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, A sale of the accumulated fun Is of the Southland Buil : ing, Land, and Investment Society, took plane on Wednesday evening lant, £600 were offered to compet t?on amongst the members, but, owing probably to there being a rather poor attendance, bidding -was slacker than formerly, and, the money was knocked down at premiums ranging from £4 to £5 3s, the average being £4 17s. The money passed into fire or six different hands. • The local vohmteers had a firing match at their range on Thursday morning, for the purpose of deciding whinh of them should have the honor of coin? to Dunedin as competitors for the Intercolonial prizes. This district is entitled to send three men. and Jtiverton, it geems, has the gratification of sending two out of thaf; nuirber. Invccargill bring represented by Rergt. Colin Brown. ,; The Riverton squad fired off some days ago, and made very good scoring, the two who go to Otago, Lieut. J. Surman and F. Henderson, making 48 and. 41 points respectively. The following is the score of the Inver- j cargul company . —

;. According. to announcement, a meeting of the , members of the Mutual Improvement Society toot place at the Presbyterian Hall on the evening of Monday last. Owing to inclement weather there was not a full muster, but a sufficient number were present to proceed with the business of the evening, viz., the election of office-bearers and committee for the current year. ..Mr Porter, the retiring Vice- President, occupied the chair, and the following gentlemen were duly chosen to their respective positions : — President, "Rev. .A. H. Stobo; Vce-President, not filled up ; Secretary, Mr R; Erslrine ; Treasurer, Mr P. Laing j Committee, Messrs W. P; Porter, A. Dunlop, A. Burns, Lind, A. Smith, and W. Tait. , Arrangements were made to commence the regular meetings early in April. The EawJce's Bay Herald of the Ist insfc. contains the following paragraph : — It ia generally understood, since the arrival of the Wellington, that Colonel M'Donnell and Major Drummond Hay have be^n relieved of the commands they held, t until lately, in the Armed Constabulary Force. Messrs John Cargijl; and A." J. Burns hare resigned' their seats in the 'House of Kepresenta. :tives. ' ■ , : '..'.. ' Messrs J. and. J. H. Barr, merchants, Dunedin, filed a deed of arrangement on the Bth inst. In our issue o f Thursday last (says the Daily Times of, the 7th) we stated, on the authority of a private telegram, that a crushing of 5 J tons of quartz at "Rendigo Gully hid yielded 42ozs sdwts of goloj. We now learn from the Cromwell papers that the stone was taken from the Royal Standard claim, Pipeclay G-ully, Bannoctburn. It was not picked, but was taken at random from the claim, in order that a fair idea of the generalyield to be expected from it might be obtained. After a lapse of nearly two months, most of the miners at the Hogßurn have once more commenced work. The only exceptions are those whose claims are on Surface Hill, and are com-j manded by the water from the Extended and Hi or Miss Companies. The price charged for water during the week has been 40s per head, and it is stated that, with the two exceptions named, all the companies will permanently reduce the price per head to that amount. We have to acknowledge the receipt, yesterday, per steamer, of sundry pamphlets bearing upon the ' Government Life' "lnsurance ■■■and i Annuity Scheme, together with a copy of the Act itself, from the Commissioner. The pamphlets contain much fuller information on the subject than we were previously in possession of, and we may on a future occasion refer to their contents. At present all that need b 9 said is, that the more the matter is looked into, the more commendable does it appear. . A telegram in a recent issue stated that the meeting of the General Assembly -had been further prorogued to the 30th ApriL This, the Wellington Independent states, ia a mere formal date, as the members of the Legislature are not directed to attend on that day for the despatch of business, but to take into consideration the state and welfare of the colony of New Zealand, and therein to do as may seem necessary. The gale with which we were favored in the early part of the week was also felt in Dune^m, a house in Princes-street, used for holding carriages, being blown down, and the roof of the old lock-up being carried a<vay, besides sundry cases of damage to fencing, Ac. | The cause of Te Kooti's recent escape from our L-fofces instated by the Auckland correspondent of !~ the- Jjtfbtelton forties to have been the precipitate ' action .of Colonel M'Donnell in attacking the Jir-ebel foyce at Tapana, without waiting for the coJoperatipn of Colonel Fraser's force from Tauranga . The same correspondent writes : — " It is said that Colonel M'Donnell is neither the man he was supposed to be, nor the man he once nsi. Ha is expected here by the next steamer, and his campaigning just now is probably at an end. I heard it mentioned that he has been anxious for some time pa3t to be relieved of his command ; and I believe, as soon as the public service allows him, the colonel will proceed to Wellington to attend to his private affairs. He has not got on well with his men, either Natives or Europeans, and many people attribute to his unfortunate infirmity of temper many of the escapes of Te* B-ooti. His constant disinclination t•> act in concert with other commanders ia the field has often been a source for comment, and I think the -escape of the rebels at. Tapapa — the narrowest Te Kooti ever had — was mainly due to this error of judgment on the part of the gallant colonel." It ■is this matter, probably, that will form the chief subject of the enquiry which, as we learn by the is about to be instituted into Colonel "M'Donnell's* conduct. :-.■•■■ The WaJcatip Mail is informed that the miners at 25- Mile, Lake, are all doing well, and not a mah making less than good wages— namely, £& to £5 per week. Some good ground has also been struck above' the Falls. Farming must have been remarkably remunerative in the Wakatip hitherto (says the local paper), otherwise we should find the settlers directing more attention to the supply of dairy produce, prices for which rule -high all the year round. One of our settlers, however, allows* his " gude-wife" to manage the dairy as she likes, and a very good manager she makes ; for we know from good authority that last year the produce from that Bmall farm realised over £100 in eggs anid butter, besides £60 for home-fed pork. The overland mail which was delivered on the t morning of Wednesday last, did not bring the usual letters and papers from Dunedin. This is accounted for by. the fact that that portion of the ; mail has.; been mis-sent to Lawrence, and will reach here, we presume, to-morrow morning. i A Wellington contemporary of a recent date says : —We have been shown some specimens of what is hoped may prove a new and valuable fibre. It is a round blade, between two and three feet in length, and of uniform thickness — about that of an ordinary darning needle — and of a bright green colour outside, but white within. It is said, to have been obtained in the Manawatu, and to be procurable there in considerable Quantities. It is very Btrong, apparently as strong as flax, and will .bear a knot without breaking. Whether as a material for a fibre or not,, "we. are sjire the plant, if obtainable in quantity, will prove valuable.

