The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. MONDAY, AUGUST 3,1885.

Inangahua Times, Volume X, Issue 1582, 3 August 1885, Page 2

The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 1885.

There was a slight fall of snow in Reefton yesterday at 8 a.m. The quantity did not, however, exceed an inch in depth, and by midday all trace* of it had diwppeared. It vis reported on Friday evening last that the Ree.fton reservoir had hurst, airryingaway one side of the embankment. A large quantify of water could bo heard rushing over the hi 1 .! side during the night, but the site of the reservoir being rather dangerous to approach in the dark, nobody ventured the ascent, and it was not until the following morning that the real situation was revealed. It was then s?en that a landslip had occurred, but some distance below the reservoir, the latter proving to be unharmed. It was the noise caused by the land-slip which gave rise to the supposition that the reservoir had carried away. It is reported that the Government have agreed to subsidise the Lyell Op ek Extended Company, Lyell, to the extent of pound for pound upon future expenditure in driving the level, and also to remit all arrears of rent due upon the company's lease. Tho Mining Companies Act Amendment Bill, introduced into tho fL.nso of Representatives by MrMenteath provides, inter alia, "That section 79 of "The Mining Companies Act, 1872, Amendment Act, 1883." is hereby repealed, and in lieu thereof it is enacted 'as follows : - Subject to to the provisions of section 5i of the said Act as hereinafter amended, the amount of any en 11 which for the time being may bo unpaid upon any share in a company, shall, on and from the day when the call shall be made, bn deemed to be a debt due from the holder of such share to the company, and shall, provided proceedings for the purpose be commenced within fourteen days from the day on which such call as aforesaid is payable, be recoverable with interest thereon and costs of suit by the manager, describing himself in any proceedings therefore a« manager of the company, to whom the call shall b^dne, in any Court. of competent jurisdiction, provided always that no proceeding* for the recovery of any call due by a shareholder shall be commenced until after the day on which such call shall be payable, as provided by section 50 of the snid Act. In section 54 of the existing Act the word "payable" is substituted for the word "uuo." Section 55 of the existing Act as also section 11 of the Amendment Act, 1833, are repealed, and it is provided in lieu thereof that every forfeited share shall be forthwith offered for salo by auction absolutely without reserve. Notification of tho sale to be published in the chief town of tho provincial district, and in one or wore local newspapers, not less than si.wti or more than fourteen days notice <>t such sale to be given. Should the sale not realise sufficient to defray nil claims ac- ! cruing in respect to such forfeited shares, tho holder thereof to be liable for the balance as a debt due to the Company. Forfeited shares offered as aforesaid and not sold, to bo held in trust by the Company. Any trans- | feree of a share neglecting to register such transfer within two months after j the execution thereof shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding £10. Section 13 provides that no person shall be eligible for election as a director of a company, or be qualified to act a» aiich if he hold any office or place of profit under the Company, or be in the pay or employment of the Company, or concerned in or participating in any contract with the company, directors remuneration exceptod. The opening of the Industrial Exhibi- ! tion at Wellington has for tliHhoiir div»r- --■ ted public attention from tho railway j topic, and the information on the nul-j-^t iwe havfi this morning is meagre. Tt has, hovever, been definitely arranged that j the debate on the Government proposes ! ?.l:ali couiß on at the sitting to-morrow, i when the question will be finally dealt with. The impression is that the Colonial Treasurer will havo a, big surprise in store for the Opposition. It is known that the Government have been in com- | munication with the Agent-General rej irarlinpr the railway, nnd the promoters ! in Clunk-lunch have also pained addij tional information from the delrgates at Home, and the full facts will be communicated to the House to-morrow. The Hospital concert on Saturday I evening last, thoir/h not as well ai- ] tended as <>n some former occasions, still drew a moderately good house, and taken altogether passed ofF very successfully. Tho programme opened with a well execute d overture by the R"«fton Rrass Band. Miss Watkins sang "Tsloof Beauty " with taste and judgment and was warmly applauded. " The Rud Cross Banner" w-is capi alily rendered by Mr G. Casely, and was well received. " The Mexican March," a pianoforte duet. was performed in :v most finished an,l | a'tistic rnann-r by MdllosdePazanan, who I f\rot undoubtedly very talentty' musicians. j A recitation — "The Ruined Cottage," by j Mr W. Atkin, was the next item op. the I programme, and was very ably delivered. I " Jessie's Dream," was sun<_' by Mrs Dale with a precision nnd correetnesi of expression not. always observed by amateurs. mi 1 well deserved tho compliment it •'limited fro'ii t.!i-.i an li-s»r:.». Mr 0 > >!>.>r m.ii in his happio^t vein in " What Would I not Give," and created tlie op. porhmity f • «r the hearty !nu-.d> which the au lienoe siemod uincli in want of. "J Know a Din:!;,' 1 a uu_ f . ' v '.l.L.;<!aiiit.-.s

