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Southland Times, Issue 1525, 16 January 1872, Page 2

The highest price given for butter in the Wairarapa (Wellington province) is 311 per lb. Ensign G. Reid, of the Eivcrton Eifle Volunteers, has resigned the commission hitherto held by him. The Provincial Council of Canterbury have resolved to bring the Forest Trees Planting Encouragement Act into operation in that Province. A private telegram received in Dunedin from London, via San Francisco, states that wool has gone up Id per lb above the highest previous rates. Latest intelligence from Fiji states that the exports for the 10 months ending on October 31st, amounted to £77,000. The Parliament and Government are fully organised, and permanently established. The great prostration of the Prince of Wales is said to be due to hemorrhage from ulcers in the intestines. It is feared that one of the intestines may be perforated, and in that case he would die suddenly, by collapse, like the Earl of Chesterfield. The owners of goats in Auckland are in a greatstrait. The Municipal Council have passed a byelaw, by which any person keeping a goat is liable to a fine of £5. It is impossible to sell or give away any goat ! the only thing left is to kill and eat them. Protection seems to be rampant in Auckland — always with the exception of any duty likely to benefit the agricultural provinces of the South. The other day Mr Clark and Mr Buckland, the two members for Franklyn in the Assembly, promised to support any measure for putting a protective duty on butter and cheese. The Government steamer Luna, under orders to proceed to DuneJin for conveyance of the Maori prisoners to the north, is expected to visit the Bluff or New River with Hia Honor the Superintendent en route for the proposed special settlement at Stewart's Island. It is not at all improbable but that the Luna will arrive the end of this or the beginning of next week. Information has reached the police that a bridge situated on the Bluff road, this side of West's, has been destroyed by fire, and that it is in a highly dangerous stute for whee'.e I traffic. Horsemen having occasion to travel the road, more especially at night, should be very cautious on reaching this spot. We h-ive not hearl how the fire originated. Intelligence reached town on Saturday of a painful accident having been sustained the previous day by a man named Samuel Shepherd, a carrier belonging to Invercargill. It appears that the unfortunate man was on his road to Dunedin with a loud of wool, and when passing through the Popotunoa Gorge, the drsy was upset, and both of Shepherd's legs were broken by the fall. The sufferer was removed to the Popotunoa Hotel, where it is reported he was promptly attended by Dr Smith, of Balciutha. The Fij i Times of the 9th Nov. says: — The last few weeks have been prolific of misfortune to the settlers upon Dreketi River, Vanua Levu. Happy and flourishing homesteads, and crops of cottou, just coming on — in some cases the picking already commenced — have had to be abandoned to the waste and destruefciveness of savages. What were fruitful fields are now desolation. And all this owing to the caprice of an imbecile old man, Kitova. Without any apparently sufficient reason, he has let loose upon the settlers of Dreketi his savage hordes, who instead of fighting Turaga Levu, have merely confined themselves to tho plunder and spoliation of the white men. As a hint for tho Immigration Department we reprint the following from tho Shetland Gazette of the lGth September : — Last week the tenants in Bressay were given to understand distinctly the terms on which they will be allowed to remain in their present holdings. The conditions are suuh that the island has been turned into a Bochin. All who have been able to remove have resolved to do so at once, but there i are few in circumstances to rise and go to a 1 country where the oppressor dare not touch them, and hence the sighing and crying of the bewildered people are painful to hear. They have been active both on land and sea, and, though toiling hard daily, they have lived in some degree of couforfc until now that the demise oi the last Mouat to whom the property belonged has put them under a new regime, and one which they believe must end in their destruction, though attempts are made to persuade them that it is only for their benefit. The SawJce's Bay Herald commenting upon the position of the province says : — Our population being 6059, we shall receive next year as capitation allowance, at the rate of 15s a-head, tho sum of £4544 ss, and as special allowance the sum of £1500, making in all £6014. Against this stands the annual charge as interest and sinking fund for loans, which amounts to £6927 10s 3d. Besides this again there is tho charge for inland mail services and provincial auditors, set down at £1370. Our liabilities to the consolidated revenue will thus exceed by the sum of £2253 our claim upon it. How the difficulty is to be got over we are not at present in a position to say. It may be some consolation (o think that most of the other provinces in New Zealand are in a similar position. The Transfer of Powers Act, withdrawn in deference to the feelings of the provincial party, was alter all not merely a judicious measure, but one the necessity lor which, it now appears, was nothing short ot absolute.