A correspondent writes a 9 follows to an Auckland paper: — I found myself this (yesterday) afternoon with a crowd of people watching the departure of the Flying Squadron. A delay of some considerable duration occurring before the flag-ship got away, I took advantage of it to inspect our defensive works at Fort Britomart, having been attracted to the spot by hearing that our volunteers were to fire a salute of any nurpber of guns in honor of the Admiral going the rounds. I encountered an intelligent-looking non-commis-sioned officer, to whom.l thus addressed myself : " Beautiful day,, sergeant?" " Very^sir." "Useful little fort this." lt Particularly so,^ sir, for saluting." " Fine command of the harbor." " Juat the thing to draw the whole fire of an enemy on the city, sir." " Dear me," 1 said, " You don't say so." " Aye, sir, but Ido ; why, sir, this fort-, as you call it, ain't worth knocking over." " Ah ! to be sure, of course not," was my reply. I was fust getting flabbergasted, so, wisely, as I thought, turned the conversation — " Guns look good enough, eh, sergeant?" "Yes, sir,, those 24-poundws are good guns ; don't think much of the old 325." " I suppose," said I, " they're all perfect ?" "Oh yes," he replied ; " thank goodnesß they could not- sell the quarter-sight, so we have the ranges up to 600 yards." " And what then," I asked, "do you propose to do beyond . 600 yards ;' is that your extreme range ?" "Oh no!" was the reply; "we can jret a mile and a half out of those pieces, sir, but before they were handed over to the colony, the Imperial authorities sold the wooden tangent scales, the tube pockets, the lanyards, prickers, and everything barring the quarter-sights I told you of and some handspikes which must have been left behind by accident. We have not even quoins enough to give the guns their proper elavation, even had wa a scale between the lot of them." Meanwhile, sir," said my friend the sergeant, " these things that I have mentioned to you were hardly worth the buying, are : probably flto wed- away in some old marine store, and to replace them would cost a- pretty lot of money, and if ever thosa g ins are to be used — replaced they must be.' ' We wished each other good day, and I silently wo adered what it was all about. Surely, I thought, the authorities did not intend to confine our artillery practice to saluting, and therefore took the wise precautions of removing everything hurtful from Us; if bo, they might just as well have damped all the powder at once, and handed over a gigantic devil for our amusement. On February 8, some of the officers of the Flying Squadron went shooting at Graham's Island, ' Motuhihi, Auckland, when they . succeeded in shooting a fine buck weighing 3Jcwt. Some of the seamen acted as the hounds. The venison was distributed on the vessels of the Squadron. At the late sitting of the Supreme Court in Taranaki, the special jury made the following presentment to the Chief Justice: — " That in their opinion the case of Co'ad. y. Hunt, both in the present and previous trials, exhibits the unsuitability of the existing law, which requires the unanimity of the juries in all cases, inasmuch as in the trials referred to in both cases, the juries have by a large majority arrived at a conclusion as to the meaning of delivery of a bullock, bat have been unable to give a verdiut in consequence of the difference of opinion on the part of one or two against ten as to what is -customary, thus making the- opinion- of the minority of equal power with' the majority to decide on the" customs of a community." ■ . . His Excellency the Governor has appointed James Prendergast, Esq., of "Wellington, to be President and Member of the Counci 1 , under the New Zealand Law Society's Act, 1869. Thomas Smith Duncan, Esq., of Christchurch, to be VicePresident and a member of the Council, and the following gentlemen to be members of the Council :— Henry Adams, Esq., of Nelson ; Charles Bonnythorne Borlase, Esq., of Wellington ; Alfred de Bathe Brandon, Esq., of Wellington ; Francis James Garrick, Esq., of Christchurch ; Bryan Cecil Haggitt, Esq., of Dunedin ; Robert Hart, Esq., of Wellington; Henry Ho worth, Esq., of Dunedin; John Charles M'Cormick, Esq., of Auckland; William Thomas Locke Travers, .Esq., of Wellington ; William Henry