The Southland Times. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1870.

Southland Times, Issue 1207, 8 February 1870, Page 2

The Southland Times. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1870.

Some alarm was occasioned to the Rev. Father Belliaid and the other residents near the Roman Catholic Chapel, by the firing of the flat, in that locality on Sunday forenoon. It was at first supposed that a match had been pat to the tussocks by some thoughtless individual, but this was afterwards found to be incorrect. The fire had originated by a spark from the locomotive igniting an accumulation of seaweed, &c, at the new railway embankment on Saturday afternoon. The heap of rubbish had smouldered all night, but broke up into flame under the influence of the fine southerly breeze of Sunday morning, quickly caught the dry grass around, and ran up | towards the town with a rather threatening appearance. Before it had quite reached the proximity of buildings, however, the police and several other persons were on the ground, and succeeded in beating the fire ont with bushes. Our Riverton correspondent, writing on the sth inst., says : —No news from the Longwood except that one or two more have given up prospecting in despair. On Friday evening, Jan. 31st, the committee of the " Popular Entertainments " held a meeting to take into consideration the desirability of continuing these fortnightly performances, when it was resolved that, the autumnal evenings being best adapted for such gatherings, it would, considering previous _ success, be injudicious to stop them. Accordingly it was carried unanimously that they should continue, and on Tuesday evening last, Ist inst, another of these entertainments was given, and came off with great eclat. No previous entertainment can be said to have equalled it. The readings, for the most part, were humorous and instructive, in two instances only being rather melancholy. The readers were Messrs Wells, Taylor, Scully, Johnston, Surman, &c. A duet on the piano was warmly applauded ; but the two favorite young ladies, in their songs, caused quite & furore, and were again and again ■encored, as were also Mr Aldred and Mr Schmidt, 1 of whose singing the audience appeared not to I have had sufficient. May other evenings go off I as well. Tenders for draining, forming, and gravelling on East Road, between the 11th and 12th mile posts, were opened as follows, at the Government Buildings, on Friday last. For formation and drains : —

The following is the score made by the Riverton five in the contest with ten volunteers of Dunedin. We gave the result of the shooting of the Invercargill squad (5), in Friday's issue, the total points made being 159, and it will be observed that the Biverton men have scored only 22 higher. Both scores are below the average of either corps, owing, doubtless, to the same cause — a strong wind across the range at the time of firing: —

