The Southland Times. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1869.

Southland Times, Issue 1146, 13 October 1869, Page 2

The Southland Times. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1869.

Our contemporary very properly writhes and wriggles under the casfcigation which our correspondent, J. 8.., administered in Monday'a isaue. As was to be expected, advantage has been taken of the usual resource when a bad case has to be defended, and we have had the sins of the writer of the letter referredjto laid at our door, by the imputation of venal motives, made in a most elegant manner! We wonder what reply will be vouchsafed to the letter of " A Reader" in this present issue ? It certainly contains food for contemplation, as I the perversion of fact is too glaring to be easily f explained away. Jflr Blacklock met the electors of Waihopai at the Theatre Royal last night, 12th in3t. Although [ the meeting was only arranged to take place late in the afternoon, when Mr Bl.icklock found himself precluded from addressing the electors at the hustings, owing to the time occupied by preceding speakers — the lower portion of the house was crowded. Mr Kingsknd occupied the chair. Mr Blacklock, having explained the present state of the pro. tince with reference to its liabilities and assets, said that he was not deadly opposed to re- union. fie was, however, opposed to hasty legislation on so important a subject, and blamed the extreme advocates of both sides, the one for their precipitancy in rushing headlong into an irrevocable union, and the other for their violent opposition to re-union on any terms. Seeing there was no necessity for immediate decision —as re-union could not possibly take place until next meeting of Assembly — he was ioc lined to adopt an intermediate and moderate course of action. He would like to try and discover a way out of our difficulties for our- ! selves, and, seeing that we had ample assets, and great natural resources, this might be accomplished. He would therefore suggest the full and free discussion of the question at the first j meeting of Council, reserving their decision until the second meeting, when, if our position 1 had not improved in the interim, he would pledge 1 himself to vote for re-union. Referring to the question of immediate relief, he said neither i Otago nor the General Government could grant : us that without previous legislation. Otago would require to get the sanction o£ the Council, also of the Assembly, while the hands of the General Government were tied by the Public Revenues > Act, which prohibited the expenditure of morey : not appropriated. The only thing the General . Government could do would be to allow our : interest and sinking fund to accumulate. Touch* ' ing the scheme, claimed by a rival candidate, Mr ' Wilson, as his own, of the railway being taken s over by the General Government as colonial i property, ho said this idea had originated I with himself, and been mentioned by him in the r Council Chamber. He had also impressed the I same upon the members of the General Govern--3 merit when at Wellington, about the last grant 3 of land, and had got the Ministry to acknow--1 ledge it« feasibility and justness. The [ X^viMejs^ o w^e u gasff slK flj|an± a , Il tp the' General ' Government was to blame for ever having allowed them to enter so largely upon [ borrowing powers. He believed the possession s of railways by the colony would be an advantage when she required to go into the money market, how many miles of railway have you ? being one of the first questions asked by capitalists, railways ; being looked upon as reproductive works — and ' for this reason Victoria borrowed much cheaper than New Zealand did. He spoke at considerable [ length on our own railway matters, being listened • to throughout with marked attention. At the conclusion of his speech, a number of questions r were put and satisfactorily answered, after which , a vote of thanks to Mr Blaaklock, and another to * the Chairman, terminated the proceedings. | The result of the polling in the Apar;ma disk trict has been the return of Messrs Gillotr and r Basstian, the numbers being as follow : — Gillow, 1 37 ; Basstian, 32 ; Lyon, 29 ; Hodgkinson, 23. Messrs Gillow and Lyoa were re-union candidates, ■ and Messrs Basstian and Hodgkinson anti-union. In returning thanks, Mr Basstian said, if he saw the majority of the people desired re-union, he should support it. The polling for the return of a member for , Campbelltown district has resulted in the return of Mr Wood, the numbers being — Wood, 21, Webster, 19. The nomination of candidates for the repre- , sentation of the Waianiwa district took place on Monday last, when Captain Howell, and Mr W. A. Lyon, were duly proposed and seconded, the former being the anti, and the latter the pro- , union candidate. Mr Lyon has been returned by a narrow majority. During the alterations to the Exchange Build- ) ings, the clock erected there has not been going. Since these have been completed, it has been taken down and thoroughly cleaned and oiled. The clock is now placed upon a new and stronger stand, so that the vibration of the building will not disturb the works. A patent copper cord, preseated by Mr E. Tapper, has taken the place of the native flax formerly used, bo tUat sudden stoppages, through breakage of the cord, will now be avoided. The clock has been placed in the hands of E. P. Butts, Esq., who has authorised Mr Renwick to collect subscriptions for its purchase for the public. Some much-needed repairs have been made by the prisoners to the grating near the Carriers' Arms Hotel, Dee-street. We hope it will be one of the first duties of the new Council to initiate some municipal scheme, which will compel absentee proprietors to contribute something towards the maintenance of the footpaths. The following is a description of the lighthouse in the course of erection at the Nuggets : — The lighthouse is to be erected on a well-defined knoll, about 240 feet high, at the outer extremity of Nuggat Point, the Southern limit of Molyneux Bay (in 46 deg. 27 mm. South latitude, , I and 169 deg. 51 mm. East longitude, as measured on the Admiralty chart). The light will show to seaward over an arc of about 225 , deg., a,nA will be a fixed white light of the first ] order dioptric. The light will be elevated about . 252 feet above the sea level, and will be visible in s clear weather about 23 nautical miles, allowing 15 1 feet tor the height of the. observer's eye, and at lesser ] distances according to the state of the atmosphere, i The tower will be of stone, and painted to suit the i background. It will be 31 feet in height from 1 the ground to the top of the lantern, ]

