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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 102, 30 April 1874, Page 2

The Southland A 7 _ws says : — " The repeal of the union between Southland and Otago is an idea which has, during the past few wetk?, been freely discussed, and has attracted considerable attention amongst the inhabitants of the southern portion of the province While we are willing to give his Honor the Superintendent every credit for a desire to act fairly by the Southland district, it is becoming more and more evident every day that his good intentions are practically frustrated by the grasping selfi.hne.s of Dunedin. The discontent wbich prevails through..***, the southern districts is daily spreading and becoming more intense." There is the spirit of romance in the accounts that reach us from the West of the exploits of a band of highwaymen, who have been operating recently in Missouri and the adjacencies. Their feats are as daring as those of the old historical bandits of Dick Turpin order, and there is a humour about some of their acts that is suggestive of Fra Diavolo himself. Some weeks ago iv lowa a railroad (rain was robbed by rausked bandits, under a captain; and coolness of their procedure then indicated culture in their art. Again, two weeks ago. at Hot Springs, Arkansas, a similar band stopped a stage-coach, caused the passengers to dismount, robbed them of all their money and valuables, restored the fuuds to one or two passengers, left an invalid unmolested, got on their horses, aud rode away. Again, on the 31st January, tha same band at Gadshill, iv Missouri, a place about oue hundred and twenty milcH southward from St, Louis, stopped a passenger train on the Iron Mountaio railroad by a red flag. The train ran off into a turn-out, and waa boarded by five bandits, armed with two or three navy revolvers apiece, three of them having double-barrelled .hot guns. The passengers numbered a^>out tweutyfive, five of them being women. One bandit was appointed a guard, and the several officers of the train — conductor, engineer, and the mail and express agents— -were stationed apart under his mu«z!ea. The robbers wore wbite cloth masks, with holes cut for sight and breathing. They went through the whole train of passengers, taking in the aggregate about two thousand threo hundred dollars, the money packages of the mail bags, one gold watch, and a few other valuables. The job took forty minutes, and the perpetrators talked frequently to their victims, giving jocular advice and explanations. They did uot take watches, except from ooe man, whose watch and rifle they took because he refusad to give his name. Ope lady was relieved of 400 dollars. No baggage was touched The amounts of money taken ranged from two dollars up to 1080. Before the train came up, tho band had captured the few houses making the hamlet of Gadshill. Eight hundred dollars are said, to be the amount realised from that source. The inhabitants were all sent out of fheir houses, and when the train came, were found huddled together around a large fire made out near .ti_e railway platform. The robbers mounted their horses — after shaking hands, with tho engineer, and advising him always to stop when he saw a red flag — and rode rapidly away ia a westerly direction. i