A sad case of drowning occu-red in the Mabel district . on Monday last, the unfortunate man who lost ills life being a Mr Wm. Allan, son of a settler in the neighborhood. It appears that on the morning in question, Sergt. Morton le^town for the Hokanuis, on police duty. On arriving at theTitipua Bush, he observed the creeks ia the locality to be all in flood, and, not being acquainted with the crossings, he went and made enquiries of the deceased, whose residence was close by. Mr Allan not only gave the requisite information, but kindly volunteered to show Morton the way, and the two proceeded on their road. At tha first creek they had to cross* the horse ridden by the constable had : bottom .-ag -the way, but. Mr Allan's being smaller, ' f had j to swim a few yards. They both got out all right, however, deceased apparently looking upon the swimming of a creek on horseback as a very ordinary affair indeed. Arriving at the Titipua stream, which was much swollen, Mr Allan desired Morton to remain where he was until he had crossed, as he knew the fprd perfectly, and had better try it first. He entered the water, and was soon swimming. The current was carrying him below the landing place, and he pulled the reins to -head up stream, when the ; horse rolled over with him, and both went 1 down. On coming up it was seen that Allan I had lost his seat, but he immediately got hold of I the saddle again, and the horse swam to the bank, i Morton thought they would get out all right, as the horse h-*d already got his fore feet on the bank, and deceased was almost within reach of the side, when in a moment he saw Mr Allan let go and sink, the horse having evidently kicked him in its struggles to save Itself. Morton, who had dismounted, at once jumped in, but the weight of his accoutrements, and the water which filled his top boots, soon took him under, and it was with the greatest difficulty he succeeded in saving, Ilia < own life, nor did he see or feel anything, of deceased. Mr Allan's brother, who resided about a mile off, was then informed of the sad occurrence, and he at once, in company with Morton, went and made a Bearch, which was unsuccessful. On Sunday, Constable Tuohy went out with grapnels to drag the creek, the settlerb turned out to assist, and one of them Bpeedily brought the body up within a few yards of where the accident took place. An inquest was to be held yesterday afternoon at the Bakahouka Bush. The TuapeJcu Times says that after paying all liabilities, the Deep Shaft Committee will have a balance of a few pounds in hand, and as a proportion of that amount has been contributed by the public, suggests that the balance be paid to one of the public institutions of the district — say the Hospital or the Athen»um. At a meeting of the County Council on Jan. 25, Mr Harrison, moved — " That the Council resolve itself into committee of the whole, to consider the following resolution :—' That, with, the view of encouraging permanent settleme nfe in the County of WestLand, it is desirablo that application be made to the General Assembly^fof' an Act for the sale, letting, and disposal of the Waste Lands of the Crown in the .County, of Weßtland, based upon the following conditions : —1. That all Waste Lands may be leased for a period not exceeding five years, at the annual rental of four shillings per acre ; such rental to be considered as instalments of the purchase price of twenty shillings per acre. 2. That at the termination of the lease the land hecomes the absolute, unconditional property of the lessee. 3. That it be a condition of every lease of the Waste Lands that, during the period of the lease, the land so leased may be entered and worked for mining purposes, subject to proper regulations for the prevention of wanton and unnecessary interference and for awarding compensation to the occupier. 4. That in no case should compensation be awarded for entry upon unimproved land.' " The matter was referred to a Select Committee. Three hundred dollars reward is offered for the ? arrest of a youthful American defaulter, named WalterS. Coffin, who is "wanted" for larceny. Coffin is 15 years and 6 months of age,;: sft^ sin./ in height, weighs about 1251 b., "broad features, light-brown hair, light complexion, face rather pale, small mole on one of his cheeks, has a downcast look, and is awkward in his gait ; dressed in a blue cloth hat and a brown mixed Scotch suit throughout ; his coat was in the style of an English frock. Coffin was sent at noon on the 6th October last to a bank with two I,ooodpi. bank bills and sSdol. in small bills, since which time he has not been seen. The above reward will be paid for his arrest and the recovery of the money, or in proportion for any part thereof. Information should, be Bent to Colonel John Kurtz, chief of police, or J. P. Lynch, Detective Police, Boston, Massachusetts. Coffin's name is engraved on his watch. The Lake Wakatip Mail of the 27th ult. says that " harvesting operations being one month earlier this year, and sheep-shearing rather later than usual, a great dearth of labor is experienced. £2 per week and found is the current rate of wages, but men do not care to g-> harvesting far that, preferring station work at that rate. Labor must rise in price*, for the stations down- country still want hands, and are offering more'' than ,£2. The crops this year are heavy, and the weather excellent for gathering them in. The machines are steadily at work mowing down, but owing ; to the cause stated, the crops have to remain on the ground." Shearing and harvesting operations 'both being on hand throughout the Province (says the Dunstan Times of the 28th ult.) a great scawity of labor is experienced. In this immediate neighborhood hands are very scarce, and the few that are about are demanding exorbitant rates of wages ; in one instance where a man was asked if he wanted a job, he demanded the modest sum of £2 10s a week together with tucker. At the Resident Magistrate's Court on Monday, a tipsy individual was charged with having been drunk on the public streets on the previous Saturday. He pleaded guilty, but in such a maudlin incoherent manner as to attract his Worship's notice, when it came out that he had been let out on bail on Sunday morning, and, that although honestly keeping his " appointment " at the court, he had been unable to resist taking a "drop" as he came along— only a mouthful. As this was his fourth offence* theBench ordered him to be locked up until he gained a state of perfect sobriety, when he should be again brought up. The culprit evidently thought this a very unkind cut indeed, and expostulated ineffectually with the constables on the harshness of their conduct while they were removing him. Alex. Gray was fined 10s and costs for riding on the footpaths on the morning of Sunday, the 30th inst. He pleaded that he had been riding through the town on the morning in question, when he saw a oow and calf break away from a boy who was driving them, and he had committed the trespass, without thought, in assisting the boy to bring the animals back. A settler out the East "Road was also called upon to answer a similar charge, but failed to appear. In his case it seemed there was no excuse, as he had deliberately ridden up the'Tay street side-walk from Messrs Frederick and Hunter's to Stock and Co's, and even insisted on going upon the pavement after having been put off twice by the constable. A fine of £2, with 13s 6d costs, was inflicted. The TuapeJca Times has " heard, on very good: authority, that 5000 acres on Driver -aW Maclean's run (lately Mr Treweek's) will be thrown open under the Agricultural Leasing Regulations in a few days. We understand that, 2,500 acres will be taken from the Lawrence side of the run, and the same number from the Beaumont side, and this is certain to meet with the wishes of the inhabitants of both places." The miners at the Hogburn have struck work on account of the high price of water, the water companies refused to reduce the price to 30s per week per head. The Mount Ida Chronicle says that a number of miners (mostly wages men) have taken their departure from the district in consequence of the strike. The charge of 30s per week per head appears a very small sum compared with the exorbitant price of 20s per day paid for the same quantity in Tuapeka.

