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Southland Times, Issue 1223, 15 March 1870, Page 2

We learn that the members of the Shamrook, ' Eose, and Thistle Lodge of Oddfellows intend * inaugurating their new hall, recently purchased, ; by a supper and ball, to take place shortly. We heard it reported yesterday that the local Gyiernment have at last agreed to the conditions on which the General -Government offered to pay .' the arrears of salary due to severs! departments. f It is to be presumed that, if this information is correct, we shall presently experience some relief j from the "tightness of the ebest" which had: almost become chronic with us. It is to be hoped that before long the same physician may administer another pill in the sfaape of £10,000 or so for the benefit of other claimants upon the Treasury. The hard-labor prisoners commenced yesterday a very necessary town improvement — the drainage and formation of .« side path in Yarrow street. The end of that street, where it joins Dee street, ' has always been an unsightly locality, at one time a reedy lake, at another a stinking puddle. The opening of an outlet for the water, and the leveling up of the hollows along the foot-walk, will be a great benefit to the residents, and materially increase the value of adjacent ' property.

A few montha ago it was rumored that the miners in the Brunner Coal Mine had come across a roclc that broke the course of the seam, and P eriou«lv threatened its future exigence. The Grey River Argus announces that on the 24th ult. 'the workman in charge of sinking the shaft came to the base of the obstruction at a depth of 42 ft. from the level of the drive, and found, as was anticipated, a Bplendid sample of coal. It is not known/however, whetherthis is a contmua tion of the old seam, that a new one'has been found. The Gazette of the 24th ultimo (says the Examiner) announces the granting of a patent to Luke Nattras, of Nelson, for dressing flai. Mr Nattras'has for upwards of a quarter of a ce^ vV*iyj, given his attention to the preparation of the fabre of the-phormium tenax, and many years ago announced that he possessed the secret of preparing the fibre in a highly -superior manner.^ It was not the fashion then to "believe in flax, and no heed was paid to Mr Nattras's statements, we shall be glad to find his perseverance rewarded, and the patent' he has taken out realise his fullest expectations. The adjourned meeting of the Tnvercargill Dis- * ! trict of the!. O. O. ¥„ 'M. U., took place at thei ' Shamrock, Rose, and Thistle Lodge-room on I ThursdaT, the 10th inst., the chair being occupied I by Prov! G.M. David Webster, the DcpttfrrProv. ! GKM and CS. being present. Bros. John Kingsland, Neil Ferguson, W H. HaU, and M. Hyams representedthe local lodges, and P. Paxton and J. Hancock the Riverton Lodge. Amongst the' ■visitors -were a number of the leading members of the Order 'from Riverton. The District Wi? were considered and agreed to, and the_ financial position of lodges inspected, authority being delegated to District Officers in the matter. Other questions of importance being settled, the meeting, after a lengthened sitting, closed. The! next meeting is to take place on the "7th July. ; 'Ihe'Otago ADaily Times publishesfcbe following; extract from a private letter from Auckland, dated Feb. 22-: — "Everything is very dull here : ; the •jshare-market'is absolutely in a state of collame. Long 'Drive Shares, v*hich formerly fetched '£20 \ now hang fire at £27, and will probably go lower. Shares in Hunt's (Shotover) claim, which ranked' at £224,000 when formed, are now selling at lis, equal io £12,500. The reefs are in many cases Tery promising, and no doubt » great deal of money can be made by those who are buying at low prices, when confidence is regained. T do not think that that will be for some -time yet, as almost everyone here has beenbitten, and : is ready to go into fits of disgust atthe'bare mention of quartz now." — We also learn from the same source that a circular is about to be sent by the. Ministry to the Tarious members of the General Assembly, for the purpose of taking their opinion as to the remoTal of the seat of -GoTernment to Auckland. The Westland Gazette of the 18th ult. gives a return of all sudden and accidental deaths mk ported to the Westland Pdb'ce during the year ending 31st December. 1869. The deaths frdm , drowning were, 18 males ; and 'from mining^accK 1 dents, 21 males. From other there* afH' reported 25 males and 11 females.' Total, 60. males, and IT females. Twopersons'were drowned whose bodies had not be -n found. "We observe that Stewart and Riddell, wheelwrights, and "blacksmiths, whose premises were destroyed at the same time as Mr Reese's, immediately after their commencing business, have lost no time in making provision Tor carrying on their trade. Alreadythey have got down the piles for a commodious and substantial workshop, and they are now 'busy -with the frame of the 'building. In a few days they will be in a position to resume work. By telegram, we learn that at the first day's racing at Tokomairiro, on Thursday last, the Maiden Plate waa won by "Fairy Queen ; the District