The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 1835.

Inangahua Times, Volume X, Issue 1587, 14 August 1885, Page 2

The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 1835.

The friends of Mr Thomas Bruce will be glad to learn that he is once more able to get about, his state of health being better than it ha.3 been for a long time past. Information reached town yesterday of the striking of remarkably good stone in the Reform mine, Boatman's. The lode now being operated upon is sft thick, and a rich shoot of gold runs* through it. Some splendid specimens have been obtained. The Company have aboil*- 100 tons of stone to grass, and the tramway leading to the Just-in-Time battery is being put in repair preparatory to a crushing being sent down. A meeting of shareholders in the Lucid lease. Murray Creek, will be held at the Southern Crosa to-morrow evening for the purpose of taking the necessary steps to register the Company. The public who have been constantly advocating temperance principles and institutions based on such principles hare now a fine opportunity of showing their loyalty to the Temperance cause. Long enough has the complaint been audible that no house exists where a cup of tea, coffee or cocoa can be had whether the season be winter or summer. No longer can this be said, as Mr Hocking will sell refreshments of all kinds within the range of temperance drinks. He announces in another column that hot tea, coffee and pies at all times will be available at his house, at tho corner of Smith's and Shiel streets. The owners are wanted for a ladies bracelet, found in the Oddfellows Hall, and a ladies shawl, found on the Buller Road. On Wednesday evening last Mr J. Stevenson, a? agent for " Ada Mantua," Dunedin, paid over to the fortunate ticket-holder 3 the various prizes drawn in "Ada's" last consultation. The total amount was £297 6s, made up as follows : -First horse, £292 Bs, and two cash bonds of £2 8s each. The oocasibn was commemorated with a plentiful flow of champagne, the {healths of the lucky winners as also of "Ada Mantua," being duly honored. Our Wellington telegraphic news this morning regarding the East and West Coast railway will not tend much t<> allay the feeling of anxiety which is felt regarding the prospects of the undertaking.** We have it that the Government will' place a sum of money on the estimates for a commencement of the work, but where the money is to come from wo fail to see. According to the Supplementary Financial Statement just 'delivered! by the Treasurer a deficit of L 159,000 already exists in the revenue. Where 'then the L 150,000 is to come from is not clear. It is not to be expected that the House will allow the money to be diverted from works already authorised, and the only conclusion therefore is that the vote, if taken at all, will simply mean nothing. Over all this, however, hangs the shade of an impending political crisis, and it is therefore hardly 'ttyrth while just now discussing the proposal at any length. There is one reported feature of the proposal which it may not be out of place to refer to. Thi" is the suggestion to start sections of tha railway at Fox hill, Brunnerton, and Springfield respectively. We do not believe tiie House would sanction anything of tlie kind. The Colony has already had too much of this kind of work, making isolnted fragments of railway that can never be reproductive until they are connected. Far better to concentrate the expenditure and connect at once recognised centres along the route. If, for instance, the line were first constructed from Brunnerton to Reefton, a large extent of good country would beat once opened up for settlement, its value to the State greatly inhanced, and the increase would help to pay for the cost of construction. There would also he considerable tralic at once available and the districts and the Colony would reap an immediate benefit. . Victorian papers just to hand chronicle the death at the ripe age of 82 years of another well-known old colonist —Mr David Archer, senr., o. Thornhank, _olac, and fatherof Mr W. B. Archer. Boatman's.' We take the following obituary notice 5 from the Colao Herald : — " VV e very much regret to have to record the death of Mr David Archer, senr., which took place at his residence, Thornhank, ColaG,' on Sfiturday evening last, after an illness' of nine weeks. The deceased gentleman, who was 82 years of age, was a fine specfmsn of a man— tail and stout of build, active and energetic in all his movcim-uts, ' and possessed of a robust ".onstitulion. About 12 months ago "the partner of his joys and sorrows," Mrs Ah her, pas .ed away and since that .time Mr Aruher had been fretful, although seldom complaining, of illness, and until 9 weeks ago w'mn he took to his bed no serious results were ex pected. Buthi._iucestroiigconstitiition.had through old age become completely l>r okon down, and he and ids friends knew perfectly well that Im end was near. Up till death he re.taitie.rl . iM:«.ei'i.Mn<.-H. ami galnily and peacefully died, surrounded by

