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Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 201, 12 January 1866, Page 2

A meeting, pursuant to public notice, of those interested in the promotion of immigration, was held at the Theatre Eoyal, on Wednesday evening last. There was a numerous and influential attendance. As the proceedings were of a very important and interesting nature, we defer the publication of a detailed report, in order to give our country friends the opportunity of perusing it in the colums of the Weekly Times. We have to acknowledge the receipt of £1 Is from Chas. B. Kingman, Esq., towards the relief of the sufferers in Palestine. Last evening, the members of the Church of England held a re-union at St. Paul's schoolroom. The attendance was both influential and numerous. The usual amount of cakes, tea, &c, were liberally provided. A statement of the affaii-3 and position of the church were laid before the company. During the evening, some choice pieces of sacred music were effectively rendered. Indeed, this part of the evening's entertainment was highly successful, and elicited the warmest applause. We are reluctantly compelled, in consequence of pressure on our space, to hold over a full report of the proceedings until our next issue. Early on Tuesday morning, the S.S. Star of the Evening, which sailed from the Bluff on the 4th inst., for the GreyEiver, returned to port. Captain Turner reports having experienced heavy head winds during the whole of the passage, accompanied with rain, while the sea ran so high that he was compelled to turn back, with the intention of going north about. Daring the stay of the vessel at the Bluff, Captain Turner was entertained at the Eoyal Hotel by the whole of the salosn and steerage passengers. Mr. Levy, who occupied the chair, in an appropriate address, expressed the very high estimation in which they all held Captain Turner, for the manner in which he had extricated them from the perils of the voyage, as also from his efforts to render them comfortable while on board. Mr Levy closed his remarks by handing Captain Turner a testimonial, signed by the passengers, and a purse containing 30 sovereigns subscribed by them. During the quarter ending 31st December, the number of immigrants to the Province ' of Otago was 1652. Of that number, 1330 were males, and 343 females ; 123 males and 118 females arriving from the United Kingdom ; 228 males and 24 females from the Australasian Colonies j and 970 males and 151 females from other New Zealand ports. 1780 persons sailed from Dunedin, consisting of 305 males and 101 females to the Australian Colonies j 1104 males and 265 females to New Zealand ports ; and 3 males and 2 females to Chili. The New Zealand Ghiardian, of the Ist inst., sa y 8 . — "We understand that a new quarterly magazine is about to be established in Christchurch, for the dissemination of religious intelligence and the advocaoy of the various schemes of the Presbyterian Church in tbia and the neighbor* ing provinces, Tiw first number wil be published on the Ist f ebruary next, and the name of the magftjsi»6 will b« the ' to JBwiand Eresby*

We direct attention to the sale of household furniture, pictures, &c., to be held at the residence of Mr. Wm. Young, who is leaving the province. A telegram received from Trieste (saya the London Times), announces the capture}, of the town of Taschkend, in Turkistan, by the Emir of Bokhara, and the massacre of the entire Russian garrison. ' A new work by Rajah Brooke, the famous Governor of Sarawak, descriptive of 10 years' residence in the province, is announced. It will contain numerous beautiful illustrations of views in Sarawak. A subscription has been set on foot for foot for the erection of a memorial to Sir Joshua Reynolds in his native town of Plympton, Devon. The contempleted form of the memorial is a stained glass window in the church. The Melbourne correspondent of the Dunedin Evening Star writes the following letter : — " Two years ago, and my letter to the Evening Star teemed with accounts of the damage done both to life and property by floods. Then we were washed out ; now we are dried up : for, owing to the unusually dry winter and spring, the country very much resembles a well-worn Scotch blanket. Fifty miles from Melbourne, the sight of anything in the shape of green vegetation would be looked upon as a curiosity. Trees are leafless, waterholes are turned into dußt holes, river beds into dry gullies, and the ground into cracked parchment. In many instances the occupiers of outlying stations have to abandon them, leaving their cattle to die from thirst ; and even human' life has fallen a sacrifice to the universal drought. This dreadful calamity, in connection with the stoppage to trade caused by our worthy Ministry, has about brought business in Victoria to a standstill. The year is