SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC. .

Southland Times, Issue 726, 20 September 1867, Page 5

SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC. .

By the Eangitoto, on Tuesday, C. Basstaau> E6q,, returned to the province, and has again shown his interest in acclimatisation. On a previous trip from Tasmania he brought four or five kangaroos, a number of nice perch. Ihese have thriven remarkably well. This time he started from Hobart Town with another selected batch of both, but unfortunately, owing to the roughness of the passage, has only succeeded in lahding one kangaroo. The same fatality attended a consignment of perch for Otago and Canterbury ; in fact all the fish died before reaching Melbourne. Mr Johnston, the gentleman sent; by the Otago .Society to obtain some trout and salmon ova, and who had charge of the fish, procured a second lot from the Society in Victoria, and long before sighting the coast they too had died. There is to be a meeting of the Acclimatisation Committee held to-day, as will be seen per advertisement, when, we believe, some valnable information — especially in reference : to the trout and salmon ova — will be given by Mr Basstian. ; . i A Lecture on ''Chemistry; its rise and progress" was delivered at Eiverton, on Monday 9th instant, by Mr J. Hatch. The attendance, although respectable, was not quite so large as it ought to have been, considering the object for which the Lecture was got up, the interesting nature of the subject itself, and the manner in which it was handled, to say nothing of the elaborate and costly experiments which -were introduced by way of illustration. The object alluded to was the origination of an Athenaeum and Mutual Improvement Society in Eiverton. 1 An Institution of this nature has been long felt to be a desideratum there — as it has also been in Invereargill — and Mr Hatch and a few friends have made a laudable effort to set it on fo6t. The proceeds accruing from the Lecture were to have been expended in procuring the nucleus of a Library. It is to be hoped the projectors will persevere in their attempt, and that it wi 11 . be ultimately crowned with success. A special meeting of the Invereargill Bine Volunteers was held after drill on Monday evening, the 9th September. Captain Harvey occupied the chair. The Chairman in a tow remarks pointed out the chief business of the meeting, viz. : — the adoption of a uniform. He stated that the Uniform Committee (appointed at a previous meeting) had obtained all the information possible in respect to the cost of the varied descriptions that had been suggested as most appropriate, and likely to be adopted by the company. The Secretary then read the report of the Uniform Committee, the substance of wliich ' was — That it had deemed it desirable that the selection of a uniform should be left to the members, uniufluenced by any suggestions from the Committee ; tliat from information supplied from parties qualified to give an opinion, scarlet would be the most costly ; that a good blue would be the next in cost, and a Melton grey the least expensive. It also stated that as it was desired that a good uniform should be adopted, a scheme was being perfected to enable every member to obtain his uniform at • once, by a system of monthly payments. Considerable interest was manifested in the decision on this question, which resulted in the adoption of a blue suit with scarlet' facings, and a half shako with a hah* plume. The meeting was numerously attended ; nearly a hundred being present, and the proceedings were of a charactor that evidenced a determination on the part of the members to work harmoniously and in earnest. The" H. T. Mercury" of the sth says :— " The Southern Cross, a.s., Captein E. Lucas, left for Melbourne at her usual hour yesterday afternoon. There were 24 cabin and five steerage passengers, and the steamer took also a large general cargo, including 3,500 bushels green fruit, about 40 tons of stisingy bark free stone for the Treasury buildings at Melbourne, a number of ferns for the Eoyal Society's G-ardens, Melbourne, and a deer shipped by Mr J. W. Graves, to be forwarded from Melbourne to the Acclimatisation Society, Invereargill, New Zealand. On Saturday afternoon Mr Morton Allport, Mr T. Griblin, and other gentlemen visited the reservoir for the purpose of procuring some of the English perch located there for transmission to New Zealand by Mr Johnston, who is at present in Tasmania, to take charge of the trout ova about to be forwarded to Otago. The party sue-: ceeded in capturing four dozen of very fine fish, many of them full of spawn. We are informed that Mr Johnston with a small party has gone up the river to search for salmon ova in the places where it is likely to be deposited." In connection with an advertisement which appears in another column, a sample of soap and candle's have been forwarded to this office. We have much pleasure in testify ing to the genuine good quality of the articles, as deserving of the highest recommendation, but, more especially do we deem them worthy of remark from the fact of: their bain g of local manufacture; the makers: being Messrs W. &A. M'Leod, of Esk-street. It is at all times the duty of the inhabitants of a young country to offer every encouragement to those whose enterprise prompts them to attempt the production of articles in common use, as they thus help in the most effective manner to develop the resources of the place itself, and at the same time retain in local circulation the money which would otherwise be sent out of the country in payment of the imported articles. So forcibly has this principle been felt that, notwithstanding the all-prevailing preference for free trade, protective duties have in many instances been imposed on. those particular manufactures &c, which ft might be supposed the country was capable of producing within its own limits. So light, however, is the tariff at present imposed in New Zealand on the articles now under notice, that it can scarcely be said to be protective, and therefore the manufacturer has but little extraneous encouragement in his competition with the foreign producer, through the importer. The quotations of the makers with whom we are presently concerned (the Messrs M'Leod) appear to indicate that they are quite competent to hold their own inthe market, and it seems certain that their productions require but to be better known to largely increase their already extensive business. We understand that the Messrs. M'Leod, intend to add considerably to their ; present premises on account of increasing business. The half yearly financial meeting of the Eoyal Shamrock Eose and Thistle Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Manchester Unity Friendly Society, took place recently. The .Auditors, Messrs Wm. Lewis and J. A. Fredrio, in their report, congratulated the Lodge on tbe efficient and economical management of the past session. The number of members good on the books were 100, and there were also between twenty or thirty in addition who were in arrears, The funds of the Xtodge had increased during the past half-year [ sier eighty gQua'H staling, uotwitlwmahjg

