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The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864-1933) (about)
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Cite: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4489865
2 corrections, most recently by rupertlt1 - Show corrections
COUNTRY MAILS.
MARYBOROUGH. jy [FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.] ",
April 3.
THE local Customs returns for March and the first quarter of the year are published, and afford evidence of satisfactory improvement in commercial matters The receipts for tho month were £5450 13s 5d , as against £4212 2s Id for the corresponding month «if last year For tho quarter ended 31st March, 1886, the returns aro £13 032 3s Id , an increase of £1010 over those of the corresponding period of last year. In addition to the improved state of agriculture, the increased output of coal, the promising character of several mining ventures in different parts of the district, and the expected influx of capital in connection with the Kilkivan quicksilver mine, servo to give vitality to trade, and generally it may bo said there is a good deal of elasticity in fiscal matters in the district The Isistown
syndicate is full of hope of great things directly in the district The new township will shortly possess a saw mill ond one or two stores, but what is of greater importance, a small seam of coal at a depth of 35ft has been discovered
The open inquiry into certain charges against Mr Edridge, telegraph manager, is still unfinished It is thought, however, the main points of " unreasonable disorganisation" and a " reign of terror" in the office aro fairly proved, and consequently a change must of necessity take place in the personnel of the
management
The Tiaro Shire Council met on Thursday Plans fora proposed Council Chamber were laid on the table, and a petition was presented from certain ratepayers expressing disappro bation of the pioposal The petition, however, was not received, owing to the omission of the president's name among the councillors ad dressed, which, it was considered, was a studied discourtesy Thirteen tenders for the building were received, and a special meeting arranged for to consider the whole matter A second special meeting was fixed to strike a Is rate for the current j car At the usual monthly meeting of the Granville Board, held on Wednesday, it was agreed to pay the board's share of the new ferry punt, amounting to £900 It was alto resolved to strike a general rate of Is The means to pay the cost of the ferry is expected from a loan of £1000, which is to be asked for from Government A request was authorised to bo sent to the Colonial Secretary for the three principal sections in the town to be proclaimed under tho Towns Police Art At the Tinana board meeting on Thursday, a letter from the Post Ofhce Department, in reply to a request for an extension of penny postage to the popu lotis part of the division adjacent to Mary- borough, intimated that the matter would have
careful consideration.
Tho hospital funds benefited to the extent of £30, by a benefit given by the Faust Family
Though the arrivals of immigrants during the throe months ot the present year bave
numbered over 700, the labour market is not overtaxed, and the depot is ready for futuro shipments of we hope as promising colonists as those lately received
Friction is reported among the trustees of the Pastoral and Agricultural Society's pro peity lhe Hon A H Wilson, it appears, communicated with the Commercial Bank raanagei, unknown to his co trustees asking that his namo be struck off from the list of guarantois for a loan At a special meeting of the committee on Thursday, it was decided to call upon Mr Wilson to îcsign It is under stood that Mr Wilson objects to any mcrcaso in the society's overdraft
Mrs Thompson, wife of the late landlord of the Southern Cross Hotel, whose name has been beforo the public lecently, in connection with the Lionel Paul mystery sued her hus- band for maintenance yesterday The case was postponed, as the police had been unable to serve tho summons on tho defendant.