Wynn Williams, Esq., of Christchurch. We take the following from the New Zealand, Herald of the 15th inst : — Ichabod ! The promena I'eau as far as we are concerned, is over. Great Britain has shaken her fist at little New Zealand, and has gone her way. To us the advantage of such a naval visit has been incalculable $ it has put money into the purses of butchers, bakers, ethoc genus omne ; it has strengthened the position of Earl Granville, and. has made Tawhiao tremble in his — no, he doe 3 not wear shoes — in his something or other. Six men of war, each of them powerful enough to batter our city about our ears, have anchored in our port, have landed their officers and crews, of whom, individually and collectively, we cannot speak too highly ; have shipped them, again, short of upwards of eighty hands, and have gone their way. The mother country has reminded us of her vast resources, and has left us unaided, to fight through the difficulties which her misgovernment has heaped upon us. Ichabod ! A correspondent of the Southern Cross, stiggests that salt should be used as a preventive of spontaneous combustion in flax. He says :— " When j our farmers cannot save their hay perfectly dry, they are in. the habit.of sprinkling salt among the hay as they are stacking it, which saves it from i the effects of the damp and fermentation, and i spontaneous combustion, which would result in the destruction .of .the^.stack. What I. would suggest, therefore, is this': either that salt should be sprinkled among the flax when.packing it ; or that pieces of woollen cloth, saturated with salt, and thoroughly dried, should ,be put in each bale. Devices of this kind need not be resorted to if the flax be perfectly dry." The Provincial Government of Canterbury have accepted a tender at £57 for keeping the river Avon clear of watercress during the next 12 months. If that stream was near London, what would not a contractor pay for the privilege ? We find the following paragraph in the Daily Times of the 4th inst. : — " We learn that a company is projected to run a line of mail steamers between Otago and England, via the Straits of Magellan. The passage between Otago and the Straits is calculated to occupy 15 days, while the passage from the Straits to England, calling at the River Plate, is estimated at 25 days, the whole distance thus being performed in the short space of 4o days. The steamers ' for this route from' Otago will be of 2000 tons register, and will meet the western South American steamers', of 3000 tons register, in the Straits, where, at a coal depot already established, the mails and passengers will be transhipped. The 3000 ton steamers now on the line from Valparaiso to Liverpool make the passage on an average in 29 days. If such a route were adopted and subsidised by the Australian and New Zealand Governments, we see no reason why the line should not pay well. Of course the time occupied on the return passage will be a few days longer. In consequence of the prevailing westerly winds, the steamers will have to stretch away north to about lat.'3O south, where- favorable weather may be met with. We believe that. Captain Duncan, of Port Chalmers, has been offered the command of the first steamer of the projected line, and that Captain Thomson, of the William Cargill, now lying at Wellington, has been offered the charge of the second vessel." A meeting of the Directors of the Southland Agricultural and Pastoral Association took place at the Prince of Wales Hotel pn Wednesday afternoon. In the absence of the President- and Vice-President (the resignation of the latter being read at the meeting), Jho. Morton, Esq.', was voted to the chair. The proceedings were chiefly of a financial character, the expenditure on the show-yards having been of a more lavish nature, than was intended. The treasurer's statement being analyzed, showed a more prosperous position than appeared at the first blush,- and after some discussion, all arrangements were completed for the procuring of the medals, and paying the liabilities of t!ie Association. This year no outlay will be necessary upon the ground, and a deficit only of about £80 will have to be made up r out of the ■ coming receipts, against which, a valuable Jasset remains in the property of the •Society. • -. = •■ -.-. : . .

