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Southland Times, Issue 1320, 11 October 1870, Page 2

. His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh is to visit Auckland in December. A canny Scot in Fiji is said to hare bough t 16,000 acres of land the other day for 6d an acre. We observe from a Dunedin paper jthat Mr W. Wilkinson, late of luvercargill, has become, the proprietor of the Alhambra hotel in that city. Six flax mills are reported to be at work between Saddle Hill and the mouth of the Taieri River. Five of them, are driven by steam power, and the remaining one by water power.' As a mark of progress in communication at the present age, it is worthy of notice that Fiji has been placed in possession of English news of only five to six weeks old during the past few months. Members of the Southland * Agricultural and Pastoral = Society are reminded of the. . annual general meeting which takes place at the Prince of Wales hotel on Wednesday (to-morrow), the 12th inst. The mean annual! temperature of the Fiji Islatads is set down by a writer. in the Auckland Herald, who has recently visited the \ Group, at a little over 80 degrees, being 30 degrees higher than the mean annual temperature of Dunedin. It seems that Mr Conyers keeps a record of the distance travelled every day by each locomotive, and that this was summed up lately, when it was found that the three engines had made a total distance of 112,000 miles since they were first placed on the Soutblandj railways. The amount received by the Ofcago Government .from pastoral leases to date (4th inst.) is £58,873 8s 9d, and there is still due £78 15s, making the revenue for the year from this source, £58,952 3s 9d. - This sum is exclnsive -of- rents on old leases paid befor©~they were due, and premium at auction on leases recently, sold, which appear !in the payments into the Sank up to the Ist 'inst. Persons in the habit of laying poison in their br~pa33ocks Tfor domestic animalsy would " do well to note the following ruling in a case lately decided in the Resident Magistrate's Oouirt,

Christchurch. In delivering judgment the magistrate remarked that it; was a general but verymistaken idea, that poison could be laid for docs or other domestic - animals which were a so.urce of annoyance. The person annoyed had a civil remedy for any damage done by animals of the kind, but had not the least right to lay poison for them; The judgment would therefore be in favor of plaintiff. > ■'' Th^ii«»^f»^OT«^^ie 3Q&nlt. iasra that the'risein'the 'p'ricex>rJne necessaries of life last winter, owing-to the bad state of the roads, has .been a.great tax. uponjfae. industrious classes, and, operated as a reduction of wages, while many works were stopped altogether because of the enhanced "cost of material. "The riverTJrdssitigs is ' another subject demanding attention. The extortionate demands of the proprietors of punts amounts, to something equivalent to 20s per ton upon goods between this (Clyde) and Tuapeka or Queenstown, and it cannot be borne without considerably circumscribing the necessary traffic. Our neighbors in New Zealand, says the Argus (Melbourne) of the 24th ultimo, seem to be fast treading in our heels in the way of manufactures. A sample of bulk ale from that colony, brewed by Mr Martin, of the Black Eagle Brewery, Invercargill, has been submitted to our inspection, wbic-k, in quality, comes nearer English brewed ale than any which has yet been shown in this Colony. It was Mr Martin's intention to op9n a trade for this article in Melbourne, but it is found that the heavy charges, including duty, &c, will preclude any attempt of this kind, at least until our tariff becomes more of a " reciprocal," and less of a " retributive," nature. The following account, of the press in Honolulu appears in Mr. C. R. letter .to the Southern Cross .—One of the curiosities/ of the Sandwich Islands is the Hawaiian Gazette, a paper subsidised by the Government to the tune of £2,000 a year. This paper is a weekly one, and slavishly subservient to his Majesty and his Ministers. The only papers here are the Pacific Commercial Gazette (a really first-class journal), and Bennett's Own, a small sheet, yet written with ability. Your Mr Shaw, of the Thames. Tunes, is engaged on it. These two journals have, to pay a duty on thejpaper they use, while the government paper pays none, and what makes it the more, unjust is, that the Hawaiian Gazette advertises to do job printing, &c. Dr Carr had again a large audience on Saturday night, when the phrenological" readings were highly interesting, a number of well-known gentlemen having volunteered to submit to the " crucial test " of having their characters publicly proclaimed. The general opinion was that the peculiarities, or " specialities," of each individual were fairly hit off, and Dr Carr is evidently rising in public estimation as an exponent ' of the science. The mesmeric seance was also very successful ; the illustrations of the complete power obtained by the operator over those " under the influence " compelling sceptics to ponder over the cause which could lead to such results, is it was perfectly evident that the exhibition was thoroughly bona fide in all its parts. Last night's entertainment was also in every wav a success. _ The following sensible admonition to sheep farmers is from the pen of a North Island correspondent : — Will you allow rae to ask the sheep farmers if they intend to give the prices for shearing this year they have been in the habit of doing ; or how is it that the price for shearing is kept still the same, and all other wages coming down to such a low figure ? It woul I serve the sheep farmers right if the flash mobs that are getting up now-a-days were to strike for. more wages, and leave them in the lurch, because they are in the habit of letting some monopolise all the best of their sheds. Why not have open sheds, and let new beginners learn ? If they do so, what they may lose one season they may gain in another. The advanced age of several of the Prussian commanders is a curious fact. No less than four of them are septuagenarians, Generals Von Steinmetz and Von Bittenfieli being each 74 years of age, General Von Falkenstein 73, and Count Von Moltke 70. General Von Goeben is also a man of advanced years, but we do not know his precise age. The Crown Prince and Prince Frederick Charles, however, are both in the prime of life, being 39 and -42 years of- age respectively. The French commanders, though men well advanced in years,, are not so old as their opponents, 'with the ci caption of General Changarnier, who is ,77: years old. Of the other more prominent officers, Marshal M'Mahon is 62, Marshal Canrobert, 61, and Marshal Bazaine 59 years of age. The New Zealand Gazette contains a statement of the receipts and expenditure of tiie Colony for the year ending June 30. The receipts from the Consolidated Fund are stated to be. £1,649,919 6s 6d; from the Special Fund, £269,620 12s 9d ! ; Land Fund, £316,334 13s 8d ; and Trust Fund, £138,872 8s 7d. The Consolidated Fund; comprises — Customs Duties, £80268 7s lOd. Otago still takes the lead, although Auckland has nearly ' reached it, the receipts being— Otagp, ■ £213,642 10s 2d j Auckland, £210,148 123. The expenditure on all accounts was £1,217,943 7s 2d, The cost of the Militia, Volunteers, and Armed Constabulary, was £78,104 6s 7d for 1868-9 ; and to June, 1870, £243,467 18s 9d.The annual soiree of the Invercargill Band of Hope is advertised for" this evening, to come off in the new hall belonging to the Total Abstinence Society, Esk street. This yearly" gathering has gradually risen from a semi-private and insignificant meeting, to a position of considerable importance as a periodical festival. Its recurrence is at all events always a season of peculiar interest to the young " hopefuls," as' also to their numerous acquaintances outside their ranks. On the present occasion, the interest attaching to the event is considerably heightened from the fact above alluded to —the meeting taking place in the new hall — and also on account of a strong accession to the ranks of the speakers. Besides the usual "old hats" of teetolalism, the "platform" - to-night will include -some — comparatively a recent contorts to" the principles,", and a tried and able friend of the cause from the north. The moderate charge made for admission should, in conjunction with the ropleteness and variety of the entertainment, secure a crowded house. : • : ' ; In a recent issue we alluded to the delay which took place in communicating the intelligence brought by the Gothenburg. The Lyttefyon' ' Times makes a similar complaint: ' It says" jthe Gothenburg arrived at the Bluff at half- past nine pa Thursday night, and the newspapers began

