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Southland Times, Issue 1571, 30 April 1872, Page 2

Telegraphic connection with the North has been. interrupted since Saturday last. Yesterday there was no communication beyond Waimate, in the province of Canterbury. The San Francisco mail steamer may therefore have arrived at Auckland, although no news of the fact has reached us. A meeting of citizens interested in the management of the race-course was held last night in the Club Hotel, to nominate trustees in whom the race-course reserve might be vested. It was resolved t o forward the names of the following gentlemen to His Honor the Superintendent: — Mcaaio "William Wood, John B. Sutton, John Hare, George Lumsden, Louis HuineT G. if. Martin, W. Garthwaite, and James Colyor. Mr George F. Martin was appointed interim secretary. At the meeting of the Municipal Council yesterday evening, held to consider Mr Hutchison's proposals for the supply of gas, there were present — Councillors Garthwaite, Blackwood, Ross, Jaggers, and Goodwillie. The chair was taken by Councillor Garthwaite. The following nport was presented by the Public Works Committee: — Your Committee having taken into consideration the proposals of Mr Stephen Hutchison in reference to gas supply for the town, would recommend that in the absence of sufficient information on this subject, it would be advisable to defer the granting of any concession, or entering into any arrangement, until the Council has had time to more fully investigate the matter. — r(Signed) W*f. Gabthwaite, Chairman. —April 29th, 1872. On the motion of Mr Jaggers, seconded by Mr Goodwillie, the report was adopted, and a copy ordered to be sent to Mr Hutchison. Owing to the inclemency of the weather, the lecture on the Steam Engine, which Mr Hislop was to have delivered last night in the Town 1 Hall, has been postponed. The Honorary Treasurer to the Provincial Hospital acknowledges through our columns his receipt of £1 18s, collected after Divine service at Flint's Bush on Sunday, 28th inst ; £1 Is 2d collected on same day at Waianiwa ; and £4 from Messrs M'Callum and Co., being their own subscription and collections from workmen at the Seaward Bush sawmill. The Nebraska, with the San Francisco mail, was due at Auckland, as we have already* stated, on the 22nd inst. She may now be looked for at any moment, to-day being the thirty-seventh day since her departure on her outward trip. Wednesday being fixed upon for the weekly • half-holiday, we are glad to state that the greater number of the retail storekeepers have agreed to close their places of business on that day at ' 1 o'clock. The Provincial Government offices will also, we understand, be closed, authority to that effect having been received from the Superintendent. They will, however, remain open on Saturday till four o'clock, thus making up for the lost time. It only remains for the Banks to follow suit, and we think that the weekly half-holiday has" a fair prospect of becoming a permanent institution. In the specifications for tenders for railway sleepers, we observe that black pine has been ignored in favor of totara. There can be no question of the excellence of totara, but it ought to be generally known that the heart of black pine is quite as good, especially if cut at this time of the year, or indeed during any of the three following months, when the sap is " down^'' as tbe bushmen say. This is a matter of Con*'' siderable importance to this district, for while the supply of totara is very small, and will soon be exhausted, there is black pine enough within easy reach to make Bleepers for all the railways that will be needed in New Zealand for years to come. We have seen, black pina^that had been in the ground for more than ten years dug up in a state of perfect preservation, and in reality harder than it was at first.

