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Southland Times, Issue 1159, 5 November 1869, Page 2

We direct the attention of those interested in quartz claims to a Government Gazette, . issued yesterday, 4th inst., and republished in our columns this morning, effecting a number of important and beneficial changes in the Goldfields Regulations in force in this Province. The prompt action of the Government in acceding to the request of the Longwood miners, and granting the concessions sought, ia worthy ot commendation. Mr H. E. Osborne will sell this day, at" noon, on the ground, at the upper end of Leet-street, cottage properties, &c. The new Clyde clipper- ship James Nicol Fleming, recently arrived at Port Chalmers, brings put from G-lasgow a most extensive plant for meat preserving and boiling-down purposes, sufficient, we understand, to stark fire or six complete establishments. In addition to the apparatus, the fiimto whom it belongs has also sent out a number of hands acquainted with the processes, under whose care the works will be erected, and operations commenced. The whole will be under the superintendence of Mr Moodie, the agent of the company, who has already, we are informed, visited a number of the localities, both" in Otago and Southland, thought to be most suitable as sites for the proposed works. It is gratifying to be able to state that Mr Moodie considers Southland as offering a site for . at least one, and probably for two establishments, preferable to any he has seen elsewhere, and has, we believe, fixed upon the neighborhood of Woodlands as the spot on which to erect one division of his plant. Somewhere near Winton will also likely be chosen for another, the facilities afforded by the railway for direct import and export, being a consideration of much weight in the calculations. Two such establishments would alone do much to restore prosperity to the province. At a general meeting of the shareholders in the Southland Prospecting Association, held at the Prince of Wales Hotel on Wednesday afternoon, there was a very good attendance. A progress report was submitted by the overseer of the coalboring operations, which stated that a depth of about 240 fe -t had been reached, and that the strata encountered did not lead to the belief that the mineral sought for would be found in that locality, and concluded with a recommendation that a bore should be made on ground considerably nearer the line of railway, where there was a greater probability of meeting in with strata which is generally found to overlie coal-deposits. The Treasurer's balance-sheet was next considered, and as it showed that several shareholders had declined to pay the second call, it was urianimouely resolved that no further steps should be taken until it was ascertained, by summoning the first shareholder who again refused to pay, whether the Association had power to compel payment of the full amount of the shares. A sale of the accumulated funds of the Southland Building, Land, and Investment Society, was held .on 'Wednesday evening last, when the following premiums were realized : — On 11 shares, ,£6 9s per share j on 2 •hares, £6 5s per share. .

At Macraes, quartz mining hns, according to the Waikouaiti JEeral4, received a fresh impetus. The Edinburgh reet', for some time abandoned' jjite again been taken up with gr-ttifying prospects ty success.; The reef has been traced for upwards i of; 800 yards ; a' company has been formed,- 'and 'vtiew machinerr,;has*been placed on thW ground, fand is in 'cdurseibf erection. The machinery is very' powerful^flftd when complete i is calculated to employ thirty men. The engine is thirty-horse ' "poweri and ' will commence with a battery of twelve heads. From prospects obtained it is anticipated that tho ipef will average >,. yield of li ounces to the ton.

