The Inangahua Times, PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1883.

Inangahua Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1328, 26 November 1883, Page 2

The Inangahua Times, PUBLISHED TRI- WEEKLY. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1883.

The communication of "Darwinian" reached U3 too late for publication to day. We learn that the Vaudiville Company of theatricals have engaged the Oddfellows' Hall for the coming Christmas holidays. The ceremony of consecrating and dedi- 1 eating the new Robert Burns I odge, S.C., ( and installation of officers, will take place j this afternoon. Mr Michel, D.P.M,, of Hokitika, will conduct the ceremony, and a banquet to commemorate the occasion will be held in Dawsotfs Hotel in the evening. The sittings of the District Court, Jteefton, before His Honor Judgo Broad, •will open this morning, when the suspended judgment in ihe case of I ynch v. the Couuty Council will be delivered. The case of Police v. Devine, being an appeal from the Resident Magistrate's Court, will be next gone on with. There are also several applications under the Mining Companies and Bankruptcy .Acts for hearing. A meeting of residents interested in procuring a wa'er-Bupply for the town was held on Saturday af'ernoon last, to con- • sider what action should be taken to accomplish the object. The opinion was expressed that it was hopeless to proceed further with the scheme as proposed by the County Council, as a majority of the residents of Reefton would not submit to be taxed to provide water for Broadway alone. Thia view was finally adopted, and it was therefore resolved that the petition should be amended so as to operate only in Brpadway, Shiel and Churchstreets. A further recommendcition was adopted, asking the County Council to

I inatruct their engineer to examine and report upon the feasibility of obtaining water along the hill-side, between Reef ton ! and Black s Point, and this the local body has undertaken to do. as soon as Mr ; Garven's services are available. Our Lyell correspondent writes as follows, under date November 25th :— An accident occurred at M'Leod's punt, IS me Mile, yesterday. The punt man, M'Leod, was crossing the down mail coach aud a buggy at the Barae time. A stiff gale of wind was blowing down the river, making it somewhat difficult to cross. A piece of canvass used on the coach to cover luggage became detached, causing the horses to take fright, backing the buggy into the deepest part of thf river, despite the efforts of the driver and the puntman, the latter being carried overboard with the buggy. The horses narrowly escaped drowning. They subsequently succeeded in swimming ashore. The buggy had the pole broken, and other damage done to it. The puntman escaped with a good ducking. It is time some alterations were made in thi3 ferry, as numerous complaints are continually being made by the carriers and the travelling public about the frequent delays in crossing, and general incompleteness of the punt, which is both old and shaky. Good goldbearing stone was struck in the Alpine No. 2 level, west of where^. the reef was supposed to be; ■.■•'•■»■■> '< >■■' '. Mr Hodgson, School Inspector under the Nelson Board of Education, having completed his examination of the Inangahua schools, left for \ yell on Wednesday last. Mr Hodgson's report on the State Schools will not be published till January next, but he reports as under on the Keefton Catholic School :— I beg to report as follows on St. Joseph's School, the examination of which I have just completed. Eighty-two Of the hundred scholars on the roll were present. The numerical results of the examination fall short of those, obtained lafet year, when the percentage of passes was ninety-one, against seventy-nine on this occasion. As usual, I have not recorded the names of those who failed to pass unless they had made two hundred and sixty attendances since my former examination. There were twelve of these. The work of the different classes was very unequal j the first standard scholars did badly in several subjects, one only out of eight passing. Those in the second standard acquitted themselves only moderately well. But the work of the candidates for the 3rd, 4th, sth, and 6th standards was creditable in every subject, but one, spelling being the exception. The arithmetic, grammar, and geography of the older scholars were well done, some of the papers being models of neatness. Their letters on a given subject were also sensibly written, and were not disfigured, as is still too often the casa, by meaning-less-preambles. The scholars were obedieut and perfectly orderly throughout a rathei protracted examination. I am, sir, youi obedient servant, W. 0. Hodgson, ', Thapector of Sohools fox-tho Nelson -and Maryborough Districts. To Rev /j. p, Rolland, Ahaura. Reef ton, 16th November, 1883." The following is a summary of the results of the examination, which on the whole are highly*, creditable to Mr O'Brien, the head master :-— There were 66 presented for examination in" the standards— three in 6th standard who had only passed the 4th last examination* two of which passed moat successfully in all the subjects without, one failure, Hfenry M'Sherry and Kdward Black. Three other candidates for this standard had , left school a few months previous. Eight the complete number passed in -the 6th ; twelve out of sixteen in the 1 fourth; nine in the third out of ten; eighteen presented in second, nine passed, and one out of eleven in the first standard. A larg» majority of the failures had not completed 130 attendances (full days) in, the whole terra. The concert held at Black's Point on "Friday evening last, in aid of the Hospital funds, proved a thumping success, both financially and otherwise, The new school-room was crowded, and the programme was gone through without ahitch. Mr J. 0. Craig occupied the chair. The first item on the programme was ah overture by the Black's Point Band, which was rendered with the studied correctness and taste which distinguishes all the performances of the band. Mr Taylor followed in the song " Queen's Letter" to which he did full justice. Mrs Absoleni sang " Mille May," very tastefully, and was warmly applauded. MrCumnrings recited " Clarence's Dream " with considerable dramatic force, aud was loudly applauded. " Come Back to Erin," by Miss ( assells, was sung with a fullness and sweetnesa of vocalisation which gives high promises of this young hdy's voice. Mr Cooper recounted the love woes of " Yillikins and his Dinah " with a graviiy which did the utmost respect to the memory of the departed "trewe loviers," and the audience " sorrowed" accordi ngly. Miss Moller, who was in excellent voice, sang the ever popuLir " Ehrea on the Rhine " with exquisite taste and unish. "NancyT.ee" was sung in good time by Mr Dornan, who has a voice worth cultivating. Mr F. Pitt sang "The Death of Nelson " in capital style, displaying a vqice of rare compass and quality, and with all the facility of a proficent. He is an undoubted acquisition to the roll of local amateur vocalists. Mr G. Casely acquitted himself ably in the song "Wrecked and Saved," while Mr Levy's negro song and dance (in character) brought down the house. This closed the first portion of the programme, andin the second part, besides the ladies and gentlemen already mentioned, JVliss Hank in sang " Jeanette's Choice " very prettily. Mr Harford represented the light side, of human nature very ably, his droll delineations keeping the audience in roars of laughter, Miss Cnssells and Mrs Giitoe3

