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Southland Times, Issue 1260, 3 June 1870, Page 2

In our issue of the 20th ult. -we. gave several extracts fro m the . ■„■ Wqikowd&i Herald to show how some of therxnifc-j lying districts of Otago complain of the treatment they receive at the hands of the Provincial Government authorities. In the succeeding number of the same journal we find the following :— "The Provincial Treasurer adds insult to injury when he asks the people of this district to take a present of a Boad Steamer and give up the idea, of a Jetty. The fact that the proposal can be nothing more than a lugubrious joke Only makes the matter worse. The whole history of the treatment of Waikouaiti in regard to its Harbor Improvements must read to any distant and disinterested observer like a series of dismal practical jokes. The ingenuity of succeeding Governments in the invention of new methods ; of tantalizing the people of this district would be commendable if expended upon a worthy object. It is impossible to look back upon the ineffectual efforts we have been making for so many years to obtain reasonable shipping* facilities without anger ; and yet that bitter laughter which often gives the best expression to deep annoyance, is hardly to be repressed when we think over the various methods by which we have been duped into patience. And now we are offered a Road Steamer! Are those statesmen or mountebanks to whom " Provincial Institutions " have given the privilege of poking their spiteful fun at us?" , ' ; From the subjoined paragraph, which appeared in the Daily limes it would seem that the Provincial Treasurer declines to justify the action " l '6f.°she government in propridpersond .•—^' : ;? v A requisition was a few days since presented to Mr Duncan, from a number of settlers in the Waikouaiti district, requesting him to meet them at an early date, to explain the peculiar merits and special features fie considered the Eoad Engine possessed over other modes of transit — for instance water carriage, on which he had based his recommendations. In reply to the requisition, Mr Duncan wrote that he was unable at present, on account of his time being fully occupied with Council matters, to comply with the 1 invitation."

A pair of black swans which had taken up their quarters on the margin of the estuary, about two miles below the town, were rudely disturbed on Tuesday evening last by the incursion of two juvenille would-be.sportsmen, whom somebody had foolishly entrusted with a fowling-piece. Getting close to the birds, which had become accustomed to persons passing, one of the boys fired at, and unfortunately killed, one of them. Ignorant of what mischief he had done, and apparently proud of his achievement, the lad hoisted the quarry over his shoulder and marched for town, enquiring at every one he met whether they could tell the name of the " monster" he had killed. Being at last informed that it was a black swan, he seems to have had some glimmering that he had done wrong in shooting it, for he forth/srith ; " planted" it, and it was only when, through some rumor of the occurrence, the police charged him with the offence, that he disclosed its whereabouts. For the benefit of persons who may, through similar ignorance, be liable to commit a like breach of law, we may again mention that all imported game in the province, no matter where or how found, is under the protection of the Acclimatisation Society, and the penalties for shooting, or otherwise killing or destroying any such birds, animals, or fishes, their eggs or young, are very heavy. In the present case we understand the 3ociety does not intend to prosecute, it being the first of the kind, and committed by a person of extreme youth, but we are authorised to say that for any such offence in future the Society will insist on the infliction of the heaviest punishment allowed by law. An accident which might have been attended with more serious consequences, occurred on the afternoon of the Ist inst. It seems that a Bettler at Spar Bush, named Peter Duncan, had been encaged by Mr Cullen to bring in a load of flax from bis mill near Ryal Bush. The team was composed entirely of young horses, and on crossing the Wallacetown bridge the vibration and unusual noise startled the animals, and they ran off. Duncan got entangled amongst the reins, and was thrown to the ground. He fell upon his face, and the wheel of the dray passed exactly over his shoulders. The team were shortly afterwards met and stopped by Mr J. Grieve, without their having done or suffered much further injury. Mr Duncan was taken up and carried back to Wallacetown, and a messenger despatched for Dr Monokton. On the doctor's arrival, he found the man suffering much from internalhemorrhage, although no bones were broken, and but little mark of injury was visible outwardly. Having bled his patient freely, and used other remedies, the doctor remained with him all night, and on Thursday morning he seemed, in a fair way of recovery. Duncan is a strong, healthy man, of strictly temperate habits, and but for the latter fact, Dr Monckton thinks it would have been almost impossible to save his life. : Mr N. Campbell, contractor, lately engaged on i the formation of the Winton line, met with a rather serious 'accident on Wednesday. While engaged about a truck which was being loaded with tim-. ber, a heavy plank slipped off, struck him on the side^ knocked him down, and broke one of his ribs, He was, however, able to walk, and shortly afterwards had his injury attended to by Dr Monckton. In a few days he will hare got over all evil effects. The following section of " The Coinage Offences , Act, 1867," is published :in the Otago Government Gazette for general information: — "15. Whosoever shall tender utter or put off any false or counterfeit coin resembling or apparently intended to resemble or pasß for any of the Queen's current copper coin knowing the same to be false or counterfeit or shall have in liis custody or possession three or more pieces of false or counterfeit coin resembling or apparently I intended to resemble or pass for any of the Queen's current copper coin knowing the same to be false or counterfeit and with intent to utter or put off the same or any of them shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and being convicted thereof shall be liable at the discretion of the court to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding one year with or without hard labor and with or without solitary 'confinement." : : The Grahamstowu (Auckland) 'Evening Star says $ — " The Maoris are not content with following their European brethren in style of dress— the latest out of coat and Tyrolean hat — but they are very apt at imitation in many other respects. The latest instance we have seen occurred in Grahamstown to-day, in the person of a young Maori, evidently of the "jolly dog" or !' rollicking ram" school/ who was swaggering down Albert-street singing " Champagne Charley," in tolerable English, with appropriate gesture. In front of the Pacific Hotel the would-be comique essayed a " step," bat owing to the hardness of the road, or the want of practice, he did not succeed so well in the dancing as in the singing. A correspondent, writing from the Cardrona, to the Wakatip Mail, says that the population there is rapidly increasing. ll About 600 Chinese are on that field, and the majority of them doing remarkably well — some making as high as £13 per week per man in ground that old resident miners declared 'to be ' rank duffer ground.' The Celestials are said to be going the ' whole hog' in the way of mining. Many of the miners here are holding back their gold from sale, on account of a statement published in Mr Beetham's last report, that/the price of gold was £3 17s 6d per ounce* There is no doubt that our contemporaries. have misprinted from the original, as the price given by the banks here for some time past has been only £3 15s per ounce." 'The Dunedin correspondent of tho Oamaru Herald, writing on the 24th ulfc., says : — Rain, rain, rain ! In a single word thrice repeated, for the. sake of emphasis, you have in a condensed form the history of a large portion of the last week in Dunedin. "In the name of all that's unholy," methinks I hear one of your northern readers exclaim, w what is the use of telling us about rain ; we had and heard quite enough of the refreshing showers from above lately, we have witnessed them by day, we have dreamt of them by night, and we are so drenched . through that we expect to be kept going by hydraulic power for the next six months." True, gentle Oamaruite, but pause awhile ; if thou hast received thy legitimate share, surely we have been favored with a Benjamin's portion of the dews of heaven. Say, if yet it has happened in thy renowned city, the^air and blooming capital of .the north, that a professor of hair-dressing has been washed down one of the principal thoroughfares by a seething torrent, and only rescued at the mouth of a yawning culvert by the outstretched arm of a courageous individual belonging to the Police Force. Tell me of a catastrophe prodigious as this one, and then will I acknowledge that thy city stands as high as mine in the scale of civilization. A recent export to England (says the Melbourne Argus) was a consignment of leeches. Some parts of Australia abound with leeches ; those which frequent the Murray River being preferred by the medical faculty to any other known specimen. They bite freely, and leave no inflammatory wound or mark behind. They thus equal, if they do not surpass, the famed speckled leech of Northern Europe. Messrs Felton, Grimwade, and Co., of Melbourne, took measures some time ago for the conservation of the Murray leeches, and their contracts with the fishermen in the Murray district for the past season exceeded half a million. We are informed that -the 'intercolonial demand is almost equal to the supply. Shipments are, however, sometimes made to England, and a few weeks ago the s.s. Somersetshire took a large consignment for disposal in the home country. ' The Cromwell Argus says: — -"The news from Martin's Bay is not encouraging from a gold point of view. Fox's party are reported to have found gold between Lake Mackerrow and the Wakatip. One person who has returned to Queenstown says the gold is payable, but until such time as stores can be obtained, it is almost impossible to work it. The country, despite its supplies of wood, is represented as very inhospitable at this period of the year. Fox has gone on to Martin's Bay for the winter, and few results of a favorable character can be expected before spring*" -