C. W Gaynor, alderman, was charged at the Police Court on Friday with using indecent language in a public placo on Sunday evening last. The bench found tho defendant guilty, and inflicted a fine of £2, in default, fourteen days' impiisonraent The court was crowded during the hearing of the case
In view of the acceptance of the terms of the Melbourne Cricket Club foi a visit of the English team to Maryborough a meeting was held on Wednesday, when the matter of a wicket and tho improvement of the new recrea tion ground was discussed Mr N Tooth brought forward a scheme for the forming of a i company with a capital of £o00 in 200 shares of
£2 10s each The proposition was favourably received, and it was decided to allot the shares
at once
On Wednesday the rifle match between Mackay and Maryborough was shot off. Our representatives only succeeded in making G72 points against SO? the score wired from Mackay as having been made there Sergeant Cairns as the highest local scoi cr, making SO points, carried off the handsome trophy pre sented by Messrs Finney, Isles, and Co
The missing jockey, Edward Riley, was brought to town from Frazer's Island, safe and sound, on Thursday The young man was really lost foi four days but happ ly semi sta-vation during that period alone resulted
Mr R B Sheridan M L A , will visit his constituents next week Messrs Mellor and Bailey, MM L A , jointly have promised inter views with the Gundiah farmers respecting certain urgent matters
1 was shown yesterday a fino piece of lead silver regulus weighing 71b , fused from about dOlb of silver ore, part of a parcel of 2 tons obtained from the Degilbo mine. The smelt- ing is intrusted to Dr March, who has pre pat ed a furnaco for the purpose in town From present results, it is estimated the oro in a I5in lode will throw quite 70 per cent of minerals, principally lead, silver, and gold
An agreeable chango m the weather was ushered m last night by a slight fallofiain Showers again to day, and the state of the atmosphere betokens more seasonable weather than wo have been getting for a week or so past
TOWNSVILLE
{From Local Papers to Suth March )
MR T WILMETT has resigned nine out of his fifteen public positions Amongthe resignations is that of member of the Executive Council of the Separation League.
The Bulletin devotes a leader to praising Messrs Aplin Philp, and Kirk, who are about to visit the old country
A bell of copper, with certain proportions of tin and iron and weighing 1001b , has boon cast at tho Townsville foundry for tho New Church of England at Ingham The bell is the first of its kind made in North Queensland
Nine lots of land fronting Flinders street were sold by auction on the 25th March at fiom £lo2 to £l5o per foot The former pro prietors of the land were Messrs Aplin,
Brown and Co.
A corner allotment of land at Ross Island was sold for ¿o75 Half an acre of land on Milton Hill was bought by Mr Walters for £1175, and a quarter acre allotment m Cook street was disposed of for £140
The cradle at the slip has recently been en larged, and is now 130ft long This addition was made to accommodate the Diamantina, lighter once a steamer trading to London
Mr Wallace, Immigration Agent, has, for the last month been sending immigrants to service at the rate of nearly thirty four a week
The Bulletin condemns a proposition mooted by the local hospital committee for the utilising of convict labour for lrapiovmg the grounds of
that institution
Mr Morten, recently despatched to Ravens- wood to canvass for signatures to the Separa- tion petition states that he found considerable difficulty in persuading people to sign The numbei of signatures now on the Separation petition is stated to be about 7000.
The Bulletin fails to perceiv e What possible connection such Southern districts as Mary- borough and Bundaberg can have with the distribution of the £o0 000 granted by the Government for central mills
THE COOK DISTRICT
{FromLocal Papéis lo the Sith March I
THE Palmer Chronicle stigmatises the Minister for Works as " an autocrat in his own right for refusing the giant to the Hann Divisional Board on the ground of previous misappropriation The total withdrawal of the grant moans a loss of £20 pei week to the
board
The sum of £2000has boen refused for a fourth share in the Monte Christo claim in tho Nor-
manby Reef A recent crushing of 55 tons has yielded about 3Joz to the ton
The offer of the representative of a Sydney firm of £4500 for the Caledonia prospecting claim at the Croydon, according to the Chiomcle has not been accepted
A petition m favour of the direct railway route to Maytown is being got up in Cook-
town
The Independent states that the " filthy looking book, the Bible, used in the Cook- town Police Court has been in use nine
years.
