The Invercargill Times. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1863.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 11, 2 December 1863, Page 2

The Invercargill Times. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1863.

The meeting held on Monday evening for the purpose of eliciting an expression of public opinion on the desirability of substituting a Mayor and Corporation for the town of Invprcarcargill, in the room of Ihe much abused Town Board, was, all things considered, a failure. We venture to Say that few in the body of ihe meeting, and not ono on tli • platform, had a clear idea as to the nature of the change proposed, and we are led to that opinion, because the speeches were irrelevant, and the meeting expressed no dissatisfaction at the fact. Mr Watt is a clever speaker, but he must have known that the Deestreet gratings, or rather the want of them, had noihing whatever to do with the subject under discussion. The same remark applies to the gentleman who proposed the first resolution. The St. Kilda lload had nothing to do with the Mayor and Corporation of Invercargill. But, if there vvns no definite statement as to the benefits which would accrue to the town by the contemplated change in its civic government, a more remarkable feature in the proceeding on Thursday night was, that no one was able to point out clearly the proper course to pursue to obtain the objects for which the meeting was convened. Surely those who originated the movement, should have made such inquiries as would have . enabled them to speak with contidence on this point. iVs it was, the speakers did not know whether the proper mode of procedure would be by petition to the Governor, or by Bill brought before the Legislative Assembly. One gentleman denied that the Governor had the power to grant a Municipal Corporation lo the town, but there, we think, lie was wrong. The 70th clause of the Constitution Act, says, "It shall be lawful for Her M.-ijes?y, in and by letters patent, to be issued under the Great S«al of the United Kingdom, from time to time to constitute and establish within any didt'ict or districts of New Zealand one or more Municipal Corporation or Corporations, and to grant to such Corporations all or any of the powers which, in pursuance of the statutes in that behalf made and provided, it is competent to Her Majesty to grant to the inhabitants of any town or borough in England and Wales, incorporated in virtue of such statutes or any of them, and to qualify and restrict the exercise of any such powers, &c." Turning, now, to the 79th clause, we find that Her Majesty may delegate to the " Governor any of the powers hereinafter reserved to Her Majesty respecting the removal of Superintendents of Provinces, and the regulation of the sale, lettinsr, disposal, and occupation of waste lands, the establishment of Municipal Corporations, &c.'' Whether the last mentioned, power has been so delegated is scarcely the question to be considered, but we have the plain fact before us that the people of Dunedin, acting under the advice of a very clever lawyer, are about to have a Bill brought before the Assembly "'ith a view to effecting the very same changes in their municipal arrangements, which the townspeople here appear to desire. We may Safely take it for granted that had Dunedin been able to obtain what she wanted by p ti t ion- — by far the simpler course — she would have done so. It was broadly asserted by one gentle-

man on Monday night that the ratepayers of Dunedin had petitioned the <4ovenjor -and been refused, but whether that be true or not, the fact that they are now endeavoring to obtain what they desire, not by petition, hut by a Bill, affords, in our opinion, quite sufficient grounds for the ratepayers here adopting a similar course. It is true that the passing of such a measure may probably be delayed fov a year, but that does not effect the question, or render it more probable that a petition would be acceded to. «». . Ft is bnt seldom that we indulge in self laudation in referring to the prosperous state of this Province, but we think that the unmistakeable evidences which, at the present time, we have before us, fully justify us in asserting that at no time since the creation of Southland as a separate Province, have we had better proofs of its increasing commercial prosperity. The firs- cf those proofs is to be found in the lar<je amount of customs revenue for the past month, which it. will be seen by our returns in another portion of our issue of to-day, is •jiven as L 5508 1 8s, while the 'evemie for one da}' alone — veaterday — amounted to LlOOo 8s 1 Id, ihelargesr.sum, we believe, ever collected in the sane time from that source. By our last advices from Victoria, it will be recollected that there were more vessels laid on the berth for Southland than for the neighboring province ot Otago. So much for our [.resent commercial prosperity, and now for indications