1 In the "Resident Magistrate's Court on Friday, ! the 27fch ulfc., Mr O'Hara sued the Bank of Otago for £95 93, under the following circumstances : — In March last, the Bank of Otago had commenced an action against O'Hara in the Supreme Court, under the " Summary Procedure on Bills A.ct," to recover £37 13s Id, on a bill of exchange, and SA 12s costs. Before judgment was entered, O'Hara, as he averred, tendered to the Bank's solicitor the amount of the bill, without costs, which was refused. Ha then offered the amount with half costs ; this was also refused. Judgment was signed, and an execution put into O'Hara's house. O'Hara then paid the amount of the bill, and £10 9<j for costs — but under protest as to the costs — and the action was now brought to rec»ver the £10 9s so paid under protest, and £35 damages in consequence of the execution, the plaintiff relying : upon the 28th section of the Resident Magistrate's Court Act, which provides that any plaintiff in an action in the Supreme Court, which "might have been brought in the Resident Magistrate's Court, shall recover no costs unless the -Judge before whom the case is tried certifies forco-rts. For , the defence, it was contended that no tender of the money had been ma ie as alleged, and that ! the section of the Resident Magistrate's Court Act quoted did not apply to proceedings under the Summary Procedure on Bills Act. After hearing evidence, and the arguments of counsel, judgment was deferred till Monday, the 30th ult., when the Resident Magistrate gave judgment for the plaintiff for £10 9s, the amount paid under protest, and £35 damages ; in all, £45 9s and costs, and stated that in his opinion a legal tender of the amount of the bill had been made, and that section 28 of Che Bjsidnnt Magistrate's | Court Act did apply to proceedings under the Summary Procedure on Bills Act. Notice of appeal was given by the defendants. Mr Macdonald appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr Harvey ' for the defendants. .. . . , . The number of telegraph posts carried away in the Oamaru district during the recent floods is stated by the Herald to have been 76. Says an English contemporary : — " We have just received an American paper called the Train Extra, the medium through which the renowned George Francis Train addresses the universe in general. It announces his lectures, contains bis poetry, publishes the addresses sent to him by the Yankee Fenians, and his reply addressed to 'Dear War with England Fenians.' With admirable frankness, Train records how . he was prayed for in St. Louis, after his lecture:—'Yesterday morning, in the Union prayer-meeting, a good brother asked the prayers of Christians present for Train. If there was any promise in Holy Writ for meroy for the chief of Jackasses, as well as the ' chief of sinners,' there might be some encouragement for George Francis.' "