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Southland Times, Issue 1149, 18 October 1869, Page 2

A meeting of the committee of the AecliI mitisation Society was held at the Government Buildings on Friday, 15th inst. The only business of importance was the opening of tenders for the purchase of the two thousand acres of land recently granted to the Society by the General Government for the introduction of salmon. The tender of Mr Basstian for the quantity, at £1 per acre, part cash and part terms, was unanimously accepted. This will put the Society in funds at once to carry out the object in view, and the probability is that early in the incoming year we shall receive a shipment of ova from the Clyde direct. A letter from the Secretary of the Dunedin Society was read, stating that our ova in their boxes was doing first-rate, a good number of fry being out and healihy. The fish in the pond-i at Wallacetown are also getting on well, and on a calm evening they can be seen in considerable numbers ; fine healthy trout, many of them nearly a foot in length. Ac these fish will spawn next year, arrangements are being made to increase the size of the pond, and the volume of water running through it. It is a fact not perhaps generally known that tlie amount of alloy usually found in the Thames gold is just sufficient for the jewellers to work up without any further preparation.

The Daily Times of tho 13th mat. says: — ( Mr Bmnton, 0.E., has sent in his report on the proposed Port Chalmers Railway. We believe He estimates the cost of the line, including rolling stock and a stone jetty at the Port, at about £80,000. The prospectus of the proposed company will be issued so soon as the Executive have taken steps for carrying into effect tho vote of the Council, by setting apart a block of land as collateral security for the guarantee of eight per cent." . Cook's 1 centenary was marked at Queenstown by the display of bunting on the " shipping in the harbor." The first velocipede race in Otago took place at Oarnaru on ths 9tti inst., between the machine which won the race in Melbourae (imported by a resident), and one of local manufacture. The latter came in a winner by 300 yards, having accomplished the distance — one mile— in seven minutes. It seems, however, that the winning velocipede had a driving wheel of some 1^: inch greater diameter than the other, an important advantage as regards speed. An Albu>-y vinegrower (says a Victorian paper) who has lately visited New Zealand, has brought back with him a hundredweight or two of New Zealand flax fphormium tsnaxj, to be used in the tying up of viues. The price at which this new material can be imported is said to be cheaper than either stringy bark or string, while it is at the same time strong and durable. The Brisbane Courier expresses an opinion that the Queensland G-overninent intend to lose no time in pushing on the electric telegraph line to Carpentaria. Tenders are called for tho construction of a line from Cardwell to the Gilbert goldfleids, and thence by JTormanton, on the Norman River, in the gulf of Carpentaria. The tenders are to be in on the Ist of December, and fl'OCtt the date of acceptance thereof the line ia to be completed within twelve months. A correspondent in the Waikouaiti Herald gives a brief account of Mr Rich's meeting at Palmerston. At the close, an adverse resolution was proposed and seconded, when " the chairman (Mr P. Dillon Bell) having failed to get any amendment proposed, very artfully brought the meeting to a close without putting the resolution." Mr Bell then attempted to address those assembled, but was met with " a regular burst of confusion," in which shouts of" go to the Mataura" were alone distinguishable, coupled with the cries of a disturbed ram bleating most furiously. The audience having lett the room, Mr Bell followed them to the street, where he addressed those who would listen for half an hour. The Natal Herald of the 15th July reports that " the news from the goldflelds is saddening and discouraging in the extreme." Prom tbe same journal we learn that " the persistent refusal of the Lieutenant- Governor to lay on the table of the House the correspondence relating to the Kaffir marriage law has called forth a strong expression of feeling on the part of the elective members, who, in opposition to all the influence brought to bear by the Executive, have carried four strongly-worded resolutions, highly condemnatory of the unconstitutional conduct of the Governor." The Melbourne magistrates set a Tery good example to their brethren of the Bench by refusing to entertain a charge of " insulting behavior" brought by the landlord of an hotel against a drunken man, whom he had himself served with liquor. As soon as the charge had been - entered upoa, Mr Pantori pertinently inquired of the offended publican whether the prisoner was drunk when he entered the hotel, and, on receiving the reply that " he was not sober," the worthy magistrate told the prosecutor that he ought not to have supplied liquor to a drunken man, and summarily dismissed the case. An idea of the terrible scourge the small-pox is to the human family may be gathered from a report in the last number of the European Mail. At an inquest held on the body of a child, who had died from erisypelas following vaccination, the coroner said that during the last century at least forty-five millions of persons had died from small-pox. One of the greatest novelties at the forthcoming agricultural exhibition (says the Qeelong Advertiser) w.ll probably be the " ferret show." A subscription list opened at the Victoria Hotel for prizes is rapidly filling in, and ferrets have been promised from all parts. The great difficulty, we imagine, will be the appointment of judges. Contrary to general expectation, the Roslin election has resulted in the return of Messrs Kinross' and Dalrymple, the numbers being — Kinross, 62 ; Dalrymple, 44 j Webster, 37. One of the four Waikato natives recently murdered by Te Kooti is reported to have been Tauerau, a brother of Wirenue Toetoe, who accompanied Dr Hochstetter to Europe in the frigate Novara. The nomination of candidates for the town o* Riverton came off, at the Court-house, on Thursday, 14th inst., as per advertisement. There was a goodly attendance, and a lively interest was manifested in the proceedings. The candidates were proposed in the following order : — Mr Nurse proposed, and Mr Stevens seconded, Dr Hodgkinson ; Mr G. Reid, jun., proposed, and Mr J. L. M'Donald seconded, John Petchell* Esq. ; Mr Richard Rocke proposed, and Mr Henry Cassels seconded, L. M'Gillivray, Esq. ; Mr William Scully proposed, and Mr C. Basstian seconded, J. R. Cuthbertson, Esq. Messrs Cuthbertson and M'Gillivray addressed the electors. Mr Petchell was not in attendance, having been called from home by arrangements made previous to his receipt of the requisition. A show of hands being taken, the numbers were —Mr M'Gillivray, 16 j Mr Petchell, 14 ; Dr Hodgkinson, 9 ; Mr Cuthbertson, 6. A vote of thanks to the Returning Officer concluded the proceedings. Tbe poll took place on Saturdaj iast, with the following result : — M'Gillivray, 52 ; Petchell, 48 ; Cuthbertson, 31 ; Hodgkinson, 19 Next year (says the Melbourne Herald) a grea national stocktaking will take place. The constitution of the United States requires that every ten years a census of the whole population should be taken. In the year 1790 the first enumeration of the American people took place. Since then eight censuses have been taken, and the ninth will be completed in 1870. The Americans have ( shown themselves thoroughly alive to the im- \ portance of this work. They are making prepara- ] tions so that it may be accomplished with the I utmost exactitude, and in a manner that will best I *how the present condition of the nation as com- 1 pared with its state 'aX the taking of the last j census.