Untitled

Southland Times, Issue 1201, 25 January 1870, Page 2

There was no sign of the English moil when the Omeo left Melbourne. The. Carandini troupe are passengers by the Omeo for Dunedin. A contract has been entered into for the erection of a Roman Catholic chapel at Cromwell. The price is £380. ! " Almost all the young trout have disappeared from the ponds in the Acclimatisation Gardens at Christchurch. A handsome Jewish synagogue has just been completed at Wellington, "at a cost of about £1200. It is situated on the Terrace. A great deal of rowdyism is going on at the Thames, "and it has been found necessary to increase the police force there. We learn from a local paper that the caterpillar is making frightful ravages amongst the crops around Timaru. The 'Mount Ida Chronicle says the Provincial authorities have recommended to the General Government the immediate extension of telegraphic communication to Naseby. The Southern Cross — Mr Vogel's organ — urges that the next session of the General Assembly, which wil l probably be opened about May, should be held in Auckland. ■ A Thames paper understands that Mr St. John Branigan, Chief of the Armed Constabulary Force, is taking a look round the Thames, so as to makelhimself acquainted with the topographical features of the country, in case of the services of the corps being required in the district. With regard to the mission of Te Eeweti Waikato, who was deputed by three tribes to wait up"on the Government in order to ascertain whether there was any truth in a rumor which had reached them, to the effect that Waikato wa3 to be given back to them, the SoutJiern Cross states that, in reply to the question whether the Government intended to return the Waikato, Te Reweti was informed that portions of the confiscated Waikato lands would be set apart by the Government as settlements for such of the Waikatos as might be desirous of returning to their former homes, The chief then enquired whether the Government would withdraw the European population from Waikato. He was told that the population had become fixed, that permanent improvements had been made upon the lands, ana that such a course was simply impossible : that the Government had no intention beyond setting apart portions of the lands as settlements for those who chose to return and submit to our laws. The County Council of Westland was opened :on the 12th instant. Mr Hoos. in his opening address, stated that the County was in debt to the extent of £13,000, but it is hoped that, by rigid economy, this debt may be wiped off, and the Council in June commence with a surplus. The amount of gold taken out of the Golden Crown Claim, at the Thames, during the period from August 6, 1868, to the 31st December 1869, was 34,4210zs 7dwt 16grs of melted gold. The export duty on this quantity of gold, at the present rate of 2s 6d per ounce, amounts to the sum of £4302 12s 6d sterling. A half original share in this claim changed hands for five pounds on the sth April, 1868, and in the following July the fine lode that has since obtained for the claim a world-wide celebrity was opened. The produce of the Shotover during the year 18R9 was 16,163 ozs melted gold, or an average of 13470zs monthly. The Company's ground only covers an area of 300 by 300 f et, or an original claim of six men's ground, but this was subdivided into 224,000 shares on the formation of the company. The Bruce Herald of the 19th inst., Bays : — cc The recent flood was very severely felt in the Mataura district, the river having risen higher ;£han it has been for many years. The whole of the flat was converted into a lake, the township of Wyndhara being also under water. The losses of those who had stock on runs adjoining the river are reported as very heavy, but they had not been fully ascertained at the dates of our reports. Mr M'Nab is said to have lost 4000 sheep besides horses and cattle; Captain 8byd,,2000, &c, &c. Other parties have also suffered both in stock and through the destruction of crops adjacent to the river." In a former issue we published a report of a proposed excursion from Victoria to New Zealand. With reference to it, the West, Coast Times of a recent date says ! — " We understand a number of the friends of Capt. John M'Lean, of the Alhambra, purpose, after her extensive overhaul, to visit all New Zealand ports on an excursion trip. The circular which has been shown to us is issued by Mr Basrot, and it is proposed the Alhambra shall leave Melbourne oh the 20th January, direct for Milford sound, and from thence visit all inlets or sounds to Bluff Harbor, from thence to Dunedin, Lyttelton, Wellington, and will visit, Queen Charlotte Sound and other sounds in Cook's straits, going through the French Pass en route to Nelson, where she will leave about" the 21st February, calling off Hokitika on her way to Melbourne. The number of passengers will be limited to fifty in the saloon ; the fare for the entire round being very moderate, only £20. No doubt, as the weather is so extremely hot in Melbourne, Captain M'Lean will secure the number of excursionists, who will benefit by the trip, and, experience some knowledge of the geographical positioh.of the different ports of New Zealand." The following reply to the address presented to Mr J. B. Thomson, late of the Otago Detective Force, from the members of the Provincial Council and the Mayor and Corporation of Dunedin, was received by W. H. Reynolds, Esq., M.H.R., Speaker of the Provincial Council, under date Jan. 6 :— " Time would not permit me to suitably acknowledge before leaving Dunedin the extremely complimentary address received through you (on the eve of my departure) from the members of the Provincial Council of Otago, and the Mayor and Corporation of Dunedin, by whom it was signed. I, however, take the present opportunity of doing bo, and have the honor to respectfully tender you, and through you, Sir, the whole of the gentlemen who signed the address referred to my sincere and heartfelt thanks for so welcome an expression of their approval of my conduct as a public officer whose duties are at times very onerous and unpleasant. The compliment thus paid was as unexpected as unusual, and naturally extremely gratifying to me. I need scarcely assure you, Sir, that the testimonial in question will ever be highly prized by me and carefully preserved, and will, I trust, prove an incentive to me to continue to merit, by a straightforward line of conduct, the goodwill and esteem of those communities amongst whom the future exercise of public duties may from time to time place me. I have the honor to be, &c, J. B. Thomson, Inspector of S.Z. Constabulary."

