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Southland Times, Volume VII, Issue 533, 3 August 1866, Page 2

We understand that there is a probability of Miss Julia Matthews, with talented assistants, risiting Inyercargill, pri»r to their final departure to America and England, Should our information prove correct, we nay anticipate a theatrical treat of a higher order than has ever i fallen to the lot of Southlanders. Mr. Puettelkow is deserving of high eulogium for the exertions he is making to induce the very first-class artists to visit this town. Is is to be hoped that the negotiations will lead to the appearance in our beautiful little theatre, of the talented ladies and gentlemen whose names have been mentioned as kely to visit InvercargiU. The owners of dogs should bear in mind that the " Dog Ordinance " came into operation on the Ist August, and that all unregistered animals f this family are liable to.be impounded by the police and destroyed. It has been stated that the police will place poison throughout the town ; this is uncorrect. All dogs not possessing the legitimate badge of respectability are liable to be captured and destroyed, but no general planting of poison through the town is sanctioned by the " Dog Act." We Would recommend all who possess dogs they value, to register at onee — the Act is a good one and will we believe be strictly enforced. The Engineer of the Dunedin Water Works, Mr. Donkin, and his time clerk, Sullivan, have been charged at the Dunedin Police Court with having defrauded the company by " salting" the pay sheet. After a long investigation, both were committed for trial ; the Magistrate at the same time remarking, that as far as the evidence went, Donkin would probably be able to show that he had not knowingly been a party to the peculation which had doubtlessly been carried on for a considerable time. Erom our advertising columns it will be observed that Messrs C. A. Boss and Co., will dispose by auction an extensive assorted stock of farm and dairy implements &c, to day. The "Press" of the 15th July, suggests:— " that the best remedy for preventing such characters as the four murderers now in gaol at Nelson, from wandering about the country until they had committed some overt act whicb the police could take notice of, is that a Vagrant Act should be pat in force. The article on this subject concludes with the following words :— The act is intended to apply only to rogues and vagabonds, and none other need be under any apprehension. Nor i3 it by the number of arrests that the utility of thti Act is to be measured. The arr.st of one puts twenty others in fear. It places in the hands of the police a weapon constantly held Bnptnded in terrorem over the head of all' en^mls and disorderly pe/.'gons, till tho presence of one active officer so armed is sufficient to keep a whole district clear. It taboos tiie country to

all but honest folk At present Canterbury it th* Gtoshen of criminals— a land of refuge where they can resort when hard pressed elsewhere, and pl6t their nefarious schemes unqeStioned and undis^ turbed. A Vagrant Act would render it forbidden ground, to enter which would bring them within the dutches of the law. The subject is one of the greatest importance, and we trust it is receiving the careful consideration of the Government." The question of the re-adjustment of the boundaries of the provinces is, at the present time, attracting attention. The people of the Lake District and Southland desire to be united ; Nelson is working to obtain the Grey goldfields, and Hawke's Bay is seeking annexation to it» province, the district of Poverty Bay. Tbe question has been raised in the Hawke's Bay Pro^ vincial Council. We take the following from the " Hawke's Bay Times " :— " Mr Colenso, pursuant • to notice, asked the Government "Whether the Government intend bringing before the Council, for its opinion, the subject of the proposed annex* ation of a portion of the East Coast, the same being at present a part of the province of Auckland ; particularly as it is believed that this matter may be" brought forward in the General Assembly during its approaching; session, and as the member for Napierin the House, of Representatives is the present Superintendent of this province." "The Government must know that this was a very important matter in reterrence to this province. Every one knew that there were certain petitions from inhabitants on the East Coast for the annexation of a portion of it, at at present in the Province of Auckland, to the Province of Hawke's Bay. There had been a good deal said about the desirability of this project in the columns of the Government organ — it was universally admitted to be of the utmost importance ; and yet there was not a word in reference to it in the Superintendent's address. The ■Superintendent and the member for