The Invercargill Times. MONDAY,OCTOBER 29,1866.

Southland Times, Issue 584, 29 October 1866, Page 2

The Invercargill Times. MONDAY,OCTOBER 29,1866.

Mr C. E. Bird, we are sorry to announce, met with a sad accident ye c terday afternoon. Some of his friends possessed a few pairs of the roller-skate which has become popular at home and in Victoria ; and a trial of them was proposed. Mr Bird went with his friends to a loft at the stables of Messrs TToyt and Co. in Stafford street ; and aft»»r a while he himself put on a pair of the skates. He had scarcely moved on them, wben he foil, and in the fall he fractured toth bones of the left leg. a lttle above the ancle. Dr Hardy was fetched a? speedily as possible ; and under that gentleman's superintendence Mr Bird wns removed home. We believe that it has not yet been possible to attempt any setting of the bones ; but up to a late hour last evening, Mr Bird wns doing as well as could be expected. It was found that a bolt in one of the skates had been broken ; but it is doubtful whether that breaking was the cause of Mr Bird's fall or a consequence of it. ! The Odd Tell ows Ball held in the Theatre T?oyal on Thursday evening, the 23rd October, was a decided success. The attendance was large, abont one hundred and fif/y ladies and gentlemen io : ning in the festivities. The Invercarsill members of the craft mustered strong, and the Riverton Lodge ma^e a good appearance. The arrangements were most complete ; the Theatre was tastefully decorated with flags, evergreens> ferns, and flowers, the whol9 of the gronnd floor was cleared and appropriated to dan^-ins. while the stage was beautifully adorned with" wild flowers, &c, and the scene presented to those in the dress circle, was very pleasing. After full justice had been done to a well appointed supper, and the ladies had retired, the time honored custom of speech-making was not negl cted. The loral toasts of the Queen &c. having been enthusiasticallyrespondr d to, the toast of the evening was given, viz: — "The prosperity of the Loyal Shamrock, Pose and Thistle Lodge " M. U. I. O. O. F. Mr Kin/sland, treasurer of the society responded, and in the course of an appropriate speech, made the following statement : — " At the annual meeting of the delegates in January last, in England — presided over by the Rev. Dr Price, of Aberdale — *hat gentleman in his address to the society stated that the Unity was composed of 5,584 lodges, 443 districts and 373.549 members. During the past year 29,714' new members had been inducted, 35 per cent, of whom were between the ages of. 18 and 20, 41 per cent, between 21 and 25, whilst only 638 were above 37 years of age. During the year 4,831 members and 2,967 wives of members had died, and the cum paid as funeral expenses alone had been £64,433- The sick pay and other expenses for the yea" had amounted to £291,2 >5 19s sd, but after all claims had been met there would be a balance in favor of the Order of over £10.1,000, whilst there was a reserve fund of upwards of two millions sterling. The society had subscribed out of its incidental expense fund, to the distressed Lancashire operatives, the sum o £491 5s lid, exclusive of £533 distributed personally by the directors. The society had also subscribed to the National Life Boat Institution £137 14s 9d during the year." Mr M'Clure met an audience at the Theatre Royal, ©n Saturday evening, to return thanks to the eight gentlemen who voted for him at the recent election for the Waikivi. He talked at some length against the members of the Council and officials generally, and entered iuto a discuasion on the necess ty that existed for the electors to be up and stirring, in order that their birfchr:^'ht of freedom bestowed upon them by their noble ancestors should not be wrestled from them by the iron hrel of oppression. It would be foolish to report thi-< meeting. The whole a air was an unmitigated burlesque on political me- tings. The audience was not numerous, but those who were present, appeared anything bu' pleased at the brevity of the entertainment, It was for a public meeting, something unique, and appeared to be taken as such by those present. A desperate effort was made to get up amusement if only for an hour. Dancing wns suggested, but there was 'neither musi? nor laiies, and the idea was abandoned. However, after some tim tke " Black Doctor " was spotted, and almo* c rushed on to the stage, when he rendered snatohe from Shakespear — Othello, &c. — and made comica 8 grimaces, that appeared to interest the audienccl far more than, the proceeding part of the performance. The Resident Surgeon of the hospital, Dr. Monckton, desires to acknowledge the gift of a new set of cart harness, as a donation to the hospital, from Mr David Thompson. A meeting of the Ka*t Roai Committee will be helil at Sutherland's BrUge Inn, this day, at ».2 o'clock. The following is the state of H. M.'s Gaol for the week ending Friday, the 26th inst . :—Sentenced to penal servitu le. 6 males ; sentenced to hard labor, 4 males ; debtors, 1 male ; committed for trial, 1 male. Total, 12 m>i es. Re eeiveJ during the week, 2 males. Discharged during the week, 1 male. Increa>e fur tiie week, 1 male. Referring to the flood at Hokitika, the " W st Coast Times " of the 13th ears : — " Between midnight on Thursday and half-past three o'clock \ esterday morning, the river was flooded to au extent that, save once before, we never saw surpassed. The fresh was sudden and somewhat unexpected, as the rain had c ased falling hours before, and the riv< r, on Thursday evening, was slightly on the decrease. Towards midnight, however, the stream, backed up by the tide, gave unmistakeiible signs of overflowing Gibson's Quay, and by one o'clock ha < forced itself up the drains, and laid Tancred and Wold Btreets under water. Shortlj afterwards it broke over the wharf, and covered tho Quay with a, shoot of water, which extended from Wharf-street to a point far above the C'ußlom Uouho, the wharf itself being buomerged to tho depth ot a foot. At throe o'clock tho flood reached its highest, and then subsided as rapidly aa it rose. We never before saw Weldftreet in tuich a siato, the ground floors of soverad buildings being under water, as could be distinl»ui.thod l>y tho lights borne by their affrightel inmates, who Btood at the doorways gazing with astonishment upon the placid surface of the lake spread out beforo them. .

