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Southland Times, Issue 1085, 6 January 1869, Page 2

We desire to dww the attention of the Postoffice authorities to the fact that not a single Duuedin journal has come to hand by the Rangitoto. We have had occasion to complain before jof the irregularity in receiving papers. Only a week ago, the mail from Dunedin left behind all the newspapers for I nvercargill. Blame must rest somewhere. If the Dunedin authorities are so exceedingly careless, their conduct should be noticed by the Postmaster General. The children of the Sunday School in connection with 3t John's Church were on Sunday last assembled for the distribution of books, consist. ing of Church Service and Hymns, as rewards to the most proficient and meritorious. On the following day, Monday, 4th inst., the children were entertained at a pic-nic held in the show yard of the Agricultural and Pastoral Association. The day proved fine, and the party enjoyed the juvenile games and sports provided for them to the fullest extent. Tea, buns, and other eatables were there in great abundance, and everything passed off pleasantly. A very heavy gale was experienced at Port Chalmers on last Saturday, doing considerable damage to shipping and property generally. The ' New Zealand Sun,' 4th January, says :— Her Majesty's steamer, the Challenger, with the Commodore on board, arrived at Wellington on Saturday afteVnoon from Melbourne. Before leaving, she waited at the Heads for the Commodore's letters by the Suez mail, and by them he was informed that the Galatea would come on to Australia, before vising the Presidencies. The progiammeis precisely as we published it after the arrival of the Panama mail. The Duke is to arrive in New Zealand at the end of March. Possibly the accident before starting which detained the steamer a few days, and detentions at different ports, may add a few days to this time. Still as the Galatea is to leave NewZealand by the end of May, it is to be presumed the Duke will, at the very latest, reach Wellington by the first week in April. The fears entertained in Victoria as to the spread of small-pox still continues. There have been two deaths, and one or two other cases have been reported but upon investigation found to be cases of the mild disease known as chicken-pox. It is remarkable that this iearful malady should have been imported into Victoria from China, and into New Zealand by a Panama Mail steamer. It is essentially necessary lhat every precaution should be taken to prevent its spread. The opinion that the effect of vaccination entirely dies out ia seven years is now endorsed by a large number of the leading medical men in Europe and the colonies. In Victoria all the doctors and others likely to be brought in contact with patients or infected materials are being re-vaccinated. This might also be done with advantage in New Zealand. The Wellington papers contain long accounts of the disorderly behaviour of the recruits from Melbourne which recently arrived in that city. They had been billited at the Empire Hotel, and very few of them were in a condition to traverse unaided the short distance between the Empire and the wharf. There must have been at least, 110 men in various stages of intoxication.

The 'Taranaki Herald 1 of the 12th ult., says : — " Yesterday Mr W. Humphries crushed a piece weighing about a half-pound in the presence of several gentleiren, and the result of the washing was 15 or 16 specks of gold. The Perseverance Company have during this week prospected several reefs in the neighborhood of their present works, and have been much gratified by the result of their search. At the reef known to the Company by the name oj " Hit or Miss," the tunnel has been lengthened to 80 feet, and the workmen have just reached some very promising looking stone, part of which has been brought into town to he examined. The Taranaki Gold Prospecting Association had a meeting on Thursday evening last, when it was agreed to start two parties immediately to the | ranges. The Otago Escort, which arrived in Dunedin on the 29th December, took from the goldfields over 12,0000zs of gold. The amount brought ' down on the corresponding week of the previous year was 11,7340zs 19 dwts. We, ' Herald' (Melbourne), have seen a very neatly executed model of a gun fitted with the apparatus invented by Mr Alexander Moncrieff, of Perth, Scotland, for enabling the gun to be loaded completely under cover, and raised for firing by an arrangement which is almost selfacting, inasmuch as the recoil of the gun at one discharge supplies the motivo power which raises it for the next. The model haa been made by Captain Shepherd, of the Emerald-hill Volunteers, who has considerably simplified the apparatus, and thus added to its value. Mr Moncrief's improvements are patented in the colony. The invention is worthy of a trial on a large scale. The ' Daily Times/ 30th December, says :— " The seventh annual show of the Taieri Agricultural Society was held yesterday at Mosgiel; East Taieri. There was a splendid display of cattle, horses, sheep, and dairy produce, and the attendance of the public was larger than has been known for some years past — the splendid weather which prevailed throughout the day >o doubt having its effect in drawing from their home* numbers of the surrounding settlers, besides those who were immediately concerned in the success of the show." The ' Wakatip Mail,' 26th December, reports that on the 21st of the month, " The Chinese residents of the Seven-Mile, Lake, entertained some of the Queenstown people at their camp on Monday. The spread provided was a really good one, and the hosts spared no pains in making their guests feel at home. A complimentary address was made, and after three cheers given by the Europeans, the affair broke up. Ah Quinan party are a very superior class of Chinese, and are making remunerative wages as miners. A most pleasurable day waa spent in this visit, and kindly feelings evoked." * The 'Daily Times,' 30th December, says:— "At the last weekly meeting of the Council of the Acclimatisation Society, the Manager, <Vr Clifford, reported that some persons had thrown pieces of bread into the pond where the young trout are kept, and that he feared some of the fish might be k>3t in consequence. These fears have unfortunately been realised, some dozen fish having been found dead within the last few days, the cause of death appearing to have been a sur« teit of bread." The miners who rushed to the Thames goldfields, when the first news from Auckland reached the southern mining districts, have, in a majority of instances, been disappointed, and many are returning to their old quarters. We learn that on the last trip of the steamer John Perm, from Auckland, she conveyed 65 returning diggers to the West Coast. The ' Daily Times,' of the 29fch ulfc., says :— " A case of considerable importance to miners has just been decided by His Honor Mr Justice Gray in the District Court at Lawrence. It will be remembered that numerous complaints have lately been made at Blue Spur of the flooding occasioned by the accumulation of tailings there. A Mr Medwin, a publican, brought an action against some claimholders there to recover £150 for damages thus occasioned to his premises* The plaintiff lost his case in the Wardens' Court, on which he appealed to the District Court. His Honor, in giving judgment, said, as reported in the ' Tuapeka Press,' that this particular field at Blue Spur was now wholly given over to one description of mmmg — viz., sluicing. It could not possibly be carried on without the accumulation of tailings encroached from time to time upon ground occupied for business areas. It would be a very detrimental right for the occupiers of business sites to insist upon the right of stopping all mining rather than than their business areas should be encroached on. In estimating damages, he thought that this consideration should not be overlooked. His judgment would be that the Warden's decision be reversed, and that Appellant (Plaintiff below) should recover judgment for £15 damages and £9 8s costs —these costs including the costs both in this Court and in the Warden's Court." The ' Leader,' of the 26th December, says :— > " A very melancholy case of suffering and death from being lost in the bush has been reported from the Darling. Dr Robinson, formerly of Booligal, went with his wife and family in a spring cart on a journey to some place on the Darling, and took a 'short cut* to reach his destination sooner. Nothing was heard of them till the dead bodies of Dr Robinson and three of his children were found by some travellers, want of water having evidently been the cause of death. Nothing has been heard of Mrs Robinson and the eldest daughter, about nineteen years of age, but hardly any hopes are entertained of their being found alive." Our files from Queensland are to the 12th Dec* The blacks are said to be continuing to make faarful havoc on the coast runs. The prospects of the Cape River goldfield continue to be as good as ever. A new quartz reef has been struck, and some very rich specimens have been obtained from it. Late Auckland papers state that there is a probability of a goldfield being proclaimed ere long at the Bay of Islands. The district supposed to be auriferous extends from Cape Brett to Eucpeka, and the natives are said to be favorable to the opening up of the land on the same terms as were given at the Thames.

