The Southland Times. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1869.

Southland Times, Issue 1179, 10 December 1869, Page 2

The Southland Times. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1869.

The schooner Waihopai returned yesterday .evening from her tdp to the Solander, a full and particular account of which will, no doubt, be published in due course.

We were shown on Wednesday last a very fine sample of new potatoes, grown by Mr Rankin, of Ingle wood, Waikivi. They were of the lapatone kidney description, and of considerable size. This speaks well for the season 60 far as it has gone, which, wifh the exception of one or two frosty nights — very destructive in exposed situations to the potato growth — has been an exceptionally fine one, and crops of every kind promise an abundant harvest,

A meeting of the committee of the Southland Horticultural Sociel^- took place at Coljor's Princess Hotel on Monday evening, the 6th insfc ; Mr W. H. Hall in the chair. The sub-com-mittee appointed at the previous meeting brought up the schedule of prizes prepared by them, which was adopted. Several preliminaries connected with the exhibition to take place in March next were arranged, and an alteration was made which is expected* to be of advantage to the society, by inducing a larger number of exhibits, namely, permitting non-subscribers to compete on payment of a nominal entrance fee on each exhibit. Some consternation was created in one of the fashionable draper's shops of Melbourne on Saturday morning, the 13th ultimo, by the entrance of a detective officer, who, proceeding to one of the shopmen, qnietly informed him that be was " wanted." The individual in question, who was at the time attending to a lady, at first tried to laugh off the matter ; but being informed that he was charged with wife desertion, and seeing his fair helpmate coming down the B'iop to identify him, he at once " caved in." The prisoner's name is Newman, and it appears that he deserted his wife in New Zealand several months ago, leaving her entirely destitute. He was lodged in the watch-house, and would make his appearance before the City Bench on Monday. The Dunedin Echo of the 4th inst. says : — The Provincial Council of Southland has passed resolutions in favor of re-union with Otftgo, upon the basis recommended by the Commissioners recently appointed by the two Governments to investigate the positions of each Province, and suggest equitable terms of partnership. Tt is scarcely possible that the Otago Provincial Council will refuse to endorse the Commissioners' report ; therefore, the union of the two Provinces may be considered as accomplished. Some delay ( will necessarily arise before the union can be fmnlly perfected, inasmuch as the saneti n of the General Assembly is essential to the completion of the contract ; but the evident desire evinced by the G-ovemment fl«n'ii!j last. session to facilitate the amalgamation of small wifch large P>wvinoe9, renders it extremely improbable t.hat it will throw any obstacles in the way. The contemplated union is unquestionably a move in the right direction. It will increase the power of Otago, and ndvjvncp the progress of Southland, and lead to a nrvrA deliberate ennsiderntiou of the terms upon which the full union of the colony can be satisfactorily secured. Tfc will hring fresh blood into the Provincial '"ouneil of Otago — mm who are unshacYled and uninfluenced by the sects and parties that have rendered this Province conspicuous as a class and inactive community. i The Wanganui Chronicle states that "there is lying on the sea-beach, about three miles on the north-west side of the Wangaehu "River, a boat, painted blue on the sides, green inside, and blaok bottom. It lias evidently been submerged for some time, as there are many barnacles attached. The boat is four oared, when new must have been a fine-looking craft, and probably belonged to the s.s. Tarannki, lately raised in Queen Charlotte's | Sound. The boat does not appear to have suffered much from being driven ashore, having I only two small holes in the bot om, The Canterbury Times says : — The pernicious system followed by so many farmers in this province, of taking everything from the soil without giving it anything in return, is apparently being pursued in other places. The correspondent of an Otago contemporary, writing regarding the state of the crops in his district, says : — T fear | that our next crop will be scant, for the reason that our would-be farmers have for years determinedly pursued the suicidal policy of selling everything that came off the land without giving anything to repay the soil for its liberality. Every holder of land has his chaff-cutting machine, and every particle which kind earth produces is subjected to its merciless knives. All new settlements have pursued the same method, and, us a matter of course, all are visited with the same prevalence of agricultural sterility. There have been many projects for augmenting the funds of the, Thames Hospital (says the local paper^ and with great credit the workmen ofpome of the mining companies have given subscriptions. But a proposition we heard made last, evening, by some gentlemen in business in ShorHand, seems to U9 to be a very good ore ■viz., that each persoji in business on fche Thames should give one shilling per week to the funds of the institution. This sum, though very small, from each person, would give a total amount which would be a great assistance to the Hospital. We think the suggestion should be acted upon by the authorities of the institution, as the gentlemen who mentioned it werf quite willing to subscribe that amount each week, and felt confident that other persons in business in Shortland would also assist. The suggestion is worthy of a trial. Our gardeners may take a hint from the following, taken from the Bendigo Advertiser : — "At the Sandhurst show, Mr William Holmes, of Kangaroo Flat, exhibited the result of an experiment he tried with broad beans. It appears that he sowed a email patch of beans, and while the plants were still green he pulled the pods off, and cut the stalks down to within an inch of the surface, and used them for feed. He then covered the stumps in the ground with about an inch of manure, and this year they sprung up , most luxuriantly, there being double the growth there wa9 the previous year. One of the plants he brought to the show, and it is certainly a j wonderful sample of vegetable growth, for there are eight stalks about nine high, thickly covered with bean pods." The Otago Provincial Telegraph Lines have been taken over by the General Government. The Colonial uniform rate will be in force for all messaged in the future. The Hon. Mr Gisborne has been appointed a Commissioner under the Government Annuities Act, 1869. This appointment is understood to be preparatory to the issue of regulations under the Act, and the establishment of a system of Government Life Assurance. A Riverton correspondent informs us that it is in contemplation to establish a prospecting company of a permanent nature, employing experienced men only, and giving the workmen an interest in the results, with a determination to deserve success if they cannot command it, A vacancy will shortly occur in the Provincial Executive (says the Qtago Times), as we believe it is the intention of the Treasurer to visit Europe by the next mail steamer.

The Thames Times says: — "Our readers will have noticed in our advertising columns a sclieme for the disposal of a large number ot valuable scrip by msans of a lottery. The terms of the lottery will commend ifc to all those of a speculative turn of mind. It is not often the chance of such a good thing as a Long Drive scrip can be met with for five shillings. We are informed that the shares are being taken up fast, and the speculation is not confined to the Auckland province, as every steamer from the South brings applications for shares, and there seems little doubt but every chance in the lottery will be taken up. There is one good feature in the proposed scheme — a feature that does infinite credit to the promoters ; we refer to the clause setting aside ten par cent, of the gross proceeds for the benefit of the Thames Hospital. The prize list comprises three Long Drives and a number of other shares in some of our best dividend paying mines. Messrs Ja-nes Wrigley and William Lloyd have consented to audit the accounts on behalf of the Hospital. Wa have great hopeß that the whole of the shares will be disposed of, and, besides the good fortune which will attend the prize winnerg, a good round sum will accrue to the local institution know a aa the Diggers' Hospital. A meeting of the Southland Prospecting Association will be held this evening, at 8 o'clock, in the Masonic Hall, at the rear of the Prince of Wales hotel. The Daily Times of the Bth inst. understands that the Provincial OJoverament have accepte <i a tender from Mr Proudfoot, the contractor, for the construction of the Port Chalmers Railway, for the sum of £70,000. This sura is to include permanent way, rolling stock, and stations. The contract has not yet been signed, but all the arrangements have been verbally made.