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Southland Times, Issue 1551, 15 March 1872, Page 2

Bishop Croke, of Auckland, complains of Collins's British History and Anderson's Greography, which are used in the Auckland Grammar School, as being improper for Catholic children. After many unsuccessful attempts in the province, an artesian well has been sunk at Clive, Napier, and a splendid fI)W of water obtained at a depth of one hundred and fifty feet. Large quantities of Adelaide wh eat continue to arrive at Auckland to millers' ordo r3, despite the import duty imposed last session. Oao vessel lately brought 2220 quarters, another ia on the way with 2800 bags, and a third is loading at Adelaide. A telegram in our last issue stated that the proprietor of a bakery afc Newton, no.tr Auckland, which caught fire, had been arrested for arson. It seems that suspicion had been aroused by a pile of combustibles, co verel .vith fat, being found heaped up against the wall, close to the dough-trough. As it turns out that the combustibles were on\y infj-rviod. to lig-lit. ths fir<i a.3 usual, the charge against Juhnatono haa been abandoned. The Illustrated Ifeio Zetland Herald for this month contains a representation of the picking up of the schooner Pori by Lf.Af.B. Basilisk ; a view of Hawkins's Hill goldfiold at Tambaroora, N.S.W. ; of Cape Grrafton, from Fitzroy Island ; of Mount Hamilton un-l the Takitiau Ranges in the Southland district j of Cook's River, Botany Bay, N.S.W. ; of tlie Nuggets Lighthouse, near the mouth of the ll.'yneux River; of tho starting of the intercolonial gig race at the Hobart Town regatta ; and several other attractive illustrations. On the whole, the present number is a very interesting one. Our C'Unpbelltown correspondent, writing yesterday, says : — Mr John Graham's announced lecture took place here in the school-room last night. His audience was small but orderly, and wisely abstained from giving any of those " affectionate demonstrations" which were so persistently thrust upon " Southland's Natural Songster" whenever he had the courage to appear before an InvercargiH audience. The brevity of Mr Graham's entertainment (lecture is not ita proper designation) wvs in itself a source of gratification, and the song with which it terminated was alone worth the price of admission. It would be well (says the Bruce Standard) if i parties who used double-furrow ploughs in preparing land for the present crop would record their experience as to their comparative merits with tha single-furrow plouglu. It is only by such means that practical experience is gained. So man has a right to hide " his light under a bushel." We learn from one gentleman, of keen übaervation, that where the double-furrow ploughs wore used, there the crop was superior j to that where the ordinary plough was used. Then again, we have just the opposite from another gentleman- The kind of soil may have something to do with differing results.

A Thames paper says that Mr Rees, the wellknown speculating barrister, has offered £300 'or the discovery of a quartz r.'p yielding 13 dwt. to the ton for 100 tons on the lower portion of Moor's grant, on the Matawai Creek, Corotnandel. For many years p=U3t rich specimens have been found in this locality, but no payable leader has yet been struck. By the offer of this reward, however, a new impetus will be given, and we shiU not be at all surprised to hear of a rich find on the Matawai before imny months, or perhaps weeks, have elapsed. It is hiijh time rifl> practice in the streets of Levuka was put a stop to, remarks the Fiji Gazette. Two or three parties were arau-ing themselves in this way a few days aco, and one of them, who ovilently cannot plu.ne himself on his skill, fif-ed at a coeoanut tree, but went wide of the mark ; the bullet passed through the window of M> Butt's dining-room, and dropped at the feet of Mr Butters, who chanced to be in the roo;n at the time. Hai it gone a few feet further the consequence might have been serious. The Athenaeum Committee held its monthly meeting at the rooms, on Wednesday last (13th instant). Present — Messrs Micdonald (president) Fredric, Gilmour, Lumsden, IT E wan, and Perkins, In the matter of leasing the society's reserves, it was reported that no arrangements for the same had yet been concluded. In contemplation of a projected visit to Invercargill by Mr Hislop (the Provincial Inspector of Schools), the secretary was instructed to write him requesting him to lecture on behalf of the Institution It was resolved to call a public meeting of subscribers for the 22nd inst. to consider the propriety of making amendments in the rules relative to vacancy in the committee and the constitution of a quorum. The committee of the Southland Acclimatisation Society mot on Wednesday last, there being present Messrs Butts (hon. sec) Blacklock, Oonyers, G-ilmour, Hume, and Lumsden (chairmin). Mr Butts reported that an experimental case of ova had arrived by a late steamer from England via Melbourne, and that on opening the oise it had been found that the experiment had failed, the whole of the ova being dead. The case instead of being landed at the Bluff had been taken on to Dunedin, from whence it had of course to be returned. Thid delay however had not affected the vitality of the ova, which had evidently been dead for a long time, apparently proving that the shipment in sawdust, without ice, is ineffectual. It was resolved that as soon as could be done, another small experiment on a plan submitted by the hon. sec. to Dr