In reply to a petition signed by 200 residents of Herberton to the Governor, praying for a mitigation of the sentence of five years' penal
servitudo passed on Thomas Mazlin about two and a half years ago, to which Mr R Philp, M L A, also attached his signature with a special recommendation, a letter has beon re ceived from the Colonial Secretary's office, stating that the Colonial Secretary is unable at present to recommend any remission
From tho Daintree, we {Port Douglas Chro- niele) learn that Messrs Osborne, Mahoney, and Fitzpatrick, who started out recently to endeavour to find a track to connect that river with tho tin workings to the south of the Bloomfield, succeeded (by the aid of five natives) in connecting the places in a distance of twelve miles by an easy route As the provisions carried by the party wero con siderably lessened by having to supply thoir guides from the small quantity taken, they could do but little prospecting, but what was done gave very satisfactory results, good pros Sects of tin having been obtained on the
Daintree Falls. We may further add that a party of Chinese are prospecting for gold on the upper portion of tho Daintree
SOUTH WESTERN DISTRICTS
{From local Papers to the 3rd April )
MRS. L C JOHNSON, of M'Dowall street. Roma, died on the 27th March after a painful
illness. Her remains were followed to the
grave by nearly all the residents of Roma
Eighteen out of twenty three candidates from the Warwick State schools passed at the last exominations of pupil teachers
A terrific storm burst about three miles from Dalby on the 27th March, about 5 o'clock in the evening It unroofed several of the selectors' houses, and uprooted many trees
Thargomindah is at present infested with a plague of rats which arc eating the grass up in places very rar idly With tho rats m their midst, the rabbits close to the border, and a dry winter staring them in tho face, the Herald considers the lot of pastoralists in that district anything but happy
The Thargomindah Herald says that the local court house and the post and telegraph olhccs are a disgrace to the Government
The Roma Star advocates an increase in fees to witnesses and jurors and says that the necessity for a very considerable revision in the present scale of fees has long been felt
ROCKHAMPTON
{I rom Local Papers to the 3lst March )
THE Northern Argus strongly supports the candidature of Mr Pattison for the represen tatton of Blackall, rendered vacant by the
retirement of Mr Archer.
Hie Masonic Hall in East street is being renovated but it is proposed to build a new hall altogether.
The Evening Mercury points out that the present inaction of tlio Meat Company is already making an liiimeisron on tho value of stock and urges tho a ¡option of Mr Peberdy s proposal which is summarised by our Rock-
hampton correspondent.
MACKAY.
{From Local Papers lo the 37th Mardi.)
The Mercury wants to knoiv what has become of the local Separation League, and urges that a little moro life be infused into tho agitation.
The site of the rifle rango is to bo changed and the butts removed to the other side of the
river.
Mr. Henry B. Black, in vacating the edi- torial chair and handing over the Standard to Mr. F. H. Morgan, publishes a farewell address to his readers in the leading columns of that j*ournal,
NORMANTON.
IFROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.]
March 23.
TUE weather for several weeks past has been excessively hot and dry, and in the latter par- ticular has been altogether unseasonable. The hopes that wore entertained of a good wet season, with a copious rainfall, have been illusive. The rainfall at present amounts to lOin. only, whereas last year we totted up some 30in., and oven that quantity was scarcely enough to carry us over the long dry spell, so the outlook is not very cheering.-[Over Tin. of rain havo since fallen at Normanton.-ED. 1). 0.]
Croydon is attracting the attention of our business people, and already tho trade thero is considerable. A quantity of loading has been despatched during the month, and as tho popu- lation on tho field is rapidly increasing, the traffic on tho road will bo considerable. The divisional boord sent a party of eight men to improve the road, and they have been at work now several weeks, and are making good pro- gress. The soft places are being made passable with corduroy, and the road, which was nothing- but a bush track, is being cleared to half a chain in Width right through. No attempt is being made at present to bridge over any of the creeks, but the work now in progress, when completed, will greatly facilitate travelling. The Croydon Quartz Crushing Company was successfully floated here, and the directors hope soon to have a battery at work on the field. Tho attompt to float the company was very nearly a failure. On the date for closing tho share list so few shares had been applied for that tho promoters were very dubious about forming the company. Fortunately for tho venture, the result of tho first crushing reached here the following day, and the effect on tho shares was magical. The secretary was be. sieged with applications, and all the shares wero speedily disposed of, and those allotted to Brisbane and Townsville had to be recalled to satisfy the local demand.