Xhe Ta.sinania.tis are still in. doubt as tp the success of the salmon experiment in thjir colony, and rumors continue to oirculate regarding the fish having been seen in the Derwent. It appears probable, however, that this is now actually the case, judging from the following paragraph in the Sobaft Toion Mercury of the 20th ult:— Several gentlemen yesterJay received letters from Mr i Alexander Smith, saddler, New Norfolk, announc- I ing in the most positive terms that he had on the ! previous afternoon seen a salmon leap in the Derwent. Mr Smith's statement is tuat as ha, ; with three ladies, were driving along the road by the side of the river, about 100 yards above Davies's Hotel, he saw a salmon of about two feet in length leap from the water. He immediately pulled up his horse, aai watchad, when alt in the dog-cart distinctly saw the salmon rise several titnoa. Mr Smith says that having been born near a salmon river, ana seen . hundreds Caught, he can be in ho mistake as to the fish he saw being a salmon. Ho adds that Mr G-regsdn, the Town Surveyor of New Norfolk, had since informed .him that he saw two salmon rise close to him on Saturday, opposite Mr E. Shoobrirtge's. Mr Smith and his son were to ..have gone out yesterday to angle, as was Mr G-rogson, but none of them had proper lines. They speak, however, confidently of the salmon as being at last an accomplished success. . . A preliminary meeting of citizens was held in the Prince of Wales Hotel on Wednesday evening to consider the desirability of establishing a municipality for the town of Invercargill. Upwards of twenty gentlemen attended, Mr J. W. Mitchell occupying the chair. A motion affirming the necessity for having the town incorporated under the Municipalities Act, was passed. . unanimously, and a sub-committee was appointed, consisting of 'the following^ gentlemen, iix. :-*-MessrsLumaden, Bain, Mitchell, A. Ross,, P. M'Ewan, Wa^o, Kingsland, Blackwood, and (3-arthwaite, to make some necessary. enquiries, and to report to a subsequent meeting, to be held on Monday next, Bth inst., at the same place. „ .The Of ago Gazette of the 27th ult. contains the official notification of the resignation by Mr St. John Branigari of the office of Commissioner of Police for that Province, and the aopointment of Mr T. K. Weldon as his successor. While ; congratulating Mr Weldon on his' preferment to a much more important and lucrative position than the similar one he has so long held in Invercargill^with great tjredit to himself muTmuch to the benefit of the community— we also feel an amount of satisfaction for other reasons. It is well known that the necessity for a reduction in the Police Department has long been recognised, and "more than once "'retrenchment to some extent has been effected^ by curtailing the pay or numbers of subordinates. At a recent aession of the Council, however, a more sweeping measure, affecting the head of the force, was discussed, and would have been carried, but for the great reluctance of all concerned to deprive the province, and probably the colony, of the services of a most efficient officer. Mr Weldon's removal to Otago affords at once a solution of the difficulty satisfactory to all parties. As a matter of course, then, it may be presumed the office of Commissioner will be abolished, and simply an Inspector appointed. An officer thoroughly qualified for such a post is at present in charge, during Mr Weldon's absence, and will, no doubt, be duly invested with the rank necpssary to give him full control of the force. Sergeant- Major Chapman is an officer of wide experience, whose reputation for zeal and ability is established by upwards of twenty years' active service. That he is competent to discharge the duties of head of the department, everyone will admit, and we trust soon to see him in the position he so well deserves. It will be remembered that some month* ago a rumor reached New Zealand that Sir George j Grey was likely to be appointed Governor of the I Cape Colony. The Eastern Province Herald, alluding to this report, says : — The re-appoint-ment of Sir George "Grey to the Cape Colony would be hailed with delight through the length and breadth of the land. As a man, as a gentleman, and as a Governor, Sir Georga Grey was highly popular. He proved himself a man of consummate tact — a feature of character in which, more than anything else, our present Governor is deficient. We find that even now, in hia retirement from office , his warmest sympathies are with the Cape, and he is always ready to promote our interests. We are quite sure that if, on the retirement of Sir Philip Wodehoure, the borne Government were to send out Sir George. Grey as his successor, the appointment would be received at the Cape with unbounded satisfaction and delight. Let us live in the hope that the colony may be so fortunate. The Lake Wdkatvp Mail says : — Similar with other portions of the Wakatip, cheering items of news from Skippers are indicative of a revival of mining prospects there. The greater portion of the creek is now occupied by Chinamen, who are working it in large parties, under extended regulations, and the majority are making good wages. Evidently the Mongolian element is permeating the entire district, and its constituents are gathering the rich crumbs which in many instances Europeans have been either too lazy or indifferent to look after. As regards reefing, a cake of gold weighing 114 ozs, 13 dwts, was brought down from the Phoenix Co.'s claim last week. This was obtained from stone in the second reef, which, with another lot makes 170 ozs from 80 feet — all the ground opened in the reef at present. We are informed this reef, which may be termed the permanent or reliable one, averages seven feet wide, is well defined going down, but there is no reef upwards — or above the tunnel. Probably, another 20 ozs would have been extracted ; but, owing to the delay in arrival of new stamper box grating, some coarser grating at hand had to be used. We understand it is contemplated to continue the piesent drive, and also take in a new tunnel at 110 feet lower level. It is also said that the Skippers, Rose, Diamond, and JErial claims are being included in thii Company's ground, tha present area held by the Phoenix Co. to be taken up under miners' rights, A crushing lately of ten tons of stone from the Bonnie Dundee claim, Upper Shotover, is said to have averaged seven ounces to the ton. This Btone had to be packed, and was the pickings from about 50 tons.. The Eldorado, an adjoining claim, also yielded 29ozs 3dwti of gold from 11$ tons of unpicked stone.