Handicap, of 70 soys., by Mr Pollock's Lady Ellen ; and the Novel Race,of 30 soys., by Beeswing. The WeUington Independent understands that ; •the well-known and popular captain of the ; Airedale has been offered and has accepted the ' command of the pioneer steamer ofthe new' ocean mail service to Honolulu — -the ,City of ' Melbourne, whitih is to leave Sydney on the 26th , •insti We -cordially congratulate Captain! Kennedy on this upward step in his profession, and although we shall be sorry to miss him on the interprovincial line, we hope that he may ere long bring his new vessel to this port as his New Zealand place of call. The A.S.N. Company is singularly fortunate in haTing obtained the services df such an experienced, judicious, and highly-popular officer, and "it is said that the ' 'Company has also secured the services of another gentleman well known on this coast — Captain "Francis, formerly of the Taranaki — to act as Captain Kennedy's chief officer. The Waha'tip Mail states that the " report of the Church of England shows what a Tery large revenue for religious purposes for one sect can be*' obtained in so scattered and sparsely a populated district as -this. It is creditable to the members of that -church that they have supported so well . their establishment. Considering that the 1 ;*. 1 Presbyterians and <the Catholics haTe also churches, and the support awarded "to them, the . amount contributed by the community in this" direction must be styled munificent. The revenue of the Church of England was last year £874 "Ss lid. The Presbyterian -receipts will also he very large. The European population, exclusive of -children, numbers only about 900 adults, so that no one can accuse it of parsimony or indifference." At «the "Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, o ily a few small debt cases were heard, none of which call for remark. We would call thfl attention of our readers "io the Church of England bazaar, which is adver-tised-to be held «n the Exchange Hall to-morrow, tbe proceeds of which are to he divided between paying offf the outstanding debt ef -the Church, -and building a school-house. In an article on the future prospects of New Zealand, the Nelson Colonist saysr: — In economical or practical importance, New Zealand is inferior to no other part of the globe. Her mineral treasures -may be said io be inexhaustible. Her water power is enormous. Her happy climate is well fitted to raise a race of hardy and 'enterprising men j and her soil is adapted to every variety of production. She is in fact rich in all that -constitutes the natural prosperity of a country. * It would be difficult to exaggerate the influence of Buch advantages, when we reflecthow much man's progress depends on the circumstances amid which his lot is cast, and that man can double the gifts of nature. A more striking instance of the advances that may be made when • locality is propitious, perhaps could not be cited than that which is presented by the history of the Australasian Colonies. It is only about eighty years ago since a fleet of eleven sail, comprising '. ' her Majesty's frigate Syrius, an armed tender, ; ' three store ships, and sis transports, sailed from . England for the purpose of founding at Sydney * the first English Colony in the Southern Hemisphere. Thirty years ago, there was not a Eingle . town in New Zealand. But to-day there is both ; . in Australia and New Zealand a rate of progress > < such as the world has never before witnessed. Centuries have been crowded into decades ; what the people of the old world toiled for ages to win,. ; I has become the birth-right of Australasia. The^ states and cities of its youth may be compared not unfavorably with those of the mature age of Europe. So true is Humboldt's remark : — The •■ more jftdlthe world is of ideas, the more rapid its progress. If then there be any faith in the continuity of nature ? if Watching the wheels of nature's mazy plan, We learn the future from the past of man, . we may infer that New Zealand possesses within ( herself resources capable of indefinite expansion j tbat she will yet become the home of advancing millions, helping the world onward in its progress, and conferring fresh power to fulfil the noble destinies of human hfe. Happy days, Roll onward, leading up the golden year 1

At the Preston Vide Waterworks a day or two ago (says the Tarrengower Times) a wellknown Maldon miner who had been inrlubing in the deceits of Bacchus for pome days, had a touch of the present punishment accorded to topers-hrthe shape of the horrors. Hib mates kept a strict watch upon him, and during one phase of this 'horrible lunacy, a very ludicrou=> scene occurred. He peeped through a chink of the door 6f the' hut, and repeated to himself, 'but in a loud tone of voice, " Oh, Jimmy, I-seeyou," several times. A tame magpie belonging "to the boardihg<houae keeper, suddenly alighted on .Tim'jj head, and commenced to laugh as only ,magpies and lunatics can. Down went Jimmy Onnis knees, and being under the firm ;impressifln that the father of all evil had him at last, prayedenrnestlv to the old gentleman to let him off this time," Oh, pray let me go," shrieked