At the Resident Magistrate's Court on Friday ] last, 21st inst., before Henry M'Culloch, Esq., I R.M., and Captains Biles .and Thomson, nautical I assessors, an official enquiry was held upon the ; wreck of the brig Laughing Water. .Nothing was educed in the course of the examination to affect in the slightest. degree the story of the loss, as communicated to us hy Capt, . Gibson, which appears at full length in our other columns, and it is therefore unnecessary to give details of the proceedings. The only new feature inen timed at the inquiry was, that the vessel was insured in Sydney, but for how much he was not .aware. The Court unanimously exonerated Capt. Gibson from all blame, and attributed the loss of the brig to the long prevalence of thick, rainy weather. The customary ceremonies in connection with ! the anniversary of the Wesleyan Sunday School took place during the past week. The school has now been established six years, and maintains under the able and zealous superintendence of Mr Or. S. Crouch, a high degree of usefulness and efficiency. The services in this instance were similar to those observed on former occasions, viz., appropriate discourses to the scholars, their parents, and friends, in the church on the Sabbath i day, and the singing of hymns by the children ; ; a public soiree on the Tuesday evening following, and what is known as the " children's treat " on the Wednesday. At the Tuesday evening meeting the affairs of the school, its claims, &&, "were enlarged upon to the audience, and progress during the past year reported. From the Secretary's statement it appeared that the roll embraced the names of 163 scholars and 19 teachers, the attendance of both being very satisfactory. Allusion was also made to the finances of the institution, which appeared to be in a healthy state, a respectable balance being on the right side of the Treasurer's books. The Library was spoken of as being much used by the children, the books being eagerly sought for, and apparently well read. On the following day, Wednesday, the children mustered en masse on the knolls in the rear of the parsonage, where they enjoyed themselves until dispersed by the shades of evening, having been in the- meantime periodically refreshed with tea and its etceteras. The. New York World countß " upon seeing the time when the laws of earthquakes shall be familiar to every schoolboy, so that the spasms of terrene nausea from which our mother earth bo frequently suffers may be produced or prevented at will, and when we can proudly claim, while cataloguing tne social blessings of America, that we have 'No home without an earthquake ' ready for use at a moments notice. Even in the present undeveloped state of science, we know that a sea of liquid fire gnaws, with a mordacity surpassing that of fusel whiskey, at the yitals of the earth. Should we bore an artesian well until this fiery sea should be reached, we should be able to produce earthquakes at pleasure by simply turning a stream of water down the artesian boring, and thus prodncing a sudden and violent generation of steam. In the future, every man will doubtless possess his earthquakejvell, and will shake the fruit from the orchard and stir the soil of his garden by a gentle, earthquake. In time of war, the enemy's forts and armies will be destroyed by earthquakes of extra strength, and at ensuing peace festivals the horrors of the Anvil Chorus will be increased by the subterranean murmurs of a rhythmic shake. The force of the phenomenon could of course be regulated by the amount of water which should be turned into steam, and cities could be levelled to the ground by the same agent which could also . be trained to aid the musical triumph of the Gilmore of the future." By a circular issued by the head of the department on the Ist inst. postmasters are informed that, in future, correspondence for the United Kingdom may be forwarded " via Brindisi ;" and any letters or newspapers specially directed "via Brindisi" will be forwarded by that route in a mail addressed to London, with the words " via Biindisi" very legibly marked on it. Until a special form is provided, the form of Letter: Bill in use for the mails to London " via Marseilles" must' be- sent with the- mail, the word " Brindisi" being substituted for " Marseilles." The postage on letters for the "United Kingdom " via Brindisi" will be — : when not exceeding half-an-onnce, Is 3d ; when exceeding half-an-ounce, and not exceeding one ounce, 2s 6d ; when exceeding one ounce and not exceeding two ounces, 5s ; and so on increasing at the rate of two shillings and sixpence for every additional ounce or fractional part of an ounce. Newspapers will be liable to a charge of fourpence for every four ounces. The postage