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Southland Times, Issue 1534, 6 February 1872, Page 2

The San Francisco mail is long overdue this month. There was no news of it up to the time we went to press. Before leaving yesterday, Mr Reeves communicated to the Mayor the satisfactory announcement that instructions had been given to the Engineer, Mr Brunton, to proceed with the permanent survey of the Kingston extension line so soon as that for the Mataura was finished. We are glad to learn that the difficulty con. nected with the forwarding of the mail to Queenstown has now been obviated. Government has at length conceded the terms offered by the Lake steamboat company, so that the interruption referred to in a recent issue has now been provided for. A sudden change in the weather took place yesterday. From an early hour in the morning up till about noon a genial rain was falling, which was calculated to do a deal of good to " nature parched and dry." At mid-day, however, the wind set in from the S.W., and during the whole of the afternoon and evening the weather continued squally and disagreeable. It will be seen by advertisement that the committee of the Invercargill Athenaeum have secured the assistance to the institution of the services of Capt. Hutton, Government Assistant Geologist. A lecture on the geology of the district, with special reference to the coal fields' formation, is announced for delivery on Friday, 16th inst. Remembering the interest taken in the coal question, the subject Bhould command a large audience. In the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, the case of Calder v. M'Michael was heard at some length. Plaintiff claimed in respect of a horse, the ownership of which was disputed by defendant. After evidence had been given for plaintiff, the further hearing was adjourned until to-day. Mr Harvey appeared for plaintiff and Mr Macdonald for defendant. Clark v. Trotter, and Skene, Hast & 00. v. Brown were also adjourned. At the usual meeting of the Waste Land Board (Southland district), held on Friday, 2nd inst., Mr Thomas Brown appeared and stated that he declined to comply with an order of the Board respecting the cutting of survey lines through portions of his reserved area. After the matter had been discussed, it was agreed that the grant should be cancelled. An application by Mr Lockhart for concessions in respect of the survey of his reserve, was held over for consider- , ation at a future meeting.

A rumor from Napier states that small pox has broken out among the natives there. A meeting for the election of wardens for the Oteramika Hundred is convened for Thursday, the Bth instant. I Owing to the drought, water for drinking or culinary purposes is reported to be very scarce at Lawrence (Tuapeka). Harvesting (says the Lake WaJeabip Mail) is now pretty general throughout the district, but, in many cases, the grain crops are rather light. It is estimated by the Q-eelong A.d-pex^sr^ that half the cargo of the Sussex has been^^K, aud over £10,000 has been realised, 80 that the speculators are in " for a good thing." An extensive rush is said to have taken place to Teviot creek, in the vicinity of Greymouth. The workings are alluvial, the sinking being 16 feet, and the prospect 13 grains to the bucket of wash dirt. The London correspondent of the Dundee Advertiser writes : — " Mr Bright, in conversation with a friend, has been giving his opinion of Sir Charles Dilke, whom he is said to have described as a clever but hot-headed young man, who wastes his time and bis talents in damaging the cause he professes to have at heart." By proclamation in the Provincial Government Gazette of the 31st ulfc., the following por« tions of the " Municipal Corporations Act , 1867," are extended to the town of Invercargill ; — Part 13, government of boroughs and bye-laws ; part 18, sewerage, &o. ; part 19, lighting j part 20, water supply ; part 21, markets ; part 22, miscellaneous. The local paper reports that harvesting is now pretty general throughout the Dunstan district ; with but few exceptions, the grain crops are thin and to present appearances will barely pay the expense of cutting. The root crops, carrots, and potatoes are a perfect failure, the late frosts followed by the high winds and long continued drought causing this disastrous result. In regard to the question of the deepest mine in Victoria, the Ballarat Star states : — " In the mining statistics last issued, the Albion shaft, Steiglitz, is given as the deepest, but the New North Clunes now exceeds the Albion in depth. The New North Clunes pump shaft is now 910ft. deep, and is, no doubt, the deepest in the colony. It is still being sunk, the plan of the directors being to reach a depth of 1,200ft. or thereabouts . The brewery at Waikouaiti was totally destroyed by fire on the morning of the 29th ult. The fire is believed to have been accidental, and to have been caused by a slight over-heating of the malfc-kiln. A quantity of grain and brewery utensils were saved. There was an insurance of from £200 to £300 oo the building. The drought has seriously interfered with the artesian welte in Christchurch, some of them having ceased running, the flow of the remainder being diminished. A G-reymouth paper says : — An extraordinary sample of the results of patience and ingenuity is exhibited at G-ilmer's Hotel. It is a working model of a high pressure steam-engine, carved out of rata with no better appliance than an ordinary penknife, by a resident of the most remote district of " Moonlight." The minute size of the model, the perfection of its details, and the nature of the material and of the instrument with which it was carved, make it a work well worthy of notice. The attention of the Victorian Government has been recently turned to the proposed expedition to New