The Southland Times. TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 1870.

Southland Times, Issue 1226, 22 March 1870, Page 2

The Southland Times. TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 1870.

We are reluctantly compelled td excludejom* usual leading-' article, and a' report ofr^he^proceedings at the. Resident Magistrate's Court, from 1 this issue. •... -. 'V >■-'"->> We hare" been shown a photograph of the "mummy" Chinaman (previously referred to'^in one of the local papers as having been found-in a claim at Campbell's Creek, Victoria), by: £ Mr Joseph Hatch, chemist, Tay-street; who, doubtless, will extend the same fiivor to any person wishing to see what appears to be a very correct representation of tie late unfortunate celestial. On Saturday last, 19th inst, an acoident occurred on the Winton Bailway, whereby four horses were -filed, and three trucks of the balhvst train thrown off the rails. When the trucks are emptied of their contents at the spot where the gravelling process/ is now going on, Ryal Bush, the train returns, trucks in front, engine behind, as far as Buxtons siding, where -the waggons are shunted and the locomotive gets into its proper position at the head of the train. From Ryal Bush, to the Makarewa is a pretty steep declivity, arid just before coming upon jfche bridge, the line passes through a curved cutting. On emerging from this cutting on one of the trips on Saturday* the driver '■ the /four unfortunate horses in question right in* front. Breaks were, of course, applied, at. once, -and -the speed of the train instantly checked, and had stupid brutes left the' track, they could '<faß_y have escaped injury. As if, however,' bent ! on self-destruction, they made off for the" bridge, keeping straight on the line. The- bridge is not yet finished, no flooring is laid, .and before the startled animals could see thejr danger, they^ lost footing, and found themselves entangled in*_ll manner of awkward positions amongst the pileß, beams, ties, bolts, &0., which form the framework of the structure. The waggoas were also instantly upon them, and struck one or more, although, it is maintained by those who witnessed the catastrophe that two, at least, had fallen through the interstices, on to the mud bank below, before the train reached, them. In the concussion with the others, however, three of the trucks were jerked off the irons, and the train came, of course, to a Btand. It took the workmen an hour and a-half to get the waggons replaced, and extricate the horses, the Utter being assisted to drop beside their mates. Norte of them were cnt up, or bore outward marks oi being badly hurt, but the fact that all died afterwards shows they must have'suffered serious injury. No blame can be attributed to the driver, nor indeed to anyone else. •-' \ ' The district prizes given by the General; Go* vernment to the Southland Volunteeri^ consisting of a silver medal, a breech-loading carbine, valued at £10, and several sums of money, will be fired for by the Invercargill and Riverton companies at their respective butts to-morrow. The former corps are summoned to parade at their butts at eight O'clock in the morning. Tenders fortheconstruction of a pile bridge over the Waihopai, East Road, were opened _ by. the Government yesterday with the following result : — John Walker and Thos. Hodgkinson £412 0 C Mackay and Fredrio ... ... ... 348 0;C Richard Powell 347 10 6 Wm. Moffett (accepted) ... .„ 328 0 C We are pleased to observe that the Circulai Saw Company's steamers are again to visit the Bluff, that company having obtained the contract for carrying the mails, to- and from Auckland J. via the new postal route; .The vessel's - are advertised to 'remain : only. . six .: hours in each port* so ; that passengers w_l not 'have to cooaplain- of üb; necessary detention, the whole distance haying to be accomplished in six days . We would suggest that trade might be considerably increased by; a, reduction both of passage fares 'and the rate of freight. The prices.; which have obtained;, fift some time past are altogether too; high. ? The anniversary of the Invercargill division;©! the Sons of Temperance is to be celebrated by a soiree, to be held in the Exchange Hall on Friday evening. The price of admission [is moderate, arid as the bill of fere will include; a comfortable tea, a number of speeches, and soifae music, the house will, no doubt, be filled. ' An advertisement in our other columns intimates that licenses will now be issued by the Chief Commissioner to persons desirous ;0i cutting flax on the waste lands of the Crown. At present the licenses will be issued without fee 1 to all who choose to apply, their only use arid purpose being to give the Government the right of exercising an oversight, upon the process oi cutting, so that useless, indiscriminate destruction may be prevented. At the approaching session of the Assembly proper provision will no: doubl be made for toe economical disposal asset of the colony. A return match having been arranged between the Otago and Southland Volunteers, the_ River.; ton company fired off for the event at their butt? on the 9th inst. The Invercargill squad havt not yet fixed upon a day for firing. The followirij is the score made by the Riverton men, which; i< will be seen, is much higher than they made al the original competition, although on this coca sion the weather was also unfavorable : —

