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Southland Times, Issue 85, 23 December 1864, Page 2

The various sums .deposited, in: the: Savings' Bank on Wednesday amounted, in 7the aggregate to £30. ;If the receipts of ; the"', four days during' M'hich the Bank has been opened may be regarded as a criterion of "the 'average amount likely to be , ■ deposited during the. next twelve mouths, arid we. caniseo no reason' why _they .should not be, the amount deposited in one year, from t;hsopeniiig of the bank, will be about £G,OOO. ■ It seems probable ' that -before long the great : transportation- grievance of the-'Australian'Colo-nies will be done away with without , any serious quarrel with the home authorities on the subject. Public opinion iv Great Britain lias ■declared' very., plainly against the injustice and inexpediency of the system. In a, speech' recently" deliver-d by Lord Stanley, that nobleman ..stated it.as. the view ofhis party that transportation should cease at once. On Tuesday last one of the locomotive engines with a carriage attached, ran 'over that portion of the Bluff Harbor and Invcrcargill Railway constructed by Messrs. Ross and Aldrich (between the Green Hills and the Bluff), a distance of seven miles, for the purpose of testing the works. Mr. Marchant, Mr. JBabington, railway engineer, and the contractors, as well as several of our townspeople, were conveyed up _ and down the line, and- we have head that the engineer reports most faiorably of the work. The oscillation was scarcely perceptible, aud the engine ran as steadily as could 'be expected, although a little stiff -at starting ; and when the line is properly ballasted with metal it will- be equal to any of the English or Victorian lines of railway. We compliment Messrs. Ross and, Aldrich on the satisfactory manner in which they have carried out the contract, and especially when we consider tho small amount of aid they have received from the Provincial Government. Now that we have seven" miles of the iron road ready for use, we think that at the coming holidays the- people of Invcrcargill would gladly avail themselves of a trip to the Bluff, say, by "Cobb's" coach to- Green Hills, and from thence by rail to Campbelltown. The .contractors will, we have no doubt, willingly consent to one or two ■ days traffic over the line. Thatcher has commenced a series of concerts in Dunedin, at the Corinthian Hall. Madame yitelli and Mi-. Small also take part in the performances.We hear that yesterday a little boy fell from a vehicle in Dee-Street, and that the wheel passed over his arm, but, fortunately, without doing the child any injury. Before our "next issue " Old Father Christmas " will again have visited us, and from what we can learn, wg believe that notwithstanding the " depressed state, of the times," to use a hackneyed phrase, he is likely to meet with a hearty welcome. We hear that our principal meat purveyors arc likely to have a good -show of the substantial necessaries for the , Christmas Feast. MessrsSander of Esk-street, and Smith of Dec-street: have in course of preparation sundry fine beeves, fatted calves, and delicate .sucklings, whose delicious crackling Charles Lamb has immortalised, in his piquant essay-on " Roast Pig," and we doubt ■ not that tlieir brethren in trade will have also a a capital display of ■ substantial fare: We wish all our readers "A Meruit Christmas," and trust on this great annual festival, that for a time the cares, of business maybe laid aside and the season spent in social and happy intercourse. " Tho debts and difficulties of Southland " is already a stock subject - for the newspaper press of New Zealand to enlarge on. We can now add a further chapter to the interesting history and feci certain that our contemporaries will not be i backward in "improving the occasion." On Tuesday last the Sheriff' of Soutliland "took posf session of ' tho Provincial Government' offices books, railway plant, and almost all the Provincial

Government property, under a writ of Fufa., 'for * ' 1 . £10fi67 l7s. ll£cL Messrs. M'Kenzie andrCniri, i; "•' the contractors, recently obtained judgment in tbe A Supremo, Court in Dunedin against thVPrqvincial 7 G-overnmcht of Soutliland for the above* amount, - and it was at their instance that the writ was issued; The bailiffs kept possession until five ""p".m." yesterday 'afternoon" when the" Sheriff having" been indemnified by the Acting' Superintendent, Dr. ' Menzies, to the extent of £80,000', the --■■minions of. 