The townspeople havo boen much exercised about tho approaching municipal election, because nearly all the residents and property holders within the boundaries of tho new municipality are disfranchised through tho working of the Local Government Act. The Act provides that only those electors shall vote at a first municipal election who appear on the electoral roll of the district as freeholders or ' householders, and nearly all our townspeople are on the roll as residents, although the great majority of them ore oither householders or freeholders, and aro consequently debarred from taking any part in the election. This is felt to bo a great hard- ship, for out of 250 electors who hold the neces- sary qualification there aro only about twenty eight who can vote at the election. A public meeting was called to petition the Colonial Secretary, but was a failure. A petition was, however, drawn up and numerously signed, and a telegram was sent to Mr. Griffith, briefly stating the facts. His reply was to tho effect " If no candidates arc nominated the Govern- ment can appoint councillors, and might then consult tho wishes of the townspeople." This suggestion has been acted upon as the best way out of the difficulty. No nominations wore made, so the appointment of the first council will havo to bo mado by the Government. The townspeople, however, are tinder the impres- sion that they will be able to have a sort of election to decide whom they will recommend to the Government. It is to be hoped no unnecessary delay will take place. One of the first works that will en- gage the attention of the council will bo the water supply of the town. The popu- lation has greatly increased, and our present supply is very precarious, and cannot bo ex- pected to tide us over the long spell of dry weather. The divisional board, who wore boring for water in the town, can now do nothing, as the township is out of their con-
trol.
BLACKALL.
[I'ROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.]
March 29.
DURING tho past week wo have received another of the great disappointments that have been so plentiful during the past few years. For three days since last Monday we never saw the sun, tho sky being heavily over- cast with clouds for the whole period. Occa- sional drizzlings showed that rain was about ; but the total record of tho fall for the three days was only the five hundredth part of an
inch.
I have no local stocka movements to report this week, but there appears to be operations going on among the stations. 20,000 sheep wero to havo left Terrick station on their travels this week; 10,000 fat wethers were leaving Lorne ; and 20,000 storo wethers will be leaving Northampton Station shortly. S. Nevile & Co. report that Warrnambool Downs country is looking remarkably well, and the owners are bringing 60,000 sheep from Now South Wales to stock tho run. Bladensberg cattlo station has abundance of grass and water ; Oondooroo country is very dry ; and Ayrshire Downs, Vindex, Evesham, and Maneroo stations aro fairly well off. There aro reported to be largo numbers of travelling stock on the Thompson. On stations in the vicinity of Blackall tho owners are getting
anxious.
In consequence of tho unsatisfactory state of the seasons, the Barcoo Pastoral Society havo decided that they will not attempt to hold an exhibition this year. For tho same reason there was no show held last year. The Mara- thon Pastoral Society (Aramac) held a success- ful show last year, hovvevor, and I bclievo in-
tend to hold it as usual at Muttaburra this year. That part of the Weat has not as a rule
suffered so much as this.
The adjourned meeting of tho Blackall Racing Club was held on the 22nd, and was not concluded until midnight. Mr. F. R. Murphy, M.L.A, the president, occupied the chair. Tho business was chiefly tho important one of drawing up the programme for the June meeting. The club have decided to race under tbo Queensland Turf Club rules (like- wise Muttaburra and Tambo), the objections entertained to certain provisions in rule 14 having been listened to by tho Brisbane Club, and altered by them. Over an hour was occu- pied in discussing the advisablcneas of having a steeplechase included in the programrao ; finally, tho " stiff " raco had to give way to a
second hurdle event.
Tho now surgeon for tho hospital, Dr. H. Button, arrived last Sunday night from Bris- bane, and immediately entered upon his duties. First impressions aro very satisfac-
tory.
More reports of finding men dead in the hush have come to hand during the past weeek. A boundary rider, of Northamp- ton, found tho body of a man in a place known as tho Paradise Paddock, who recognised It as that of Carpendale, alias " Jimmy Duncan," recently reported as having strayed away from Northampton. From Isis- ford comes information of the finding of the dead body of a man on Wellshot run. From his swag it was found that deceased's name was W. J. Meyer, formerly a soldier in the German army. Ho had a post offico savings bank-book in his pocket, which showed ho had over £S0 to his credit in that institution. Mr. J. H. Wil- liams, of Barcaldine, roported to tho police that a man named H. Newman, who had been on that station for over fifteen years, was sus- piciously missing. Constable Ryan and a tracker were at once despatched to search for the man, and ultimately found him dead in the Desert paddock ; ho was supposed to have been dead aoven days. There were no marks of violence in any of these cases.