TIME IS MONEY.

Dunstan Times, Issue 521, 12 April 1872, Page 2

TIME IS MONEY.

(to TH2 KDI ro.l Os’ Til'd J ■' XiV <'l t: 1 Sir, — Great ii.co .v.uicnc . is u teis township from the want k *.ai.g, “what is the timeAt th- IV -t Ollice, v.U-.r one might reasonably expect to see a clock exhibi c.l, which would the ' id he an opportunity o: sett in', a:- 1. i p: e right occasionally, nothing oftho kind is visible. The same may he said of the Co comment offices. At the TVwn Hall, m rather atthe Public library adjoining, is exhibited the face of a clock ; hut it has remained at 2. 51. for some wee s, if u t months’ past, and neither Mayor, T iwal Councillors, nor Town Clerk, s cm disposed to set it. going- and cv< n if it is’not in too dilapidated a con lili.m. At all events it might bo as well to al er tin hands of the clock —l was going to say—the abortion 1 may say, so that any person looking up will not see the hands in the same position every time he passes, week after week. Trusting that our very worthy representatives in the Town Council will take some action that will enable their constituents to ascertain something like the approximate time. I am, .ke,, A RATEPAYER. Clyde. April 11, 1872. Maine kept down her surplus population last year with lid fatal accidents 77 drownincs, 52 suicides, an 1 eight murderers. The politicians of Atlanta r.ve clover. One party got up a ballot-1 ox v. it a a moveable bottom, and magnanimously allowed the other party to kr ep the key. Wild cats are he ; mvng a great pectin the bush a southland, and at " mcv..-r il, nt of one of the loci’ panel' tl> A, i-i selfdefence settlors will he il b.'C’l to have recourse to offo ing a price for Lea 1 in order |of extirpate them, or at least bcs.cn their 1 number. '

