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Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 35, 27 January 1864, Page 2

To-day will be observed by the Bants and Government olllces as a holiday, in honor of the Regatta. We have to acknowledge the receipt of the first copy of tho llicerloii Times, and to compliment our now contempoi'ary as a well written and — typographically speaking — a very creditably got up weekly journal. ' -' "llie work of erecting tho telegraph wires connecting the Mult' with Invercargi.ll was completed yesterday, so that all now remaining 'to be done, is tho fixing of tho batteries and instruments for tlie conveyance of messages. The whole of tho necessary instruments have arrived by the AViteh of the Tees, and will be landed either to-day or to-morrow. It is intended that the present Custom .House will bo used as the Telegraph Ollico when the new Custom House is ready for occupation.-/ In the meantime a Telegraph Oilieo Iv.n been temporarily fitted up at tho opposite corner of Dee-street, which will be opened in a few days. Already the telegraph posts from here to Winton Bush have been erected, although it will likely be sonic timo before there is any necessity for completing telegraphic communication with that portion of the district, — at lea-it, not before tlie completion of (ho railway. The works for the last few weeks have been actively superintended by Mr. A. M. Wclden, Provincial Director of Telegraphs. Oil Monday Captain M'Grath, of the brig Grecian, who was fined ;C 1.00 by the Campbdltown "Bench for smuggling, was brought up from the Bluff and lodged in the Inveruargill GJ-aol, where he will bo confined for six months in default of payment of the fine. We believe it is the intention of ihv. agents of tho vessel to lay an information against Captain M'G-rath for embezzlement under the ITrauLlulent Trustees Act. At a ypc/'ial meeting of thr> Town Board hold on Monday, a summons war, received from Mr Ma-rehant, tho laic engineer to the Board, for payment o£';G100 damages alleged to have been sustained in consequence of " wrongful dismissal from ofnee." We hardly know what the law will say to tho case on Monday next in the Resident. Magistrate's Court ; but we believe we are endorsing the opinion of the majority of the ratepayers when we express a belief that the dismissal of Mr. Maroh-'int was not among the wrongful acts of the Town Board. At the meeting of the Regatta Club Committee, held last night, at Lee's Provincial Hotel, the following entries were made :— First-class Sailing Boats, prize JEM) — "Scud," M'Donuld and Co., blue and white star; " Coquette," J". M. Clarke, blue and white ball ; " Maid of Southland," J. S. Clarke, red and white crescent ; " Waihopai Curric," blue, name in white. Second-class Sailing Beats, prize £20—" Rambler," M'Donald and Co., I blue and white star ; " Blue Jacket," J. Gradd, 1 red and white ; " Look Out," <J. Cousins, red, white and blue. Five-oared Whaleboats, prize £20 — "Backwoodsman," E. Robinson, white and blue borders ; " Secret," W. Eaiv rill, white and i*cd cross. Four-oared Whaleboat- — "Backwoodsman," E. Robinson, white and blue border; "Will If I Can," J. Simmonds, blue and white border; "Pride," M'Donald and Co., red. Fonr-oarcd Boats (Amateurs), prize £12 10s— <( Will If I Can," J. Simmonds, blue and white border ; "Rose," J. Cousins, red, white and blue. Two-oared Boats (Amateurs), prize £7 10s— "Will If I Can," J. Siinnionds, blue and white border ; " Kibosh," J. Cousins, i;cd, white and blue. Dingy Race (Pair-oared), prize, £o — " Midge," Archer, white flag. Duck Hunt — Duck, J. Cousins, Drake, J. Simmonds. There wero no entries for the Lighter lircc; the prize for which was £'20. ,

