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Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2107, 5 February 1870, Page 2

Tokomatiuuo. The Bruce Standard, Htli b sC, says :—The great improvements on our district roads within the last two years arc worthy of remark. Those lately effected hy the Milton Board, on the Fad-fax road, that has for years been a quagmire during winter, are specially noticeable, and they reflect the highest credit on the energy and judgment of those who suggested and conducted them. The principle of metalling immediately after formation is a good one.

Lake Wakatip. —The local journal says that in the Wakatip district the current rate of wages is L2 per week and found. Labor must rise in price, for the stations down country stiff want hands, and arc offering more than L2. The crops this year are heavy, and the wca her excellent for gathering them in. The machines are steadily at woik mowing down; but owi-g to the cause stated, tlio crops have to remain on the ground. The iron poles fo the Government telegraph have arrived at Queenstown, 'They are "Tighter and cheaper than woo.i, b sides being more durable. Some changes will be m dc, and a saving of twelve or f an ten miles effected between Queens .own and Tuapoka. This is, of course, a valuable consideration.

Gold in Tasmania. —The press of Tasmania still clings to the hope that payable reefs will be found in that Colony. 'The Tasmanian Times , 20th ultimo, says ;—Mr Horne returned to our office from Waterhouse last evening, and has left at our office some specimens of quartz from the old shaft on the Southern Gross Reef, which showgold all through them. This shaft was only sunk to a depth of eight feet when it fell in, and has since been regarded as abandon d. Since the men returned to work it has been cleared out, and the stone left with us hy Mr Horne was taken from it. It was a solid lump when received by him, showing little gold, but on being broken up appeared very "rich. The holders of the prospect c’aim are now sinking a new shaft to the south-west of the original one, and they have struck a number of small leaders showing blue clay and broken quartz, in which gold is found. The stuff is being stacked, and it yields a first-c’ass prosper t. The c’aim is highly thought off at Waterhouse.

Westland. —At a meeting of the County C"Uncil on Jan. 25, Mr Harrison moved, “ That the Council reso've itself into committee of the whole, to consider the iollovving resolution : ‘That, with the view' of encouraging permanent settlement in the County of West and, it is desirable ihat ap plication be made to the General Assembly for an Act for tiio sale, letting, and cli-posal of the Waste Bauds of the Crown in the County of Westland, based upon the following conditions: —!. That all Waste Bands may be leased for a period not exceeding five years, at an annual rental of four shillings per acre ; such rental to be considered as instalments of the purchase price of twenty shillings per acre. 2. Th t at the termination of the lease the laud becomes the air olutc, unconditional property of the lessee. J. That it be a condition of every lease of the Waste Bands that, during the period of the lease, the l:.nd so leased may be entered and worked for mining purposes, subject to proper regulations for the prevention of wanton and unnecessary interference, and ior awarding compensation to the occ pi. r. 4. That ■n no case should compensation he awarded fur entry upon unimproved land’” The matter was referred to a select committee.

Balclutiia. —Tlic subjoined dismal description of the state of tlic settlers is pi veu by the Baidu? ha correspondent of the Bruce- Standard The country around is fast divestin;; itself of its summer hue, and the ripening crops present an autumnal appearance. ‘ Farmers are busy cullin' the alrea !y ripe patches, and preparing their machines and other implements tor the general harvest. I can ima-ine tin; pleasure with which he surveys his fields waving with their ripening treasure, the reward of years of constant toil, and tin; disappointment at seeing them thrashed standing on th'-ir feet by an unmerciful wind or swept bodily out of sight hy a 1100 1 ; for all Mich misfortunes wc may well allord the farmer our sympathy. Hut this is not all : along with this there is a likelihood of very high wages having to he paid this year. Much as wc want the making of roads, and the advanccnunt of public works gonerally, still in eases where the harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few, I think it ill timed on the part of the Government adver-

tising such a large amount of work during the harvest months, which might, and ought to, have been done in the early part of the summer. Would it not be more consistent for members of Government to award some c msidei ation to that class, who they so lavishly applaud on certain occasions as ; eing the Lon- and sinew of the country, in this all-important matter —the harvest?

Galvanic Punishment. —A writer mvlei- the mini tie plume of “ Leyden Jar,” bi one of Poe London daily papers, rccoiouieii !s gal van-s n to he substituted as the ponishm ait for wi c bead's. He says : \lthough the garrotters went a little too far a short time ago, and forced a frightened Legislator-; to sanction an occasional floggmg, it cannot be denied that tins fact weighs heavily on the spirits of not a few .among us. Evc>y cut which a sturdy ruffian receives for half strangling or fracturing the skull of an old gentleman, goes deeper into their ten for hearts than it does into the scoundrel’s back. It cannot bo helped. In a free country we must endure milksops as well as grea'er evils. Flogging has its drawbacks. It is not only painful, which is what we want, but is often disabling ; and society is hardly justified in crippling any of its members, unless it means to keep them permanently afterwards. Now, lasting injury to the spine has, it is said, often followed a good flogging with the cat. Why, therefore, use it when science provides us with a more than sufficient substitute ? A galvanic battery is the substitute I propose. Electrify garrotters, wife-beaters, brutally cruel cattle-drovers, and the like. Give them shocks proportionate to their criminalit}'. Regulate it, as yon precisely can, according to their strength. Any electrician could construct a machine which would allow of gradations of pain, from the well-known ‘ pins and ncedb s ’ up to a jarring which would resemble the breaking of bones. And the point to be borne in mind is that the infliction could be stopped instantly, aeid would leave little or no evil or disabling effects afterwards. It would also admit of f equent app ica.tion. I fancy a garrotter who had been condemned to a month’s electrifying would be unusually reluctant to have the experiment repeated every day. I need not point out also how much more suitable this system is to the advanced condition of humanity and enlightenment we hwo all attaine I, as compared with the old fashioned cat-o’-nioe-tails. ’’

The members of the Naval Brigade will compete for places as representatives on Monday morning. Firing to commence at Kaikorai at five o’clock.

The monthly meeting of shareholders in the Otago Freehold Land, Building, and Investment Society, for the purpose of paying subscriptions, &c., will be held at the office in Princes street this evening, at seven o'clock. Money for sale at eight o’clock. We notice by advertisement in another column that the electors for the Cavcrsham and Green Island districts are invited to meet their members in the schoolhouse, Moruiugton, on 'Tuesday evening next, at 8 o’clock. The fifth fortnightly meeting of the Corameicial Building and Mutual Investment Soci -ty, for the purpose of receiving subscriptions and applications for shares is announced to be held at the offices of the Society, Princes street, on Monday next, from six to eight o’clock ; money for sale at eight o’clock. At Port Chalmers, Mr W. Elder, the Society’s agent, will receive subscriptions and applications for shares for that district on Monday evening from six to eight.