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Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 1992, 23 September 1869, Page 2

Sheep Inspector.— His Honor the Superintendent has appointed Mr An Irew Robert Bruce Thomson to be an Inspector of sheep in the room of Mr Arthur Kennedy, deceased. Political. — Mr F. D. Rich, M.H.R., addresses bis constituents at Palmerston this evening, and at Waik naiti on Friday evening. Seeing that the country members are taking the earliest opportunity of meeting their constituents for the purpose of giving an account of their stewardship, it is the least the city members can do to follow the example. The Marewhenua Goldfield.— The boundaries of this goldfield have been further extended, ani now include ail tba area situate in the Province of »dago, containing by estimation seventy thousand acres, more or less ; bounded by a line proceeding from Kurow Mountain to and along the Little Awakino Stream to the Waitaki River ; thence southerly to the confluence of tho Otakaik Stream ; thence westerly along the said Otakaik Stream and the southern boundary of Run 28 to the boundary of the paesent goldfield; thence northerly along the said boundary to Kurow Mountain, the starting point. Kaikorai Church Soiree. This soiree was held at the church, Kaikorai, last Tuesday evening ; the Rev Wm. Alves in the chair. Notwbhstanding the unpropi tious weather, the attendance wa excee iingly good Refreshments, in the best style, were provided by the Messrs Taylor, Kaikorai. The music was afforded by a choir of young ladies and gentlemen conducted by Mr Graham. 'I he speeches were abort, instructive, humorous, and practical, and were delivered by the following gentlemen, viz.— Revs. Will, Watt, Stuart, Gillies, and Messrs Rennie and Jno. Gillies. All of them spoke ia exceedingly complimentary terras

of the successful effects which the congregation has already put forth, and urged them to go on as they have begun. The meeting broke up at about 10 o’clock, aft. r a vote of thanks had been passed to the speakers and to the choir.

The High School.--It is notified in yest rday’s Gazette, that his Honor th ' Super.ntendent has appointed the followin’/ o'.ntlemen to be Commissioners to enquire into and report upon the best site and scheme for a High School, and upon the expediency of making provision in the same building fqr ■he teaching of girls as well as boys :—Hill >nor Mr Justice Ward, the Hon. F. I). Bull, the I’ev 0. M Stuart, Messrs W. H. Reynolds (Speaker of the Provincial Council). George Turnbull. James M‘lndoe, George M Lean, Donald Reid, B. C. Haggi't, George Duncan, J. L. Gillies, and John Mouat.

Princess Theatre.—“ Othello was represented last evening to a good house, Mr Rayner appearing in the part of Othello, and Mr Tab ot personating lago. The capa city to sustain one part well does not necessahly give tho power to appear in ail with equal credit or success. Thus Mr Rayner gave ns an effective rendering of tho character of lago, but ho did not strike us as being equally happy in Othello. A lack of fire was apparent, and this we conceive to be an essential element in the successful delineation of Othello’s nohlo but impulsive character. On the other hand Mr Talbot’s lago was an elaborate piece of acting throughout; we do not hesitate to say that complete and finished as was his impersonation or Othello wo prefer him in the character of lago “ A Regular Fix,” which concluded the evening’s mtertainment, enabled Mr Bartlett to keep the house in a constant titter by his polishes delineation of the eccentricities of Hugh do Brass. r l his evening “The Man of the World ’ will be presented in which Mr Talbot will again appear as Sir Tertinax Macsychophant.

Tub Otago Hundreds Regulation Acu. —The petition which emanated from the public meeting held at Palmerston to his Honor the Superintendent, requesting him to convene a special meeting of the Provincial Council, to consider the provisions of the Otago Hundreds Regulation Act, has received a large number of signatures in the Waikouaiti district, in addition to those obtained at Palmerston.

Copper.—There is evidence of unbounded sources of wealth within the boundaries of this district, which only await capital and enterprise to develop. The Pleasant River district alone contains valuable deposits of coa, alum, and copper, specimens of which have at diff* rent periods been discovered. Mr .Seilson has for soma time hack, been testing a seam of coal on his property, the results of which have been very encouraging. he existence of copper ore near Mount Royal has also been proved beyond doubt, and some very promising soft stone impregnated with copper has been obtained, containing a fair percentage. We trust that the enterprise of those who are prospecting the ground will be rewarded by the devel 'pment of a rich lode. The benefits such a discovery would confer on the district could not be calculated at first sight, but they would undoubtedly be great; aud if wish a copper mine we could associate a coal mine, a most hopeful prospect as to our future prosperity would be opened by the introduction of permanent and new industries Waikouaiti Herald,