Porangahau would go the General Assembly and act as if they had the opinion of the Council. The question should not be shirked in this' manner. Mr Ormond said that the question now put to the Government was an extremely "embarrassing one. It really appeared as if the member for the town was in the Council to adovocate the interests of Auckland against those of Hawke's Bay. To answer this question would be showing his hand in the game he was about to play on behalf of the Province of Hawke's Bay in the General Assembly. Nothing could be more inimical to her interests than this. The member had referred to the General Assembly. The district of Poverty Bay might hay« been annexed to this province last session had the member for the town acted in a different spirit. He was glad that the electors had shown their appreciation of his conduct at tho last election, and might safely affirm that he and his present colleagues would give a far better account of themselves on their return than could be done last session.' ' The terminus of the Panama mail ships is still a. a. matter of dispute. Auckland on the one hand has been clamerous in favor of that city being made the first port of call and Otago on the other hand claims for Port Chelmers the position of the port of departure. Another claimant is in the field and it is more than possible that New South Wales will gain the day. The " Few Zealand Herald," 18th July, in a leading article {strongly supports the claims of New South Wales and in commenting upon the making Wellington the terminus sayi : — " Public convenience, that is, the convenience of the many as opposed to that of the^few, can be best served by avoiding this centre of radiation and by landing thd mail direct to the port where the largest commercial interests the largest population are waiting its arrival. If •we refer to the article which was pablished in a Wellington paper, we shall find that the Company itself is awakening to the correctness of the statements which months since, and which perhaps more strenuously of late, we have published in respect to the character of the ocean route between Panama and Cook's Straits. Doubtless the opinions of competent and* experienced and mariners have been taken, and it has been found beyond dispute that to steer a direct course from Panama to Cook's Straitg will be to face, during the whole distance, a continuation pi head winds, which will both impede the fate of steaming and render the voyage a most disagreeable one to passangers. It has doubtless been found that the speediest and pleasantest route is to steer due west from Panama, past the Pacific Groups, until the vessel has arrived almost in the same parallel of longitude as the East Cape, but far to the northward of this colony, and then to come down South to Cook's Strrits, passing down the East Coast of this province, so that were even a pork in New Zealand desired to be made the terminus the most northern one of all would be the reached. But when we have to take into account the fact that Sydney is the extreme point of communication arrived at, these facts become of even far more importance. In leaving Panama for Sydney the mariner would steer north even of Tahiti, and of New Zealand too, and every mile traversed down the coast of New Zealand and through theSfcraits wouldbe exactly so much water travelled over in excess of what need he. Several days would be saved to Sydney by keepirfg this northern cousre. Nor would New Zealand provinces suffer. Just as easily as the Panama steamer would sail down tho coasts of Wellington, for direct to Wellington Irom Panama it cannot go, so easily would a steamer picking up the NewZealand mail and passengers dropped at Mongonui or the Bay of Islands steam down the coast dropping the Auckland and Napier mails and passengers at the respective ports on its way to Cook's Straits, and arriving there even just as soon as the Panama boat itself would have done, while that boat by the' time the branch steamer arrived in Wellington would be' almost in sight of Sydney Heads. We defy contradiction to these statements." We learn by the S.M. Herald June 29th, — The gold which wa-* stolen from the Barwon, and which was afterwards found on the Queensland Company's Wharf, had been smelted and essayed at the mint; the weight of gold remaining after the process being 993 ounces, or seven ounces less than the weight stated to have been in the box when it left Hokitika. , Tho general quarterly meeting of the members of the Chamber of Couimerce was held yesterpay (August Ist), at their rooms, Tay-street. The only business of importance was the consideration of a proposal for the amalgamation of the Chamber with the South and Club, which had been adjourned for debate at a previous meeting. It was resolved that no alteration in existing arI rangementß should, for the preient, take place.

