Untitled

Southland Times, Issue 600, 5 December 1866, Page 2

Yesterday afternoon, shorfclj after the train by the Oreti Railway bad left the Invercargill station for Makerewa, it was found that one of the railß was on fire. Mr Oilier was the first to mate the discovery, he immediately communicated with the railway authorities, and in a very short space of time the fire was extinguished, and the damag,e which was slight, repaired. It is supposed to have arisen by the dropping of heated cinders from the engine. It will be seen from an advertisment in another column that all persons squatting on the Waste Lands of the Crown, on Stewart'i Island will forthwith be prosecuted. It is also notified that a monthly charge of sixpence will ba made for every Crown Grant left in the Crown Lands Office, after the expiration of two months from the passing of the Crown Grants Act, 1866. The schooner Marion JRennie that some months since arrived at Inyercargill, from Melbourne via Sydney, and was chartered by Mr Wilson, for the West Coast trade, under which charter it recently left this port with a cargo of timber for Dunedin, to take in a return cargo for the West Coast, has been seized under a writ of mortgage at Port Wiiliam, Stewart's Island, and is now at anchor at the Pool, New River. Much litigation being likely to arise out of the dispute we ehali make no further comment. The meeting on Monday, 3rd December, of the Chambers of Commerce, a report of which will be found in another column, was one of more than ordinary importance. It evidenced a disposition on the part of the members to give more time and attention to public affairs than has previously been displayed, and should they continue to pursue the course now taken great good to the province may be done. The report is deserring of general attention. ; From our advertising columns it will be seen i that the New Zealand and Mercantile Agency i Company (limited) have commenced operations i in Invercargill. The company starts with a large j capital under an influential directorship, is com- ■ prehensive in its operations, and will doubtless ] prore of -value to many in this Province. The < agent for Southland is W. Watson Esq., Manager of the Bank of New Zealand. We were yesterday forwarded b/ Messrs Mitchell and Co. four second crop early kidney \ potatoes, grown by Mr Ross, of the Bluff Road ; they are of the finest description, and the four * weighed one pound and a half. We ago have to l , acknowledge the receipt of excellent specimens of turnips and potatoes from the garden of Mr c Hannah (of Dee Street). The samples of garden * produce before us are of surprising growth, and ? promise well^for the productiveness of the season. 1: i