Buckland in England, or such modification of it as should be adopted, should be tried. Messrs Nutter and Perkins were requested to audit the accounts for the past year, and it was resolved to hold the annual meeting on Thursday, 4th April. Our Long Bush correspon lent writes : — " The people here— old and young — are busily engaged in the important work of the harvest, and nothing is to be hearl on every aide but the click click of the reaping machine. If the crop of cereals ia not abundant, that of young Southl.inlers — t!ie pride and pil.'ar of a new colony — is much more hopeful, no fewer than three having been baptised in thj schoolroom here by tlie Her. Thomas Alexander on Sun lay last. I understand that Mr Perkins is; to preach here on the 21th, when a collection will be made on behalf of the Hospital. The school committee, with a praiseworthy liberality, have furnished the te.icher with the meana of enclosing with a neat substantial fence a part of the reserve for a garden, which, when finished, will add further to the beauty of the locality. To such of your townsmen as are good shots and fond of tiger hunting, I would promise a good day's sport here, as the bush is so infested with wild cats that settlers — in self defence — svill be obliged to hate recourse to the ancient mole of extirpating wolves in Britain, viz , pay a sum for the head of every wild cat destroyed." We should recommend our Long Bush friends to communicate with M.v John G-raham, as that gentleman has considerable esp -rieuca in the matter of disposing of the genus fells. The Auckland correspondent of the Lyttelton Times says : — I find that a considerable amount of interest has been excited here fay the intention to colonise Stewart's Island and the west coaat of Otago. M-»nj of us were of opinion that those remote places wore nearly or totally uninhabitable, and knowing as wo do that every addition to the sparse population of New Zealand injreisei revenue, and lightens our taxation, it is gratify. ng to learn so much more fertile land is available for settlement. The proposal to locate Shettanders in our Ultima Thule is held by us to be especially judicious, and I am firmly convinced that most of us will heartily say God speed to all and every poor creature who leaves semi-starvation and the Western Isles of Scotland to asist us in the great work of colonisation. Time was when some Auclilanders looked upon themselves as the crene de la creme of the Southern Hemisphere, and deemed virulent abuse of other provinces (especially Wellington) noble and patriotic. Happily, with the decay of narrow-minded ideas — engendered by ultra- provincialism — all that is changed, anl very few are now found to coincide with the fossilized notions of a Oreighton or a Q-illieß. lam convinced that no more than one in each 1000 inhabitants of this province now desires to " have a slap at Wellington," or any other part of this colony. What the General Government intend to do for Westland was stated by Mr Pox the other day, in reply to a deputation ns follows: — We propose to do what nature indicates, to connect the watere of the Grey and Buller Rivers, from the point where navigation ceases, by main roads. These roads will run through rich agricultural land, of which Mr Dobson informed me there were some 40,000 acres available for settlement, and also through a rich mining district. In coming along I have resisted several applications for the expenditure of a portion of this vote in various parts, becau3e I believe it would be foreign to the intention of Parliament, and would be equivalent to throwing that money into the sea. On this side we will endeavor by one large work to connect Greymouth with Hokitika. The only traffic now is along the beaches, but we intend by a largo interior road to open up the country, and be as it were a base line from which small roads can be run to connect the whole district. This work when complete will bo a credit to the country, and I believe it will be in accordance with the general opinions of the people that the Government should confine itself to the execution of these two large works, and carry them on to completioH. Our money will not allow us to do more

, ,„, M |.|,__ i 1,,, -■ r It is said that three of Te Kooti'a ha-vl have been captur-d hy the Constabulary under Capt. Ferris. Te Kjoti is supposed to be behind Poverty liay. At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, a man named Archibald Blake, employed as cook and baker at the Meat Preserving Company's establishment at Woodlands, wa3 brought up on two separate charges of indecency. The fi<"se offence was committed on Monday last, at Richmond Q-rove, and the second on the following day, in the neighborhood of Tay street. He was convicted of both offences, and on each charge was sentenced to a month's imprisonment. Wo hear that preliminary steps have baeu taken by ;i uumber of* the occupiers of leasehold property in Dee.at.reet to endeavor to bring about some united action in the matter of acquiring a freehold in the block about to be sold in Tay-street, the owners of the land in Dee-street having expressed their unwillingness to part with the freehold. As evidence of the desire to acquire freeholds, we may state that good prices have lately been paid for building site 9 in other situations than that referred to. It will be a pity if the idea should be c irried out, as ifc would undoubtedly hare the effect of blasting the prospects of Dee-street as a business centre. The result of the competition for the Provincial scholarships