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Southland Times, Issue 970, 17 June 1868, Page 2

It will be seen from our advertising oolum ns that the election of a Maori representative for the Southern District in the General Assembly is announced to take place at the school house, Ruapuke, on Saturday, June 20th. We understand that several property and householders are intending to move in the matter of a municipality for Invercargill. It is high time something was done, the majority of the streets areina wretched condition, andeventh'ose onwhiob. the Town Board expended so much, are becoming nearly as bad as those that have never been made —the wooden gratings are rotting, the drains in every direction are falling in, and some of the streets becoming all but impassable. We hope that the gentlemen who have intimated their intention of moving in the matter wfll carry out the project in earnest— the process to be gone through is simple. A corrected report of the recent Long Bush Ploughing match appears in our columns this morning, which we publish at the request of the Committee, some omissions having inadvertently been made in that previously published. Four men were brought up at the Resident Magistrate's Court on Monday last, charged with furious riding in the town ; it appeared, however, that the men had not been reckless in any way, nor ridden" harder than was necessary to keep in order a small mob of cattle which they were driving to the slaughter yards. The Magistrate, under tho circumstances, dismissed the case. His Worship said that as no law was in force against the driving of cattle through the streets during the day, the practice was permissible, but that any person charged with furious riding, even after cattle, if brought before him and convicted of the offence, would be visited with a heavy fine. Notwithstanding all that is said or written about the moist climate of Southland it would appear, that^n reality less rain falls here than in any of the other provinces. An abstract of Meteorological Observations, compiled by Dr Hector, and published in a recent General G-o---vernment Gazette, gives the following comparative statistics for the month of February of the present year, viz : — At Taranaki, there were 12 days during the month, on which rain fell, the total fall being 6070 inches, the average for the same month for the previous four years being — rain fell on 9 days, total fall 3*677 inches. Wellington—rain fell on 15 days, total fall, 8*760 inches j same month previous four years— rain fell on 8 days, total fall, 3*280 inches. Nelsonrain fell on 9 days, the total fall being 19950 inches ; same month previous four years, 5 days j 6-430 inches. Christchurch — rain fell on 15 days, total fall, 5-664 inches; same month previous four years, 5 days j 3/258 inches. Hokitika had 16 wet days, in which 9*500 inches of water fell, the same month for the previous two years having had 14 rainy days, and 11*420 inches of water. At Dunedin it rained on 7 6 days, the total fall being 5*074 inches ; the same month for the previous four years being — rainy days 14, • rainfall, 2*351. Southland had during tho month, 11 rainy days ; the total fall being' 3*548 inches ; the same month for the previous three years having had also 11 days on which rain fell, the total fall being also very nearly the same, 3*920 inches ; thus it would appear that we enjoy by far the most equable climate of any province in New Zealand; the number of wet days, and the total rainfall being not only absolutely, less than in any of the other provinces quoted, but there being also evident a much greater uniformity between the different years than is shown by any of the other districts. The " Argus," 30th May, says :— "Two very important notices of motion were given in the Legislative Council yesterday by Mr O'Shanassy. The one had reference to the necessity of providing for the charitable institutions of Tictoria by a special appropriation. The other reads as follows : — " That, in the opinion of this House, the time has arrived when it becomes the duty of Parliament to review the Constitution of Victoria as it exists, with the view of amending its provisions, enlarging its scope and powers, and defining accurately the functions to be performed under it, more especially in relation to the following chief heads ;— -1. The Governor. 2. The responsible Ministers. 3. The Judiciary. 4. The two Houses of Parliament. 5. The representation of the people in both Houses of Parliament. 6. The qualification and number of representatives. 7. The compensation (if anj) of representatives. 8. A court of appeal. 9. Impeachment and procedure thereon. 10. The power to enter into contracts and render them effectual with the Governments of Australian colonies on general subjects, such as — I. Defence; 11. Postal ; 111. Immigration ;' IV. Customs or Tariff j V. Reciprocity in civil and criminal jurisdiction." . ' The " Lyttelton Times" of the 7th. June, gives the following account of a very unusual proceeding in the Supreme Court : — " Those who are in the habit of attending the sittings of the Supreme Courts more through curiosity to listen to the proceedings than anything else, were taken a little", by.surpriae on Saturday, when the Sheriff found it necessary to call upon persons, in the body of the Hall to serve as jurore in the case against Mary Holmes and Mary Ann Greaves, for larceny. This siep was' necessitated in consequence of a number of summoned jurors having been excused from attendance at intervals during the week. At the time these two prisoners were arraigned, the jury in the case of Walter Johnston, for burglary, were considering their verdict, and besides thsse, there remained only fourteen jurors available. These would, of course, have been more than sufficient, but the Crown Prosecutor enforced his right of challenging three, and Mr Joynt (who defended Holmes), four of the twelve called into the box. In this emergency, there was no alternative left them than to make up the full jury by calling upon some of the spectators to serve. There was an immediate rush to the door of the Hall in order to escape the Sheriff ; but he succeeded in obtaining the required number, and they were made to serve just as though they had been summoned, notwithstanding the protestations to His Honor that they had bo much urgent business on hand."