The Government Gazette. 2nd December. «m---tnins a prorlomaM'ni aT»T>ointin<» the next sitting of fcTifl Provincial Council to commence on the 2nd Jnnuarv. 1867. The " Nelson . ■Fxnminer " says :— " We are happy to hear that the want of a Judge for "Westland is likely very goon to be supplied in a most efficient manner, as we understand that the offer of the position of Judge of the Nelson and West Coast districts has been made to Mr Justice Richmond, at -present at Otaga. Of course the state of this place is not even now such that we could hope to have a Judge on our own account entirely. There is not wort enough for a Judge in Nelson, and we hope it may be some time before there is, unless we have a more sudden increase of popnlation than seems at all likely. The plan proposed, as we understand it, is that the Judge who has his head-quarters at Nelson should talre charge of the great gold fields districts of the West Coast. At present, Mr Justice Ghrescon goes from Christchurch periodically to the West Ccasfc, but the journey is one of great toil and very often of not a litt'e danger, to which it is hardly fair to expose a Judge when the ends of justice can be quite as well attained without. A Judge at Nelson would have no difficulty in taking care of the West Coast districts, and, we should fancy, no excess of labor in doing so. Communication is so much easier between Nelson and the West Coast than through the mountain passes from the Canterbury plains, that we cannot doubt the plan will meet the wishes of the profession at Holritika and Greymouth. We only hope that no obstacle will be thrown in the way of its speedy accomplishment ; in this we believe we speak in the interests not less of the public than of the profession. That which is for the good of the profession cannot fail to prove also, for the good of the public, and we shall expect to find the residence of such, a Judge as Mr Justice Richmond — in the event of his accepting the post — produce the very best effect upon the tone and practice of the legal profession in this place." The Westland Observer, 24th November, pays : — " On Wednesday morning last a wbirlwind, of considerable velocity and violence, passed over the south end of Okarita, fortunately without doing any material damage. A tent erected behind the Hnrbor-master's residence was lifted from the ground high into the air. and, after an excursion after the fashion of a balloon, was deposited in the bush; and a building in Palmer«ton-street, which was .partially unroofed, preparatory to removal, was deprived of its gables and the parts of the roof which, remained. TTad it passed more directly down the Strand, there is little doubt that it would have produced a considerable amount of work for the glazier, but it fortunately betook it«elf to the ranges without effecting any further injury." The " "Evening Star," with reference to the unnopularity of Su'livnn at HbkiMka, says : — " We believe that the police authorities have a difficult task before them in reference to Sullivan, for there is such a deeply rooted detestation to the scoun lrel amonsst all classes that summary justice is not at all unlikely to be dealt out to him if permitted to be publicly seen. As we heard stated yesterday, both the " square heads " and the " crooked heads," i.e., the honest and dishonest portion of the population, all have an equal " down "on Mm — the first named through horror of bis crimes, the latter from turning Queen'B evidence in reference to them. It will require all the care possible to protect the prisoner- witness, and to prevent wild justice being brought into play. As to the value of such evidence as he may give the bench will have to decide. A communication has been received by the Greymouth Improvement Committee from Mr Wkall, M.P.C., stating " that it is the intention of the Government to introduce to the Council for its approval a scheme for making a railway from Christchurch to the West Coast, to be paid for by selling 300,000 acres of land on the East and West Coasts. Fifty per cent of the money so raised to be expended on local public works, and 50 per cent on the construction of the railway. The proposed route of the line is over the northern pasß by Lake Brunner and the Arnold to the Grey." Mr Whall being desirous that some expression of the opinions of bis constituents should be given on the subject, the Improvement Committee called a meeting, at which it was resolved to call upon the Westland members to support the scheme. An amendment to the effect that the scheme was premature and inadvisable was moved by Mr Harrison, but lost. The Hokitika correspondent of the Melbourne Leader thus describes the mining community of the West Coast — As may be supposed, where mining is the industry on which its prosperity depends, the same characteristics which Victoria presented some years ago are reproduced here, though in a greatly modified degree. The lucky digger still " shouts" for whole companies, gets locked up at times with hundreds of pounds in bis pockets, he is still as amatory as of yore, and and he generally manages to muddle away his hard-earned gains in as unsatisfactory a way as ever. But the days of skittle champagne are past, our newly elected members do not bestride gold-shod chargers, sandwiches are not now fashioned with £5-noteß, and wholesale " knocking down a pile" is rare. Whether the chilly coast of New Zealand aa compared with the ardent sun of Victoria occasions this moderation, or whether diggers, like other people, live and learn, and grow, in some measure, at least, wiser as they grow older, it is for some more 6age persons, than myself to tell ; but certainly a change, and a change for the better is observable amongst the mining class, and the origies that iv years gone by were the most inevitable accompaniments of successful mining enterprise are, comparatively speaking, unknown. After a wearisome delay, information has been received that a writ of habeas corpus has been obtained, and that the prisoner Sullivan, of Maungatapu notoriety, may be almost daily expected in flokitika to give evidence in respect to the murder of Mr George Dobson in May last, for which a man named Wilson has long been in custody, and several others charged with, complicity in that and collateral crimes. The prisoner's counsel on Wednesday made a powerful appeal in bis behalf, against the application of the police for a remand, which was nevertheless granted by the Magistrate.

A correspondent at Orwuki, under date SOtil November, writes :— " The number of nrin"l« on thesp diggings hare riightly decreased, nmd the number at wort is about one hundred and seventy. The cause of the decrease may beat* tributed to th« working out of some beach claimj, and reports of other payable ground having been struck in the bush, and the sheep shearing having commenced. Williams and party hare left to prospect Mussle Beach, about thirty miles from this spot. They hare taken six weeks provisions with them, and are sanguine of success; tke deep-sinikng experiments of which you were previously informed, have nofc proved so successful as was expected, but the ground higher up is being tested. And the diggings are well spoken of, the miners who have claims are making from three to twelve pounds per man. A Campbelltown correspondent writes : — " The Bushy Point is supplying work for all that hare set in on the beach ; Cooney and Emerson's party are working on a terrace about a quarter of a mile above high water mark, and a mile nearer Campbelltown than the original ground, they inform me that the prospects of their paddock are°good, but as there has not been a washing-up the actual will dot be known until next week." The Grey district is becoming famous for its heavy nuggets. The Argus reports some" parcels of heavy gold, all in pieces, varying from 9 ozs. to 2 dwts in weight, have recently oeen brought down from Moonlight Gully, and out of one claim two nuggets weighing respectively 44 oza, and 4cJ ozs have been taken. The 44 oz nugget is now in the possession of the Bank of "Sew Zealand, having been purchased by it from the | finder. ' The nugget is about the size and shape ■ of a man's fist, and the gold is of a deep rich color ; the small portions. of quartz. with which it is impregnated are also of a r^ae tint.