The Southland Times. MONDAY, MAY 10, 1869.

Southland Times, Issue 1156, 10 May 1869, Page 2

The Southland Times. MONDAY, MAY 10, 1869.

:■■■'■-■ ■■ ■■■- " - > ■•' ■ y.'i" l ■"'!.., -. - v;; -^ ' . ?.,„ \%%\ SbiTic^iiTtrßAL SpciEr^~The meet> ing.df this association;: /called fbr'* Fridayievemng last, lapsed in consequence of the paucity of attendance. It was, however, arranged by thoße then present that the meeting should be_pp.Bfc-._ "posed for a ' fortnight", when iiTwas hoped the. (Weather would/be less violent. * ; BacheldebV DioAjiAJtf^.rr-Jhfi attendance aTthe Theatre ifoyaTon Friday and Saturday evenitigs last, was .rather' hotter than during the earlier part of the week, many being apparently determined to see the njagnificient representations of Milton's ideas, even at the expense of a wetting. Taking nr the CHhnssE.'-f-The fiau Hau correspondent of a HoMtika contemporary explains the reason of the dissatisfaction among the Celestials with the "West" Coast, as follows >— " Touching the Chinese', Tor some time' | past they have been leaving this district by .three's and four's, and it is owing to the fact of their haying bought 1 ground of no account — in other words taken in by the Europeans, and they became so disgusted that they did not prospect £<x~ tkomochcs, but prelferred leaving the Coast. ,At the time o/ the arrival of the ninety Chinese from DunedinJ a party of Europeans took up abandoned and unpayble grpund for the sole purpose of selling fyto those people, andsucceded in doing do — hence the cause of the disfatisfaction of the Chinese with the district." PBOViNcrAL Extbava&ancb; — The very luxurious preparations made in the Provincial Council Hall, Duuodin, (suy9 the 'Bruce Herald ') for the accommodation of the members, are unduly out of proportion to the services rendered in these days of degeneracy in political wisdom and patriotism. When we hear constantly of an exhausted treasury, and of a decreasing revenue, it must, w« confess, be tantalising to settlers, with their unmade roads and bridgeless creeks, to read of the Speaker's

