INTERPROVINCIAL NEWS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4351, 1 March 1875, Page 2

INTERPROVINCIAL NEWS.

MIDDLE ISLAND. OTAGO. A large number of the immigrants by the City of; Dunedin 'were engaged at the Caversham Barracks yesterday, says the Guardian of the 23rd February. . Ten unmarried females were employed as follows Three at £26 a year, four at £3O, one at . £36, one at £4O, and a nurse at £SB. A number of the. single men were also employed, five of whom were engaged as farm servants at from' £55 to £65 per year ; harvest.men, £66 a year; and a married couple at £BO per year. .Some weeks ago the. honorary secretary to the Highlanders, Mr. A. G. Allan, addressed a letter to his Honor the Superintendent, strongly urging immigration- from the Highlands, earnestly requesting that free grants of . land be set apart in Stewart’s Island for crofters and fishermen, and engaging, in the event of his request being acceded to, to write a Gaelic pamphlet for then-.guidance and information. The Government readily agreed to the proposal, and his Honor without delay transmitted the letter to the Premier, strongly representing the desirability of ships being sent direct to Stewart’s Island with immigrants from the Highlands and Islands. The promise Mr. Allan has fulfilled, and has written, we understand, a graphic Gaelic address to his countrymen, the translation of which was submitted to the Government, and highly approved of. The pamphlet is now in the hands of the printer. : " " The first seven of the thirty cottages to be • erected on the Railway Reserve at Hillside for the Government, under the supervision of Mr. David Ross, are now : completed. They are of concrete, three rooms, each, and lined with plaster and timber. They are well finished inside and outside, and, we are informed, have J been put up cheaper than timber buildings of the same size could have been erected.

A splendid brown trout, weighing a little over libs., has been caught in the tail-race of Mr. Anderson's flour-mill at Woodhaugh, on the Water of Leith. The fish was finely proportioned, and in excellent condition. Notwithstanding the fact that the Leith has been most industriously fished during the last few mouths, says the Times, the, trout seem to be still very numerous, and . some enthusiastic anglers have been tolerably successful during the last two days.

CANTERBURY. Another valuable discovery of coal has been made on the hanks of the river Selwyn, in this province, on the estate.of Mr. J. B. Sheath.

A schoolmaster has been in trouble. At a meeting of the Little River School Committee the following letter was read : —“ Little River school, Feb. 20, 1875. The Hon. Sec. Little River School Committee —Sir, —I have the honor to request you will he' good enough to lay this letter before the School Committee at their next meeting, and afterwards to forward it, or a copy of it, to the Board of Education, for their consideration. Gentlemen, you are no doubt aware, that the school has been closed for the last nine days, owing to my being imprisoned in Addington gaol, charged with having stolen a post-office letter. Subsequent events have proved how utterly groundless this false charge has been; the magistrate expressing himself, that ‘he was quite satisfied there was no evidence to connect me with the charge laid against me.’ Under these circumstances, gentlemen, X hope you will excuse my non-attendance at school; and I feel sure you will express' your feeling openly in the matter. What I have suffered, and what I now suffer, can only be known to myself ; the dark shadow has passed, hut the image still remains. As neighbors, countrymen, and above all, as Christians, I call upon you to vindicate my character, and to let the public of Canterbury know that there are mea in their midst, who, though hating crime, will not suffer the innocent to be trampled on.— am, &o;, George W. Westropp.” The thorough-bred mares, imported by Mr. Griffith from England, arrived by the Omeo,. from Dunedin, says the Times, and were brought through to Christchurch. They are in excellent condition. They are five in number, and the first to be noticed is Maria Theresa, a bay mare, 5 years old, by Rataplan,. dam Marie Louise, by Lifeboat, by Sir Hercules ; Rataplan, own brother to Stockwell, by Irish Birdcatcher, out of Pocahontas; Irish Birdcatcher by Sir Hercules. She is a very powerful mare, having perhaps; the

largest limbs we have seen on any thoroughbred horse, a good point, which is doubtless accounted for by the valuable double cross of the Sir Hercules’ blood. Hammock is a bay mare, 4 years, by Orest, out , of Mother Neasbam, by Buccaneer ; Orest, by Oiestea Nerissa is a bay mare, 5 years, by hold Ud den, dam Audrey by Stockwell, out °f As You Bike It by Touchstone; Lord OliMea by minster. Audrey was a winner of the Oitsare witch. Nerissa is a -fine large npstanmg mare, and both by pedigree and should be vei-y valuable for breeding pwp »■ She was considered a fast mare at home but proved a rank bolter. On one occasion she bolted for forty minutes, and ou anothei for a distance of five miles. Idalia, is a bay o years, by Cambuscan, out of Dulcibclla, by Voltigeur ; HulcibeUa was a winner of the Ciesare witch and Great Yorkshire Handicap; Cambuscan, by Newminster. Idabas own brother Onslow ran seven races as a two-year-old, and won six, beating on one occasion Cremorne, who afterwards won the Derby. -Vurifera, is a chesnut mare, 10 years, by Diophantus, out of Melbourina, by Melbourne or Windahound, out of Burlesque, by Touchstone ; Diophantus, by Orlando, made the fastest time ever recorded for the Two Thousand. Aurifera did not perform well on the flat, but as a steeplechaser scored several ' valuable wins.