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Southland Times, Issue 1194, 11 January 1870, Page 2

We have been informed that the Australian Mutual Provident Society has just invested £64,000 of its accumulated capital in the purchase of New Zjaland Debentures under " The Consolidated Loan Application Act, 1869." The investments by subscribers within the Colony to the above society, are thus returning to benefit the source whence they sprang. A meeting of the Invercargill Total Abstinence Society will be held at half-past seven o'clock this evening in the usual meeting place. We would remind shareholders in the ,Southland Building, Land, and Investment Society that a sale of the accumulated funds will be held . to-morrow evening at 9 o'clock. The Gipps Land Mercury mentions that " Mr Paul Cansick has just taken out of his tan-pits at Eosedale one of the largest bullock, hides ever tanned in the colonies. It measures 1 3ft. in length by lift. wide. This enormous hide Mr Cansick has tanned and curried for the purpose of making buggy reins." } The half-yearly meeting of the Shamrock, Rose, ! and Thistle Lodge took place on Thursday evening, 6th iDst., when the newly.elected officers I were installed. Brothers John Kingsland and

Neil Feflfuson were elected delegates to represent the Lodje at the fir3t district meeting. The following extract from the general laws of the order explain some of the objects contemplated by the formation of a district : — " Districts shall con9isj of branches formed by the A.M.C., under the provisions of the fourth section of Rule I. Ttieq object shall be the uniting together the , various lodges in such district into a branch, for the /purpose of spreading the payments or ' liabilities of assurance, and where provided for, the sickness over a greater number, with a view to fclje better security of the members, and the better government of such branches. They shall be governed by officers called the Provincial Grand Master, or Prov. G-.M., the Provincial Deputy Grand Master, or D.G.M., the Provincial O.SJ or Corresponding Secretary, and a Commitiee of Management, called the District Meeting, composed of delegates from each lodjjo." Considerable interest is attached to the first meeting, and much speculation amongst the locsl members as upon whom the honor of office will devolve. Since the heavy rains of the beginning of last we^k, rumors of swollen creeks and rivers, in sono instances accompanied with considerable danage, have been reaching town from the vsrious inland districts. From the Mataura, we luar that the river has reached a greater height cxi; this occasion than for many years past. So Vapid indeed was the rise, and so swift the current, that at one time some fears were entertained for the safety of the new bridge at the falls, the water having at one time stood within a couple of feet of its roadway. The Makarewa also poured down an unusual flood, and, what was more threatening than the mere rush of water, brought along some heavy timber, which got foul of the Wallacetown bridge, and jeopardised its stability. Information of the fact having been sent to the G-overnment offices, men were at once despatched under the orders of Mr Conyers to remove the obstruction, in which they were successful. The Oreti was also much swollen, and overflowed its banks in several places. In the Eiverton district, ' the flood was also very, heavy, the rush of water from the Aparima being so strong that the James Paxton was compelled to remain at her moorings inside, though ready to proceed to sea. Although .several cases of flooding to. considerable extent have occurred in different parts of the province, we have not yet heard of anything more serious than the damage of some fencing and crops, and in some instances the latter will no doubt recover themselves, as the flood was only of short duration, 'i The Bruce Herald, contains a long account of a fatal accident which occurred on the 21st ult. on the Saddle Hill road, whereby Mr John Fowler, an East Taieri settler, and landowner in South- j land, lost his life. It seems that the deceased was driving a dray laden with iron, when the back chain of the shaft horse had become detached, and the load commenced to fall against the horse's hind legs. In the effort to stop the team, the leader was brought close to the steep bank at the side of the road, upon which he jumped, falling back against the advancing load of iron. This so frightened the horse 3 that they rushed down hill at a great speed, the driver retaining his seat, and vainly endeavoring to hold them back; The shaft horse fell near an abrupt slope in the embankment, and was dragged some distance, until the near wheel went over the side, and the dray was turned upside down, Mr Fowler being buried under the load, and from the position of the body it is believed that death must have been instantaneous. We make the following extract from the article : — " It may not be out of place to preface our. remarks upon the lately departed by stating the fact that he had been in life one of the most successful, though one of the very smallest, of Otago farmers, and that that success was entirely attributable to his untiring perseverance and plodding industry, by which, although only possessed of fifty acres of land bordering the Taieri River atone of its most inaccessible though richest spots, from the fruits thereof not only had he reared and respectably maintained a family of seven, but lately he had purchased in the Winton district of the neighboring Province of Southland, '1000 acres of her best land, to which he had drafted off a portion of his dairy stock, and where a son was in charge, and but recently we met the hale and hearty old man on his three hundred miles' ride, 'in passing through Tokomairiro on his return from the South, to which he had again this week intended to pay another visit previous to harvesting operations here." . " A peculiar phenomenon was observed here on the l^th ult., just before 8 o'clock," says the Benalla Ensign. " The day had been fearfully hot, a blazing sun and hot wind trying everybody's temper to the utmost. About half-past 7 two or three peals of thunder were heard, and all hoped for relief. Suddenly a calm ensued, and a peculiar continued rumbling sound was distinctly observed slowly rolling away from the west to the east, like the deep volley of subdued thunder, which it may have been, the peculiarity being that it lasted nearly three minutes, without the vibration usual with thunder. A hot wind blew all through the night, which was a fearful one." The Taravaki News gives the following account of the latest experiment made in regard to smelting the TaranaH iron sarid : — The coke ordered from Auckland, not arriving when expected, Messrs Atkinson and Smith determined to test their furnace with charcoal, partly in the hope that the new arrangements made would enable them to smelt with charcoal only, and partly because come of the materi al applied in lining the furnace was of doubtful quality from the want of a supply of fire clay, and it was desirable to try how it would stand. Very small charges of ore were used, which, if all reduced, should have yielded altogether about 50 or 60lbs. of iron or steel. Of this only 61bs. was actually obtained, when it was found that the lining of the furnace had given way, and the remainder of the ore had become mixed up unreduced with the Blag; The coke is expected before long, when another experiment will be tried. This lastresnlt, although nothing to boast of, shows at least that with a little better appliances, the ore could be dealt with mth charcoal only. It has been suggested by the friends of the late Mr Balfour, Colonial Marine Engineer (says the Daily Times) that a monument should be erected to his memory in one of the seaport . towns of the colony ; the necessary funds to be raised by public subscription, small donations being taken, so that everybody desirous of doing so may be enabled to contribute. Wellington has been mentioned as affording a suitable Bite for the cenotaph, which might, however, with equal