Scantlebury and Ahsolom was carefully and correctly rendered, the voices blending very sweetly. The closing item of the first part of the programme was Sergeant Bnzfua's address to the jury in thu famous suit of Bardelt v. Piokwick. Mr \V. Cummings certainly made a pronounced hit in the role of Serjeant Buzfuz. It was a cp.pit.al reality from beginning to end, and the only regret seemed to be that there was not more of it. It is needless to say Mr Cummings fairly brought down the the house. In the second part, besides ladies and gentlemen already mentioned Mr Lynch, Mr Nash, and Mr Harford also took part. A stump speech by Mr W. Atkin, in which numerous local allusions were introduced, created immense laughter, and was thoroughly enjoyed. Our apace will unfortunately not allow of a more extended notice of the performance which, taken altogether, was thoroughly successful and afforded a very enjoyable evening's entertainment. At the conclusion Mr J. Connolly, as a member of the Hospital C >mmittee, canvi forward and expressed the thanks of the Committee to Mr Conner, the conductor, and to the different ladies and gentlemen who had so kindly given their valuable assistance on the occasion, and also to the public for their liberal response. He called for a vote of thanks to the performers, which was heartily responded to, and the concert then closed with the National Anthem. It is notified that on and after the Ist August the price of coal delivered in Reefton will bo 30/- per ton, and the price at Black's Point will be 25/- per ton. Our Wellington correspondent calls attention to the fact that the West Coast is wholly unrepresented at the Industrial Exhibition now opened at Wellington. The public bodies on the West Coast are certainly very much to blame for this oversight. This part of the Colony will have to bear its share » f the cost of this gieat annual advertising show, and if on no higer ground than this we should have sought to participate in whatever advantage is likely to result from it. A good deal of ignorance seems to prevail in Wellington concerning the quality the Reefton coal, and advantage should have been taken of the opportunity of removing it. A gilded pedestal representing the bulk of gold obtained from tha Inangahna | might also have he«n added. As it is. j however, he West 0 >ast, which for more than a week past basin connection with the railway proposals monopolised a very j larye share of public attention throughout I New Zealand, is the only part of the i Colony unrepresented at the Exhibition. The Goldtield'3 Committee ( S '*V S thtf ! Wellington correspondent- of ti;e Dunedin ! 'fur) have mado a shan^e bungle in 1 reference to the petition itf an old West | Coastite, Renb.-n Wai hi. Last year a ' !av>.'3 number of We.st Coast residents ; forwarded a petition to the House stating ' that Waite was the pioneer of the West ! Coast iroldfields, and asking that some \ consideration niiyht be shown him in his ! old age. The rirst signature to the petij tiou was a "Patrick Newman," county 1 chairman ; and the Goldfields Committee, aftor due deliberation, recommended the Government to give Newman, instead of Waite, some consideration. This is the report as taken from the appendices to the journals of the House:— "The Goldfields and Mines Committee have the | honor to report 'that Patrick Newman is 1 one of the discoverers of the West Coast ; goldfields, and ha? undoubtedly claims on : the Colony, and his petition is therefore referred to thu Government for their favor- ; aMe consideration." This year Waite pc- • titioned Parliament to grant him somccon- ', sidcration in old nee, stating the petition ,' of last session had b-jon favorably reported ! on, but no effect had been given to the i report. The Goldfields Committee lmv- | ing had the hitter petition before them ; have perpetuated their blunder of last ! year, for tiny report as follows :— " The i Commit'eo do not see tlu-ir way to take further action in the matter, and refer '. their former report to the Government. " We take the following from the Xehon i • ]\f ;/ : _The friends of tlie Government List night sugg^te.-l itiat one way out of the difficulty regarding the East, and West Coast railway proposals would be to j follow the precedent established last year I with reference to the North main trunk line, and appoint a Select Committee I entirely composed of' North Island ii.eni- j bers to consider the proposals and report ; an to the expediency or otherwise of adopting them. The proposition was submitted to a meeting of Canterbury, Nelson, and We«t Coast members this morning, but with what result has not transpired, those present bciwr reticent a3 to the proceedings at the tueefi;)!?. It is generally believed, however, that the Canterbury people are averse to leaving the fate of their railway entirely in the hands of northern members but that they I would be willing to delegate the matter to the consideration of a mixed Com- j mittoo selecrol from the House by the Government. There seems no doubt that | the Government have resolved to reduce i ! the 20 years guarantee from £07,000 to I ' .£35.000, the whole of this to 1m a charge | , upon the districis of C.uttwl.iny, Nelson j ' and West Coast. Tl;e „1-jcet in r.-f. rrintr | , the mutter to a S.'l-rt Committee is to ,v t | jit hung up for a while Mr Onn.'iid lms ( ,' formally withdrawn iV.-m tin. Government { ; party. Rumors ajvl counter minors have j !.e»n tie order of the day. The first arose j jo tofa abinet meetini' hold this inoniiiMC j 'and lasting the whole day. It was an open secret that the Cabinet meetinir was I held f'-r t'"> purpose of considering j j whether the K:i«t and West Coast railway i proposals should be made a (i« wmnient ! ' ouestion, and towards evening it wmm i ■ mmored that there had been a .li>fiis-i>nin j i flir. Cabinet on this point and that Mf«sn i ' liallaiKc, Lama-jli nni Tole \.*.\ Huoa-