now rapidly drawing to a close, and the Briton's great annual holiday is fast approaching ; but little interest seems to be felt as to how it will be passed : in fact, I have never known things to be so dull at this time of the year before. Mining has collapsed. Out of every hundred mines started during the past year, not more than one is now actually in existence. At Woods Point the population is in a wretchedly impecunious state, and is living on a system of barter, the sight of coin of the I™being most rare. Sandhurst is being supplied with water conveyed to it by railway. The Oamaru Times accounts for the stoppage of telegraphic, communication with the North It says : — One day last week the telegraph posts in the bed of Waitaki River were carried away by the flood — of course also breaking the wires and stopping all communication with the North Steps have been taken ior replacing them, but the. cost will doubtless be considerable ; and it is to be hoped that the repairs will be made in such a manner that a like accident will not occur again. The cost of replacing the posts cannot be compared to the inconvenience occasioned to the public, both north and south, and it is only further aggravated by the thought that three or four week's revenue is lost to the General Government in consequence of these posts being erected on the cheapest, and consequently least secure plan. We are informed that a like mishap oecured about the same time in the bed of the Rakaia in Canterbury." The Canterbury Synagogue have collected about £40, for the relief of their suffering brethren at Jerusalem, afflicted by the ravages of cholera. The Olago Daily Times says : — There was a narrow escape from accident on the South Road near Green Island, on Saturday. Mr Rattray, of the firm of Dalgety, Rattray and Co., was driving some friends in Ins carriage to the East Taieri, and when within a short distance from Green Jsland, two men were seen in the centre of the road sparring at one another. They desisted as the carriage approached, but one of them made a spring at the off horse and caught him by the rein. The horses reared and fell, but sprang up again, when both horses bolted, dragging the man a short distance until he let go his hold and fell on the the road. Strange to say, no person was seriously injured, as the occupants of the carriage are known to have arrived at their destination all safe. Such reckless conduct on a public road is very reprehensible, and it can only be supposed that the person who was guilty of it was under the influence of drink at the time. Christmas sports at Hokitika were almost entirely interrupted by weather of extraordinary severity. The West Ooast Times reports : — " The extremely inclement weather that prevailed on Christinas Day, and the one preceding it, will cause them to be long remembered by the inhabitants of Hokitika, for an effectual damper was thrown upon the festivities of the season. The town was extensively decorated to welcome old Christmas. He came, however, with a frown upon his brow, storms and tempest heralding his approach, as if disdaining to accept the peace offerings held forth to him ; a fierce N.W. gale, accompanied by deluges of rain, sweeping over the township on Saturday night, heralding his approach, driving every one of his votaries under shelter to escape its pitiless fury. On Sunday morning the gale raged with unabated force, the rain also continuing without intermission; — a nd, a las for the decorations of the previous day, what desolation was in Revell-street ! The roadway was strewn with wreck — quite carpeted with green leaves, whilst gloom and despondency were legibyl written on the face of every person met with. Gibson's Quay, Sewell, Tancred, and Weld streets were submerged to such an extent that boats were plying in them; the flood increasing so rapidly that it was at one time feared the residents of many of the houses would be driven to seek shelter in some of the higherbuilt edifices; and at eight o'clock on Sunday evening, at dead low water, some idea may be formed of the extent of this freshet, when we state that the surface of the river was within three feet of the highest part of the wharf. It was most providential that it was then low instead of high water, or the results must have been most serious. Everything was in confusion ; every one seemed dismayed, and arrangements were at once made to remove those buildings in the greatest danger; and instead of smoking chimneys, and preparations for the forthcoming feast, gangs of men were to be see on Christmas morning removing houses bodily to safer positions, and taking down stores. Mr. Thronkmorton is, we are sorry to say, a heavy loser by this untoward event. Towards noon the sky cleared, the streets gradually filling with miners from, the Auckland and other diggings in the neighbourhood of Hokitika ; and Boxing Day, radiant with, smiles and sunshine, made Borne slight amends for the digo.om.fort and disappointment eQca.sJQn.ed. by tUepWYMUS ja«l««