i i:itiv of his cliildren and grand-children, all of whom are deeply respected by the residents of this district. Mr Archer, whc. was a native of Dundee, Scotland, wns the son ot a well-k'npwft "brewdr., i*» that city, but his livVA of the sejft so'o^ removed him from his native la£d| anfl'_ many years he passed 'Ha tlij. water or ij#< fofr-ftgn lauds. Few' %_in bid egdnr inove of the world than our deceased friend, he having sojourned for lengthened periods in Russia, South America, and other distant lands, and in his travels" he gained a wide and varied experience which server! him well lti after life. He was a colonist of twenty -four years standing, and mauy people both in this country and i» Sc "*"' land will regret to hear of his death." Many old colonists will regret to hear of the death of Mr Thomas E. Wood, familiarly known as Tom Woodr-who died theotherday, after several months" illness, at an age closely approaching four-score years. The deceased, in the "good" diggings days in Victoria, acted as _ >aehdriver and agent for Cobb and C>. between Geelong and Ballarat, ami, <>_ tlie first rush to Otago breaking out, came over here, where he also worked for the tirm of Cobb and Co., driving for them principally north of Oainaru. He was well-known in Dunedin and Tokomairiro, and was a universal favourite from his genial habits. Tlie Westport Advertiser says :— A number of shareholders in the Great Republic Quartz Mining Company went out to Waimangaroa on Wednesday^ visit the Company's crushing machine, which has just beeu finished by the contractors, Messrs Anderson, of Christchurch, the price of erection, including a mile and a half of aerial tramway being about £3,200. It is anticipated crushing will be commenced next week, and the result is looked forward-* to with si»_usihinjg more than ordinary interest, .is aH the ilmres, with the exception of sumo 4000, are held in this district, and so sanguine of success aro the holders, that they refuse to part with their shares at any price, and it must be said that they have every reason for conhdence, the atone, as every one . who.ha-'t-stld ft, can certify, being exceptionally rich, the gold contained therein being of a very fine nature and distributed evenly throughout the stone, and a person who had not tried or seen it tried, would be greatly deceived as to its richness. In fact, some of the quartz, in which no gold was visible to the pye, on being crushed in a mortar has given an astounding rich return. We sincerely trust that the ventur. wity _?*>?_ gveak-f ! success as anticipated, and as the long suffering call payers deserve. If our own finances (remarks the Pall Mall Gazette) are to be regarded as iv disor Jer - whicli they certainly, are— owing to a deficit of tif teen •mi_i"*is, jwhtoJH h*s yet to b. dealt \.?tti, wb-Tt is to be said of those of France, with her twenty odd millions of deficit, which she is making no preparation to meet by fresh taxation ? The growth of the Freuch debt is indeed i something appalling. When M. Leon , Say was Finance Minister, the consolidated itebt then stood at £880,000,000, 20 per cent. -more than our <>,w4i. Since then— iii 'only three years'— another float- , ing debt has sprung up, which by the end of the present year is likely to attain £80,000,000. Already one-third of the ordinary Budget, which stands at the enormous figure of £120, 000,000, is re ', quired for the service of the regular debt. What is to be done ? Few people as yet realise how fast old Europe, with its most civilised countries in the van, is careering towards the abyss of bankruptcy. The total export of mm. rals from New South Wales during 1884, according to the report of the Under-Secretary for Mines, was considerably less than in the preceding year. The falling off is in the yields of gold, copper, and tin. The value of the copper exported in 1884, as compared with 1883, is less by £302,965 ; gold is less by £G3,217 ; and tin i.lfiSS by £161,022. The decline in copper is owing to the fall in price. The smallness of the yields of gold and tin is attributable |to tho exhaustion of lodes. The decline lin the gold industry is very marked. Out j of the 40 gold-mining divisions of the i Colony, only 13 produced more gold in ! 1884 than in 1883, and in these cases the i iticr-ajia *. ». ttjfli^ }|c result tying an aggregate decrease of 2o,870o„. According to all appearances there will be a still greater falling off next year. Silver mining, on the contrary, is steadily gaining iv importance. The exports of silver and silver-lead ore show an increase of 25, OOOoz. But it is to coal that New Smith Wales looks as her greatest stand- fey-iu point of mineral productiveness. The valuo of the coal produced in the Colony during the past 10 years is £9,026,112 ; of tin, £5,652,600 ; and of gold, £5,187, 932. The output of coal in 1884 exceeds that of the previous year by 227,652 tons, showing an increases in value of f:101,135. In 1884 coal of the value of £1,303,0,77. was raised, aud this Jndw^ry shows Btrong signs of*p|fegr.es_ion. The number of ftoal and shale mines under inspection in that year was 64, and 22 new seams were opened out. The colony produces 14 distinct minerals of a marketable kind. While tho gold yield seems likdyttw dwindle into insignificance, compensation will be found in the increased profitableness of the large coal measures, which are now attracting new capital.