of the advantages to be expected during the coming season. From the information contained in another paragraph in our columns of to-day — and which information we have every reliance on, knowing 1 the source whence it emanated — it appears that (lie Like goldfields arccommencing to yield larger returns than they have done hitherto, a commencement which, as the summer season advances, will no doubt be folio aed by larger \iclds. The line of railway, which will so mnterially facilitate the traflic between the Bluff and the Like district, has already been begun, and probably before the commencement of the next winter, will be so far advanced that carriage of goods will be a matter of very little difficulty. Kven at the present time, the facilities of the road from here over that from Dunedin have been admitted by the merchants themselves at the latter place, and when the railway is completed te> Winton, there will be no comparison. llt is our melancholy duty to re- j 1 cord the death of Mr. (Jeorge Small- j 8 field, which occurred on Ar.ond.iy, ■ I morning, o(J!h ult. Mr. Smallfield I | was, until lately, Editor and part [ j proprietor of the Southland fteir.s, ! * { but failing health compelled him to j i retire. Yerv few in New Zeaian 1 | I possessed a more extended know- | ) ledge of journalism tlnin the de- • | ceased gentleman. He was in earlier i | life on the literary staff of various i § newspapers in England, and, since | I his arrival in the colony, had con- ' | stantly devoted his energies to his j | profession. lie was, at one time, j i Editor of the Netc Zcalunder, a journal I I which he conducted skilfully 'and \ I conscientiously. A kindly dis- j I position, and a wish to be foremost j fin every movement for the public j S good, gained him a host of friends. \ I The funeral took place yesterday, ! jj and a large number of gent omen i j paid their final tribute of respect, ! |by following- his remains to their \ i last resting place. I H ? A correspondent writing from Qnecnstown has the following, — "1 do not expect many will be leaving these .livings for the present. The weather is scry flue, and all the miners lit work. It would not surprise me if an escort of '20,000 ozs were to leave this before Christmas: The miners have got into the river in many places, and the finds are (-nonnous- 1 have heard of as much as 6'o nin^cs to the tin dish and ;JO!bs weight to the pad'leck, and 1 believe it is true. We are getting up races here, to come off in the fi rst week in ..January. About £10()() will be run for, — not a bad amount for an up-country place. "We expect to see a pood many In vercargill faces on the occasion, as the journey is nothing mow that C-obb and Co have their four-horse coaches on theroa.l." A general I'ubl cans Licensing Bench will be held to-day at the Police C'.mrt. The following are the applicants for licenses, viz : — J. 11. Jones, Southland Club, Doe street; P. Matheson, Lord Clyde, Tweed street; F. A. Von Hammer, II )SO of Denmark, ])unoiliii Ro id ; It. Shaw, Alliambra, Kelvin sh-cct; J. Q. Hughe-', Grand Junction, North R-mel; G- Hull, Excelsior, T.iy street; A. Moir, Clarendon, Kelvin street; J. F. Norman, Red Lion, Waikivi Bash. On Wednesday lust a man named M'Kenzie living at Campbelltown, t ok his gun for the purpose of pliooti"g some •' paradise duck," which he saw /lying near. The piece, at the time, had one barrel loaded with ball, and the other with shot. As he was going through the scrub a man named Liiing was at work where he was passing, when M'Kenzie's gun caught by the hammer iv a branch, and the hammer fulling again, the pun went off, the ball striking La ing in the groin. J)r Eloskius, who was immediately sent for, probed the woii'id, but failed to extract the ball. He had the man conveyed to the Invcrcargill Hospital next chiy. It is not thft opinion of the doctors that the wound is of a dangerous nature. The charge sheet at the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday contained only one case, that of the man J. C. Jones remanded on a charge of lunacy. By the evidence of the medical men in attendance, it appeared that although the man was much better siuec his incarceration — attrbiutablc no doubt, to tbe abstemious i-cyi;ne of tbe police department — lie was still in a stato that rendered him unlit to be at large. Ho was therefore rea.anded /or medical attendance. We have to call attention to the meeting of the Caledonian S >ciety Committee to-morrow night, a* 7 o'clock, at the Albion Hotol. Amongst the passengers by the ship General Windham, which arrived at Port Chalmers on the 29th ult, was John Keid Mackenzie, E.-.q., General Manager ut the Bauking Cirpuration of New Zcalaud,