Under the heading of a " Straightforward Candidate," the Nelson Examiner has the following :-— Mr; Lance, one of the candidates in the field for the Superintendency of Canterbury, appears to be quite prepared to answer any questions which may beput'to him. At a recent meeting, an elector said he wishsd to hear some statements regarding Mr. Lance's private character cleared up. One rumour was to the effect that, at the storming of Delhi, he was the foremost "111, the loot, and had actually plundered a jeweller'^%hop of £20,000. He wished to be informed if these statements were true. (Hisses and cheers.) Mr. Lance said he had very great pleasure in answering tliose questions. He begged to assure the questioner that he (Mr Lance) had never been at Delhi in his life. ' (Laughter.) But he presumed that probably 1 the gentleman who asked him the question meant to allude to the final storming of Lucknow. He was there. (Loud cheers.) That city had been given up by Sir Colin Campbell to plunder for twenty-four hours; and he (Mr. Lance), who was a staff-officer at the time, was sent with orders to an officer engaged in the very front of the action. On his way he had to pass through a square, where he suddenly came upon a large body of the Sepoy army, who received him with a volley of bullets, when he, in company with a soldier of the 90th Regiment, the only other English soldier present, took refuge in the first house which afforded shelter, and which happened to be a treasure house. The soldier broke open a box, which contained pearls and other valuables. He (Mr. Lance) filled his pockets. (Laughter). He did not. hesitate to tell them, and left the building very soon afterwards, with what he supposed to be a very large fortune. A prize agent, who was by no means a friend of his, was appointed, and reported the circunistanee to Lord Clyde, who said, "If Lieutenant Lance has got the money, lam deuced glad of it ; and I wish every officer in the army had the same." (Laughter and cheers). It was supposed to amonnt to £100,000; the amount he received was only £1,800. (Laughter). With respect to the time he left the service, it was some time after the mutiny was over. He had a bad accident, and was sent to England on medical leave. The climate was too cold, so he came to New Zealand, and it was after coming here that he sent in his resignation. (Cheers). Several deaths by violence are reported in the Northern papers. Near Wellington, a wife has been murdered by her husband, who also attempted to commit suicide. In Auckland Province, the body 'of a man, recognised as Hugh Hopkins, a discharged soldier of the 58th Eegiment, has been pickecf up near Mahurango Heads ; and the corpse of another man, unknown, on the road to the Titiran|i\ Eanges. Constable Houghton, of Onehunga, when in ., search of the murderer Stack, fell from the steamer Kanet^i'^and was drowned. At Taranaki, a young m^a, named Ascot Bayly, of the Mounted Corps, was drowned while crossing Stony Eriver. At Christchurch, a mon, named Alexander Selfe, has been drowned in the Avon, under suspicions of suicide ; and, at Hokitika, a constable, named Carr, has been seriously wounded by the accidental discharge of his own revolver when engaged in quelling a Btreet disturbance. We learn from the Melbourne Argus that, on the 22nd December, " the Corporation of Melbourne adopted an address of condolence to Lady Palmerston, on the death of her husband, the late Lord Palmerston." The Nelson Colonist, a well-informed paper, gives the following political gossip : — We have long known that Dr. JFeatherstbne, the Superintendent of Wellington, has been in agreement with the policy to which Mr. Stafford has fully committed himself; and that His Honor was opposed to the course of expenditure and lack of financial basis which marked the career of the Weld Ministry. We learn from private sources that a considerable change will very very shortly come over the tone of the Wellington politicans, and that many who are opposed or appear to be opposed to Mr. Stafford will declare for him ; for it is now pretty well understood that Dr. Featherston is prepared to give to Mr. Stafford all the powerful support which he can call into requisition. Thiß will be only what we some time since predicted would result from a free discussion and consideaation of the doings and condition of the Weld Ministry, namely, that the more fully that Ministry's policy and proceedings were discussed, and the results considered, the more unsound and would they undoubtedly prove to be, and the more clearly would the public see and understand their true nature, and a greater majority in favor of Mr. Stafford will, we believe, be secured than even his own friends at present anticipate.