The 'Argus,' 25th December, says: — "The country journals complain of the extreme heat experienced on Wednesday last. A.t Castlemaine the thermometer, at four o'clock in the afternoon, registered 90 ° in the shade, and 130 ° in the sun. At Fryerstown the heat was so oppressive that the Castlemaino coach was not sent out lest "an accident should happen to the horses. At Bendigo the maximum attained in the shade waa higher, being 102 ° ; at Ballarat the reedbeds of Lake Wendouree were set on fire by the ■un. At Sunbury yesterday, the thermometer in the sun stood at 135 ° . Bush fires appeared to bo raging all over the Western district, from the You Tangs to Cape Otway." In an article on the increase of crime in England, the ' Weekly Dispatch' says :— M Crime has grown with every mitigation of our code The dangerous classes have waxed daily mo -<i fearless and reckless as severity has rolled, and " grim-visaged law haß smoothed his wrinkled front," until the transit of a marching regiment has left London for the time in possession of the mob, and ruffianry has been made so daring by impunity that it is perilous to venture into our streets in broad and open day. Forgeries have multiplied in the very ratio of the relaxation of their p enalties. Garroting threatens to bgcome a domestic institution. Burglary and highway robbery prevail in daylight, on our thoroughfares — within hail of our very police stations. A contemporary avers that four assaults with robbery of the person occur in our metropolitan streets every day — that is to say, four offences which, within a little more that a quarter of a century, would have brought the offenders to the gallows. We all recollect the execution of Fauntleroy — the last of the executed forgers. We have relaxed the law, but forgery has greatly outstripped our humanity, and again threatens < the security of all mercantile transactions. The gigantic frauds which would have been " a hanging matter" in the " good old days when George the Third was King," are entirely of modern growth — the spawn of unasserted authority. It is almost an entirely new feature of our social history that crime should ascend into high places, and that we should count misdemeanants and even felons among our upper classes." From the ' Lyttelton Times ' we learn that ! another flood took place at the Waimakarivi on the 19th ult. It says :— " A strong fresh came down this river on Friday, and caused a repetition of the overflow beluw M'Lean's. The body of water thus escaping made its way into the River Styx, and in some places was upwards of 3ft. deep, whilst it flowed within a few chains of the Harewood Church. The Styx, as a natural j consequence, is greatly flooded, and it was reported on Saturday morning that the flooring of the bridge on the North Road was under water, but at the same time we have good authority for knowing that the overflow is subsiding, and no ■ further damage than that resulting from inundated land along the banks of the Styx need be apprehended." The • Sydney Morning Herald,' 19th Dec. remarks: — "The idea of a Trade Conference seems to have been started by New Zealand, and to have had its origin there in the detire to ship wool direct to America. The appeal was made to the Government of this colony, which was asked to be the medium of communication with the other colonies. Februrary was suggested as the most convenient month ; but Mr Samuel, who quite adopted the suggestion of Conference, fixed March as the time, and Sydney as the place. It is reported that Victoria is willing ; and the meeting will, therefore, probably take place. It has been suggested that at the Conference mauy other matters of intercolonial interest might be considered.