On Thursday last, the 25th. October, a meeting was held in the Wes!eyan Church, Sorth-road for the purpose of promoting the interest of the "Piijan, Samoan. and "Friendly Islands, also the Maori population of New Zealand, and the Chinese in Australia. William "Russell, E«q., occupied the chair. The Rev. J. T. Shaw, read an able report as to the progress of the Society, the poor! that was being done, and the difficulties that har 1 to be encountered. The meeting was well attended > and a strong feeling of interest in the mission displayed. We quote the following from the report:—"The total expenditure for thevearha* been £15 523 2s 4d, and the receipts £9550 18e *d, leading a balance of £5972 lla 9d to bp granted by the Committee in Tondon. Of the receipts £334-5 4d has been raised in the mi csion districts o^w^ieb "few Zealand ha? contributed £P6l 15s 6^. During th° year there hnbeen an increase of church members of 2969 an* 3 5873 on trial for chnreh membership. The total number of members is 27,920. The Chinpse Mission has not been without success. In De eembev lnst six adult Chinamen were baptized in the Weslevan Chapel, Castlemaine. A dark clond hnnsrs ott the New Zealnnd Mission. Thp f?ve Native Missionaries who have been train' 5 ' 3 for, and after due trial ordained to the work of tho Ministry, have been proved in their alleginncr to the Q?een. and have used all their pow^r* to persuade their fellow countrrmen from rushin^ into war. The influent of -vrar, tne Pai Marirc fanaticism and intempernnee, is painfully d'stress | ing, nnd in some localities deeds of darlmess nnr 1 blood most revolting in their character have bee" committed. Still, all are not lost, there are 6R5 •whom we now recognise as accredited church members. In some parts we hear of pood congregations, nwny persons coming from a long distance to join in the service and worship of God ir> his house. Abont 2200 are reported as attendents on public worship. Sunday schools are established in different parts among the Maories ; in 46 of these valuable institutions 864 Mnor ; children are instructed. The reports from the Friendly Islands tell of disappointment? and trials as well as of ioys and successes ■ 'Hilrty-four years have elapsed sincethe appointment of the "Rev. John Thomas to thf' Haabni station, and a report was furnished o f 'he planting of Christianity in this group. Then there were 149 persons in church fellowship, and 4' Bon trial. The following year 1000 member* were returned. At Tongatapu there were 40""' members, and 406 on trial. ****** There are 74.4-72 attendants on public worship i> Fijii, and 17;307 accredited church members, with 4497 on trial. In 630 chapels and preachinr places the Word of God is dispensed. Tinelevan English missionaries are assisted by 3' Native Misnonaries, who, after the usual course of training and the four years' trial to which all Wcsleyan ministers are sub'eet, have been or will be ordained to the work of the ministry. A noble band of that useful body of men in Methodism, viz., Local Preachers, are ever ready according to their various talents, to preach the Gospel in the various villages. 396 men arc thus nobly employed in Fijii. Great pains are bestowed upon the training of native agency in all the groups." The meeting was addressed by Mr J. G. Deck (Wellington^, Mr Perkins and other gentlemen, with marked effect. The amount raised for the Mission Fund, from the Lord's day Services, and the public meeting was we understand, £12 5s Od. Under the heading "New interpretation of the articles of war " the " Taranaki Herald " of the 13th instant says: — A curious definition of the obedience due from a subordinate in the army to his commanding officer was given in the 'Resident Magistrate's Court on Thursday. Captain Mace, while giving evidence in the case of Eruwini v. D. Bayly, said he had reached verbal instructions from General Chute to loot all he could both, in iroing to and returning from Wanganui. The Resident Magistrate thereupon remarked that the value of these instructions would entirely depend upon the interpretation witness put. upon them : and a'ter • arris observed that the witness was not bound by an illegal order, whether given by the Governor or the General. We always understood that a military officer was bound to obey the orders, lei-al or illegal in a civil point of view, of the officer commanding, who would himself have to answer for any illegal or improper act committed by his disection.