The capital of Western Australia is described a3 follows by the Perth Gazette :—" The town site of Perth, with its area of three miles -in . width, contains 700 houses, and a population comprising 1471 males and .1545 : females, a total of 3016, not including the military in barracks ortheir .families, or the convicts in depot,^probably about ,400 in all. It is worthy of note tKat in : this enumeration the female population .out- . numbers the male by 70, and it is not improbable . that in^each of the, towns in the colony alike;: disproportion exists ;; ..but ' taMng the whole population" of the "colony, there can be no doubt that the proportions of the sexes will be found to be greatly the other way." n The much abused rabbit«, (says' the' Jrgii*) who have hitherto shared with the sparrows the execration o*' gardeners, appear now to bave Borne likelihood of proving not only a source of profit, but also an additional means of bringing under the notice of commercial Europe the capabilities of Victoria. Some tima ago, Sir \L Isaacs, warehouseman and importer, 2 Flinders lane east, * sent home, as an experiment, 2.003 dozen Victorian rabbitskins, which were consigned to Mr Louis Br*un, 65 Wooi-street, Lo.idon, and of these, half were sent over to" France". Byhflt " mail a specimen felt hat, on a cork frame, was received by Mr Isaacs, the felt. baring been manufactured from the silk-like down under the rabbit fur, and though the felt appeared of a very •rood quality, it was stated that the next would be finer, this being the. firet hat made of Victorian rabbit fur. By next mail? propßr certificated testimonials from the largest houses in London and Paris will be received, showing m what esteem the Victorian rabbit fur is held. Machinery is now on the way out which will cut the skins and blow the hair into assorted qualities. Advices received by Mr Isaacs state that the fur, if it were kept to the standard of; the specimen lot, would reach the price of Bs. per lb.,as it wa» considered of a very superior description, and Mr Isaacs is confident that future lots sent would be in .better condition. The skins are used^ for making " kid " gloves, and the coarser part of the fur is utilised in cement-making. The first shipment of hats made from the , fur. sent home will | soon be in the market, per Argonaut, and will no 1 doubt command a ready sale/being ot the usual ' different colours. For some time back competition in the eoaefc* in" line has been very keen on the Riverton road, between the, contractor for the mail service and Campbell, the old " stasjer," who lost the honor of carrying the bags last time tenders were called i for He was not to be driven off his .old beat, however, and gave his. rival a. run for it the public enjoying thorefrom the privilege > of cheap travelling. The new team has, however, at length given up the contest, and • the irrepressible " Jehu " has again the road entirely to himself. As he has always made it his study to attend to the interest and comfort ; of his patrons, his old friends will no doubt be quite satisfied with the result. " / • The Daily Times understands that the Otago- . Provincial Council will be summoned to meet on thel9fch April. . : . The Wanganui Herald reports the following instance of sagacity in a horse :— Gaptain Hawes, , of Wairoa, was riding over his farm a few days ago, when -his attention was drawn to a horse galloping before him in a very peculiar manner. The horse would gallop some distance ahead in a certain direction, stand still, and' tben gallop on a-jain. Captain Hawas thought the conduct of . the horse unusual, and at last when they cam© to the edge of the bush, an I the horse went to an opening and commenced whinnying, heimagined there was something wrong. The captain alighted from his Tiorse, and proceeded up the bush track, . and at the entrance of which the horse was still , making the most peculiar signs. He had not proceeded far before he came upon a valuable horse entangled in the supple-jacks, and locked so. firmly in, that, although the ' skin was abraded- ' from his chest, he was totally, unable tq extricate himself. . Marks of the most desperate struggling were visible, and about twenty of the supple-jack rods had to be cut brfore the prisoner ww '. released. The horse must have, been there at -... least two days. When he was- brought but,'his : friend who had continued to; .exhibit the most extraordinary emotions, neighed .with delight, galloping round him several times. The" fidelity of the ' horse to man has received numerous illustrations, but his faithfulness 'to his