he, "arid I'll never -get drunk any more. 1 ' The onlookers were too much convulsed with laughter to interfere for a minute or two, after which they removed the magpie, who seemed to enjoy the affair as much as they did. Fortunately the great fright sobered him, and he quickly got through his fit, and has been temperate ever since. An eye- witness of the scene describes it aB ludicrous in the extreme. The Wellington correspondent of the Oamaru Times gives it as nn on dit that Mr Fitzgerald's' real motive "for visiting England to obtain a^. colonial governorship, and that 'he believes that he has such claims on the Imperial Government' as to justify the ! hope that he will succeed. Tfor one shall be sorry to see him permanently settled out of the Colony, for our -sake, not'his ; becausewe cannot spare any of the few men of his Stamp , that we possess. The Tauranga correspondent of the Auehland Herald relates the following: — On Kakaroa being taken possession of by Colonel Fraser's party, one old Maori man and a woman were discovered *in one ofthe whares. The former' was dragged out by the Maori portion df the force, when Fox desiring them to clear away from behind hira (the prisoned), Fox fired at him, the example being followed by others, when more than a scoreof bullets entered the unfortunate man's body, which was then chopped ud with a spade and thrown aside 'for dogs to devour. It "is said that, his own soa, who had just rubbed noses with him, was one -of these who fired upon him. The woman was not molested, as she was recognised as an Arawa who had been taken prisoner by Te Kooti near Taupo some time ago. • A correspondent writing to the ABruce Herald from Glasgow, under date December 30th, says :- —" Never since the year 1856 have New Zealand affairs been so little thought of as at the present time. While in some years we were accustomed to send you 'from this port alone ships every month — -on some occasions every three weeks — with full cargoes of goods, ahd every berth filled up -with a class of emigrants which would compare favorably with those who haTe gone to any other colony; now the scene is changed, and we ca,n scarcely get a ship filled with goods in "two -and if we waited until the" passenger berths were taken up, you would "haTe "but one vessel a year or so from this. Judging from the class of emigrants who haire gone to Otago, as compared with those who have left for America, I have no 'hesitation 'in saying that something must be radically wrong with your affairs somewhere, otherwise how are we to account for the fact tbat for one emigrant tbat now leaves Glasgow for New Zealand, there are at least "500 for America. My impression is that you do not give half encouragement to settlers who -wish to occupy . 'the land. While in America they can' purohasfl land unequalled for fertility for a shilling an acre, they have to pay at least ten iimes that amount in Otago. A week or two ago one of Messrs P. Henderson and Col's Tessels left for your port with only eighty-three passengers, and not a single cabin or second-cabin passenger amongst them. , I happened to be on board a day or two before sailing, and met with one of the most intelligent and active emigration •agents : in Scotland, and who, 1 understand, does the largest business in that line. . He informs me , that he expects that your colony will be erased out of the list of names of places suitable for emigration by and bye ; and I can assure you he has no good word to say for your authorities in their management of your land. His . impression is that if the Hundreds Regulation Bill is enforced, then he may bid farewell to Otago as a place for emigration. He also says that it does seem very strange that while in all the Colonies the authorities are doing what they can to open up the land for settlement, in order to induce a steady flow of really useful emigrants, Ofcago should take an opposite course, and endeavor to lock up her land. Are they aware that at no former period was there a larger number of emigrants in this country on the out-look for future homes'?" A. meeting ot the committee ot the Acclimatisation Society was held in the G-overnment Buildings on the afternoon of Friday last. There were present Messrs Harvey (in the chair), Wood, Fielder, M'Arthur, Gumour, and Butts, Hon. Sec. After the minutes of former meeting had been read "and passed, the Secretary read a report /from the curator, stating that the young trout recently turned into the ponds from the breeding boxes were doing first-rate. The .quail eggs, 62 in number, which had been distributed amongst j several parties for hatching, had mostly been destroyed through having been placed under the common fowls, which are too heavy. A clutch, however, which had been taken charge of by Mrs Thomson, at the Bluff, were successfully incubated by a bantam, thirteen of the little chicks being now alive and welL The pheasants were supposed to be now nursing their broods, the crowing of the cock, which had 'become familiar at Mossburn, having lately ceased. One of the pair which left the above-named bush, and were supposed to have taken up their quarters in fresh cover, was seen recently by a settler