollen. A bazaar in aid of the Convent Fund, Ahaura, will be held at Christmas, at Ahaura, and ladies who have promised to furnish contributions are requested by advertisement to forward their donations during the week before Christmas. The bazaar promises to be a very attractive one, contributions having been promised from all parts of the West Coast, and these will be supplemented by a consignment of the very latest novelties in fancy goods of all kinds, just received by the committee direct from Paris. The various stalls will be presided over by ladies from Hokitika, Greymouth, and the Grey Valley, and an unusually large gathering is expected. At exactly twenty minutes past four yesterday morning, a noise like the last, dying speech and confession of an expiring gander, indicated the desire of some amateur cornetist on the Buller Boad to make known the fact that the transit of venus was about to take place. Ihe morning was a little hazy, and a Blight cloud-bank along the eastern horizon was a rather discouraging portent, but as the sun rose the atmosphere gradually cleared, and at 5 o'clock the position of the planet on the upper disc of the sun was plainly seen. The first and last contacts, however, were not clearly observable, even had the necessary instruments been at hand to record them. It is to be hoped that observers in other parts of the colony will be more fortunate. The Golden Fleece Extended Company will resume crushing on Monday next. The new rock-borer for the company was delivered on the mine on Monday last, and will be at once employed in sinking the winze from the bottom level, and extending this level north, where there is a well-defined track of the lode to follow. Plans of a compressor, to be worked by the battery engine, — which has plenty of power to spare for the purpose — have been prepared by Mr Thornton, the company's engineer, and forwarded to the Despatch Foundry, Greymouth, and also to Melbourne, asking for a price for the same. The compressor will be on the American National principle, and when placed on the mine the company will be in a position to work their two rock-borers throughout the three shifts, together with the airwinch for sinking the winze, and the diamond drill. • The inhabitants of the Boatman's district are to be commended for their promptitude in taking steps to raise funds fur the relief of the family of the unfortunate man Ralph Hall. A public ball will be held at CapJeston to-night in aid of the fund, ' and a diligent canvass of the district is buing made. We trust that the ball will be lanjoly attended, as the '

call for assistance is really urgent and one of so distressing a nature that it can hardly fail to meet with a liberal response. The whole of the outside works on the Golden Point Company's mine are now well advanced to completion, and all that ' remains to be done is to close in the walls of the engine-shed, lay the blanket-tables, and place in position the new pipes in lieu of the discarded ones. These works are all in hand and will be finished in about ten or twelve days, when everything will be in readiness to commence crushing; but as this will be closo on to the holidays, it is probable that a start will not be made before the 2nd January, as to do so earlier would only necessitate a break in the crushing, which would be inadvisable in the case of a new plant and apparatus. A new. feature has been added to the battery. Hitherto the gratings in use at batteries in this district have been of about 180 clearly punctured holes to the inch, but Mr Perotti has introduced a new kind of grating, perforated up to 250 holes per square inch, the holes being larger on the inside than on the outside of the grating, this arrangment ensuring a degree of fineness in the pulverisation equal to twice that obtained at any other battery. The quantity of stone that can be put through will, of course, be proportionally reduced, but for a reef of comparatively small dimensions, like that of the Golden Point, the necessity for rushing a quantity through does not exist, and the object will be to obtain the very highest possible result from that treated. It is estimated that from 60 to 70 tons can be reduced weekly. We understand that the Central Board of Education, Nelson, after a full and careful review of the circumstances, has declined to endorse the action of the Seefton Fchool Committee in regard to the recent suspension of the head teacher. The following is the decision arrived at by the Central Board :— "After a careful consideration of the evidence submitted by the Keefton Committee, in the case of Mr Chattock, the Board does not find sufficient grounds therein for proceeding to his dismissal." This decision therefore virtnally reinstates Mr Chattock. Prefessor Ulrich, the well known geologist, arrived here last night. Mr D. P. Anderson's many friends will be glad to learn that he returned to Reefton last night, almost completely restored to health, and is once more able to attend to active duties. We were yesterday shown a sample of the stone taken from the Rising Star lease, Snowy River district ; the stone is really of a most promising quality, and carries a splendid show of coarse gold. Mr Hunter has the quartz, and it will be found well worthy of inspection. The Warden's Court *wbs occupied for about ah hour yesterday with a legal argument in a case in which the Fiery Cross Extended juid Hope£ulJßxt»nded Companies appeared as rival claimants to a strip of disputed ground lying between the two leases. At the close of the argument the case was adjourned to January next, when the hearing will no doubt be fully gone into. For several days past some very ugly reports have been in circulation in regard to the conduct of the crushing just completed by the United Victory Company, Lyell, but in the absence of anything more reliable than hearsay we have abstained from giving currency to the many unpleasant rumera afloat. Our Lyell letter will, however, reach us to-night, and in our next issue we shall be able to deal fully with the subject. The New York Sun says:— "The greatest, or at least the most successful, English general of this day is a teetotaller. His success, temperance men will attribute to his abstemiousness, which is all the more remarkable in a solddier, or at any rate they will claim that the triumph of the English arms in Egypt has been greatly helped by the sobriety of the general in command ; 'and they will have good reason for the claim. If Sir Garnet Wolseley is a teetotaller he is a wise man. His mind is clear, and he can trust his judgment. How many thousands of lives would have been saved in our wars for instance, if the generals had all been as sober as Wolseley is said to be. We observe that among Englishmen of education and ability, and who carry the load of extensive affairs the tendency is toward increasing abstemiousness and that even total abstainers are growing pretty numerous. It is a tendency which we commend to the thoughtful attention of our men in public life, our professional and businessmen." * During an examination in the Insolvent Court in Sydney, an insolvent named William Norris, a publican at Windsor, admitted that he had gambled at the rate of £1000 a year for the last two years, and that he had lost as much as £200 in a night at hazard, and that one day in July last he lost £230 by tossing with pennies. It is well known that opals are among the minerals of Queensland. A paper was read some months ago before the Glasgow Geological Society by Mr F. R. M. Robertson, M.D., F.G.S., F.K.G.S., upon an opal mine he had visited and examined in the Aladdin Hills, Cooper's Creek, Western Queensland. The doctor says that £5000 worth of opals per year migh easily be taken from the Alladdin ■vein, and sold without glutting the market ; indeed, that one skilled man could obtain in a couple of days a year's supply ready for the lapidary's, wheel. The ground is freehold, and the owner realised £1900 in a few months from tho sale, in London, Sydney, and elsewhere, of small lots broken out of these boulders and stowed in the corner of a saddle bag, and so bronght down 1000 miles to Tirisbane.