STATE OF AORIO <T U KB. (J Jn resuming cur review of tfie indiu trial condition of the country, tho next subject for consideration ie the present state and .prospects of the'agricultural interest. Agriculture is intrinsically the most important occupation of a eivi'.jzed country and must soon become by its progress in the colony, in ha economical relations to other branches of industry paramount in the extent of its deve'opment and the magnitude of its pecuniary results. The normal idea of a colony is an agrb c lit uni depen leney. Agriculture—tne production of corn and cattks, and materials for manufacture, &0., have always been considered its proper and peculiar occupations. But rr-ent experience in colonisation, lias somewhat mo dirt.id the original i lea implied in the term Colony, as an agricukural do-nahi, not only in coiise•jneoas of rich mbwcal discoveries, and the v- - ' atti-al prnluetims re'•'.•'i o? dilation, but i ti' ■t : in some of the >1 • • M-i i-.U ml hlie i, i.b. d i -art from the ■i' hj i i * , online, f.f coin ial life, and to estihdi local m w.ifact iras. Emancipating the as-dvos fro u a condition of dependence, an ’ vi.ubig to become equals and rivals of the pare it suit s i i arts, nu lufaetures, and c.nnmeive. 'But uotinthstanling this tenJin th* ) Ineiioi of food and materials for manufactures. <fc , for the homo mark t will continue to ■ iigagc-—for many goncra' ioas—a principal share of the attention of cohmial pro Ulcers. In the United States of America, about three fourths of the population are classified .as agricultural, and it is probable that in 'Australia and New Zea’aud the number of pcrsvis engage lia agriculture will in a few years bear au equal ratio to the entire papula ion. I lEuglanl, the proportion of agriculturists is only one third of the entire population. With respect to the present agricultural position of tho colony, it may be observed that stock farming has been canicd on «u.cessfuiiy, as may be interred from the numerical increase, notwithstanding the ravages of distemper and dise i«e, and from the fact that in many localities, tho numerous flocks and herds are pressing upon the limits of tho grazing capabilities, and preventing the profitable utilization, of further increase. The number of neat cattle in the Province of Otago iu 1867 was 102,471), and in IS7I, 143,600. Within the same period, tho sheep increased from 2,980,760 in 1567, to 3, 731,443 iu 1871 ; and these iacrcasemeuts do not include the la-ge numbers -of cattle and shssp that have been slaughtered annually for domestic consumption and export. The"produce of these increased flocks and herds, the wool, hides, and tho products of tho dairy, show, as might be expected, a coitus pan ling increase. The,consequence is apparent in the abundant supply of postural products available for exportation, or offered for sic in the ! markets of the South, which arc now fully j sapplie I with the local produce, and the surplus dairy produce of the Nor hern Pro- ! vinces being no longer required by the ! population of Otago, must be transported ! to other and mure distant markets. It is o ivious from these facts and circumstances, an 1 the evidence afforded by the statistical tables compiled by tho Government, that tho pastoral occupation and interest hftiboca constantly progressively and bench, daily r.iraueiug throughout the Colony. ■ Enquiry into tho cultivation of arable cultivati u—the production of cereals and other farm crops—will show, in the South island especially, a highly satisfactory rate ■of progress; notwithstanding the dlificultiei bines ad by complicated and illiberal land regali'i'iin aid by tho obstructive acii'a .s well as i i inti n of th; several Th p-winco of Ga.iteibury Las for swc.ul ;. a.-s uu., in , a large surplus of g.i; i a.nl other uro luco for exportation ' bago ala •, his exported oats and other pron •■>, but not s > exte inively hitherto as the Northerly oruvinco. Tim ajricuUur.il statistics copilcl from t:ie ceasns rc' nrns for 137), show the estimate i pro.luce of the wheat crops in litago to be 633.09) bushels of which at the ordinary calculation of eight bushels per head of the population, is abundantly sufficient for the home supply. By the same recur, s the estimated yic d of the oat crop i. stated at 2,210,660 bushels which i* vo.y much ioexccssvt ihs ordinary cjiismrip'ion o. requiremen's of the Province In 1861 th-,- total produce of the wheat crop in Otago and Southland was 156,000 h.s ids, and of oat i 299,669 bushes. The population at th.s pe.io I was 29,009. Then O ago is in a bettor positi m ns to the supply of “ bread-stuffs” in 137 i, with a population of 69,096, than in IS6I with a population of 29,093 onlc. The situation of the colony then, in respect to .agricultural production is tins—that in average seasons an I under ordinary circumstances, the available produce of the country is in excess of the quantity required forborne Consumption, and that fu-ther increase of supply produced by extension . of agricultural settlement must seek its market outside the colony ; if suck extension bo not accompanied by a proportionate increase of the mining, manufacturing, or commercial population. Thus the primary purpose of colonizationthe self-sustenance of the population—has been already achieved; and the colonial producer, in fulfilment of his ulterior objects of his mission in the new country, brought face to face with tho agriculturists of other countries and colonics in the general market of the world agneo’a. The half-holiday movement in'Dunedin was fairly starred on Saturday last,, the Uth instant. Ag-eat humbe- of the shopl were closo lat■ me o’clock. The move nent has extended to Lawrence, who oit nil! bo attempted ; but it is proposed to close on Friday afternoon, instead of Saturday.

