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Southland Times, Issue 1606, 16 July 1872, Page 2

The San Francisco mail was due at Auckland yesterday, but had not arrived when the telegraph offices closed at 8 p.m. We published an intimation, about six weeks ago, that instructions had been received by the Railway department to proceed with the erection of covered sheds on the platforms at the stoppitfg places on the Winton line, and we expressed a hope at the time that there would be no delay in carrying out this much-needed provision for the safety of goods and the comfort of passengers. As yet, however, only one of these useful structures has been completed at the Makarewa •tation. Perhaps the railway authorities can explain why the others have not been erected. The Superintendent has authorised Mr Auicf, the home agent for Otago, to resume the despatch of emigrants from the Clyde by Messrs Patrick Henderson & Co.'s vessels, at the rate of one ship per month for twelve months. Two of the vessels are if possible to be sent direct to the Bluff. At the meeting of the Land Board on Tuesday, all the members ware present. It was resolved that in the election of Wardens for the hundred, each license, though taken out in the name of more than one person, should carry only one vote. The action against Thomas Brown for illegally cutting timber on Crown land was withdrawn at the request of the defendant, on his undertaking to pay the costs already incurred by the Board with respect to the action, and a further penalty of £5. It was resolved to declare Stewart's Island open for application for mineral leases on and after 9th August next. In reply to a letter from F. Losanaker, application j to purchase 20 acres at Halfmoon Bay, adjoining his present location, and partially cleared, was refused, the land not being open for application, J but it was resolved that his improvements be appraised in the usual manner, in event of the land being thrown open for purchase or free grant under the special settlement scheme. In the Bankruptcy Court the Registrar held adjourned first meeting on Friday, at 11 o'clock in the forenoon, at his chambers, in the matter of the bankruptcy of James M'lntosh, settler, Limestone Plains. Mr Wade, solicitor for the bankrupt, was in attendance, but bankrupt did not surrender. Mr Harvey appeared in the 1 interest of creditors. Four proofs were taken, namely, Messrs Whittin :ham Bros, and Instone, £195 Us lid ; J. W. Mitchell and Co., £5 3s lid ; Mair and Q-arven, £3 15s 4d ; R. Tapper, £22 13s Bd. Mr Thomas Perkins was appointed trustee in the estate. In the amalgamated estate of Hay Brothers and Hay and Mentiplay, Mr Thomas Perkins waa appointed trustee in the place of Mr John M'Pherson. Two entertainments were given at the Theatre on the evenings of Friday and Saturday last, by the Winton Meat Factory Amateur Christy Minstrels, assisted by Mr -R. B. Wotton. The attendance ou both occasions was rather scanty, owing probably to the weather, and the bad state of the roads, but the performances were given . with great spirit, and were highly amusing. Negro songs, comic and sentimental, the former predominating, dances, and dramatic pieces, given by the members in character, composed a ■ long and varied programme. The performances ; of the brothers Wye were noticed as particularly clever. A stump speech, "Ou Passing Events," i by Mr R. B. Wotton, full of humorous local ' allusions, and bristling with puns, was ou each occasion a prominent feature of the evening, and elicited roars of laughter. Selections of popular 1 music, b y the Invercargill Brass Band, under the, < leadership of Mr Stevens, added greatly to the 1 attraction of the entertainment on Friday evening. Loud and bitter complaints are being made , about the almost impassable state of the East Road, and the teams that come into town from » that direction bear ample testimony to its coni dition, being literally covered with mud. People ( are anxiously enquiring when Mr Brogden in- ; tends to commence operations on the Mataura [ line of railway, as the prospect of another winter's slogging through the mire is anything

but a cheering one. An advertisement in this iay's paper would seem to indicate that an early start id contemplated. At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, Belliard v. Trainer was a claim for £1.0, money Lent. Judgment by default, with costs, 18s. It is expected that the works of the Southland Meat Preserviag Company, at Win ton, will be closed for the season in about three weeks from this date . Up till Saturday last, the Company had disposed of 15,642 sheep, and 249 head of cattle. A gossiping correspondent in Dunedin sends us the following : — The approaching Mayoral election is creating not a little excitement in local circles, and Mr Duncan is talked of as one of the candidates. Mr Fish — the present M"ayor — has been presented with a requisition signed by nearly 400 citizens desirous of nominating him for reelection to his present office, and he has acceded to their request. The weather is now tolerably . fine, but in the numberless picturesque mud-heaps ranged along the streets, and close to the side- | walks, we still possess mementos of its late inclemency- A wag accounts for the non-removal of these accumulations by asserting that the authorities intend to plant them with potatoes next spring. Mr Redmayne — President of the Society for the Investigation of Spiritualism — lately stated in his inaugural address, that the religious teachings of the day were antiquated and behracl the march of civilisation. By