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Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 27, 8 January 1864, Page 2

By the arrival of the s.s. Omeo we ha?e Melbourne news to the Ist instant. Our Melbourne Correspondent's letter we are compelled to hold over til! our nest issue, in consequence of pressure on our space. " Journalism under difficulties" has frequently been made the subject of a paragraph. We are convinced that journalism is always conducted under difficulties, but ours is an aggravated case. We hare a well-patronised bowling saloon on one side of the olßee, the noise from which causes chronic headache; on the other side there is a kerosene store, with *' large quantities always on baud, and the trade supplied on liberal terms," so that we are continually in fear of being physically blown up; and at the present tiroe a demoniacal Scotchman has taken up a position close to j the front door, and is treating us to some of the plaintive melodies of his native land, performed I on that most excruciating instrument — the bagpipes. Xor is that all — the devil is at our elbow, waiting for copy. Are we not martyrs ? We learn from the latest New Zealand Go-vern-tnent Gazette (N0. .66), that the Governor has withheld his assent from the Southland Appropriation Ordinance, owing no doubt, to the fact that the contemplated expenditure exceeded by very many thousands, the estimated revenue. As a necessary consequence, the Provincial Council will have to resume their labors at an <?ar)y dateAn inquest was held on Wednesday, in the Police Camp, before the Coroner, on the body of John M'Kay, which was found in the Puni Creek on the afternoon of Tuesday, under the circumstances detailed in the Times of the following day. In addition to the eviden ce as to the finding of the body, it was slated that on the evening of Monday, deceased, who appeared to have been very low spirited and nervous, from the effects of" previous drinking, went to bed, in his tent, situated in the rear of the Prince of Wales Hotel Dee street — and had never been seen alive again. When the body was found, it was only partly dressed, in a shirt and - drawers, the rest of the clothes being found at his bedside, the bed having little appearance of being slept in. SergeantMajor Chapman stated that where the body was found in the creek, there would be about seven feet of water at high tide. The jury returned the following verdict .- — " That the deceased John Al'Kaycgme to hie death by drowning himself, whilst laboring under temporary insanity," The following steamers were on the berth at Melbourne' for Southland :— City of Hobart steamer, .Bluff 'Harbor, to sail sth January; Soucbays steamer, Bluff Harbor, 4th January; Hero steamer, Bluff H arbor, 12th January 5 Eleoner brig, Invercargill, 2nd January ; Stormbird schooner, no date advertised ; Vistula, ' luv rcargil], 2nd January-

