The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. MONDAY, MARCH 22, 1886.

Inangahua Times, Volume XI, Issue 1681, 22 March 1886, Page 2

The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. MONDAY, MARCH 22, 1886.

Sir George Grey is a wily old tae*« tician. Fearful no doubt that his opposition last session to the East and West Coast and Nelson railway proposals would spoil his recepition in Ohristchnrcli on his present stumping tour, he has hit upon an ingenious way out of the difficulty. It is not the East and West Coast railway he objected to, but only the Nelson portion of the scheme. He considers that the line from Christchurch to Brnnnerton would be " the most reproductive." What could be neater than this ? Of course the veteran old trimmer will not visit Nelson, so he can afford to ignore tbe interests of the unborn millions there. We shall be curious to learn what a Christchnrch audience has to say to this polished old humbug, particularly in view of the fact that he is opposed strongly to borrowing npon a scale that would enable the Colony to make the line. ____■_■__■»■■■■■-«■-■---'>

The first church parade of the Inangahna Rifles and Cadet Corps took place yester? day mom ing. There was a very large muster at the drill shed shortly after 10 %mm.' mA at a quarter to 11 the tw*> companies under the command of Captain Burnham and Lieutenants North, Boase, and Dowling marched from the drill-shed headed by the band of the Inangahua Rifles. The corps marched down Smith street, up Broadway and thence by Bridgestreet to the vicinity of the churches, where the members of the different denominations separated, assembling again at the conclusion of the services and returning to the drill shed by ihe same route. The gathering of the red coats had a very pleasing effect, and as the companies marched in capital order, the turn out presented a picturesque spectacle. It turns out, as we suspected, that there was no foundation whatever for the report telegraphed here on Thursday last re the signing of the contract for the construction of the East and West Coast railway. How the rumor obtained currency it is impossible to say, but here is what the Nelson 3. 0*7 of Thursday last says :— " A rumor was freely circulated this afternoon to the effect that Mr Fell had received most satisfactory news relative to the railway, some going so far aa to assert that the contract was actually signed. On making enquiry we leanthat the only telegram received on the subject is one from Sir Julius Yogel stating that he has received no further news from London. How this became so magnified and improved upon it is not easy to say. During the bosh fires of a month or so back an immense heap of coal slack on the north-west boundary of the town was ignited, and has ever since beeu slowly burning, giving oat a sulphnrus odour whioh is anything feat agreeable to the residents along the Buller road. The Biimke is peculiarly offensive at night time after a shower of rain, and the sufferers purpose getting up a "bee" to get rid of it. Hopes are, however, entertained that the heavy rain of the last 24 hours may have quenched the tire. The total of amalgam for the past week's operations at the different .rushing batteries foots up to a respectable amount, making altogether 1,8130z, equal to about COOoz of gold, of the value of something over £2,300. All the companies now crushing, namely the Welcome, Keep-it-Dark, Venus, Inglewood, Inkerman, and United Alpine, are likely to keep their batteries going pretty well all the year round. The Justin-Time, as also the Fiery Cross, and later on the Wealth of Nations, Globe, and Big River companies map be expected to atid their weekly quota of amalgam to still further swell the total, so that before many mouths are over we may hope to see the present yield at least doubled The concert held in Roger's Hall, Boatman's, on Wednesday evening last tnder the auspices nf the Boatman's CKoket Club proved a fitting conclusion to the