several heavy expenses, including the purchase of one of Milner's best fireproof safes, ,&c. On the motion of Mr G-oodwillie, seconded hy! Mr Kingsland, the Auditor's report' and balance sheet were unanimously adopted. Mr Webster gave notice of his intention to move,; "That a testimonial be presented to Mr E. Hart; fori his courageous conduct in saving the lives of three men at the New River, they being member^ of the Order," and Mr Scaridrett to move, " That it is desirable that the Widow's and Orphans Instij tution Bhould.be resuscitated, and that the Lodge proceed to elect a Committee of Management." The proceedings then terminated. j ' -On Friday, 23rd ultimo, a rumor was current in town to the effect that a woman' named Eyan, residing in Harrisville, had died in such a sudden aud mysterious; manner as to cause* suspicion .to be attached to her husband, jit appears that on a neighbor entering the house in the course of Thursday afternoon the man Eyan was found sitting on the side of the bed slipporting: his wife in his arms; he requested the neighbor to assist him. to: lift her into bed, who, to his horror, discovered the woman to be dead. The authorities were of course cojmmunicated with, and Eyan was taken into, custody. He was brought before the Eesident ■ Magistrate on Friday, • but was remanded until the results of a post mortem examination and coroner's inquest should be known. The inquest was held at the Plough Hotel, Harrisville, on Saturday, before Dr Deck, Coroner, but was adjourned, after the examination of one witness, until Monday, (26th) at 2 p.m., in order to allow of the completion of the post mortem examination. At the adjourned inquest on the 26th, several witnesses were examined ;at considerable length, but nothing was educeif ; to in any way criminate the husband of the deceased further than what was elicited at the first sitting of the jury. The chief witness in the ease was a man named Butt, who lives in the same locality as Eyan, and his evidence, (corroborated by that of his wife) amounted in effect to this : — On Thursday morning he went over to Eyan's house to borrow a hone, at wliich time the whole family of Eyan's were in the house, and appeared to be all well and quiet. Mrs Eyan was, however, in bed, and on witness asking what was the matter with her, the husband replied : — " Nothing but a sulky temper." In the course of the afternoon of same day witness heard screams in deceased's house, and he ran over. He found Eyan apparently trying to lift deceased from the floor ; witness w ent to assist him, and found the woman to bo dead. Witness asked Eyan how it had occurred, and was informed by him that he and deceased had had a slight quarrel, in conso quence of his wishing to send one of the children for some brandy ; that during the altercation he gave her a shove, when she reeled and fell. Witness then communicated the circumstances to the police, and Eyan was ultimately taken into custody. The evidence generally went to show that Eyan and his wife had lived in circumstances of ordinary comfort, and were not particularly noticeable for habits of intemperance. It appeared also that Mrs Eyan had been for several years subject to pains in the region of the heart, when any way excited or over exerted, and that she had complained frequently of this of late. Dr W. P. G-rigor, who made the post mortem examination, stated that he had found no evidence of violence about the body, further than a slight scratch on the nose, (occasioned by her falling against the table) but that he had found sufficient evidence of disease of the heart to account for death. After a short consultation the jury returned the following verdict : — " That the deceased Mary Ann Eyan, on the 22nd instant, being a person afflicted with disease of the heart, and being in a state of great excitement owing to a difference with her husband, was suddenly seized with a fit and in that fit did die." The prisoner was consequently discharged.