Untitled

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 18, 12 July 1864, Page 2

There was an entire , blank , in the business before the> Resident Magistrate's Court on Saturday, if -we may excepit orie . ...civil case, in which; the defendant made,; no appearance, " arid judgment' was given , against him/jin: -default. This; was Sanders and. Co. v. J. Gr. Hughes ; clairri for .. '£38 .165. ;. Yesterday, tho'lbusiriessiwas confined to two or three unimportant cases of breaches bf the peace, &c., and there was no civil cases on for hearing.

An interesting return has ,]ust Jieeii lai 1 before Hia Honor the Superman dent~by A M Weldon, , 1 Esq., Director .of Telegraphs. <JThe f document is \ very minute, /and embiaces'^ev.ery message sent by telegraph, since the opening of* the Bluff and , Jnj^.cargj^^ 30th pf June last, whether by the Provincial oi* j( /Gene-Id Government, or^by^pri^e^ mclividuals^ 7; The following are the figures given for the i number^ "of messages, and their value, each month : — ,

This shows the gross number of 'messages to be 1,973, and their, value is, rated at £321 03.!9d:[: ; It',willbe obUryedtllat^tl^ in messages and ',i*bv.enrie' is " npti'ccablo during : the month of May. ■<■ .This," to* »/-.certain extent, may be-accounted for-by the fact that alarge number of cattle and; stock from Victoria jand Tasmania arrived at Bluff Harbor- during jthat month, ' and • consequently . a . corresponding < increase iii private messages was the" result. .- Notwithstanding'^,' the .many . difficulties, which; am; undertaking of tliis kind must neeessariy have to encounter in its infancy, the abovo statistics -will bear favorable comparison with some of the older lines in Australia.*' Great*" credit is due to the director (a jentleman, who, we ' beilove, "'''has" had considerable experience in telegraphy, both! 'in 'liidia and Australia), for the efficient and economical. manner in wliich he has naugur ated' arid maintained' our present line. The Criminal Sittings of the_ Supreme Com*t -were opened yesterday,, by. His -Honor Mr. Justice Chapman. . The Court, which is being held in the large hall of the Mechanics'; Institute, has been fitted up i for; the occasion, and during the -whole of yesterday was crowded with spectators^ 'There were five cases disposed of, -viz., Eegina v. Hogg, for larceny ; Eegina v. Zealy, for larceny; Eegina . v. Eichardson, for larceny; Eegina v. Whitehead, for larceny ; and Eegina v. Deudney, for forging and uttering a cheque. In the first case, the jury returned a verdict of Not Guilty, and the prisoner was accordingly discharged. In the second, the man Zcaly was found guilty, and sentenced to , nine months' imprisonment. In the next case, the jury found the prisoner Eichardson guilty, ancl His Honor sentenced him to be imprisoned for the period of twelve months, with -hard labor. This man, who stated that be was never before in a court of justice, and was quite ignorant of its ways, and of the manner in whicli he should defend his case, went into the examination of the witnesses in a style which certainly greatly belied his asseverations of new chum-ism hi a court. His address to the jury further showed how well he was iip in such business, the remarks in his defence being made with an aii- of extreme self-confidence. In the case of the man Thomas Whitehead, indicted with the crime of larceny, at Davidson's Northern Hotol, in May last, the jury found a verdict of " Not Guilty." A witness for the prosecution swore distinctly to seeing Whitehead put his hand into the pocket of the prosecutor, Eobertson, but there was a flaw in the evidence respecting the identification of the money stolen. The case of W. Elphinstone Deudney was tho last which was taken up, and he waa found " Guilty " on the second count of the indictment, viz., that of uttering a lorgea. cneque. xuerc nus not sufficient evidence adduced, however, to prove a forgery on the part of the prisoner. Deudney was remanded to Wednesday first, when he will be brought up for sentence. The grand jury have found "no bill" in the cases — Macintosh, for indecent assault ; and Macpherson, for wounding with intent. The calendar of twenty-five cases is therefore now reduced to eighteen, and there is every probability of the whole criminal business being got through in the course of the present week. We extract the following notice of severe sufferings in the Mount Benger District, from the Otago Daily Times of 9th inst. : — " In the letter of our Mount Benger correspondent appears an account of the death, from exposure, of one member of a party of miners, the rest of whom had to suffer terrible privations before reaching succor. Whilst crossing the ranges, one man named Wm. Pitts broke down and was unable to proceed. His mates set off to procure some food for him, but on their return they found their comrade dead. After information of the occurrence had been sent . to the police, a constable named O'Neil was despatched to soe the body buried. Two days' travelling over the ranges, amidst snow drifts and over a frightfully rugged co intry brought him to the spot where the dead man lay, and after a coffin had been hastily constructed from an old sluice box, and the body placed in it, the dreary burden was dragged across the snow a mile and then buried. On the return journey, the party, throe in number, suffered frightful hardships, and narrowly escaped losing their lives. Says our correspondent—' On this return journey, they were soon overtaken by a snow storm of a terrific nature, during which they had to forsake their swags, containing all their provisions ; and had it not been for the intrepidityof one of the party, a miner named Neal, all must ; have perished. This: man appears to; have sup-_ ported both the others, or nearly so, for a considerable distance— till, 'at 'last, they reached the Shelter Shed, six miles from the Gorge. This' they found half full, of snow, without food*- of any kind ; and as aplace of shelter, perfectly useless,! To remain in . it was certain death; It was then snowing a perfect hurricane ; butjpro-'. .. ..cee*d they.must and did,. and at .length reached the next shed, two miles froipi the > other, frost-bitten, .snow-blind; and thoroughly done up. - Here ; they found four men, who" had some bread, butter, and tea, which scanty; fare-r-bh! how welcome — saved their lives.' All praise say we to the intrepid constable * ' and his equally - intrepid-brave- companions; such deeds ,as theirs deserve publicrecognition and reward.";-, j The following has-been communicated .to the Wakatip correspondent Of -the Otago Daily /Tinies, by ' Mr. Bradshawv of 'Queenstown':—* /On; the * slioresbf-the. Ea,kc. I 'discovered sfeveral pieces, of quartz rock containing "a white' metal. I intend - -to assay-it to-morrow.; - It -is- either -metallic silver or palladium of platinum. lam almost certain it' contains the first-named metal very rich, ! and r would yield, according: to this specimen; atleasfc ; ; 1:6500; worth of silver A to 7 the ton'-pf quartz. Itis 1 worth mentioning as a valuable discovery, although ; *' bhly . a -scrap, . as; indicating, the"} existence- of silver: ■; -in th'e;distriet. j Silver .in its-.pcQiirrencoTiß' more favorable than gold,- for it invariably" gets richer, in-penetrating ; the < lode." ' .-1/ may- state that "the* tlie assay alluded to having'bcen'effected, leaves no doubt that the specimen is silver ore of a very rich quahty.