on letters and newspapers must be paid in advance. A Wellington journal says — "A recent case of distress promptly relieved has come to our knowledge, and is of so praiseworthy a character, that we cannot refrai.i from telling it to our readers. A gentleman in the Telegraph Depar - ment, in Auckland, married, and possessing a small family and smaller Balary, about, twelve months ago became insane. In the hopes that change and proper treatment would effect a cure, the then Telegraph Commissioner granted him six months' leave of absence on full pay. The leave expired, and instead of haviug improved, the patient had become hopelessly worse. His term of service had not been such as to warrant the Government giving him any pension, but, as his wife was anxious to get back to Scotland, they gave him a gratuity of £65. This, however, was far less than the sum necessary to pay their expenses in this Colony until the departure of the family, and save them from landing penniless at home. The District Inspector wrote down to Wellington, suggesting a .subscription being raised in the Department. The officer here took up the idea heartily, and but a few moments elapsed ere every official at every station in the Colony had contributed his quota, and nearly £100 was subscribed in an hour or two, to be sent by the first mail. This sum was advanced temporarily by the general manager here, and remitted by a steamer leaving Wellington at the time for Auckland, in order to avoid anjr delay which would have been caused had he waited till each subscription could arrive here from every out- station. By this time the distressed family have been made happy." By the Merchant Shipping Act, Adoption Act, 1969, all masters of vessels over 50 tons register, after the Ist of January, 1870, have to enter into articles of agreement with their crew. All men engaged after that date will have to produce certificates of discharge or permits to ship. The latter will only be granted for intercolonial and coasting vessels when the seaman can prove to the satisfaction of the officer before whom he seeks to be engaged that he has lost or been deprived of his discharge without fault of his own. In case he is unable to do this, he will only be permitted to ship in foreign-going vessels. A correspondent, writing to the Wellington Independent, says: — "Mr Macandrew's motion for stopping mail subsidies to steam lines was aimed at destroying direct traffic between Melbourne and Wellington, and monopolising it for Otago. His shadowy substitute, a line from California to Sydney, touching at Auckland, or some port north of it, will probably be established ; not by New Zealand enterprise, or its theoretical £20,000— bat by real Yankee "go." If the Americans make the through fares cheap, a large proportion of our population will use the line to get away from a fair land smothered by monopoly and want of energetic brains — strangled by arrogant mediocrity ! But, eventually, American explorers will take a turn round. They will soon Bpy out the undeveloped resources of the country. They will give an opening to the wealth which our so-called merchants and statesmen stupidly leave dormant. But at the same time they will take possession of the country by means of their energy and enterprise. They will make oheap railways through it, and establish profitable industries so as to encourage and promote the rapid accession of capital and labour from all parts of the world. They will get naturalised, become electors, control legislation, so as to make it assist populous industry, instead of privileged idleness, and financially hoist the busy Stars and Stripes over the New. Zealand flag, and establish Chambers of Commerce worthy of their name,

I instead of the tawdry shams we hare hitherto ! been content to worship and maintain as pur petty commercial idols." . . '- Some weak-minded individuals hare evidently been endeavoring to find amusement •• by perpetrating /a silly joke in the shap* .of m announcement through oar local columns of an event which it is quite clear had caused them some chagrin on account "of their not having been invited to a participation. The document" we refer to was dropped into our letter box,- and purported to bear the initials of a gentleman holding a good position. The object, however, was bo apparent, that the precious missive was immediately consigned to the waste paper basket, from which it his been exhumed in order that the author of the attempted imposition may be traced. From Hawke's Bay we learn that the line of telegraph is now completed as far as Tarawera.-A. station has been opened at that place, and the first message was sent through on Saturday the* Ist. The work is rapidly progressing between Kunanga and Tapuaehararu.