The Inangahua Times, PUBLISHED TRY-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31,1886.

Inangahua Times, Volume XI, Issue 1301, 31 December 1886, Page 2

The Inangahua Times, PUBLISHED TRY-WEEKLY. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1886.

To-night there will be an eahibition of dissolving views in f he Oddfellows' Hall* The views are of surpasjifog beauty, be* ing gems af photographic art, by Wilson, I of Aberdeen, photographer to the Queen, and have been shown before Her Majesty, at Balmoral Castle. In order tn do proper justice to the pictures the oxy-hydro-gen lime light will be' used, considerable expense and trouble been expended in procuring this neesaaary adjunct. The eshifcition comprts^nDer fifty views of chietTHfctorical interest in BcotlaJM|t snd forms a really unique collection. The Rev. Mr Innes-Jones will deliver a lecture explanafory of the different pictures, and the whole will he interspersed with songs by lady and gentlemen amateurs, ■nd will make up an excellent evening's entertainment. To day Black's Point will be the centre of attraction for the sport-loving public, and a large gathering will assemble to witneas the athletic games provided. The Black' Point bind will be in attendance during tnV day to enliven the scene. It is gratifying to know that the Fire Brigade have +»k#n in hand the task of providing a trrand allegorical representation. Wltli pnwesirion and Illuminations for to-night. The different Friendly snd ; f>tber Societies, with the Inangahua Rißsis are r«)uested to ntnreh on the occasion, and the demonstration will no doubt be worthy of the town It is to be hoped the public generally will co-operate with the hrivade in the matter of illumination. f tMr Menteath, M.H.R., will address his Roofton constituents ou Monday evening next. We have b-en r-.|ue*ted to republish thu following letter from the Otago Daily '/»j»«r :—Sih.— Being one of those unfortunate victims to the mining mania which raged with such terrible violence about four and a-half years ago^Lparted with a few thousands in nsy^Bcense, expecting to develop the reSaurrosfrf the colony and benefit myself at fhe same ' ciidc A!»» ! the latter expectation has

not been realised, whatever may be said of the former. Amongst my investments were two companies. named euphoniously the Golden Arch and Great Western, neither of whicii "came to the front," as they say in mining parlance, and after paying calls for some time it was decided that bo?T, companies should be wound up. What I want to point out to toy fellow shareholders aud others of your readers who may oe inclined to invest in mines is the way in whicii their interests are looked after by the directors at Reefton. First as to the Great Western. I appeals according to the notice which It have received that on the 4th day of December 1886 an order was made in the District Curt of Westland, and list of contributory call of threepeuce (3d) per share. This will amount to L3OO, there being 24,000 shares in the company. According; to the last balance-sheet I saw the liabilities were LB7 16s 3d, and the calls and cash in bajak were L7B 8* 9d, leaving a sum of L 97* 6d to be paid by the shareholders. The call now to be made is 3d per share, or L3OO. What this L 290 12a Od is wanted for I cannot say. Now as to the Gelden Arch. The last balance sheet I saw of this company the total liabdties were 1157 Is 6d : against this there wore calls to collect of £109 la, leaving the amount of 148 0s 6d to be paid to liquidate tho debts of the company. Now a call of,6d ia made on the contributors, which will amount to L6OO aa against L4B. What ,*he difference ia required for is a puzzlf : Of? course the liabilities of both companies may have increased since the balance sheets referred to were published. But in any caae the amounts owing by either of the companies could not have been very large, and what I cannot understand ia why the directora did not make a call on the shareholders to pay off the debta of the companies instead of calling in the assistance of the court and lawyers, thereby involving further loss on the unfortunate sharehol: ders. I hope soma of the directora of these companies will give some explanation in your columns and tell ua now many shares on the Const have been allowed to be forfeited for non-payment of calls, and how many in Dunedin ?— I am &c, Victim. December 20. Mr J. Hatch, M.H.R., member for Invercargill. has addressed hia ; constituents, and has received a vote of confidence. Mr Hatch is an advocate of Protection, and to show how employment could be provided for the people of the colony he instanced tombstones. He is reported in the Southland N»r*a to have said that, " there wa9 a splendid lot off granite at Ruapeka, yet when people died they must have a big stone from Aberdeen, hecause, perhaps, theynkd lived there at one time. He did not want anyone to die, but at present tombstones were free of duty, and a pers^might ■ possibly expeHd €100 or area £a9to oa one of the imported articles. Why not keep the money here ? There were hundreds of men, the best stonemasons in the country, worth 12s to 15s a day, who were begging for work at 6< per day "and could not get it. If a duty of from 10 to 20 per cent, where put on rtomUtones it would put a lot of me% io constant employment making tombstones for 'the conmnlnitjr— thoße of it that wanted them. Instead of only oae man working at the business, with his yard full of imported stuff, there wcwrtd, with a duty, he hundreds of ueeispluyed ; the yard would be full of locally • made tombstones and the proprietor would be left free to travel over the colony sellisg them and bringing the money so earned to Invercargill. Mr Hatch said aelf-pre-aervation waa the first law of nature, and weshould not subsidise steamers to bring goods to our shores that we might mautffacture here. Mr Clarkson, photographer, haa just received a complete photographic outfit direct from Loudon, to replace the one in use at hia studio. Those favoring him with sittiugsj nia^^berefore rely upon obaining really high fifea