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Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 21, 24 December 1863, Page 2

By the arrival of the steamer Alhambra at the L'lufF, we are in possession of the news by the English mail. We have to acknowledge tho promptitude and courtesy of Capt airi M/Lcan in supplying our agent at the Bluff with the latest, Melbourne papers. AreFerence to our advertising columns •* ill enable those desirous of. enjoying the ChrUt.was holidays to do so in a variety of ways. On Christmas Bay excursions to Stewart's Island have been planned, a trip which will, no doubt, be productive of interest and pleasuic. At the Buff, a committee of enterprising gentlemen have made arrangements for holding real Boxing Day sports, in the shape of aquatic and land races, jumping;/ and leaping, and other athletic sports, for which prizes will be awarded Ti.e Itivertonians, not to be behind hand, in offering additional inducements to visit their pretty little township, on Boxing D ty, have arranged for a regatta— rowing and sailing matches — and as tbe prizes offered, will, we hplirvp, be of] some amount, good sport may be expected. J Tho C.iminal Sittings of tlie Supreme Couit will be held on the llih January, the civil business boing fixed for the IBih- We hear there is a probabilif j' that the numerous appeals against the recent fines for sly-grog selling will be abandoned by the respondents, as one of the informers re-immigrated to Tasmania, subrequent to tbe decisi'-ns intiie Resident Magistrate's Court — will not beproducublc, having " got into trouble '' in that -colony-. We arc glad to sec that the Govern-.ncnt have •called for tenders '? for pitching and metalling the Great .North Ttoad, from Invercargill to the Waihopai Bridge." Coming; so immediately after our comments on the diliitoriness 'of the department in -the performance of this much needed work, we would fain congratulate ourselves on having been the means of communicating the impetus. The New Zealandar speaking of the sanitary regulations of Auckland says :— " A short time ago a considerable apprehension existed that the smallpox,might be introduced into the city, and some necessary precautions for preventing so dire a calamity were taken, happily with success.. We are sorry to find there is great danger of the introduction by some of our coasting vessels of a disease equally to be dreaded. It was reported on Thursday, on the authority of tho master of the Julia, that a malignant typhoid fever had broken out at Matala, Bay of Plenty, and that within five weeks no less than sixty natives and several Europeans had died from its effects — the master's own wife and mother being ara-jnj the victims. There are nuisances sufficient within the city of -Auckland to foster and render most virulent any zymotic, disease which may unfortunately be introduced The open cesspools and uutrapped drains, the filthy alleys and corners that equal older cities in their unwholesomeness, the "percolation of night-soil from the Barrack -yard on to a public thoroughfare, and the utter neglect of sanitary science render the introduction of contagious disease is be dreaded. Typhus fever recently robbed England of one of its best and most useful men, and wherever i finds it way it is indiscriminate in the selection of its victims. To prevent the introduction of disease by means of .coasting or emigrant vessels, tho B"ard of Health, if there be one, is bound to adopt the most stringent quarantine regulations, and an Inspector' of Nuisances should be invested by the Government with full powors to compel obedience to the. necessary sanitary laws."

The usual weekly mcetitfg of tho Town Board lapsed yesterday, in consequence of there not being found at the prescribed hour of meeting, out" of the whofo ten members, five righteous men to form a quoTUm. The Chairman, and Messrs £casdrett, and Loekbarb wero the only members present, when 'the quarter of an hour's grace had 'expired. Toe Maryborough AdaeriUer gives the following case, of suicide: — " A feeling of consternation was created throughout Maryborough, on Sunday morning, by the report that a young 'titan, a miner, well known in the town, had" committed suicide, by poisoning himself, at the Gdden Age Hotel. On inquiry, this rumor proved true. The unfortunate man is named George G-riiliths, who was the holder of a share in the claim No. 6, on the Leviathan Reef, Chinaman's Flat, and formerly kept the bowling sal on next to the Telegraph Hotel, in High street. Tbe history of the catastrophe is soon told. On Sunday night, about ten o'clock, Griffiths went to the Golden Age, and asked to be provided with a bed, and he was shown to one of the bedrooms of the establishment which he entered and was left. Beyond his being somewhat intoxicated, nothing particular was noticed in his appearance, nor did he say anything calculated to excite the slightest suspicion of his intention. Yesterday, about twelve o'clock-, the- housemaid entered the bedroom, and there saw G-rifEiitb.B ijing on the bed completely dressed ; his face was swollen and dark, and he was breathing very heavily. Believing him to be -in a- fit, she gave an alarm, and medical assistance Was immediately summoned. Dr. Julian attended, hett all too late ns after living about half an-hour, Griffiths diedThe cause of his death jvas soon conjectured, by the fact of a bottle labelled ' poison ' being found on a table in the bedroom, and -the information that deceased had on Saturday purchased an ounce of h.udannm from Mr Ogle, chemist, High-street, saying in answer to the usual inquiries, that he purchased it for a woman residing at Chinaman'sFlat, and Mr Ogle, knowing the man, had no hesitation in serving him." The Alhambra has brought a very heavy mail,, comprising sixteen boxes and one bag, which wore delivered at the Post-Office aboutninc o'clock last night. In order that there might be no delay in the transmission of tbe mail from the Jlluff, the coach did not wait for the landing of the passengers from the Alhambra, all speed having tp be used in order to save tho tide. From the Wakatip Mail, of Decembei 12, we learn that, " the following is the amount of gold forwarded to Dunedin per last escort:- — Queenstown, 4237 0Z3.; Arrow, 2015 oas. Total. 6302 ounces." The Launceston Examiner, of the sth inst., relates the following most extraordinary scene in C rart: — " At the Hobart Town Police Court, on Thursday, a Jew, named Abraham Wolf, on remand, was charged with committing a rape on Elizabeth Levy, a child eight years of age. Mr. Dobson watched the case on behalf of the Crown, and stated that he did so in order to prevent the ends of juitiee from being frustrated, for a most disgraceful attempt bad been made to pervert the ends of public justice, by sending the child and her mother, two of tho principal witnesses, out of the colony. After several witnes?es had been examined, Lazarus Levy, a shopkeeper in Murray street, and father of the little girl, was placed in the witness box, and, in reply to Mr. Dobson, said he did not know where his wife and child had gone. On Mr. Dobson pressing 'him closer on this point, Levy rose up from the chair, and exclaimed, 'I cannot answer you any more, I am mad,' and in a most excited state ho approached the table to grasp Mr. Dobson, at the same time shaking his head, fist and every muscle in his' body at the prisoner in the deck: he then -made a fierce dart round behind Mr. Reynolds's chair, holding up bis fist and rushing at the prisoner, crying out, 'I'll murder you, I'll have your life;' but the police instantly rushed round and seized the prisoner, dragging him out of the dock Just as Mr Levy reached his neck, while the g.iperinrendant of Police, Sub -Inspector Dorset t, and others rushed to catch Mr Levy, which they succeeded in doing, and ho was removed in a strong hysterical fit, still wildly crying out, ' I'll murder you, I'll have your life, you wretch — I'll murder you; oh! you wretch." 'He was then carried out bodily into Mr Mnnton's room, where lie was attended to, and after the lapse of about ten minutes came round iatc Court, and subsequently ap : logiscd to Mr Dobson. The prisoner was remanded until IKb ins-t." Tho following is the state of the Invercargill Gaol for the week. ending 23 rd December, 1863 : — Sentenced to hard labor G ; awaiting trial, 3under remand (female), 1 ; debtors, 5 ,- lunatics, 2; Total, 10 males, 1 female, Received during the week, 7, discharged during the week 3.