tened tn resign if it was made a Government question. This statement, however, lacks continnatinn, and Ministers are reticent oti the sublet. It was stated that the Canterbury members were anxious that tlio proposals should be made a Ministerial' question, and that the Government hesitated to disobey the desire of that section of the pnrt.y for fear of alienating their support. The government are between two stools and may come to the "round on the pnin 1 ,. If the proposal is made a Ministerial question, it means defeat and resignation, whilst if Ministers refuse to take this course it may mean the desertion «>f many Canterbury members after the railway question is disposed of out of revenue for non-com-pliance with their wishes. Tt is generally believed that the question will «°* w a Ministerial one. Tv the iwantimo active lobbying is going on, and it is stated that the majority against; *he proposals has been reduced to 7or R. 1 fancy something has occurred to show a way out of the difficulty. T believe that correspondence ban passed between Hie Governnient and Meiggß <fc Son, ami one story is that having been informal that- the proposal ia not satisfactory to the House, Meiggs & Son have cooie down in their price ; on the other Jjatvl, it is suggested that they have irfcrea**"! their demands and that Government have found it necessary to make a stand somewhere. Tn the former case, the proposal may be submitted to the House* in a modified form, and in the other ease there mxy be a quarrel between the Government and their Canterbury sunnorters if the former show any disposition to withdraw. Amongst, the numerous m>w bills for the introduction of which leave has been granted by the House, there is one which Mr J. C. Brown fathers. It is entitle! the S^nte Currency Bill, and is not, ' yet printed. A correspondent of a Southern paper says t!ia k the bill will provide that all Government payments are in future to be made by State notes, instead of by cheques. These State notes will be convertible and be a legal tender within the colony, but the i««ue is not to exceeri a yenr'n revenue. Five por cent per annum will be payable every six months. Thu=«. if n£l note is issued in ! January, on l«t July it will bo worth J£l Os 6. It is not proposed to do business as a bank, and the lion, member introducing the measure thinks that, banking institutions will not therefore regard I the new arrangement as a>i infrinr*nimit ■of their rights. Under tho bill the ! Government, at their agencies, will be j prepared tr« bnv gold at tho r*ito of £3 18s i an ounce, or 3s more than can at present ibe obtained for colonial gold. The gold j will then be smelted and assayed, after which it will lie converted into bars, and people wanting to leave the colony can get these in place of notes if they so desire.