'the law" made themselves scarce, to tlie great joy*" of those whose accustomed places "had been so rudely invaded. It appears that a few weeks since the the Acting-Superintendent, made over tlie whole of the ... Provincial Government property to the General Government for the sum -; of £20,000. Notice of this was, given to the Sheriff by Dr. Menzies, and Captain Ellis — as the representative of. the General Government. Messrs. M'Kenzie and Cain,- acting we suppose on the advice of their solicitors, . Msssrs." Howarth, Barton, and Howarth, avlio were represented by tlieir managing clerk Mr. Smithe'rs/ desired the sheriff to proceed, when the latter not being satisfied as to the legality of .the bill of sale to tho General Govermnent, . and on tlie other , hand not choosing to run the risk of disregarding it altogether, called on the pursuers for an indemnity. He hi the mean time took possession, but Messrs! M'Kenzie and Cain, declining to indemnify : him to his satisfaction, he accepted, as we stated above, the indemnity of the acting Superintendent, and gave up possession. The matter threatened to be considerably more than a joke, as it is rumored that Messrs. M'Kenzie and Cain came _ prepared to buy tlie railway plant just imported for the Southland lines. Further litigation may be expected. The usual fortnightly meeting of the Town Board .was held last evening, in the Town Board ' Room, Tay-street. The members present were — ' j Messrs. Livcsay. (chairman), Lumsden, Hay, Jaggers, "Webster, and Smith. The minutes of previous meeting having been read and confirmed, the Clerk intimated that Mr. J. "W. Dalrymple, iv the capacity of delegate, desired an audience of the Board with a view to obtaining, its .consent, to. certain modifications in the plan for water tanks furnished to the Invercargill Volunteer Fire Brigade by Mr. G. F. -Richardson (Hon. Engineer to the .Board). Consent having been given, Mr. Dalrymple submitted the proposed alterations, as shown in drawings with which he^ was furnished. He also requested the Board to reconsider its decision with respect to the position of the tanks, the 1.V.F.13.*- wishing as a measure of economy to have them beneath the* gratings instead of the roadway. After a long discussion, Mr. Lumsden moved and Mr. Smith seconded "That tlie Board, in the view of the probable inconvenience which would accrue, adheres to its resolution objecting to tanks being constructed under the gratings.'- Mr. Dalrymple explained that one of the objections urged, viz.-: — that in a sanitary point of view, largo tanks of . stagnaut water immediately in front -of business or other premises would be objectionable, was done away with by the fact of the Brigade intending lo have the tanks sunk to such ' a depth as to derive their supply of water from springs and not from surface drainage. As an amend - iment to the motion Mr.; .Jaggers moved, -and Mr. Hay seconded, " That the further consiJeration of the matter be postponed until tlie Board has consulted its engineer." On a decision the amend- „ . ment was carried by the casting vote of tlie chairman. It was then resolved that a special meeting should be held tlie next (this) evening and the result be communicated by a letter to Mr. Dalrymple. Messrs. Calder and Buchanan i wera.. next announced as a deputation. Mr. Calder said he had to repeat, on behalf of the inhabitants of that part of Esk-street lying between Deo and Kelvin Streets, an - offer to advance by way of loan, -a sura of money sufficient for metalling. Repayment of the principal to be made at the convenience of tho Beard., A merely nominal interest to be charged in tlie interim. Resolved -that the offer be accepted. After the transaction of some further routine business, meeting adjourned. The case: of M'Conibe v; Martin was tried in Duuediii'before his Honor Mr. Justice Chapman, on the lGlh inst. This was an action brought to> ' recover damages for an assault on plaintiff, said to have been committed, by defendant at,, the Opera House, Dunedin, on the night of the 27th September last. — Mr. "Wilson and Mr. Main appeared for tlie plaintiff, Alexander G-eorge irCCmbc, and Mr. 'Barton (wich whom wore Mr. Prendergast "and Mr. James Smith) ; for the defendant, Richard Bowden Martin. The following were the ' issues . stated : — l. Did the defendant assault and beat the plaintiff?" 2. Was the Princess Theatre, at the time of the allege!, assault, the close of William Lyster ? 3. Did the defendant, as the servant' 'of Lyster. and by his command, gently lay his hands on the plaintiff in order to remove hini. from"- the 'said close, using no unnecessary violence in so doing? -1. Was 'the plaintiff then in the aTeged .close by leave and' license of Lyster? 5. Did the" plaintiff, befo'ro tho'aUegcd assault by the defendant, 'assault 'tho ' defendant, and did " the defendant thciyupon commit the 'alleged assault in self-defence ? 6. What amount, if any/was the plaintiff entitled to recover as compensation ? Mr. Main said that $ the declaration stated that -on the 27th Sept., the defendant assaiflted and beat the plaintiff, whereby » the plaintiff beeaine sick aud 'wounded, and was i for a long time unable to transact his" business ; . and the plaintiff laid liis damages at- £I,OOO. 