Harvest operations on a small scale (says a Dunedin contemporary) havo commenced in the I East and West Taieri, and next week on some 1 farm 3 the harvest will become general. The - drought now existing is the most severe that has i been experienced for many years. The pasturage i is almost completely destroyed, the fields being i browned and parched. Springs and rivulets are go much dried up that farmers are put to the greatest inconvenience to get a supply of water for their cattle. We have received from the publisher a copy of Mackay's (Tokomairiro) Otago Almanac, for 1372. It contains a large amount of useful information, besides certain information that is of no use at all. For example, under the heading Invercargill, we find a schedule purporting to be a Southland Kailwny Tariif, which has been superseded, and an entirely new rate struck. In what is called the Southland Official Directory, a number of mistakes occur, still the publication; , which has now reached its ninth year, is, upon , the whole, an improvement on some of its prede- I cessors. • i The payment of the first amount at the death i of a policy ho'der assured under the General Government Annuities Scheme was made on Wednesday, 3rd, the person on whose death the money was secured being the late Mr Shephard, ipoach proprietor of Wanganui. The money wa3 paid over to Mr Brown, the curator of intestate estates, as the person legally representing Mr Shephard, for the deceased gentleman, though he had adopted a wise means of providing for his family, had neglected the next very necessary step to completo the process, that, ot making a will. It should not be forgotten by intending insurers that the two things go hand-in-hand. The amount of the premium was £500, on which Mr Shephard had paid only one premium. Since the cessation of the late southerly gales, the coasting steamers have been getting through quite an astonishing amount of work. On Tuesday the 9th in3tant the steamer Storm Bird left the Jetty, lnvercargill, about noon, arriving at Dunedin early the following morning. After discharging her cargo and reloading, she sailed again on Thursday evening, reaching the lower pool on Friday night, where she was detained to suit the j tide till Saturday morning. On Saturday after- i noon she again left the Jetty, arriviug at Riverton early on Sunday morning. On each of these occasions she carried full cargoes. A passenger who lately travelled by her to and from Dunedin speaks of the journey as having been made with every degree of comfort. We are also pleased to learn that Captain Fraser and his officers are becoming very popular in the passenger trade. The Bristol Mercury of October 21 has the following : — The wool imported by Messrs Miles, merchants, Bristol, from New Zjaland, is very frequently sold to German houses. A recent cargo was so disposed of, and the wool sent off to the purchaser. Messrs Miles, however, received a few days ago a letter from the German manufacturer, stating that in unpacking the wool, he found in the centre of one of the bales a cheque for LSO, a L2O note, some gold and silver, and a purse, which were forwarded to Messrs Miles, who are now endeavoring to find the party from whom the wool was purchased in New Zealand. How the purse containing trie cheque and note — the Litter upon a good New Zealand bank — same to be in tlie pack, it is difficult to say ; whether it was secreted or fell out of the pocket of one of the packmen. No doubt, however, some further light will be thrown on the circumstance when Messrs Miles hear from their correspondents in New Zealand. A recent visitor to Dunedin writes — During my stay in the southern metropolis I met with nothing that pleased me more than the visit I paid to the Industrial School at Look-out Point, near Caversham. You are no doubt aware that this establishment is one of the pet projects of our Superintendent — Mr Mricandrew — and I have no hesitation in saying that there is not an institution in the province which reflects more credit upon his foresight. At present the school contains about 90 children — brands plucked from the burning — whose material welfare and moral training are as carefully attended to as the most fastidious parent could desire. One or two deposits from the streets of Invercargill wero pointed out to me, the offspring of some of our local pe3ts — and the change that has been wrought both in their manner and appearance was of a character thaf, could not fail to impress the most sceptical of the social importance of the institution. In fact it was about the only thing I saw with the badge of provincial control on it that could be said to be in a thorough state of efficiency. Too much praise cannot be accorded to the governor, Mr B. Britton, for his zeal in the management of the institution, and no sight will better repay the inspection of a stranger than a visit