G-uinea, which indeed the Executive has been asked to support by a grant of money. The final reply, which has been forwarded to the expedition party, states definitely that such support is refused, and that if those forming the expedition commit any acts of piracy, or in any way come into collision with the inhabitants of New Guinea, they will have no claim for support, help, or countenance from the Victorian Government, or the Imperial Government as represented here. What is done by the expedition party will, therefore, be solely on its own responsibility. The Superintendent, along with the Hon. Mr Reeves, left Invercargill yesterday by coach for Dunedin. During his stay, he was waited upon in reference to the through postal service to Switzers, as also the conveyance of the outgoing and incoming mails via San Francisco. With regard to the former, an understanding was given that provision would be made forthwith for completion of the service from the Longford to Switzers. A promise was also given that special arrangements would be made for transmitting the Southland portion of the mail from Dunedin immediately on arrival of the steamer, and that the outgoing mail would be similarly provided for. The work is to be done by a special coach. We also learn that the Government .will be strongly recommended to undertake a branch line of railway to connect the Oreti line with the Eiverton district. A most providential escape from loss of property, and perhaps life, is recorded by the Beaufort Chronicle. Several farmers at Trawalla had nearly finished cutting down their crops, and the " stooks" were left standing on the fields during Sunday, when one of them, in Wilkinson's paddock, was struck by lightning, and blazed up in an alarming manner. Mrs Wilkinson saw the flames, but any assistance she could have procured would have baen of no avail to save the crops, houses, and fences of the settlers for a long distance round, all of which were unusually inflammable after the long continued dry weather. They would have been quickly destroyed had not a heavy shower of rain, descending at the very nick of time, extinguished the fire. Seldom indeed has the opening of the " windows of heaven" been more gratefully received. His Honor the Superintendent, accompanied by the Minister of Public Works, returned to Invercargill from Riverton on Friday evening. On Saturday afternoon they proceeded by Bpecial train to Wiaton, from whence fch&y posted on as far as the Fern Hills, returning again to Inver. cargill in the evening. The Mayor (Mr Wood) accompanied the party as far as the Fern Hills, with the view of impressing on the Minister of Public Works the urgent necessity that exists for the Winton extension line being speedily undertaken. We are informed by Mr Wood that throughout the whole of the journey his efforts in that direction were ably seconded by the Superintendent. We are also informed that Mr Reeves expressed himself agreeably surprised at the nature of the country j through which they passed, with regard to its I itrospocta for settlement.

A correspondent of a Melbourne contemporary says that India offers a good market for preserved meats. He says : — " What is required is best pieces of beef, mutton, &c. , tongues, soups, corned and spiced beef, rabbits, game," &c. Two informers have been put to utter shame bv the hostess of a Sandhurst shanty. As the Advertiser tells the tale, " two informers who had suspected that tbe lady in question supplied drinks not for love, but for commensurate remuneration, visited her domicile, and asked for a glass of beer. Thny were politely informed that beer was not 'in the way' of the landlady, but such a thing as gin might, by an exertion, be had. Well, they would have gin just medicinally. The landlady returned to the back room, and, emptying a kerosene jar into a ' square gin' bottle, returned, and placed the bottle before her ' guests, who, anxious to have their reward, ' poured out the liquid, and gulped a little ere ; they discovered tlieir sad mistake. The last that was seen of them, so said our informant, was their legs, and five or six tumblers flying after them, hurled by the enraged owner of the dwelling. In an article complaining about the difficulty which the Government experiences in carrying out its policy of retrenchment, by amalgamating offices, whenever an opportunity of doing so occurs, the Wellington Independent concludes with the following remarks, which will be very generally endorsed: — The guiding principles in regulating appointments should be simple enough — employ no more hands than you want, obtain the best men you can for the work, and pay them well, and get rid of the absurd idea thafe because a man has once been in the Government servic e he is always to be in it. What extra claim a man has because he has received a salary from the State instead of from a private firm or individual, we fail to comprehend. But it is no less a fact that any one, from a postman to a magistrate, is under the impression that the fact of his having served the Government at all is a reason that he should always be employed whether the colony can afford it or not. Gt. E. Houston, Esq., of Johnstone Castle, Eenfrewshire, Scotland, who recently paid a visit to the Lake district, makes the following suggestions : — " With regard to making Lake Wakatip attractive to tourists, I am exceedingly sanguine, and feel sure that the thing can be done. From my own experience, — and that, of course, is small, — I know that there is a general desire in Victoria and New South Wales to escape from the excessive heat of summer. Tasmania is old and well-known ; New Zealand is fresh and unknown — in fact, so little known that no one dares to even think of going there. In addition to the Australians proper, there are plenty of English travellers knocking