The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 1885.

Inangahua Times, Volume X, Issue 1536, 3 June 1885, Page 2

The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 1885.

The annual meeting of the members of the Reefton Jockey Club was held at M' Gaffin's Hotel, on Monday evening last, Mr G. C. Bowman, the President of the Club, in the chair. The secretary read tht report and balance-sheet for the past year which were adopted. Fifteen new members were then proposed and accepted, and the meeting was then adjourned to Tuesday, 16th June, when the election of stewards and officers of the Club for the current year will be proceeded with. j At a meeting of directors held on Mon- i day evening a dividend, the 64th, of one shilling and sixpence per was declared in the Keep-it-Dark Company. The alterations now in progress will have the effect of adding largely to the sitting accommodation at the United Methodist Free Church, Reefton, besides greatly increasing the comfort of the congregation, which during past two years has largely increased. As will be seen by advertiament it, is intended to hold a special renovation service in the church en Sunday the 14th instant, on which occasion two sermons will be preached by the Rev. B. 0. Perry (late of Napier), and in the evening a congregational meeting will be held. On the following Tuesday afternoon a public tea will be held when addresses will be delivered by the Revs. Perry, Spencer, Gow and Messrs Lawn and Wills. Ada Mantua is treading again her already her well-worn path, and h* furnished us names and addresses of her principal winners, as also the names of the committee present at the drawing. These are most satisfactory, as they consist of gentlemen of good commercial and social position in Dunedin, "and are in themselves » sufficient guarantee that Ada is keeping good faith with the public. The following is the result of the drawing:— lst prize, £288, nett, to a well-known saddler residing at Greymouth ; 2nd prize t L 144, an employee, at the Bull and Mouth Hotel, Dunedin ; 3rd prize, L 96, to th« pound-keeper, Dunstan, Otago. Ada's •vent on the Melbourne Grand National is now open. The nomination of candidates for the Riding of Antonio's took place at noon yesterday, at Antonio's Flat, before Mr -W. C. Mirfin, Returning Officer. The only candidate proposed was Mr Alex. Dnncan, ' who was nominated by Mr Alex. M "Bardic, and seconded by Mr J. M'Lennon. In the absence of any other nomination the Returning Oficer declared Mr Duncan dully elected as the representative of the Antonio's Riding in the Inangahua County Council. The Council will meet at 2.30 to-mor-row to complete the unfinished business of the last sitting. The first matter to be dealt with is the consideration of the annual balance-sheet of the County, and will offer a good opportunity for an investigation into the financial position of the Council. The subject is one upon which the ratepayers are much in n»ed of | information, and if the true state of the finances was made known much good j would be done. The County Chairman will probably bring on for consideration his motion for prohibiting the officers of the Council from taking part in elections. The absence of some such restraint lies at the root of nearly all the trouble which has befallen the administration of our local affairs in the past, and to impose an effectual check against a repetition of the evil is a duty incumbent upon the Council. Another matter equally deserving of attention is the constitution, and assumption of power by the so-called Executive Committee. In the past this body has been exercising the powers and functions which belong only to tho Council, and this without any delegation of authority, or even pretence of it. Accounts amounting tin hundreds of pounds have been passed for payment by this Committee, and this in a 'secret manner which is entirely at variance with the intention of the Act. That such a mode of dealing with public moneys was never for a mount contemplated by the Legislature, it would bo absurd to doubt. Power is given for the appointment of Committees to deal with formal matters, and bring up reports and recommendations, as is the case in the Municipal Corporation Act, bat the idea of three or four memVers of an elective body* of eight councillors arrogating to themselves the power of a corporate body, is surely something unheard of io the history »f local government. The pnblic have a right to . demand that the business «f the. County shall be conducted in open daylight, as tht Counties Act provides. Such a method for dealing with public moneys is calculated to stimulate the worst forms of corruption, and