The New Zealand Gazette of the 22nd ult. contains notifications to the effect that letters of naturalisation have been granted in favor of William Horatio Fall, merchant, of Invercargill ; and that the following reserve has been made " as a site for a Custom House and Post Office or other buildings of the General Government : — All that parcel of land in tha Province of Southland, containing by admeasurement one (1) rood and fourteen (14) poles, more or less, situated in the Township of Campbelltown, commencing at a point bearing 6 ° 01' from the North east corner of Section No. 6, Block No. 1., Campbelltown, and two hundred and ten (210) links distant therefrom, and being bounded towards the West by a line bearing 9 ° 01', a distance of two hundred aad fifty (250) lints ; towards the North-east by a line bearing 115 ° j 07', a distance of one hundred and fifty-six (156) links ; towards the East by a line bearing 18 * ° I', a distance of two hundred and seven (207) links ; and towards the South by a line bearing 279 ° 01', a distance of one hundred and fifty (150) links to the commencing point." The hares placed by the Acclimatisation Society on Totara Island have (says the Otago Daily Times) increased very rapidly. Having escaped t from their encampment they are now seen in con- | siderable numbers on James Dickson's farm, Waihola Lake, as well as other places in that vicinity. It is conjectured that they breed three times ayear, young ones having been seen at three different stages of growth. A person who recently visited that locality saw unmistakeablo indications of their numbers, while he observed several sheaves effectually nipped of the grain. It is thought the time is not far distant when permission may be given to shoot them, without sensibly diminishing their numbers. The TuapeJca Times of the 29th ult. says : — " The following extract from a letter received by Mr J. O. Brown from a Wallace elector has been sent to us for publication : — c lam very glad to hear that you are likely to wrench the refused information from the returning officer. I have heard there were some votes recorded at the Mataura in favor of Mr Webster, while the parties were not at the polling-booth on that day.' Mr Brown informs us that he received a letter from the Colonial Secretary, in which he stated that the returning officer had been instructed to furnish Mr Brown with a list of voters as recorded at the respective polling-booths. Mr Brown complains that although he asked for the information three months ago, the returning officer has not yet favored him with any reply." "From the Auckland papers we learn that serious disturbances have 'been threatened at the Thames. The miners there had, it appears, grown tired of waiting for the opening of the Ohinemuri country, and they accordingly held two public meetings at which they proposed to open up the country by force., The^first of these meetings was held on the 21st nit.) and the following brief account of it is given by the correspondent of the Southern Cross :'— " A morister meeting of about 3,000 miners took place this afternoon, in Graham's paddock. Mr M. O'Hara was called to the chair. The first speaker proposed that a large number of miners should go tip to Ohinerauri on Monday, and negociate with Te Hiri, offering to him. all miners' rights, &c. An amendment was brought forward that the Government should be petitioned, and one more chance be given them, and that Saturday next be appointed to receive the reply. This would not be listened to, and the proposition was carried by a large majority. After the meeting closed, about 700 remained, who are to fosm the first portion who go up on Monday. . One party are now making arrangements for boats, and another gathering up all the arms they can lay hands upon." At the second meeting, which was held on the 24th ult., Mr Swan, one of the chief movers in the agitation, said that he was confident that the Government would support them. The Government were well aware of the steps that had already been taken in the matter, and if the Government were notinclined to support the miners through they would have taken steps to prevent them from carrying out their intention. If it went to that, however, they would sooner take up arms than remain here and starve. If they started at once