gave thoduet "Frenclship," very nicely, both parts being well sustained and the voices blending very agreeably. "Alice Where Art Thou," by Mr Rumble was sung very softly and pleasantly, Mr ! | Pollock was thoroughly at home in %>_> hiußJ Wine," his song being undoubtedly among t!ie best of the evening. x Miss(Al|i3nsi«jg the evergreen "In the Gloaming^" V^ry sweetly, and was warmly applauded^nd, duet "We Come to Thee, SavoyV by Miss Austin and Mr Casely was carefully and correctly rendered, and recetvedjvell merited " approval. Mrs Taylor gave a reading with pleasing clearness and contidence, and was well applauded a'i the conclusion. "Let me Like a Soldier Fall, I ' from " Maritana " was excellently, rendered by Mr F. Pitt, after which Mr 0. Bowden gave a riiost mirth-pro voting imitation of a London street ballad suiter, ] and this closed the concert. The room was then cleared fo.. 1 dancing, and some forty or fifty couples were soon after footing it merrily to the delightful strains of theElack's Point Band The festivities were kept up till daylight, when the company separated with mutual congratulations upon the success of the gathering. ■ The Black's Point and Crushington people are to be congratulated upon \ he manner in which they co-operated to make the occasion a success, and we only trust that such a good beginning will be followed by many similar gatherings. Mr Fling, photographer, requests us to state that he will take portraits up to 6 p.m. to-day, leaving positively to-morrow morning. — [A dvt.] The greatest nourishing tonic, appetiser, sfrengfheuer aud cura.ive on eanh. Hop I BiUers. See