religious teachings I suppose he meant Christianity. What sophistry '. What would be thought of a man who called the sun antiquated, attempted its annihilation, and Bought to supply its place with a rushlight ? But it is weakness to be wroth with such attacks on Christianity, which will continue to exist, unimpaired in strength and beauty, millions of ages after all such puerilities as spiritualism are dead and damned. Prom Queenatown we learn that the sunken steamer " Wakatip," in the recovery of which certain residents of Invercargill are interested, is now so close to the shore that her decks are plainly visible. The following appears in the Scotsman of Mny 4th, under the heading " Emigration from Shetland :— The Provincial Government of Otago contemplate establishing a fishing settlement in Stewart's Island, New Zealand, and they offer special advantages to Orkney and Shetland fishermen who may wish to emigrate thither. It is stated that the sea around that coast abounds in fish, and that good markets can easily be found for any quantity of cured or fresh fish." At the statutory meeting of the Education Board, held in Dunedin on the 10th inst., a letter was read from Waikiwi School Committee stating that the Committee were equally divided as to the election of a schoolmaster, and requesting the Board to make the selection. It was resolved that the Committee be informed that the legal obligation to appoint a schoolmaster rests with the Committee ; and that after perusal of the documents forwarded by the Committee, the Board have no hesitation in recommending Mr Macdonald as the most suitable applicant for the office. The clerk to the Grove Bush School Committee wrote challenging the accuracy of a report by the Inspector relating to that locality. The Secretary reported that in compliance with the Inspector's request he had asked for a report on the subject from an officer of the Government at Invercargill. The consideration of the letter was postponed. A memorial was presented from settlers at South Riverton, requesting assistance towards the maintenance of a school for young children in that locality. It was resolved that the Board adhere to its former decision with regard to the Riverton school arrangements. There was next considered a memorial from settlers at Wild Bush, asking for the establishment of a. school there, instead of the school at present held at Gummie's Bush, on the ground that the proposed school at Wild Bush would be much more central and suitable. The Board declined to make any change at present, but instructed the Inspector to make enquiry into the circumstances of the locality at his next visit, and to report. An application from the Woodlands school committee for aid towards the enlargement of the school buildings was referred to the Government. On the report of the Inspector of Schools, certificates of competency were granted to the following-mentioned teachers at Invercargill : — Mrs Charlotte M'lvor, Messrs A. Macdonald, and J. Cooke, second clas3 ; and Mr George Brown, third class. In reply to questions from the Inspector of Schools, it was resolved that no Athenaeum, or other Public Library, shall receive a free grant of books beyond the aggregate value of £150, and that expenditure on books only, and not on magazines, newspapers, or other periodicals, shall be taken into account by tke Board as entitling to a free grant. An Auckland telegram in the Dunedin Evening Star of the 9th inst. says : — Shortly after cine o'clock last sight, Mrs Gardner, the wife of Mr Gardner, proprietor of the boarding-house where Thompson stayed, died of small-pox. She was vaccinated on Wednesday last, the same day as the waiter was removed to the hospital, and the same night went to bed. On Saturday Dr Lee discovered symptoms of variola. On Sunday she rallied, and last evening died. M'Gregor, the other patient in the hospital with small-pox, was much worse thi3 morning. Between 400 and 500 people have been vaccinated. The Nelson Town Board must be sharp on wandering cattle, if we can judge by the following paragraph, which appears in a Nelson paper: — "Balloon — Wanted, a balloon, by the undersigned to oarry cows across Nelson-street, from one allotment to another, seeing that they cannot cross the street without being chargeable by the City Council as stragglers. Perhaps the Inspector of Nuisances knows of one ; I will pay him a good price for it. — Mrs Jennings." On the 27th ult, Mr Murray, M.H.R. for Bruce, telegraphed to the Colonial Secretary, enquiring if any steps had been taken by the Government to prevent the introduction of the foot-and-mouth disease from Australia or elsewhere, and received the following reply on the 9th inst. : — " Have been making enquiries about cattle foot-and-mouth disease. It comes under Cattle Disease Act, which, until the new Act is brought into force, is administered by Superintendent under delegated powers. I will call attention of Superintendent to disease. The new Act will .be brought into force in a few weeks.— W. GISBOENE." '

