Untitled

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 214, 9 February 1866, Page 2

It will be seen from advertisements in another column, that the writs for the election of representatives for the Q-eneral Assembly have been received. The Invercargill nomination is fixed for Thursday, the Bth March, and in the event of a contest, the polling will take place on Friday, the 9th March. The Mataura nomination is appointed for Saturday, 10th March, and the pole — if contested — will be taken on Tuesday, the 13th day of March. We would remind our readers that, in accordance with the general rule, the February mail for Europe is made up two days earlier than on any other month. The mail for England, Australia, &c, will close on the 16th inst instead of the 18th inst; and the Northern Mail, per Airedale, on the 20th, instead of the 22nd of the month. We perceive that the Government have called for tenders for repairs of • that part of the Dunedin road from near Invercargill to Waihopai .Bridge. , The Provincial Treasury will be closed this day, and to-morrow, Saturday, for the purpose of auditing accounts. We are in receipt of our files of Australian papers to the Ist Feb., but the news is of an unimportant character. . . • We yesterday took the opportunity of inspecting the schooner which has for some weeks been in the course of eonstructiou, at the yard of Mr. A. H. Puettelkow. It is a fine model of a little vessel, and admirably well 'built it is a credit not only to the constructor but to the [province, and any discription we might give of the fine little craft could not possibly carry the same weight as j th c official report of Lloyd's agent ; we therefore, subjoin Mr Brodrick's certificate in preference to our own comments. It says : — " At the request of Mr. A. H. Puettelkow, I inspected the new schooner, built by him on the ground adjoining the Theatre, Connon-street, Invercargill. I have several times visited this little craft, and thoroughly examined the work as it has been finished. I now certify that every part has been put together "with great strength and solidity. The stern, stern-post, keel, keelson, and planking under her floors, are of blue gum, the frame work and timbers are heavy enough for a vessel of 150 tons register, and all are bolted together withheavy |-ths bolts. The deck beams are well secured by wood knees, the water-ways and fastenings in same are well put through. Altogether with the extra knees and iron' binders added to the inside work, make this vessel one of the strongest and most faithfully built I have ever inspected." The demensionsofthe vessel are :— Length, 52ft over alls beam, 14 feet } depth of hold, 6 feet 6 inches. The registered tonnage new (measurement) is 23 tons, bat she is calculated to carry over fifty tons.

