The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1886.

Inangahua Times, Volume XI, Issue 1754, 8 September 1886, Page 2

The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1886.

The general cleaning up over the recent crushing of the Fiery Cross. Extended Company was completed <>n Saturday !ant, and the retorting was completed on Monday. The nijuiea are 745>za 14dwts of melted gold for the month. It is expected that tbe directors will be able to declare a dividend of Is 6d per share. Although it has been contracted emphatically that Mr Robinson's firm wish to employ Chinese labor upon any works they may undertake in connection with the Midland Railw.-ty, it is pretty evident that the rumor was not wholly without foundation. When in Nelson the question was put direct to Mr Robinson, but, as we are informed, that gentleman was unable to commit himself to any expression of opinion either one way or tbe other. Since then, however, he has been interviewed by the representative of a Wellington paper, rtnd has spoken more freely on the subject. We publish in another column a report of the interview, from which it will be seen that while still avoiding any reference to the question of eo««lie labor, Mr Robinson admits that " the rate of wages will have to be lowered if the undertaking is a gaining one." It was probably from the expression of some rucli view as this at Home that the. report arose relative to Chinese labor. The contractors would be expected to get their work done at tbe cheapest possible rate, which we take it would mean the rate paid by the Government on public works throughout the Colony. The price of labor in New Zealand is the price of the cheapest part of it, which is the Government rate, and it is therefore an absurdity to say that the hi^h rate of wages ruling on the West Coast is an obstacle to the undertaking. Nobody doubts for a moment that the contractors, if they required five hundred laborers, would employ them %t the cheapest rate in Canterbury and Dunedin, aud therefore the reference to the rate of wages here has no force whatever. It is shadowy excuses like these which make people suspicious of the whole business, and favor the impression that they are only advanced for the purpose of delay. Another statement is advanced which is of much the same kind. Tt is paid that " Not the least of the difficulties to be faced are the local jealousies at the various starting points." We are justified in saying that neither does such jealousy exist, or was such a difficulty raised <>n the West Coast. Whether any representations <>f the kind wert, made in Nelson as to the starting point there, we are unable to say, but even if they were, we fail to see how they could have presented any great difficulty to the contractors, seeing that the latter have as yet nothing to do with the construction of that portion of the line. I Tt is not generally known that the new I Mining Companies Act, introduced last. ; session by the Minister of Mi iips, i« now! in force, and makes some very important ] alterations in the nv>de of conducting the ■ business of mining companies. Some inconvenience has been caused locally owing to the circumstance, tha* no copies of the new Act have reached here yet. In the Warden's Court on Friday one or two Ciises had to be bung up, neither the Bench nor bar having a copy of the Act. The maxim that every msn is supposed to know the lav, evidently does not apply to lawyers and magistrates. Weave informed that the Minister of Mines l'f>s consented to waive the claim of the Government to arrears of lease rent in the estate of the Morning Siar Company (in liquidation ) This concession on the part of the Government will greatly facilitate the efforts b«inff made f o close the estate without a further recourse to law. Cochrane and Co.. the, contractors for the erection of the clray-bridjje over the Left hand Branch of the InnnTahua, have the approaches well advanced, and tbe erection of t.lm derrick for pile-driving is nearly completed. Most of the timber required is now on the ground, arid during the next month -ir two tho contractors will be able to make some, show with the w<'ik. It w»* T)r Pollen, w« think, that comfort:r> f y pensioned opponent of the nrinv>rr industry, -.vim tli<- other <!;iy drew a ni'":t Icirr-iwi'iij picture of tin; numbers of I fatuili.'s in the Colony who «-rr« nnder- ■ uMij^ a ! i n-*rt.- of ii.'iin'-'i.- privations in | or: r 'o pay tfieir contributions in calls | in "ke|inp" tho mining industry. Tiio v >rthy doctor had probably been 4'i!!ol in Hone sih ''lUti'Mi in his earlier K/»j "j-j: v",» f» •iiuiM.l f»ein:'».u were in-

