The Southland Times. TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 1870.

Southland Times, Issue 1265, 14 June 1870, Page 2

The Southland Times. TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 1870.

Our report of the Oddfellows' soiree and ball, several locals, &c, are unavoidably excluded from this issue. j A surgical operation of a serious and delicate nature was successfully performed on Saturday last, by Drs. Monckton and M'Clure, in the excision, or removal, of the left breast of Mrs J. Millar, wife of a settler on the Waikivi plains, which had become cancerous from an injury accidentally received whilst suckling. The unfortunate lady was progressing favorably yesterday, and may be said to be past all danger. Her friends and acquaintances will be glad to learn it is the opinion of her medical attendants that, as the disease originated from accident, and not from constitutional causes, there need be httle apprehension of its recurrence. We believe this is only the Becond time a similar operation has been performed iv Southland. The Bruce Herald is informed that good coal has recently been discovered on the Main South Road, some eight miles north of the Mataura. The discovery was made by the road men, while engaged in digging out the foundation for a culvert. As yet the extent of the seam has not been tried: According to an advertisement in the Wakatip Mail, Messrs Surman and Davis, the local brewers, are prepared to purchase 10,000 bushels of malting barley next season. This will give some impetus to the growth of barley in that district. We remind our readers of the public meeting which is called by advertisement, elsewhere appearing, for this evening. , The importance of the subjects to be discussed should secure a full attendance, and the time and place of meeting are both convenient, viz., half-past seven o'clock, and the Exchange Hall, Dee-street. The following tenders for repairs to the road across the Waianiwa marsh, damaged by recent floods, were opened at the Government Buildings .on .Friday, 10th. Jas. M'Menamin, accepted, £98 19s 6d; Richard Powell, £124 ss. We are informed by the local agent, Thos. Brodrick, Esq., that the " City,of Melbourne," on her return trip, arrived at Auckland on Friday last, bringing forty passengers from San Francisco for New Zealand. She had also on board an English Mail, the southern portion of which is now on its way down in the Airedale. The arrangements of the new route are now complete: „,,■—. Two men in the employment of Mr lungswell were brought before His Worship on Monday morning, charged with pilfering a quantity of fat, &c, from the slaughter-yards, where they were at work. It appeared that a number of persons killed in the same yards, and the evidence showed that one of the prisoners at least, had obtained from one of the slaughtermen permission to help himself to some of the article in question, and that he had given a portion to the other prisoner. Both denied any felonious intent, and Mr Russell, who appeared for one of the culprits, urged that the most that could be said against either was that he had presumed upon the good nature of the slaughterman, and helped himself to rather more than was intended. Both were ultimately dismissed with a caution to be more guarded in future, and one of them was fined to the value of the articles found in his possession, 3s. His Worship characterised the case as one of those petty beginnings to dishonesty which invariably led to greater thefts, and commended Mr Bongswell for having taken steps to check such petty practices, at considerable loss and trouble to himself, and the other tradesmen interested. Mr M'Lean, says the Auckland Advertiser, is no wonder to the Maoris. They regard him as a mere Pakeha like the rest, and discount or cash him freely. They show this in a very interesting I caricature of his Bang negotiations in a popular ballad which has been composed at Tokangam utii. According to the Timaru Herald, it is rumored that Paterson, the present representative in the General Assembly for the South. Island, is about to resign his seat, and that Kuri, a wellknown Maori residing at Arowhenua, is likely to be his successor. In the Otago Provincial Council, on the 6th inst., the following motion was put and lost : — "That an Address be presented to His Honor the Superintendent, requesting that he will be pleased to cause tbe sum of £3000 to be placed on the Supplementary Estimates, for the purpose of erecting a bridge over the Mataura River at Wynd- j ham." The residents of Waikouaiti are to be deprived of their jetty for another year, a division on the subject resulting thus : — For, 6 ; against, 15. The spire of the First Church, on Bell Hill, j Dunedin, was completed on the 2nd inst. The ' height from the base to the summit is 186 feet. The Queenstown correspondent of the Cromwell paper says that Fox and party have returned from their prospecting trip up the Hollyford j Valley. They report having experienced wretched j weather— rain, snow, and cold. They made as j full a search as circumstances permitted for gold, but were unsuccessful in finding the precious metal in payable quantities in the Hollyford Valley. In the Dart Valley they were more successful, and obtained a favorable prospect in one or two places. The weather was so much against them, and provisions and tools bo difficult to procure, that they determined to cease operations for the winter. The other parties out prospecting have also caved in. The prospects of the session of the General Assembly, wbich will be opened this day, are referred to by the Southern Cross in the following terms : — There is just a possibility that the session will be a short one j but it is only a possibility. The session of 1865 was not short, although it was the last session of the Parliament. It saw the expulsion of the Weld Government by the means of the Auckland vote, and the reinstatement of Mr Stafford ; and although we do not for a moment anticipate a change of Government during the present Parliament, we certainly do not look forward toa short session of the General Assembly. Te Ranapia Kahukoti, by whom, as recently announced by telegraph, the construction of the telegraph line near Tauranga has been stopped, is stated by a Thames paper to be a " paid servant of the Crown." A Highland Volunteer Brigade has beenlately formed in Sydney, and paraded in full dress, on . the 21st ult., for the first time.

The West Coast Times of the 30th ult. says : — The schooner Dunedin, bound for Dunedin, has on board 40,000 ft. of splendid sawn timber, which has been shipped by Meßsrs Eindlay and Haworth, proprietors of the Westland Saw Mills. The total number of money orders issued at the several post offices in New Zealand, during the quarter ending 31st March last, was 7386, representing an amount of £33,042 2s 3d, while the corresponding quarter of last year was 6406, or £29,424 17s Bd. • The number and amount of orders paid was 4469 and £20,103 6s 3d. In the corresponding quarter of previous year, 3883 and £18,127 7s lid. In these amounts Otago and Auckland are about equal, Canterbury and Wellington following. ,•"'■' There are many persons (says the Bruce. Standard) who doubt the assertions made by settlers and others, that the floods of the Taieri and Clutha rivers, with their disastrous results, are caused by the workings of the Goldfields, and the diversion of water courses. We care not to anticipate the verdict of the Committee appointed by the Provincial Council to investigate this subject, but, as practical observation is of more service than assertion, we may state that the south branch of the Tokomairiro river can now supply aa illustration of how river beds are filled up, which it would be well for the members of the Committee to witness. This stream is now, from the workings going on at Manuka Creek and Glenore, bringing down'hunareds of tons of earth in solution, which ere long will He deposited in the bed, and in bends of the river, and, as a natural consequence, when the river, rises, all the lands in the vicinity will be flooded in a greater degree than formerly. Before any further mischief be done,* we think the Government should take steps to improve the course and outlet of the river, or in some other way try to prevent those losses which are causing residents on the banks of the rivers liable to floods to contemplate removal to other countries. ..'-... A. '< 1