Yesterday (flays the Daily Times o£ the Bth^ was the lasfrof the three daysgn whi<^accor<hti£ to Lieutenant Saib^fl predictions UdjiiUally htgh tides and atmospheric disturbances were- to be expected. Contrary to his statement, however, as well as to popular expectation, the% period named by him has only been marked by the calmness aad unusual brilliance of the weather ; while instead of the tides rising higher, they have ebbed lower than usual. Should the thrgp -daysrfrom November Ito 3 be similarly fine A Mr%xby's reputation will ebb very low indeed. Some very rich stone (says the Otago Times). has been taken from the recently discovered quartz reef at the Upper Nevis, at a 3epth of thirty feet from the surface. The gold, says the Dunstan Times, is of a coarse character, and exists in the solid stone; Messrs ATMorran and Smitham, the fortunate owners, are in high spirits, and well they may be, as the present prospects are most favourable. The reef has been struck at several depths from the surface, and in every instance the stone contained gold ; it is of a uniform thickness of about eighteen inches, and dipping slightly to the west. A distressing atory comes from Tapanui. The local correspondent of the Tucvpeka Times writes that Captain M'JKenzie has for some time had a man in his employment, whose work was to fell timber in the bush. This person liv.cd all alone, and utterly absent from anything like society. Some time ago, while pursuing his vocatiou, he was crushed by the fall of a dry tree. His condition was pitiable, for one of his arms aad one j of the small bones of his leg, were broken, and his left side completely paralysed. No assistance was at hand, and the poor maimed fellow had to ! drag his weary body to his hut in a condition that made the slightest motion agony. By sticking his axe in the ground he succeeded in reaching the hut, a distance of nearly a mile from the scene of the accident. But his tortures were not over, were indeed but begun. For eight long days he lay, weak and exhausted, and almost dead of starvation. His spirits were failing ; ho believed himself doomed, and was fast sinking into a fatal lethargy, when a loud cooey struck upon his ears. It was the bullock driver come for a load of timber. The poor fellow was saved, and is progressing favorably under the treatment of Dr. M'Laughlan. The Southern Cross of the 24th ult. says : — " Two hundred and sixty-two pasaengers arrived yesterday in thia harbor and the Manukau, from Southern Ports and Sydney. The s.a. Lord Ashley, from the South, brought 77 ; the s.s. John Perm, from Hokitika, Westport, and Nelson, 122 ; the s.s. Stormbird, from Whanganui, 17 ; and the barque Novelty, from Sydney, 46.