-*-. s - I^xo. j l'A(Ai * ?**■'- -v {■• ' i W* j AAA4 : ■ AlraediallimeetingMbf? ithe Town§lsQardiw2lf be •-XT-.t). j jw^! t r\ ...-' { v • ---ni [ r*?'AA ' heldVthis evening, iri.the board room, -atCefevfen o^KV fg;'M W.v\ -^pigfig^ We observefe^y^an' advertisement £o be found elsewhere in our columns, that a quadrille assem-bly»wTU»»be«beld--evei7*!s^onday j Tind»Wednesday.-~ evening, in the -Newmarket Hall, D,ee*street. j -v, .; — ... j t ||. I\j ■?', ,8 *. |. ■/:• -^ 4 s There "is' a prob'ablhty (says the 'Daily^Southem 7 ,C;Mw)-ofcanother^f«GEngland's-thttle»«w-ars <! *taking place ji^J&eiEi^b.-ii^^ettersq'Qceivcd from India by this mail, we hear- that our- relations with Ava (i.e., Mandel (J y),are more unfriendly, iust-now than Z{}jAvjil>iiyyfiyAMAtAiijA c T1 they ever have been since the conquest of Pegu, and even sober-minded men begin to talk of the chances of an expedition up the In*awaddy, to" teach his Majesty of the Golden Foot another lesson.^ ' : The* l ie^di^-^merchah-ts l at Earigdoh are clamorous for war against the VE-ing of Burmah, since he will not act up to the spirit and meaning of the recently -;signed /commercial treaty with England, but, bhnded by cupidity," avarice, and jealousy, thwarts, our merchants in all their tran- - sactions. The conquest ofthe remaining posses--5 siohs of that' barbartius land benighted kingdom would be a work of no great "^difficulty .to a small British forc6, as th6-milltiy^ ; power ;bifrtjh& once great Burmese Empire was entirely destroyed by the last war with' England! Lite* in New Zealand as regards the Maori race so are the Burmese, disappearing under the despotic rule and wretched government of their monarch ajid his ministers. It would be' a great' blessing io "the population to come under the honest, and .uprright; rule/ of the Governor- General. To British trade it would be of immense importance, -as, a direct communication might be opened with the eastern ports of China, and commerce would flow down the magnificent Irrawaddy river in uninterrupted abundance. ' Precious stones^ gold; silver, A. iroii, copper, rice, cotton, petroleum, indigo, silks, dies, lentils, teak wood, and other produce would be brought down when British enterprise and speculation had penetrated into those vast regions under the protection of the British flag! '" " "a-a ZAx:At:' We understood, sometime ago, that the inhabitants of Esk-street agreed' to'" guarantee to the Town Board the- &urn of £500, to be employed for the proper formation of that thoroughfare, between Deo and Kelvin streets •- but as' nothing appears likely to be dove in tho matter, we are compelled to conclude /that the bargain is to be ' made of no effect. From the traffic; in the street, and the late heavy mitts, faio road? is'now quite impassable, and dahgerous-to-man-and beast. On Saturday, a man, slightly .inebriated, attempted to cross over opposite the New* York Hotel. He managed to get. half way?f but" his career was stopped short by becoming: irretrievably "fast" in the mud. However, he began plunging and floundering about in his endeavors to extricate himself;; but tho^nidre di&vftried^ the deeper he sank, and more 'hopeless was his chance of effecting a landing on the other side.