The Southland Times. MONDAY, APRIL 6, 1868.

Southland Times, Issue 929, 6 April 1868, Page 2

The Southland Times. MONDAY, APRIL 6, 1868.

: The second wool s'dp of the season, the [ Robert Henderson, cleared at the Customs on Saturday, bat too late for us to obtain a copy of her manifest ; we are, however, aware that she I is a full ship, having on board 2235 bales of wool, and eight bales of skins. The Amateur Benevolent Concert at the Theatre Royal on Friday evening came off very successj fully, although, owing to the increased heavj rain, the house was not so well filled as we could ha>e wished, lo show the high class of music given we cannot do better than insert the programme, which was as follows :— Part I—Wedding1 — Wedding March, : Mendelssohn ; Quartett — " Lutzow" — Weber ; Aria (bass), "Honor and Arms" (Samson), Handel ; Ballad—" Alas those Chimes !" (Maritana), Wallace; Quartett— "The Hardy Norseman," Wallace; Duett (soprano and tenor), j "Night's Gentle Queen" (La Traviata). Verdi; 1 Solo, pianoforte, " Songs without Words," Menjdelssohn; Scena (tenor), "Philistines! Hark!" i (Eii), Costa; Madrigal (ad. 1540), " Come again Sweet Love," Douland. Part 2 — lnstrumental selection — " Dinorah,". Meyerbeer ; ."Duett, " Autumn," Mendelssohn ; Quartett, " The Soldier's Love," Kucken; Ballad, "The Blind Girl to her Harp," Glover ; Duett (tenor and : bass), " More Glorious to Die," ~ (Maaaniello), Auber; Aria (soprano), "The Power of Love,*' \ (Satanella), Balfe ; Overture, pianoforte, " Jessonda," Spohr; Aria (tenor), "Sweet Form," (Lurline), Wallace ; Duett, " A Voice from the Waves," Glover; Song (bass), "The Sea," Neukommi. Of the execution we may remark that it was excellent, and far above the average of amateur entertainments ; certainly no better performed concert has yet been given in Invercargill. The instrumental music and accompaniments were beautifully done, and the vocal pieces, solos, duets, and quartetts, were renderel not only cor- | r.cilj, bu with admirable taste and expression, i? c audience applauded most vociferously. The concept ended at 11 p.m.. with the .National Anthem. ! The 'Bruce Herald' states that the annual meeting for the election of Wardens for the Hundred of ' Tuiarau, Ma; aura, was held on the 26th March 'at Mr Stewart Shanks' home station. Messrs j John Turnbull, T. S. Shanks, and Findlay Mackay ! were duly elected Wardens for the current year. i After the election a meeting of license holders, of ' whom a large majority were present, was held for j the consideration of some "matters of general ! interest. Twe delegates, Messrs J. S. Shanks and ] John Turnbull, were chosen to co-ope ate with

