SUMMARY FOR EUROPE.

Southland Times, Volume 2, Issue 33, 18 May 1863, Page 2

SUMMARY FOR EUROPE.

SOCIAL.

To sit down and write a readable history of what has taken place in Southlaud during the nioath, ending May 16th, 3863, is by no means an easy task. A journalist who draws his materials from the daily transactions of a large city or populous district is often puzzled in selecting those items which shall most .interest hi9 readers. He is overrun with news, and crowding into his columns the last " fearful railway accident" and the lusits naturae of an animal born with more or less than than the proper number of limbs, ?oes to his rest half conscious that something must have been omitted. Ours is a labor of a different kind — Southland is promised a railway, but the casualities are all in prospectn, and likely to foe:-so for some time to come. The people don't do many things worth recording — the Government doesless — and Nature herself seems to have conspired against our peace, by decreeing that her operations in this part of the world shall "be carried on without a solitary instance of departure from ordinary laws. The difficulty in Southland is not in u selecting," but in "collecting'' news. Our last summary spoke ef a progress as rapid as anything which the most sanguine could have anticipated, and this month, if we were to judge of the prosperity of the Province by the way in which building is still being carried on, and the high prices which fr>wn sections command, we should fell inclined to say that Southland was very highly favored. There are, however, certain circumstances which compel us to admit that we do not view the present state ef things with anything like anmingled satisfaction. Whilst a rapid immigration to our shores has set in from the other Provinces of New Zealand and from the colonies of Australia and Tasmania, and whilst business houses without number have been opened in town on the strength of lhe anticipated trade with the Lake district, the two routes by which the Southland portion of that trade must of necessity be carried on, are in a most deplorable state, partly from neglect, and partly from an injudicious expenditure of money in places where attempts at improvement have been made. The consequence is that, unless most strenuous exertions are made, the principal part of the Wakatip trade will, after all, pass through Dunedin. Already the effect is veiy visible. Dunedin carters— who came down intending to make Invercar«ill their headquarters — have returned in disgust, preferring the old line of road through Otago, in spite of its greater length and more hilly character. Since the opening of the Lake gold fields we have done our utmost to urge on those in power the absolute necessity for completing without delay either the North Road or the East, or what is commonly called the Mataura Road, and we have been repeatedly assured ihat everything possible was being dene, and that communication with the Lake would be comfortably kept open during the winter. Winter is already upon us, and daily and hourly complaints reach us to the effect that instead of that being lhe case, the roads are nearly impassable. Die importance of the object in view would fully justify the expenditure of far larger sums of money than any that have yet been employed. More than what has already been done wou'd have been warranted by the requirements of the pastoral and agricultural interests alonej but when we take into consideration the requirements of the trade with the Lake District, and the fact that the Province has a powerful and comparatively rich rival in the field, it will ha apparent at a glance that not a twentieth part of what is wanted has been accomplished. The required works are of a strictly remunerative character, and the funds might have been, and will yet have to be raised by a loan. The Provincial Government Gazette contains the informaionthat the Appropriation Bill and the Bluff Railway Billluve been assented to, and, doubtless no time will be lost in putting the debentures into the J market. It is intended, we believe, to j negotiate them in London, although for such a comparatively small sum Melbourne or Sydney would certainly offer equal, if not greater advantages. If, however, London is chosen, it is to be hoped that they will see the light under the auspices of a first-cla«s house.

It will be seen by the meteorological table which we publish in another column that the weather dining the greater portion of the month has been of the worst, rain and hail falling in large quantities, and the force of the wind at times being terrific. The town has in consequence been in a most" horrible state of mud, and although the last few days have sufficed to cause some slight improvement, it is to be feared that our main thoroughfares will be in but a sorry condition through the winter. The gravelling of the two principal streets is being pushed on with dispatch. The jetty accommodation is still defective, the benefits arising from what has already been done to it are very considerable, but the road from it to the stores in town is sadly in need of repairs. We observed a few days since that there were ruts from eighteen inches to two feet deep in some places. A considerable addition was made to our population by the arrival at the Bluff of the immigrant ship Sir William Eyre, on the 23rd April. This vessel left the Clyde on the 2lst December last, and finding she was running short of water, put into the Cape on the 10th March, and sailed from thence on the 18th of the same month. She shipped originally 409 passengers; there were 5 births on the passage, and 22 deaths. Five left the vessel at Lam lash Bay, leaving the total number of immigrants that arrived at Bluff Barbor 387. On her arrival it was found by Captain A. J. Eiles, Government Immigration Officer for Southland, that the arrangements on board had been' of a most defective character, and nine informations were accordingly laid by that officer against C. Blakey, the master of the vessel, for various breaches of the Passenger Act. Two or these informations I were eventually withdrawn, there were considered not proven, one stands remanded, ! and in the other three cases convictions were obtained, and the captain fined in the aggregate £120. The evidence disclosed a very disgraceful state of things, proving, beyond a doubt, utter incompet ency or wilful neglect on the part of the authorities in Glasgow. The Immigration officer here has done his duty capitally, and deserves the thanks of every man who may contemplate coming out to New Zealand. In giving judgment, the resident Magistrate remarked that,—" We have here a