they would soon see whether the Government intended to snppbrt them. If not, let them have a row at once and be done with it. He then called on those who were willing to proceed at once to step forward. There was a steamer then at the wharf willing to take them up at 4s a-head, and if they were not able to pay their passages why they could walk overland ; they had all often walked longer distances to a rush, and they could do so now. About fifty persons stepped forward as ready to go immediately, but it was evident at a glance that a great majority of the meeting was not in favour of this extreme measure. Ultimately it was resolved to send a deputation to wait upon the Superintendent with a memorial which was drawn up and signed on the spot, and the meeting then broke up. Since butter came down to its present low price, (says the Wellington Independent) many settlers have been experimenting on cheesemaking. Some say that cheese at sixpence per 1b pays as well as butter at ninepence. If that be the case, the comparison must be odious to the chumers, when cheese. is at ninepence and butter at sixpence. The solution of the difEculty which is now universally felt in the country districts — " to get a living out of butter " — is to try cheese making. If butter cannot be exported, cheese can ; instead of turning rancid on a voyage to England, it would become of a better flavour. The only drawback is that, while most people know how to make' good butter, few have any experience in cheese-making ; but the latter accomplishments is by- no means difficult, and would no doubt prove highly remunerative to those who depend upon their cows for a living. It would not be difficult to illustrate the argument by pointing out certain very prosperous settlers, who are well known to have turned their attention almost exclusively to cheese-making during the last two or three years. A " rara avis " was seen a few days ago on the north road about a mile out of Oamaru (says the local paper) in the shape of a pure white lark. It ia well-known that albinos are 'of occasional occurrence amongst most species of animals, more particularly among birds j white sparrows, white crows, and even, touse a contradictory phrase, white blackbirds finding a place in most-English museums ; but this is the first instance that has come under our notice of a similar freak of nature i n New Zealand. With reference to the ingenious theory recently propounded as to the disappearance of native birds being caused by the stings of bees concealed in the flowers from which they seek to extract the nectar, a correspondent of the Wanganui Chronicle writes that it must be purely imaginary, as the only indigenous plants in which native birds seek honey are the toi-toi and the flax, and it must be considered a curious fact in natural history that the common honey bee — the only species, though of different varieties, in this country — is powerless to extract the nectar from these plants, which only yield their treasures to certain bush birds. Mr B. J. Wa*dill, the agent sent by the yictoria Sugar Company to investigate the facts connected with the alleged presence of arsenic in sugar bearing the company^ brand, has written to us requesting that we would place before our readers the result of his enquiry, as published in .the Wellington Independent. As the documents in question are rather lengthy, it may be sufficient to Btate that it is proved beyond doubt the poisonous matter found its way into the gunny bags on board the steamer through the accidental leakage of some barrels of carbolic sheep.dipping composition. Those in charge of cargo on vessels should be made to exercise a little more care and judgment in its stowage. i A meeting of the Dunedin Jockey Club was held on the 31st ult., when it was decided to alter i the days of the races to the 23rd and 24th March, I the former day being the anniversary the pro--1 vince, and kepfc as a public holiday.

Yards. 200 500 600 Total. lient.J. Barman 13 14 14 41 Corpl. B. Acheson 13 16 8 37 Vol. F. Henderson 13 14 10 3S „A. Clode 15 12 8 35 „ J.Bobinson 13 14 4 32 181

For gravelling same : — R. Powell £758 17 6 Jas. Gallagher 756 16 8 Pat M'Quillan (accepted) ... 418 O 0

J.Vint.mn £348 0 0 E. Powell 245 0 0 Smith and Co 228 0 0 Jas. Henderson (acpt. conditionally) 217 0 0