'Tlie [ defendant pleaded, first, denying all" the material allegations; and for-a further- plea said that- the plaintiff was in the Princess fheatre, the close of L William Lyster, and that the defendant, as ser- . vant of Lyster, gently laid his hand, &c. : and for : a further plea, the" defendant said that before the alleged assault the' plaintiff assaulted tlie defend- • ant, who _, necessarily, &c. The defendant" also' gave* ' notice* that ' he would t ih ~ mitigation ' prove, . that before , .the * 'alleged i libel, tho plaintiff ' published a false, j mahcioaij '■ and. 'defamatory libel , respecting' ' -certain persons, being members of the congrega- , tion of St. Paul's Church, Dunedin, and' respectj ; ing the churchwardens of- the said church, the de.- " - fendant being one df .them ; that just- before the alleged assault, the defendant discovered that the 3 plaintiff was Ihe author of the sail'libel; and that 3 the alleged assault was committed wliile the . dcL fendant was still^in a state of exasperation caused ' 1 by the slanderous attack of the plaintiff in tiio s said libel/ In his replication, the plaintiff took i issue upon the pica; for a replication to those- - cond and third pleas, he denied all the, material i, allegations ; and further, he denied that tlie dufend--1 ant was in the said close of William Lyster by

the* leave" and- license of the -said Lyster Upon that, issue had- rbeen / joined. A. great many witnesses were examined, and, his Honor^ having summed up, tlie jury retired for nearly three quarters of an hour. They found— 1. That the defendant committed an assault. 2. That the Priiiccss Theatre was at the time a elc-s'e :- of WiUiam Lyster:/ 3." That the defendant did not, as servant of Lyster, gently, &c, remove the plantiff. 7 4. That the plaintiff was in the close with Lyster's leave and license. 5. That the plaintiffdid not first assault tlie defendant. 6. > That the plaintiff was entitled to damages to the amount of One Farthing. The following is a translation of an eulogy on Garibaldi, written in Latin ..by Walter Savage Landor :— ' ' Garibaldi, renowned on land and sea ; energetic, bold, andlndefatigable- soldier ; general, at once prudent and daring, whose foresight and skill trod dangers' down. ■'. Sparing of the blood of his foes and prodigal of his own, clement com - mander, modest dictator,' he preferred virtue to titles or glory. Tile preferred to give to the people a des'ei-vih°" king, than to' ;'r3igh"."a" king himself; he who had commanded knew how to obey. When others by wiles and perjury annexed foreign regions and occupied the homes of their, neighbors,' he, a noble, exile, bade his own home a long, farewell. Neither this age nor the antiquity we ndinire yet more, has brought forth the equal of; Garibaldi. ; Many has Rome, more has -'■ Greece celebrated,' but you, Italians, have seen a nobler face to face. The vocabulary of adulation, trite and poor, fails to reach one so exalted; even the praises of -the just and the eloquence of €lie orator fall short of his, merit. But fame will not be silent. He has returned to liis island, smaller by half than. poor Itacha itself, and there, by his own example, teaches how the sterile earth may be made to bear. He has gone regretted by all ; he has gone amid the tears of the sternest and the strongest." _ The latest account from. Taranaki lead us to .. suppose that a very short time will elapse before, the resumption of hostilities. The king Matu-.> taeri, and the rebel chief Rewi, his general, have recently returned from the South, whither they had gone on a recruiting expedition. Matutaeri has declared that he means without delay to assault the positions recently taken from the rebels. A considerable' force under the command of Colonel Warre has been, despatched against the natives, who arc eucairiped to the northward of the Waitari River. . - - The Otago Daily •Times gives the following report of a trotting match recently run in that Province:—"Oh 'Friday morning a number of our early-rising citizens had an opportunity of witnessing the termination of a rather exciting trotting match against time, for £100. Mr. Richard Lancaster's (Tuapeka) bay gelding Doctor, being backed to , trot in harness from the Wliite Horse Hotel, Tokomairiro, to the Post-OJllce, Dunedin — a distance of- thirty-five miles, in tlie remarkably short space of two hours and a half.' A start was effected from the White Horse at half-past three a.m., Mr. G. W. Langley driving, and Messrs. Waters, "Wy lie, and Draper accompanying him on liorsebiuik". Tlie first thirteen miles Wore done in forty-nine minutes. . The next eight being- rather hilly, occupied" slowpr time hi getting over. Mr. Langley carefully --nursing-' the Doctor. The