case of a large number of emigrants leaving home, led to expect certain things on board emigration vessels. When once on board, they find themselves entirely at the mercy of; whoaTer is in charge 1 ; and even when they discover wrongs* they must patiently it all to the end of the voyage. And who can conceive the amoutit of misery and suffering that these poor people may have inflicted upon them! When they arrive here, it is our duty to redress these grievances. In this vessel gross neglect had certainly been proved on the part of the defendant. No consideration had in any way been shown even to the females and children. If grievances of this kind were allowed to escape condemnation, it would have a most damaging effect on the interests of immigration to this province." Towards the latter end of April, a number of the leading men of Invercargill assembled for the purpose of establishing a Chamber of Commerce. The great success that these bodies have as a rule achieved in other parts of New Zealand and the Australian colonies, leads us to hope that the movement was not uncalled for. Several meetings have since taken place, and the Chamber thoroughly organised The number of members is at present between forty and fifty. The rules area modification of those of the Melbourne Chamber, and Kwere passed unanimously. The following gentlemen were elected as office beavers: — W. H. Calder, Esq., president; John Macdonald, Esq., vice do. ; H. W. Whitton, Esq., treasurer; A. Jamieson and W, Stuart, Esqrs., auditors. Our townspeople appear at length to be roused to a sense of the danger to which the " city" is exposed from the ravages of fire. Like all young colonial towns. Invercargill is built of wood ; but there is perhaps a greater necessity here than elsewhere for caution, on account of the high winds which are so prevalent. A large meeting was held on the 6th May, for the purpose of forming a fire brigade, and it is to be hoped that very shortly all the requisites in the shape of engines, buckets, ladders, &c.. will be purchased, and the brigade drilled into shape. One good illustration is woi-th a thousand sermons in hastening: any necessary movement. Three days before the meeting to which we have just alluded took place, the private residence of Colin N. Campbell, E<q., was totally destroyed by fire, and although from its distance from town (4 miles), assistance from an Invercargill fire-brigade would have been altogether out of the question, still it served to show pretty plainty what we might expect, should the enemy appear in our midst, and where long lines of houses would be exposed to its fury. We append our report which appeared at the time : — " The inmates, nine in number, retired to rest at about ten o'clock, after extinguishing all the fires Mr. Campbell being roused from sleep by a crackling noise, and seeing an unusual light in the dining-room, alarmed the bouse, when it was disco" vered that the building was in flames. Owing to the high wind that was blowing at the time, and the fact that the fire had already got a firm hold, nothing could be done to save either the house or any of the contents. It was totally destroyed, the inmates barely escaping in their nightdresses. With regard to the cause of the catastrophe, the most probable conjecture ! is that the fire in the dining-room was not { thoroughly extinguished, and sparks having communicated through some crevices in the brickwork of the chimney to a partition stud which ran up its side, theJ woodwork caught fire and speedily com-' jnunicated with the rest of the building. To give some idea of the rapidity of the fire, it may be stated that, from the time of its discovery to the complete destruction of the building, not more than fifteen minutes elapsed. Mr. Campbell is, we believe insured for L2,Oi)U, which will not cover the loss sustained." At a coroner's inquiry, which was held shortly after, lhe above conjecture as to the cause of the fire was pretty well substantiated.

We have to record one very melancholy accident which occurred at Riverton on the 19th April, when the cutter Fly, Captain Zall, was totally lost, and four men drowned. The Fly, with a cargo of timber from Stewart's Island, manned by three men stood in on Saturday afternoon, with the signal for a pilot flying. On Sunday forenoon Captain Aid red, pilot master, manned the pilot boat and putting off succeeded in boarding the cutter, but the sea was then so rough that he could not take her over the bar, and accordingly stood to sea. The storm continued for several hours, and the vessel became quite unmanageable, so that all hands, eight in number, were compelled to take to the pilot boat. About three quarters of an liour after the cutter was abandoned, a heavy sea struck the boat, and turjing it completely over, precipitated the whole party into the water. Captain Aldred and Captain Zall, with two of the pilot crew managed to cling for about five minutes' to the boat, when they were washed off Captain Zall, with three of the pilot crew, then endeavored to reach the shore, distant about two hundred yards. In this they succeeded, but we regret to state that the other four, viz., Captain Aldred, with three of the crew of the cutter were lost. The position of the vessel and danger of the pilot boat being distinctly seen from the town, a number of the inhabitants pro ceeded to the beach to render assistance. This unfortunately they were unable to do, except to a very limited extent, though by their efforts Captain Zall was saved. A most painful feature in the case of Captain Aldred, is the circumsiance that he had just brought his wife to the town. Notwithstanding the large additions which have been made to our population, we are happy to be able to state that the police reports do not show a proportionate increase of the crime committed in the Province. The small number of convictions cannot reasonably be attributed to any want of efficiency on the part of the police. The additions and changes which have during the past few months been made in this department, have given general satisfaction, and the force as at present organized under Mr Weldon, Chief Inspector, is a credit to the Province and a terror to evildoers.