to the Industrial School. The overland mail to Dunedin, which, according to the new arrangements, should have left this morning, has been detained until to-morrow morning in order to avoid an extra service for the conveyance of our outward English mail. The gentleman authorising this mode of procedure must have very little idea of the serious loss and inconvenience which will bo occasioned by the carrying out of such a plan of chopping and changing inland mail communication. Nothing should be allowed to interfere with a regular mail service of this kind wheu ifc is once established, [It is no unusual thing for country settlers to ride a distance of from 20 to 30 miles to the nearest pest office for their letters and papers, and when alterations similar to those complained of this week are made, it becomes a matter of serious inconvenience to them, to say nothing of the derangement to the ordinary course of business transactions. Why cannot the Government enter into a special arrangement for the conveyance of our inward 'and outward English mails ? If it is impossible to secure a service by steamer, then some provision must be made for carrying them overland. We are entitled to demand that some definite arrange, ments should be made. It was part of the reunion compact that the mail service to the Bluff should be continued in the same way as provided for the late province, but like many other fair promises begotten by that movement, this one has hitherto proved a porfect delusion. We believe an overland service for the carrying of our inward and outward English mails could be arranged for a sum of £150 per annum, and as a guarantee could be obtained that they should be delivered within twenty-four hours of the time of starting from either end, there should be no hesitation in adopting this mode of \ conveyance.

A correspondent of a contemporary gives the following information for the proper curing of meat : — The meat, well salted, should lie three weeks, but ought to bo turned and changed often until every particle of blood i* extracted from it ; after that, if the meat is nice and sweet, pack i' in good casks with plenty "of coarse salt — ten or twelve pounds, or even more — a little spico will do it no harm, but add to it 3 sweetness when the cask is opened. The casks should be good, and made of seasoned timber ; inch rimu, or inch anrl an eighth when well seasoned will do, standing three-quarter or inch chimo when finished. The bottom end should be flagged with a tucking flag, and a flag down each joint as for oil ; all round the chime should be painted, as nearly all New Zealand woods are porou3. After the meat is packed in the cask, the head should be put in by the cooper, and fligscel as described above, and painted ; put in the brine through the bung hole — the bung must be put in tight with a piece of canvas, and secured by a bit of zinc or lead < tacked well down over. The tierces should hold from 2501 bs to 300lbs. If care be taken, and the meat cured during our cold months, I guarantee it to keep seven years in any clime. Salt beef done in this way will be eaten in London and elsewhere, on board or on shore. It would be hard to find a more cogent reason, or one that will be more generally regarded as such, why so many of the new members of Parliament returned at the late election found themselves supporting the present Ministry during the past session than is given in the following extract from a speech of Mr W. J. Steward, the member for Waitaki, when addressing his constituents recently : — " But what had we to choose between ? Between an entity and a nonentity — between a decided policy, and no policy at all — between something and nothing — between a strong G-overnment, which at least knew its own mind, and a weak, unmanageable, ill-tempered, soured Opposition which di 1 not ; an Opposition without a definite policy, with, so far as I could j see, no pronounced ideas, consisting of a heterogeneous assortment of some nineteen men, remarkable only for their loquacity, their bitterness, and, so far as some of them are concerned, their utter inanity. Their leader, Mr Stafford, a gentleman, a statesman, and an orator, had little to boast of in his following, and, towards the end of the session, assumed the role of tbe disappointed man,' unable to effect anything, with no new ideas to bring forward, and merely holding as it appeared a copy of the celebrated brief — ' No case ; abuse plaintiff' 3 attorney.' What wonder, then, that the young members joined the Government side ; and what wonder that ths Government, notwithstanding personal and political hostilities on the part of some, perhaps many, are firmer in their seats than ever ! Mr Stafford's star has set ; indeed I question much whether he will ever again — except under some fortuitous combination of circumstances — hold tho reins of power in New Zealand."