The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY MONDAY, MAY 26, 1884.

Inangahua Times, Volume IX, Issue 1405, 26 May 1884, Page 2

The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI- WEEKLY MONDAY, MAY 26, 1884.

The case of Fantella v. Croesus Company came before the District Court on Friday. The plaintiff claimed L 25 wages ami the Company admitted the claim hut. sought, to set off a sum of £112 due fur calls. The plaintiff replied that the Company were not entitled to recover because notices of "the calls had not been given as required toy the Act, as they had not been advertised in a newspaper in the chief Provincial Town Judge Broad reserved the point for consideration until next morning when he delivered the following judgment : As I Baid at the hearing of this action the point in issue is of some importance to mining companies. The question is are calls recoverable when notices of such calls have not been advertised in some newspaper in the chief Provincial town and want of such notices is pleaded as a defence ? The first part of section 18 of the *' The Mining Companies Act Amendment Act " of last year provides that wherever in the Act of 1872 it is made compulsory to insert any notice in one or more newspapers published in the chief town of the Province where the Company shall carry on operations the said Act shall be read and construed as if such words had been omitted therefrom. Upon examining the Act it will be found that sections 45, 67, 92, and 96 contain the very words mentioned in the above part of the Amending Act. These then are the sections to be read and construed as if such words had I been omitted therefrom. But section 18 of the ." Amendment Act " goes oh further to provide that sections 50, 55, 113, and every other section of the Act of 1872 wherever the word daily occurs in reference to a newspaper shall be read and construed as though the word "daily" hail been omitted therefrom. These sections are specifically amended by striking out the word " daily," and removing that word from section 50 it is apparent *hat it is still necessary to give notice of the day when a call is payable by publication in a newspaper published in the chief Provincial town, although such newspaper neei no longer be a daily. As it is admitted such notices were not given of the calls now claimed and want of such notices is pleaded, I am of opinion that they are ! not recoverable. It is urged however that the calls having been duly made are at any rate capable of being set-off to the amount of plaintiffs claim. It is not necessary to say whether or no these evils were void, it is sufficient for the purposes of this case to decide that the statutory notices not having been given they never became calls payable by the plaintiff, and they are neither recoverable by action nor can they be set-off. We publish this morning Ada Mantua* programme on the Melbourne Grand I National. This is one of the largest ] events since the last Melbourne Cup an- 1 nouncument. The Otago Witiiest' Newspaper Com- ' pany offer six .money prizes for a chess I problem solution tourney. The first prize ; of £3 3s, will Vie awarded to the solver of ! twenty-five problems 'to appear consecutively in the ll'itvcxs from the 24th May to Bth November. The programme of the tourney will be found in the Witness. Sahirday last was the Goth birthday of H«r ; .Majesty the Queen, and aa usual, wa

observed as a holiday by the banks and public offices. His Honor Judge Broad sat in Chambers on Friday last, when the matter of tl)» Lankuy's Creek Company (in liquidation) was attain brought up, the liquidator presenting, . amongst other debt 3 which had been proved in the estate, a claim by William Watson and others of Dunedin, for an amount alleged to have been disbursed in paying the expenses of an expurl from Dunedin to inspect and report Ui>on the mine. A fter consideration the claim was ordered to stand over, the claimants to prove the debt in the manner provided for in such oases by the Act. Hi 3 Honor left for Westport on Saturday I morning. We karn that the County Engineer has inspected the pier of the Inanga'ma Junction bridge, which was reported to have shown stgns of settling down, and finds that the pier in question has a mush better foundation than the report. Our correspondent is not the tirst person who has been deceived by arpier ances. Some very , unpleasant rumors have been floating in the air at Wellington for some time past, in reference to a supposed malversation of trust funds, by a wellk\mwn resident there. A few facts in connection with the affair have since leaked out, and an information forembez zlement will probably be he result. The > ustralian ' cricketers have a tremendous task before them to win their I current match against the Marylebone ! Club of gentlemen and professional players It will be seen that the Home team which went first to the wickets have put together 465 runs for the loss of nine wickets. This makes a victory for the visitors almost beyond hope, but should they be successful it will be an extraordinary triumph. In our Court report on Friday last in the case of Fantella v, Croesus Company, His Honor Judge Broad was made to say that the non-publication of the notices in the Nelson papers rendered the calls void What His Honor said was that such calls would be irrecoverable. Mr Warden Revell reached Reefton on Saturday afternoon, and will preside in the Warden's Court this morning. There are no cases for hearing, the business being confined to a number of mining applications. A bazaar and gift auction in connection with the United Methodist Free Church, Reefton, was held in the Fire Brigade Hall on Saturday last. The building was very tastefully decorated and the variouß stalls presided over by the ladies of the congregation presented a very attractive appearance. The hall was pretty well attended, particularly during the evening, J and the presence of the Black's Point Band enlivened the scene agreeably. We understand that financially the bazaar was fairly successful considering the slackness of the I times. ■ -