A sub-committee of the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce having bean appointed to enquire into he subject of National Banks of Issue, it reported as follows :— The Sub-Coramittee have to ■eport generally that they are in favor of facilities I >eing afforded for the establishment of local 3anke, but that they have not been able to secure lufficient information by which to judge whether ;he American system described to the Committee >y Mr Bathgate, can be adapted to the circumstances of this community. They recommend ;hat an endeavor should be made to obtain an iteration of the Joint-Stock Companies Act, so ;hat Companies may be formed under it for jarrying on the business of banking or that of naurance. They also desire to suggest that legislation ia required by which the holders of notes circulated by Banks trading in the Colony may be fully protected in case of the failure of auch Banka. 'With regard to tho proposed central clearing-house for the Colony, they are of opinion that it would prove a practical con venience, and that the arrangement is highly desirable, from a political point of view, as a means of avoiding the division of the reserves of coin between several distant towns on a defenceless coast-line. Mr Bathgate intimated his intention of introducing a Bill to the Assembly giving effect to his views on the subject. Mr James O'Neill has resigned his seat iu the Legislative Council. One of the West Coast members of the Assembly, TVTr John White, baa been presented with a purse of sovereigns by his constituents at Eanieri. A memorial from the Presbyterian Synod having been brought before the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce, requesting the Chamber to use its influence for the prevention of Sabbath desecra • tion by the sailing of steamers on that day, it was decided that the subject of the memorial was not one with which the Chamber could properly deal. Two offers have been received by the Provincial Government to establish a paper factory in the Province in accordance with the terms attached to the proposed bonus of £1500. The one is from Mr Ebenezer Steel, bookseller, Dunedin ; and the other from Mr Edward M'Glashan, Dunedin. No decision has yet been arrived at in the matter. An application having been received by the Otago Waste Land Board, from the Hon. E. Campbell, to purchase 10,000 acres of two runs held by him in tho Waitaki district, at £1 pef acre, it was proposed by Mr Donald Reid, and agreed to, " that the application be received and registered ; that the survey be made by tho applicant; and that the sale be subject to the reservation of such land as may be found auriferous between that day and the sale, or may be necessary for public purposes." It is said that 600,000 bushels of wheat have been exported from Canterbury during the first six months of the present year. A Napier telegram published in the Christchurch papers says :— " A block of 1100 acres on the Mahia peninsula has been proclaimed a reserve for vineyards. Twelve families., vignerons, are expected to arrive from the Rhine and Bordeaux next month, to be located there." The Dunediu Chamber of Commerce have unanimously passed the following resolution regarding the San Francisco mail service : — " That the attention of the Government be called to the great irregularity and delay in the transmission of our mails to and from England via San Francisco, and that it be requested that arrangements be made to connect New Zealand with the Suez mail line." The Otago Gazette contains a proclamation by His Honor the Superintendent, bringing into operation the Di3ea a ed Cattle Act, 1861, and declaring the Australian Cjlonies and all the Provinces of New Zealand to be infected districts. Mr Jahn Bnthg.de, M.H.R., intends to bring in a Bill in the Asembly for the purpose of making 5 per cent, the legal rate of interest in all cases where contracts are male without stating the amount, the present legal rate being 8 per cent. The Northern Ensign, of May 9th, says that the Rev. Dr Begg, of Edinburgh, was to leave for New Zealand about the end of May, on a visit to his sons in the colony. The Lyttelton Times says : — " During the proceedings in the Victorian Legislative Assembly recently the Adelaide agent of the Melbourne Argus forwarded the following message to the Treasurer :— " Memo, from Captain Audley Coote to Argus. — I have arranged with two large telegraph companies in England, combined with an associated body of the leading financial gentlemen in London, who are prepared to make and lay another submarine telegraph cable to connect the eastern colonies of Australia with England. All concessions were granted and contract signed between each party before I left Londcn ; also for the New Zealand cable." Captain Hart asked the Treasurer if he had received any intelligence of importance with regard to telegraphic matters. The above communication was then read. Ifc is said that the natives in the Waikato district now grow nearly all the tobacco they use. The Victorian Government are about to receive two calculating machines from England for use in the Treasury. The ship Excelsior and barque Schiehallion arrived in Wellington, from London, on the 9th insfc. Both bring railway material, and the latter also brings 124 immigrants for the Messrs Brogden. The Lyttelton Times of the 6th inst. says : — "In Chambers yesterday, when asked to fix the costs on the motion for dismissal of an action, his Honor Mr Justice Gresaon remarked that every little matter was brought before the Court, and the costs were swollen up to such a sum that it was really monstrous. Such little matters as these gave him more annoyance than deciding questions of ten times the amount on points of law. He wished the solicitors would give and take a little, and save their clients in cases of that kind. It is stated that diphtheria has made its appearance in Blenheim. One child has died from the disease, and several others are suffering from it.

The second annual Boiree of the local branch of the Daughters of Temperance, ia announced to take place in the Exchange Hall, on Wednes- • day evening.