to receive their telegraphic summary about eleven o'clock on Friday morning ! We do not hesitate to say that the message ought to have been in every newspaper office entitled to receive it in time for publication in their issue of yesterday morning. We may possibly be told that the Bluff telegraph office closes ..daily at five in the afternoon, and. that the mail .news arrived unexpectedly. : But this 13 not a satisfactory answer iuride.rtbVcircam3tance9. T^e : possibility of the newrfcrriving by the T Gtrthenbufgjv^was pointed out in our columns on Thursdajrjmorning, and the grounds on which we calculated this contingency were as ISpen to the Government as to us. We contend, therefore, that they ought ; to. ,have- been for* the -passible- -arrival-' of* the Gothenburgon Thursday night, and the 'concurrent possibility of her bringing the mail news. From; the following paragraph, which appears in the Wellington Advertiser, one would imagine that the " fast young men" of the " Empire City " have fairly taken possession : — " The poor idiots who think it the richest joke to steal and destroy .gates, to turn horses into gardens, and to . generally destroy their neighbors' property in drunken frolics during the night, have again been at work. For more than twelve months a small gang of men have been playing amongst us the pranks for which schoolboys would deserve to be whipped, and yet the police hare_ not caught one offender. The credit of the force is at stake in the matter, and we trust either to '. hear no more Jof such blackguardly joking, or that some, of the delinquents will be introduced to our worthy Resident Magistrate. It does . not, say much for the vigilance of our guardians of the night that our citizens should retire each evening in an uncomfortable uncertainty as to whether everything moveable about their houses" may be found next morning broken, or not ; found at all. It argues little for our comfort if the gang were burglars instead of midnight brawlers. In such a case would Inspector Atchison rest content^ if= no culprit were discovered ? We belie>e not ; Jandwe hope that a gentle hint may cause him to be a little more on the t alert to check a nuisance which is fast becoming intolerable. We jfarther; lYopVthat, "should, the individuals who so amuse themselves be such as think : themselves entitled, by virtue of their wearing good clothes, to the " i definition "<of gentleman, that fact will hot* blind the eyes of the* police, or render their capture more difficult." ' ..•--»•■* „. In a lecture recently delivered at Christchurch on .'*. Changes, effected by .civilised man- on the natural features of New Zealand," Mr Travers made, the, following remarks^ on .the change of the flora of the colony— "The watercress introduced into the Biver. Avon in Christchurch has spread to such an extent as to obstruct the flow of the river and greatly to raise its natural level, evils only counteracted by the annual expenditure of large sums of money. The Scotch- thistle is spreading all over both islands, and has already entailed upon the farmer and the squatter a serious addition to his expenses. So far as New Zealand is concerned, there can be no doubt that what is taking place must be at the expense of the native flora, and must, even alone, have sooner or later led to the extirpation of many of tha native plants. But when, in aid of these operations, we find ..the whole country roamed over by man himself, and by countless herds of animals which he has introduced, we may feel assured the' the native life has but little chance against the invaders. Whenever we fife the forest or cut a track, we make room for the invader, and where the hardy European vegetable once begins to grow it usually obtains its hold. I noticed recently, at subalptne elevations in the Middle Island, that trifolium pratense was gradually displacing herbaceous vegetation, a process the more certain in proportion to the treading which the soil receives fro n cattle and sheep. But perhaps one of the most noticeable facts is that along our lines of highway, especially in the Canterbury province, you scarcely see, for m.les together, a single native plant in the hedgerows or fences, whilst the familiar way-side weeds of Eur 'pc are found as abundantly as they are in the mother country.' 1 : -- - . ■ .' ;