propriety be erected in Dnnedin, since Ofcago was the scene of Mr Balfour's first labors in NewZealand. The Oamaru Times of the 4fchinst. states :— The weather on Sunday was a most singular contrast to that of the previous day. From early dawn until midnight it rained in torrents and blew without cessation. The Oamaru Creek rose higher than we have seen it for a long time past, and rumor reaches U3 that the Kilianui left its bed and flooded the low-lying lands. A large breadth of barley at Totara, ready for the sickle, is reported as looking as though a roller had been passed over it, and many hundreds of acres o' wheat a*e reported as bains; seriously damaged south of Oamaru, while had accounts reach us also from the Papaki^o Plains. Much mischief has also been done in gardens— «tree3 laden with fruit bom* prostrated, and shrubs, and even good-sized gum trees, bsing torn up by the roots. During the early part of Monday, comnmni3ation was suspended between Waikbuaiti and Dunedin, the telegraph wires being down, and on the damage being repaired, it was ascertained that communication was interrupted south of Dunedin: Northward of Oamaru, the lines do not appear to have been injured, which would seem to indicate that the weather had been less severe in that direction. We are afraid that we shall hear that the damage to the crops in this district has been very serious. The Bruce HercM of the sth, after noticing the commencement of the downpour of rain early the previous Sunday morning, says: — Towards evening, the storm increased, the wind howled, the rain dashed everywhere, cattle bellowed, horses neighed, and other animals gave utterance to their natural cries of distress, as the waters rose. This continued throughout the night, and we quite agree with a correspondent who affirms that it was the most dismal, dreary, gloomy night ever experienced in Tokomairiro. Till between 10 and 11 o'clock at night, the river continued to rise, and the water to find its way into houses, gardens, &c. The inhabitants began to prepare for the worst, and along the streets might be seen drays loaded with furniture, &c., in transitu from low to high land. Shortly before midnight the storm lulled ; the large proportion of the lights were extinguished, 3nd the inhabitants retired to rest. At early morn a large number might be seen upon the south bridge watching the flow of the river and the debris floating towards the ocean. Fortunately the carcasses of animals were but few. About 8 o'clock the river commenced to fall, and after that all apprehension of danger was over . In connection with this, the second heaviest flood which has occurred within the memory of the oldest inhabitant, it is satisfactory to know that not a single instance of loss of life has as yet been reported in this district ; the injury to crops in the plain must be serious, but not such as at one time was anticL pated. The Mauritius correspondent of the Argus says: — News has been received of a terrible hurricane which occurred at Algoa Bay on the 18th and 19th of September last. Out of 14 vessels in the bay only two remained at their anchors when the storm subsided. The vessels stranded were — the Sarah Black, Fowes, Major Von Safft, England, Argale, G-ustav, Jeanne, Fingal, Fhsh, Duke of Buccleuch, Meg MerileeSi and Sea Snake ; of the latter Teasel the captain and seven seamen were drowned. The last arriva Is from Madagascar bring letters from the missionaries there to the effect that all the Malagasy idols have been burnt atithe capital, and that Christianity is now the only religion professed by the Queen and "Royal family at Antananarivo. According to the last reports from Natal the gold discoveries there were still in statu quo. Nevertheless, the Australian diggers are said to be still hoppful. The Natal G-overnment has published the following scale of , rewards for the discovery of goldfields : — £looo for the finding of a goldfield to yield 500oz per month for 12 months ; £1500 for the discovery of a field yielding 500oz to lOOOoz per month for 12 months ; £2000 for the discovery of a field yielding lOOOoz to 2000oz per month for 12 months j £2500 for the discovery of 2. field yielding 2000oz to 3000oz per month for 12 months ; £3000 for the discovery of a field yielding 3000oz to 4000oz per month for 12 months ; £5000 for the discovery of a field yielding over 4000oz per month for 1.2 months. A singular coincidence (says the Melbourne Argus) affecting one of our local insurance companies — the Southern — lias occurred with respect to the recent shipwrecks of tea ships. It appears that the office in question had, through its Sydney branch, accepted a full line — say about £5000 — on the Isle of Wight ship, from the Philipine Isles to Sydney. The vessel, however, having been out so long, the risk was put down some time ago as a total loss j but the very morning the wreck of the Marie G-abrielle— o n which the same company had a similar risk — was made known, the Isle of Wight was telegraphed from Cape Otway as having passed on for Sydney, and thus not only relieved the company from a double loss, but, in that of the Marie Gabrielle, though of course unexpected, the amount of loss actually was not more than had long before been anticipated and provided for in the manner referred to.