THIRD SESSION.

Southland Times, Issue 943, 1 May 1868, Page 5

THIRD SESSION.

MONDAY, 27th APRIL, 1868. The third session of the third Provincial Council of Southland was opened on Monday, the 27th inst., in the Provincial Council Hall, Kelvin-street. The Speaker (Jas. Wilson, Esq.,) took the chair shortly after 12 o'clock, when the following members were present, viz., Messrs Lumsden, Dalrymple, Armstrong, Blacklock, Cuthbertson, M'Clure, Swale, Clerke, Pearson, Calder, Johnston, and Longuet. The Speaker having opened the proceedings with prayers The Clerk read the Proclamation convening the Council. Mr Abmsteong introduced Mr Cuthbertson, member for Waiau, who took « his seat. j His Honor the Superintendent was | announced, and received by the Council ■with the usual marks of respect. His Honor then read the following address: — Me Speaker and Gentlemen op THE PbOYINCIAL COUNCIL. ' Believing that it would be thewish of the Provincial Council, as it ia of the Government, to prepare the way for the completion ot the Oreti Railway with as little farther delay as possible, I have thought it expedient to call you together for the special purpose of laying before you, for your careful consideration and advice, certain matters in connection therewith. At the two last sessions, and while the land fund was still impoimded for the payment of the remainder of our debt, certain resolutions were passed by you asking of the Colonial Government a grant of 60,000 acres of land for the purpose of carrying out this work, and on the last occasion you desired that tenders should be called for giving the alternative of land or cash payments. By colonial legislation the land fund is now freed, and the beneficial effects are already felt by settlers, in the improved state of the roads in all directions. I have little doubt that the increased demand for land is in a great measure attributable to the near prospect of the completion of the Oreti line, and I have as little doubt that the certainty of its completion will have a further influence in the same direction. The means by which the Government proposes, without again risking financial embarrassment, to accomplish this work, will, I trust, meet with your approval. The correspondence formerly laid on the table, in conjunction with that now to be placed before you, will explain the technical difficulties in the way of carrying out our object on the original plan of land payments. It will also show you that the Colonial Government has, so far as its legal power allows, consented to aid us in another way, which will enable me, on : -Y< :neeiinjr with your approval, at once to make the necessary arrangements to contract for the plant for cash. 1 have been unable as yet to call for any tenders, aa the plans and specifications will only arrive to-day, nor should lin any case have felt justified in going to the expense which this would have involved before the Council • had sanctioned the plan which the Government proposes to pursue. Before the close of the session, however, every detail that you may desire to be made acquainted with will be laid before you, and the Engineer, who. will arrive to-day for that purpose, will be in attendance to give such evidence and explanations as you may wish for. The standing rules and orders passed by you last session will be again submitied to you for amendment, in accordance with suggestions of the Honorable the Attorney-General. Although, but for the necessity of passing these standing rules and orders, and obtaining your assent to the present proposal for finishing the Oreti line, I should not have thought it necessary to inconvenience you at this busy time of the year by a special meeting, yet, now that you have met, there are some other points ou which it will be desirable to say a few words. You will, no doubt, feel it your duty to present a loyal address to Her Majesty relating to the attempt on the life of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh. And I shall forward it with the most hearty sympathy and satisfaction, since His Eoyal Highness has happily escaped. Owing to the great increase of traffic at the Bluff Harbor, it is quite impossible to find accommodation, either there or at the Invercargill station, for all the goods landed; and letters received from the Collector of Customs and the agent of the Panama Steam Company on this subject will be laid before you, and you will be asked to vote the requisite sum for giving additional warehouse accommodation, as also for the re-erection of the signalman's house at the Bluff, which was, last week,with its contents, destroyed by fire. Turing the recess the brig Amherst brought in from the Auckland Islands twelve of the survivors from the wreck of the U.S. ship General Grant, reporting the possibility of some other of their fellow-passengers or shipmates being drifted off to one of the neighboring groups of islands. Feeling sure of your ready acquiescence in any step the Government might tnke to save the lives of these unfortunates, while any hope of doing so remained, I arranged with the owners of the Amherst to return to those islands, make a thorough search Tor them, and deposit in conspicuous places on the different islands such supplies as might possibly be the means of saving the lives of future shipwrecked persons. The expense has necessarily un-u considerable, though quite inadequate to repay the owners and crew of the brig, but I am sure you will not begrudge it in such ;i cause: . '.[ .._ " . . * The report. of_ Mr Thompson, on.his operations in coal prospecting, will be laid