The largest boiler in Westland; if not iv Ne* Zealand, is said to be that.of the Great Ross Extended Company. It is 31 feet in length; and 6 feet 6 inches in diameter. - ■ ; . An Agricultural" 'AsßoCi£^onhas v be^ formed in -tarlborbugh. Mr '&-. is' t&eilSresi! dent, AVA ♦■; The price of flour at the Wangapeka digging*. Nelson, is £33 per ton. The rate charged for thie carriage of goods for the last 12 miles of the journey from Nelson, is £1 per ton per mile. A correspondent of the. Cromwell paper, writing from St. Bathans, estimates tbe earning! of the miners in tbat district at about £2 13s a week, or £140 a year.

Wellington has had a narrow escape from being unrepresented in the colonial prize firing this year. It seems that the day appointed for the firing for the choice of district representatives was a very stormy one, in consideration of which j Colonel Reader allowed the competition to be I postponed. A scratch match, however, was got up, between sides chosen by Lieutenant Crowe and Ensisn Gillon, but owing to the violent and variable wind blowing, the highest score made was 33, or two below the minimum required to i qualify for the competition to be held in Dunedin next month. i*U Smart showers and 'bleak winds (says the WakatipMaUof the 10th inst.) during the past few days seem to have brought the " fall " early this season. The higher ranges round about are capped with snow, and there is every prospect of a seyere and protracted winter. ' In giving judgment in a trespass case at Clyde the other day, Mr Vincent Pyke said that "the man who planted a tree in this treeless country was a public benefactor, and the man who kept goats to destroy that tree was a public malefactor." The N Christehurch Art Exhibition bas proved so successful that it has been determined to keen it open for" «■ fortnight longer than waa originally intended. It>ill probably . close about the 23rd inst. Mr W. A. Hunt, of Thames Gorfield celebrity, has left Auckland for England, where he purposes remaining. .An unmistakeable sign of the approach of winter has been given at Naseby by a heavy fall j of snow on the mountains in that neighborhood. Some of the high peaks near the Popotunoa Gorge are also reported to be covered with snow. The flax industry shows satisfactory siems of ( -progress" in this .district (*a.yn the Oamaru Times.) f note that the. Kakanui works have changed hands, and that the new proprietors are enlarging the machinery, and we understand that a 12 horse-power engine is shortly expected. Messrs Hambledon and Hunt are also about to make -extensive improvements. They have, we understand, forwarded to Dunedin upwards of twenty ton's of dressed fibre and contemplate greatly increasing their means of production by building a large overshot wheel of 28 feet diameter. Another company or firm has also been formed, which proposes to commence operations on the Otepopo river. Mr Ogilvie, machinist, of this town, has received the order for the necessary machinery, including a breast-wheel of 14 feet "diameter.' The latter is now nearly completed, and is a- substantial and in every way creditable piece of workmanship. The manufacture of water wheels appears to be becoming quite a feature in our local industry, the same gentleman having, we understand, received orders for another for a flour mill, as well as the requisite machinery for driving two p-irs of stones. We take the following paragraph from the Bruce Serald of the 10th inst :— We have just learned from a thoroughly reliable source, that during tHe floods an Inch Olntha resident, whose early days were spent alongside one of onr most faraOus,'Sw)fich salmon streams, found a young salmon imprisoned in a pool which had been left by "the retiring waters of the river. He afc once transferred the young hopeful to the Clutha s rushing stream, and we hope that it may yet re- : ward some enthusiastic angler of the future, when it has reached a weight more worthy of a " take." We specially mention the experience of pur informant to ensure that he was not likely to mistake the nature of the fish caught for some of the finny tribe indigenous to our rivers. The Mataura correspondent of the Bruce Herald writes as follows :— The flax industry has already taken' root in our midst, and _ three machines will be at work in this locality in the course of a few weeks. That nearest completion i belongs to the brothers M'Lean, afc the Mimihau. ' It is conveniently sitaated toa splendid supply i i of the phormium tenax, with excellent ''rater- | i power to drive a large wheel.. I expect the mill i will be in working operation in a few days. There ■ is another being erected on the Mataura, at Menzies' Ford. It is built on two pontoons in f the river, and the idea is a good one, for if it j [) proves successful }t will obviate many, difficulties- j in the way of getting proper water-power on i smaller streams. The Messrs Shanks are engaged in erecting the necessary buildings for their . machinery, which is on a much larger scale than the others mentioned, the