The Editor of a. Scandalous Paper Sentenced to Fifteen Teaks' Transportation. — A newspaper scandal has occurred in Portugal, the upshot of which is that the chief editor of the " Lucifer," a scandalous publication, belonging to the lower order of the Lisbon periodicals, has been sentenced by a decree of the supreme tribunal to fifteen years' transportation. The facts are thus related by a Lisbon ) correspondent : — " This worthy, whose J name v>as G-uedes, made it his business to call occasionally upon certain personages of the upper classes with a proof in his pocket of disclosures of a personal character, which he regretted must appear in print unless a certain sum could be paid to the colleagues, who were of course most mercenary. In this way he appears to have extorted money from the Marquis de Vianna, Lorengo da Luz, director of the Bank of Portugal, and others. But unfortunately he flew at higher game, aud trumped up a scandalous story about the King and the Duchess de Palmella, a matter which was beyons all patience. In consequence of this he was accused and brought to tri.tl. The result has given great satisfaction to the Li scon people, who duly appreciafe the liberty of the press, which is nowhere greater than in this country, but who rejoice to see a villian l ; ke Guedes, who has prostituted his privileges to the vilest purposes, made a public example, and sentenced to fifteen years' transportation." On the subject of an interesting relic now on show in the Bendigo Exhibition, the "Advertiser" observes: — "Some doubts have been expressed whether the rapier exhibited in the exhibition is as it is ticketed, the veritable weapon that once belonged to General Murat, brotherin law of Napoleon Buonaparte, and King of Naples, bufc there seems no reason to doubt the truthfulness of the statement. It came into the possession of Sir Thomas Reade, the British officer appointed to take charge of Buonaparte at St Helena during the governorship of Sir Hudson Lowe. After the death of Napoleon, Sir Thomas Eeade was appointed Consul- General at Tunis, aud on bis death the rapier and other effects were sent home to his relations, the family of Mr G-eorge Keade, of the Oriental Bank, Eaglehawk, who brought it with him to Victoria, and who now exhibits ifc as a juriosity." <