- The spectatorsbegan to thicken, and were enjoying "what, no doubt, they considered a good joke.;. A goodnatured carpenter at last came to the rescue, but for whose opportune aid there is no saying how tho affair would; hare ended.'; He procured a ladder, and pushed it over to thJe man injeopardr. He also went Along," r'iind^ gave him a hoist out of the "miry clay.;":- but even this was not fully accomplished till additional assistance was lent: The affair savors -of the fabulous, but we can vouch for its veracity. The following paragraph from the Otago Daily Times, conveys a good idea "of; the rigors of the climate of Otago in winter in the' up-country districts :— " The rigors of whiter liave produced their usual consequences to travellers in the ulterior. On Wednesday evening last*.' Comb's coach had to proceed through one : b"f '"the"^. severest snow storm's"' that* Have' been experienced in Otago. Between West /Taieri .and the Deep Stream, a * continuous" fali of" snow^ accompanied by terrific winds, prevailed, -On going up the Taieri Hill,' a' trace broke, and was repaired only with "great "'"difficulty! """" On reaching the summit, - the driffcihgV snow was so intense as to make it almost impossible to proceed ; in fact, butfor.the indomitable pluck of the driver and passengers, tbe^;w-oidd-all^laye had to remain out during' the nighl: : -S.p; intense was the cold, that a passenger/Avhilst casuEdly*-holding the reins for the .driver, had liis fingers frost-bitten hi a few moments. Both up ahd-down-coaches were delayed by the ; snow on the' Laihiiicrlaw Eanges, andthe drivers and passengers suffered excessively from the severe cold. In future, the coaches will take the route via Waikouaiti, which, is' anuch less exposed than the usual .t rack;" ■ * : YP'' The famous '-old -''. Jack' ; Sheppard ; figured on. the. boards, on Saturday; evening last, at the Theatre RoyaL ■:' The youthfuljack was personated by Miss ..Ad.a-;';Har.fc;--'"'-m.-'-h6r usual arch ahd naive style! ' VMrsV^Hqfoway appeared as Jack matured -in crime, and ready for any amount more j while'' "Miss Juno_ undertook repentant Jack, in his career _to , the gallows. Very judiciously the piece was" placed' first ia the programme, to fallow., something of jp/f lighter cast to follow, else the audience might. Cvery reasonably have beeriexpected to ; dream all night of midnight robbers' jmd murders, arid aU"that"was~ horrible. The piece' "was ' well -*' played throughout. Last night.y.Belphegdr '^wls _ played. ,to r a. rather thin house ; arid the perfonnancpSTforVthis; evening are announced to comprise the 'fine domestic drama of "Susan Hopleyi" and'"- Your Life's in Danger." 'Thie" WaTcatip f s^^ ff 'Wo""iSe"'~23brmed _byJMr. -bf Department, that several quartz reefs _ of., a ,very p^miping nature exist ih the district, and that, including the^-Arrow, six aro known "'to be highly auriferous. Mr. Millett has, also.discovef ed. hematito ' (red "'oxide of* iron) df a valuable kind, and in a good locality foi; making it practically" useful, ( The per ccntage is estimated at "75 per cent." The body of a Mr. Kellett, of Dunedin, has heen found at the Fortifications between the Le^; stream and Hindon, buried in snow to the depth of four feet. He >had gone from.Dunejlm to Hindon on busmess, and was overtaken by, a snow -storm, and it appeared he had become bejrildered and lost his way. "body of tho 1 deceased 'has 'been removed to Dunedin to await an inquest. V \ '

Montii.' Messages. _2 £ s -_ d -^ • reHruary. ;...■.. 266 .....". 41 5 9 = MtiMi^:X\\.i.L! 423 A..:.;. 63 3 11! .. -. Ajiri1. .:..:.,,',., 403 r .,.. v/ 66,1 ,6j -' ■ May:": :: ;.J. m "•■-•• vb 17 ?6i juiie:;::.^:";.'':;, '^id^v.v;..-,. 73 12" 1 ;