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Southland Times, Issue 1142, 6 October 1869, Page 2

• To-morrow, 7th inst., being appointed as a Fast Day by the Presbyterians, will be observed j ,as a holiday. The Government offices and banks will be' closed. The lessees of the Bluff Harbor and Invercargill Railway announce that an excursion train will be ran on Thursday next, leaving at half-past nine in the morning and returning at half-past five in the evening. The chief Kapata Kaihau, who has recently visited Tawhiao, has supplied the Southern Cross with some information regarding the feeling of Tawhiao with respect to Ohinemuri. Bapata says — " Tawhiao has stated that bis word to all the tribes is that they must lay down the sword until 1870, in order to give the natives time to see what the Europeans intend to do with regard to Ohinemuri. If the Europeans rush Ohinemuri, the King will then consider that he has a take (cause) for revenging the death of his relatives at Rangiriri." Bapata further says that Tawhiao has proclaimed that " the right hand must keep to the right hand, and the left to the left ;" " the right" signifying the natives, and " the left " the Europeans. If the right should interfere with the left, the latter are to combine together and make an effort to crush the right. We give this story simply as we have received it, and do not vouch for its correctness.

. The beautifully calm Bnd genial weather yesterdaj must have been a saurce of disappointment to those terror-mongers who had depicted all the devastation that was to b© wrought on " Saxby'B day." There was not even a perceptible increase of the tide to chronicle ; but perhaps Mr Saxby was a little " out" in his calculations, and " the moon may not yet be in that point of her orbit which is nearest to the earth," the assigned cause of the atmospheric disturbances which were to be expected. We are glad to observe that several bullock teams are finding employment in the carriage of oats from the New River and other districts to the railway station, to be conveyed to the Bluff for export to Melbourne. Some time ago we (WaJcatip Mail) remarked that the mining interest was assuming a better position ; — that it was emerging once more from a period of depression. We are glad to see that the assertions then made are being practically borne out. The escorts have been gradually on the increase, the last one from Queen B town being 1100 ozs., and from the Arrow, 600 ozs. Of this quantity 80 ozs. was reef gold from Skippers. It is satisfactory to know that this increase is likely to be sustained, and that it is not due to exceptional causes, such as the influx of Chinese. The Cromwell escort is also steadily increasing, the last being 633 ozs. ; while that of Clyde is most unfortunately decreasing, and that alarmingly. A careful addition of the quantities exported in the various vessels leaving the port of Lyttelton between the Ist of March and the 2nd of September, gives the following (says the Lyttelton Times) :— Wheat, 253,742 bushels ; oats, 120,020 bushels ; barley, 109,381 bushels ; potatoes, 844 tons. In addition to which, we have exported from Timaru, up to August 21 : — ! Wheat, 55,757 bushels ; oats, 31,999 bushels ; | barley, 3589 bushels. Allowing th« quantity j exported directly out of the Province from j Kaipoi to be equal to the balance of last year's crop remaining in hand on the Ist of March, we Snd that the total quantity and value of this year's crop exported, is as follows .- — Wheat, 309,499 bushels at 4s, £61,899 16s ; oats, 152,019 bushels at 2s 6d, £19,002 7s 6d ; barley, 112,970 bushels at 4s 6d, £25,418 ss ; potatoes, 844 tons at £3, £2,532; giving a total value of £108,852 8s 6d. There are three candidates in the field for the office of Superintendent of Taranaki, and each has published a long address to the electors. Mr Richmond regrets having "yielded too much of his power into the bands of. his opponent, " the "Provincial Secretary,, an 1 member for the town of