The Coroner held an inquost at the Police Court on Monday, on (he body of Mr George Smallfield, who died very suddenly at tiis residence, the Robert Burns Hotel, lh.it morning. From the evidence adduced, it appeared that the deceased, who had beon complaining for some days previously, hnd retired to rest on Sunday night, and was found dead in his bod next morning. The medical evidence led (he Jury to return a verdict that death resulted from natural causes. A meeting of the Stewards of the Southland Race Meeting of 1804, took place on Saturday Evening, at the Union Hotel, Tay street. A letter was road from Mr L'lwlor .if Rivorton, apologising 'for not being nrle to attend. A, Smith, Esq., was appointed a stowin] in the room of Mr Pearson resigned. The principle business wns to arange a programme far the coming mooting, which it will be seen by advertising columns is well selected and the stakes o lai^e tint we hope they will induce our neighbors to bring some of thoir horses here to contend for the r. In our commercial column will bo found the Customs receipts for the past month, amounting to £S:"iOS 13s, also the receipts on t! c Ist instant, amounting to £1093 Ss lid. The latter amount comprises the receipts for one day — the largest amount, we bcTirve, since fho Province was established, and one that will boar comparison with the receipts in any of the ports in the New Zealand Province;. "We see that the contractors for the new Custom H"ou«t>, Messrs Price anil Sons, are making rapid progress with their work. Tho white stone which is being u^e.l for the corners of the building, is from Tasmania, and appears to be of a very durable as well as ornamental character. The Siidnei; ?Jorning JTcrahl of the 21st inst. says: — " The following telegram was received yesterday by the Government, — , Acting SiibInspector Mair, Forbes, to Inspector General, Sydney. Forbes, VI, 20, 21th November, 1060Gilbert, O'Mcaily, and T fall attacked the house of Mr Campbell, half way between Eugowra and Togong, last night, at eight o'clock. They burnt down his barn, and he shot cither O'Meally or Gilbert dead. Mr Campbell's brother was missing when the messenger left. 1 start in that direction immediately with three men.'— ' From Police Magistrate, Forbes, 2.30 pm. Authentic report arrived that Mr Campbell's station, Goimbla, was attacked last ni^-ht , at 8 45 p-m., by Gilbert and gang. Mr Campbell was alone. Kept bushrangers at bay for two and a quarter hours, when they left. Barn and stable wiih a quantity of property, burned. I start out at once to hold an inquiry over ncad body. W ill report further on my re turn. Further report — Mr Campbell's brother missing." Since the above was received the Argus states that the man shot has been recognised as O'Meally. A very extraordinary charge against two men named Joseph Goddard and Charles Branch occupied the Melbourne Criminal Court, on tbe "20ih and 21st uliimo. The men were charged vuih cc-mniitting a rape en a girl who was engaged as a Si'rvari t at the house of Mr Solomon, in Swans-ton street. 1 In- following are the chief circumstances of the r;<se as given in evidence : —The probecutris. Mitiy Frazer, was a servantgirl, twrn'.y \ ears of ago. and in August last she was in tbe service of Mr Lewis Solomon, furni. lure dealer, 191 SwanMoii street. B,iweon eight and nine o'clock on the evening of the 27th of that, mouth Mi- Solomon and his wife went to the fancy eVtss bi.il y i\ cii by the ex-n;ayorof .Melbourne, leaving Mary Frnzer in the house alone. Ab< lit ten o'cli ek there was a knock at the doer, m.d the pi; 1 , ejmed the door, and fi.'Uiid a ii.rMi the re, v ho risked for Mr Solomon. He wr.f inforiiic d il.ni Mr Nilcmcn was not at liniuc. but inslc-ic] of i;oir«j away be asked scve-r.-il oiLrr qu. slit. us, Mid the pi obttttrix ultimately shut tl. c- di.or iii hisfV.cc. She went to bod ab.'iit. eleven ; and a few minutes afterwards, ! caring a noise at th? kitchen window, she went down Mairs in her night dress to see what had caiibcd it, and was siezed by a man who was under the kitchen table. This was the prisoner Geddnrd, and was the same man who had previously knocked at the door, but his face was blarkcnod on the second occasion. The man curried her uss'..'- into the ledroom, threw Lor on the brd. 'i'li in r ancles together with a piece of rope, aiiw ....itcned the roj c to the bottom rail of the bed. lie tied her hands in a similar way, and fastened them to the Loud rail. The c.