chair being remounted with puce velvet, mtei* ' laid with gold gimp, of a new bar to refreshment room, larger than any iv Duiiedin, of lounges> ; and light literature," &c, &c. A return, to more | primitive times, accompanied with, a resort to the' ! sterling desire to do work for tb,e country^ exhibited in the early days of the Province, would, beia desirable improvement. All the' colonies — and New. -Zealand 'riot the least — have gone too " fast; I'and Otago is essentially a type of •' the girl of the period." Railway, i TnAVELiiiNd- in Amebica.-j-- ; To understand huw forty- eight persons can be brought together to dine, whilstfa' Railway 1 Train is whirling them along at the rate of forty or fifty miles an. hour, those who nev^er travelled on an American railway may be told that no matter, what number of carriages is attached to the one engine the passengers who enter by a door at the end and not at the side as on railways in Europe, can pass on from carriage to carriage, each having an entrance at the end and a passage leading to it. Thus a Chicago _pager saye ;— " A .novelty iritroduced'dn the great American railroad is the dining and sleeping cars. They are already on the line between Chicago and St; Louis. "This innovation shortens the journey; "it gives the passenger a. freedom from the pains and peaaltieo of wayside feeding places^.. He can eat when he likes ; he need not get something to eat before • leaving, but wall reserve himself and his gastric forceß against such a time as ne can leisurely take his seat at the elegant table/ and dine in a sixwheeled restaurant parlor at thirty miles an hour." So says the local papers. " Each train has two "saloone thac will seat twenty-four 1 passengers pn.eacu side of the cusine department, which occupies the centre of sue car." thus forty-eight dinners may be busy at one time; " The car is to run in the centre of the train, and is open at all hours, with bills of fare equal to the best hotel tables. The travelling public are already loud in the praises of the new system, which is certain to* be a favourite on all through roads." . . , • FbeemasonbT. — Information has been forwarded to the English craft that his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, before leaving Stockholm, was entered an apprentice to Free, masonry^ and, having speedily " passed" to the rank of a " fellow craft," was' raised 'to the" lull degree of Master Mason, as recognised by the Order all over the world. 'It £s further stated that the newly mado royal brother entered upon some or the fancy degrees, more practised on the Continent than in England, and was made a Knight of the Masonic Order of Charles the Thirteenth. The present Grand Master of the . English Order, Lord Zetland, 'has held his 'office for a quarter of a century, and the lodges Are . contributing to a fund for the presentation of a testimonial to hi™ in eelebratiqn of his long service, and' following the precedent set in the .presentation plate weighing 1800 ounces to the ! late Grand Master, the Duke of Sussex who held -the office fo* 25 years. It is thought ' probable that the Prince will become affiliated .to, the English Order, and will rise to the position held by several of his princely "predecessors, it being understood that the .present Grand Master desires retirement. The position of the Grand Master by the constitution of the craft, can oijly •be held by a Prince of the blood Royal', a member of a noble house, or by a' 4I man of letters." It .may be interesting to state that William III; was initiated in 1690; Frederic, Prince of Wale*, was initiated in 1737 j Henry Fredrick, the Duke of Cumberland, was elected Grand Master in 1734} the Prince of Wales (George IV.) was initiated in 1787, and was elected Grand Master in 1790; the Duke of York aud ( |he Duke of Clairence- (late William IV:) were initiated' with their brother. The Duke of Kent (her majesty's father) was initiated in 1790 and Prince William of Giduce^ter and the. ■ Duke of Cumberland (late King ot Hanover) were initiated in 1795 and 1796. The; Duke of Sussex was initiated in 1798 and was elected .Grand Master in 1813>on the Prince Regent resigning office and becoming Grand Patconi i The pWtfe presented' to the Duke of Sussex on his retiring from the Grand Mastership was returned' to the Grand : Lodge as a gift by the. L';.ichess. pf. .Inverness in 1833. The Queen has given her h Active' patronage to several of the Masonic charities. ■'■' 'j Heroic Conduct.— The " 'Wellington Independent;"- -sayrr^" During~ttaPfime' tEat H.M.S. Challenger has been absent from this port dn her Voyage to Sydney and back, one of the^officers, Mr George O'Connor, Acting, SubLieutenant,' on'" 1 two occasions" performed thft gallant and heroic feat, of jumping overboard to save lifei ' On the first .dccas'iqix (March, 22nd), when the ship was steaming about seven knots, one of the seamen feUfroin the maiu futtock [ rigging 'into " the sea, and Mr O'Connor im», mediately jumped from the hammock netting, aird'" took him safely to the life, buoy.! ' On the second occasion (April -iOth)- when 'the ship was running nearly nearly ■ ten knots with all studding sails eet^a.color^-jiuinjianied-C'bj-ietian Frederick, a Dative of Tbrtiola >; W4, n wjio .wasq-a splendid j swimmer, fell Snip ' without bis being ' discovered- at once; "The life" buoy" was let go, | and Mr, O'Connor jumped overboard/reached jthe shipliuoy in safety, and then while towing s it' j towards the man, who was swimming strongly, ihe saw the poor felJow suddenly disappear. It is supposed that either cramp paralysed. him or that a s'hart took him down, for nothing was seen of. hiitf afterwards." • • ' • - QUICKSILTEE IN ATTSTBAJitA. — The 'Argus,' 21st April, says: — "It is stated that native quicksilver has been discovered in considerable quantities -at the Vasse, River in sWeetem Australia.'- /The exact ideality of the [discovery is Quindalup. is obtained in a liquid state, by forming small holes on the beach, and not in the form of cinnabar."