we shall certainly look to the present Council to prove the earnestness of it* desire for reform by either sweeping the Executive Committee, socalled, away entirely, or so limiting its functions by resolution as to pnt a stop in future to its dealing with the public money. We have heard much about the abuses of the past, and the responsibility now rests upon those in power to purge the administration of the County of anything and everything which has brought upon it the stamp of strong public disapproval. The Licensing Committeo for Reefton sat yesterday, Mr W. G. Collings presiding. All the applications for renewals and transfers were granted. In the matter of Mr H. Bartlett's application for a new license was refused, the Bench being of opinion that although the recent local option poll may 'have been informally conducted, they were bound to respect the verdict of the voters as declared at the poll. We publish this morning the memorial of registration of the Reform Gold Mining Company, (No liability.) This is, we think, the first company in the Inangaliua which has b»en registered undpr the No Liability provisions of the Act^ although many mining companies at the Thames, TeArnha, and elsewhere have been similarly registered, and the security conferred upon shareholders under this form is considered greater than under the Limited Liability provisions as the Act now stands. While on this subject we may point out that Mr Menteath. M.H.R. will be leaving for Wellington in the course of a few days, so that if any amendment of the Mining Companies Act is desired during the coining session, those here especially interested in the matter should meet together aud suggest amendments. Whooping cough is prevalent in Kumara. One child of six years has died from its effects, and Mr Seddon's oldest boy is dangerously ill with it. Commenting on the second defeat of Han lan by Beach at Sydney, the St. James's Gazette remarks :— " When the news of Hanlan's first defeat by Beach reached this country last atftumn, the public were almost unanimous in asserting that there must have b<*en some * fluke ' in the race. When fuller details came to hand, and it was seen that there was no accident, excuses were made that Banian mat have been unwell. We differed from these views from the outset, and stated our opinion that from what we knew of the manner in which B*»ach had b«en taken in hand by certain scientific Colonist amateurs, the Beoref «lf his'success lay in his not being too proud te be taught how to use his slide. Ho is a much more powerful man than Hanlan, and had only tv learn how to make decent use of his superior strength to win. This is just what our British professionals are too self-willed to do, and «o they are hopelessly beaten in these days by colonials. Now that it is realised that Hanlan is not invincible, and that careful coaching, with painstaking on the part of the pupil, can produce his superior, let us hope that patriotic amateurs may take in hand some well-made yokel who has not too great an opinion of himself, an I endeavour to fabricate a really good British sculler." A return of the subsidies paid for performing the in land; mail services appears in the "Gazette" of Thursday week. The highest amount paid is for carrying the tri- weekly mails between Lyell, Reefton, Westpoit, and Inantrahua, which comes to L 1250 a year, and is done by coach. The daily mail between Wellington and Fuxton, also by coach, comes next, costing LI2OO. There is then a drop to L4OO by steamer for a bi : weekly service between Helensville and Dargaville, in the north of the colony. There are. several subsidies of from L3OO to L2CO for mail services in the North Island, bat very few o^er LIOO in the South, except the West Coast lines refrred to. The conveyance of mails appears to be ( managed in all sorts of ways, steamer, 1 omnibus, van, coach, horse, boat, buggy, canoe, trap, packhorse, tramcar, foot also being amongst the means of carriage made use of by the postal authorities, one person getting Lls a year for making a weekly journey on foot between two places in the Blenheim district. A young gentleman named Claude F. Dondy, brother of a wealthy barrister in, London, and himself stated to be heir to a fortune of 125,000, has died under extremely painful circumstances (writes our Melbourne correspondent). He was travelling for his health, and came on from Sydney to Melbourne as a saloon passenger in the Lyoeinoon on May 14. He appears to have been searching for some friends next day, and becoming exhausted, he fell in a faint on the steps of the General Post-office about 7 o'clwck in the evening. A constable took him to the lockup, the keeper of which seeing that the young gentleman was dangerously ill sent him to the Melbourne Hospital. The superintendent of this institution refuSud to receive him for some reason. He was then sent on to the Gaol Hospital as a "vagrant." His acquaintances, when the facts were published, took him out, but he died shortly afterwar.ls in the house of Mr Hunter, of Albert Park. There seems good grounds for believing that the shock to hi» system through being conveyed at night whilst seriously ill backwards and forwards to the various institutions, together with the shock t<* his mind consequent upon his being committed to the gaol an a vagrant, had much to do with his death. .The medical officer of the Hospital has been asked to «port on the matter to the committe. A nsiderable sum of money was lying in a Melbourne bank to the credit of Mr Dendy at the time of his d«p)»mUe death*

The Grey Star says :— That much talked-of and keenly contested election for Chairman of the Inangahua County Council haa at length been brought to a conclusion by the election. of Mr Menteath as Chairman. From first to last this contest for honor can net hare cost less than £2000. The lesson is certainly an ex pensive one, but two or three useful hints have been given, the first and most important being that it is now clearly demonstrated that local bodies shall conform to law, and may not do just as they think fit with elections and the ratepayers' mouey. Some interesting mementos of the siege of Gibraltar have jn«t been landed at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, from Her Majesty's storesliip Wye. They consist of three guns and a m«rtar which have been recovered from the French and Spanish ships sunk in the bed of the Mediterranean. These vessels were, n» doubt, sunk by the fire of the British, under General Ellis, between the years 1779 and 1783. The war trophies thus singularly recovered, after a great lapse of time have been brought home, by order of' her Majesty's Government, to be preserved as menrentot of one of the greatest sieges on record. Professor Kirk, who is at Waikato investigating the causes of the appla blight in orchards, is of opinion that the blight which takes the form of a lichen, is generated by decayed ferns. The greatest nourishing tonic, appetizer, strengthener and curative «>n earth. H«p Bitters made only by American Co. See ONE BOX OF CLARKE'S B 41 PILLS is warranted to cure all discharges from the Urinary Organs, in either sex (acquired or constitutional), Grnvel, and Pains in the Back. Guaranteed free from Mercury. Sold in Boxes, 4s. 6d each, by all Chemists and Patent Medicine Vendors : Sole Proprietors, The Lincoln and Midland Cocntiis Drug Co., Lincoln, England. Wholesale of all the Wholesale Houses