-ids round the v. lists *>nd ancles were so tightly fastened th at they were inibi dded in The fie? h. While in this state the prisoner Branch, »o whom she hnd pvcuou&ly been engaged to be married, but lind broken the mnteh <-iT on discovering that he had comniitted bigamy, entered tde room r.nd imdc ;vn murr.pt to rommit an assault upon her, but immediately afterwards exclaimed, ''Good God, I cart;" and elesisteil. Gof'darel, turning to IJrnnch, said, " Yon coward! if you don't, I will,'' and then committed, the alleged crime. Branch in the meantime had gone down stairs, and got out of the kitchen window, and Goddard was soon afterwards alarmed by a knock at the door, and left the house. On the return of Mr and Mrs Solomon from the. ball they found tlu girl tied to the bed, and in a state of almost frantic terror and alarm, and partly unconsch us. Ihe jury found both prisoners guilty of an attempt to commit a rape. Sentence was elefi-rred by the judge. The summary of the gold mining statistics of the colony of Victoria for the month of September, issued by the department, shows that- there were 1'3.17<> miners at. work, of whom 54,291 Europeans and 22,0<>5 Chinese were engage-el in alluvial operations, and 15 53 7 Europeans and 140 Chinese in quartz mining. Of the latter, ten were at work in Maryborough district and 130 at North Jordan, in the Gipps Land ranges. The total population of the goldfields (including all classes) was 229,355. 352 steam-engines, of 5771 horse-power, and 4185 puddling machines, were at work in the alluvial, aud 4J-"> engines, of 8135 horse-power in quartz workings. The total approximate value of the mining plant was L1,527,70i. The Li/ttlelcn Times mentions the discovery of " the finest sample of gold yet found " in the Province of Canterbury. It consists of two dwts of coarse gold slightly intermixed with quartz, aud was found at Oxford. Our contemporary adds : — " Till more is found it would be premature to say that gold exists irk the neighborhood, as the ground where it was found exhibits no indication of possessing gold-bearing qualities. The information we possess satisfies us that the gold wag positively found on the spot, and should more be found in the neighborhood, it will warraat the conclusion that the source must be discoTered in the hills." A correspondent writing from Manuherikia, furnishes the Otago Tir.ios with the following account of the earthquake, as very sensibly experienced there on the night of Thursday the 10th ultimo, about 1115 p.m. Ue says — " It commenced with a slight shaking or vibration of the earth for a few seconds, (ben subsided five or ten seconds, when a sudden and (to one person at least, in the house, I nas in), a rather alarming shock was felt, nearly throwing a number of bottles irons a shelf, causing them to roll a considerable time before their equilibrium was restored, and causing one gentleman who was standing erect on tho floor, to re 11 to and fro. (I should, think from east to west or viceversa.) The scnsa'.ion the writer felt — who was sitting — was as if an explosion liar] taken place in or under the crust of the earth, giving it v sharp bump upwards,"

We see by the Quensland papers that during the passage of some of the recently arrived Gorernment emigrant ships in thatcolony, several disgraceful immoralities took place, which were owing to tho mismanagement of the captains and the sur-geon-superintendents. The Brisbane Courierhasthe following strong comments on the subject: " If we would be a virtuous community— if we would have virtuous generations look back upon us with veneration and traditionary respect, as the ' pilgrim fathers ' of a great nation — let us promptly set up our defences against the invasion of evils, the like of which history and our* old world experience tell us_are amongst tha most dangerous to public morality. Our streets nightly show that in thig young city the social evil is assuming proportions which promise soon to be in excess of the dire instution in much older"and more populous placesHow is this ? We need not go far for an answer. There is ample proof that the- majority of the fair daughters of Eve, whom misfortune hr s thus chosen for i(a own, are new arrivals. However much we are not surprised at it after what has come to oar knowledge within these few weeks pnst. Sufficient has been said, ere this, with reference to the ship Sunda. It is well known that on board the ship Kockhampton, in ad*dition to the scandalous neglect of cleanliness, and the disregard of the comfort of the passengers, flagrant immorality predominated on board. Aspasia figured as the captain's lady, and the license of llio enbtn was only exceeded by the licentiousness of the forecastle, where the common sailors experienced no restraint upon their freedom of intercourse with the single women. The surgeon superintendent seemingly abdicated his "authority over the passengers, and the captain on more than one occasion, nearly lost his command over the ship, How and why they did so, are doubtless well known by this time to the Government. It is certain that some of the pn?songers hare come from Rockhampton to Brisbane -at their own expense, rather than come free by the ship in which they had voyaged from Erglarirl, because of the violence done to their feelings by the misconduct which they witnessed on board. Though late, the inquiry in the case of the Itockhainpton has been effective in •securing ample evidence with respect to the misconduct of the principal officers of the ship. While the conveyance -of our immigrants is entrusted to tho care of such men, our streets cannot be free from the evidence of vice to which