£Fhe Weather. — The excessive rains of the past week have swollen all the rivers in the lower portion, of the Province to. an unusual height. The Waihopai, Waikivi, and Puni creeks, have been pouring along bank high for several days ; in some caseß endangering the itridges by which they are crossed — that over the Waihopaion the- East Koad, near Sutherland s, has been Berereiy shaken, and is scarcely •ate to cross. Biren the roadside ditches in the vicinity of the town have assumed the dimensions of considerable rivers,"" overflowing their banks, and in same places doing much harm to the roadway*. At Harrisville one of the culverts has fallen in, the water thu^ partially dammed back ;■ made a hundred channels for itself across the North Hbad, seaward, which is consequently pretty much; cut?' up, and sadly in need of instant repair. The ditches themselves also want scouring, as they are almost silted up with the sand washed off the road by the rains. The road ought to bo metalled as far as the first mile-poet, or it will soon be impassable. Up country, w<s understand, the rain has not been nearly so heavy, nor the storm in any way a» severe as it has been near town. ». Chlobofobi^ at Executions. —At Rome, New York, recendy, a man was hanged for murder. A new thing in executions was tried on the occasion. Chloroform was administered to the prisoner, and as he was insensible the drop fell. There were no evidence of pain, and in twelve minutes the pulse ceased to beat. The Heads of Thbee Rebel Chiefs brought into Camp.— The 'Wanganui Times' says:— "Kemp and his party have returned, after being ten days out in the bush in pursuit of the enemy. They report having killed a number of Hauhaus, and, as trophies of victory, have brought in three heads, said to be the heads of three chiefs, namely— those of Ka Waihi, Tepene Watangi Orupi, and Ko Tipoko. This chief, Ka Waihi, is one of the cannibak who ate the white men: The Natives— Kemp's men— claimed his head, set it up, and danced round it.' Carlyle and the Talkeb.— An anecdote is going the rounds which is not bad. Carlyle, the man of great thought and of a big head, full of Schwarmery, was one day at a very nice dinner party, and doing his duty as a practical philosopher should. Opposite him sat a ; very rich, pompous, large man, with five yards df shirt front, and another big head at the top of it, full, as its pompous owner conceived, of noble thoughts and experience ripened into grand fiews and maxims of life. He succeeded in getting that awful thing at a dinner party, a dead silence, for a quarter of an hour, and then gave

forth the magnitude of his news on subjects political, philosophical, and Bocial, to Cavlyle and no. one else, who all the while but opened the mouth of his massive tete, and conteyed thereinto Bolid and fluid. The pompous inau came to an end ; dead silence reigned. He looked round at the company, up and down the table, to see the favorable effects he was Bure he had produced, and then addressed himself to Cariyle thus; "and now what do you really thinks of my views, Sitr Carlyle, on these matters 1^ hare 'touched upon, but briefly, sir, but briefly ?' No response followed. The question waa repeated when the big head was raised. Carlyle regarded his opposite neighbor vacantly for a minute, and then in his fine Scotch musical pilroch accent quietly remarked. " You're a poor critter, sir,— a poor critter," and so resumed his occupation with the fluids and amidst the glorious mirth of those who enjoyed the well merited discomfiture — of another. Don't be fbightened, Ladies. — It is remarked that a Royal Prince leaves the young ladies he honors by dancing with in the middle of the room when the set is finished. One young lady, the daughter of a distinguished officer, was recently in a vast fright, fancying she had offended His Royal Highness. The explanation ' is that it is royal etiquet^. — ' Court Journal.' j New Zealand Volunteers. --'The I Dunedin Volunteer Artillery Kuto («ay« tho ' Daily times '), received by last mail a challenge to a' friendly rifle match from the Second Company of the Honorable Artillery Company of London, which has created a considerable amount of interest among our Artillerymen and Volunteers generally. The H.A.C. is, although strictly a Volunteer Regiment, one of the oldest military bodies in England, and is the only Regiment,: besides the Foot Guards and the 3rd Buffs, possessing the privilege of marching through the City of London, with "bayonets fixed, oolors flying, and drums beating." From the number of valuable prizes given yearly by this corps for rifle shooting, i they ./doubtless have in : their ranks many good shots. The conditions are 10 men a side, Government - rifles and ammunition. Ranges, 200, 500, and ,600 yards j seven rounds at each distance ; Hythe position ; Wimbledon targets and scoring ; pull of trigger, not more than 61bs. ; no sighting shots. Bank Eesponsibilitt. — The ' Argus,' 15th April says : — " By a telegram received in town yesterday, it would appear that the Privy Council haye upheld the decision of the Supreme Court judged in the case of Lewis v. M'Mullen (inspector of Union Bank). It will be remembred that the late Mr Lewis lodged with the bank £10,000 worth, of Government debentures, which were abstracted 'by one of the bank officials. Mr Lewis brought an action to recover the amount from the bank, but the Supreme Court held that the bank was not responsible, and the Privy Council have apparently taken the same. view."