Writing yesterday, our correspondent at the Bluff says : — Fresh easterly winds hare prevailed during the past week. Yesterday the "wind increased to a very strong breeze, if not a moderate gale, with thick weather and rain, which has continued up to the present time without any signs of abatement. Two timber laden vessels, bound for Dunedin, are anchored off the wharf waiting a change of wind. The Invercargill Volunteer Band, under tlie -able leadership of Mr Stevens, will perform a selection of classical an 1 dance music in tho open space at the rear of the Government Buildings •"to-morrow afternoon at two o'clock; The entertainment announced to be given iu the Theatre on the occasion of the inauguration of the halfholiday movement, is postponed for a week on account of other arrangements interfering. We understand that the barque Mendoza, now in Port Chalmers, has been chartered by the New j Zealand Meat Preserving Company, and may ! shortly be expected at the Bluff, to load for London. She will take away about eight hundred tons of tho Company's products. We believe that upwards of five hundred tons of preserved meats alone are now waiting shipment. The Meat Preserving Works at Winton have now been in operation for something- like six weeks, during which time they have disposed of over 12,000 sheep. Yesterday we were invited to partake of a sample of the preserved mutton, which we are glad to say will compare favorably with anything of the kind we have seen. If a uniform standard of excellence can be maintained there is no doubt that the Company's produce will meet with a ready sale in the home market. We observe that by the last trip of the G-othen-burg from Melbourne two merino rams, from the celebrated flock of the late Mr Kermode, of Tasmania, have been added to Mr Tolmie's stud. Our Campbelltown correspondent writes : — Special divine service was held by Mr South in the schoolroom, on Sunday, the 28th, in aid of the school prize fund. During the service the children sang some hymns selected for the occasion, which formed a very pleasing and attractive feature in the service. At the meeting of the District Waste Land Board on Friday, the following applications were granted : — Thomas M'Lean, 101 acres, Forest Hill Hundred ; Hannah Mary Hodgkinson, 60 acres, Forest Hill Hundred; Wm. Fraier, 32 acres, Invercargill Hundred. Mr J. S. Manning and Mr R. F. Cuthbertson applied to be allowed a refund of rent in event of the Oreti Railway contractors taking possession of the 8000 acres reserved on their runs in the Waiau District at any time before the expiry of the twelvemonths commencing Ist May. A refund in proportion to the time for wbich they may lose the grazing right was promised. Mr Cuthbertson applied to know whether the runholder was entitled to the use of the roads on his run for grazing purposes, and in other respects to the same extent as the rest of his leasehold. It was resolved that so long as he was required to pay rent for them the roads were subject to the same conditions as the rest of the land held under his license. It was resolved to throw open for application in the usual manner the site applied for lately by Mr W- T. Richardson for a flour mill at Winton, with reservation for mill race, the applicant having neglected to avail himself of the permission granted by bhtr <BoarcT.' ; The annual exhibition of grain, seed, and farm produce in connection with the Tokomairiro Farmers' Club and Clutha Agricultural and Pastoral Association, takes plase at Balclutha on the 17th May. All exhibits — with, tho exception • of red and white clover and Alsyke grass seeds, kitchen garden seeds, and imported grain of any kind — must be the bona fide property of the exhibitor, and grown in the Province of Otago in the season of 1871-2. The tunnel on the line of the Port Chalmers railway' between Sawyers and Blanket Bays, was pierced on the 25th, the workmen from both ends meeting. The population at the Waikaka diggings consists of 200 Chinamen and 50 Europeans. A letter received by the last mail from the Anglican Bishop of Dunedin states that the Rev. T. Jackson will sail from England about the month of July. He has been appointed to the Clutha district, and is very highly spoken of. Between the 31st December 1870 and the 31st December 1871, 1912 cases were tried in the Mayor's Court, Dunedin. At the meeting of the Waste Land Board, held in Dunedin on the 25th inst., Mr R. W. Aitkin applied, under clause 83 of the Waste Lands Act, 1866, to purchase his pre-emptive right on run 172a. It was resolved to approve of the application, if it would be so amended as to take up less frontage, and avoid the village site. The plan of Switzers manse site was submitted and approved of. Mr Sheehan is the first momber of the G-eneral Assembly of the European race, born in the Colony. The offer of Messrs Brog len to construct the Mikonui race has called forth a good deal of adverse criticism, on the ground that the privileges asked for extend over too long a period, and will probably prove enormously profitable to- the promoters. The Grey River Argus, while admitting this, still thinks that the proposals should be considered carefully,; and that if a -proper attention bo paid to the general rules of policy which should govern the granting of such rights, there can be no reason why the proposal should not meet with favorable consideration, and become ultimately a great public benefit.. Additional machinery for the Mosgiel Woollen | Factory is now on its way out from homo. It includes two tweed looms for manufacturing the best tweed cloth, and four for making blankets and plaiding. The Greymouth Star of a recent date has the following : — " An uninvited assistant in the service appeared last evening at the Wesleyan Chapel. The Rev. W. Taylor was giving out a hymn, when a light grey kitten, that had by some means or other found its way to church, suddenly jumped on the book, to his extreme discomposure, and the scarcely suppressed titterings of the congregation." The weekly half-holiday was inaugurated in Lawrence (Tuapeka) on the afternoon of Friday, the 19th inst. According to the local paper, most of the business establishments were closed, and there was scarcely any traffic. The Rev. James H. Cameron is to receive a call to the pastorate of the Presbyterian congrek gations of Lawrence and' Blue Spur (Tuapeka) . .

