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Southland Times, Issue 1317, 4 October 1870, Page 2

A sum of £800, was realised at the sale of town sections in Queenstown a few days ago. ;

The experiment has been successfully made of substituting flax for hops in the brewing of beer. It is reported that the directors of the Otago Meat-preserving Company intend erecting their premises at Otaraomo, Clutha. The plant has been ordered from England. It is reported that Oobb and Co. propose running a line of coaches between Winton. and Qaeen3town. Although the report , does not proceed upon an authority at all reliable^ there may nevertheless be some.truth in it. ! , r The amended Stamp Act is now in force. To those having a stock of printed bill forms on hand this will prove satisfactory, as adhesive stamps may now be used. Instead of putting initials on the stamp, however, the full name requires to be written across by the acceptor. The duty ig taken off the transfer of shares in Building Societies. . The last lecture of the season, under the auspices of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Society, was delivered last evening in the Presbyterian Church, by the Key. J. S. Mshworth. The subject, " Wilberforce : a study for earnest workers," waa handled with considerable ability, and interested those present, but in consequence of threatening weather, or greater attraction at the Theatre, the audience was rather thin. We may congratulate the Society however on having faithfully carried out their programme, and on having provided monthly, for some time, ' an intellectual entertainment of fair merit. At the Resident Magistrate's Court on Monday, 3rd, two settlers, nnm'.;d Jones and M'Rae, appeared to have a dispute between them, relative to a boundary fence, settled. They were ordered to erect a half each. A man who had given ths police the trouble of carting him to the lock-up on Saturday last, was fined 10s for drunkenness, and 10a for indecent exposure, in default,; 24 hours' imprisonment for each offence. H. E. Osborne, as attorney for A. Sutherland, 'sued Ralph Ward for £17 13s Id, goods Bold and delivered. Defendant made no appearance, and judgment was given for the amount, with costs. The performance at the Theatre Eoyal on Friday evening last was patronised by a fair attendance. The first part of the programme consisted of a selection from the repertoire of the Bellringers, a speech in the Lancashire dialect by jSIr , Birtlea, and several excellent songs by Mr Daniels, all of which merited the plaudits bestowed on them. The Invercargill amateurs monopolised the rest of the evening, and got through their part of the entertainment in a manner scarcely equal jto previous efforts, but this we must attribute solely to want of practice, as the "material" is undoubtedly good. The delay which took place last week in receiving intelligence of the arrival of the Gothenburg -at the Bluff, induces us to ask if some arrangement could not be made for a special event of this kind. The Gothenburg, bringing most important news, got in on Thursday evening, but not a word was known of her arrival in Invercargill till 9 a.m. the following morning, and even then the wires were so exclusively occupied •by telegraphic agents at the Bluff that Invercargill was the last place to get reliable advice of the news. Could some arrangement not be made for receiving a message over-night, if it was nothing more than a simple announcement of the arrival of the steamer. The Agricultural Society of New South Wales announce by circular that they will hold an inter-, dblonial exhibition of wool at Sydney, on the 24th January next. Intending exhibitors must deliver their wool not later than the 14th of that month. The classes for which New ZoaUnd growers are eligible are — 12 fleeces of ewes' wool without beins skirted — Ist prize, £10 ; 2nd do, £5 ; 12 fleeces of hogget ewes without being skirted — Ist, £7 ; 2nd, £3 ; 12 fleeces of hogget rams without being skirted— lst, £7 ; 2nd, £3 ; 200 lbs. of washed, to be skirted at exhibitor's discretionlet, £7 ; 2nd, £3 ; 12 fleeces of ewea without being skirted (exhibitors not to have won the Society's prize for the last three years) — Ist, £7 ; 2nd, £3 ; 200 lbs washed on the sheep's back, the merit of washing and condition to be tested — 1 stj £5 ; 2nd, £3 ; 200 lbs scoured, merit of scouring and condition to be tested — Ist, £5 ; 2nd, £3 ; 200 lbs fellmongerert, merit of get-up to be tested — lat, £5 ; . 2nd, £3 ; and in greasy wool, 12 fleeces of ewes without being skirted — Ist, . £o ; 2nd, £3. The sheriff of Ararat (states the Advertiser). has received the following application for an aprf pointment one would scarcely have thought any person would covet :— " To the Sheriff. — Sir, — Having seen the disgraceful exhibition at the hanging of Yair, I consider that another hangman ought to be appointed. Mr Bamford is getting too old in the tooth for such work. Should you require anyone in the future I should be most happy to offer my services.— -I remain » jours respectfully, — .— Stawell East, 2ndSeptember, 1870.; P3. — I am prepared to do it for 10s per head, but will expect their clothes. T undertake to do the work in a workmanlike manner." As no notice was taken of this communication, the following second letter on the subject was forwarded by the same writer : — " To the Sheriff. — Sir, — I feel rather surprised that you have not answered my letter ; you will not get such an offer again. I shall apply to the sheriff of Melbourne for the billet of hangman. lam quite sure that I can do it with the most dispatch, and promptitude. It's not because Igo hawking that lam not fit for the billet. I was thinking that it would pay me very well as hangman with my other business together. — Yours respectfully, ——.—Stawell East, 9th September, 1870." As sotne curiosity has been expressed as to the provisions of the new Bankruptcy Act Amendment Bill we may state that they are of a purely formal character, merely providing for the transfer of insolvent eßtates from one trustee to another. As the bill passed through the Council, it was a very elaborate measure, altering the whole system, and providing, amongst other things, that no certificate of discharge should be granted under ordinary circumstances unless the estate paid ten shillings in the pound. In the House, Mr Haugbton characterised the bill as one purely for the protection of creditors and remarked that as the late bankruptcy returns led to the conclusion that there were very few people in the Colony who had not passed through the Court, it would be unfair to de rive them of a fair chance. Apparently the House agreed with Mr Haughton, for it struck out all the clauses except four, intended to meet a difficulty which! had arisen in Auckland, where, on the "official trustee being removed from office it was found i that the estates vested in him could not be trans-

ferred to the management of Ms successor, and so some seventy or eighty insolvents were left without any management at all. The new act simply remedies this. In Friday's issue we reprinted a paragraph from the Otago Daily Times, stating that some difficulty of a financial character wa3 apprehended, in consequence of the Legislature having neglected to provide for the current liabilities of Southland. We omitted to add that this apprehension was altogether groundless, as the allocation of the temporary Loan Bill provides a sum of £50,000 for Southland's debts. It is with the view of arranging for the disbursement that the Assistant Colonial Treasurer id at present in Southland. We regret to learn that the subsidy (£100) offered by the Government for the conveyance to New Zealand of the .Suez mail within fifteen hours of its arrival in Melbourne has been declined. We have not heard the reason, but | there is little doubt that the amount is considered inadequate. The matter is one which should not be allowed to drop, especially at a time like the present when speedy communication with Europe is of so much importance. The non-acceptance of the subsidy accounts for the August mail not yet having put in an appearance. As usual, it may be expected to arrive at HoMtika first, so that we need not look for it at the Bluff for eight or ten days. . Last night Dr Carr, the well-known mesmerist and phrenologist, gave the first ofV a series of entertainments in the Theatre Boyal. The attendance was tolerably good. After giving a brief history of the science of phrenology, Dr Carr invited subjects for experiment from among the audience. Half-a-dozen persons, responded, the peculiarities of whose individual characters were delineated in a manner which rendered the entertainment not only instructive but likewise amusing* The after part was devoted to a mesmeric seance, which passed of with equal success. A second entertainment takes place to-night, particulars of which will be found in our advertising columns.