deletes to be similarly dhosea ia thd Hundreds of Makareta and Toetoea, in taking measures to reprssent to the Provincial Council at its next session, tho negleoted state of tho main road through the Lower Mataura district. It was stated that the Otago Provincial Government had as yet spent nothing Ota the roads and bridges in this district, and that about 20.000 acre, of land had been sold in it, and settlement Was going on rapidly. By the courtesy of the Wardens for 1867, the aooounts current for the past year was laid before the^ meeting. A balance of over £120 sterling remaining in the hands 'of the Wardens. Messrs Allan Gait, John Turnbull, and T. Stewart Shanks were appointed to aot as a committee ein- ' powered to apply to making and improving roads and bridges within the Tut urau Hundred ; the sum of £113 to be at once handed over to them, and also tho one half of the assessment leviable for 1888. An authority to this effect was drawn up to be signed by all the license-holders in the Hundred, arid received the signature of all lioenseholdera present at the meeting. A number of the police of New South Wales have been discharged, in oonsequenoe of their sympathies with Fenianism. - We learn that order has been restored in Hoki- - tika, and that five of the leading Fenians* have been arrested. The Melbourne "Evening Star " says :— "Information has been given to the Police Authorities, with a view to their communicating with the Police Authorieties of South Australia, of a perfectly organised and large band of Fenians, that has been known to the iaformant (who, until recently, resided in Adelaide),- to have been; in existence in 'that city for some considerable tide past. The gentleman giving the information is a most reliable authority, and gives full particulars as to the name's and addresses of the parties implicated— we believe one reason for not giving the information while in Adelaide, was, a fear of the consequence of his name being made known." The same paper adds: — " We may supplement the above paragraph by saying that we are in possession of positive information that there are at present in Melbourne several accredited agents from the principals of the Fenian organisation at home, and they are stopping at well-known hotels in this town. It is also a known fact that a short time since a large number of firearms was landed from, a vessel in this port, the consignees of which were rather doubtful characters. It has also been mentioned that the offices of one of our contemporaries has been threatened with destruction; in consequence of. its remarks upon this subject ; but thiß threat we treat with contempt, as we .are quite sure that our police and other forces are quite capable of protecting the property and lives of the peaceable oitizens of Melbourne." The " Wakatip Mail" state* that the late Q-oldfields Commission of enquiry will result in a general shifting of ; the wardens from their present districts, and in the establishment of travelling clerks — two. for each district. It is also probable that one warden will administer the affairs of the IS2O residents in the Wakatip. Considerable reductions have taken place in the staff of the police force in Auckland, Canterbury and Marlborough. j _____ The English papers of the 3rd February, record a fearful storm that took place on the Ist of that month. The win! exceeded in violence anything previonsly on record. The " Daily Telegraph " says : — " Those who live in the metropolis were able to estimate by personal experience the intensity of the hurricane far away at sea. The blast of the wind rushed down the chimneys ; carpets and sofas were covered with layers of dust and soot : tiles were blown off the roofs; stacks of chimneys were sent toppling down, crashing through the roofs and causing serious loss of life ; locomotion was inconvenient, if not perilous; the 'wanton wind,' to adopt the stereotyped epithet applied by old-fashioned poets to the breezes, played odd tricks with gentlemen's hats and ladies' dresses; horses could hardly make way against the head wind : the trains were delayed by the fury of the elements ; carriages were upset ; and some serious and many trifling, accidents have been reported. The Crystal Palace and the roofs of all glass buildings suffered heavily ; the mails were behind the stated hour; London, in fact, was for the time put out of joint. But to judge from the accounts which come in from all parts of the kingdom the metropolis has been by no means the heaviest sufferer. The hurricane has swept wiih impartial fury over land and sea, and floods have come to aid its ravages. In London there was little rain, but in the north of England a J deluge » fell for hours, and swollen streams, turned into i ungovernable torrents, overflowed their banks and , spread destruction far and near. Villages were , submerged, furnace fires extinguished, mills under- ; mined; the produce of the farm, the furniture of i the cottager, and the heaped-up store of the mill- • owner, were swept away in a common destruction. . Lofty trees were prostrated, spires rocked to and , fro. Indeed, the force of the wiad was. unprece- ; dented. During the furious storm in which the Royal Charter and so many other gallant craft made shipwreck, the wind, gauges registered a l pressure of only 29 pounds on the square foot ; L but such was the strength of the tempest on" , Saturday that even in London the pressure was > 25 pounds. And in the provinces the force was i far greater. At Liverpool, the anemometer in an I observatory, constructed to register bo high a , pressure as 60 lbs to the square toot — a height never before reached — failed- to indicate the ■ actual force ; the pencil having been driven beyond ' that limit. Calculations, quite as likely to fal J short of the real result as to exceed it, made the ' pressure to be not less than 70 to 80 lbs, and _ what that means may be inferred from the fao f that the highest point ever registered in previou • galea w__s 45 lbs per square foot. Thu9, impressive . as the elemental disturbance appeared in London i the extent of the disaster must, wi-h us, have , fallen far short of that visible in districts equally unprepared for the sudden burst of the tempest, . and much more < xposed to its sweep." » We learn from the " Press " of the 26th in st., 1 that on the previous day a requisition, signed by some 300 of the inhabitants of Lyttelton, was • presented to T. Mer_on, Esq., chairman of the f Lyttelton Council : — " Sir — We, the undersigned \. f inhabitants of the town of Lyttelton, having s heard with feelings of great distress, the news y of the dastardly attempt at the assassination of •• His Royal Highness the Duke ol Edinburgh, do f hereby request that you will forthwith convene r a meeting for the purpose of expressing our I indignation and of sympathising with his Royal i. Highness." Signed by 3jO inhabitants. The i | Chairman on receipt of the requisition, furnished