New Plymouth," and promises that, if re-elected, he will not fall into a like mistake again. Mr Kolly goes in for economy, strict and impartial justice, and no yielding to the unreasonable demands of the natives ; whilst Mr Carrington declares that he is once more prepared to show how roads and bridges can be made without local taxation. If (says a contemporary) our Taranaki friends could have a cast of the three candidates through their iron-sand furnace, they might' stand a chance of running off one tolerably fair Superintendent, always providing that the ore ran free. A flax company has been started at Patea, under the Limited Liability Act, with a capital of £2000, to be raised in shares of £1 each ; 2s 6d to be paid on application for shares, and 5s on allotment. The Dunstan Times of the 24th ult. says : — " We are rejoicing in the possession of warm, eyen hot weather. This early summer is, we f are, however, afraid only a fpretaste of what is to come I A. hot, dry, rainless one, similar to the one of I 1861-2, would exercise a most depressing effect ] upon the mining interest, and especially upon the sluicers. There is now no hope for a fall of snow, and that resource is gone. In the Lake District, the fall of snow this winter has been extremely light, but, aa it rains more in that district than with us, we will probably not have the compensating influence of the rivers reaching & low level. Had the Provincial Government system. allowed of anything but boasta, empty talk, 6v the placing of problematical votes on the eatj 1 mates, we might have had one or two of the long talked of reservoirs completed, and a gain to the province as well as the district ia the result j thereof." The WaJcatip Mail says that the celebrated horse, " Morris Dancer," has quite recovered from his recent illnes3, and is now again a perfect picture. We {Oamarv, Times) notice that an experimental shipment of 100 bushels of malt, manufactured at Mr Haisell's recently erected malt-works here, has been taken by the brig Our Hope, to the Melbourne market. We shall be glad to' learn that the result is favorable. There is little doubt that it will be so, as we understand that Mr Hassell's malt has been used with good results at the Victoria Brewery here. The following are the rates at which Bay of Islands coal is sold in Auckland city : — Best screened, 28s ; unscreened, £6s ; aud slack,, coal for flteam engines, &0., £1 per ton. Charles Evans Reeves, M.D., Melbourne, has applied for a patent for facilitating the composing of types for printing. A perforation runs through the types, so that a metal rod can be passed through them. The rods loaded with the types are placed in grooves in a frame. The composing stick works on rollers in front of the ends of the rods. A regular, although secret trade, has sprung "tip in Auckland for the sale of quartz specimens for the purpose of " Baiting " newly discovered reefs. We take the following paragraph from the Waikouaiti Serald of the 29th ult :— " It is with much pleasure that we are enabled to decisively . contradict the statement that Mr Weldon, of f Southland, had been appointed to this office. k We believe also that the claims of those officers [ who have so long, and faithfully attended to their duties, will not be ignored by the Provincial Government in filling the appointment." In speaking of the Nelson Patent Slip or Dry Dock, for which tenders are advertised (the Government of the Province guaranteeing ten per cent, for ten yeais, on a capital of £25,000) the Colonist says : — " It is the opinion of 1 experts in these matters that a moderate outlay ' of, say £5000, would, of itself, construct a Patent ' Slip, sufficient to meet all the wants of this port/ As an instance (says the Southern Cross) of how the fame of the Thames goldfielda is graduall y . extending, we might mention that we were yesterday shown a power of attorney from a French gentleman at present living in Paris, made out at that capital xn favor of a well-known 1 commercial man in this city, and authorising him to invest a considerable sum of money in the 1 Thames goldfields on behalf of the writer. The ' money is lying to his order at one of the banks. This is a good sign, and if the fame of our goldfields has spread to the French metropolis we ' may fairly expect to see a very considerable influx of French as well as of English capital flow in before very long. The power of attorney we refer to is a formidable-looking instrument, in the French language, signed, countersigned, stamped in half a dozen places, and bearing the signature 1 besides, of the English consul at Paris. . We trust that the money sent out will bo judiciously invested, in which case, in all probability, we [ shall very soon see other arrivals of a similar character from the same part of the world. During the sitting of % the Supreme Court at ; Auckland, says the Southern Cross, two gentlemen distinguished in their respective walks of l life were amongst the auditors. One was r Colonel Thompson, who took the 58th Regiment i to England from this place. He must have noticed a very marked difference in this city now r from that it was in when he left. The other was • Mr Moorhouse, late Superintendent of Canterbury, a man of acknowledged ability and enteri prise. We understand that Mr Moorhouse, who ; is a lawyer, intends to commence practising his profession in this province. The influx of population to the Thames gold- " field is causing a considerable demand for fat stock, and a consequent rise in price. The Wai- ) rarapa district, in the Province of Wellington, is benefitting by the requirement, as the following i extract from the local journal will show : — " As a > proof of the rise in the price of cattle, we may • mention that, a short time ago, a large ownef sold the privilege of selecting 100 head out of the herd at £7 10b a head. Now the price of picking 80 or 100 head out of the same herd (less of course the original 100) has risen to £9. This may be ' looked upon as being equivalent to an increase of ! 26 per cent. Among the passengers by the steamer Q-oifeen-burg, on her last trip from Melbourne to Dunedin, were three young Chinese women — the first of their sex, according to the Tuapeka Press that have come to Otago from the Flowery Land. They were disguised in male attire, but a close observer could detect, in their voices and general demeanour, as well as in. their petite appearance, unmistakeable evidences of their real sex. They ' arrived in Lawrence' by the coaoh on Tuesday last, leaving their felibw^Jassengers of the sterner ccx to come on by waggon from Dunedin. On

the way up it became necessary, at a bad portion of the road, for the occupants of the coach to alight and proceed for some distance on foot ; but the fair Celestials, when left to their own resources, could only manage to locomote slowly and with great difficulty, owing to the fact that, in common with all Chinese f emales, they possess feet more remarkable for deformity than for utility. We understand that all three of the ladies arc married, and hare come hither U join their husbands.

Mr Carleton, the well-known member of the House of Bepresentafcives, thus writes to the leading journal in Auckland :— lt is in no spirit of Tain braggadocio that I write these words. No one, from the North Cape to Stewart's Island, can any longer pretend to doubt of the future which lies before us. Great, comparatively, as is the work already done at Thames, it is as nothing compared with what remains to be effected. We are operating upon one end only of a gold-bearing ' range, which, in the opinion of the most reliable authorities, extends to Taupo. Flax, which baffled us by its intractability for some five-and-twenty years, has suddenly become an article of export -to which no reasonable limits can be assigned. No one out of employment ; no one, at least, who has the courage to work ; the very children dressing flax, are a support to the household, instead of being a burden upon it. That population (I allude more especially to the Waikato immigrants), wlvch four years ago was ian incumbrance to the Province and a misery to the Provincial G-overnment, urging claims for relief which the Government could not but acknowledge, but had not the means to meet, — now uncomplaining, and a source of substantial strength. Whereas, a short twelve months ago, every third house in the town and suburbs of Auckland, was unoccupied, house room is now to seek ; while the fees on writs, which then were averaging from £20 to £90 a week, have dwindled down to some two or three. The only people out of work are the bailiffs of the Sheriff's Court, whose livelihood is gone.