about the Clubs in Sydney and Melbourne, and also squatters from Queensland, cooling themselves in Sydney, and wishing they could go somewhere else. Now, if the beauty of the scenery, and the accessibility of the approach to it, were clearly and effectually represented to all. these individuals, and brought under their notice, a large number would be attracted to the district." The Anglo- Brazilian Times, October 3, published at Rio de Janeiro, gives in an ornamental supplement the " Law of Liberty" — that is to say, the act providing for the abolition of slavery in the empire of Brazil, which passed through Parliament and received the sanction of the Regent the Princess Imperial on September 28. In alluding to the readiness with which the obligation of freeing the slaves has been received by the slaveowners, many of whom intend to convert their slaves into free tenant farmers, the Times mentions that the Benedictines had contributed to the consecration of the date of the Law of Liberty by freeing on that day 1,600 slaves whom they still possessed, purposing in addition to endow them with the lands of the order. Amongst the miscellaneous news whioh the paper contains is a notice that the introdustion upon subsidy of 30,000 Germans into the province of Rio Grande do Sul had been conceded to a German firm. In Bage, Rio Grande do Sul, a fight took place in the streets between a certain notorious Colonel Facundo da Silva Tavares and the Judge of Rights. Law (says the Times), as is usually the case, came off second best, and was laid prostrate on the field of battle with a broken head. At Porto Alegre, in the same province, the bishop having denied the burial service to a deceased merchant, on the plea of his having died without taking the sacrament, the populace invaded his palace and forced open the church. The bishop thereupon " yielded to circumstances." Intelligence received from Auckland on the 29th ult. states that Cyrus Haley, of the late Exchange Restaurant, has been arrested on a charge of attempting to murder Mr Russell, and setting fire to the Exchange Building, the Choral Society's Hall, &c. The following are the particulars of the circumstances attending his arrest : — A little after midnight on Saturday, three stacks of hay at Pah Farm were simultaneously burned. The watchman, who had been kept there for a few night3 previous, saw a man running away, but failed to overtake him. Mr Russell sent immediately for the police, and Inspector Broham took one road, sending men by the others. Mr Broham met a man on the road who attempted to run away, but after a long chase he overtook him, and the man then presented a pistol. Mr Broham closed with him, and succeeded in disarming and securing him. The man proved to be Haley, and he inferentially admitted having set fire to the stacks. On his premises being searched there were found in them 500 cartridges, the balls in which were the same as those found in Mr Russell's house, and fitted the pistol. There were also found some pieces of cloth and some tumblers of a curious shape, precisely similar to those found with kerosene under the music hall. Luckily Haley while running must have let the spindle drop out of the revolver, as the chamber was missing. It was afterwards found and brought to the police-office, loaded. Great credit for the capture is due to Inspector Broham, and his success has given much general satisfaction. Haley, who was not in the least suspected, had been a considerable speculator in shares, and is known to have bought Caledonian shares at £160, and sold them again at £30. His head has apparently been turned by this. He is known to have expressed himself strongly against Mr Russell for refusing to re-let the Insurance Company's building to him for a restaurant, after the fire, and also to have had a strong animus against the Choral Society for an alleged affront to his wife, who was requested by the other members, some eighteen months ago, to resign.

At a meeting of the Otago Waste Land Board, held in Dunedin on the 31st ult., it was resolved in the matter of Mr Clarke's application, that the Board should decline to consider any case submitted for their approval unless the balance of the purchase money were paid within the time limited. The following minute was also agreed to : — " The decision of the Board having been disputed upon certain questions of law, arising upon the facts and circumstances attending the sale to Joseph Clarke of lands situate on runs 215 and 212b, and arising upon the decisions of the Board regarding the same — Resolved, that a I case stating the said facts, circumstances, and decisions, and the questions of law on which the Board requires guidance, be submitted for the opinion of his Honor Mr Justice Chapman, pursuant to the provisions of the 6fch section of the Waste Land Boards Appeal Act, 1867." The special reporter of the Oamaru Times having visited a large portion of the wheatgrowing districts, states that he finds the quality of wheat in many places much superior to what he had been led to expect by the reports which have from time to time appeared. Should the weather continue favorable for harvesting, the quality generally will be equal to anything yet produced in the district, and moreover, as regards " yield," it will be much greater per acre than was at one time expected, and the aggregate for the district much larger than in any previous year. The oat crop, although short in straw, seems also to be of much superior sample to that of last year, and evidences greater care in the selection of Beed, the grain being of better description than hitherto grown. Barley, of which but a small breadth has been sown, will be a light crop ; as to the quality there is not sufficient data to report, though there are grounds for fearing that it will not prove first-rate.