The following is from the Otago Daily Times : — " Two charges under the Kerosene and Paraffine Oils Ordinance, 1863, and of much interest to the mercantile community, were disposed of at the Mayor's Court on Wednesday. In one against Mr R. B. Martin, who had more kerosene than allowed by the Act stored in different part* of his premises, tho Bench inflicted a penalty of 21s, and ordered that the surplus quantity be forfeited. For Mr Martin it was contended that he did not infringe tha Ordinance ; Out His Worship ruled that what he had done . was an endeavor to evade it. In a cha ge against Mr Mackerras, similar to tho la3t, a like penalty was imposed, and the oil seized was forfeited. Iu a charge heard in 1864, in the Resident Magistrate's Court, Dunedin, and on the same day on which a case quoted in our report of Wednesday's Mayor's Court was heard, a fine was inflicted) and nothing appears to have been said or done regarding the forfeiture of the oil above the quantity allowed ; but His Worship ruled on Wednesday that all surplus oil must be forfeited, and that the Act left him no alternative in the matter. In addition to the forfeiture, it may be mentioned that the Ordinance, which applies to the towns throughout the Province as well as to Dunedin, empowers the Magistrate to levy apenalty not exceeding £20, and a further penalty of 5s for every gallon of kerosene beyond the quantity allowed, provided that no penilty shall exceed in any one case the sum of £100. The amount seized at Mr Martin's was 128 gallons, and at Mr Mackerras's 136 gallons — in all 264 gallons, which, at 2s 6d a gallon, is equal to £33, and with two fines of £1 each, £35. It may b8 mentioned that any one not a dealer is not allowed to store more than ten gallons ou his premises." The Otago Ordinance of 1863 does not apply to the Southland district, but there is an Act of Aaßembly known as the Dangerous Goods Act, 1869, which forbids the storage of petroleum, in larger quantities than ten gallons in one place, unless by licence. Ia towns like Invercargill, such licenses are to be granted by the municipal ! authorities. The penalty is a fine nat exceeding £20, and forfeiture of the goods. Petroleum, for the purposes of the Act, is defined as any mineral oil giving off inflammable vapor at a lower temperature than 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Ordinary kerosene does not, we believe, come within this definition, though - some inferior qualities may. A simple means of testing this point is given in the schedule to the Act. By the agreement with Mr Brogden we understand that 'the .Government are not bound to furnish him with tha data for tendering for any of the works before September next. There is nothing, however, to prevent them being placed in his hands at any earlier period that miy suit the G-overnment, and he is required to tender within one month from receiving them. If his tender does not satisfy the Government, then No. 2 eontract is fallen back upon. Should this occur, and it is by no means improbable, th9 colony is only bound to supply him with work to the extent of £500,030. The only work that has been given him ou the ten per cent, arrangement is that railroad in Auckland of two and a half miles in length, on which a tunnel is to be excavated, and the rock on which Fort Britomart stood removed. Tuis has been done on the ground that tho work boing one requiring much time and labor to perform, it was known that unless it were commenced at once the rem iind*>j\ of the lino would he completed and ready for me long before the tunnel was finished. It is worth Mr Brogden's while to wait for the data with which the Government have to furnish him, for they embrace contracts to the extent of £750,000, being two hundred and fifty thousand pounds more than if he has to fall back upon No. 2 agreement. Several changes will have taken plane in the House of Representatives' when Parliament meets in July next. Four elections have already come off, and Messrs- Seymour, Hallenstein, Jackson, and Sheenan, have been elected to the seats formerly held by Messrs Eyes, Haughton, Farnell, and another Northern member, and Nelson will have a new representative in the place of Mr _ Lightband. Mr M -Lean vacates Waikouaiti, and there are rumors of one or two J other vacancies likely to occur. It is not