J'ltlSiriU'be seen by our report ot Wednesday's proceedings of the Town Board, that they have' cancelled ' the appointment of Mr Kemjlson as Engineer, whioh took place on Monday, nnd have appointed Mr Richardson to the office^ The can' collation of thefirst'appointment toofcV aco on ? motioa — proposed by Mr Calder, and seconded by . Mr, -M^lvor — - that, the. of ..Monday's meeting should not be confirmed. ~ How the Board can recoricjle ; any I nther; appoiritiflpnt with the terms of their " standing'ordera," may be arrived at- by~ readingltho following; clauses therein r---No 2 states — "At f every; regular-meeting of the Board, the first business thereof shall be the reading and putting for -confirmation; the minutes of any preceding meeting; and no discussion shall : he. permitted except as to their accuracy as a record of the proceedings. The minutes, then confirmed, shall be signed by the Chairman for the tiraa being." The lith clause ; is as follows : — •* It shall be competent for any member, without previous .notice, to^move .for ;a. call, of the whole Board to rescind any motion which has already passed the Hoard during the same official year." looking at the fact that the first appointment was made by a resolution of the Board,, which was not rescinded accord- i ing to the prescribed rules of the Board, it is ] questionable whether the appointment of Mr Kempson does not yet hold good, and whether he has not good grounds ibr.an action for damages, although not regularly nbtifbd that he had been so appointed. Really the engineering works of the Town Board seem doomed to be literally and figuratively in a perpetual muddle. , It will be seen by our advertising columns tha a meeting of the newly-formed Debating Society will be held to-night, at the Schoolhouse, Tay street, for the purpose of enrolling members and forming a committee. The public are invited to attend. [ We see by the Dunedin papers that Colonel Pitt — who has been deputed to raise another corps of volunteers within the colonies — arrived.in Dunedin by the Phcobe. . . ', I . The following is from the Daily Southern Cross (Auckland), of the 23-d December: — " Yesterday morning, about nine o'clock, a bricklayer's laborer named Holmes, living in Bank-street, but employed in the erection of the Duke of Marlborough Hotel, Qicen-s',reet, met with a very serious accident. It appears nt the hour stated, he was engaged with other bricklayers putting on the first course of atone for the cornice, when the timber which supported the superstructure canted over with the work upon it, and knocked him off the scaffold on which he was standing- He was precipitated about twenty feet, falling on the b.ick of his head, and he then fell into the cellar. Upon being removed to the Hospital, Chancery street he was attended by Drs G-.jldsboro and Carey, and found to have sustained a fracture of the skull and concussion of the spine. The lower extremities were completely paralysed. Hopes are entertained of bis recovery," The Census pnpers, which, left at the various houses, it will be seen, have been grossly bungled in regard to the instructions for filling in names, &c It is stated that the return shall be of all persons sleeping in the house on the 7th January, and at the same time that the Sub -enumerators a-o to call for the forms on the 7th January. In another portion of the form it is stated, that no name is to entered, unless the person slept in the house on the night of the 31st December. As the effeefs of the blunder may be of consequence without further explanation, we may state that it is intended that the returns shall be of all persons who slept in the various houses, where the forms were left, on. last night. We are informed that Mr Cowan yesterday plnccd his resignation as a Member of the Executive Council, in His Honor the Superintendent's hands. The Otago correspondent of the Goelnng Advertiser, in referring to the works of the Great Northern Railway, in this Province, says — '• When finished, the Lake Wakatip district, wnich includes (he townships of Arrow and Queenstown, will belong commercially to Invercargill, although politically it forms part of our own province. By our extreme apathy and foolhardy confidence, we have allowed the richest portion of Otago to slip through our hands just as iv like manner the people of Geelong permitted the trado to be diverted from them into the great Melbourne channel. It will not be to be wondered at i f Inverearjrill in a year or sot takes the lead over Dunedin." A Meeting of the Invercargill Cricket Club v as held lastniijht in Colycr's Princess Hotel, Mr Scandrett in the Chair, when it was unanimously agreed that a cli.illen^o for a Home and Home Match with the Duncclin Cneket Club be immediately forwarded to the Secretary, At a Publicans General Licensing Bench, held on Wednesday, before M. Price, Esq., E.M., and H. H. Fenton, Esq., J.P., the following 12 o'clock night licenses were granted, viz : — Messrs Puettelkow, Provincial Hotel, Tay Street ; Hall, Excelsior Hotel, Tay Street, and Humphries, Marine Hotel. Mr Robertson, of the Three Bflls Hotel, and Mr J. R. Mills of R.verton, were granted publicans licenses. A writer in the Lyttolton Times of the 31st December, makes the following remarks in reference to the prevalent custom of nobblerising at all times ; — " Perhaps some of our readers do not know t^e extent to which the practice of ' shouting,' or of inviting to drink at the ' shouter's ' expense, is carried even here. Let him ride along any of the frequented routes north or south, and stop on the road at the public houses ; or still better, let him take a place in one of the public conveyances, and he will have, some idea of the mischief going on in this respect. There is a large class of men who, if not drunk, are never strictly sober at tho end of a journey. They think it neceserry to swallow bad spirits at every public house they pass ; and it is often against their will that they conform to this custom of their society. You may hear an invitation to take a glass repeated in a more and more angry tone, as the invited declines the first offers, and the chances are that he gives way at last, from sheer weakness, and a desire not to offend. We have heard men who ought to know better, coracomplain half seriously, half jestingly, of the difficulty of of f rvelling sober on certain lines of road now, ' as so many public houses had been set up on them.' They make it a point of honor not to omit one. We heard a story the other day which illus. trated the corruption of a large portion of public opinion on this point. A citizen called X—who ought to know better, was discussing the political character of a publican not a hundrec miles off". He ended with— Ah well, all I can saj is that ho is a perfect gentleman. He never meets me without saying, "Well, how are you ? What will you take? So long as this is the ideal of t perfect gentleman among any class or our community, so long we may look forward to the reigi of the nobbier." On Wednesday, about the middle of the day, a mai who was walking up Kelvin Street^ was suddenly seized with a fit, and fell down. . He -wascarriei into' the Police Barracks, where, after some resto ratives had been administered, he was found sui •ficiently recovered to walk home. , We understand that Mr. Puettelkow, the pro . prietor of ■ the Theatre Royal, is negotiating fo the engagement of a dramatic corpa in Dunedir for too opening of the; Theatre, which . will pro bably take plac« about the beginning of the nei month'

-: We observe' by the' Dune'diu. journala^ikfc/tjißJ two days', Scottish Gathering (the let and 2nd; January), held on the Recreation' Ground, was ja f every respect a very successful affair. Online fijrsjl day there were 'about 7000 persona of all % clasaeir present, including His. Honor the Superintendent ttnd his family." -No contretemps occurred to inter* riipt .the games, which were .numerous and welK contested. On the second day en accident occurred to Mr Shadrach Jones, who .was thrown from his horse while "tilting at- the ring," -but with .the. exception of a slight rshock:to;t;he.ajßteTn^ no injuries of any importance were received. No disturbances took place during either of the days; indeed, the phlegmatic -behaviour. ;of the Otagans (as they lmve: recently termed -themselves) on the two days of the Gathering, would appear to have been more of a failing than a f virtue, as, according to the /chronicler of the "Daily 'Telegraph, "the staid decorum which, characterised the demeanor; of the immense concourse assembled "on the Recreation' Ground on Pwday and- Saturday last,;, erred rather upon the side of gravity and gaiety— of sober cheerfulness and subdued enjoyment than upon that of exuberant mirth." ? - /"/