Wo have received a copy of the " Anti Tobacco Journal," published in London. It devotes to i certain destruction all who smoke the " noxious" i weed, and concludes with a modest request for I subscriptions to aid the endeavors which the i journal in question advocates — viz., the abolition t of smoking. Any of oar readers can peruae the s interesting publication by calling at. this office. c r Mr Charles Rous Marten, Director of Meteorological Stations, reports as follows : — The weather during the month of May was unsettled and ' showery in an unusual degree, but no heavy rain occurred, and there were several intervals of fine ' weather, lasting from three to four days each. . The wind waß moderate throughout; the strongest breeze was from the eastward on the 24th. ' During the. 24th, a severe storm passed some miles to the southward. The day at thifl Station was extremely fine, and the barometer high. The mean temperature of the month was 46'3 deg, which is o*7 deg. below the average of nine years. The rainfall was 3*92 inches ; which does not j differ materially from the average of the same period. The readings of the instruments were as follows : — Barometer — maximum, 30'288 inches (3rd and 22nd). Barometer — minimum, 29*310 inches (lBt). Barometer — mean, 29941 inches.: Barometer — range, 0*978 inches (all . corrected and reduced to 32 deg 3?ah., and sea level. Thermometer in shade — maximum, 64'8 "deg. (19th). Thermometer in shade— minimum, 24'6 deg. (4th). Thermometer in Bhade — mean, 46*3 deg. Thermometer in Bhade — total range, 40*2 deg. Thermometer in shade — mean daily range, 17*1 deg. Radiation — Solar maximum, 94*9 deg. (9th). Radiation — terrestrial minimum, 18*2 deg. (4th). Hygrometer — mean dew-point, 40*1 deg. Hygrometer — mean vapor tension, 0'248 inch. Hygrometer — mean hutcidity, # 79 inch. Rainfall—total in month, 3*92 inches. Rainfallmaximum daily, 057 inches (Ist). RainfaU — No. of days rain fell, 17. Evaporation— total in month, 2*42 inches. Cloud — mean amount, (0-10) 4-9. Wind— N., 2 days; S.E., 4; W., 9; N.W., 14 days. Anemometer — mean daily movement, 171 miles. Anemometer — maximum daily movement— 3Bo (253). Thunder on 21st; hail on 30th; fog on 20th. Towards midnight on the 31st a storm commenced, which continued during the Ist, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th of June j it was remarkable for its severity and duration, but belongs rather to the June, than the May report, although it demands notice in the latter, as having begun at the close of that month." The " Wellington Independent" of 6th June, states that Dr Hector has not yet reported upon the specimen of gold-bearing quartz submitted to him for analysis, but is quite understood that the golden specs in the stone, so eagerly looked at by many pretended connoisseurs, j;and pronounced by them as; the right metal, are nothing but seme kind of pyrites, many of which often assume the appearance of gold, having, however, a much lighter hue. Mr Courts Crawford brought into town, some years ago, specimens quite similar to to those now creating such a temporary furore. They contained metallic indications similar to Mr Groves specimens, and a number of them, we believe, were obtained by that gentleman from some leaders of the same 'reef which Groves has prospected. Some of the specimens in question were placed at the time in the Museum. The " Lyttelton Times," 10th June, says :— " A meeting of the Provincial Reform Association was held in White's Commercial rooms, at 7.30 last evening. Present — Messrs Stevens (president), Inglis, Reeves, St Quentin, Cutler, Gould, A. Duncan, Jameson, JHarmaii,- and -Hawles.- -M? Gould was moved to the chair, in order thatMr Stevens might introduce the following resolutions :— " That it is expedient^-1. That all the Provincial loans of the colony shall bo made an immediate charge upon the consolidated 1 fund. 2. That the keeping'of accounts between the provinces and the [Colonial Treasury shall be discontinued from the end of the current financial year; and that the accounts now kept shall be finally closed. 