thought that these changes will affect in any way the stability of Mr Fox's Government. Forty-two natives have placed themselves upon the electoral roll in Hawke's Bay^ One of the local papers expects to see a Maori returned to the Provincial Council before long. Reference being made in last iesue to Mr Richmond's meeting at Nelson, we are indebted to a contemporary for the following particulars regarding it : —Mr J. C. Richmond addressed a large meeting of the electors on the 23 id iust... He denounced placn-hunters generally, and declared that the House of Representatives was an arena for them. He discussed Mr Vogel's financial statements of 1870 and 187 1, finding fault with Mr Vogel and the Ministry generally. He declared that the Waitara war was a legacy to him from Mr Fox, and defended his own connection with it. He took a gloomy view of the position of the Colony, and condemned Dr Featherston 's immigration arrangements. The meeting was more disturbed than is usual in Nelson, and a number of questions were put to the candidate. Mr Hunter Brown moved a vote of thanks to Mr Richmond, but the meeting broke up before the motion could be put. New Zealand flax rope is coming into use in California for hay-baling. The exodus now taking place from Fiji is stated by a Leviika paper to be alarming. It is said that Mr Brogden has offered to the County Council of Westland, to construct a railway from Ross through Hokitika to the Grey coal mines, if the Counoil will give him a freehold grant of a belt of a mile and a- half wide along the whole length of the line, i.e., about 50 miles. Mr George Baden Powell, son of the Savilian Professor, is about to publish a work in which he will illustrate the domestic and political life, as well as the natural history, of Australia and New Zealand. In an article in which the results of the Iri3h Land Act are considered, the London Post appears to think the assertion not unreasonable that the measure is " worth 40 millions sterling to the tenant farmers of Ireland. In the period commencing in January, 1869, and terminating in September, 1871, being two years and threequarters, tho total number of evictions in Ireland . was 1,053, or less than 400 in the year — a striking result, when compared with the numbers' of 20 years previously, which exceeded 50,000 annually. The first result of recent legislation was to cheek

the practice of sewing notices to quit, and, in fact, it is asserted that now scarcely any evicrions take place save for -non-payment of rent. During; the. ~ same period the emigration diminished in similar ratio, the numbers for these last years having been less than 2,000 in the year, compared with the 250,000 annually which left the country 20 years ago. In the eases brought before the land sessions under the act, "several thousands of pounds have been awarded to tenants as compensation in less thin b ilf of the total number brought into court. The remainder of cases have been settled out of court, no doubt to the satisfaction of tenants, and without the payment of heavy costs. Sums amounting in the to £j7,829 have been granted in the way of loan to tonant farmers to enable them to purchase the lands in their own occupation, and the advance of some £28,000 is at present also under consideration. If this practice should increase to any groat extent, as there seems good reasonto anticipate will be the casa, the result must be the establishment in Ireland of an appreciable number of yeomen or farmer proprietors, a clas9 which, more than any other, will assist in rendering good government secure in the country, aud in checking noisy and unthinking agitators. These are no small gains? from the course of recent legislation for Ireland, and if so much has been already done, it is not . too much to hope that the benefits will continue and increase." Discussing the Vordon dinner, the Spectator says r- — The general tone of the speeches was exceedingly satisfactory, showing a very different and much more cordial relation between the Colonial Office, indeed, the B-itish Government generally, and the colonies, than has prevailed for many years. Lord Kimberley made a sensible and very amusing speech, with which we find only one fault. Why must he — and not he only, but. colonial secretaries in* general — always be suggesting and harping upon the possible