THE PROVINCES.

Globe, Volume III, Issue 214, 15 February 1875, Page 3

THE PROVINCES.

OTAGO. We extract the following items from our exchanges to hand by the s,s Taranaki;— Our Queenstown correspondent telegraphs as follows:—“ The mail from Martin’s Bay is now fourteen days overdue, ond fears are entertained for the safety of the mailman, who is a Martin’s Bay settler. The delay is probably caused by heavy floods on the West Coast. We have had some stormy weather here, from the south-west, lately. It is also possible that the mailman is indisposed.” A correspondent in the Maungatua district informs the Bruce Herald that harvesting is nearly finished there, and that the crops are much better than they have been for three years. Large numbers of trout are being destroyed throughout the province by the shag. A day or two ago, at Pigroot, one of these birds was killed, and found when opened to contain several young fish. The matter is one deserving of serious consideration, and should be looked into, if we wish our creeks and rivers to become plentifully stocked with trout. “Wc learn,” says the Southland Times , “that the party employed by the A. and N. Z. L. Co. to prospect for coal on the Mataura Plain, at the depth of 180 ft, hit upon an unexpected and, to a certain extent (to them), unwelcome discovery. Nob to beat about the bush, we may at once say that their boring has resulted in an artesian well, from which the outflow is sufficient, if we ’are rightly informed, to supply the requirements of a much larger town than Invercargill is likely to be for some years.” The harvest this week is general over the Taieri plain, and the crops, which in spring were thought to be deficient, are turning out belter than the most sanguine farmer could expect. It is calculated that on several farms there will be this season fifteen bushels more to the acre. Except in particular Qualities potato crops are not so good, while

turnips are also not so good as this time last season.

From the Winton district we (Southland Times') receive glowing accounts of the forward state of the harvest, the richness of the crops, the condition of stock, and the plenteousness of pasture. We are told that the farmers have all that they could desire in the way of magnificent grain yields, and that the work of reaping is progressing rapidly, thousands of acres being already out and in stook. The pasture lauds, both of natural and artificial grasses, are most luxuriant , and sheep and cattle are in prime condition.

We observed (says the Bruce Herald) a locomotive engine pass over the Green Island coal branch railway the other day for the first time. Advantage, we think, might be taken of this line so soon as the Taieri and Waihola bridges are completed, to carry on the passenger traffic at least between Dunedin and Balclutha by running coaches between Walton Park, the terminus of the coal railway, and the Mosgiel station, a distance of a mile and a half, or two miles at the utmost, as we are still of opinion that the Chain Hills tunnel will not be completed before 1877. Would a loop from Walton Park to Mosgiel not prove serviceable in relieving the heavy traffic Ifkely to exist over the steep gradient existing between these places, even when the line is in thorough working order ? If so, would it not be well to proceed with its construction at once, as we believe a cheap and serviceable line could be formed by following the contour of the gullies running on each side of the Chain Hills?

Two accidents happened at the yard of Messrs Guthrie and Larnach on the Hth, those injured being children playing amongst the timber. The first was to a little boy named Benjamin Cosgrove, aged six years. A man who was passing that portion of the timber yard at the junction of Manor Place and Princes street, heard a child crying, and, on looking, found young Cosgrove between two stacks of sawn timber, and beneath four pieces that had fallen on him. The child was lifted out and taken to the hospital, where it was found that the right thigh was broken, and the right leg was severely bruised. The other child injured is named Ellen Rushton. Later on in the day a little boy came running out from between the timber at the rear of the Sailors’ Home, crying that his little sister was killed. The little girl, who is only two and a half years old, was found lying under some pieces of heavy blue gum about ten or twelve feet long and six inches square. It was at first thought that she was killed, and the wonder is that she was not killed instantly. She was taken to the Gridiron Hotel, and afterwards to the hospital, where she was attended to.