was announced in Dunedia on the 9th inst. aa follows : — High school scholarships, value £30 (total number of marks obtainable, 820), Harper and Stilling equal, 618, the full scholarship being equally divided ; Smith, 600, 4 years' free education ; Eyre, 511, 2 do do ; Barton, 491, certificate ; Sinclair, 451, do. District scholarships, value £30 each (total marks obtainable, 630), Levi, N. Dunedia, 418J, full scholarship ; Milne, Caversham, 407£, 3 years' free education; Farney, Blueskin, 39Si, do do ; Mollison, S. Dunedin, 346, certificate ; Black, do, 339, do. The holder of the scholarship is entitled to receive £30 a year, and a free education at the High school for five years. The children of the Sunday Schools in town were entertained by Mr T. Twinning at the Theatre on Wednesday evening, by an exhibition with the magic lautern. The Theatre upstairs and down waspacked with youngsters,vociferous in the extreme in the enjoyment of the fun provided for them. A few children of the larger growth were present, possibly with the design of keeping order. If so, they soon satisfied themselves of the impossibility of uurbing the demonstrative propensities of tho younger visitors. The historical pictures, buildings, and representations of natural scenery were shortly described by Mr T. Perkins, as each picture was presented, the caricatures being left to tell their own tale. The show extended over more than an hour, ani after a series of ringing cheers for Mr Twinning, the etarupeda was made homeward. In the course of an address delivered at a conversazione held by the Canterbury Philosophical Institute on the 6th insfc., Mr Justice Ores son said :■ — " We often hear complaints of the want of amusement and recreation in the colony, and this is sometimea advanced as aa excuse for the indulgence in low and sensual gratification to which young men here often become addicted. If they would only open their eyes to the wonderful phenomena by which they are surrounded and would choose a subject of observation, botany or geology for example, they would not only bring valuable contributions to the cause of science, but they would find fresh sources of interest constantly opened up to them, and their enjoyment of life multiplied and enhanced. It has been well said that ' the earnest naturalist is pretty certain to have attained that great need of all men, to get rid of self.' He who, after the hours of business, finds himself with a mind relaxed and wearied, will not be tempted to sit at home dreaming over impossible scenes of pleasure, or to go for amusement to haunts of coarse excitement, if he have in every hedgebank and woodland, and running stream, in every bird among the boughs, and every cloud above his head, stores of interest, which will enable him to forget awhile himself and man and all tho cares, even all the hopes of human life, and to bo alone with the inexhaustible beauty ani glory of nature, and of Q-od who made h ;r." At the request of the Canterbury Acclimatisation Society the following directions for propagating Californian trees from seed have been prepared by a practical agriculturist and seedsman in San Francisco : — " M ike a compost of one-third leaf soil, one-third clear sand, and one-third good loam. Mix well, and fill into shallow boxes— -*ay, three or four inches deep, sow the seeds thinly on the surface, and cover with a mix'ure of half sand aid half leaf soil mixed. The small seed may be covered ft quarter of an inch ; the larger sorta, a half to One mcli cleep. i^lao© tKo boxes an a common hot bed or green house, on shelves one or two feet fro n the glasa if warm weather, a>.id water moderately from time to time when dry. With careful management, most of the sorts should germinate in a few weeks. When the plants are, say, three inches high, set the boxea outside the frame to harden a few weeks, and they are ready to plant in nursery rows. Water plentifully after planting." The Premier, in reply to an adlrass from the Borough Council of Hokitika, in which reference was made to the stamp and cereal duties of last session, is reported to have said : — " With respect to the Stamp Act and what are termed the pro* tective duties, those were passed purely for fiscal purposes. That they are burdens, he admitted, and he hoped that circumstances would soon enable their removal. A small duty had beea imposed upon cereals, but without any intention on the part of the Ministry, generally, to institute a protective policy. The duty was imposed as a ready means of making up a deficiency in the revenue, and with no view whatever in the direction of protection. It was also a small solatium, to a struggling industry, but he doubted whether it would have much effect. At all events, so far as revenue was concerned, he did not believe that the result of the tax would realise the expectations which had led to its imposition. Neither did ha believe that the tax had had any injurious effect, as it was not sufficiently large to affect the price of bread to the consumer. With regard to the Stamp Act, there could be no doubt that its provisions were exceedingly troublesome, more particularly to persons engaged in mercantile pursuits. He was inclined to think it was a failure, and would not realise the expectations which had led to the enactment. It was devised for the purpose of augmenting the ravenue, but no doubt it had become a source of considerable annoyance. He did not believe it wouli ba con« tmued, though he had not the authority of the ■ Chancellor of the Exchequer for saying so."