3. That the Provincial Governments ' should cease to receive as provincial revenue any portion of the consolidated fund.' Mr Stevens referred at considerable length to the reasons which forced "the adoption of such, a change in the financial eyatem as his resolutions indicated, and said he did not intend to put the subject to a vote, as Mr Montgomery and others were unavoidably absent. There was a fourth i e solution on the notice paper, which proposed to deal with the departments which should be aa-^ sumed by the General Government as colonial departments, including gaols , harbours, and police. From the discussion that ensued, the tone of the meeting appeared to be in favour of the adoption of the first three resolutions, and with regard to the fourth, that the police department should continue to be under the control of the Provincial Government. : The " Daily Times" says : — " There is every probability that the" difficulties of Auckland will be resolved by the discovery of Goldfields, employing a large European population. A letter has been received in town from a resident at the •Thames Goldfield, giving very good accounts of the returns, and also telling that there is considerable speculation in claims goiag on. Where good reins are struck, tlie quartz appears very rich, and, bur informant states, yields 30 to 40 ounces to the ten. He, however, warns his friends that goJd- mining is a lottery. There are drawbacks also to the comfort of mining in Auckland. The Goldfieldß are too near the territory of disaffected tribes, and the only alluvial gold discovered has been upon 'rebel ground.' Flattering as are the accounts, we cannot see that the temptations presented would justify any one already employed going to the northward." The " Wellington^ Advertiser" of the sth June guys:—" Among the changes in the Ministry which will follow the appointment of Major Richardson to the Office of Speaker of the Legislative Council/ will be, we understand, the fulfillment: of the office of Colonial Treasurer by the Hon. John Hall, by whom the duties attached to that office are at present being temporarily dis. charged. It is believed that this hon. gentleman will continue to hold the office of PostmasterGeneral and Telegraph Commissioner." We learn from a Marlborough paper that payment has been stopped by the Provincial Government of Marlborough, in consequence of the General Government's intention to impound all the revenne to meet the Nelson debt of £7500, which debt has all along been supposed to ' fall due in 1870, but which, fortunately for the province in its present state, turns out to, be due on the Ist of July, 1868. If the above report be true, and we have no reason to doubt it, Marlborough is assuredly gasping its last.

The "Grey River Argus" renflrts :— " Boat accidents hare been of. rather frequent occurrence up the Grey, River lately, caused, aa usual, by the large number of Bnags which interrupt its navigation. We leiirn that on Wednesday last a cargo boat belonging to Mr Rugg ran foul of a snag on what is known as the Grey Fall, some distance above the Arnold Junction, and swamped. The men all got ashore safely, and, after much labor, managed to pave the cargo, "which, of course, was much damaged by water. On the following day, Thursday! another accident took place at the four-mile stable, by which, life was very nearly sacrificed. The large boat known as Montgomery's prahm was being tracked up the river to the coal mine, to take in a cargo, and; two inien named Thompson and Laurie were in. the boat. About ''bur miles Up, a nasty snag had to be rounded, and the bows of the prahm were pushed well out to enable it to o?me round; without contact with the snag. This had the- , effect of bringing an extraordinary strain on the j tracking-rope ; while at the same time the current caught the bows, and, as we are informed, the prahm was drawn right under the water and, swamped. .Thompson, although he had on a. thick cloth jacket, managed to swim ashore safely and Laurie clung to the prahm, and from thence got on to the snag, but the force of the current was such as to drag him under the water for a few seconds, and his mate thought he was drowned, but he re-appeared again holding on to the snag. Fortunately, the men in another boat which was coming up the river ."at the time. witnessed the disaster, and immediately. rescued the man from his perilous position." The following description of. Tahiti appears in the " Southern Cross." The letter is written by a former resident of .Auckland: — "I am at the present time truly in the garden of the world. I do not know how to commence,' but since I hare been on the island I hare been in paradise. We sighted the land last Sunday week, and did not get in for a week j just 43 days from Auckland to Tahiti. On Wednesday before we got in the captain asked for volunteers to pull ashore in the ship's boat to get a pilot, for he was afraid to go too near the reef for fear the swell would take him on to it. It was a distance of thirty, miles to pull, and I for one volnnteered. We started at one