separation between- England and her colonies, which the Government professes to dread so much, and which we have no doubt Lord .Kimberley doea really dread ? It is the very way to bring it about, thu3 to accustom the public mind to think of it as inevitably forcing itself on the most reluctant imaginations. For the rest, Lord Kimberley was very wise as well as entertaining, and told a capital story of the attempt of a fidgetty governor to consult him from the other end of the world ty telegraph on the minutiae of colonial business. Lord Kimbarley. .promptly telegraphed back — 'Mitter much too difficult to decide by telegraph, write by post.' It would have been better still to say-—* Either decide for yourself, or write by post,' — but the notion of governing the antipo les by telegraph is positively alarming. These great discoveries may break up empires, after all, if we, are not sober-minded enough to know the limits within which to use them. The " Anglo-Auatralian " in the European Mail of Feb. 23 says : — Mr John Brog len, who announces that he has been commissioned to send out a number of workmen to construct the New Zealand railways, seems to be indefatigable in hiß exertions to procure those only who will be of some service to the colony hereafter. This is the proper idea to carry out, else the new men will be a drug in the market. He has had a very large number of applications, and believes at the beginning of April he will have got the -required -number together'. "Tiff' thi*' event, tbey may be expected to arrive in New Zealand abiut June next. The Halcione, for Wellington, which is appointed to sail on April 10, will take nearly 200 emigrants to that colony. Dr Featherston is now at Hamburg on emigration service. The worthy doctor is determined not to let the grass grow under his feet. When I last wrote he was in Scotland, where, I hear, he gained many converts to an idea that should be more general than it is— that New Zealand offers rare facilities for men with small capital and of agricultural'and pastoral tendencies. ' I doubt not but that the doctor will by-and-by be the means of peopling his adopted country with as sturdy a race.of menas*eyer left a brilliant posterity to carry on the noble work they had begun. > The Hawke's -B*y Herald says: — We observe from the letter of our Wellington correspondent, as well as fromf'iome of our exchanges, that a rumor is afloat to the effect that the smaller provinces, Hawke's Bay, Marlborough — and Taranaki, we suppose — are to be amalgamated with their larger neighbors next session. We don't believe that there is the slightest vestige of foundation for it. The smaller provinces would decidedly decline to accede to the proposition, and with reason. We have' always' advocated the complete abolition of ' the provincial system, and the introduction of one under which our destinies, in common with those of the"rest~of "the'colony, would be. guided by one central Legislature ; but to be handed over to the tender mercies of a Bunny ,and a Fitzherbert, to ; see our revenues going to garnish tho Empire City with new Government buildings, &c, is. a very different matter. Thia is a condition which may have become palatable to the inhabitants of Wanganui from long practice, but which would, be to us, after thirteen years of independence, simply intolerable. The administration of the Wellington authorities in the past has been neither so honest nor so successful as to warrant the Legislature in increasing it. Indeed, there is a degree of shamelessness in the proposition as emanating from the source that it does, which is not pleasant to think about. From the Wanganui Chronicle, we take the following further, information regarding the late double suicide at that place : — The New South Wales Police Gazette of Feb. 21 states that a warrant wai issued for the apprehension of Richard and Bella Crossing, charged with infanticide. This clears up the mystery connected - with this lamentable .affair. There is no doubt now that Crossing, a reputable person of some means, seduced his niece, and that on a child being born, it was murdered, in a vain endeavor to conceal the disgraceful relations existing between the deceased. Crossing's wife and family had evidently found* them out, and] upbraided the man, who—- with, a recklessness as to ultimate