principal portion of the machinery having just arrived from Melbourne, L Here, also, there is an excellent water-power for , the purpose, and a large supply of the raw . material quite at hand. They are to have large sheds, fitted with steam pipes, for drying the fibre when ready, and their works will altogether prove the most complete of the kind ever yefc^ seen^ in the Province or colony devoted to this rising J branch of local industry. — The annual statutory meeting of the Justices of the Peace was held at Cameron's Hotel on the 2nd inst., when a strong y. muster of -the *' great unpaid " was in attendance. |, and two unimportant cases having been disposed ' of, the justices proceeded to elect a Chairman of 'Petty Sessions for the current year. The Hon. * J. A. R. Menzies was unanimously re-elected f chairman. There were present the Honorable Dr fj Menzies, of Dunalister, Alexr. , MTfab, Esq., k Knapdale ; Angus A. M'Donald, Esq., Islay ; k John Turnbull, Esq., Tuturau.; William Hill, " -Esq.; 1 ; , and Alfred Douglas, Esq., * , Glehtom:' r Alro£a of attendance for the ensuing K year having been settled, and various suggestions ;7 made, notably one for a court-house instead of as „ at present sitting in the cold room of a public- ' house. These, and other, matters having been left ' in the hands of the chairman, the court adjourned until the first Tuesday in ApriL f The Cromwell Guardian of the 12th inst. \. says: — •? This week we have Httle to report from ; the; reefs. The water supply for the Aurora Company has.fallen short, and the result is, that ■ only four head of stamps have been kept going. ; The' shortcoming is creating uneasiness, and, as / : yet, we have heard Of no remedy having been suggested. The stone taken out of Logan and Co.'s Golden lank claim is looking remarkably f well, but in consequence of an irregularity of the conterminous' water-rights, work at the battery ' has been kept back. The success which attended [•'■ the trial crushing of the Carriok range stone has attracted considerable attention, and the proi; babilities are, that machinery will be put upon the ground before long. There is one advantage 1 the Carrick reefe will command over those at [ Bendigo, viz., a plentiful Bupply of water. tDuring the- last week or two, specimens from the ;di_erent claims were freely exhibited in Dunedin. jDeep interest was taken in them, still there was : not by. any means an active desire manifested ... to invest, A few shares sold at pretty fair prices, * but the prevailing opinion was, that instead of i] purchasing out holders, the capitalist should have ; c a certain interest allotted to him, proportionate to t the sum he might advance for erecting machinery. f From the information we have obtained, we are ■ strongly inclined to believe that this is the only kind of co-operation that will be entertained by the Dunedin capitalist. It was the principle . adopted by the Duke of Edinburgh Company at Macrae's Flat, and, so far as we have ascertained, '■> both parties to the arrangement are mutually satisfied. In the meantime, the want of crushing machinery continues to operate as a serious drawback." A • The Wellington correspondent of a contempo- % -.iaaj writes as follows: — Are you an admirer of }' 3Mr Commissioner Branigan? If so, I don't ; : wank to hurt your feelings, but I venture to p prophesy that if you continue so for another six [' months, you will be one of two singular beings in f the colony, the other being Sir (then Commis- " sionerrib longer) Branigan. In spite of audit. I committees and organised " oppositions*'! don't: £ believe the public ever hear the truth about the way matters are conducted. Members don't like * to. say too much, fortune might chance to pitch- * ;ibrk them into office, and then it would be inconv enient if they had talked too muoh. Ministers 1 of course don t. Their business is to bamboozle the House and the public And the only other , body of men who " could a tale unfold," are the i Government clerks, and the public gain in their , case would be a synonym for their lost bread and butter. But even with these good reasons why

everybody should hold his tongue, enough must come out to convince unbiassed men that the present style of managing matter-* is ruinously expensive, and has not. the ghost of a chance of doing us any good. Branigan has no idea but to spend as much money as he likes, and to make everybody abou* him do as he orders. He disgusts the officers under him, who have seen (what he never hasV active service in the Imperial service and in our own Colonial force,, and his accounts appal the Treasury authorities and the olerks through whose hands they pass. The defence estimates have been long ago exceeded, and still we hear of our force being three^ months in arrears of pay, and being almost without- food, and devoid of clothing.

Yards; 400 500 600 Total "Lieut. Surman 18 16 17* 61 Corp.Acheson 18 11 18r 47 Vol. Clode 17 16 11 44 : Sergt. Bobinson IB 11 14 40 - VoL Henderson .'-"■9 12 16i 87 ?19 J Average— 43Bo .