enjoyment of the day. The attendance , was large beyond all expectation, the ■ room being literally packed. Mr H. Lucas, at the request of the committee, presided, and after a few introductory j remarks he announced the opening of the j concert. The first item was a song " Come Birdie Come," which was given with good taste and feeling by Mr E. Silcock, and was loudly applauded. Miss Flynn, who is an accomplished vocalist, sang the time-honored ballad, of " Love Not," with charming effect, and elicited an enthusiastic recall. Mr W. Gilbert r>o____seß an excellent voice, and sang "Elsie of the Glen," with marked success for which he was warmly applauded. MrsPhelan has a I sweet, though not very powerful voice, ! and despite some apparent nervousness, rendered " Eileen Alannah " very agreeably, and gained loud appoval. Mr Twisleton gave an amusing reading in the j Lancashire dialect, which was very cleverly I done. The " Golden Shore " by Mr J. Lawry— waß Bun g with good taste and feeling. Mr Lawry has a nice agreeable voice. Miss Stott rendered "Swinging in the Lane " very pleasantly, and won loud approbation. Mr J. Borlase gave a comic song " There you are Emma " very amusingly, fairly bringing down the house. A song, the name of which we did not catch, nicely snng by Miss Sturt, and Bell's recitation " Mary Queen of Scots " well delivered by Mr Balmer, brought the first portion of the concert to a close. In the second part, besides the ladiea and gentlemen already mentioned, Mr H. Lawn Sang " Drifting with the Tide " in his usually correct and finished style, and Mr Jones contributed a clever recitation. This closed the concert, and one and all left the hall highly pleased with the evening's entertainment. It should not be omitted that all the Reef ton cricketers, as well as a number of visitors, were presented by the committee with complimentary tickets both to the concert, and the ball which followed In fact, the Boalman's people one and all treated the visitors with the utmost hospitality and kindness, and what tended to emphasise the generosity of the reception was the fact that it was in such marked contrast to the manner in which the Boatman's cricketers were received in Reefton, on the occasion of the former match. However, the matter is now past and gone, and we have no doubt that the most ample amends will be made on some future occasion. Any reference to either the match, the concert or the ball would be incomplete without a word of praise to Mr A. T. Cavell, the active and popular secretary, and Mr Thomas Rooney, who was associated with him in the general direction of affairs, and to whose combined industry, geniality and thoughtfulness the success of tho occasion was mainly due. \or must we omit to mention the names of Miss Flynn, Mr H. Kater, and anothor gentleman, whose name we omitted t-» note, who so efficiently performed the ac. impaniements at the concert. There are others no doubt whoso names deserve to be mentioned in like terras'of praise, but we will, we are sure, be pardoned if we have inadvertently overlooked them. Tenders will be shortly called both for clearing a rifle range and erecting butts, mounds, etc., for the Inangahua Rifles. The specifications are now being prepared, and will be ou view at Mr Scantlebury's in the course of a day or two. Our cablegrams this morning convey intelligence of another alarming Socalistic riot, this time at Liege, one of the Provinces of Belgium. The outbreak appears to have been a repetition of that which took place a few weeks back in the city of London. In an interview with the unemployed at Christchurch, the Premier said :— The second resolution is, " That we deem it absolutely neceasary, in view of the approaching winter season, that permanent employment should be provided for the laboring classes. To this end the establishment of a State bank, entirely unconnected with any British orforeitfli institution, for the issue of New Zealand currency as a circulating medium is imperative and pressing : and the Parliament should be , immediately assembled for the purpose of authorising such peruiament work and t the establishment of such bank of issue." He must say that this was utter nonsence. First of all what could a bank of issue do? In the colony now there wasa note circula- I tion of only about a million— hardly that. No doubt the Government might issue notes and stop other banks from doing so. The colonists could use these notes, of course but the people in places outside the colony would not accept them ; they would want gold. The New Zealand paper money would at once fall to an enormous discount, so that 6s in paper would be worth only 2s 6d in coin, as had been seen in America at one time. No Government could make wealth by erecting a printing-press. They might just as well ask a merchant by issuing promissory notes. A bank note was only a promissory note to pay what ? Certainly it must be gold. But where could the colony get the gold to pay their notes with ? It was utterly absurd. The only way to avoid depression was to try and get the people employed in doing work that was better than Government work. The Government were doing their best. The Greymouth Borough Council have arrived at the following resolutions:— "That this Council do borrow the sum of £10,000 by way of a special loan for the purpose of constructing water works for tho supply of water for the use of the inhabitants of Greymouth, payment of the said loan to be secured by a special recurring rate of Is in the pound." '-That for the purpose of providing an efficient system of drainage for the Borough of Greymouth, this Council do borrow the sum of £8000 by way of a special loan, payment of the said loan to be sucurcd by a special rate of Is in the pound." The Wanganui Chronicle says : " Jn-

