The Southland Times. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10,1866.

Southland Times, Issue 576, 10 October 1866, Page 2

The Southland Times. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1866.

The Volunteer Act Amendment Act, 1866 has just passed through the Assembly. It consists of only two enacting clauses. The first repeals the 9th section of the Act of 1865, and enacts instead — "No person shaU be an Officer in the Volunteer Force, or a Volunteer or a Non-Com-missioned Officer of the Volunteer permanent staff who is not a British Bubject ; provided always that no person shaU be an Officer in the Volunteer Force until he is competent to perform aU the duties appertaining to his office." The second clause repeals the 26th section of the Act of 1865, and enacts that — - Every Commissioned Officer of the Volunteer Force, and every Volunteer who shall hold a certificate of efficiency granted under and in accordance with the provisions of the Volunteer Act, 1885, or any rules or regulations mad» thereunder and for the time being in force, shaU, if he shaU so claim it, be exemptfrom serving on juries within the Colony of New Zealand, provided always that nothing herein contained shall have the effect of exempting Volunteers from service upon any Coroner's Jury or Grand Jury." It is pleasing to learn that the schooner Zephyr, that was recently stranded at Stewart's Island, and purchased by Messrs Livesey and Spencer, of this town, has been thoroughly repaired, and rendered perfectly sea-worthy. This vessel has sailed with cargo from Port Chalmers for Newcastle, with a return charter for a cargo of coals. The foUowing is tho. state of H.M. Gaol, for the week ending Tuesday, the 9th instant: — *"entenced to penal servitude, 6 males ; sentenced to hard labor, 5 males ; imprisonment only, 1 male. Total, 12 males. Recived during the week, 2 males ; discharged during the week, 1 male. Increase for the week, 1 male. We are desired to call attention to the sale to be held this day at Mr Todd's Commercial Sale Room, Dee-street, of land and property in Leetstreet. The sale wnl take place at twelve o'clock, the particulars of the properties to be sold wiU be frund in our advertising columns. A meeting of the Fire Brigade was held on Monday evening, the Sth October. The business brought forward was im>*ortant. A committee was elected to negotiate for the purchase of a firsfc-class fire beU. The advisabiUty of moving the Provincial G-overnment to introduce, at the next session of the CouncU, a BUI to enable the Brigad,e under authority, to remove houses when found necessary in 'order to stay the progress of a fire, was debated aud resolved upon. The meeting evidenced a strong desire on tho part of aU present to give increased vigor to the working of the Association, and some new members were enroUed. It was determined that the system of periodic practice should be revived, and the first turn-out was fixed for Thursday evening next, the Ilth October. The Bushy Point diggings is gradually gaining favor and importance. We were yesterday, 9th October, shown a sample of gold (amalgam), by a Bluff storekeeper, weighing between forty and fifty ounces, purchased by him on the previous week. Our Bluff correspondent writes: — "I have visited the Bushy Point diggings, and was surprised at their appearance. There are between seventy and eighty men at work, and not a discontent to be met with, all seeming satisfied with their earnings ; and many express an opinion that there is scope and verge enough for very many more. I think that aU are making at least from £4 to £10 per man per week, and some doing better than this. The fine character of the gold renders the operation of coUecting it very tedious, and much of it is lost. It is beheved that the beach for a considerable distance will prove payable, and some are sanguine that ere long a Une of workings at short distances from each other wiU be occupied from the Bluff to the West Coast. The people of CampbeUtown are in high spirits, md think that very soon there wiU be from fi«e to six hundred miners at work. We also understand that Mr West, of the TraveUer's Rest, Green HiUs, has marked a tract from his house to Bushy Point, whereby parties from InvercargiU visiting the new workings may save many mUes by adopting it. The character of the Une to be traversed has not been stated, but report cays that it is only available for foot passenger"*. A case of sudden death occurred on Sunday night last, the 7th October. It appears that the deceased, one M'Carthy, a laborer, retired to bed on the night above-mentioned, in a state of intoxication, and his mate found him dead in the morning. The body was removed to the Provincial Hospital, where a post mortem examination was made. The medical evidence went to show that death resulted from alcoholic poisoning. The inquest on the body commenced on Tuesday, and adjourned until this day, for the production ol further evidence. The sitting of the adjourned inquest wul be held at Colyer's Hotel, Dee-street.

We learn from the AustraUan papers that the Queensland Government haß obtained the money it wanted. The whole of the £300,000 that it wished to borrow on Treasury bills has been tendered for. It seems probable that an offer of eight per cent, would have secur"d the money as easily as ten per cent. But the Government was in urgent need of ready money and <-ould not stop to try experiments on the money market. This loan will supply the wants of the Q-overn-ment for a time, but only for a time. The same rate of expenditure wiU soon create a fresh requirement, and more money must soon be obtained, either in the home or the colonial market. A temporary difficulty has been got over, but the financial position has not been finaUy adjusted. We learn from the Daily Times, that there were rumors yesterday, that three gentlemen who were named, had consented to go to Christchurch, with a view to secure the hearty co-opera-tion of Canterbury with Otago in resisting the aggressions of the General Government on Provincial rights, and the appropriation by that Government of purely and legally Provincial funds. We believe that those rumors were in advance of fact ; but they are significant a3 showing the direction in which the people of Dunedin are looking, at the commencement of the struggle with the Provinces which has been begun by the General Government. A most extraordinary sea monster, says the "Bruce Independent," was exhibited in Capstick's HaU yesterday and the day before. It was captured some fourteen weeks ago on the West Coast, near Bruce Bay, andhas since been exhibited in Hokitika, Nelson, WeUington, Canterbury, and Dunedin. While in WeUington his ExceUency the Governor went to see it, and it was examined by Dr Hector, wbo expressed his inability to class or name it. The head resembles that of a dog, but the eyes are exceedingly large and brilliant, and the ears very smaU ; the teeth and tongue also resemble those of the dog, and the cry is not unUke a dog's yelp. The body is in color something darker than the common seal, and the fur is remarkably fine. The legs, if they can be called so, are most singular, the hind ones resembUng nothing so much as a lady's black kid glove. The monster is amphibious, and lives either on fish ©r meat. It answers its master's call as a dog would, and though weU able to defend itself, if required, seems to be of a peaceful nature. To dogs it has a strong antipathy, and chases every one that approaches it. We beUeve a photograph of this extraordinary animal has been sent to Professor Owen. An invention for shearing sheep by machinery has been brought out in America, and is thus described by the New York Tribune : " With two men to hold the shears, and one to turn the wheel the machine clips sheep with an almost uuimmaginable rapidity, as there is no expenditure of muscular labor besides turning the wheel, which is not harder ihan a smaU spinning wheel, and the whole machine does not occupy more room than such a wheel. A new principal in mechanics has been developed in this invention, which is the secret of its success. There is a flexible shaft, through which the power is communicated from the driving-wheel to the shears, which are kept rapidly clipping as long as the driving-wheel turns, no matter in what position they are held, nor how much the driving shaft is contorted, even to bending it round the body of the sheep. This driving shaft, about three fest ' long, with spiral brass wire, one end of the coil being connected with a smaU wheel attached to the butt of the blades of the shears, and the other to a puUy driven by a band on the end of an arm, which is partiaUy flexible, attached to the smaU frame that holds the driving-wheel. On the opposite side is another arm and shears, for another shearer, each working independent of the other. The shears are made with guards, so that aU that is necessary is to hold them level and steady on the skin, pushing them forward as fast as possible."