Uifl following w»ply:-^" Geutlomen-^a answe? I to the request flontalued in you* requisition, X hereby oouvene a pttblio meeting of tha inhabitant* of Ly Melton, to. be hold at tho Dolonfota 1 Hall, for Bix o'clock this owning j and I furtha* hope that business will ba suspended at that time; that all Wai persons n^jr hare an oppor? tunity of attending— (Signed) T. Maaaos, Chairman of the Lyttelton Municipal Council." The meeting was held on the 1 9th, at the appointed time in the Oo'onHa' Hall. About 400- persona we're p^eaenfe, the w'iol« of th^ inhabitants appearing anxious to otoreaa their utmost indignation at the late lamentable outrage on his Royal Highness. . It is state 1 * by the Sydney correspondent of the Melbourne "Arsus," that the homeward -vovaga of H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh is likely to be maSe .by way of Torres Straits, and will probably commence a little earlier than has been hitherto reported. This, at least, is the news as it comes by telegram. The " Sydney Morning Herald" of the 19th inst, however, Btates that there is still a probability of the Duke continuing bis voyage at least a« far as New Zealand, an<l then proceeding on to England. It if suggested by -the " Argus " that .the news of "tne*^nock funeral at Hokitika, published in Sydney on the 18th mat., may, at the same time, have determined the Duke to take another route Homer To this it adds, on the authority of a private telegram received yesterday from a trustworthy" source, that no determination whatever has been arrived at as to the future movements of the Dute. . -„ On Friday, the 3rd April,, upwards of 460 acres were sold at the Land Office. The " Oamaru Times " states' that the Presbyi terian Church extension committee have appointed for three months the Rev. L. M'Gillivray, r of Riverton, -to the Waitaki district. H& hopesfto get some <li3t>.nce nj> tlia Waitaki this week, and will be'glai if arra, i i r ;om2nt3 can ba made at tbe several stations for holding service. We ("Argus") understand' that there is every probability that Mr Riddell will succeed in forming an Administration. His principal difficulty will be to obtain law officers, but no doubt he will be aMe in some way or other to overcome the obstacle. The opinion also appears to gain ground that in the event of the Darling grant being sent to the Council in a separate bill, jit will be passed by that body, although perhaps under protest. We learn that a company is being formed in order to start a new paper in Wellington. It is understood that it will advocate the views of the Centralist party. The " Bruce Herald" relates . the following :— . "The ' Sunderland Times' tells this very good story of the ' Circumlocution Offioe ' : — * A lock was wanted on premises in Sunderland, of which the Board of Admiralty has the official charge. The proper local functionary, accordingly, made application to their Lordships at Whitehall or Somerset House for an order to buy the lock, which would cost two shillings. In due course he received four or five folio sheets of inquirieSj the blanks in which he had to fill up, and forthwith return. This having been done, a gentleman was sent otot from-Tjncmoa.tlr to oarreytho hole in the door on which the lock was to be put. He came and returned first-class, and his railway fare and hotel charges (or, of course he required to ! lunch and dine there) came to a good round sum. I The surveyor's report was transmitted to London, ! under the orthodox envelope, and then an order came down to Sunderland authorising the lock to be bought and fixed on the <loor." Such is officialism at home, but it is little if any better in New Zealand. A gentleman, upon who-e veraity ' we can depend, recently arrived from the .\orili I Island, has told us the following — -A GovernI ment officer connected with the Volunteer Department, had occasion to travel a distan c of 25 miles, and was told there ws«a public coach by which he could travel; this did not suit the dignity of the pampered official, he must have a coach to himself, and so accordingly he got one^ costing in going and returning some £5 or £6 ; and vrhat think you, gentle readers, was the mighty duty he had to perform ? to review j TKR(£E men. This is how. our money goes — '■ this, and such as this, is what increases our Colonial debt and makes taxation grievous. ; The hon. J. C. Richmond, a member of the General Government, spoke at the Wellington Execration Meeting, last week. The views of the Government are no doubt stated in the following passages of Mr Richmond's speech, which we quote from the " Independent" : — " What had happened to the Prince, might as easily happen to any one present, for he was only distinguished by position, and had no more to do with the Irishquestion than the humblest member of the community. It was becoming to mark detestation of such a crime as has been attempted. (Cheers.) It was politic to do so, for no one was safe from the bullet and the knife. It was politic also for the people at once to express their Jletermination not to allow such practices to go on — to put down for ever the reign of terror a few fanatical creatures wished to institute.. Backed by vigorous i public opinion it would be put down. (Cheers.) The Government were desirous of seeing meetings lie the present held throughout the colony, in. order to assure them that it was backed by the ! cordial and universal support of the people in j putting down the system of terrorism which !was being attempted. This lot of mischief-making ' persons — -some actuated by misguided patriotism, ' Borne by darker motives— ought to be made to know that the people of New Zealand not enly feel true and heartfelt sympathy with tbe Prince in his sufferings, and horror at the atrocious ! attempt made on his liie, but are determined not •to submit to a system of te roiism. (Cheerß.) There was no one present who would not admit that the Irish population was not identified with | this crime. (Cheers.)