o'clock, just after dinner, and pulled about 20 miles, just in sight of the break. It was getting^ dark when a' heavy squall, struck us off the island. We had to put about and run before it, the sea breaking- right over us, and no land on account c£ the reef. ' It was jpitctdark, and,- without sails or oars, the boat was making about eight, miles per hour. After running alongside the reef for about 20 miles, we happened to see a gap in the reef, so in we went,- and landed at a native settlement at one o'clock in the morning. The natives were very kind, and gave us any amount of fruit to eat. At 'two o'clock we started to pull back to the town, inside the Teef, ' and : reached it at twelve o'clock on. Thursday — we. were just twenty-four hours pulling what we expected to do in four hours. While we were ashore we were treated very kindly by Mr Stuart, the owner of the cotton plantation; he boarded us at the hotel free of charge until we went to the ship. We Bent the pilot out, and then started to go back ourselvesj We got to the ship on Friday at two o'clock. The people on board thought that we were lost. The squall had struck the brig, and done' a deal of damage in the rigging, blowing away the jib and stay-sail ; in fact, it was the most dangerous adventure ever I had, and it was providential that we got through the reef; if we had missed the opening in the reef we should most certainly have been blown out to sea, without water or provisions, — in fact, the people on shore say we were the most fortunate lot ever they heard of. This is a charming island,— tons of fruits of all sorts, and the Kanakas are the most hospitable of natives I ever heard of; when any people, are passing their houses they will run out with hundreds of fruit. There ib a splendid cotton plantation belonging to Mr Stuart ; he has full 1000 Chinamen and 400 black men working on it. It would be impossible forme to describe the place as it ought to be done, so I must .conclude. We sail for San Francisco ;on Sunday next. I will write on arrival, I must wish you good-bye. Remember me to all."/ " ' ; ■•-" ' The '"Wellington Independent," speaking of the abandonment by the Imperial Government of the claims. against th^a colony, says ; — "After repeated interyiews with.the.Puke. of. Buckingham, Mr Fitzherbrt found it iidjie to expect that the colonial claims would be listened to bo far as the payment by, the Imperial Treasury of any balance was concerned ; and very probable, his Grace equally saw as remote a prospect of dipping his hand into the New Zealand chest ; so in the end they mutually consented to write off the disputed accounts as hopelessly bad debts. This arrangement for wiping out thesis churns cannot be otherwise than highly satisfactory to the colony, the more especially as 'my Lord* of the Treasury* were most reluctant in their consent, largely sharing in the views which Mr Jonei had presistently placed before them. There has lately been an uneasiness felt in official quarters as to th a safety of the Consolidation .Acts of last session* More than one hint had reached the colony that those Acts were considered by the Colonial Office to be open to such grave objections as: to them by no means certain of being assented to by her Majeßty. Those hiuts were ,more plainly developed in Tuesday's letters via Panama, accompanied, however, by . the assurance that all danger was at length over, the Duke of Bucking* ham- having consented to advise that the Acts be assented to. We should-, not hare gone into mourning if the Acts had, been^ disallowed ; but considering all things, perhaps more harm would have now been " done by disallowing than by allowing them. As they are at length law, we may expect to hear shortly- of Mr Tfttzherbert taking action in reference to his consolidation mission He could scarcely have, done so before j but that he has now a favourable field in which to commence operations may be gathered from the statement in circulation yesterday that, by lodging £500,000 of debentures with some of the London Banks, Mr Eitzherbert has been able to obtain an advance of £450,000 on them at four per cent., with which he cancelled other debentures before maturity, bearing interest at seven per cent. This looks like a genuine ' savingi transaction, and we trust that further information will enable us to feel assured- that it is really as genuine as it looks. Injustice to Mr Fitzherbert and in view of the stimulus which good monetary news would give to the whole of New Zealand just now, we hope something ' semi-official' may be allowed to transpire on this matter."