SOUTHERN ITEMS.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 13, Issue 663, 11 March 1869, Page 2

SOUTHERN ITEMS.

We collate the following items of j news from the papers to hand by the B.s. Wellington, which arrived from Wellington and Southern Ports on Tuesday afternoon: — The township of Tutaenui, in the Province of Wellington, is about to be ■ re-christened —it having been decided by a majority of settlers at a meeting, that its future name should be " Marton," after the birthplace o£ Captain Cook A flock of sheep were recently disposed of by public auction, at Tutaenui, at the remarkably low figure of 2 s 3d per head. It is stated that, by request of Commodore Lambert, C. 8., the Government have instructed LieuL Woods to proceed to Otago to examine and report upon the entrance to that port immediately. We learn from the Wellington Independent that some of the Taracnaki steel sand which Colonel Haultain recently brought to Wellington has been smelted in the presence of Mr Sheath and other gentlemen, who were much impressed with the success of the operations. We trust that some means will be found of utilizing this valuable mineral. There are several flax works now in full operation in Canterbury, of which the Lyttelton Times gives an account.

Under the heading " Memorial to Buck and Hastings," the Wellington Independent, Feb. 27, says :

It was decided at the oipeting of subscribers held on Wednesday evening, at Thorndon Barracks, that the Veteran memorial fund money should be devoted to placing a stained g!a~8 window in St Paul'* Cathedral, Thorndon. The proposal met with the unanimous approval of all present, and will be carried out at once. The design is by Mr Barraud, and in addition to it a tablet will be erected to commemorate the unhappy event which led to the untimely death of these gallant officers. The wreck of the s.s. Taranaki: has been purchased by Mr Hartniann, for the sum of £245. It is said; that several gentlemen participate inJ the speculation. The following paragraph in the Independent, Feb. 27 : The Manager of the N.Z.S.N. Company has returned from his trip to Melbourne,, which we understand has been satisfactory.; Messrs. M'Meckan and Blackwood intend that the agenov of their vessels shall be retained bv the N.ZS.N. Company, and; that their vessels will be employed in tran< shipping goods and passengers to tho.-a ports at which the boats of the latter do not call.

Mr Travers has written a letter to the Independent insinuating that Col. M'Donnell is responsible for the "Peach-grove" disaster; and, in another letter to the same journal, virtually denounces the government for retaining that officer in his command. Mr Robert Pharazyn writes., to defend Colonel M'Donnell, and, in case it may be said that he was prejudiced by friendship in favor of the "gallant colonel, he says : When a man has had his homestead destroyed, hia cattle driven off or shot, and his land turned into a " theatre of war," he is apt to take a very dispassionate viev of the acts of men on whose successful conduct of affairs at the Front hia own pros* perity depends. —Mr Pharazyn, in a adds : I happen to know that Col. Whitmore does not blame Col. M'Donnell for the; "Peach-grove" affair. It is obviously very difficult to keep men too strictly within bounds without establishing an unwholesome dread of the natives themselves, G-en. Cameron succeded admirably in do-! ing this, and the results were by no means satisfactory. There is a risk in trusting to the men's discretion, but greater evils would arise from leaving them no discretion at all. [ By our latest Dunedin files we see that the Otago Fine Arts Exht bition was still open, and was fairly attended. In the firing for the "District Colonial prizes in Otago, Lieut. Walea made a score of 57 out of a possible 60. Mr Birch—the Mayor of Dunq din—by the large majority of 4001 has been elected a member of thai House of Representatives for thJ City of Dunedin, in place of Ml Patteison, resigned. Mr Birclil (who was opposed by Mr Grant,l professes to be independent of party! but is a strong opponent of the selfl reliant policy. "1

The Castle Kock Station, South-| land, lias been sold for the sum of .£48,500 to the horn Mr Holmes. The approaching visit of the Duke 0 f Edinburgh is occupying the attention of the whole of the Southern press, and great preparations are being made for the reception of the « Sailor Prince." According to the Grey River Argus, the Chairman ofj the Westland County Council has written requesting the Government to make arrangements for a longer visit, in order to allow H.R.H. the opportunity of visiting the various mining centres. The news from the Havelock diggings is not very encouraging. lumbers have visited the field, and returned without having even seen the color; very few have succeeded j n getting any of the precious metal. The following is the latest new* from the "Wairarapa District, as published in the Independent, March 6th :

There is no news of importance from this district. —A meeting of shareholders in the Surplus Stock Company had been held, when it was resolved that the boiling down establishment should be at the Hutt or gome pl ace near Wellington.— There is very little more of this season's wool to be 6 ent to town. —A Mr E. Braggins had ob tained the contract for killing the wild pi</s on the Hungaroa station at sixpence per head. —Ten gentlemen have promised to subscribe sixty guineas between them for acclimatization purposes.

We learn from the Marlborough Express that there is a great scarcity of female servants in that locality, "although wages range from 10s to 15s a week." Our contemporary at {ds —"Nelson and Wellington pa pers might do some of our friends good service by inserting this local." The New Zealand Sun (Otago) claims Mr Henry Driver (of the iirm of Messrs Driver M'Lean & Co.), recently elected to the House of Representatives, as an accession to the ranks of the opposition. The New Zealand Advertiser warns Mr Vogel (editor of the Sun) not to count his chickens before they are hatched.

An interesting obituary notice of the late Rev J. Whiteley, of Taranaki, appears in the Wellingl on Independent, written by one who had the pleasure of being acquainted with the deceased gentleman for nearly a quarter of a century. We transfer the same to our columns. The New Zealand Advertiser has been greatly reduced in size since the Ist of March, and now takes its place amongst the penny press of the Colony.

The wreck and total loss of the p.s. Woodpecker, at Patea, is reported in the papers, the account of which appears under the heading "Wrecks and Casualties."

A preliminary meeting was recently held in Dunedin, at the offices of Dalgetty Rattray, & Co , of persons, interested in L'tock farming, to take steps towards the formation of u boiling-down and meat curing establishment. With reference to the Tricker investigation, we finl the following paragraph in the New Zealand Adertiser, March 3 : The investigation into the circumstances attending the murder of Mr Rayner at Kangitikei, and for which the man Tricker is now undergoing a life sentence, has been adjourned from Bangitkei to Wellington, where further evidence will be taken, and then the Commission will return to Kangitikei, and continue the investigation. We have the fullest possible faith in the de termination of the gentlemen appointed to do their utmost to arrive at an accurate conclusion, al hough we are equally certain that their verdict will not in the least degree affect the opinions of those persons who hold precisely opposite ideas on the subject. The question of time and distance is, perhaps, about the most important to be settled, and upon that particu larly numerous witnesses can be found who give entirely different version as to its practibility. In any case, however, the decision of the Commission mnst be accepted as final.

—The Wanganui Chronicle, 2nd March, also alludes to the same subject in the following terms:— «

We believe the commissioners in this case, with a view of thoroughly understanding its merits, tried to ride over the ground supposed or said by certain witnesses at the time of the trial, to be the ground over which Tricker rode, and by which alone he could have ridden to be seen where he was shortly after, but the commissioners found it so swampy as to be impassable on horseback—a fact which bas all along been insisted upon those best acquainted with the country.

The Independent states that the Hon. Mr Richmond has gone on an official tour up the West Coast. Yery heavy floods have taken place in Rangiti]?ei, Turakina, and other districts of the Wellington Province. The rain commenced on Friday, 26th February, (the same day as at Napier), and continued throughout the following day. The damage done to property is said to be considerable.