The Otago Government intends to throw open for sale, and as commonage for the miners, 4509 acres of Messrs Caleutt «n<i ftlcnlove's run, situate on the boundary of the Switzer's goldfield, and 5000 acres from Mr Swanston's, the ar'j lining run... > '. '■, .■'. t -■-■..„.,„ Theifollowing Bhould be Cut out arid pasted in a scrap-book :—

The following extract from a report on the Post Office department, Victoria, for 1863, will show how expeditiously the English mail is now sorted and delivered in Melbourne. With the increased accommodation provided in the new building, and the improved appliances which have been introduced, the delivery of the Englishmail is now far more expeditiouslr accomplished » than at any pre/ious time. Until a comparatively . recent period the sorting and delivery in Melbourne of the letter portion of the En -lish mail occupied over six hours, but thta-is no^». done in two hours and a half from the arrival of the mail at the General Post-office. Two patent stamping machines have been brought into use, each capable of stamping 200 letters per .minute, and, with other stampers 1,000 letters are- upon these occasions stamped per minute. With the additional officers froiri the several branches, the mails are sorted and got ready for delivery at, the private box arid general delivery offices in a little under an hour and a half, and by dividing .the City carriers' beats into tliree parts, and. employing extra but thoroughly qualified men, the whole of the town correspondence (say 10,000 letters), is delivered in about an hour afterwards. The same report gives the'receipts for 186$ as follows; :- — Letters 525,556 ; packets, 26,003 ; newspapers, 1,268,64,3. ' ; i ; ' Mr Thomas Morgan, a miner well-known upon the Kanieri diggings, Westland, ' writes to "the. West Coast rime* regarding the »ta»te of matters at the Thames, as follows:— " %., arrived; at Auckland this day week, arid in going throughthe town nothing could be seen but .the? ' Thames scrip,' and long lists, of companies stuck on every , corner. I happened to be looking over one of those lists when a gentleman walked up to me and aaked me if 1 had any 'scrip in the Thames. Goldfield. I told him that I had just arrived by the John Penn,s.s. Then he commenced^ .blowings _ j*_ a,... .great raj© _ j[ n reference to the exceeding richness of the field, with . its/ >hidden ; -treasures, ; faying - 'that when thoroughly developed it would be the greatest in the. world, . Afterwards , ho offered 400 scrip for the 'small fum of £15, which wouiH~gi*e n\e an eterlasiirig pile. I congratulated him on': his blowing abilities, 'arid respectfully declined. jdoing any business. When I arrived at the Thames goldfields, I found hundreds (E d» not think I would exaggerate if I said thousands) walking about in want of work, but. none to be got, and the scrip market in a very low .state indeed; I visited the sale rooms, where I found thousands of scrip put up for sale, and no bidding whatever for any, and to my knowledge there are any amount to be purchased at any price ; in fact, Wood's Point, in Victoria, was supposed to be a 'great "swindling'place; 'but this 'beats c all-that I have, seen. Wages are only r .wee.k, and the necessaries of life the same scale' as ' Hiikitika, i with the exception of the 41b loaf, which is lOd." ' The correspondent of th« MawJea' 3 Bay Herald writes aa follows from the. Chatham Islands On the sth inst :— A few days sine-, ' a Maori woman named Na Moni, residing at Waitangi, committed suicide by hanging herself. Upon entering the dwelling, just after sunset, her husband discovered her suspended from a- beam. He immediately cut the rope ; life was not quite extinct, and he ran for a medical man, but ere his return all was over. The poor woman was one of the best of her class. Jealousy is said to be the cause of the tragedy.

5 yds. wide by 9SB yds. long contains 1 acre 10 „ 484 „ „ „ . 20 „ 24S „ „ 40 „ 121 70 „ 69 1-9 „ 80 . - „ 60J „--,< f^ 220 feet „ . 198 feet „ „ it i 440 „ 99 UO - „ -369 ■„--„- » 60 „ 726 „ „ •> : 123 „ 363 „ „ ! „ , 240 „ ißii „ „ „. ;