At a Special Meeting of the Town Board on' Hominy niylit, tlio following letter was submitted by Mr Weston, Solicitor to the Board: — " January 25tli, 186 i. Sin, — Ac-' j cording to the instructions given me on Satur- | -day afternoon by the Chairman of the Board, ! I have drafted dec. l, passing to the Superintendent tli« special rates to be levied upon the town by the Buard a.i security for tho guarantee for an overdraft from tho Bank, to tho extent of £10,000, but inasmuch as the •draft; has to bs perused by tho Provincial Solicitor on behalf of the Government, it cannot bo completed in time for your meeting to bo held this afternoon. With, tho draft I enclosed a note to the Provincial Solicitor, re- • questing that lie would be good enough to give the matter his earliest attention, and you may rest assured that so far as I am. concerned there shall not be any unnecessary delay. Yours obediently, T. S. Weston. "To the Clerk of tho Town Board, Invereargill." , ' The enterfcainmenta at tho Theatre Royal on Monday night were terminated by tho production for tho first time of a little farce entitled " Wanted a Barmaid." The piece is ■written by 'Thatcher, and in his wittiest. -style. It abounds with local allusions, very humorous and witty ; son<*s innumerable and capitally travestied.. The incidents dramatised—plot of course, it does not aspire to Ixavc — may be described in a fow lines. The possession of a barmaid, Miss Polly Patterson, (Madame Yitclli,) who has recently been imported hj Miss live, is disputed by two rival publicans, Mr. Boniface, (Mr. Thatcher,) and Mr. 'Puitikler (Mr Small), who after h deal of pecuniary negotiation, conducted very himior■ously by all parties, is afc length carried oil' by the last mimed publican. Madam Vitelli was ' ■extremely happy in the representation of the smart, pert, and coquettish barmaid, and her allusions to the high matrimonial expectations of this class of importations to the Province ■were well received by the audience. Mr. 'Thatcher was a fair representation of the enterprising publican, anxious to improve tra :lc by novelty hi his bar attractions. The chief character, however, of the piece was Small's Puttikler — a representation, it may as 'well bo stilled at once, of the worthy Teutonic 'host of the adjoining hotel, and the proprietor of the Theatre. We have sccu Hc^v actors "make-up" for a character with such a similarity as Small's Puttikler, and never a more ■faithful copy of speech, action, and peculiarity of manner. The photograph was complete, and if we had 710 L seen the original but a minute or two before at liis legitimate ooou- • patio n behind tho bar, we might have sworn he had transferred himself to tho stage, or that, we saw his doable. Tho actor had evidently been making a sturly of tho original fov sonu! days back as well as studying his part, and as the entire audience could so easily recollect the peculiaritiesof the original, while seeningthomdo truthfully avulluimoi'ously depicted .by the author, then* laughter and applause were unbounded. We have seen few farces so entirely successful, and can have no doubt but it will serve to amuse large audiences for some time to come. Referring to tho groat want of postal accomoat the .N'okomui, a correspondent .sends us the following : — " Postage stamps are not procurable for money here, though the 2s r okomai River Diggings contains a pretty large population, scattered up and down those mountains. Tke Otago Government cannot afford a post-office ncar.-r than Kingsfon, which is distant eighteen miles from the nearest point of River, and twenty to whore the principal part of the diggers hvq at work at the present time. I have myself nlvca'ly v.-rltten to tlie Chief Postmaster in Puncdhi, and pointed out the manner a post-office could be established -here, but that worthy person has not condescended to reply to my letter. As Mr. Giliii's, the Chief Postmaster, is expected shortly in Invereargill, I am sure you would confer oiio of the greatest boons the inhabitants' of this place wish for, if you would use your powerful influence in the Tijiks to call the attention of Mr. Gillies to the wants of this place. As we aro at present situated, correspondence with Dunodin, or any part of Otago is out of the question, it taking about tliirty days to receive an answer from any part of Otago, although we are living ia tho same Province, even if we are fortunate enough to get them at all, and as for newspapers, we do not receive half of those sent. I have any self had three sent from Melbourne lately, and I have not i*ecoived oue of them ; also a letter is missing, which was of considerable importance to mo. Wchave four storekeepers here, and oil her one of them would undertake to establish a post-oflice, and carry the mails to and from Glenquoich Post-ollicc, for £20 or £30 per annum. lam sorry to end my grovienco by iaforminjf you that I do not receive tho Times very regularly. Yesterday the following horses were entered for the forthcoming races : — For ■ tho Invcr- ' cargill Cvp — Mr Cuif's b g Forethought, aged, by Jersey ; Mr. Brock's br g Bob Apples, aged ; Mr. Brock's b g Milton, G years old ; Mr. John Russell's gr g Shinglcr, 6 years old; Mr. Cameron's eh g Isaac, aged. -Railway Plate — Mr. Cuff's b g Forethought, aged, by Jersey ; Mr. Brock's br g Bob Apples, aged ; Mr. John Russell's gr g Slung ler, 8 years old. From the above list it will be seen that some good horses -will contest tlie prizes. We understand that several other horses, of good racing reputation, may bo expected to enter, for other events, before the races come off. . The Hobart Town Advertiser states : — Mr. John Conipton Gregson is to receive the appointment of Solicitor- General and Commissioner of Insolvencies and Quarter Sessions. Mr. Gregsou will retire from his seat in the Legislative Council, and his new office is a non-political one. Mr. Edward Abbott from tho House of Assembly, is a candidate for the Representation of Cambridge, in the Upper House, vacated by Mr. Gregson. We have not heard who is likely to be Mr. Abbott's successor as member for Clarence." : Wo take the following from the Cornwall Chronicle (Launceston) of the 13th inst. : — - "Sheep-stealing has again become very prevalent, arid there is reason to believe that the thieves arc now plundering the sheep runs for the sake of the wool — destroying tho carcases as they did in past years by burning them. Within the last three weeks Mr. W. M.. Dean has Tost from his run, known as Looseleigh, 250 sheep, Mr. East has lost 25, and Mr. Buggers- J=O. Tlio&'e losses ' liare all occurred

on runs lying .between tho West. bank of the Tamar and Westbury, and no doubt there, ari?. numerous sihlilar losses which we "have -not yot heard of. Mr- Dean offers a reward of £50 for the discovery and conviction of the thief or tliievcs who stole his sheep.