on the table. There has not yet been time to obtain from Dr. Hector an analysis of any of the specimens ; but whatever its quality may prove to be, beds of some description seem to underlie almost the whole area of the Province. The terms en which the bridge over the Oreti Ferry has been erected have proved satisfactory, and I purpose to authorise the construction of another, on similar terms, higher up the river. There is one other subject so important that I cannot help adverting to it now, although, and because of its importance, I shall not ask you to come to any immediate decision ; and I bring it before you to-day, in order that at the next ordinary session of the Council it may have received your individual and mature consideration. I refer to the necessity of providing for the many deserted or destitute children, whose almost only help has i hitherto lain on the voluntary efforts and , I charity of the Ladies' Benevolent Society. • I The report of the Commissioner of Police j i which will be laid on the table will show j you, sadly and clearly, that it is now beyond the power of a society of ladies to grapple with this evil. The Province owes this Society a great debt of gratitude ; but it must henceforth, lest worse come of it, take the matter into its own hand, and deal with it systematically. In connection with this subject is also the I necessity of providing relief for many of the patients who are necessarily discharged from the Hospital before they are fit again to earn their living by bodily exertion. I think that a re-arrangement of the Hospital regulations might perhaps meet this need. I earnestly request your consideration of this subject during the recess, and shall be prepared to lay before you at the next session a proposal for meeting the case. I have now to declare this Council open for the transaction ot public business. On the motion of Mr Cuthbeetson, Messrs Calder, Lumsden, M'Clure, and the mover, were appointed a committee to prepare a reply to the address, and bring it up at next sitting. THE ORETI RAILWAY. Mr BiiAcklock laid on the table the correspondence between His Honor the Superintendent and the Colonial Secretaiy in reference to the completion of the Oreti Eailvvay. On the motion of Mr Blacklock, the Clerk read the opinion of the AttorneyGeneral on. the standing orders of the Council. It was to the effect that they were sufficient for all interests concerned. The Bules, with letters from the Colonial Secretary upon them, were laid on the table. COAL IN THE PROVINCE. Mr M'Cltjbe laid on the table the report of the coal prospector, which, on the motion of Mr Blackxock, was read as follows : — Inrercargill, April 23, 1868. To His Honor the Superintendent of Southland. Sib, — I have the honor to report to you of my proceedings as coal prospector for the Government of the Province of Southland, namely, for a period of three months, from the 20th January to the 20th April, 1868. January 24tb, took rods with two men down to railway cutting at Clifton, commenced to bore to the depth of 43 feet, and went through the different strata as follows : — surface soil, sft j lignite, 17ft ; blue clay, with hole quite dry, 2ft ; Bund and gravel, with water, 1 ft ; stiff black clay, 2ft 6in ; lignite, 4ffc 6in ; loose clay with various grates lift. [ Remarks : This hole would require tubing, if proceeded with.] February Ist, bored near railway breakwater ; went down to a depth of eleven feet, and found as follows: — gravel and clay mixed, 6ft ; lignite, 3 ft ; sand drift, and stopped on account of water, 2ft. February 2nd, commenced to sink a shaft inside of breakwater, to a depth of twelve feet, ani found as follows : — (--lay and gravel mixed, 4ft ; white clay, strata, 4ft ; sand, with water, 4ft. [Remarks* Being a flue clay of good quality.] February 4th, sunk a shaft to a depth of 14 feet, and found as follows : — clay and gravel mixed, 4ft; stiff red clay, sft; fine gravel, lft 6in ; white clay, same quality as former, 3ffc ; deposit of marine decayed shells, 6in ; struck sand and water, and then left. February 6th, sunk a shaft at or near M'Kissack's house, on the I flat near Puni Creek. Had to abandon, the I formation being to loose and wei. I came to the conclusion that the formation is of too recent a I nature to allow anything more to be done without tubing, which would cause immense outlay before striking a stratified formation. February 12fch, bored on Block 2, lot 19, 2few River Hundred, j near the banks of the river, to the depth of 45 feet ; ■ Conglomerated gravel, 9 ft ; slate clay, 20 it ; ; various clays, with hole quite dry, 5 ft ; rock, 1 ft •, eatidstoue, 6 in ; b.ue clay, 9 ft 6 in. Underneath this, blue sand, with water rising to the top of the hole, which stops further progress without tubing. Therefore I think the rock formation might be reac ;ed with less expense than further south of this locality, the earth being more, stratiform than at previous bores. [Remarks : Shale rock which would not burn.] February 2 n th — Proceeded further on to the two creeks, to see the formation of the country, an-i found lignite in most of the creeks about this locality, and no appearance of any secondary formation, February 27th — Bored at the gap in Forest Hill Government Reserve, New River Hundred, Block 2, Lot 27, to the depth of 43 feet and found as follows: — limestone, 40 ft; sandstone, soft nature, 2 ft 6 in ; limestone, 6 in. [Remarks : I am of opinion that the secondary formation of sandstone can be reached, where coal may be expected to be found.] March 8th — Orders to pay the men off and stop boring. March 10th — Further orders to proceed to "Aylmer's, Clarke's, Reinecker's, Holt's, Howell and Steven's stations, where coal is found, and samples procured from the same. March 14th — I find at Reinecker's station a seam cropping out of the bank, 18 feet 6 inches thick, which runs across the creek in a N.N-E. and S.S.W. direction, with no roofing of sandstone, but large quantities of gum on top of this seam — the principal formation of these hills being sandstone. [Remarks : 1 think this coal is very valuable for most purposes.] March 16 — Proceeded to the Nightcaps and found coal on Howell and Steven's station, about fifteen miles from Winton railway station, over a level country, and the quality of which is equal to that on Holt's station. My belief is that this part of the country abounds with coal. March 17th — Next I went to Hill End and found no coal cropping out anywhere, but I found that the sandstone formation is the same as at the Night-caps and Mount Beaumont Country. March 24 — Proceeded to prospect Hokanui range and went to the Otapiri stream and ound coal cropping out up a creek within eight miles of winton, and the appearance at the face shews, length, about 30 feet ; and a depth of 2 feet 6 inches ; with a dip into the hill of one in twelve, in a JV.W; direction ; the quality of the eoid being of slate appearance and containing a quantity of bituminous gas. March 30 — Proceeded further up the Otapiri. I found another creek which contained pieces ot coal of better quality than the last mentioned, but could not find an y out-crops, having too much scrub and thick brush to contend with, and without having a proper