credible as it may appear, we aro assured { that a white woman was engaged lately in ' trying to traffic some of her children off upon the Maoris who are located upon the river bank. j To Lord Cairns, better known as Lord Garmoyle, belongs the credit of surpassing any previous attempt in ball-giving. At a ball lately given by him in London, they sat down to a supper at twelve o'clock, to a second at four o'clock, and partook of breakfast at six o'clock. A correspondent of the " Otago Daily Timis " writes :— I trould not touch on the subject of the Efcst and West Const Railway. Wellington knows perfectly well that she is tho chief feeder of the numerous West Coast towns and Nelson. Consequently she tights fair aud foul to have this scheme fall through. We, of Otago, allow ourselves to be blinded by Wellington (for of course she directly invokes our ai. X and with them throw as much cold water ou this pet scheme of Canterbury and "Kelson as must make the j hearts of the wllingtonians rejoice. I am not interested in the slightest degree in this railway, Mj. aa an impartial and disinterested Opo resident must say it shows very bar on our part to tiight so bard against thiawilway proposal. Surely to goodness if dip Otago Central is worthy of construwon, much more then should be the East and West Coast line. But that is the w.ay ; the whole of the Colony (with the exception of ourselves of course) ib death on our Otago Central and we in our torn take good care to howl down , every |other scheme that benefits our neighbours. In connection with Sir Julius Vogel's recent meeting at A uckland the correspondent of the Otago Daily Times writes: — A very little would have sufficed to raise the demon of discord, which it would have required all Sir* Julius' tact to allay. As it was, through his bold frankness, his judicious treatment of his subject, and his consummate tact, Sir Julius succeeded in snatching a victory where he might have anticipated a possible defeat, and retired from the platform more than satisfied with the most cordial reception he has ever received from the people of Auckland. His victory is the more remarkable that he unflinchingly advocated the construction of the East and West Coast railway of the Middle Island, the mere mention of which has hitherto been sufficient to lash an Auckland audience into frenzy. It is a curious fact '(remarks the Nt elbourne Telegraph) that two English Premiers joined to nominate Bishop Moorhouse to an English See, Mr Gladstone communicated with him before his fall from office. Lord Salisbury gave the actual nomination to Manchester. The mental stature of a colonial bishop must, indeed, be lofty when it becomes independently visible to two English Prime Ministers across 12,000 miles of sea ! In the official report of the Geological Survey of Wisconsin some curious statistics are given as to the amount of water taken horn tie* earth by jtre-es. It is stated that the average exhalation from soft, thin-leaved plants in clear weather amounts to about 1|- ounce troy per day of 12 hours, for every square foot of surface, in usual sized trees about 7 tons of water per day. If it be true, as'stated by a contemporary, that tho Prince of Wales has been " sharply rebuked "» by the Queen for going to a theatre at a time when the Court Was in mourning, it is a most absurd fact. To think that a man, going on for five-and-forty years of age, with grown-up sons and daughters, should not be allowed] to use his own discretion in such a matter, is preposterous to a degree. It is said that on the first night of "Faust" the Prince endeavoured to avoid observation, and remained as much as possible at the back of Lady de Grey's box ; but he was there, in the theatre ; and the reporters, taking into consideration the highly respectable character of his surroundings, could not be expected to divine his desire for privacy. When Maturin, the dramatist, Was in the throes of composition, he used to stick a black wafer on his forehead, as a sign no one should address him. The r?rince of Wales should wear a black tie, or a coral stud, or some other token, when he would fain pass unrecognised. — World, " Keating's Powder " destroys Bugs, Fleas, Moths, Beetles, and all other insects, whilst quite harmless to domestic animals. In exterminating Beetles the success of this powder is extraordinary. It is perfectly clean in application. See the article you purchase is " Keating's" as imitations are noxious and ineffectual. Sold in Tins, 6d., Is., and 2s 6d each, by all chemists.