MISCELLANEOUS. —o— r . . 3 i o ■ A most courageous apt (says a New South Wales paper) was' performed by a■Mrs. Piaiiiies, residing at Kutherglen, recently. About eleven o’closk, hearing a castling in her garden, and suspecting a pilferer of fruit at hand, she went outside, but the person had decamped. Having scarcely returned, the jioiss was repeated, when hastily snatching up a pitchfork, she sallied forth and encountered a big buvloy fellow rejoicing in the sobriquet of “ Fat Jack,” whom she charged valiantly, ala Uhlan, cautioning him not to stir. She then marched the culprit to her house, to which the fellow submitted, most quietly. Assist-. ance from the neighbors being obtained, the police were sent for, and he was justly punished. This fact is the more praiseworthy, as the woman is almost alone, owing to her husband being a cripple and unable to get about. A new Jersey paper, professing to have knowledge of the fact" says :—“Some three months since, a small island in the Caribeau Sea, known as the Bimita, and about eight hundred miles south of Trinidad, while being explored under the direction of Agassiz, was found to contain gold. The rock is qua. lose, and quietly, a few persons gained possession.of the island, and these individuals—all Americans—will not dispose of any interest, although last week several offers from English capitalists in London w ere received, information having reached them through the Custom House, as ;s suppose I, although every arrangement tad l>oe;i made to keep the matter as quiet as possible. The gold is free and easily amalgamated, and in purity iii veins in the quartz. Forty different veins have been discovered'on the island, and five are now I cing worked, and the ore is being received fomr ships at the Centerville works, in Greenville, in Hudson County, New Jersey. The works are running night a.nd day. The ore is new, with very imperfect machinery, yielding sixty dollars per ton, and they are only getting one third of the gold. ” With regard to the Inaugahua an 1 Lvell rea's. the Westport Timis writes;—“ The news from the luangahua and the Lyell still continue] to be good, and the people are daily leaving the centres of population for :hsse enticing fields. As y’ct no great rush has satjiufrom distautparts the consequence is, that both in Westport, in Charleston, and the respective vioinites of those towns a positive vacuum has been created. We know of parties who have left good payable ground on the Northern Terraces, with prospects of several years work they left hurriedly Jo.take up shares in rich reefs of which they had received private information their claims upon the terraces were abandoned, and as yet no one has taken them up. We hear also that very few manure offering for the advertised road works, and that these few are c>imposed principally of very ‘poor hand ,’ | who have determined not to work under i fifteen shillings per day. All this bespeaks j an unhealthy scat-* of things. Wo shill be glad to see the working classes w'sll pud for i their labour, but -,v& have no desire to see I productive fields deserted, nor we wish to ! see necessary public works at a 'standstill j in cose uier.ce of the scarcity of labour. Yet \ there is no disguising the fact that there ! is every probability of such a stats of things • existing here.” The Melbourne Argus af the 10th ult. ] states A tragical affair of a, remarkable character occurred in the Treasury Gardens yesterday aftunoon. Two men believed ’to bs mad, went into the gardens apparently to shoot each other with pistols by mutual cii' sent, and one was shot dead. The living man was found quietly lying on the grass near the dead man Smoking a cigar. The latter gave the name of Edward Feeney said he was thirty’ three years old, a native of Ireland, and a Roman Catholic, describing his'calling as that of a warder. Tiia 'ii ad mail’s name, he said, was Charles Maiks, who was also a warder, and whose ace was af tenvaids found to have been from twenty seven to twenty nine years. The f Glowing particulars about tho two. men have lem obtained, and form a narrative more resembling the wierd stories of horror told by Edgar Allen Poo than a s her statement of facts, the two would appear to have mutually a erred to kill each o’hcrin a sort of friendly duel, in which one would shoot the other and ho at the «aiue time shot by his opponent, so that cither would survive to give a key to tho oys'erious finding of the two dead bodies. Both men were warders in the Melbourne 11 1 spital.aud were ste dy men up to a short time back, wh.n signs of an over indulgence in .strong drink were noticed upon them, Feeney showing it the most. Feeney attempted suicide by taking chloroform about a fortnight or three week’s ago, but he swallowed too large a doso, and with the help of a stomach pump was brought round. Ho was believed to have suicidal mania, and was discharged from the service.of the hospital about four days ago, having recovered from tho effects of the poison, as it was not thought desirable to have him there any longer. There are 76 hotels in Boston, and 1121 wet-gcods stores. Three hundred and five murders in New York city last year, and nobody hanged. Uncle Sam issued last year almost five hundred millions of postage stamps. Who says we are not a letter writing people?