vented, and th. bitter recollection has not yet l>.,'ii obliterated. There are, however, mines and mines, and Dr Pollen could not possil ly have had thelnai)i:al\ua in hism'ud whtn bespoke soriwniuiijjiii^ly of these investments. Within the lw^t month our tuines have paid over t0, 500 in dividends, and there is every likelihood of tliis run of prosperity being kept up. We hear a good deal from time to ti oe of the drain of calla, but the receipt of dividends causes no grumbling, and so the reverse side of the picture only is mainly kept before the public, providing men like Dr Pollen with a subject for affecting homilies. Mr Nathan, manager of the New Zealand Accident Insurance Company, having appointed local aganta to attend to the business here, leaves for West poll this morning. The fact that a miner ran by the payment of so small a sum as Gd I per week, in case of disablement secure a I sani of LI per week, or LSO at death, I should lead to the company doing a large I business here. The premium is so trilling I that there can be no adequate excuse for i those who neglect to avail themselves of the opportunity. The ordinary Government Parade of the Inangahua >ifles and Cadets was held last evening. There was a very fuir muster, and the companies having marched to ' the ordinary drill-ground, were put through Hie usual evolutions, returning to the drill room at 10 p.m. The huhs will be finished in the course of a week or ten days, and should have the effect of bringing a great accession of strength to the ' ranks of the company. New Ze.dam! will probably send representatives to compete at the next Wimbledon meeting, and tbe prize of a free European tour is worth powder and bullet, leaving the crowning honors entirely out of the calculation. Nothing could he more hopelessly be- ' wildering than the news now current re garding the Kimberley, and those in the . Colony who are awaiting information in ' order to decide whether to sro or slop where they are, deserve pity. This morning we have news that ship-loads of diggers are returning to Sydney and Melbourne, and in the same message the an nouucemuiit that official reports of a sarisfactory character have been received from the field, where two thousand men are working. However, with this number of men on the ground "Ml doubt as to the value of the Held must be sorin removed. We received a tnessage. from Keuter's Wellington agent yesterday stating that ctble comiiiuiiicutiou with Europe was in terrupted. We learn iliat the allotment of shares in the Lone Star Company is proceeding very sati.sf;>v.u>'ily, and that there i.s every prospect i if the total number being subscribed for within the time fixed for the closing of the list. r j he moon has a very peculiar tintfjat the present time. This was very noticeable on Monday night last between 12 and 1 o'clock. At that hour the sky was perfectly cloudless, aud yet the moon had a strangely blurred appearance, as though enveloped in fog. The light was of a yellowish hue, which impaned a very gastly appearance to everything. The phenomenon is referred to in.an article in another column, an 1 is attributed to the recent volcanic eruptions. We are sorry to learn (says an American paper that a German chemist h;»s succeeded in making a tirst rate brandy out of sawdust. We are a friend of i be temperance movement and we want it to be successful ; but what chance will it have when a man can take a rip saw nin'. go out and get drunk with a fence rail ? W f h;it is the use of a prohibitory 1 in, uor law if a man is able tt> make brandy smashes out of the shingles on his i f. «.r if he can get delirium tremeus by drinking the legs of his kitchen chairs ? You may shut an inebriate out of a gin shop, and keep him away from taverns ; but if he can become uproarious on boiled sawdust and deSßicated window sills, any effort at reform must necensarily be a failure. W. J. Shaw is si ill selling boots 25 per cent less than any houß^.in town. All goods of genuine first-class qualiiy. — Ad. Messrs Smith and Barkley announce that owhiir to the slackness of business for some time past, and the arrival of heavy consignments of new season's goods, they have decided to hold a bona tide clearing «ale, at such a substantial reduction upou ordinary prices as will thoroughly convince the public that they really mean business, and are determined te reduce stock at any sacrifice. The sale ia now on, and undoubted bargains in all the | newest and most fashionable material* and makes are now offering. — Ad. ONE BOX OF CLARKE'S B 41 PIIXS is warranted to cure all discharges from the Uriuary Organs, in either s< x ('icquired or constitutional). Gravel, and P;dii3 in the Back. Gusirauteed free from erciiry. Sold in Poxes, 4s Cd each, by all Chemists mid Patent edieine Vendors: Sole Proprietors, The Lincoln 1 and Midland Counties Drug Co., Lincoln, England. Wholesale tbe Wholesale Houses.