We understand that a movement is being., made to bring" forward eligible candidates for the Gfeneral Assembly.' We are ■we informed that a requisition ; has been forwarded to T. Heale, Esq., requesting him to allow himself to be put in nomination: as candidate for the representation of Invercargill. It is understood that Mr. Heale has intimated a willingness to represent any district in Southland if requested to come forward by the electors, and that in the event of such being done he would take the earliest opportunity possible of meeting them, and explaining his views upon the various matters likely to be most important durine the next session of the General Assembly. The requisition we understand has been signed .by .those entertaining almost every shade of. political opinion ; we have therefore no doubt he will accept the call. Mr. Dillon Bell is to have a requisition from the Mataura District. It is well that thiß should be, for although he might take it for granted that if nominated he would be elected, after all he has done for the province, the courtesy of sending a requisition should be displayed. Both gentlemen are thoroughly acquainted with the requirements of Southland,, and. will doubtlessly work in unison. We are in receipt (by the favor of Messrs Morison, Law and C 0.,) of the West Coast Times, of the 29fch January. The news is unimportant, the bulk of the paper being taken up with a report of a case of one Q-eorge Stewart, who is charged with having murdered his wife, in which a verdict of " Not Guilty " was" returned. We. are in receipt of the prospectus of a biweekly newspaper to be published at Hokitika. The name of the new journal is to be TheJELohitiha Chronicle, and should it come up to the promises made by its projectors, it will be a valu. able addition to the Neve Zealand Press. We wish it every success. We have lately had several paragraphs to the effect that the probability of a payable goldfield having been " tapped " in the Kiverton district was becoming almost a certainty. We have been careful not to present the information received in too hopeful a garb, but we now feel justified in saying that we do believe that a payable goldfield has been found ; we will not vouci for the truth of all we have heard, but we may safely say that, during the hist few days, gold has been sold in Biverton by several persons — differing in character — which strengthens the beliei that the several reports received are correct. If such is the case, Longwood is yielding well, and prospects from Colac's Bay is most promising, and that gold is being obtained from another locality in the district, but the particulai spot has not as yet, been divulged by the prospectors. M'Closkey's party (Longwood Diggings), sold two ounces, and the men express themselves as being well pleased witi their present prospects, but would not tell how much gold they were getting. Brydon's partj have sold no gold since the 27th January, but il is said that they have sent a good parcel to Invercargill, the price to be obtained there being highei than can be got for it at Biverton. We have to acknowledge the receipt, from Mr. Munro, Dee-street, of " Mackay's Gtago and South, land, West Coast and Gold Kelds Almanac." II is a most creditable production, both in the compilation and the printing. It contains about two hundred pages of closely printed matter, and an immense amount of moßt valuable information As a book of reference it is invaluable,'and|should be in every business office. The Wakatip Mail gives the follow encouraging account of the prospects of work at Skippers. It says ; " The prospects of the Skipper's quartz reefs are brighter than ever, and the works of the various companies are progressing vigorously. The Homeward Bound Company retorted anothe large cake of amalgam, which produced something near 180 ounces of gold, 74 ounces of which came from about 5 tons of stone. A considerable amount of this quartz is still lying exposed upon the surface on the boundary of Miller and Pinkerton's claim, and it is impossible to pick a piece without finding gold in it. As this party have disposed of their interest this will probably be the last crushing till some better machinery is erected. The Otago Quartz Mining Co. are sinking a shaft at the end of their adit, and have struck some very rich stone in it. This company have everything ready to receive their machinery, some of which is being packed up j the heavier portion must however remain till the road is in a fit state to pass them over it. The British American Co. have completed their costly tramway, and are now running to their claim by horse trucks, the tram for conducting the stone to the machine is in course of construction, and the machinery sifce ready for the plant when it arrives. At the Prince of Wales reef the prospecting company is the only one at work, they have however struck a well defined reef, the stone is very rich and much like that of the Otago Company. The .prospectors are of opinion that they are working too high up for a permanent body of stone, and are intending to sink an incline on the dip of the reef, and further prove the ground before putting up machinery. A new discovery has been made of a reef crossing the Prince of Wales at right angles and running about north and south. Mr. Sorensoh has applied for a lease upon it under the title of the " Advance Company." This reef has been christened the " Pactolus" reef. The cap only has been tried, out of which some very good specimens have been obtained, but it is premature at present to form an opinion of the value of the discovery. The lode can, however, be traced for a mile by surface indications." There are some fears that the Hokitika river may change its course, flowing into the sea by an old channel about a mile to the southward, and thereby leaving the present township without a harbor. The West , Coast Times says : — " The entrance to this old channel is situated about a mile up the river, and although ever since we can recollect, water has at times run down it, it is only during the past month or six weeks that the river has taken such a decided course in that direction as threatens to, in time (if prompt measures are not adopted to restrain it), scour out the old channel again, and leave its present bed, if- not dry, yet with so little water in it, that vessels would find, it impossible to reach the wharf. To the Survey Department is due the credit of this discovery, and we believe it is the intention of the Government to throw a substantial dam across this arm, and thus prevent that which would otherwise be a most serious calamity to Hokitika. On visiting the place ' yesterday we were quite astonished at the inroad made by the stream, acres of sand and scrub having been removed by the heavy floods of the past two months." l

We understand that iiotice has been i'given to the occupants of the Town Belt to reinbye\within a month; This may to some appear hard, but if fairly considered, no injustice Will be discovered to have been perpetrated. It is -at" all times objectionable to have a number of parties camping on ground to which they have no,claim — it leads to the erection of all description of miserable shanties, and produces careless and retrograding habits in the occupantß. It is true that on some occasions it may be the duty of the 'Government to appropriate a portion of ground to be let at a nominal rent, as a temporary accommodation, but this should never be done unless private land were unattainable and houses very scarce and enormously high- in rent. This is not the case here. We believe that every family now on the Town Belt can for a few shillings a week obtain a houtfe within , the township. We doubt not that every leniency will be shown in case 3 where absolute poverty exists. , The election ;which was to have taken place on Monday, at Wallacetown, of Warden's for the New ; Eiver Hundreds did Tiot come off. The Commissioner of Crown Land was punctually to his time, and remained over two hours in the hope that a sufficient number of those interested in the election would put in an appearance, with the exception of Mr. Marten, but Ryal Bußh, none of the settlers attended and consequently the election lapsed. If such is the apathy displayed in so settled a locality as the New Eiver Hundreds, how is it possible for the system of self-government being worked with advantage to the country ? Such' political indifference is highly censurable.