we have felt it our duty to allude, nor will society be secure against the inroads of immorality in its worst form." The correspondent of the Gcelong Advertiser, describing the state of affairs on board the Sunda and Hockhampton says : — "You will remember that, not long ago, I made mention of some qf the evils here "referred to as arising from the want of proper care for the single women whom we are importing here; -aad frMa is not an overdrawn statement. The agent of the Black Ball Company, in Plymouth, sent, his kept n istress on board the Sunda ; the passengers were shocked by her conduct during the voyage, the Government pays something for such a valuable ncquisit on to the population, and the country is supposed to appreciate it. The captain of the same vessel, it is said, brought his affianced out with him, intending to unarry here. He is not yet married, but is one of the loudest bachelors in Brisbane ; and it is further said that a certain young lady had the run of his cabin during the voyage. The surgeon superintendent, and liis wife (since dead, pool* creature!) were drunk night and day. All that is proved about the Kockhampton exceeds what is said of the Sunda. The captain promoted a buxom young liishjMrl from the steeiageto the gecond cabin, and afterwards to his own state room ; lie, three or four times, while on tho coast, endangered tho slip through drunkenness 5 and owing to his and the Gurgeon-suporintendent's example -and neglect of their duties, the sailors had it ail their 'own way with a number -of the single female immigrants. Yet these two ships are the first despatched under the improved regulations, which givo the Government full control over the conduct of immigration." We see by the Age of the 20th uU, that one of Gilbert's (New South Wales) gang of bushr angers, John Vane, had surrendered himself at King's Plains, and was conveyed by the police to Bathurst gaol. It wus reported that Gilbert had left the gang, and crossed over into Victoria. We learn from the Age of the 20th ult., that on the previous Friday — " Melbourne was visited by the most violent storms of wind and dust that have been experienced for a considerable time past Throughout the greater portion of the day. the city was enveloped in an almost impenetrable cloud of dust. Unfortunately, the inconvenience arising from such a visitation wa9 not its worst result. The new Wesleyan church on Emerald Hill, which was being roofed in, was entirely destroyed, the gable end being blown in, and the whole building rendered such an entire, wreck as to necessitate the pulling down to tho very foundations those portions of the walls which are left standing. Fortunately, all the workmen had left for dinner just prior to the occurrence of the accident, and no injury to life or limb ensued. A little boy had a very narrow escape. He was running after his cap, which had been blown from his head in the direction of the building, and just as he was stopping to pick it up a stone from the falling edifice struck him on the hand. A considerable portion of the market in Spencer street was unroofed j verandah? shared a like fate, and in a timber yard at North Melbourne shingles were blown about like so many feathers. Altogether, such a day has not been experienced in Melbourne for a very long time." A Queensland journal states the " notorious Madeline Smith, tried at Glasgow some years since for poisoning her lover, was a passenger by the ship Sunda, which lately arrived at Brisbana." We learn from the French journals that the colony of New Caledonia, remarkable hitherto chiefly for the appetite with which the natives devour European settlers, is likely to prove a valuable acquisition to Prance, goldfielda having been discovered there. A letter, dated 4th July states that: — "In March last some miners, in favor of whom a subscription had been raised, left Port de France in search of gold. On arriving at a place called Houekiahomme , about a mile from the church of Puebo, a missionary station, they found auriferous ground on the borders of a ravine. The gold was found in flakes close to the surface, lying mised up with particles of quartz. Auriferous soil was also found at Bonde, Arama, and in all the parts of the courtry cotnprised between the Hyenguene and the Diahot The Governor was on a tour to Mapoleonville with M. Coe lgon when he received news of the discovery, and proceeded immediately to Puebo, with the miner who was at the head of the exploring party. Some of the earth was washed in his presence, and he was able to convince himself of the existence of the gold. Even with the means now used, by simply putting the earth into a vessel and washing it in the rivulet, a good workman may earn from sf. to 6f. an hour. The Governor has come to no decision as to the working, but he has sent specimens to the Minister of Marine, and requested instructions ; in the meantime esplo« rations but no workings will be allowed.''