party td carry on the work. April Bth— Proceeded to the New River Heads and prospected at Barracouta Point. I find there indications of coal being fixed wittt the stone, and very hard. 1 would suggest that this be properly tested, as the stone shews exactly the same as that on Reinecter's station, which lies above the coal. April 21st — Returned from Ctapi"i wiih a bag containing samples, as per special order, and delivered the same to His Honor the Superintendent of the Province, the 22nd day of April, 1868. I have the honor to be, Sir, Your most obedient servant, Gh J. Thompson, Prospector.

Mr Luhsden suggested that the samples referred to should be placed, not on the table, but in some place where they could be seen and inspected. The Provincial Treasurer said the request would be attended to. PREPARATION OF FLAX. ( The Provincial Treasurer laid on , the table the following letter from the | Colonial Secretary, enclosing one from a < party willing to undertake the preparation : of flax :— Colonial Secretary's Office, Wellington, 6th Feb., 1868. Sib, — I have the honor to enclose a copy of a letter dated 3 th December last, from Mr John Moore, of Ballarat, in the Colony of Victoria, stating terms on which he would be able to manufacture New Zealand flax. Mr Moore has been informed that no sum has been appropriated by the colonial legislature as a premium for the successful manufacture of New Zealaud flax, but that I would send a copy of his letter to each of the Superintendents, in order that they might, if they should think it desirable, communicate directly with him on the subject. — I have, &c, &c, (Signed) E. W. Sfaff /rd. His Honor the Superintendent of Southland.

Ballarat, December 30fch, 1867. Sift, — I send you a copy for the manufacture of the New Zealand flax. I have manufactured it in Europe, also in this Colony. I got it made into linen at home, which made very good linen, and white, and for strength nothing could exceed it. A man can do one ton per week. The first expense would be one hundred pounds, which would put up everything fitting for twelve or fourteen men to work at : each man will do one ton per week. By enlarging the manufactory you could employ as many men as you like. I want a premium of five hundred pounds ; also, if there is a company formed, I want two shares, one for my son and one for myself. I will undertake the management of the factory. I would rather manufacture it in Melbourne. I think I could do it cheaper than in New Zealand. I wont ask all the money until I give ample satisfaction. Direct in care of Mr Dimsey, Common School, White Flat, Ballarat, Colony of Victoria. — Your obedient servant, (Signed) John Mooee.