The convictions at the Police Court during the month have been as follows : Drunkenness. 28; horse straying, 1; breach of Police Ordinance, 7 ; damaging property, 1 ; assaults, 5; breach of sheep ordinance, 2 ; larceny, 3 ; breach of passengers* act, 3 ; total number of convictions, 50. There are besides, three committals for trial at the sittings of the Supreme Court, which will be very shortly held in Invercargill, and judging from the pas't, the Court will have but a light task to perform, as far as the criminal side is concerned. The sitting of the Supreme Court in Southland will have a most beneficial effect in civil cases. Hitherto very many claims have been reduced to within the required limits, and tried in the Resident Magistrate's Court,

in order to avoid the. trouble and expense of a journey to ;Dunedin, and the. difficulty which exists in taking witnessed to such a distance^ ha? been ou||diitv;': to say so much abont sthe^efective 'nwnt, ner in which things' connected with the' entrance -end navigation of our harbors^ has^iiiih^rto fee^^onclucted, that i%?¥ quite va relief to^e ibleHo speak of anjg positive piece of good about to be accom-; | plished. . : The necessary preliminary steps for the election of the iron lighthouse on Dog Island, which may be shortly expected from England, have been taken. Mr. Lyal and five men have started for the scene of operations, and by the time this is in the hands of oar readers, will probably be at work. The pariy are well found in stores, tools, &c, and were taken as far as the Bluff by Messrs Cobb and Co. The Riverton people complain bitterly that their interests are to a great i extent neglected, and we must say they appear to have some ground for grumbling. Some six months since we stated that the mooring3 for the above port seemed to have taken up a permanent position on the Invercargill jetty. There they still remain, and to all appearance are, likely to, for some time to come, thus entailing great loss and inconvenience to the ship masters visiting Riverton, Only four lives have been lost by this neglect; when that number has been considerably Increased, perhaps it may be thought worth while to shift the moorings to their proper position. We omitted in speaking of the Invereargill jetty to mention that there is a scheme on the tapis for constructing a tramway from the end of the jetty to a point near the Custom House. Should this be carried out a very great saving will be effected on the present slow and unsatisfactory method of carting. A case of much importance to persons visiting the south of New Zealand from the Australian colonies, was tried a few days since in the Resident Magistrate's Court in Dunedin. The City of Hobart was advertised in Melbourne for Dunedin, nailing at the Bluff. Some passengers for Southland sailed in her on the faith of that advertisement, but the captain ignored the Bluff part of the business in toto, and landed the whole of the passe nuers in Dunedin. Some who had shipped for Southland took proceedings against the captain for breach of contract, and obtained a favorable decision. The case is worthy of note, because the practice of booking passengers for the Bluff, and then cooily taking them on to Dunedin, was becoming common, and was inflicting a great injury on Southland commerce. Two sfceamers are expected to be added to those already in the Southland trade. The Edhia'will, if sufficient inducement offer, ply between Invercargill and Melbourne ; and the Keera between Invercargill and Dunedin. They will both find plenty to do.

EETURN of Prisoners in Her Majesty's Gaol, Southland, 15th May, 1863.

Kauk. Offence. Sentexce. Thomas Woods ... Larceny 12 months, hard labor Robert Hunter ... Do. ... 2 months, hard labor John Allen . . Assault 6 months, hard labor Harry Marino ... Larceny Committed for trial Francis Anderson Do. . . 9 months, hard labor Thomas Russell ... Do. .. Committed for trial John Rork ... Do. ... Do. Walter C. Wilson Assault 2 months imprisonment James M'Laghlan Larceny 6 months, hard labor William Jackson... Do. ... Committed for trial William Bell ... Do. ... 6 months, hard labor James Lynch ... Do. ... 1 month, hard labor William Nash . . Misconduct 12 weeks, hard on board labor ship Albert Mathews ... Do. ... Do. Michael Reidy . . Do. ... Do. John Duncan ... Do. ... Do. Robert Marshal! ... Do. ... Do. William Allen ... Do. ... Do. Francis M'Clure ... Larceny 6 months, hard labor John Hickey ... Vagrancy 6 weeks, hard labor Henry Austin ... Larceny 1 month, hard labor John P. Cummings Breach of 7 . days, hard the Peace labor John Williams ... Larceny 1 month, hard labor Joseph Smith ... Assault • Do. Peter Dem psey ... Larceny Remanded to 17th May Hugh Hector ... Lunacy Remanded for medical treatment. William Fraser, Gaoler.