From our late Wellington papers, we learn that the ex-manager of the Wanganui Steam Navigation Company has been charged with embezzlement, and committed for trial. Sometime since it was stated that a gigantic block of greenstone had been found at the West Coa3t, by Mr James Reynolds, who is well-known in Invercargill. After he had split it up into moveable quantities, a Maori claimed it as his property, and laid an information against Mr Reynolds for robbery. The history of the greenstone is thus detailed in the Dispatch, (Hokitika) of the 20th July. It says: — "It appears that some two years and a-half ago, a party of Maoris found, not on the JSTative reserve, but upon the Crown Land, a large slab of greenstone, which they had just as much, and just as little right to claim as their private property, so long as it remained on the ground, as any man would have to mark a stone boulder on a mountain side, and say, " that is mine, and any one who takes it away, or appropriates it robs me"" The Maoris removed this piece of greenstone from the bed of the creek, for the purpose of enabling*thein to work the spot as a claim, not registering it, or securing any right under the Goldfields Regulations. Then they go off, leaving, as they say, some one in charge of the ground. IScv and "then they returned to it. On one or two occasions they remove pieces of the stone, and carry them from the spot. There is not the slightest shadow of proof that any one, with or without their authority, was on the ground in occupation at the time when they assert that it was jumped, and the greenstone taken away. The very strong presumption is quite the other way. Mr Reynolds was openly working upon the stone, boring and blasting it to enable him to remove it, and thus establishing all the personal right to it that accrues out of labor and expenditure upon material that would, without it, he valueless and waste upon the Queen's common lands, At last the Maoris, who have been doing nothing to protect what they caU their property," get a letter from some one, telling them what is goiug on, and take criminal proceedings against Reynolds. In these they are abetted (we can use no other term) by the Magistrate, who seems at one time to have vaguely promised the Maories (according to this interpretation of his words) to make it "all right" about the stone. These are the facts on which is based — not a civil action to test the question of property in this greenstone slab — but a criminal prosecution. Such are the facts on which a man of blameless character was committed to take his trial in the dock of a Criminal Court ; and such is the law — as interpreted by Mr Resident Magistrate and Warden Revell." The "West Coast Times " 17th July gives the following mining items. — "Very fair accounts indeed have reached us from the different mining centres, where nothing but activity and steady industry prevails. At the Ballarat Rush in the Wahnea district, the Hau Hau in the Kapieri, and on the large flat beneath Rosstown, in the Totara district, deep sinking is being successfully prosecuted, and attended by Buch results a3 a few months ago was hardly anticipated. In all parts of the district sluicing is followed in all its branches, and yielding excellent returns. At the Kanieri, no less than sis steam engines are in full work, besides several water-wheels ; and that their introduction was a wise proceeding, is now universally admitted and fully borne out by results. Late events lead to the supposition that we are upon the eve of extensive and most important quartz reef discoveries, as a large body of likely looking stone, by some considered only a " blowup," whilst others maintain that a welldeveloped- reef is struck, was hit upon by some prospectors about ten days ago The locality of the find is about twentyseven miles up the Arahura river, at the foot of the snowy range. So far th.c stone is barren, but its presence is a good indication that other reefs of a rich nature exist in the neighborhood. A reef stone, speckled with fine gold was also picked up in the Totara district the week before last, and these facts have led to the formation of several exploring parties, who are determined to ransack the country immediately under the high range, as the beliaf is widely entertained that reefs will be found intersecting the mountains in many places." The " Southern Cross " of the 15th July has the following paragraph, which is of immediate interest to all the Provinces. We have over and over again expressed a conviction that petroleum might be discovered in other localities than Taranaki, and we are now confirmed in the belief that if sought for, it would be found in Southland. The following is an extract from the paper abovementioned: — "That petroleum exists in Uelson Province has been placed beyond question by Mr Halkett, the well-known mineralogist, who has just returned from a visit to the island, where he found the evidences of a full supply of this valuable mineral oil. The place where the oil is found is a ne w harbor, hitherto little known, and situated near the north end of B'Urville's Island. Mr Halkett describes thi3 harbor as magnificent, roomy, and with ample depth of water. The oil is seen up the first right arm of this harbor, near to the mouth of a small" river. Here the oil bubbles up and floatß on the surface of the water* with an apearance similar to that of castor oil when mixed with and partly floating on the top of the water. l\o smell is observable, as the percentage of oil, when compared with the body of water, iB necessarily small, tbo bubbles of oil having to rise through about a couple of feet depth of water. By dipp the hand in at the place where the bubbles arise, it becomes -quite oily. All around the cJge of bay there is found a greasy substance, evidently the product of the oily bubbles which have been rising from the water for years. This oil spring was first discovered by meaus of the Maoris, who observed the oily appearances, concluded that a whale had been stranded, and that its blubber was gradually melting and turning into oil ! It is understood that a iease of the land, with exclusive right to bore for oil, for a tract of two square miles, haß been obtained by Mr D. Little and Mr Halkett."