in the vicinity of their new haunt. The Secretary also read a letter from Mr Toul, af London, acknowledging the receipt of the remittance for the purpose of getting a shipment of ova from the Clyde. Mr Youi was strongly of opinion that the season was then (December) too far advanced to give the experiment a fair chance, and advised delay tiH next spawning. He also suggested that the Society should endeavor to obtain Tsome^t least of the ova from the Stormont- > field ponds, on the Tay, but implied that that ; would require considerable influence, as he had never been able to obtain any from that quarter, although frequently getting most valuable assistance from the managers in other ways. Mr Galbraith, of tbe shipping firm, Patrick Henderson & Co., Glasgow, had also written, expressing the willingness of his firm to assist the Society as far as possible in the transit of the eggs, and also advising delay till next rseason. The subject of getting a supply from Tasmania, supposing the salmon experiment there to have been successful, by contributing to the expense of discovering the spawning beds in the upper waters of the rivers in which the fish are believed . to exist, was also disoussed, but it was generally thought preferable to go to a certain, instead of a doubtful, source of supply. In the meantime,: the Secretary was instructed to communicate with the Superintendent of Otago,- to ascertain, whether that province was disposed to join this society in. the proposed shipment from the. Clyde, .'-^'ne or two accounts were then examined and passed, and the meeting broke up. The annual r general meeting of members, it was : intimated, would take place early in April, due ' notice of which willbegiTen. An Auckland paper says the Provincial Govern, ment will not allow the drawing of the Thames Shares Investment Lottery to take place, and in consequence the undertaking haß fallen through. A clause in the Municipal Police Act provides a penalty.of £50 for every attempt made to carry ; out such an undertaking, and, as the Govern- ; ment now refuse to allow the matter to proceed, it of course becomes impossible to name a day for : the drawing. But for this interference we understand the affair would have been carried out, . enough money being in the hands of the agents to make the affair a success, but these parties refuse to hand oyer the money till a day for

drawing thp prizns shall have bpfn named. The money received by the secretary ha" been little more than sufficient to pay the advertising expenses, and it has bpen propose!, to the satisfaction of mo=it parties concerned, that the balance whatever -it may be, remnrning in hiß hands, should be handed over t" f hi hospital. Heavy floods occurred onthe W-'st <"V>a«t during the Inst week of February. At Hokitiki, the West Coast Times of the 21st says that "never since the flood .of two y«aTS ago Ins thera been such a body of water in the fiver as was. the case yesterday. The channel was very- broad, and the river found.no obstruction in gaining the sea.. Yet such .was the volume of water pouring down, that at the top of high water the stream had b*en backed ujf to within a foot of the wharf. The damage done by the present flood has been muoh greater than on any previous one ; indeed the destruction in so^e instances is irreparable. Tbis is more especially the case at the Racecourse, which we fear haa been rendered useless for that purpose. The grand stand is completely demolished, the timber of which it wns made having been carried down by the stream to the sea ; and late vester^ay afternoon portions of it, and the booths which stood next the river, strewed the ' beach for miles. The course'itself is also seriously damaged, so much so indeed that it will be a consideration for the Jockey Club whether it would not he cheaper to clear another course in a ' safer position. — The river' bank at Gibson's Quay also suffered about twelve feet of it having been carried away early in the forenoon. After noon all the low-lying steeefcs were more or less flooded, Tancred-streetasustial was impassable, so were Hamilton, Sewell. and Fitzherbert streets. Access to the English Church was had with difficulty, and could only be attained by the male por- ( tion of the members. Tn Hamilton and Tancred streets people who wished to leave their houses had to do so in boats, one of which, by aome mismanagement, capsized and threw its passengers into the water, fortunately without further injury than a thorough ducking. The water lodged in the streets longer than we ever remember it to hsve done before, a circumstance which was caused by the water continuing high long after high water, and as the stream covered the end of the culverts emptying into it, the surface-water could only effect an escape slowly. On the 23rd ult. the flood was again fully equal to that of the previous Sunday, and further damage to property was caused. At Greymouth, the river likewise rose to a great height in the course of a single night, and fears were entertained that a large amount of damage would be sustained, butiihe protective works recently erected stopped the power of the flood, and prevented any mischief being done. _