owtt species never manifested itself more fully than ro this instance. . . ;- ■-..... . ,■■■• ' We hwe.no greater subject to congratulate oiir farmers on (aays the Mirlborough News) than the bountiful harvest that there has , been this year in Marlborough, which is unprecedented in the history of the province. Not only has the- •■* yield been most extraordinary in quantity, but the weather with which we h*ve_bjen .faroral . has enabled our agriculturalists to secure their crops, we believe, without a single exception. From reliable sources we are 'informed that the yield has averaged about 'thirty bushels to the acre, and some growers have produced more than fifty, amongst whom is Mr C. Reiwobd. A trade between - the Chatham Islands and Auckland is springing up. The Auckland Herald remarks : — " For theJast few years but little trade. ; has been carried on ; but of late, since theeseape , of the Hauh^u prisoners, attention has beea,. drawn there, no doubt from the known luxuriance -' of the pastures grown, and. the excellent breed* \- of cattle, horses, and sheep, - which- hare beea - 1 fully exemplified by the late shipments. . There is also a fine lot of flax country on the island, which the natives describe as having, been in. j former years vast fields of great' luxuriance. • There is a small European township at Waitangi, the principal port, which boasts of a roomy and comfortable hotel." ' ' The Westport Times of a~ late date has the following :— " The steamer Wallaby, not being , able to clear out for Wanganui on Sunday, and having steam up, was sent on a mission of mercy. The mercy consisted of affording an opportunity to the worshippers, of Bacchus or Morpheus ; to quittheirhaunts ortheirbeds, and to breathe at se* a better physical or moral, atmosphere than i» usually to be found at the street corners or in the y bar parlours of Westport. She was despatched. . on an excursion to the Steeples, at the rate of five shillings per human, head.' The quality of_ the mercy was somewhat strained- It was restricted - to mankind. The seals by which the Steeples are extensively ' inhabited, were not supposed to> . participate in its benefits. At anyrate the bellman said one of the objects of the mission was 'to go a seal-huntinV jtfot many people went on board, less from moral compunctions than- from laziness or from ignorance of the expedition. Perhaps the party were just numerous enough to pay for coals. The day was delightful, and the sail was a pleasant one. On reaching the rocks two boats put off from the steamer, but only one attempted " or effected a landing, fthe surge being considerable; smooth as the water was otherwise. The rocks were crowded ; with seals, apparently ' enjoying their "• Sunday out,' and the amateur sealers who landed were not long in possessing themselves of the dead bodies of seven — Bix young ones, and ! one,. five feet in length, aged. The process of reducing the creatures to this condition consisted of striking them on the head with a stick, and ! with a special preference for the. tip of the nose. ■Numbers of' others were lugubrious -spectators of the slaughter, or, considering discretion to be the better part of valor, 'even "in seals; sought' the shelter of the sea. One indefatigable sportsman was seen to follow their example in this respect,' • and there was a suspicion that, because he spoke with a foreign accent,' Hans JBreitmann's ladj friend, mistaking him for Hans, ' ' Had pooled his coat-tails down, And drawn him oonder der wasser— - - " De maiden.mit nodings on, .^_ But the sportsman was noc so nngallant as to : leave a stout lady friend even for ' moermaids imit nodings oh,' and," having succeeded in saving ; himself, he was brought on board a wetter and £ ; wiser man. The steamer returned at midnight, ;with no more remarkable incidents to. relate, and with all her< passengers — some highly satisfied, and others 'sicklied o'er by the pale cast o£ thought '^-'fliat, and nothing iiorej.'"-- 'i-

Yards* 400 500 600 Total. Sergt. C. "Rrown 18 9 13 40 „ A. Brown 19 16 0 35 { „ J. L. Thomson 17 2 14 33 Oorp. Campbell 16 10 3 29 Private Huffadine 14 9 5 28 „ Campbell 15 3 5 23

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Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ST18700311.2.9

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Southland Times, Issue 1221, 11 March 1870, Page 2

Word count
Tapeke kupu
4,254

Untitled Southland Times, Issue 1221, 11 March 1870, Page 2

Untitled Southland Times, Issue 1221, 11 March 1870, Page 2

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