consequences only to be imagined — at once ran off with the giri. to. New Zealand, under a feigned name, hoping - to live in -undisturbed enjoyment of the love of the, woman he had so deeply wronged. Crossing seems to have resumed his proper name, so that on his death his legitimate children might not be kept out of his New Zealand properly. He had hardly had ! time. to settle the terms for the purchase of a farm close to Wanganui, when a letter reached him from his family in N. S. Wales, warning him that his cruise haubeen discovered, and a warrant issued for the arrest of himself and paramour. In shame and despair they seem then' to have resolved together on the last sad act of tho tragedy. ~

The Grey River Argus of 18th April publishes the following as the precise terms in which Messrs Brogden and Sons apply for a water right license at Mikonui : — Name and address of applicants — Messrs John Brogden and Sons (care of Mr Geo. H. Tribe, Ross). Style under which it is intended to conduct the business of this race — The Mikonui Water Company. Number of heads of water — Forty heads from source, together with all drainage and streams on the line, subject to existing rights. Length of race — Twenty-one miles. Capital proposed to be expended — £40,000. Term for which license is required — Fifty years. Precise locality — Commencing at the Mikonui River, above the second gorge, and cut along the Mikonui slopes of the Greenland range to crest of range at Bailor's Gully. Further conditions — We require a space of ten chains wide, being five chains on each side of the race, conveyed to us for the term of .the lease, for the protection of the race and supply of timber ; and a special ( claim, for mining purposes, five chains wide, the •whole length of the race, along the lower aide of j the protected belt. I Some of the Picton fishermen had a good haul lately. The fish they caught turned out to be the , veritable mackerel — not the fish known, as horse or New Zealand mackerel, but the genuine mac- I kerel, such as can be seen in Billingsgate any time j during the season. The fish were very large, weighing aa much as seven or eight pounds each, and the quantity was large also. Whether the fish is rare in New Zealand or not, such a haul of large and heavy mackerel has never before been i made in Picton, and it adds another argument to | those who contend that fishing as a trade, followed as it should be, would pay well in New Zealand, j We take the undernoted particulars from the Report of the Greymouth Flood Relief Committee, -published on the 16th inst. : — Amounts j received for the credit of the fund —

The total expenditure may thus bo summarised — Town of Greymouth — Orders for clothing, bedding, pro-

The total losses in the district by the flood, so for as the Committee have been able to ascertain, amount to not less than £60,000. The Committee have pleasure in reporting that they have been able to relieve every urgent case which has come under their notice, and they beg to convey to the contributors to the fund the thanks of the recipients of the aid which, through their liberality, was so opportunely afforded, and the thanks of the community generally for the sympathy displayed in all parts of the colony, and in Melbourne, at a time when any local attempt to afford relief would have been unavailing.

Shareholders in the Southland Building, Land, and Investment Society are reminded that the meeting for considering the proposed alterations in the rules of tbe Society will be held at the Courthouse this evening at eight o'clock. Tomorrow night, at 9 o'clock, the annual meeting takes place. We have been requested to direct particular attention to the clearing-out sale of the stock-in-trade of Messrs G. W. Weaven and Co., which takes place to-day at 12 o'clock.

Dunedm £205 11 0 Christchurch ... , 267 1 0 Timaru ; 121 14 0 Hokitika 216 2 0 County Council 150 0 0 Nelson Provincial Council 100 0 0 Greymouth ... 163 19 0 Blenheim ... 48 3 6 Ahaura 24 0 0 Hon. Mr Fox 10 9 0 Mr Sutton, Napier ... 2 2 0 Mr J. S. Cross, Nelson " 5 10 0 Invercargill ... 60 0 0 Lyttelton 15 12 6 Auckland ... ..." 64 4 6 Melbourne ... ... 293 5 0 £1747 13 6 j

visions, tools, &o. ... ... 5202 11 6 Do cash payments ... „r 1114 7 0 Country districts 285 0 0 Westport Committee 64 4 6 £1716 3 0 Expenses 31 10 6 £1747 13 6