sixteenth mile-post from Dunedin 'was made in or.c hour and forty minutes, and a fine stretch of road being, arrived at, the steam was put 011 until the Saddle Hill toll-gate was reached. "Unfortunately tlie gate "was locked, aud before it could be burst open the Doctor had to stop._ With the aid of a few stones, however, the lock of the gate was soon broken, and ; a fresh start effected, after a delay of one minute and a half. The fourth milestone from Diinedm was passed with only sixteen minutes to spare for the : remainder of the distance, which Mr. Langley cleverly managed to compass. The i-ain^ which fell heavily all the time, was deemed by: some to render /the.work much heavier for the Doctor than it would otherwise have been- but good judges consider it in his favor over so much new metal, besides being cooler to his feet. ; Only one break occurred; and on reaching the goal the Doctor did not appear much the worse for what he had done. Mr. Langley's driving was beyond all praise. Mr. Thomas Lees (Tuapeka) was the backer of time ; and it is but fair to state, that owing to some variation or mistake with watches, some- objection was at first raised as to 'the Doctor having won, it having been averred by the referee that lie had lost by tliree seconds. Tlie decision, we hear, has been since cancelled, and the Doctor declared the winner. Heavy olds w r ere freely laid against liim, and a good deal of money will change hands when the stakes are given up. Considering that the old horse liad becii only three weeks off grass, and that the last nine miles are mountainous, the above performance is somewhat remarkable. The only training the Doctor had was whilst under tile care of Mr. David Carson, Dunedin, who did wonders during the very few days allowed for so sudden a preparation. But for the stoppage at the turnpike, there could have no dispute arisen as to his winning handsomely." The annexed paragraph is. from tho ■- .Olagp Dailg Times of tho 20th inst: — " Between Saturday night and Monday morning the Chief Post Office was broken into, and a large .sum of money abstracted from the cash-box, which was on Saturday night lodged in the safe, in the usual manner. In consequence of the departure of the English mail, the Post Office was . 'open to an unusually late hour on Saturday night, and when the premises were closed, a sum of ' £140 was deposited in the cash-box, being the receipts of the day for the sale of stamps, &c. The office was open for a few hours on Sunday, but as no money, business was then transacted, no attention was paid to tho condition of the safe, and it # .is consequently unkuoAvn whether the robbery had- , taken place before that time.-, When the office was opened for business yesterday morning it was found that the premises had been forcibly entered, . the safe opened, the cash-box and -the , -£^yiO carried away. Information was at or.cscon- * veyed to the police, and from an examination of „ the premises,- it Mas found that an entrance had been effected by the small wicket gate which - stands between the Post Office and the oflice of the Goldfields' Department, in Princes-street, and the back door of Iho Post Offieo which overlooks the yard ol the. Provincial Government oiiices. An investigation has been instituted by the police ' authorities, the rcsultof which will ho doubt soon clear up this mysterious affair." - The London correspondent of the Oiago Dailg "TimAis mentions that a' convict transport ship, tlie Porchcster, is under orders to carry 300 convicts to Auckland, amount whom is the celebrated

forger William; Roupell,-thc,ex M. P. 7.-The l ,?Vwa? go on to remark :— "Our impression on reading this announcement was, that our correspondent committed some error, but we fin.lin the London Observer, of tho 9th- October, the' following paragraph, wiiich we publish , entire. We still think there is some: error ; Perhaps," Auckland " should read "Auckland Isles," on which we believe it was at one time '/intended : ' tb found a convict establishment. The : Auckland Isles lie S.W.,of the Southern extremity of New Zealand :— " The. Porchustor, tvansport vessel, was under orders to leave the Royal Victualliug-yard, : Deptford, on Tuesday-morning, to.call at the convict prisons of Chatham, Portland, and Portsmouth; to embark 300 convicts, for Auckland, New Zealand. William Roupell was to haye gone out in tbe Por-ch-ester, but it is stated his stay-in England is necessary hi connection with- the property 'affected by the recent forgeries. He is at present employed in the Extension Works at Chatham, and may be seen daily as a, common laborer, dressed in a grey, coarse convict' suit, using a spade or pick-axe, getting stone, or yoked with other convicts to a cart, in connection with the works how progressing for the enlargement of the : " Chatham Dockyard. .. „