Total Abstinence.—A temperance society has b en formed at the West Taieri, and about eighty members hare joined its ranks. The following manifesto lias been issued :—“ To our Fellow Colonists, —To every well-wisher of our country who reflects upon the many evils which have in all lands and ages resulted from the common use of intoxicating, liquors, it cannot but be a source of grief and anxiety that drinking customs prevail to -uch a fearful extent in this Colony. Deeply impressed with the conviction that it would be one of the greatest possible b essin s, in a social and moral point of view, to all classes of society, if i hese d inking customs were put down ; and belie\ ing that it is the hounden duty of every man, and more especially of every man professing to bo a Christian, to seek by ; 11 lawful means the welfare of his country and his fellow-men as well as of himself, and that in doing so we are called upon to abridge our own individual liberties, and make sacrifices of what may be lawful indulgences,—We, a nu i ber of your fellow-colonists, have resolved unitedly and publicly to practise total abstinence, and to form a society in our own locality for the promotion of such practise, upon the basis and ac ceding to the rules appended hereto, and we would hereby invite your hearty sympathy and co-operation in this good work. We beg most respectfully to request 3 our careful and candid consideration of the basis and rules of our '•iociety, and to ask such of you as are resident in our neighborhood to give us your adherence and aid ; and to you our fellowcolonists in other districts into whose hands this may come, we won d suggest the duty and propriety of forming similar societies in vour several localities; and in due time, it may he, we will be able to form a strong n’ted League throughout our Province, doing su ; c ssful battle with the gieantie evil of social drinking, whose baneful effects are everywhere to bo seen so sadly prevalent.”

Supply of Wool from Au?tralia. -The following relates to tho prospects of thesuppL-of wool from Australia, during the present and succeeding year ; —“8, Crosby Square, June 14.—Sir, —Some doubts have existed during the last few months as to the quantity of Australian wool likely to be imported during the current year, the general opinion being that the quantity would exceed that of 18(18 in something like the same proportion that each of the five last years has exceeded the one preceding it. By our advices just to hand it is now beyond a doubt that the imports of 1869 from Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland will show a considerable quantity less than in IB6S, and it is accounted for in the following extract from a letter from our firm dated Sydney, April 22:—Authentic information has only just reached us of the ravages a-'non,' the flocks c '.used by the drought. There are many stations that have lost fifty per cent, of their stock, and we know of ono i stance where a squatter, who had 12,000 sheep before the drought, has only about IGOl) 1- ft. i heae ravages have been general more nr less throughout the Colonies, although there are a fair number of favorable exceptions, where the st dions being in good feed, they have even profited by the mis ortunea of their neighbors. After a careful estimation of the Josses, we conclude that there will be a deficiency in the import* from

Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland of at least 30,000 to 40,000 Dales below 1868, while the prospects of the present year’s clip, which will form the imports of 1870, must show a far greater f lling off. There can be little doubt that a large proportion of the flocks of the Colony will have to be boiled down, not only as the only means of providing for the imme liate necessities of the owners, but also for the purp >se of judiciously culling the flocks, so that in the course of two or three years they may probably recover the character which the neglect of owners during times of prosperity allowed to deteriorate. Many of the far distant stations will have to lie abandoned and the stocks boiled down, as, at present prices of wool, they will not pay the expenses of management, while carrying them on will only entail a further annual sinking of unproductive capital. I have troubled you with this information, thinking it might be interesting to those engaged in the wool trade ; and should you think it of sufficient importance, we shall be glad if you will make it known through the medium of your article.—We are, sir, yours obediently, Moutefiore, Joseph, and Co,, of Sydney, New South Wales.” Blunders not all Waste.—Waste of labor and capital is not always a dead loss to the world, as may bo exemplified in an incidental reference to the subject by Mr Wakefield in a recent lecture delivered at Wellington. That gentleman remarked : That a report had gone forth through the Saturday JRevieto that the Pacific Railway was a gigantic swindle, being an unprofitable outlay or millions of money. That might be true, and yet in the progress of America even so great a loss would not be felt, from the stimulus that such an undertaking was likely to imp >rt to the whole country. In England such mistakes had often occurred, and two were memorable and of recent occurrence. The battle of the wide and narrow gauges went on for years ; the wide gauge haring been tire pet offspring of Brunei, a man of the most original genius as an engineer, but obstinate when once he had taken up an idea, as the shareholders of the Great Western know to their cost. Yet Brunei was hardly in his grave before a narrow gauge was laid witlrin the wide gauge in the whole length of the Hue, so as to enable narrow gauge companies to use it iu connection with their own. Yet this was not an absolute loss to the country generally, for the p rfection of travelli; g on the wide guage had created the furor in favor of any railway ; and accounts for the extension of railroads so rapidly throughout England. Again Robert Stephenson and others told Brunei as the dock companies of l orn lon were short of room, that he shou'd first add a new dock to one of their premises, for which they would allow him five per cent on the outlay from the beginning, and pay the whole cost when the increased accommodation was handed over to them. Then to build the Great Eastern therein, let in the water, and take her out to sea But no : the original genius must needs build her on a shelf on the Thames at Blackwall, and it cost LIOO,OOO to Jet her down into the river, with ihe greatest likelihood that she would fall on her side and stop the traffic of the port of London ! This was all contrary to reason, experience, and common sense ; as everybody who had invested in the undertaking knows, having suffered severely. Yet had the Great Eastern not been hnilt, the Atlantic cables could not have been laid; and therefore, though individuals may suffer by mistakes in the on. lay of capital, the world at large will be benefitted by the Pacific Railway, even though more costly than it should have been.”

The battery of the Dunedin Volunteer Artillery Regiment will muster at the guushed to-morrow evening at 7.30 sharp, for Adjutant’s inspection. Full dress uniform and rifles. We have been requested to direct attention to the announcement convening a meeting of the Dunedin Jockey Club for this evening, at eight o’clock, at the Empire Hotel. The subject to be brought on for consideration, is that of purchasing ground near Dunedin for a course, and we believe that the committee will recommend the purchase of a site that has been offered to them, and winch is considered eligible. The public are invited to attend.